• Energy Research

The new economy and the knowledge-based society brought significant changes in all the areas of our daily lives. Also, the COVID-19 pandemic and the COVID-19 crisis implicated tremendous transformations in all the domains, on the one hand, threatening the balance of our society and, on the other hand, challenging the dynamic of the new economy development and the rhythm of the societal modernization. In these delicate times, the all-important relationship between ethics, leadership, teamwork, effective communication, productivity, and performance is brought to the attention, in particular, due to its benefits for our society, taking into consideration the pivotal advancement that a well governed relationship of this type could provide to the knowledge-based economy. The present research describes the implication of ethics in leadership, teamwork, effective communication, and productivity, which includes the application of ethical values as university graduates assume the role of each of the mentioned dimensions of study in the organizations. The absence of research that relates ethics to these four elements simultaneously was noticed. This information is essential to know how these dimensions influence the organizational level. The sample that included 410 university graduates was applied in Baja California, Mexico, and the industrial nucleus of great relevance, bordering California in the United States of America. The data was obtained using a questionnaire. A reliability and validity analysis of the measurement instrument was carried out in terms of the ethical values associated with the dimensions mentioned using the exploratory factor analysis by the principal components method. Qualitative items were also analyzed using the constant comparison method. The results obtained in this research provide a greater perspective and practical knowledge and support of usefulness and practical reality to businesspeople and employees, leaders and university graduates; and also extensive to students, teachers, and human beings in general, in order to be better prepared to give and apply solutions with their consequent ethical and productive achievements desired by all. Additionally, this current research has the purpose to raise the will to understand, at a higher level and at a more in-depth degree of knowledge, the relationship between ethics, leadership, teamwork, effective communication, productivity, and performance, in the attempt to foster a creative and innovative business environment, based on a robust and sustainable business administration and business competencies, capable to position at higher ranks the strengths, opportunities, aspirations and outcomes that today’s new economy is due to offer and diminish the dangerous effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the COVID-19 crisis in all the domains.

Nowadays, sustainability assessment procedures, sustainability assessment indicators, and sustainability assessment models are regarded by specialists as powerful decision-supporting tools able to foster sustainable development worldwide by addressing the main economic, financial, social, and environmental challenges. In like manner, the role and relevance of intangible assets have managed to produce an irreversible change in today’s world which also seriously affected the general traits of our economic systems, leading to a phenomenon known by specialists as the “revolution of intangibles”. Over the last decades, the controversies regarding the recognition and measurement of intellectual capital (IC) have led, on the one hand, to the development of possible solutions and systems for calculating and disclosing the performance generated or stimulated by various components of IC, but, on the other hand, they have also been the main premise that favored the use of intangible assets, in general, and intellectual property (IP), in particular, the transfer of results and the reduction of the tax base by transferring income to tax havens or jurisdictions that do not tax these categories of assets. Against these aggressive methods of fiscal planning, the countries reacted unitarily and coordinated through the BEPS (Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project) plan. Based on the country’s profile as well as on the results of the annual evaluations published by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), our study verifies whether there are premises for IP use for income transfer into favorable jurisdictions and whether the measures and solutions proposed by Action 5 of the BEPS end disputes over the recognition and evaluation of IC. In addition, our work presents a novel methodological framework for sustainability assessment, which focuses on establishing important connections between the recognition and measurement of intellectual capital, the role of sustainability assessment tools, and the implications of corporate social responsibility, since, these days, the real “values” associated with a country or business profile may be found in the intangible assets they possess.

In order to identify the factors that have influenced the Romanian companies’ level of compliance required by the Directive 2013/34/EU with respect to publishing, alongside the annual financial statements for 2017, a report containing non-financial information regarding environmental, social, and personal aspects, and business ethics, the following steps were taken in our groundbreaking study: firstly, we analyzed whether there are statistical associations between the level of compliance and the legal forms of organization, the forms of ownership of capital, the branch of activity, the number of employees, the turnover, and the company location; secondly, we evaluated the meaning and intensity of these associations with the help of non-parametric correlation coefficients; thirdly, we identified and presented the economic and social causes of the results obtained; and fourthly, we proposed measures that can contribute to increasing the degree of compliance. What is more, this rigorous scientific work highlights the need to enhance corporate governance and corporate social responsibility in order to create an appropriate balance between sustainability, competitiveness, productivity, and businesses’ financial and non-financial performance, while taking into consideration the benefits brought by the tangible value of businesses (such as, cash flow and earnings) as well as the intangible value of businesses (such as, brand, customer experience, intellectual capital, organizational culture and reputation).

The main objective of the university sport in Spain is the comprehensive training of the students. It sets out in the various state regulations in this respect. There is training in values within the comprehensive training that sporting activity should provide through Fair Play. This article aims to describe and evaluate an experience of training in values for the university students carried out by the Sports Department of the University of Cadiz, located in Cádiz, Andalusia, Spain. The methodology consisted of making selected changes to the game rules in football competitions. The experience has lasted ten years. The result of the experience has been very positive, obtaining, among other substantial achievements, a reduction of more than 75% in the percentage of cards (yellow and red) shown during matches and a reduction in referee cautions, a decrease in violent behavior, self-exclusion of players with violent behavior by the teams themselves, and an increase in fair play sporting behavior. Due to this experience, the Sports Department of the University of Cadiz has received numerous national and international awards. However, the leading award has been to take part positively, through sport, in the education and happiness of its students.

Green and sustainable finance, corporate social responsibility and financial and non-financial performance are attracting widespread interest due to the challenging times that the business environment is currently facing. Moreover, green and sustainable finance, corporate social responsibility, and intellectual and human capital have become central issues in measuring organizations’ success, competitive advantage and influence on the marketplace. This scientific paper seeks to address the relationship between corporate social responsibility, intellectual capital and performance, providing valuable insights and relevant evidence from a Romanian business environment. The questionnaire method was used for the targeted research objectives, which referred to: (a) Romanian organizations and local community understanding of green and sustainable finance, corporate social responsibility and intellectual capital; (b) corporate social responsibility actions taken by Romanian organizations and the local community; (c) main drivers of corporate social responsibility and intellectual capital in Romanian organizations; and (d) ways to enhance financial and non-financial performance of Romanian organizations with the aid of corporate social responsibility and intellectual capital. The findings support the idea of a strong relationship between corporate social responsibility, intellectual capital and performance in the Romanian business environment. Our work shows that, broadly speaking, Romanian entities operate on a socially responsible level, being aware of the importance and the advantages brought by both corporate social responsibility and intellectual capital when it comes to enhancing profit, productivity and performance. Our results are highly encouraging and may be validated by a larger sample size.

The paper highlights part of the results of an investigation-based analysis. The research was carried out at the level of the 680 public interest entities with over 500 employees, for the first time enforced by law, together with the financial statements for 2017 reported in 2018, to publish non-financial social responsibility, the environment, and promotion of an ethical and sustainable business with sufficient and measurable care for the employees, the environment, and the local community. The analysis was extended to a representative sample of 246 entities, for which we analyzed both the degree of compliance of entities in Romania with their obligation to make non-financial information public and the determination of the level of compliance of the content of non-financial reports in depending on the minimum requirements of the directive. Thus, the most common published non-financial information has been identified, which has allowed for the definition of a sustainable and competitive business. The degree of compliance was also determined at the territorial, structural, and legal level. Moreover, this scientific study emphasizes the strong connections that exist between key concepts, such as: corporate social responsibility, intellectual capital, environmental protection, sustainability, ethics and integrity in today’s contemporary society.