A more sustainable approach to business restructuring A joint project between Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine looked at how restructuring of businesses could become more sustainable by considering social and environmental factors. Industrial Technologies © Shutterstock In the context of global economic strains, rising unemployment and pressing environmental needs, organisational restructuring has become increasingly important to create more sustainable business. The EU-funded PRORES (Pro-ecological restructuring for job) project looked at transferring knowledge on restructuring from an economic, ecological and social perspectives to northeast Europe, namely Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine. Four universities from these countries focussed on researching environmental and social issues in the context of organisational restructuring through case studies on several companies in their countries. Particularly, it looked at the social consequences emerging from the ‘greening’ of companies, with the aim of outlining best practices for restructuring in the region. In all, through 16 case studies, the project team released over 200 publications on the topic. One important aspect of the project was the involvement of Ukraine because it helped to integrate the country into European practices on restructuring. A discussion at Poland’s University of Szczecin invited Ukrainian post graduates and speakers from Ukraine to discuss financial asset restructuring of multinational companies in the global economy. Discussions focused on the restructuring of pension assets, foreign debt restructuring, prevention of bankruptcy in enterprises, and restructuring of international financial conglomerates. The results of the research, representing the latest knowledge on pro-ecological job restructuring, were disseminated amongst different stakeholders of the project. The project team also articulated policy recommendations and worked on publishing a book on pro-ecological restructuring. This will be important for encouraging a more sustainable business environment, not only in northeast Europe but also in the rest of the continent. Keywords Business restructuring, organisational restructuring, PRORES, pro-ecological restructuring, economy
