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Socio-Economic Stability and Sustainable Development in the Post-COVID Era: Lessons for the Business and Economic Leaders

Author

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  • Vitaly Kaftan

    (Department of Mass Communications and Media Business, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Leningradsky Prospekt 49, 125993 Moscow, Russia)

  • Wadim Kandalov

    (Department of Mass Communications and Media Business, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Leningradsky Prospekt 49, 125993 Moscow, Russia)

  • Igor Molodtsov

    (Department of Mass Communications and Media Business, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Leningradsky Prospekt 49, 125993 Moscow, Russia)

  • Anna Sherstobitova

    (Institute of Economics, Finance and Management, Togliatti State University, Belorusskaya str. 14, 445667 Togliatti, Russia)

  • Wadim Strielkowski

    (Department of Trade and Finance, Faculty of Economics and Management, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Prague 6, 165 00 Prague, Czech Republic)

Abstract

This paper focuses on social and economic stability, as well as sustainable development, in the post-COVID era in light of the recent theoretical approaches and leadership practices. As governments worldwide resorted to repeated national- and regional-specific impositions of social and economic isolation in an (often failed) attempt to contain the spread of the coronavirus, their economies have been plunged into recessions, which have been deeper than those associated with the global financial crisis in the past. Successful business and economic leaders need to be aware of the dominant trends unfolding as the COVID-19 pandemic is gradually coming to its end and the New Globalization (a new era of international economy and international relations after COVID-19) is materializing. With global living, international travel, and trade interconnected, businesses need to plan for handling the future outbreaks and their economic, as well as social, consequences. The aim of this paper is to draw the lessons for business and economic leaders in the post-COVID era with a focus on the new trends and challenges for the sustainable development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The paper also presents an empirical model that assesses the novel ways of doing business and innovating using the sustainable economic practices after the COVID-19 pandemic. The model employs our own data collected from 450 managers and owners of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Czech Republic and Russia. Our results show that innovation and digitalization (e.g., smart metering or the Internet of Things (IoT)) are becoming the main drivers of the sustainable economic transformation of small and medium enterprises in the post-pandemic period. These results might be useful for both academic researchers and business practitioners searching for new pathways for innovating their sustainable business practices and recreating their customer base in the post-COVID era.

Suggested Citation

  • Vitaly Kaftan & Wadim Kandalov & Igor Molodtsov & Anna Sherstobitova & Wadim Strielkowski, 2023. "Socio-Economic Stability and Sustainable Development in the Post-COVID Era: Lessons for the Business and Economic Leaders," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-18, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:4:p:2876-:d:1058467
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