Search results

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether board composition affects corporate sustainability (CS) levels in private firms. Additionally, the study examines a potential interplay between CS levels and CS reporting, and the impact of EU Directive 2014 / 95/EU (Non-Financial Reporting Directive [NFRD]) on resources spent on CS.

The authors surveyed the chief executive officers (CEOs), chief financial officers (CFOs) and Environment Officers of Swedish private firms subject to NFRD, receiving 149 valid responses (a response rate 24%). The authors coded the responses using van Marrewijk and Werre’s (2003) CS levels framework. The levels are Pre-CS, Compliance-driven, Profit-driven, Caring, Synergistic and Holistic. The study then explained the CS levels with board characteristics.

While on average the sample firms have a profit-driven CS level, the authors find that CS level is positively driven by female Chairs, female CEOs and external CEOs. Early voluntary reporting before NFRD does not explain the CS level. On adoption of the NFRD, mandatory reporters increased resources spent on CS activities and CS reporting more than early voluntary-reporters. Nonetheless, slightly over half of the sample firms reported no significant impact of the NFRD on resources spent on CS.

The findings may be useful for stakeholders interested in corporate governance and CS levels. Also, the findings support further regulation such as EU Directive 2022/2464 (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive [CSRD]).

In private firms, female leaders are likely to play a significant role in driving altruistically motivated CS practices.

The focus is on private firms in Sweden which, unlike those in other jurisdictions, were subject to NFRD. Methodologically, the use of a survey provides an alternative to the previous heavy reliance on archival research.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the factors influencing the presence of works councils in Polish companies. The study also considers the incidence of councils in organizations and management’s attitude towards these institutions of employee participation.

Based on a sample of 402 Polish private companies, the probit model was calculated to identify the determinants of a works councils’ presence. The coverage of active councils was evaluated on the MRPiPS database and the GUS database.

The data show that the coverage of works councils in Polish organizations fell suddenly after the introduction of the amendment of the Act from 2009. Moreover, trade union density has a strong positive influence on the occurrence of works councils in companies. Councils are also more likely to be found in older foreign-owned companies in which forms of direct participation are used. Additionally, a higher share of shift workers in companies is associated with a higher probability of works councils’ presence.

There are some difficulties with obtaining a precise analysis of the coverage of works councils in Poland.

Polish findings may be useful for other countries of Central and Eastern Europe with similar characteristics of industrial relations and similarly short traditions of works councils.

This paper extends the previous research on the operation of works councils in Polish industrial relations by providing an econometric analysis of the determinants of councils’ presence in companies. Such an analysis has been conducted in Poland for the first time.

The expectation gap between auditors and users has recently been the topic of many controversies. This paper aims to evaluate the relationship between auditor’s characteristics and audit expectation gap among information users in listed companies on the Tehran stock exchange market. In other words, the study attempts to find whether there is a significant relationship between audit components and the audit expectation gap or not.

The multiple regression model is used to test the hypotheses. Research hypotheses are tested using a sample of 78 listed companies on the Tehran stock exchange during 2012-2016, by using integrated data technique of the multiple regression model.

The findings show that standard audit fees are not significantly associated with the audit expectation gap. Furthermore, audit fees are negatively associated with the audit expectation gap, which provides that allocated audit price in financial statements gives useful information for external and internal individuals. Predictably, it is recommended that audit opinion significantly determines the level of the audit expectation gap. The authors also find that the independence of the director boards and audit committee members fulfill the expectation gap of individual users. Moreover, finding the negative impact of audit firms ranking on the expectation gap, supports the idea of higher ranked audit firms provide high quality services, and consequently, more reliable information. Finally, the results show that the audit record is positively associated with the audit expectation gap.

As all recent studies on the expectation gap were qualitative, the present study is the first paper, which measures the expectation gap quantitatively through the statistical method.

Work-related stress causes individual, societal and economic costs. Stress management interventions (SMIs) are implemented to decrease those costs, reduce the psychosocial harms and increase workers' productivity. This article reports on a study of a substantial sample of enterprises to verify what types of SMIs they implemented and how they assessed the results of these interventions.

Specially designed surveys were collected in 2015–2017 from 408 organizations of different sizes and sectors in Poland, including multinationals. The reliability of the questionnaire was satisfactory (Cr. 0.84).

Results show that 59% of enterprises are aware of SMIs but only about 30% implemented one within the last three years. The implementations usually covered both organizational and individual-level interventions. The assessment of SMI effectiveness was conducted in just about one-third of the organizations and was based on estimations of the levels and sources of stress. Hardly any companies compared economic and psychosocial costs of stress before and after SMIs.

The most important recommendation from this study is to increase the awareness of causes of stress among managing directors. Also, organizations and HR staff need more assistance from specialists who know how to measure and help reduce work stress.

The literature on stress interventions at work usually focusses on their psychological effects. This paper explores the organizational perspective and the commitment to implement the interventions in companies.