Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer

Vol. 12 No. 1 (2024)
March 2024

Articles

Is sustainability a cost, an obligation, or an opportunity? Evidence on sustainable entrepreneurship orientation from Poland

https://doi.org/10.15678/EBER.2023.120102

Published 2024-03-30

Anna Doś
University of Economics in Katowice

Francesco Pattarin
University of Modena e Reggio Emilia, Italy

Abstract

Objective: The objective of the article is to find if Polish managers exhibit a sustainable entrepreneurship orientation and to comprehend the factors driving this orientation.

Research Design & Methods: We conducted a factor analysis and regression analysis on data from an original survey on 301 managers of Polish companies.

Findings: We identified two orientations towards sustainability, i.e. as an opportunity, and a cost. Personal values, demographic characteristics, personal experience, and education affect perceptions of sustainability.

Implications & Recommendations: Some managers who work for large and middle enterprises see sustainability as an opportunity and are ready to take responsibility for facing social and environmental challenges. Companies and government need to find a way to unlock this potential. Having international experience and working for a company that is regularly involved in corporate social responsibility promotes such orientation.

Contribution & Value Added: This study is the first to diagnose sustainable entrepreneurship orientation in Poland – a country which urgently needs to adopt a sustainable development model. It is also the first study to analyse the societal factors behind sustainable entrepreneurship orientation.

       

Keywords

business sustainability, corporate social responsibility, sustainable entrepreneurship orientation, personal values, managerial experience, sustainable development

(PDF) Save

Author Biography

Anna Doś

Associate Professor at the Krakow University of Economics, Poland. Her research interests include social responsibility, sustainability, and finance.

Francesco Pattarin

Professor at the University of Modena e Reggio Emilia, Italy. His research interests include banking, financial markets, and econometrics.

References

  1. Alonso‐Almeida, M.D.M., Fernández de Navarrete, F.C., & Rodriguez‐Pomeda, J. (2015). Corporate social responsibility perception in business students as future managers: a multifactorial analysis. Business Ethics: A European Review, 24(1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1111/beer.12060
  2. Ameer, F., & Khan, N.R. (2022). Green entrepreneurial orientation and corporate environmental performance: A systemat-ic literature review. European Management Journal, 41(5), 755-778. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2022.04.003
  3. Amorelli, M.F., & García‐Sánchez, I.M. (2021). Trends in the dynamic evolution of board gender diversity and corporate social responsibility. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 28(2), 537-554. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.2079
  4. Bandura, A. (2002). Social cognitive theory in cultural context. Applied Psychology, 51(2), 269-290. https://doi.org/10.1111/1464-0597.00092
  5. Bartolacci, F., Caputo, A., & Soverchia, M. (2020). Sustainability and financial performance of small and me-dium sized enterprises: A bibliometric and systematic literature review. Business Strategy and the Envi-ronment, 29(3), 1297-1309. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2434
  6. Bos‐Brouwers, H.E.J. (2010). Corporate sustainability and innovation in SMEs: Evidence of themes and activi-ties in practice. Business Strategy and the Environment, 19(7), 417-435. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.652
  7. Chu, M.T., Blades, M., & Herbert, J. (2014). The development of children’s scepticism about advertising. In M. Blades, C. Oates, F. Blumberg, & B. Gunter (Eds.). Advertising to Children (pp. 38-49). Palgrave Mac-millan. London.
  8. Criado-Gomis, A., Cervera-Taulet, A., & Iniesta-Bonillo, M.A. (2017). Sustainable entrepreneurial orientation: A business strategic approach for sustainable development. Sustainability, 9(9), 1667. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9091667
  9. Criado-Gomis, A., Iniesta-Bonillo, M.Á., & Cervera-Taulet, A. (2018). Sustainable entrepreneurial orientation within an intrapreneurial context: effects on business performance. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 14, 295-308. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-018-0503-x
  10. De Bakker, F.G., Rasche. A., & Ponte, S. (2019). Multi-stakeholder initiatives on sustainability: A cross-disciplinary review and research agenda for business ethics. Business Ethics Quarterly, 29(3), 343-383. https://doi.org/10.1017/beq.2019.10
  11. Demirel, P., Li, Q.C., Rentocchini, F., & Tamvada, J.P. (2019). Born to be green: new insights into the econom-ics and management of green entrepreneurship. Small Business Economics, 52, 759-771. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-017-9933-z
  12. Dietz, T., & Stern, P.C. (1995). Toward a theory of choice: Socially embedded preference construction. The Journal of Socio-Economics, 24(2), 261-279. https://doi.org/10.1016/1053-5357(95)90022-5
  13. Doś, A., & Pattarin, F. (2021). Drivers of CSR anchoring in transition economies: Evidence from Poland. Busi-ness Ethics. The Environment & Responsibility, 30(4), 507-521. https://doi.org/10.1111/beer.12363
  14. Elving, W.J. (2013). Scepticism and corporate social responsibility communications: the influence of fit and reputation. Journal of Marketing Communications, 19(4), 277-292. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527266.2011.631569
  15. Feder, M., & Weißenberger, B.E. (2019). Understanding the behavioral gap: Why would managers (not) en-gage in CSR-related activities?. Journal of Management Control, 30(1), 95-126. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00187-019-00275-y
  16. Font, X., & McCabe, S. (2017). Sustainability and marketing in tourism: Its contexts. paradoxes. approaches. challenges and potential. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 25(7), 869-883. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2017.1301721
  17. Fox, J., & Weisberg, S. (2019). An R Companion to Applied Regression. Third edition. Sage. Thousand Oaks CA. Retrieved from https://socialsciences.mcmaster.ca/jfox/Books/Companion/ on November 22, 2022.
  18. Friedman, M. (1970). The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits. New York Times Maga-zine. September 13th. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/1970/09/13/archives/a-friedman-doctrine-the-social-responsibility-of-business-is-to.html on November 11, 2022.
  19. Fuentes, S., & Valenzuela-Garcia, H. (2019). A crossroads for social entrepreneurship: profits versus ethics. Open Journal of Business and Management, 7(2), 848-860. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojbm.2019.72058
  20. Garçon, M.M., Nassif, V.M.J., & de Lima, T.J.S. (2021). Individual social entrepreneurial orientation in Brazil: measurement and the predictive role of personal values and attitude toward social change. Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, 14(2), 340-360. https://doi.org/10.14211/regepe.v10i1.2008
  21. Godos-Díez, J.L., Fernández-Gago, R., & Cabeza-García, L. (2015). Business education and idealism as deter-minants of stakeholder orientation. Journal of Business Ethics, 131, 439-452. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/24703513 on November 2, 2022.
  22. Hahn, T., Figge, F., Pinkse, J., & Preuss, L. (2018). A paradox perspective on corporate sustainability: Descrip-tive instrumental and normative aspects. Journal of Business Ethics, 148, 235-248. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-017-3587-2
  23. Heath, P., Houston-Price, C., & Kennedy, O.B. (2011). Increasing food familiarity without the tears. A role for visual exposure?. Appetite, 57(3), 832-838. https://doi.org/v10.1016/j.appet.2011.05.315
  24. Hernández-Perlines, F., & Rung-Hoch, N. (2017). Sustainable entrepreneurial orientation in family firms. Sustainability, 9(7), 1212. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9071212
  25. Hom, P.W., & Kinicki, A.J. (2001). Toward a greater understanding of how dissatisfaction drives employee turnover. Academy of Management Journal, 44(5), 975-987. https://doi.org/10.2307/3069441
  26. Hooi, H.C., Ahmad, N.H., Amran, A., & Rahman, S.A. (2016). The functional role of entrepreneurial orienta-tion and entrepreneurial bricolage in ensuring sustainable entrepreneurship. Management Research Review, 39(12), 1616-1638.
  27. Jones, T.M., & Felps, W. (2013). Stakeholder happiness enhancement: A neo-utilitarian objective for the modern corporation. Business Ethics Quarterly, 23(3), 349-379. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/41968869 on November 3, 2022.
  28. Kirkwood, J., & Walton, S. (2010). What motivates ecopreneurs to start businesses?. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 16(3), 204-228. https://doi.org/10.1108/13552551011042799
  29. Knight, K. (2006). Transformations of the Concept of Ideology in the Twentieth Century. American Political Science Review, 100(4), 619-626. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/27644391 on November 2, 2022.
  30. Kraus, S., Burtscher, J., Vallaster, C., & Angerer, M. (2018). Sustainable entrepreneurship orientation: Reflec-tion on status-quo research on factors facilitating responsible managerial practices. In Sustainable En-trepreneurship (pp. 75-98). Routledge.
  31. Lämsä, A.M., Vehkaperä, M., Puttonen, T., & Pesonen, H.L. (2008). Effect of business education on women and men students’ attitudes on corporate responsibility in society. Journal of Business Ethics, 82(1), 45-58.
  32. Lewis, B.W., Walls, J.L., & Dowell, G.W. (2014). Difference in degrees: CEO characteristics and firm environ-mental disclosure. Strategic Management Journal, 35(5), 712-722. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2127
  33. Liobikienė, G., Liobikas, J., Brizga, J., & Juknys, R. (2020). Materialistic values impact on pro-environmental behavior: The case of transition country as Lithuania. Journal of Cleaner Production, 244, 118859. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.118859
  34. Long, J.S., & Ervin, L.H. (2000). Using heteroscedasity consistent standard errors in the linear regression model. The American Statistician, 54, 217-224. https://doi.org/10.1080/00031305.2000.10474549
  35. McCauley, D., Pettigrew, K.A., Todd, I., & Milchram, C. (2023). Leaders and laggards in the pursuit of an EU just transition. Ecological Economics, 205, 107699. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2022.107699
  36. McWilliams, A., Siegel, D.S., & Wright, P.M. (2006). Corporate social responsibility: Strategic implications. Journal of Management Studies, 43(1), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2006.00580.x
  37. Muñoz, P., & Cohen, B. (2018). Sustainable entrepreneurship research: Taking stock and looking ahead. Business Strategy and the Environment, 27(3), 300-322. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2000
  38. Muñoz, P., & Dimov, D. (2015). The call of the whole in understanding the development of sustainable ven-tures. Journal of Business Venturing, 30(4), 632-654. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2014.07.012
  39. Parboteeah, K.P., Addae, H.M., & Cullen, J.B. (2012). Propensity to support sustainability initiatives: A cross-national model. Journal of Business Ethics, 105, 403-413. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-0979-6
  40. Potocki. T. (2015). Corporate social responsibility in Poland: From theory to practice. In S.O. Idowu, R. Schmidpeter & M.S. Fifka (Eds.). Corporate social responsibility in Europe (pp. 245-269). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13566-3_14
  41. Pratono, A.H., Darmasetiawan, N.K., Yudiarso, A., & Jeong, B.G. (2019). Achieving sustainable competitive advantage through green entrepreneurial orientation and market orientation: The role of inter-organizational learning. The Bottom Line, 32(1), 2-15. https://doi.org/10.1108/BL-10-2018-0045
  42. Quazi, A.M., & O’Brien, D. (2000). An empirical test of a cross-national model of corporate social responsibil-ity. Journal of Business Ethics, 25(1), 33-51. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/25074298 on November 4, 2022.
  43. R Core Team (2021). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Vienna. Austria. Retrieved from https://www.R-project.org/ no November 2, 2022.
  44. Revelle, W. (2023). psych: Procedures for Psychological. Psychometric. and Personality Research. Northwest-ern University. Evanston. Illinois. R package version 2.3.9. Retrieved from https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=psych on November 2, 2022.
  45. Rivera, J., & De Leon, P. (2005). Chief executive officers and voluntary environmental performance: Costa Rica’s certification for sustainable tourism. Policy Sciences, 38(2-3), 107-127. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11077-005-6590-x
  46. Rokeach, M. (1973). The Nature of Human Values. 438, New York: Free press.
  47. Rossell, Y. (2012). lavaan: An R Package for Structural Equation Modeling. Journal of Statistical Software, 48(2), 1-36. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v048.i02
  48. Sagiv, L., Roccas, S., Cieciuch, J., & Schwartz, S.H. (2017). Personal values in human life. Nature Human Behav-iour. 1(9), 630. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-017-0185-3
  49. Schrettle, S., Hinz, A., Scherrer-Rathje, M., & Friedli, T. (2014). Turning sustainability into action: Explaining firms’ sustainability efforts and their impact on firm performance. International Journal of Production Economics, 147, 73-84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2013.02.030
  50. Stern, P.C., Dietz, T., & Guagnano, G.A. (1995). The new ecological paradigm in social-psychological context. Environment and Behavior, 27(6), 723-743. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916595276001
  51. Stern, P.C., Dietz, T., & Guagnano, G.A. (1995). The new ecological paradigm in social-psychological context. Environment and Behavior, 27(6), 723-743. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916595276001
  52. Tenner, I., & Hörisch, J. (2021). Crowdfunding sustainable entrepreneurship: What are the characteristics of crowdfunding investors?. Journal of Cleaner Production, 290, 125667. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125667
  53. Thelken, H.N., & de Jong, G. (2020). The impact of values and future orientation on intention formation within sustainable entrepreneurship. Journal of Cleaner Production, 266, 122052. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122052
  54. Tormo‐Carbó, G., Oltra, V., Klimkiewicz, K., & Seguí‐Mas, E. (2019). Don’t try to teach me. I got nothing to learn: Management students’ perceptions of business ethics teaching. Business Ethics: A European Re-view, 28(4), 506-528. https://doi.org/10.1111/beer.12236
  55. Wood, R., & Bandura, A. (1989). Social cognitive theory of organizational management. Academy of Man-agement Review, 14(3), 361-384. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMR.1989.4279067
  56. World Values Survey Association. (2008). World Values Survey 2005 official data file. v.20081015. Madrid: ASEP/JDS. Retrieved from http://www.worldvaluessurvey.com on November 12, 2008.
  57. Wu, W., Wang, H., Lee, H.Y., Lin, Y.T., & Guo, F. (2019). How Machiavellianism. psychopathy. and narcissism affect sustainable entrepreneurial orientation: the moderating effect of psychological resilience. Fron-tiers in Psychology, 10, 779. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00779
  58. Yasir, N., Xia, R., & Zhang, J. (2022). The impact of personal values and attitude toward sustainable entre-preneurship on entrepreneurial intention to enhance sustainable development: empirical evidence from Pakistan. Sustainability, 14(11), 6792.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Similar Articles

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.