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Purpose/Aim: Over the last quarter of a century, several voluntary frameworks and non-financial reporting standards have been developed by various initiatives and organisations. Especially after the 2008 financial crisis, which deepened into values crises, the need for evaluating social, environmental, and economic consequences and herein for non-financial disclosures accrued. This chapter aims to outline the current state in the ecosystem for non-financial reporting and its projected future developments and suggests further developments in this field. Since financial institutions played a negative role in the crises and will be important in future responsible investing, the authors also addressed some financial institutions’ specific non-financial issues.

Method: In search of an answer to our questions about whether existing non-financial reporting pronouncements meet (various) stakeholders’ expectations and whether international pronouncements are needed, we rely on triangulation. We start with the identification of phenomena of non-financial reporting. Description of phenomena is further on supplemented with a literate overview. Based on a review of prior research and study of the current framework’s pros and cons, we present a possible path of further development in non-financial reporting. Making that mixed-methodological approach is used (i.e. deductive and inductive reasoning).

Results/Findings: The authors deduce that there has been a substantial increase in demand for non-financial information, social responsibility ratings and other non-financial information services on behalf of preparers, users of such reports and the public. The authors particularly highlight the shortcomings that currently exist and outline the characteristics that future international non-financial reporting frameworks would have to meet with the awareness that such framework or standards will have their advantages and disadvantages. As seen by the authors, the main problem is how to achieve political consensus and then general acceptance by users.

Originality/Significance: The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation has become active in the field of non-financial reporting and started a project to become an internationally recognised standard-setter. However, with many mandatory or voluntary initiatives being started in this field, IFRS Foundation will need to address many challenges and ambiguities to become a leading organisation in non-financial reporting. Therefore, the research question is whether a new board, comparable to the International Accounting Standards Board, with the straightforward task of setting non-financial reporting standards would be needed in the future.

A new type of engine is proposed. The principle of the operation of this engine is as follows. The alternating electric current of high frequency flows from the condenser over the vertical conductor of the cross and branches at its centre in three directions. The vertical current generates a magnetic field. The horizontal currents flow in counter‐directions; therefore their magnetic fields are mutually cancelled, but the side branches of the cross are subjected to the operation of the Ampere force (F) from the magnetic field of the vertical conductor. This force moves the engine forward.

The main purpose of this paper is to emphasize the role and importance of management innovativeness for development of innovative working and behavior of organization and its employees.

General management literature quotes a plethora of reasons for the differences in organizations development level. Many theorists and practicians have unified opinion that the differences between low and high developed organizations are also due to the low innovativeness, i.e. the level of innovative working and behavior of all employees. This paper is based on the foundation that management attitudes towards innovativeness are crucial for increasing innovativeness in organization.

Increasing the level of innovativeness in an organization is importantly dependent upon appropriate working and behavior of management, which must create and maintain appropriate conditions for innovative working and behavior of organization as a whole and its employees. This contribution confirms that management readiness for innovating has a central role in organizations' shift from low to high innovative organizations.

The paper provides a comprehensive approach for considering the role of management innovativeness in low and high innovative organizations. Typical drivers of management innovativeness are outlined in framework of low and high innovative organizations. A framework for future empirical investigation is proposed.

The aim of this paper is to report about a requisitely holistic examination of the business ethics, focused on internal gaps between company’s and employees’ ethics. Contribution considers reasons for emergence of business ethics’ internal gaps and their appearance forms.

The authors specify and test model drawing upon modified versions of the ethics and management theory. In all, 1,125 responses were analyzed from an on-going survey conducted biannually among employees in Slovenian companies in the past decade.

Results reveal that company’s real business ethics remained steady over the decade, while employees’ real business ethics have significantly improved. Significant differences exist between employees’ and company’s real business ethics and shape internal business ethics’ incompatibilities. Finally, results reveal a significant influence of employees’ real business ethics on company’s real business ethics.

Research is limited to postulated hypotheses, qualitative consideration of internal gaps of business ethics and quantitative analysis of business ethics’ development in the considered Slovenian companies in the past 10 years.

The authors rethought the habit of separated consideration of managerial business ethics and employees’ ethics as well as the presumption about congruence between company’s and employees’ business ethics. The requisitely holistic understanding and consideration of internal gaps of business ethics is suggested.

Available literature does not provide a similar model for a requisitely holistic consideration of internal gaps of business ethics. The study confirms the proposed model of business ethics gaps.

Long regarded as a far-fetched notion, companies from post-socialist economies (PSEs) increasingly compete with companies from advanced economies in their domestic markets and abroad. This study identifies PSE companies' motives and determinants of outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) in advanced economies.

This study analyses Slovenian business activities in Germany by juxtaposing eight Slovenian investors and three exporters using a multiple case study approach. The authors use content analysis to examine rich data from semi-structured interviews, databases and internal and external documents to provide comprehensive and in-depth insights into PSE investments in advanced economies.

The authors identify market-seeking motives and competitive advantages which differ from those of other emerging economy companies and offer theoretical suggestions. In contrast to findings from other emerging economies, the authors identify firm- and country-specific advantages, such as high technology, high service quality, a highly educated labour force, and European Union membership, which Slovene companies have employed to enter the advanced German market.

This study represents the first application of springboard theory to explain PSE company investment in advanced economies. The authors offer contextualised explanations of PSE investments in advanced host economies, which have been lacking thus far. The authors also contribute to the scarcity of studies on the effects of supranational institutions on OFDI from emerging economies.

In the global economy, managers of organizations are constantly innovating with their use of available supply chain management tools. Some tools, like strategic planning and customer segmentation, have gained strong global acceptance while others are less universal. The paper aims to focus the contribution on the organizational factors that predict firm usage of supply chain management tools in two Eastern Europe countries, Slovenia and Croatia, while also comparing them to the global use of similar management tools.

This research provides an empirical analysis of supply chain management tool usage from a survey of 155 firms in Slovenia and 185 firms in Croatia while also comparing these findings to results from a global Bain & Company survey.

The 25 most commonly used supply chain management tools in the Eastern European survey were found to be relatively similar to those used across Europe and North America. However, further analysis of five selected tools reveals important differences. Evidence is found to support that particular organizational factors have a significant influence on supply chain management tool usage, of specific importance is the education level of the organization manager.

The findings are useful for business practice in understanding the influences of organizational factors on supply chain management tool usage. Also, the research is original as previous management literature has not provided a similar approach to researching management tools and their usage.

The purpose of this paper is to report about research how Society 5.0 balances Industry 4.0, responsible economic development and resolution of social problems by advancement of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in organizations.

Drawing from organization, sustainable development and social functionalism theories, the authors designed an integral model of CSR in line with goals of a forward-looking and socially responsible society. This study includes analyzing of present governing principles, multidisciplinary and multifunctional consideration and developing of integral framework for CSR in organizations.

This study’s findings suggest incorporation of technology in models of CSR, a regionally grounded solving of individuals’ social problems and changing of CSR’s environmental, social and economic dimensions according to circumstances of Society 5.0.

This study has created guidance for improvement of CSR practice in organizations through its responsible operating and behavior grounded on the governing environmental and social circumstances in modern society. It also revealed new possibilities for interest-based usage of human-centered society among individuals and organizations.

The reported study proposed an integral model of CSR for solving the main social problems with usage of advanced technologies in responsible economic growth founded on circumstances of Society 5.0, previously not considered in literature.

Apparently, scholarly attention is shifting to Society 5.0. The study of Industry 4.0 (I4.0), including its impacts on industrial productions and services, is saturated. However, there is a need for scientific investigations of the relatively new emerging concept of Society 5.0, especially regarding its relationship with I4.0. Given this necessity, the chapter conceptually examines Society 5.0 new normal and its antecedent – I4.0, with a value of the economically productive society in the post-coronavirus pandemic era. The chapter further elucidates the strategic role of emotional resilience and I4.0 collaborative partnership. Society 5.0 aims for a new society based on the notion of a human-centred economy and inclusivity. Consequently, new sets of innovative and artistic jobs will possibly emerge, driven by human competencies in collaboration with technology. In other words, Society 5.0 new normal is targeting a balanced or blended economic approach that favours a fit between society and industry and ensures that all citizens live a high-quality life by eliminating the delimiting effect of technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) on the physical space and wellbeing of the people. Hence, I4.0 collaborative partnership and emotional resilience are perceived as strategic and influential in achieving the feat of a Super Smart Society.

Higher education (HE) institutions can play a fundamental role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. However, universities often face various obstacles to sustainability management, leading to a lack of strategies for implementing governance for sustainability (GFS). The purpose of this paper is to propose a model, based on work and organizational psychology (WOP), for the analysis, promotion and implementation of GFS in HE. The model includes five dimensions: culture, leadership, teamwork, communication and transition management.

Using a mixed methods approach, GFS was investigated in four Piedmontese (Northern Italy) universities and in their sustainability network, applying the model proposed in this paper.

The five dimensions of the model have proven to be fundamental to the development of GFS in HE. Each dimension was filled with experiences from specific contexts through data collection, highlighting specificities and barriers. Furthermore, the mixed methods approach and the WOP perspective proved to be effective in addressing sustainable transitions in HE.

A practical proposal for analyzing and improving HE sustainable transitions in a WOP perspective is still missing, as well as a model that identifies organizational dimensions that should be monitored. This study not only provides an example of this transition but also confirms the importance that the literature attributes to the specificities and barriers of dimensions such as culture, leadership, teamwork, communication and transition management in this context.

Organizations must be resilient to be agile and sensitive to numerous shifting situations due to the pandemic. There is limited research on how to bring the disparate perspectives and requirements of different generational cohorts in companies together to achieve outcomes that encourage organizational development and sustainability. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to explore how Gen Z’s competencies can be banked upon to foster organizational learning to sustain.

Considering the constantly changing scenario in business organizations and the growing need for organizational learning to sustain, the authors have conducted an extensive review of the literature to understand how to sustain organizational learning for and through Gen Z. An integrative secondary search was carried out for specific and relevant work on the topic. The authors have considered both empirical and qualitative studies in their review to highlight the various themes that emerge from the extant literature.

The study indicates that much of the knowledge and experience is filtered through a generational lens, and organizations must encourage the development of Gen Z employees through e-learning, psychological contract, intrapreneurship and reverse mentoring. Based on the findings, the authors have proposed an ICES model which unifies the above four factors. The proposed ICES model encompasses specific interventions of having an Integrated 360 degrees learning experience (I), Coaching leadership for enabling intrapreneurship (C), revamping EVP for Gen Z-specific psychological contract (E) and building a Skill-will inventory for reverse mentoring (S).

There is limited research on how to bring the disparate perspectives and requirements of different generational cohorts in companies together to achieve outcomes that encourage organizational development and sustainability. This study will enable organizations to break down generational barriers, enhance organizational harmony, foster initiative and innovation and boost organizational performance through sustained organizational learning.

In view of the pandemic situation, organizations need to adapt not just their systems and processes but also to look for ways to engage their talent. The proposed ICES model will enable the sustainability of organizational learning for and through the Gen Z workforce by fostering individual development and organizational performance.