Thesis supervisor: Gergely Tóth
Location of studies (in Hungarian): Gazdaságtudományi Kar-Pénzügy és Közgazdaságtan Tanszék Abbreviation of location of studies: GTKPT
Description of the research topic:
Since the appearance of a strong need for sustainable development (1987), pressure on the corporate sector has been constantly increasing. They are urged to compensate their profit from contributing to negative externalities with taking a decisive part in solving global problems. An extensive array of tools and measures has been established from environmental management systems to environmentally sound products. In Hungary environmental management and cleaner production has a history of at least two decades.
The primary goal of our research is to compose a sort of inventory, to establish a composite indicator, and to evaluate companies with this indicator. Possible elements of the newly developed indicator:
1. Certified environmental management system (ISO 14001, EMAS, ISO 26000), and their content.
2. Environmental, EHS, CSR, EMAS and sustainability reports (and certified reports).
3. Environmental measures of companies and their publication (participation in programs).
4. CSR and sustainability measures (CSR Best Practice, CSR Market, etc.)
5. Membership in sustainability business networks (e.g. KÖVET, BCSDH, HBLF, MAF).
6. Social Enterprises, Alternative Entrepreneurs.
7. Related professional awards.
Our other goal is to envision new, sustainability focused business models and to decide, if traditional sustainability management practices (the seven points above) will lead to what we call deep social responsibility. We will apply and expand the Truly Responsible Enterprise (2007) model for this purpose.