The aim of the paper is to show that there is a business case for sustainable development and how this concept interacts with corporate social responsibility. Although SD was originally a ...macroeconomics concept it is more and more implemented by businesses. Companies has started to include sustainable development goals in their corporate social responsibility strategies which are even sometimes replaced by sustainability strategies. By analogy to CSR it is shown that development of such strategies is not only a strategic necessity but also it could contribute to the competitive advantage of these companies. Theoretical considerations have been illustrated by presenting some examples from practice as well as the results of the desk research on corporate sustainability.
Background: The idea of this paper is to show how countries from so call so-called Eastern Block could contribute to the development of Fair Trade (FT). Poland, as a leader in political and ...economical changes in Eastern Europe, as well as being a very fast-developing country, could be considered a good representative for all states belonging to this Block.
Research objectives: The goal of this paper is to assess the market for Fair Trade products in Poland and identify the tools which could speed up its development.
Research design and methods: It is a conceptual paper, based on the literature review and thus secondary data. A literature review is used to determine the contemporary character of FT as well as identify the stages of its development.
Results: It was the case in Poland where in 2018 the wholesale of FT products started its boom. Before, due to some obstacles, which were also identified, the sales had been marginal.
Conclusions: It is suggested that a new stage of FT development is coming, in which its growth is sped up by engaging companies to produce goods which have the FT component.
Sustainable consumption is a term related to the type of consumer behavior being a part of the broader concept of sustainable development. In the process of selecting the method of satisfying their ...needs, consumers take into account a number of factors which minimize the negative influence of their buying decisions on the natural environment and the society. The goal of the article is to identify consumers aiming at sustainable consumption and to explain the way in which companies respond to these consumers’ needs by means of innovations – particularly that of the marketing and organizational nature. The study focuses on retail companies for a few reasons. First of all, companies of this type have the following characteristics: proximity to consumers, cooperation with producers in creating their offer, as well as shaping sales channels and developing a variety of time and space solutions facilitating the efficient need satisfaction. What is more, they are also leaders in innovation – these are the retail companies that adopted a number of innovations during the economic transformation period. In the last part of the article the companies’ objectives are confronted with the consumers’ aims, as well as barriers to development and factors conducive to sustainable consumption are discussed.
The paper presents the concept of Fair Trade, which is considered an alternative to conventional trade, and becomes increasingly popular in the Western countries. In addition, some results of ...empirical research, conveyed in Poland and aimed at diagnosis and assessment of Fairtrade products market, are provided. Fair trade is analysed not only in the broad theoretical context which shows its contribution to sustainable development and relation to corporate social responsibility, but also in the framework of supply chains management. The benefits from the Fairtrade label, including transaction costs reduction are indicated. The assumption is that to achieve them, consumer acceptance of the idea and willingness to buy Fairtrade products are necessary. The empirical research was focused on answering the question whether a market niche for Fairtrade goods exists in Poland and how to develop it by the means of communication tools. The market niche, although very small, has been identified and described. It is apparent that, in order to develop it, a public policy, aimed at raising the awareness of Fair Trade idea, is necessary as well as marketing activities like social marketing Internet campaigns and better and more prominently products display.
The aim of the paper is to show that in the global market, a retailer who is not experienced in a particular retail format could successfully develop it in a foreign market characterised by an ...obsolete market structure by benchmarking global companies. Thus, the retailer is able to create resources necessary for gaining competitive advantage and then develop them by introducing new routines, which helps it reach sustainable competitive advantage according to the Resource Based View. To justify this thesis, the case study of Biedronka is presented. The chain acquired its leader position in the discount FMCG market in Poland, although it did not have any experiences in this field from the home market. The company was able to sustain its position even when Lidl – a competitor having a much stronger market position – entered Poland by benchmarking its activities. The proven practice has created a new routine, in terms of RBV, for discount trade in Poland.
The aim of the paper is to show that there is a business case for sustainable development and how this concept interacts with corporate social responsibility. Although SD was originally a ...macroeconomics concept it is more and more implemented by businesses. Companies has started to include sustainable development goals in their corporate social responsibility strategies which are even sometimes replaced by sustainability strategies. By analogy to CSR it is shown that development of such strategies is not only a strategic necessity but also it could contribute to the competitive advantage of these companies. Theoretical considerations have been illustrated by presenting some examples from practice as well as the results of the desk research on corporate sustainability.
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