Business, Management and Education

Practical Application of Exclusive and Inclusive Talent Management Strategy in Companies

2017-12-27T13:56:26+02:00

The article deals with the practical application of exclusive and inclusive talent management strategies in order to form and maintain a competitive human resource potential of the company. The features of both exclusive and inclusive talent management strategies were defined and their practical appication in companies of various Lithuaniam industries was studied. The input from the respondents suggests that major companies prefer the inclusive talent management strategy, rather than exclusive. Summing up all the research results, the following conclusions were formulated: the features characteristic to inclusive talent management strategy dominate in the companies of manufacturing, banking, catering, consulting, trade, energy, transport, and agribusiness industries. In the company of technology industry, features of a mixed (having both exclusive and inclusive) talent management strategy are apparent. The company in the construction-engineering industry has the dominating features of exclusive talent management strategy. Inclusive talent management strategy responds to the principles of human potential development-oriented expression and is an important message for the formulation of further insight into talent management, based on the use of internal potential.

Impact of European Integration on Competitiveness of Czech Regions

2017-12-27T13:56:26+02:00

Economic integration supports removal of all obstacles (in economy, trade, tax, administration or industrial area) and establishment of common rules for market competition. Basic benefit of economic integration is thus occurrence of real or potential competitiveness effects. European integration can influence competitiveness of firm, regions or countries. There are existing agglomeration forces causing space and economic concentration and disperse forces working just opposite way. Both effects are influenced by access to a single market and removal of trade barriers. As a consequence, agglomeration effects are expected to dominate. European Commission established RCI (Regional Competitiveness Index) to enable comparison of competitiveness of European regions. Aim of this study is exploration of changes in competitiveness of Czech regions after accession to the European Union as there are no studies analysing regional competitiveness in Czech Republic as a consequence of European integration process via index based approach. Analysis of z statistics of primarily data published by European Commission is used to evaluate theoretical concept of disperse and agglomeration forces. Based on RCI analysis are obvious growing discrepancies with dominant position of Prague and Central Bohemia in comparison with other Czech Regions. Significant differences can be seen in areas of innovations, business sophistication and education. On the opposite, positively can be evaluated lower variability of competitiveness between Czech regions in indicators of infrastructure, institutions and technological readiness. Those indicators could be influenced by European cohesive and regional politics. Decisions on governmental level should follow Europe 2020 strategy and transformation to knowledge based economy.

Importance of Motivation and Work Pay of Young Employees in the Value Creation Chain of a Business Company: Assessment of Changes in and Formation of Expectations

2017-12-27T13:56:26+02:00

As business companies compete in the market and seek to acquire a competitive advantage, one of the most important factors is well-motivated employees who are satisfied with their job. The success of companies operating in various sectors is determined by the quality of products, while the quality is ensured by qualified employees having appropriate skills and knowledge, whose work should be appreciated by monetary work pay established based on reasonable and clear criteria as well as other means of motivation. The process of human resources management in a business company places an ever-growing importance on the development of competences of employees, strengthening of cooperation, empowerment of employees as well as their work pay and motivation in order to achieve an employee’s work quality and productivity, satisfaction of customer needs and successful operation of a company. In the process of the company’s human resources management, special focus should be given to the satisfaction of the expectations and needs of new employees (who are usually young and inexperienced) as well as their integration, which ensures the generation of new and creative ideas in the company and, at the same time, high quality of products and work productivity.

Factors Affecting University Students Intentions to Use Debit Card Services: an Empirical Study Based on UTAUT

2017-12-27T13:56:26+02:00

Despite the promising use of debit cards for e‐payment and online transactions, to the best of our knowledge, there has not been any study regarding students’ intentions to use debit card services in Nigeria. This research aims to examine factors that influence university students’ decision to use debit card services in Nigeria. A Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) integrated with the trust of bank and online transaction factors are used in the study. Data were purposively selected from 400 students in the Faculty of Business Administration in Nigeria University using a survey questionnaire. The multiple linear regression results reveal that social influence, the trust of online transaction and performance expectancy exert significant influences on students’ behavioural intention to use a debit card. However, the insignificant results obtained for effort expectation and facilitating condition warrant for further investigation. We have confidence that the findings of this study will guide debit card services providers and professionals in the field in improving and promoting debit card services by revealing the students’ priorities regarding debit card services in Africa, particularly in Nigeria.

A Conceptual Model of Assessment of Knowledge Transfer to Consumer

2017-12-27T13:56:26+02:00

Due to changing needs of knowledge consumers in the context of globalization organizations find it important to search out the way of effective application of the process of knowledge sharing and distribution in their activity in order to create and/or select proper means of communication with consumers on purpose of effective satisfaction of their knowledge needs. In order to address the problems of such nature it is important to assess the process of knowledge transfer and consumer purchase, knowledge needs, knowledge transferred to meet of consumer needs, channels and means of knowledge transfer. Also, to select purposefully channels of communication with consumers and tools of e-marketing that are suitable for satisfaction of consumer needs, i.e. channels and tools that affect self-determination of consumer to take a decision to acquire a product or service of specific organization.

Entrepreneurship in Crisis: the Determinants of Syrian Students’ Entrepreneurial Intentions

2017-12-27T13:56:26+02:00

This study aims at investigating the factors that affect the entrepreneurial intentions of university students in Syria. The impact of three groups of factors was investigated, demographic, personal, and external factors. The questionnaire survey method was applied. Data was collected from two major universities in Syria: Damascus University and Arab International University and two faculties: Business and Economics, and Informatics and Communication Engineering. We analyze 183 responses from the above-mentioned faculties to understand whether differences exist in entrepreneurial intentions between students from different universities and faculties. Also, we use ordinary least squares to uncover the determinants of entrepreneurial intentions for those students. The results show higher entrepreneurial intentions for Informatics and Communication Engineering and for male students. Moreover, self-efficacy, information and communication, institutional environment come to have positive and significant impacts on entrepreneurial intentions. We recommend that more polices should be directed towards developing female entrepreneurial intents. Also, entrepreneurship training courses should be offered to Informatics and Communication Engineering to enable them turn their intentions into projects. Furthermore, universities should consider establishing entrepreneurship centers, incubators and science parks that foster innovative ideas and support start-ups.

Taking Business Intelligence to Business Education Curriculum: Graduate Students’ Concerns

2017-06-30T14:38:16+03:00

Business intelligence systems are widely employed in industries. However, students concerns about Business Intelligence course are largely missed in the business education curriculum. To take a proper decision on Business intelligence integration in business education, it is important to understand students’ concerns. This study employed a survey questionnaire to investigate 142 graduate students concerns about integrating business intelligence into business education curriculum. The survey questionnaire was adopted from previous studies to measure students’ concerns on a Business Intelligence job opportunity, interest and relevance in the Business intelligence education. The survey items have a reliability scales of Cronbach’s alpha (α) = 0.818, factor loading > 0.5, and Average Variance Extracted (AVE) ≥ 0.5, and Composite Reliability (CR) ≥ 0.6. Descriptive statistics and Independent sample t-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test were performed on the survey data. Students revealed that Business intelligence knowledge is relevant (mean = 4.29, SD = 0.710), has several job opportunities (mean = 4.16, SD = 0.675), and should be integrated into business education curriculum (mean = 3.95.08, SD = 0.79). In addition, there was no statistically significant difference (t (140) = –0.027, p > 0.05) between the concerns of students with Business Intelligence lecture experience and those without. Further, perceived importance and job opportunity significantly, F = 24.601 and p = .000(< .05) relates to the Business intelligence integration in Business Education. The findings draw implications for university management and business institutions in updating curriculum so as to equip business students with the essential Business Intelligence knowledge and skills for the betterment of the business organizations.

New Trends of Development of Beer Industry in Lithuania – Diversification and Social Responsibility

2017-06-30T14:38:16+03:00

The main purpose of this article is to outline the current challenges of beer industry in Lithuania and provide suggestions for future development of organizations in this industry, by focusing on diversification strategy and social responsibility. The main challenges of Lithuanian beer industry are related to finding ways of future development in a constantly contracting market, as well as to find a competitive strategy of market penetration. In connection of these challenges, product differentiation creates new benefits for the consumers. However this strategy proves itself not being sufficient to reach the desired goals. Diversification of portfolio, being more risky, gives opportunity to target new customer groups and increase market presence. However, both strategies are less effective without changing the culture of drinking and consumer perceptions of beer. These issues will be addressed through the lenses of social responsibility, by emphasizing the promotion of responsible alcohol consumption and responsible behaviour of beer industry. As a result, the customers have to be ready to pay higher price for new products and develop a more responsible culture of beer consumption. To overcome outlined challenges, organizations in Lithuanian beer industry, must rethink their existing strategies and operations. Based on proposed future directions, the paper provides suggestions for business practices, how to implement differentiation strategy and actions in order to increase the level of social responsibility of various stakeholders.

Smart Specialization Strategy and its Operationalization in the Regional Policy: Case Finland

2017-06-30T14:38:16+03:00

In the European Union, smart specialization is an important concept in regional policy. Its primary aim is to achieve inclusive and sustainable economic growth. There is a lack of convenient region specific measures to operationalize smart specialization startegies (S3). The purpose of the paper is to find “indices of smart specialization” on a regional level. We propose indices that are based on (1) the rate of industrial diversification, (2) revealed comparative advantage and (3) regions’ overall relative specialization. In the empirical part, we analyze smart specialization in Finland using structural data provided by Statistics Finland for seventy sub-regions (LAU1) and 24 sub-industries in manufacturing. These industries are the most important for exports, productivity, and regional economic performance for a small country. The following indices are used in empirical evaluations: Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) for regional diversity, Balassa-Hoover Index (BHI) for revealed comparative advantage, and Region’s Relative Specialization Index (RRSI) for aggregate regional specialization differences. The concept of smart specialization is related to these measures. Index analyses reveal that many growing sub-regions have similar comparative advantages. This means inter-regional synergy, and it enables opportunities for strategic cooperation between regions. To develop smart specialization strategies for Europe’s regions, we need these kinds of empirical knowledge-based management tools and planning approaches.

Sustainable Leadership, Organizational Trust on Job Satisfaction: Empirical Evidence from Higher Education Institutions in Syria

2017-06-30T14:38:16+03:00

This research develops a theoretical model of sustainable leadership, organizational trust and satisfaction at work in higher education environment in Syria. The model assesses staff perception of outstanding leadership behaviors and examines its relationship with perceived organizational trust in the field of higher education institutions in Syria. This research examines a conceptual framework identifying outstanding leadership styles and behaviors which are associated with sustainable leadership, organisational trust identified by members’ trust in their coworkers, and job satisfaction at an institutional level. The research methodology applied in this research develops a quantitative approach through application of questionnaire survey. To measure the dimensionality of scale factors an exploratory factor analysis is conducted. Reliability analysis is performed, Cronbach alpha test indicates that the research scales are internally consistent. The sample of the study employed a convenience sample from higher education institutions. The managerial implication of the research study recommends application and adoption of sustainable leadership behaviors among functional, mid and senior levels of managers and academics in management positions in higher education institutions. The limitation of research is mainly indicated in the sample size and measurement scales of sustainable leadership, organizational trust and job satisfaction.

Research of the Stock Price Overreaction and Investor Overconfidence Issues

2017-06-30T14:38:16+03:00

This research examines the existing of investor overconfidence in the capital market and the phenomena of stock prices reversal in the future due to the existing of this behavior. It has a different approach to test the existing of investor overconfidence by introducing firm’s growth as the information which has triggered many investors to behave overconfidently. By using multiple regression analysis, the results of this research confirmed our conducted hypothesis, investor tends to behave overconfident to firms which have higher growth. It proofed by the positive relation between firms’ growth and trading volume. Afterward, this research also found that higher growth firms tend to have declining on its performance in the future. The negative relation between firms’ growth and longterm performance means that the stock’s price reversal caused by the existing of investor overconfidence.

Strenthening Opportunities of Economic Relations between Lithuania and Sweden within the Perspective of IT Startup Company’s Development

2017-06-30T14:38:16+03:00

Cooperation with Sweden – one of the key priorities of Lithuania. Economic cooperation potential is promising. One of the priority areas of economic activity, in which Sweden invests in Lithuania, is information and communication. In order to develop and utilize the potential for economic cooperation in the IT field, it is relevant to structuralize IT startup business success factors and to jointly develop base for decisions, execution of which would help ensure effective, economic co-operation development based with Sweden, beginning of IT startup business and such business’s continuity. To achieve the objective, following tasks were resolved: concepts of startup business and the startup company were purified, specifics inconcept’s application in the context of the parties were defined; systematized the startup business success factors and ways of strengthening them, focusing on the factors relevant for strengthening economic ties between Lithuania and Sweden within the perspective of IT startup company’s development. Systematic method of research was applied.

Using Risk Simulation to Reduce the Capital Cost Requirement for a Programme of Capital Projects

2017-06-30T14:38:16+03:00

This paper combines various concepts related to (i) project risk management, (ii) Monte Carlo simulation, (iii) project contingency cost estimation, and (iv) the relationship between project and programme risks, to illustrate that the contingency requirements are lower when simulating all the risks in the programme when comparing it with the individual project contingency requirement. A case study organisation provided 86 quantified risk registers related to port and rail capital projects. For each of these risk registers, the project contingency was estimated using a prescribed risk register template and Monte Carlo simulation software. The same 86 quantified risk registers were then used to simulate the programme contingency. The simulation results indicated that the programme contingency requirement was approximately 8% points lower than that of the sum of the individual projects. The first implication of this research result is that, should borrowed capital be used to fund the projects, the interest bill would be higher when calculating project contingency on a project-by-project basis. The second is that regularly appearing low probability, high impact risks, should be identified and these risks should be quantified not in the projects themselves, but in a centrally managed, programme cost contingency fund.

The Impact of Green Supply Chain Management Practices on Performance: Moderating Role of Institutional Pressure with Mediating Effect of Green Innovation

2017-06-30T14:38:16+03:00

Green supply chain management (GSCM), a cross-disciplinary field has grown during recent years with increasing interest from both academia and industry. GSCM considers emphasizing environmental issues in Traditional Supply Chain Management (TSCM). Due to the new trends in global warming, environmental sustainability has become a greater concern among the organizations and enterprises globally. This study will focus on green supply chain management practices in the presence of green innovation. Green innovation will improve organizational processes as well as products, which lead to economic and environmental performance. Different institutional actors are putting pressures to implement Green supply chain management practices. Population of this study is electronics industry in Pakistan. Sample size is 500 with cluster sampling technique. Data has been collected through a survey method based on the adopted questionnaire. The collected data will be tested through Cronbach Alpha, Descriptive Statistics, Pearson Correlation, Linear Regression, Moderated Regression, Multiple Logistic Regression and Hayes’s statistical tests to analyse the suggested research model. This study will enable organizations to implement green supply chain management practices to bear institutional pressure and move towards green innovation to enhance their economic and environmental performance that were never possible before this study.

Experiential Learning in Management Education

2017-06-30T14:38:16+03:00

Management studies have been criticized for lagging behind the actual needs of organizations, ignoring experiential dimensions. We address this issue by applying experiential learning theory using an accountancy-oriented board game designed to help participants learn about cost management. The game was played in a pricing course with an enrolment of 104 accountancy students. We examined the impact levels of game entertainment and comprehensibility on the course material comprehension as well as the game’s impact on the final grade in the course. Results show that game participants had significantly higher grades than students that did not participate in the game, and that entertainment and comprehensibility of the game predict the understanding of course material. We also found that managerial employment capability can be predicted by level of challenge participants derive from the game. This study addresses the gap between traditional management education and practice. It provides empirical evidence of the value of hands-on gameplay experience for assimilation of course concepts and strategies. The results confirmed the importance of exposing players through an entertaining game simulation to challenges that arise in the business world. In addition, we lay the ground for future studies on the novel usage of the game as a tool to assess management skills.

Creative Industries: Development Processes Under Contemporary Conditions of Globalization

2017-06-30T14:38:16+03:00

The article deals with the processes of developing creative industries under conditions of a growth in the worldwide economy and globalization, discloses the role of the sector of creative industries and shows its place in the system of the modern global economy. The paper presents a comparative analysis of theories and theoretical approaches intended for the sector of creative industries and its development as well as defines regularities and specificities characteristic of the development of creative industries. Particular attention is shifted on the growth and development of creative industries considering the current challenges of globalization and on the most important specificities of the developing sector in the context of the challenges of economic globalization. The paper examines the trends reflecting the place of the sector of creative industries in the economy of the modern world, including the tendencies indicating changes in the export of the products created in this sector. The article considers the issues of developing creative industries and reveals priorities of future research.

Why do I Study? The Mediating Effect of Motivation and Self-Regulation on Student Performance

2016-12-29T14:37:25+02:00

The present study is designed to improve understanding of personal and situational effects on academic performance. This study examines relationship between flexible assessment system and academic performance mediated by self-regulation and academic motivation. This study also investigates moderated gender as a variable on the relationship models. A sample of 326 students of economics and business program were participated in the current study. The results indicate that academic motivational construct is a strong predictor of students’ self-regulation in learning and academic performance. Self-regulation mediates relationship between students’ academic motivation and students’ academic performance. Academic motivation and self-regulation also mediate the relationship between flexible assessment system and self regulation. The results also indicate that flexible assessment system does not have a direct relation with performance. These results are discussed with regard to the relevance of flexible assessment system, academic motivation, and self-regulation in increasing academic performance.

Utilization of Facebook by School Children in the Apprenticeship Seeking Process

2016-12-29T14:37:25+02:00

The search for a practical apprenticeship place can be the first step in the business world for German students. The students have to apply for this placement, as Companies require applicants. Facebook is one of the most often used social networks among the younger generation in Germany, which can provide a direct communication channel between businesses and candidates. The research evaluates the reasons to use Facebook to identify a solid apprenticeship training platform for German students. Research methods applied: scientific publication analysis, survey (by paper-based questionnaire) of German students of the ninth and tenth grade. Analysis of survey data by main indicators of descriptive statistics: arithmetic mean, mode, median, and standard deviations to get an impression of evaluations on analysed aspects by survey respondents. Analysis of variance – ANOVA – is applied to study the difference of the assessments between female and male school children and the differences between the ninth and tenth classes. The existence of correlations between the intensity of use of social network sites (SNS) and the apprenticeship seeking process have been investigated. The results of the research have shown that there are differences in evaluations, on analysed aspects, between female and male school children in the analysed classes on the occasion career entry by the apprenticeship.

Exploring Employee Motivation in Polish Family Firms. Case of Retail Sector

2016-12-29T14:37:25+02:00

This article focuses on the construct employee motivation in family businesses. Its main aim is to examine employee motivation in family firms on the example of selected companies from the retail sector in Poland. First, selected theoretical aspects of family business functioning have been discussed. Second, the special character of employee motivation in family firms has been presented, in the light of literature. As methods of research literature review and a semistructured questionnaire were applied. The empirical part presents the results of the analysis of the employee motivation in the selected firms. Finally, some insights and recommendations for future research were proposed.

Factors Affecting Research Environment at Syrian Business Faculties: A Student-Perceived Model

2016-12-29T14:37:25+02:00

This study aims at investigating the factors that affect the research environment of business postgraduate students, particularly master students, from the perspective of these students. From the same perspective, it also aims at assessing these factors together with the quality of research environment. A questionnaire survey method was employed. The questionnaire was developed by academics from five business faculties based on relevant studies and was distributed to graduate students enrolled in all of the research business programs at the Faculty of Economics, Damascus University, ending up with 88 valid responses. To explore the factors that may affect research environment, exploratory factor analysis was employed. In addition, multiple regression analysis and t-test were applied to respond to the study purposes. Facilities and industry linkage come to be significant factors in the research environment. However, the results show insignificant impact for each of the research courses, networking, and research skills in the overall research environment. Variations in regard to the availability of these factors were identified with low level of availability for the facilities and industry linkage. The study is one of a kind that investigates factors affecting research environment of postgraduate students and particularly master students. Further and to the best of our knowledge, it is the first study that examines such factors in war conditions, which enables us to understand what students perceive as critical factors influencing their research performance in these conditions. Recommendations to policy makers are presented to develop strategies that respond to students’ concerns for a better research environment.

Accession to the European Union: Advantage or Disadvantage for Czech Companies?

2016-12-29T14:37:25+02:00

In this paper has been studied effects of accession to the EU on Czech companies which were selected and grouped according to 5 parameters: region, legal form, operation area, business sector and size of the company defined by number of employees. Questionnaire containing 14 questions have replied in total 146 respondents. It is possible to conclude that accession to the EU brought more advantages to big global joint- stock companies than to small regional companies which were mostly negative and claimed worsening of business results due to European integration. Most of the 146 respondents asked via questionnaire containing 14 questions did not agree with acceptance of Euro, while those who agreed had been estimated 2020 as ideal year to access Eurozone. Companies in quaternary sector were mostly positive on the opposite to the companies in tertiary sector which were negative. Companies in Prague and Central Bohemia were much more positive towards EU benefits than in rest of the Czech Republic regions.

Uncertainty in the Sphere of the Industry 4.0 – Potential Areas to Research

2016-12-29T14:37:25+02:00

The world stands on the threshold of a new age of technology, which will launch a fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0). According to this idea, web-based network will support smart factories at every stage of the work on the product, from design through to servicing and recycling. It is a vision of a world in which the real environment connects to the digital one using follows driving forces: Internet of things, cloud computing, big data, cyber-physical systems, and others. The Industry 4.0 concept is based on developing smart chains preparation based on communicating with each other means of production, products, components, plants, humans. Established in Germany, the concept of Industry 4.0, is the brainchild – its beginning reaches 2011. It is therefore fraught with high level of uncertainty in many aspects (economic, social, technological, legal, etc.). The main aim of this article is to analyze different dimensions of uncertainty regarding the Industry 4.0, both in terms of opportunities and threats. Due to the freshness of the topic and the great complexity of the Industry 4.0 phenomenon, the main aim of the article is to identify potential areas requiring the necessary research in order minimizing negative – today uncertain – effects occurring in both the design concept Industry 4.0 as well as during its functioning.

Formation of an Integrated Stock Price Forecast Model in Lithuania

2016-12-29T14:37:25+02:00

Technical and fundamental analyses are widely used to forecast stock prices due to lack of knowledge of other modern models and methods such as Residual Income Model, ANN-APGARCH, Support Vector Machine, Probabilistic Neural Network and Genetic Fuzzy Systems. Although stock price forecast models integrating both technical and fundamental analyses are currently used widely, their integration is not justified comprehensively enough. This paper discusses theoretical one-factor and multi-factor stock price forecast models already applied by investors at a global level and determines possibility to create and apply practically a stock price forecast model which integrates fundamental and technical analysis with the reference to the Lithuanian stock market. The research is aimed to determine the relationship between stock prices of the 14 Lithuanian companies listed in the Main List by the Nasdaq OMX Baltic and various fundamental variables. Based on correlation and regression analysis results and application of c-Squared Test, ANOVA method, a general stock price forecast model is generated. This paper discusses practical implications how the developed model can be used to forecast stock prices by individual investors and suggests additional check measures.

The Exploration of the Relationships between the Global Competitiveness, the ICT and Education

2016-12-29T14:37:25+02:00

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a key element for development and economic expansion. However, many of the developing countries appear to gain only small fraction of the advantages from the ICT sectors. Indeed, developed countries are taking the most of the advantages and opportunities brought by the use of ICT. Therefore, it is necessary to highlight the essential role and the significant relationship of ICT and education for gaining the competitive advantage. In this regard, this study investigates the complex relationships of some of the global competitiveness indicators of the ICT, education and the business sophistication and innovation factors. In this study, several statistically significant relationships are explored by applying canonical correlation analysis. These findings and significant statistical results are highlighted.

The Research on Interface between Lithuanian Direct Investment Abroad and Foreign Trade Flows

2016-06-23T12:53:36+03:00

The scientific research results related to foreign trade and direct investment abroad (DIA) are discussed in the article. The relation of the direct investment abroad and foreign trade is still under the discussion as there is no clear answer whether foreign trade is supplemented or replaced by the direct investment abroad. Since 1997 the flows of the direct investment abroad increased greately in Lithuania. Consequently, it is important to define the link between the DIA and foreign trade considering each country separately. Direct investment abroad and trade links in Lithuania in 1997–2014 are analyzed in the article. The research analysis involves Lithuanian direct investments in the developed countries except some countries, such as Belorus, Russia and Ukraine. It is defined that there is a positive bilateral link between Lithuanian direct investment abroad and foreign trade. It is also observed the impact of general development of Lithuanian direct investment abroad (considering certain countries) on the countries economy itself – imports can exceed exports. Engle-Granger causality test is applied in the research paper for the purpose of defining the impact of the DIA on the import and export range.

Multivariate Analysis of Short and Long-Impact Indicators for Corporate Bond Market Development

2016-06-23T12:50:21+03:00

An additional instrument or established access to the capital market funding would increase business opportunities for performance, development, growth, channeling financing for sustainable and long-term economic growth and job creation. Capital market and its level of development or further development opportunities are exposed to different factors. Clear identification of them mobilizes the attention of accurate and useful decisions or actions influencing the expected results, their adoption and implementation, monitoring. With the purpose to identify a set of factors influencing the capital market deve lopment as well as to introduce a model of their short term and long term impact projections, the ARDL model for the US and Lithuanian cases is introduced. The concluding remarks state on different legal and regulatory framework, banking sector and ICT measures exposures to the different stages of the corporate bond market development.

Significance of Demographic Variables for Targeting of Internet Advertisements

2016-06-23T12:50:21+03:00

Broad ad targeting options belong among the major advantages of internet advertising. Demographic targeting has become a standard option in most of on-line advertising systems. There are more ways how to target on-line advertisements by using demographic variables. In some cases, e.g., social media, we can use data from user registrations. Modern technologies enable to estimate the demographic profile of internet users using on behavioural data. The traditional approach to the demographic targeting of advertisements based on affinity targeting assumes the existence of internet servers with sufficient homogeneity of visits. The aim of this article is to identify the differences in the internet content consumption habits of Czech internet users based on gender and age. The analysis is based on the data from the extensive research which was carried out by the Netmonitor project, and which was provided for the purposes of this study by the Association for Internet Development (SPIR). The research results show that the traditional affinity-based method of targeting according to gender and age is still suitable on the Czech internet. On the other hand, in some cases, the traditional approach of ad targeting based on affinity leads to wasted ad impressions that miss defined target group.

Evaluation of the Impact of the EU Structural Support on the Competitiveness of Lithuanian Economics

2016-06-23T12:50:21+03:00

Increasing amounts of the EU structural support in Lithuania require theoretical and practical research to disclose the determinants that have a significant impact on the competitiveness of Lithuanian economics. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the impact of the EU structural support on the competitiveness of Lithuanian economics. The methods of the research include systematic and comparative analysis of the scientific literature, expert evaluation and linear regression. The research disclosed the main determinants of country’s competitiveness. The results have revealed that EU structural support has the most significant impact on Lithuanian engineering and technological infrastructure. The impact of the support on country’s macroeconomic, scientific and social environment can also be considered as significant. The EU structural support has medium strong impact on education and business environment conditions in Lithuania. It has been established that, in the field of business advancement, Lithuanian should be rated as medium competitive. Hence, the increase in country’s competitiveness by employing EU structural funds should be treated as one of priority aims. In addition, responsible authorities should perform with higher efficiency seeking for higher competitiveness of the country.

The Concept of Basic Income: Global Experience and Implementation Possibilities in Lithuania

2016-06-23T12:50:21+03:00

The article gives an overview of universal basic income as one of the instruments of the asset-based policy, analyses its theoretical concept and practical examples. Latest trends in Europe, especially in Finland and Switzerland, are overviewed and possibilities to implement such an instrument in Lithuania are evaluated. Research methods of scientific literature analysis, comparative and logical analysis of statistical data, data grouping and presentation were used. Article finds out that the concept of basic income is being implemented on a small scale in the US state of Alaska and in a small autonomous territory of China – Macao. Finland and Switzerland are determined to fully implement the concept of basic income by providing monthly benefits to all their citizens. Although Lithuania is categorized as a country with high income inequality and high level of poverty risk, currently it is not possible to implement the concept of basic income in Lithuania: the state social insurance fund budget would not be able to fund sufficient benefits, and the benefits that could be provided by the budget would not comply with the objectives of the concept of basic income.

The Concept of Products and Services Integration – Analysis of Scientific Publications

2016-06-23T12:50:21+03:00

Currently, global economy tends to turn into functional economy what triggered the birth of new terms and research fields such as integration of products and services (in literature termed: Product-Service Systems). Though the subject is often discussed in scientific and academic publications, there are still many aspects of developing and delivering integrated solutions to customers insufficiently explored or even neglected. The paper presents the concept of an integrated product-service solution. The analysis of publications in terms of research topics connected with Product-Service Systems was carried out and the achieved results were discussed.

Application of Tecnomatix Plant Simulation for Modeling Production and Logistics Processes

2016-06-23T12:50:21+03:00

The main objective of the article was to present the possibilities and examples of using Tecnomatix Plant Simulation (by Siemens) to simulate the production and logistics processes. This tool allows to simulate discrete events and create digital models of logistic systems (e.g. production), optimize the operation of production plants, production lines, as well as individual logistics processes. The review of implementations of Tecnomatix Plant Simulation for modeling processes in production engineering and logistics was conducted and a few selected examples of simulations were presented. The author’s future studies are going to focus on simulation of production and logistic processes and their optimization with the use of genetic algorithms and artificial neural networks.

Categories of Supply Chain Performance Indicators: an Overview of Approaches

2016-06-23T12:50:21+03:00

The increasing complexity of supply chains, whose structure is changing from a linear to network form creates the need to track a growing amount of information allowing the evaluation of the functioning of the entire supply chain. Developing a system for measuring the performance of the supply chain requires the proper selection of indicators. Performance measurement should be done in a particular context, the analysed dimensions of indicators resulting from the purpose and focus of the survey should be determined. The article reviews Polish and foreign literature in terms of the proposed framework and methods for measuring the performance of the supply chain and the indicated categories (dimensions) of indicators. The authors approach the subject of evaluation of the performance of the supply chain in very different ways. Indicators are divided according to the level of the decision-making process: strategic, tactical, and operational. They are also divided into cost and non-cost or financial and non-financial ones. There are also approaches using the already well established methods and models. An example of this is the selection of perspectives according to the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and the SCOR model.

The Demand for Professional Knowledge as a Key Factor of the Development of Outsourcing of Financial and Accounting Services in Poland

2016-06-23T12:50:21+03:00

The access to professional knowledge and specialists’ skills is possible for small enterprises thanks to the outsourcing of services. Purpose – The aim is to analyse the reasons for the outsourcing of accounting services and the factors influencing the choice of the accounting office. The specific aim is to evaluate the entrepreneur’s benefits resulting from using the knowledge of the specialists providing outsourcing services. Design/metodology/approach – A questionnaire survey was conducted among 120 entrepreneurs who outsource accounting services in the Podlaskie Region in Poland.

Findings – The most important factors influencing the entrepreneur’s cooperation with the accounting office are: high quality of services resulting from the competence of the employees of the office, the range of services offered by the company, advising on finance management, correctness of tax accounting, the possibility of using additional services. Due to high competitiveness, the demand for professional knowledge influences the development of the outsourcing of financial and accounting services to a greater degree than the price of the services offered by the accounting offices.

The Concept of a Smart City in Urban Management

2016-06-23T12:50:21+03:00

Analyzing the literature covering public management, the author noticed that the urban planning is a crucial fac-tor in urban development. Cities which have an adequate intellectual resources and proper institutions as well as developed infrastructure are called smart cities. According to the author, proper local spatial development plans should be applied in those cities. Crucial parts of the city, places of the highest investors interest such as technology parks, R&D companies, business incubators, technology transfer centers and industrial complexes should definitely be incorporated in these plans. The ISO 37120 Standard is the most practical method to measure a city’s perfor-mance. The factor which decides about special management is the level of investment pressure. If this indicator is decreasing then the area does not have to be covered by local spatial development plans.

This elaboration aims to examine the role of the smart city in urban management. The research shows the relationships between coverage planning, investment pressure and green areas. The main result is the author’s classification of selected 34 Medium-Size Cities in Poland. The test procedure exploited taxonomic methods as Ward’s hierarchical analysis.

Complex Analysis of Financial State and Performance of Construction Enterprises

2015-12-10T16:57:22+02:00

The paper analyses the financial state and performance of large constructions enterprises by applying financial indicators. As there is no one single decisive financial indicator enabling to objectively assess enterprise performance, the multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) methods are applied with four groups of financial ratios (profitability, liquidity, solvency and asset turnover) acting as evaluation criteria, while the alternatives assessed are two enterprises compared throughout the reference period of three years, also with the average indicator values of the whole construction sector. The weights of the criteria have been estimated by involving competent experts with chi-square test employed to check the degree of agreement of expert estimates. The research methodology contributes to the issue of complex evaluation of enterprise financial state and performance, while the result of the multi-criteria assessment – the ranking of enterprises and sector average with respect to financial state and performance – could be considered worth attention from business owners, potential investors, customers or other possible stakeholders.

Relationship Model of Personality, Communication, Student Engagement, and Learning Satisfaction

2015-12-10T16:57:22+02:00

This study aims to examine the engagement as a mediating variable of the relationship between personality and communication with satisfaction. This study was conducted at business school in Indonesia with 307 students who are still active as a respondent. Survey research was conducted over four months by questionnaire that has been well-established that was taken and modified from previous studies. The results of this study indicate that student engagement mediates the relationship between personality and communication as independent variables and satisfaction as the dependent variable. Extroversion personality and communication significantly positive effect on student engagement in all three dimensions (vigor, dedication, and absorption). In addition, this study also showed that engagement and satisfaction are two different variables, but correlated, and there was no difference in terms of gender differences involvement.

Ground Handling Business at Non-European Biggest World Airports as a Problem of Market Structures

2015-12-11T08:06:31+02:00

In the paper we analyse the market structures of ground handling at the biggest non-European passenger and cargo airports in accordance with the ACI list of the most important world airports in 2014. Using the IATA IGHC database as of spring 2015, our analysis revealed that out of Europe double digit numbers of providers are rare what contrasts with situation in Europe where ground handling markets were deregulated by the Council Directive 96/67/EC. The analysis also brought that the monopolistic structures of ground handling markets were more specific for the regions of Asia and the Middle East. Airports as ground handling providers were not found within the analysed sample in North America, Latin America, Africa and Australia and Oceania, while this arrangement was to a larger extent present at the analysed Asian airports. Asia and the Middle East biggest airports are identified by us as candidates for further deregulation of ground handling arguing by forecasted demand for air services in the regions, although expected deregulation may be curbed by national regulators.

The Process of Selection of the Main Research Methods in Foresight from Different Perspectives

2015-12-10T16:57:22+02:00

When making research tasks in every field of science is essential to have the conviction that the selected research methods and procedures are reasonable applied, that is, one that effectively lead to the realization of the defined tasks. The set of methods that can be used in foresight projects (future studies) is very rich and, due to the dynamics of foresight, is still open. This article presents a synthetic set of guidelines for the choice of methods for exploring the future, paying attention to the very important fact that the rules of effective methodical conduction, due to its complexity, are often not clearly defined. Depending on the context, functions, stages, types, classes of foresight methods can be used in different ways, which also complicates the creation of optimum model. The article shows that this problem – under certain conditions – can be effectively minimized. The article analyzes the current (shown in the future science literature) approaches, principles, assumptions associated with the selection of foresight research methods.

An Empirical Study on the Relationship Between Logistics Performance and Education

2015-12-10T16:57:22+02:00

Logistics occupations require skills that involve blue- and white-collar activities and different levels of educational skills. With the increase in global trade and competition, the varying skills necessary for different parts of the logistics sector have attracted attention. In this regard, this empirical study examines the relationship between logistics performance indicators and education assessment scores and identifies associations. The presented results, by using canonical correlation analysis, indicate that certain education assessment scores contribute more to improving logistics performance than do other variables. The variables that influence logistics performance are also highlighted.

Impact Assessment of Public Innovation Support in European Economic Area

2015-12-10T16:57:22+02:00

The object of this paper is related to the public innovation support in Euro-pean Economic Area and its effectiveness assessment. Main aim of the re-search presented in this paper is to propose new model for public innovation support effectiveness assessment, which could be relevant to the contempo-rary needs and would be based on new explored practice of public innova-tion support developments. The methods of comparative, regression, model-ling analysis, multi-criteria evaluation, analogy search, logical abstraction and impact evaluation have been applied for the research presented in this paper. Proposed original system of quantitative and qualitative indicators that characterize any public innovation support system (public innovation support index) enables creation and implementation of measures devoted to the public innovation support impact improvement at EU and national level.

Socio-Cultural Factors and International Competitiveness

2015-12-10T16:57:22+02:00

Socio-cultural factors – shared values, norms and attitudes are significant, but less acknowledged sources of international competitiveness. Previous studies have found socio-cultural factors positively affecting various aspects of international competitiveness – entrepreneurship, innovation, productivity and international cooperation. These factors are more sustainable and less affected by external environment changes in comparison with the traditional factors. Socio-cultural factors provide an opportunity to develop competitiveness strategies based on unique advantages.

This research aims to explore the impact of socio-cultural factors on international competiveness in small, open economies. Analysing relationship between 400 socio-cultural indicators and competitiveness indicators such as productivity, economic development, business and government efficiency, innovation capacity and infrastructure in 37 countries, six socio-cultural factors have emerged: Collectivism and Hierarchy; Future, Cooperation and Performance Orientation, Self-expression, Monochronism and Rationality, Economic Orientation and Social structure. The first factor – Collectivism and Hierarchy – tends to reduce the international competitiveness; the other five affect it positively.

Ethics Management: How to Achieve Ethical Organizations and Management?

2015-12-10T16:57:22+02:00

The last decades’ serious organizational scandals that mainly stem from corruption and conflicting interests but also from bribery, favoritism and other wrongdoings have ac-centuated the need for finding instruments for achieving more ethical organizations and management. Ethics management is particularly important in the public sector because public employees and holders of public office are responsible for increasing wellbeing and providing common good for all citizens. Only accountable management striving for integrity through ethical practices and decision making will guarantee ethical organiza-tional behavior. In spite of increasing research on ethics in general and ethics manage-ment in particular, increase in organizational scandals indicates that there is knowledge gap concerning ethical instruments that help to solve ethical problems. The aim of this paper is to shed light on ethical theories and instruments, and wrongdoings in public sec-tor organizations. The main questions are; why is there so much wrongdoing; how can it be reduced; and how can more ethical organization and management be achieved. This is a review paper aiming to provide a review of ethical theories and instruments and dis-cuss serious wrongdoings and the role of ethics in the public sector. The paper contrib-utes to the fields of management and organization, ethics, and public management.

Relationship between Lithuanian Sovereign Credit Risk and Equity Market

2015-12-10T16:57:22+02:00

We analyse relationship between Lithuanian sovereign credit risk and equity market. The aim of the paper is to find the impact of the sovereign credit risk, which is expressed in the terms of Credit Default Swaps (CDS), on the movements of stocks prices of Lithuania. We use VAR (vector autoregression) model in order to find the relationship between Lithuanian CDS spread and OMX Vilnius index. We use impulse reaction method to investigate the impact of CDS spreads on the OMX Vilnius index. After analysis of equity index OMX Vilnius and Lithuanian CDS price relationship it was found out that there exists an opposite relationship between these two variables. When the CDS prices are rising, the equity prices decrease and vice versa. The main finding is that Lithuanian capital market returns reacts immediately to the changes of credit risk of Lithuania which is set by the global capital market and expressed by the CDS prices and Lithuanian capital market is under the great foreign pressure.

Forward-Looking Planning of Technology Development

2015-12-10T16:57:22+02:00

The main aim of this article is to adapt the Future-Oriented Technology Analysis (FTA) to prospective planning of technology development. Firstly, the article presents the assumptions, methods and idea, as well as the concept of the FTA method. Moreover, selected publications on the use of this method were analysed. Then, an original, base model of forward-looking planning of technology development was constructed and presented. The end result of this process will be the development of the localized in time, presented in graphic form, action plan referred to as the route of technology development. Basing on the literature review and the research projects a preliminary route of development of arbitrarily chosen technology was also built and presented.

Role of Smart Specialisation in Financing the Development of Regions in Perspective 2020

2015-06-29T15:24:39+03:00

The aim of this article is to present the role of smart specialization concept in the process of providing funds for regional development. The systematic literature review was conducted in order to identify the role of smart specialisation concept in the process of providing funds for regional development. The methodology followed for the literature review included two main phases: selection and analysis. The article presents: (i) the idea of smart specialisation, (ii) characteristics of the areas of specialisation in the European Union, (iii) the creation of smart specialization strategies in the regions, (iv) the role of smart specialization in financing the development of regions, (v) examples of methodological approaches to identify smart specialisation at the regional level. The research examines the relationship between smart specialisation and process of providing funds for regional development.

Dynamic Intellectual Capital Model in a Company

2015-06-29T15:24:39+03:00

The aim of this paper is to indicate the relations between company’s value added (VA) and intangible assets. Authors declare that Intellectual capital (IC) is one of the most relevant intangibles for a company, and the concept with measurement, and the relation with value creation is necessary for modern markets. Since relationship between IC elements and VA are complicated, this paper is aimed to create a usable dynamic model for building company’s value added through intellectual capital. The model is incorporating that outputs from IC elements are not homogeneously received and made some contributions to dynamic nature of IC relation and VA. Variables that will help companies to evaluate contribution of each element of IC are added to the model. This paper emphasizes the importance of a company’s IC and the positive interaction between them in generating profits for company.

The Influence of Technology Transfers on the Development of Innovations in the Process Industry of Croatia (Istrian County Case)

2015-06-29T15:24:39+03:00

This paper studies the influence of technology transfers on the development of innovations in the process industry in Croatia (Istrian County case). The technological regime identifies characteristics of the learning processes, sources of knowledge and the nature of knowledge bases linked to the innovative process in the company happening as part of production activities. The research supports Schumpeter’s standpoint in his theory of creative destruction. When a new and more efficient design for the production of a commodity is created, the enterprise that first starts using the new design conquer a part of its competitors’ market. The competition reacts either by introducing the same design or one even newer or completely loses the market, as this is the case in the process industry in Croatia.

A Framework for the Corporate Governance of Data – Theoretical Background and Empirical Evidence

2015-06-29T15:24:39+03:00

In a modern organization, IT and digital data have transformed from being functional resources to integral elements of business strategy. Against this background, our article addresses corporate governance of digital data in general and that of aging societies in particular. To describe the role of executives and managers in data governance, we first review the corporate and IT governance literature. We then propose a theoretical framework for the governance of data: a novel construct. We apply the framework to the governance of aging societies related data, that is, to answer the question of how best to manage the provision of services to citizens with digital data enablement and support. We also disclose the results from two recent surveys, with 212 and 68 respondents respectively, on the business significance of data governance. The survey results reveal that good governance of data is considered critical to organizations. As concluding remarks, we discuss the significance of our results, our contributions to research, the limitations of our study and its managerial implications.

A Model for Assessing the Gender Aspect in Economic Policy

2015-06-29T15:24:39+03:00

The purpose of research is to develop a conceptual model for assessing the impact of the gender aspect on economic policy at macro– and microeconomic levels. The research methodology is based on analysing scientific approaches to the gender aspect in economics and gender–responsive budgeting as well as determining the impact of the gender aspect on GDP, foreign trade, the state budget and the labour market. First, the major findings encompass the main idea of a conceptual model proposing that a socio–economic picture of society can be accepted as completed only when, alongside public and private sectors, includes the care/reproductive sector that is dominated by women and creating added value in the form of educated human resources; second, macroeconomics is not neutral in terms of gender equality. Gender asymmetry is manifested not only at the level of microeconomics (labour market and business) but also at the level of macroeconomics (GDP, the state budget and foreign trade), which has a negative impact on economic growth and state budget revenues. In this regard, economic decisions, according to the principles of gender equality and in order to achieve gender equality in economics, must be made, as the gender aspect has to be also implemented at the macroeconomic level.

Transparency of University Rankings in the Effective Management of University

2015-06-29T15:24:39+03:00

University rankings are extremely important not only for future student, but also for universities themselves. They have a large impact on the institutions of higher education. A lot of universities believe, that rankings help them to maintain and create a reputation. Ranking systems function as some kind of fashion arena, where universities make comparisons between themselves. Universities want to improve their position in published classifications, so very often they try to change their policy and strategy. They also try to influence the ranking indicators, for example by hiring Nobel Prize winners.

Therefore, there is an increasing need for reliable and transparent information about schools. However universities need not only statistical data, but also the tools, which will be useful in their comparisons and evaluations. The article presents the possibility of using one of the methods of graphic presentation of multidimensional empirical data structure, so called RGM, proposed by M. Rybaczuk. Thanks to this method universities could easily compare one another. They also could identify the fields of their activities, in which they are able to be better. The proposed way of graphical presentation of the universities could be a useful addition to traditional rankings, which just show us a lists of schools from the best to the worst.