Knowledge management as a component of sustainable development in Covid-19 time
[ 1 ] Instytut Zarządzania i Systemów Informacyjnych, Wydział Inżynierii Zarządzania, Politechnika Poznańska | [ P ] employee
2022
abstract
english
EN Purpose: The aim of this publication is to present considerations of knowledge management as a component of sustainable development during Covid-19, i.e. to determine the impact of the pandemic caused by the SARS-COV-2 virus on the achievement of the goals of the global development agenda defined in the form of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Anthropocene era. Methodology: In order to achieve the primary objective, an analysis of the impact of Covid-19 on the implementation of sustainable development goals by companies in Poland was carried out on two survey samples: N1=500 i N2=200, which were conducted by IBRiS on behalf of EY. Secondary data, available until June 2022, was included in the global analysis of SDG implementation. To obtain the results, mainly quantitative research was carried out, in which numerical measures were used to characterise social phenomena or their change in particular ranges, as well as descriptive statistics: tables, figures and charts calculating statistical trends and differences in 2020-2022, to establish the existence of relationships between the studied criteria. Findings: The pandemic has a serious and negative impact on most of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Epidemiological policies have relaxed since 2022 which has reduced the obstacles to economic development that coronavirus has directly been. The number of business areas that have had to reorganise at a time of restrictions: in employment, rising commodity prices, disrupted supply chains and changes to the tax system have meant that the economic environment is perceived to be even more turbulent than anticipated. An EY survey conducted in January 2022 found that 27% of respondents viewed their economic condition negatively, with 72% of respondents viewing the overall global economic condition in this way, pointing to: higher costs of doing business and problems hiring the right employees as the most significant. It is not knowledge, awareness and responsibility (KM) of business that is the basis for real action on sustainable development (SD), but national and EU regulations (86% of respondents), compliance with which ensures the possibility of doing business, inspires confidence of customers 118 and business partners. Sustainable development (SD) principles are inscribed in the strategy of 31% of companies. At the same time, the free market itself has the greatest influence on the implementation of changes: the expectations set for entrepreneurs enforce not only having a strategy and mission of the company compliant with the principles of sustainable development (SD), but also post-pandemic expectations of customers and contractors. Efforts to incorporate sustainable development (SD) principles into corporate governance objectives were declared by 48% of respondents, while 27% of respondents do not foresee actions even in this respect in the next 2-3 years of their activity, due to the need to incur additional costs related to the consequence of economic strictures caused by COVID-19. Thus, among the possible paths for achieving the Sustainable Development (SD) goals, does the "future shock" defined by Alvin Toffler assuming in the third wave the emergence of new technologies enabling "unlimited communication between individuals thanks to the development of services and moving away from mass production" become another possible path for the transformation of the consumer world to a world coexisting in a sustainable manner? Practical implications: The pandemic has and will have a significant and negative impact on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SD). However, the final impact of the pandemic on the achievement of the SDGs can only be examined after the pandemic has ended. The scenario after analysis of data from 2020-2022 predicts that the pandemic will prevent most of the development goals from being met. Key areas to support global security include: - effective and rapid dissemination of best economic practices - dissemination of both products: new medicines and vaccines, and basic knowledge about their legitimacy - placing general interests above the particular economic interests of individual countries and industries and planning and implementing government policies with a time horizon of decades, covering many electoral cycles - redirecting economic planning towards long-term thinking - as well as other measures in terms of: subsidies, incentive programmes, or awarenessraising activities to offset lack of public understanding and resistance to change. 119 An important element is also the construction of integrated database systems (KM) and reliable metrics to realistically measure the well-being of individual countries based on actual exploitation and consumption consistent with sustainable development (SD). Originality: The pandemic is not over and forecasts of its impact are regularly updated and increasingly worrying, hence the issue is not only topical but, in the face of Russia's aggression against Ukraine, relegated to the background, despite the continuing threat. Gaps in government statistics, delays in their publication and sometimes reluctance to share information result in gaps in data, creating the need for global investment in the creation of statistical programs and tools, unified and coordinated between both the governments of the world and the various commercial segments, which are sensitive to both individual state economies and the world of science. Hence, all publications on both the ongoing discourse and debate should contribute to raising awareness of the need for transformational change and the obligatory nature of policy choices at all levels: municipal, provincial, national, European and global.
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