2025年臺灣工商心理學學會年會暨國際學術研討會

Considering the current tides, people are faced with challenges brought by poverty, climate change, and all forms of discrimination. To counter these challenges, the United Nations has established 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in hopes of constructing a sustainable development model corresponding to the global common interest by consolidating the resources of multiple nations and uniting the forces of governments and civilians. The United Nations believes the sustainable development model should be “a model that can fulfill the needs of the current and future generations, without leaving anyone behind,” – which is a completely different approach to previous development models that heavily emphasize economic growth and short-term contentment. Therefore, other than the efforts of governments in assessing the appropriateness of current policies that stress economic development in establishing a sustainable development model that fulfills the SDGs, the ability of private enterprises transitioning from a profit-centered business model to a sustainable development model that simultaneously takes financial goals, social inclusion, and eco-friendly measures into consideration is a focal point to this discussion.

Having been affected by this trend, organizations have started to emphasize management indices that focus on environment, social, and governance (ESG) in response and to fulfill the sustainability envisioned by the SDGs. Environment-related management indices focus on whether organizations protect the environment and engage in eco-friendly behaviors while pursuing organizational interests. Social-related management indices focus on whether organizations protect labor rights – ensuring that employees of all backgrounds are treated equally, without discrimination, and are not exploited or employed wrongfully. Governance-related management indices focus on whether an organization’s top management team complies with the law and adheres to the principles of transparency by disclosing important information when necessary. As sustainable development becomes a common value, organizations that go against ESG lose stakeholders’ trust and destroy their brand image – causing major losses for the organization. For example, many financial establishments disallow their banks to finance or invest in organizations that do not adhere to ESG standards. In addition, consumers will boycott organizations that damage the environment, violate labor rights, and conceal corruption as a sign of protest. Organizations such as Google, Unilever, and Toyota are actively pushing ESG-related policies and measures – which suggest that obeying ESG protocols is a crucial factor of organization operation.

Interestingly, the success of an organization establishing a sustainable business model lies in whether employees recognize sustainability values and are willing to engage in ESG-related behaviors. In other words, how to motivate and guide employees to recognize and achieve management goals advocated by ESG is not only an unavoidable management issue but also a research topic that IO psychology can contribute to. For example, in response to environment-related management issues, there have been a few studies examining how leaders can use leadership styles to encourage employees to actively take eco-friendly measures. They have also discussed how green human resource management should set and measure ESG management goals to have employees achieve eco-friendly goals while they are striving for work efficacy. They also utilized current psychological theories to explain the underlying mechanisms behind green human resource management affecting employees’ well-being, career planning, and labor relations – providing directions for practical implication and further research. In response to social-related management issues, many researchers utilize the equity theory, perspective of stereotype, discrimination, and gender roles in discussing how to create a fair, non-biased working environment and its practical implications. In response to governance-related management issues, many scholars and practitioners examine how human resource management can create a multi-stakeholder governance framework in helping organizations set strategies that comprehensively consider the needs of all stakeholders. Also, researchers are discussing how to lower the happenings of employee pro-organization unethical behavior to avoid organizations being under corruption scandals and maintain the stakeholders’ trust towards the organization. In conclusion, examining the important role employees play in achieving ESG goals from an IO psychology perspective is the crucial key to establishing a sustainable business model.

Based on what is mentioned, if we were to create a diverse conversation platform that allows scholars and practitioners to discuss how to plan and design practical policies and future research directions on “encouraging and guiding employees in achieving ESG,” we should be able to contribute to the goal of “organization sustainability.” This will be meaningful to the organizations striving for sustainable implementation and a sustainable business model.

This year’s conference is themed “Business Sustainability: A Journey from the Heart.” From an IO psychology lens, we hope to examine how organizations can achieve a sustainable business model that focuses on the environment, society, and governance by promoting employee recognition and engagement toward organizational sustainability. Based on the points mentioned, this year’s conference hopes to reach a consensus on a plausible future research direction for sustainable business modeling and effective plans to solve practical issues through exchanges between local and international scholars and practitioners that put employees at the forefront of the conversation.