This paper aims to identify the costs of capital in a group of companies from the energy sector by including an investor and market risk approach. The study also concerns the company’s Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) cost intra-industry analysis related to sector characteristics such as total assets, revenues, market capitalization, and companies’ age. In order to assess the intergroup relationships, basic correlation relationships were compared and a nonparametric test of variance was performed. The period under study covered the years 2015–2019. The conducted research evaluates groups of companies that dedicated their activity to a particular energy intra-industry division under numerous regulations in Europe. The study contributes to assessing the level of risk among energy listed companies in European capital markets based on capital structure valuation. The study results underline the role of the cost of equity financing, which was twice as high as the cost of debt. The highest WACC was related to the Beta indicator that also expressed the political and regulatory risk over the investigated period. Across debt cost analysis, the role of effective tax rate decreased the level of WACC. The highest level of WACC was noticed among uranium and integrated oil and gas companies. The study contributes to information asymmetry theory related to the cost of capital assumptions.

The last three years have been a period of many challenges related to the dynamically changing conditions of the economic environment. Among these many changes, some of the most important for the further functioning of private and public entities are those related to the instability of the energy market. Rapidly rising energy prices increase the costs of implementing public tasks. They also greatly increase the search for innovative, energy-saving and environmentally friendly ways of performing municipal tasks. The main aim of the article is to present the concept of a smart village as an instrument for the implementation of public tasks in rural areas. The theoretical basis of the smart village concept is the basic point of reference. The implementation of the assumptions of the smart village concept in Poland gives municipalities the possibility of an innovative approach to the implementation of local public services. In addition, examples of good practices implemented by rural local communities that can act as models for other groups of residents are also included. It was essential, from the point of view of measurable effects, to identify potential limitations and hazards in the implementation of the smart village concept, which may be identified in the outermost regions. Analysis and critical literature review were used to achieve the article’s goals. These methods are characteristic for review publications. At the beginning, we presented the theoretical foundations of the smart village concept. Secondly, we indicated how the smart village concept contributes to the improvement in public service delivery in rural areas. The authors demonstrated that there is no universal model for each unit. A smart village will implement solutions tailored to economic, social, cultural, and natural conditions.

Purpose: This article aimed to identify CSR activities undertaken by companies from various countries during the pandemic. The authors have based their systematics of activities on empirical research conducted among the managerial staff of enterprises in Poland, Belgium, and Ukraine. Design/Methodology/Approach: To check how and whether the CSR strategy was implemented among socially responsible enterprises during the COVID 19 pandemic, pilot studies were carried out among middle and senior management in July -August 2020. These studies were carried out in Poland, Ukraine, and Belgium. Authors used a diagnostic survey, interview technique, and a research tool in the form of an interview questionnaire. Findings: Socially responsible enterprises should be mainly involved in the fight against Covid-19 in a pandemic. All respondents confirmed that their employer had taken extraordinary measures to protect the employees against the coronavirus. Practical implications: The article identifies the actions of corporate social responsibility undertaken and indicates the gap that has not been taken. According to the authors, this is especially important at the threshold of the fourth wave of the pandemic. Originality/Value: During the crisis, social expectations towards the most prominent brands are growing, conducive to gaining new customers and building ties. Customers and local communities appreciate all support activities used by companies around the world. Companies from Poland, Belgium, and Ukraine focus on initiatives that mitigate the effects of the crisis and support society. Undoubtedly, support in purchasing masks, respirators for hospitals, MS Teams training for teachers, or employee volunteering in nursing homes were significant.

Employment and the competencies of employees in the energy sector are coming into particular prominence in economies around the world. It is one of the few sectors positively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, a significant global change in the awareness of society occurred in favor of increasing pro-health and pro-environmental activities, which can be seen in the green transformation. Poland can also boast such changes in recent years, as evidenced by the dynamic development of renewable energy sources (boom for photovoltaics) and the increase in prosumption. Correlated with this is the increase in demand for employees with specific competencies, the so-called multi-competencies that are a compilation of technical, business, and soft and hard competencies, as well as interdisciplinary ones. The paper emphasizes the need to better adjust the education system to the real needs of the labor market in a turbulent environment with the use of the Sectoral Qualifications Framework in Energy, developed in cooperation with stakeholders from the industry. Therefore, the authors analyzed the employment structure in the energy sector in Poland, with particular emphasis on the factors and conditions of this structure and made an attempt to identify and create a competency profile of employees in this area. For the purposes of this article, two key research problems were formulated: What are the key competencies of employees in the energy sector? How is employment changing in this area? The following research hypothesis was also put forward: The transformation of the energy sector towards green energy affects the increase in employment in this area and the increase in the demand for soft competencies. The analysis was based on statistical data, reports, job advertisements, and a review of the results of empirical research to date.

Nowadays, we can observe in different business and academicals environments an ongoing dialog about knowledge-based economy, due to the fact, that economies are increasingly based on knowledge and information. Practically it means, that companies have started looking for answers for plenty important questions-what 'knowledge' exactly means and what kind of knowledge is significant from business continuity perspective? What exactly is a driver of productivity and economic growth? Business executives have to face also other challenges: how all this knowledge has to be managed and how to adapt to swiftly changing circumstances? Should it be centralized in shared services centres forms or maybe outsourced based on business process outsourcing strategy? Do companies should establish cooperation with universities or R&D institutes based on the cluster structure? In this article the author will characterized the knowledge as a source of competitiveness, increasing importance of science and try to summarize best practices in that field.