Multinational retailers are now very powerful and their activities could influence whole economies. In this paper, we investigate why they engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices towards consumers, how it fosters sustainable development, and what the role of institutions are in the process of developing CSR strategies. Changes that have taken place in Poland since 1989, when the transition process into a market economy started, constituted an excellent research field due to the fact that the retail market was not saturated at the beginning, consumers were only slightly protected by the law, and there were no institutions promoting the implementation of social responsibility standards by companies. Research involving analysis of secondary data drawn from retailers' websites, CSR reports, and published data relating to the CSR institutions allowed the following: (1) identification of three stages of development in consumers' conception of CSR characterized by the immoral, amoral, and moral management; (2) showing that these activities have a business case; and (3) explaining the role of institutions and competition in this process. It is also shown how multinational retailers could contribute to the sustainable development of less mature markets in which they invest.

W artykule omówiono istotę wizerunku organizacji jako pracodawcy, a także przedstawiono przebieg procesu jego kreowania. Wskazano adresatów i narzędzia budowania wizerunku pracodawcy oraz odwołano się do wtórnych źródeł informacji, tj. raportów z badań na temat kształtowania wizerunku firmy jako pracodawcy. W podsumowaniu artykułu wyeksponowano korzyści płynące dla organizacji z posiadania wizerunku atrakcyjnego pracodawcy.

The aim of this article is to determine whether there is a gap between the demand for competencies of graduates of the computer science major and their supply. Research Design & Methods: Identification of the key set of competencies required by employers from job applicants and estimation of the competency gap in the IT sector was conducted using the method of exploratory analysis of job offers for positions related to the administration of IT systems. Findings: The results of the preliminary research shown that proposed method can be used for estimation of competency gap however it requires more experiments. Contribution & Value Added: Proposition of new method for competency gap calculation based on exploratory analysis of data available in the Internet.

Methods of competency schema identification form the main topic of the paper. The survey of literature on the significance of competences on labour markets justifies the need for searching new methods and tools for performing labour market analysis. The authors propose competency schemas as a new tool for analysis competency demand existing on a given market. It seems that competency schemas can outperform competency profiles with respect to the scope of information which they can present. After presenting competency schemas concept, their application to analysis the situation on Polish labour market was discussed. The conclusions are formulated in the last part of the paper.

Abstract:The aim of the chapter is to show that now retail trade is a global sector but because of its specificity new strategies are necessary if global retailers want to sustain their advantage. The concept of globalization is discussed and then referenced to the retail sector. The process of retail internationalization which resulted in the globalization of retail sector is analysed. It is assumed that the retailers were motivated by the goal of sustaining their competitive advantage. So some ideas of the main theoretical views of developing sustainable competitive advantage (SCA): Environmental View and Resource Based View, referring to the process of internationalization as well as Yip's description of globalization process are presented. On the examples of some companies, leading the process of retail fast internationalization in XX century, like Ikea, Benetton, Carrefour, Wal-Mart, it is shown how the resources they developed and external environment contributed to their globalization process. It is found out that there were two stages of the globalization of retail sector: first, in which non-food companies develop on international market and second, when the mass merchandisers offering food and other Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) were involved. The fact that after fast internationalization representatives of both groups face problems leads to the conclusion that to be successful in the contemporary global retail market new capabilities should be developed.