Symphonya. Emerging Issues in Management

Ouverture de “Emerging Trends in the Global Landscape”

Mario Risso, Fabio Musso — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The current global economic landscape imposes a profound recalibration of traditional managerial and policy paradigms, compelling organizations to integrate strategic resilience and sustainability at the core of their business models. Geopolitical fragmentation, supply chain disruptions, and institutional vulnerabilities demand a structural shift from mere regulatory compliance toward a measurable and integrated environmental, social, and governance (ESG) pragmatism. Within highly symbolic sectors, market dynamics are continuously reshaped by digital innovation, semiotic narratives, and social media, which collectively redefine brand ethos and consumer identity relations by transforming passive buyers into active co-creators of value. A holistic approach is now an absolute imperative: embedded corporate governance and communicative innovation constitute the fundamental levers for securing long-term competitive advantage, institutional legitimacy, and business continuity in increasingly complex international markets.

Materiality, Non-Financial Reporting and SDGs Integration: A Critical Analysis of Corporate Practices from the PSI Index

António Rodrigues, Rui Fragoso, Miguel Varela — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This study analyzes how 16 companies listed on the Portuguese PSI Index integrate material sustainability issues and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into corporate strategies and non-financial reports (2021–2024). The PSI Index provides a distinctive empirical setting due to its small, concentrated capital market and strong exposure to European sustainability regulation. Using a longitudinal qualitative content analysis and an adapted PwC framework, the article examines the nexus between materiality assessments, SDG prioritization, and strategic integration. Results reveal highly heterogeneous reporting practices. Energy, utilities, forestry, and materials companies consistently translate material issues into priority SDGs backed by KPIs and measurable targets. Conversely, retail, services, finance, and construction firms remain mostly descriptive. The study contributes by providing longitudinal evidence in the pre-CSRD transition, linking materiality maturity with SDG reporting quality, and offering a replicable coding approach to assess strategic integration. Limitations include reliance on published reports and sectoral diversity.

A Quadrant-Based Framework for Mapping the Interplay Between ESG Performance and ESG Controversies

Alice Alosi, Emilia Filippi — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This study illustrates the complex interplay between ESG performance and ESG controversies integrating both dimensions into a quadrant-based framework of corporate ESG positioning. Within this framework, we identify four distinct ESG profiles: Crystal clear (high ESG performance and few ESG controversies), Rough diamond (high ESG performance and many ESG controversies), Sleeping guardian (low ESG performance and few ESG controversies), and Sinking ship (low ESG performance and many ESG controversies). We applied this framework using data from LSEG Data & Analytics for the years 2018, 2019, and 2022, covering companies operating across 20 countries. Our findings reveal that companies are predominantly concentrated in the Sleeping guardian and Crystal clear profiles. When examining how ESG performance influences ESG controversies, the expected shift (i.e., a decline in Rough Diamond companies and a rise in Crystal Clear companies) does not consistently occur over time across the sample countries. Differently, when considering how ESG controversies affect ESG performance, the expected shift (i.e., a decline in Sinking ship companies and a rise in Rough diamond companies) occurs in most, though not all, countries. The study contributes to both managerial and theoretical discourse on corporate sustainability by offering a comprehensive overview on the dynamic interplay between ESG performance and controversies. It also lays the groundwork for future research into how companies navigate this interplay.

Embedded Governance, ESG Integration, and Firm Profitability in Emerging Markets: Evidence from Zambia’s Agri-Food Sector

Mubanga Lackson Chipimo, John Bwalya, Joseph Katongo Kanyanga — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This paper focuses on the role of embedded corporate governance in the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) and firm profitability in emerging markets. The study adopts an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design comprising panel regression analysis of governance and financial indicators for the period 2014-2024, and qualitative analysis of ESG disclosures based on ISO IWA 48:2024, based on evidence from the listed agri-food sector in Zambia. Baseline governance models showed weak relationships with profitability across the panel estimators. Although governance did not demonstrate a statistically significant direct association with short-term accounting profitability, the qualitative findings consistently showed that governance strengthens accountability, stakeholder trust, organisational resilience and ESG integration. These findings support an embedded governance perspective in which governance contributes to sustainable competitiveness primarily through organisational capability rather than immediate financial gains. The results have managerial and policy implications for improving sustainable competitiveness in resource constrained and institutionally fragile settings.

A Semiotic Perspective on Fashion Films and Brand Ethos: The Case of Hermès’ La Flânerie

Maria Chalevelaki, Ilias Kapareliotis — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Contemporary literature perceives fashion films as a hybrid communication genre. However, the semiotic mechanisms through which luxury brands construct and transmit their ethos via fashion films remain underexplored. This paper argues that fashion films serve more than just promotion. They are symbolic devices that articulate a luxury brand's ethos and propose new consumer-brand relationships. Drawing on the Greimas School of Semiotics, specifically Rastier's interpretative semantics and Floch's semiotic square of consumer values, the paper analyzes La Flânerie by Hermès (2015). The analysis reveals how the film combines values of playfulness, nonchalance, and the "art of slowness" with Hermès' traditional codes of craftsmanship and heritage. The fashion film enables Hermès to articulate a broader socio-aesthetic and ethico-philosophical vision. This paper contributes to the literature on luxury branding, fashion communication, and semiotic approaches to brand analysis, showing how a fashion film offers a distinctive media form for a luxury brand to update its values, redefine luxury, and strengthen consumer relationships.

Social Media Marketing and Consumer - Brand Relationship in Luxury Markets

Serena Rovai, Simone Guercini — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Given the shift from traditional to new communication approaches, luxury brands are strategically focusing on social media marketing – SMM - for product and services’ endorsement through daily narratives. Nowadays, social media is an integral part of marketing and advertising. Social media communication is a growing area of interest for scholars in fashion marketing. In being a two-way platform for communication, by allowing users to share information and interact with each other, but also with influencers, SMM tools may represent a fundamental tool to increase customer consciousness and improve customer relationships in the competitive and diversified Chinese luxury fashion marketing.
This study aims to analyze how WeChat, a Chinese social media platform that has become the main trendsetter for luxury fashion brands in China, can impact customer relations with luxury fashion brands and purchase intention. As an exploratory qualitative study, the contribution is interpretive rather than causal, and it addresses a gap in understanding about how WeChat-mediated interactions are viewed to shape intimacy, trust, and brand consciousness in Chinese luxury contexts. Because the empirical data was obtained in 2018, the conclusions should be considered as historically relevant rather than reflective of current market conditions.