Melinda Ratkai

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a pivotal role in advancing sustainability, yet many struggle to translate voluntary sustainability practices into structured, strategic business models. This study examines how this gap can be bridged between voluntary certification frameworks and emerging regulatory requirements, with a specific focus on workforce-related sustainability reporting under the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). Using a qualitative case study of a Green Globe-certified, family-owned hotel, the research conducts a comparative gap analysis between existing organisational practices and corporate disclosure requirements, applying a Policy–Action–Target–Metric (PAT&M) framework. The findings reveal strong alignment in Policies and Actions (89%) but limited alignment in Targets and Metrics (14%), indicating a gap between sustainability activities and strategic performance management. The results highlight the need to transition from compliance-oriented initiatives to integrated, data-driven management systems. The findings also suggest that voluntary certification schemes, such as Green Globe, can be a useful first step in order to achieve better corporate reporting capabilities related to environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. As practical implications, a roadmap solution is proposed to support system-level integration, transparency, and measurable outcomes for better business resilience.

Click to launch & play an online audio visual presentation by Dr. Melinda Ratkai on Resource loop for circular economy: hotel composting project, part of a collection of multimedia lectures.

The case study delves into the complex issue of CO2 footprint from three distinct viewpoints: sustainability, legislative, and managerial. Each perspective offers unique insights into the challenges and opportunities of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions using scope 1, 2, and 3 data. From a sustainability viewpoint, students are encouraged to explore the concept of CO2 footprint within the broader context of ESG considerations. Key questions delve into understanding sustainability frameworks, assessing the impact of CO2 emissions on ecosystems and communities, and exploring strategies for carbon footprint reduction aligned with sustainability goals. From the legislative perspective, students examine the regulatory landscape governing CO2 emissions. Students learn how legal frameworks shape corporate behavior by studying global sustainability goals such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), and national legislation. Discussion questions focus on analyzing the effectiveness of existing regulations, identifying gaps, and proposing regulatory strategies to incentivize carbon reduction. The managerial perspective emphasizes decision-making and goal-setting within organizations. Students explore how managers can leverage data on CO2 footprint to set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals for departments or individuals. This involves understanding the role of carbon accounting, evaluating trade-offs in sustainability initiatives, and exploring best practices in integrating sustainability into organizational strategy. The case encourages critical thinking and data analysis, allowing educators to pose additional questions based on student interests and course objectives. The rich dataset allows for extensive exploration beyond the core questions, facilitating interdisciplinary learning across various courses. Ultimately, the case is a versatile teaching tool that can be applied to courses focusing on sustainability, environmental studies, business ethics, managerial decision-making, and public policy. It equips students with the knowledge and skills to navigate the multifaceted challenges of reducing their CO2 footprint while advancing sustainable practices within organizations and society.

The football industry stands as an important economic sector in numerous countries, sparking scholarly discussions on the multifaceted nature of interconnected objectives and the influence of financial, accounting, and management elements on athletic performance. This discussion has gained prominence following the implementation of Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations, which have substantially reshaped industry management practices. This study introduces two innovative models—financial and sporting—that employ data envelopment analysis (DEA) to evaluate the performance of Spanish league football clubs within the context of FFP regulations. These models illuminate a crucial aspect of sports economic theory: the balancing act between financial and sporting objectives. Moreover, our analysis explores the influence of FFP on the efficiency of the Spanish league by comparing club proximity to the best practice frontier before and after FFP implementation. Our findings uncover intriguing differentiations within the proposed models and across various club clusters, providing valuable insights into the nuanced interplay among finance, accounting, and sports management.

The purpose of this systematic literature review is to provide the state of the art, trends and thematic features in the field of accounting and finances of football teams applying the PRISMA guidelines. Seventy-five studies published after the Bosman Act (1995) were included from the most relevant databases: WoS and Scopus. The lines of research included in the analysis were financial performance, sport performance and legislative performance. The synthesis of studies revealed that the scientific output has evolved over time and changes have been detected both on a sporting and scientific level with the introduction of the Financial Fair Play (2012), which is changing the business model of the football industry towards more efficient financial and accounting decision making, which might help the achievement of sporting objectives. Useful policy conclusions such as valuation of intangibles, influence of results on clubs' share prices and directions for future research on football finance are also included in the paper. El objetivo de esta revisión bibliográfica sistemática es proporcionar el estado de la cuestión, las tendencias y las características temáticas en el campo de la contabilidad y las finanzas de los equipos de fútbol aplicando las directrices PRISMA. Se incluyeron 75 estudios publicados después de la Ley Bosman (1995) procedentes de las bases de datos más relevantes: WoS y Scopus. Las líneas de investigación incluidas en el análisis fueron el rendimiento financiero, el rendimiento deportivo y el rendimiento legislativo. La síntesis de los estudios reveló que la producción científica ha evolucionado con el tiempo y se han detectado cambios tanto a nivel deportivo como científico con la introducción del Fair Play Financiero (2012), que está cambiando el modelo de negocio de la industria del fútbol hacia una toma de decisiones financieras y contables más eficientes, lo que podría ayudar a la consecución de los objetivos deportivos. También se incluyen en el trabajo conclusiones útiles como la valoración de intangibles, la influencia de los resultados en el precio de las acciones de los clubes y orientaciones para futuras investigaciones sobre las finanzas del fútbol.

This paper analyses the impact of Financial Fair Play (FFP) on clubs’ finances and on the relationship between them and clubs’ sporting outcomes in the Spanish league. To this end, financial ratios and accounting variables obtained from the clubs’ own annual accounts, published from 2004 to 2019, are analysed, and the Mann–Whitney test is used to describe which differences are significant. The objective is threefold: firstly, we describe the financial/accounting structures of Spanish league football clubs, showing how both their financial statements and ratios have evolved after the application of this law, providing evidence of whether FFP is an adequate tool to guarantee the long-term viability and sustainability of football clubs, as intended by the UEFA. Secondly, we show the relationship between financial/accounting performance and sporting results. Thirdly, the paper looks at whether FFP has impacted the gap between the top clubs and the rest. The results show that, after the implementation of FFP, clubs’ financial/accounting health has improved, and a change in their efficiency in this regard can be observed. Although FFP is a tool that achieves the objective for which it was created, the possibility that the gap between the elite clubs and the rest may be increasing should not be ignored.

The objective of this article is to provide an initial assessment of Facebook use by Western European municipalities considering two aspects: citizens’ engagement and municipalities’ activity. Data on 75 local governments in 15 countries were collected and tested for both government use and citizens’ engagement. Findings show that the use of Facebook by Western European local governments has become commonplace. The audiences of the official Facebook pages are rather high, but citizen engagement in general is low. Activity levels by municipalities and engagement levels by citizens in general terms are not statistically related to municipality characteristics, Facebook page metrics, or the technological readiness of the population. It seems that channel activity is more a decision on the part of local governments than a consequence of citizen demand. This article proposes a methodology that can be used in future research to measure citizen engagement on social media (SM) platforms. Furthermore, this research highlights the importance that local governments attach to clearly establishing the main purpose of their SM accounts to avoid frustration on the part of citizens that can lead to distrust and reduce the chances that citizens will invest their resources, time, and knowledge in participation.

Information systems (IS) may not improve organizational and/or companies’ performance if they are not used by stakeholders. Understanding why people continue or discontinue use of IS is crucial in increasing users’ acceptance. This article aims to analyze what is needed to perpetuate use of Facebook as a social media channel. Factors such as confirmation, perceived usefulness, social influence, satisfaction and attitude were tested for their impact on continued use intention in relation to Facebook. The inter-relations between the aforementioned constructs are tested with empirical data collected from 732 European university students. We found that social influence essentially had no effect within the model, so it seems that intention to continue using Facebook is affected mainly by stakeholders’/users’ attitude toward using this platform. Although we based the research on the IS Continuance Model, this article has extended its dimensions by incorporating (1) social influence and (2) attitude, offering the first investigation of continued use intention in relation to Facebook by testing the inter-relations between the aforementioned factors.