Assessment of Corporate Governance as a Key Component of Corporate Social Responsibility: A Case Study of a Water and Wastewater Utility

Elzbieta Pawlowska, Joanna Machnik-Slomka, Iwona Klosok-Bazan () and Miroslava Gono
Additional contact information
Elzbieta Pawlowska: Department of Management, Faculty of Organization and Management, Silesian University of Technology, Roosevelta 26, 41-800 Zabrze, Poland
Joanna Machnik-Slomka: Department of Management, Faculty of Organization and Management, Silesian University of Technology, Roosevelta 26, 41-800 Zabrze, Poland
Iwona Klosok-Bazan: Department of Thermal Engineering and Industrial Facilities, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Opole University of Technology, Mikolajczyka 5, 45-271 Opole, Poland
Miroslava Gono: Department of Electrical Power Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, VSB–Technical University of Ostrava, 17. Listopadu 2172/15, 708-00 Ostrava, Czech Republic

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 18, 1-26

Abstract: The article discusses corporate governance, which is a core area of corporate social responsibility (CSR) currently receiving a lot of attention from both researchers and practitioners. The article aims to assess corporate governance in the water and wastewater sector within the context of CSR. The rationale for researching this topic was the lack of scientific studies in this area. The rationale for researching this topic was the lack of scientific studies in this area. To this end, in accordance with the developed research methodology, a literature analysis was used to demonstrate the originality of the problem, as well as the case study method to analyze complex phenomena. To achieve this goal, a survey was conducted of a selected company from the water and sewage industry. Statistical analysis methods were used to verify the research hypotheses. The results show that corporate governance and its individual factors are at a relatively high level. This indicates that the way the organization is managed enables the effective implementation and monitoring of activities related to CSR. From a practical perspective, it is important to further strengthen internal communication, increase legal awareness among staff, and develop managerial skills in the area of employee motivation. The research conducted makes a significant contribution to the development of science, confirming the importance of corporate governance, in which ethics and legal compliance play a key role in shaping a socially responsible organization.

Keywords: corporate governance; corporate social responsibility; water and wastewater sector (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/18/8492/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/18/8492/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:18:p:8492-:d:1755068

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().