PurposeThe purpose of this article is to discuss initial results of the research conducted on a group of 244 Warsaw School of Economics students. The research focuses on ethical dilemmas of students graduating from business, finance and economics.Design/methodology/approachThe research was based on the methodology proposed by Eweje and Brunon and focused on examining the existence of ethical dilemmas identified on the basis of 11 case scenarios and analyzed with reference to the selected characteristics of respondents. The characteristics included the participants' gender, age, study year, study program and faculty, the place of birth, professional experience, international experience and financial situation.FindingsThe research obtained on the sample of Polish students confirms the international results stressing the key importance of their gender, age, study faculty and professional experience for identifying ethical dilemmas.Research limitations/implicationsThe analysis delivers some initial evidence and does not allow the formulation of strong conclusions. It requires replication and the use of a larger and better balanced sample.Practical implicationsThe ethical dilemmas are crucial for soon to be managers since their decisions shape corporate activity and business development. Research results may also play an important role for shaping educational programs.Originality/valueThe paper analyzes the ethical dilemmas of students from one of the top business schools in Central and Eastern Europe, contributing to understanding the ethical issues of soon to be managers and opening a discussion on the role of university education for shaping the conduct of future managers.

The phenomenon of a capital gap is a problem faced mainly by young, innovative enterprises. Due to running high-risk business activities, access to traditional financing is limited for them. This is why they seek alternative sources of financing. The paper attempts to answer the question of whether financing business activity by high-risk funds and by public capital is a good solution to support innovation. The paper shows the special role of financing ventures with high development potential, particularly those innovative ones, by means of high-risk capital. The article also describes the essence of private equity/venture capital operations and the principles of the activity of the Polish Development Fund (Polski Fundusz Rozwoju), noting PFR Ventures. The paper is based on rich literature, both in Polish and English, which includes results of several studies indicating the relationship between the use of risk capital and innovative business activity. The applied research method was based on a literature review, on the grounds of which the essence of the problem of financing innovative projects was indicated.

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The influence of the private equity sector on the contemporary economy is quite significant. This is why the present paper attempts to examine mechanisms private equity investors apply in order to increase the value of their investments. The literature review has identified the most fundamen- tal elements of creating value on the basis of empirical, academic studies that verified hypotheses regarding the influence of particular mechanisms on the process of value creation in private equity investments. This paper is divided into five parts that describe the elements of the investment pro- cess, research into value creation, financial arbitration, as well as direct and indirect mechanisms of creating investment value. The paper is mainly based on the review of foreign-language literature.

Investments made by private equity funds must abide by the highest ethical standards as the framework within which their stakeholders operate is very much based on broadly understood trust. The paper discusses selected professional standards especially important for private equity transactions. It is based on the Professional Standards Handbook, a set of principles focusing on integrity and acting with fairness, keeping one’s promises, disclosing conflicts of interest, maintaining confidentiality, and promoting best practices for the benefit of sustainable investment and value creation. We also address the ESG issues which – besides financial aspects – exert substantial impact upon sustainable development of the private equity market. Ethical standards have gained in importance especially with the adoption of the AIFM Directive designed to regulate the operations of alternativeinvestment funds.