E&MFLASH

2024-07-26 Sylvie Goulard, Francesco Perrini, Stefano Pogutz

To Be or Not to Be: Sustainability Between Strategy, ESG, and Reporting

Driven by a series of institutional and political pressures—from Climate Conferences to the Green Deal, from Non-Financial Reporting and Sustainable Finance Directives to those on transparency and greenwashing—the debate on corporate sustainability has often become muddled and highly ideological in recent years. With over three decades of experience in sustainability management, and having observed and studied the actions of many managers and organizations, we aim to clarify what corporate sustainability truly is and what it is not. The roots of corporate sustainability lie in corporate responsibility ...

Read

2024-07-18 Elita Schillaci

The Feminist Revolution for a New Era of Management

A silent but powerful revolution is redefining the traditional paradigms of corporate governance and management. A transformation that challenges our ideas of power, merit, personal and business success, while promoting – at the same time – authentic relationships with consumers. This movement has its roots in the fight against gender discrimination, which began in the last century. Gender discrimination in business has historically limited women's employment opportunities, hindered their careers, created wage disparities, and prevented access to leadership positions, with the phenomenon known ...

Read

2024-07-15 Sandro Castaldo

Trusted Sustainability

In recent years, sustainability has become a growing strategic priority for companies. This is the result of increased community and institutional attention to issues related not only to environmental sustainability, but also to diversity, inclusion, and a growing focus on fair and equitable treatment of employees and suppliers within the supply chain. According to the stakeholder view, a company should not only prioritize the economic interests and expectations of its internal stakeholders (primarily shareholders), but also strive to satisfy a broader range of stakeholders – such as employees, ...

Read

2024-07-08 Ginevra Testa

The impact of Covid-19 on the transformation of crisis communication

In a competitive context such as the current one, characterized by crises of various kinds that occur more and more frequently over time and with an ever-increasing scope, the issue of crisis communication remains crucial for organizations. Today's highly interconnected and interdependent market transforms crises into real disruptions that can quickly develop along even very distant geographic boundaries, generating strong interruptions and suspensions of economic activities. Therefore, organizations need to reformulate their crisis communication strategies to identify the most effective communication ...

Read

2024-07-04 Stefano Pogutz, Francesco Perrini, Jan Hans Georg Pachner, Rafael Sardà, Federico Fumagalli

Protecting the Ocean for a Sustainable Planet

The health of the ocean is in critical condition, and it is deteriorating at a rate and in ways scientists say are unprecedented in the history of our planet. Huge amounts of plastics and chemicals are dumped into the environment every year in all parts of the world. Overexploitation of fish stocks has pushed fisheries of several species beyond the threshold of sustainability, with serious implications for the proper functioning of food chains and the integrity of the ocean floor. Acidification, stemming from the substantial volumes of carbon dioxide produced by industrial and consumer activities, ...

Read

2024-07-01 Donato Masciandaro

Artificial Intelligence, Stock Markets, and “Newton's Lesson”

Stock markets are in good health, but AI-related stocks are performing even better: within the generally positive trend of stock prices, the performance of companies associated with so-called artificial intelligence stands out. It is undeniable that the applications of technologies for the production and distribution of information and knowledge, summarized under the term "artificial intelligence," are influencing the decisions of companies and sectors, and will have macroeconomic impacts—yet to be fully explored systematically—that will affect productivity and the labor market, hence production ...

Read

2024-06-24 Andrea Beltratti, Alessia Bezzecchi

Green Houses: the Economic and Environmental Impact of Sustainable Living

Attention to the environment and sustainability has become a central theme in our daily lives, influencing various sectors, including construction. Green houses exemplify a classic "Tragedy of the Commons" problem, requiring public intervention to reduce negative externalities, primarily attributed to CO2 emissions. The issue stems from the poor quality of housing stock, built and maintained for decades without renovation, leading to associated energy inefficiency. Green house legislation directly intervenes by prescribing physical objectives, presenting itself as an alternative to taxation or ...

Read

2024-06-18 Gulnaz Rakhmatullina

Avatars and (Virtual) Consumption: New Frontiers in the Metaverse

With the increased popularity in recent years, metaverse worlds have created additional opportunities for companies to reach customers. We define metaverse worlds as permanent and immersive mixed-reality worlds where people can interact synchronously with other people and objects beyond the limitations of time and space by using avatars and immersion-supporting devices (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2009). In these worlds, users are represented by avatars, and avatar design alongside the user’s choice of self-representation strategies impacts the user’s identification with these avatars, which in turn ...

Read

2024-06-09 Gianmarco Ottaviano

Western Sanctions and Russia's Resilience: A Dead End?

According to the Russian Statistical Office, 2023 saw the gross domestic product grow by 3.6%, outpacing the average global economic growth. While data from Moscow should be evaluated cautiously, even the IMF revised its estimate to 3%, suggesting that Russia's economy has indeed grown faster than the global average. The oil and gas industry has been at the forefront of supporting Moscow's economic resilience, providing foreign currency to the Kremlin, expanding trade horizons, and generally shifting Russia's economic center of gravity toward Asia. To maintain a steady flow of foreign currency ...

Read

2024-06-06 Laura Gatti

Women in Innovation: Overcoming the Gender Gap for a Bright Future

In recent years, the presence of women in the fields of scientific research, life sciences, and startup management has gained attention and recognition. However, despite the vibrant and dynamic innovation landscape, gender equality remains a persistent challenge. Women, with their creativity, intuition, and determination, are gradually gaining ground in sectors historically dominated by men, but it is crucial to keep a spotlight on the gender gap and focus on gender perspectives to support its overcoming. Scientific Research, Life Sciences, and Academia In scientific research, women are increasingly ...

Read