Bolesław Rok

Conclusion: The Future for Responsibility

During the next decade, we will face a complex set of “responsibility questions.” Different organizations will go through radical and unprecedented changes of rules. What we need now is a permanent platform for business and its stakeholders as they grapple with the most pressing ethical issues facing businesses all over the world concerning the vital area of responsibility. The transition to a market economy in many parts of the world in the recent two decades has not only opened up new horizons for business but also created a need to renew traditional moral values in the interest of social stability and the well-being of societies. There is a growing recognition that responsibility could create added value both for the economy and for society.

In Search for a New Balance: The Ethical Dimension of the Crisis

In his book, Business Fairy Tales: Grim Realities of Fictitious Financial Reporting (2006), Cecil W. Jackson quotes the words of Arthur Levitt, the former Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), who draws attention to the habitual behaviours that lie in the grey zone; that is, between what is legal and what is not. Illusion wins over honesty, continues the cited author; we are witnessing a specific kind of deception. These words seem to be incredibly prescient, considering the crash on the US financial market. Craftiness turns out to be more valuable than integrity. Is this because — in the words of John Hendry (2004) — we live in a bimoral society? Perhaps not everybody, but rather the ‘developed’ (in terms of what: unreliability or integrity?) societies of highly active economies, though globalization stimulates the attitude of ‘getting as much as possible, as fast as possible, in whatever way’, which does not have a place of origin and continues to spread to remote places in the world.

Sustainable Business Models: The Case of the Collaborative Economy

The growing power of stakeholders and the awareness of social and environmental issues in economic activity change the way business is done. Facing social and regulatory pressure companies incorporate stakeholder expectations in their strategic thinking and business operation. The need to combine financial, social and environmental performance leads to the transition of traditional business towards sustainable, resource-efficient and low-carbon economy. Such changes are also the impulse for organizational and business innovation and in line with the new developments in the institutional environment result in the emergence of new business models . We would like to add to this literature delivering an analysis of the business models of companies which adopt the logic of sustainability and collaborative economy. We propose that the sustainable business model follows the framework of: building stakeholder capital through inclusiveness, fostering innovation to address social or environmental challenges and focusing on at least 1 of 17 UN sustainable development goals (SDGs). Additionally, the sustainable company adopts ethical infrastructure to assure high integrity while improving social, environmental and financial performance. In this chapter we analyze selected companies operating in four different sectors addressing these five dimensions identifying key components of sustainable business models. We also address the issues of balancing these requirements and indicate the potential conflicts between social, environmental and financial goals.

Workplace Innovation Context in Poland: Between Structure and Agency

The cultural and institutional context in Poland can influence patterns supportive for workplace innovation. Highlighting technological innovation only and neglecting the workplace improvement in the case of Poland is associated with low work engagement. It is recognized that one of the central aspects of workplace innovation is the active involvement of employees in the innovation process. Hence, we investigate the following research questions: What is the role of employees in the process of designing and implementing workplace innovation and change in Poland? What is the impact of formal and informal organisational structures in this process? The chapter uses a qualitative approach based on in depth interviews and focus groups to answer those questions. We conclude that interaction between the individual (employee) and the structural level (organisation) may result in a gradual destruction of innovation, because innovation processes in Polish companies seem contrary to what workplace innovation WPI) stands for: WPI stresses an engaging role for employees to succeed in innovation, while Polish companies seem to do the opposite.

Ethics and Responsibilities

Ethics is not only a matter of convenience, but a condition of survival in society. The lack of moral values seems to afflict the current social tissue, according to critics. As a cancer that spreads in the body, amorality destroys the climate of trust that should guide social relationships, leading to sometimes unsustainable situations. Beyond a certain point, jungle law begins to be the only possible rule for social and economic relationships. Of the many available ways to find the importance of ethical values, the bitterest is that of experience. But the goal of responsibility toward the future is what mostly moves forward citizens and corporations and government leaders. This book focuses on many aspects to help understand ethics and responsibilities in a globalizing world.