Our paper focuses on the transformation of the concept of sustainable business leadership (especially regarding the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the post-COVID-19 era. The COVID-19 pandemic is without question posing a generation-defining challenge for public health and the global economy. Moreover, the pandemic has revived some old and introduced many new threats that today’s business leaders will have to face in the years to come. Despite the fact that the COVID-19 crisis was a humanitarian tragedy that continues to ravage millions of lives, it can also be viewed as an excellent opportunity to restart sustainable economic development as well as to help our business and economy to shift towards real business corporate social responsibility and ethical decision-making (thanks to the reduction in carbon emissions as a result of reduced economic activity and travel, increasing investments into healthcare and education, or finding the new ways for working and learning, such as remote work and online education). Our paper examines the effect of small entrepreneurs’ perceptions of CSR on their daily business under the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper features an empirical model that assesses the implementation of CSR practices and principles (social responsibility, environmental sustainability, or ecological governance) after the COVID-19 pandemic. The model investigates whether the factors internal to the company might influence the enhancement of the CSR principles. The model is based on our own data obtained from the 450 online questionnaire surveys conducted with managers of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Czech Republic and the Russian Federation. The two countries in question have been selected due to their similarities and, at the same time, differences regarding their geopolitical orientation, pathways of economic transformation, and attitudes to sustainable development policies and embracing SDGs. Our results demonstrate that the business type, as well as the ownership structure, positively impacts the introduction of CSR and sustainable development principles in SMEs in question, while the company’s age has a negative impact. Our results might be of special importance for the stakeholders and business owners wishing to enhance CSR practices and promote sustainable economic development in their enterprises in the post-COVID era.
This paper focuses on social and economic stability, as well as sustainable development, in the post-COVID era in light of the recent theoretical approaches and leadership practices. As governments worldwide resorted to repeated national- and regional-specific impositions of social and economic isolation in an (often failed) attempt to contain the spread of the coronavirus, their economies have been plunged into recessions, which have been deeper than those associated with the global financial crisis in the past. Successful business and economic leaders need to be aware of the dominant trends unfolding as the COVID-19 pandemic is gradually coming to its end and the New Globalization (a new era of international economy and international relations after COVID-19) is materializing. With global living, international travel, and trade interconnected, businesses need to plan for handling the future outbreaks and their economic, as well as social, consequences. The aim of this paper is to draw the lessons for business and economic leaders in the post-COVID era with a focus on the new trends and challenges for the sustainable development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The paper also presents an empirical model that assesses the novel ways of doing business and innovating using the sustainable economic practices after the COVID-19 pandemic. The model employs our own data collected from 450 managers and owners of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Czech Republic and Russia. Our results show that innovation and digitalization (e.g., smart metering or the Internet of Things (IoT)) are becoming the main drivers of the sustainable economic transformation of small and medium enterprises in the post-pandemic period. These results might be useful for both academic researchers and business practitioners searching for new pathways for innovating their sustainable business practices and recreating their customer base in the post-COVID era.
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