The practice of ethical management has gained traction due to its role in enhancing stakeholder relations, which can have severe repercussions for organisations. By prioritising ethics, companies not only uphold moral principles but also gain a competitive advantage. This is particularly true in societies that value socially responsible business and give preference to companies that go beyond the requirements of the law. Understanding the significance of ethical management practices is therefore becoming key to creating a responsible and sustainable business environment that benefits both an organisation and its stakeholders, such as employees, consumers and society. The purpose of this article is to present a comprehensive exploration of the impact of selected aspects of ethical management in Slovak companies with foreign participation on the ethicality of their relationships with stakeholders. By examining a range of factors related to ethical management, the article seeks to identify statistically significant differences among companies with different approaches to managing business ethics. Employing this analysis, the article contributes to the understanding of ethical practices in Slovak companies and provides insights for academics and practitioners of business ethics. The data used for this analysis was collected through an online questionnaire survey, resulting in a sample size of 179 monitored subjects, all of whom are Slovak companies with foreign participation. The research design included two groups of factors: “general factors of business ethics” or “ethical management approaches” and “ethicality of company-stakeholder relationships.” The statistical analysis included the Shapiro-Wilk normality test, followed by the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis H test, and post hoc analysis using the Bonferroni adjustment for previously identified significances. The results of the research presented in the article indicate a predominantly positive ethical stance towards employees, suppliers, customers and other stakeholders among Slovak companies. Statistically significant differences were found in the levels of ethicality in relation to legal form, with limited liability and joint-stock companies showing different perceptions towards supplier ethics. The research also proves that an ethical organisational climate is a major determinant of the ethicality of Slovak companies and suggests that a robust integration of ethics into strategic planning significantly improves their stakeholder relations. It can also be concluded that the scope of a code of ethics is particularly significant for community relations, whereas the frequency with which it is updated has less impact. This research holds significant value because it explores the impact of ethical management practices on stakeholder relations and ethical issues in Slovak companies with foreign participation. By focusing on the specific context of Slovak companies, the research offers unique insights into the relationship between ethical management factors and stakeholder dynamics. This research aims to bridge a gap by shedding light on the intricate dynamics between ethical management and stakeholder relations. The findings provide valuable guidance to organisational leaders, policymakers and stakeholders in fostering ethical behaviour and mitigating ethical risks within companies.

Localization is globally accepted as the strategy towards attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this article, we put forth the South Indian state of Kerala as a true executor of the localization of SDGs owing to her foundational framework of decentralized governance. We attempt to understand how the course of decentralization acts as a development trajectory and how it has paved the way for the effective assimilation of localization principles post-2015 by reviewing the state documents based on the framework propounded by the United Nations. We theorize that the well-established decentralization mechanism, with delegated institutions and functions thereof, encompasses overlapping mandates with the SDGs. Further, through the tools of development plan formulation, good governance, and community participation at decentralized levels, Kerala could easily adapt to localization, concocting output through innovative measures of convergence, monitoring, and incentivization carried out through the pre-existing platforms and processes. The article proves that constant and concerted efforts undertaken by Kerala through her meticulous and action-oriented decentralized system aided the localization of SDGs and provides an answer to the remarkable feat that the state has achieved through the consecutive four times achievements in the state scores of SDG India Index.

This study investigates the impact of tourism and institutional quality on environmental preservation, utilizing principal component analysis to generate three composite indices of environmental sustainability for 134 countries from 2002 to 2020. The results reveal that environmental sustainability indices have generally improved in lower- and middle-income nations but have declined in certain high-income countries. The findings also underscore the critical role of institutional quality—particularly regulatory standards, government effectiveness, anti-corruption efforts, and adherence to legal frameworks—in promoting environmental sustainability. However, the study shows that both domestic and international tourism expenditures can have adverse effects on environmental sustainability. Notably, these negative effects are exacerbated in countries with well-developed institutions, which is an unexpected outcome. This highlights the need for careful, thoughtful policymaking to ensure that the tourism sector supports sustainable development, rather than undermining environmental objectives.

This study explores the pivotal factors influencing the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in the banking sector of Vietnam, focusing on the perceptions of its benefits, the competence of accountants, the involvement of managers, and the guidance from the accounting and auditing community. Employing Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) on data collected from 236 professionals across accounting, auditing, banking, and finance, the research reveals that the perceived benefits of IFRS, active managerial participation, and advice from the accounting-auditing community significantly encourage the adoption of IFRS within Vietnamese commercial banks. Interestingly, the competence of accountants was not identified as a significant determinant. These findings suggest a nuanced landscape of IFRS adoption, emphasizing the importance of managerial support and community guidance over individual accountant competence. The study contributes to the broader discourse on IFRS adoption, offering actionable insights for banks, policymakers, and potentially applicable strategies for firms in Vietnam or similarly positioned economies on the path to IFRS compliance.

This research study aims 1) to create a structural equation model for sports sponsorship of halal products in Thailand and 2) to examine the direct and indirect influence of variables that are components of the structural equation model for halal products, specifically in the context of becoming a sports sponsorship for halal products in Thailand. The study focused on a sample group of Thai Muslims interested in watching and following the news and participating in Thai sporting events. The researcher chose a sample size of 400 participants from this population, excluding backup data gathering and data analysis, to ensure the questionnaire’s quality and dependability. The results of the data analysis from the structural equation model created show that it is consistent with empirical data. The results of the statistical hypothesis test reveal that the level of religious adherence and the level of awareness of entering into sponsorship have both direct and indirect influences on consumer attitudes and purchase intentions with statistical significance at 0.01. It can also be identified that if a sponsor increases awareness among Muslim viewers through branding or product presentations in events that feature halal symbols or indicate compliance with religious standards, it will lead to a more positive attitude and higher purchase intentions. This insight can be applied to marketing promotion in administrative regions or countries where the majority of the population is Muslim.