Principles of Sustainable Management of Energy Companies: The Case of Poland

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

1) I suggest to edit the two final paragraphs of the section "Introduction" (lines 119-134) for the clarity of arguments and better summary of the literature;

2) I suggest to edit and expend the section "research Methodology" (lines 138-182) for the clarity of methodology and the more systematic presentations of the ways how documents were identified, collected and analyzed;

3)  I suggest to edit and expend the first paragraphs of the section "3. Management goals for 2016-2020 ... " (lines 186-187) to make it a systematic and clear presentation of the entire section;

4)  suggest to edit the section "5. Summary" (lines 416-431) in order to make it a clear introduction of the main findings of the research article.

Author Response

The answer is in the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear Authors,

The topic of the study "New principles of sustainable management of energy companies", in my opinion, is interesting and relevant. The crisis of capitalism in the context of the need to find consensus and compromises between the sustainability of economic development and an increase in the efficiency of the economic entities' functioning in the period of global informatization poses fundamental tasks for economists, namely, to solve contradictions between planning trends and Adam Smith's "invisible hand" in economic activity. The solution to this issue is complicated by the factor of information asymmetry and its manipulation, as well as the level of market monopolization. This article presents one of the concepts for solving these contradictions on the example of energy companies’ operation in Poland.

The article has a sufficient level of research novelty and quality of the material presentation to be published in "Energies." However, in order to enhance the scientific value of this work, I would like to draw the authors' attention to some points in the article, namely:

(1) Line 1. In the title of the article, I suggest removing the word "new." It's a little confusing, in my opinion. The concepts of "new" or "old", if they are not a stable expression in economic science, are more associated with a journalistic, not academic style of presenting the material. In addition, in the title, I suggest adding “the case of Poland,” as the study was conducted on the example of Polish energy companies. The new title of the article could be “The Principles of Sustainable Management of Energy Companies: The Case of Poland”.

(2)   Lines 13-14. In the abstract to the article, the purpose of the paper is presented: "The purpose of this article is to answer the question of whether the adoption of management goals in energy companies may have contributed to increased efficiency in these companies." I would like to encourage the authors to formulate this hypothesis and purpose more clearly, since in the present formulation of the research purpose a rhetorical question is traced. We can say that without conducting research, one can logically assume using the induction method that managerial goals will, to one degree or another, affect the efficiency of the companies' functioning, energy companies included. In the new formulation of the purpose, the authors could indicate the level of relationship between the goals of sustainable management and the efficiency of enterprises' operation. It would be more substantive and specific. However, I leave this question entirely to the discretion of the authors.

(3) In the “Introduction” section, I suggest presenting international statistics in the form of a graph that shows the distribution of costs for economic, social and environmental goals, and thereby further confirms the relevance of the problem of sustainable development of organizations. In addition, in this section, it is necessary to clearly formulate the purpose of the study.

(4) Line 162. Replace "previous year" with a specific year.

(5) Line 184. I suggest renaming the section "3. Management goals for 2016-2020 in energy companies - study results and conclusions” to “3. Results".

(6) In tables 1, 2, 3 and figure 1 indicate “Source:…”

(7) Line 238. I suggest changing “Source: Resolution No. 44 of the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of Polski Koncern Naftowy Orlen Spółka Akcyjna of 239 14 June 2019 and Attachment to the Resolution; Resolution No. 4 of the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of Polski Koncern Naftowy Orlen Spółka Akcyjna of 24 January 2017 (www.orlen.pl 2019_06_14_ZWZ_Uchwały” on “Source: compiled by the authors based on […,…]” and indicate sources in “References”. I suggest changing likewise in table 5.

(8) Line 414. I suggest renaming Section "5. Summary” to “5. Conclusions". I also suggest strengthening this section and adding information on the prospects for further research based on this study.

Perhaps my point of view and my comments will help the authors enhance their article.

I would also like to draw your attention to the fact that all my comments are exclusively my opinion among many other opinions of scientists.

It is my decision as a reviewer to publish this article after minor revisions.

Best regards,

The reviewer

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

The comments in the attachment

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.docx