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In the modern world, the role and importance of social innovations as solutions to existing social or sustainable development challenges is growing. Research suggest that it is not possible to design and implement social innovation effectively without the involvement of significant stakeholder groups. The purpose of this article is to analyse the existing as well as potential future solutions for identifying and engaging stakeholders in social innovation. The work is based on a review of published research and literature. It presents available mapping tools and stakeholder engagement frameworks. The conclusions confirm that cooperation with stakeholders is an important element in developing social innovation, allowing a better understanding of the nature of challenges, the needs of beneficiaries as well as affecting access to important resources.
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Since the outset of the 21st century, social innovations have become a popular concept in the description of solutions applied in the social policy of highly developed countries, different from those typical for traditional welfare regimes. In the expert discourse, the concept of innovation often has been associated with new forms of social economy. This article aims to present the inadequacy of the application of the concept of social innovation to the solutions that, in the light of the adopted definition, are no longer innovative. The paper develops an analysis of the up-to-date literature and available data on selected indicators relating to the social economy sector. As a result, current solutions were critically analysed and several questions, relevant from the perspective of future criticism of the innovativeness of country level solutions in this area, have been posed
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The economy of sharing is a new economic and social model, which main goal is to move from ownership to access. It consists of sharing underutilised resources or services – whether for a fee or free of charge. The paper explains the model of sharing economy in the context of modern urban problems. The aim of this article is to present the economy of sharing as a model that potentially contributes to sustainable development of modern cities. The quantitative study employs the diagnostic survey method. Using a survey questionnaire, we study the awareness of city residents about this new economic model, its perceived potential and trust residents put in the sharing economy solutions. The results suggest that the sharing economy is at least potentially a manifestation of sustainable development. Findings evaluate to what extent the sharing economy can contribute to solving problems of modern cities. The use of tools of sharing economy contributes to building social responsibility and shaping behaviours consistent with the idea of sustainable development
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Both social economy and social innovations are issues that nowadays often intertwine, and can become the instruments that are effective in solving social-economic problems. This paper is dedicated to innovative approaches in solving the social problems through social innovations, particularly social cooperatives, which play an important role in social reintegration. The goal of the paper is to deliver a review on the role of social cooperatives in solving local social problems in Poland. The research was conducted through a thorough analysis of the publications and documents that relate to social enterprises and social cooperativity. In the conclusion it is stated, that social cooperative conception is an innovative approach in solving social problems, especially in the local labour market and in counteracting social services deficiencies. Findings suggest that the effectiveness of social cooperatives is limited by the difficult financial situation of the subjects, and numerous internal and the external barriers.
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The purpose of the paper is to present innovation in telehealth home care services system applications for seniors, co-created by non-governmental organizations. On the example of the „Małopolski Tele-Angel” project, authors present the potential of third sector organizations to be used in the process of providing social services. Based on available project documentation we develop a descriptive case study analysis of telehealth home care services for seniors, co-provided by nongovernmental organizations and co-implemented by the local government. Based on the analysis of actions taken in this area in Poland using the funds available under the Regional Operational Programs for 2014-2020, one specific example was chosen, which stands out due to its scale. The issue of roles and tasks in the process of assessing this service for institutions representing various sectors, including NGO’s, was presented. This project is an argument in favour of extending the use of a non-governmental organization in the process of servicing social services.
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In the last decade, governments and stakeholders’ expectations of companies regarding responsible business behaviour have increased. Profitability and efficiency cease to be the only key features that the company wants to be known for. The social context of business and its’ contribution to sustainable development, regardless of legal status, size or industry, is becoming increasingly important. The aim of the article is to analyze the motives and benefits of implementing social responsibility into the management practice of companies. To achieve this goal, an analysis and synthesis of the subject literature as well as statistical secondary data analysis were carried out. The conclusions imply that the motives for implementing the principles of social responsibility are various, but they bring benefits – internal and external.
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While the rule of law has been an important topic of research for entrepreneurship in transition economies, the relationship entrepreneurs have with the body of law remains understudied. This article explores everyday legality among politically affiliated and non-affiliated business people in Russia; that is, the role of laws, written rules, standards, and requirements in their everyday business activities. Drawing on interviews and participant observations in Russian communities, I trace how an individual’s political position impacts the ability of small entrepreneurs to navigate paperwork and bureaucracy. Utilizing a sociological approach to explore the behaviour of the law among business people, my research demonstrates that although bureaucracy and written rules affect all entrepreneurs, multiple facets of the law constrain or promote an individual’s access to opportunities in different ways. I found that political affiliation strengthens the power to succeed in the bureaucratic game, and to protect one’s interests through court appeals. In contrast, non-affiliated entrepreneurs are limited in their capacity to deal with Russian bureaucracy, and to litigate the state using legal procedures. The main conclusion of the research is that political affiliation is the most significant line of differentiation and inequality among small and medium-sized enterprises because it affects their legal knowledge, their strategies for coping with paperwork, and their opportunities to mobilise the law. In addition, the study of small entrepreneurs also shows that in contemporary Russia everyone depends greatly on the power of the bureaucratic machine, rather than on the power of the law.
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This paper addresses the question of the major challenges for the regulation of lobbying in the European Economic Area countries. It attempts to disentangle this complex question by focusing, step by step, on three specific issues. First, the problem of the definition of lobbying, or the lack of one, is considered. The paper argues that even though European countries started to regulate lobbying already two decades ago, they have still not managed to arrive at a useful definition of the field and activity of lobbying itself, which considerably hinders their pro-transparency regulatory efforts. Second, the paper looks at other anti-corruption legislation in Europe and its links with lobbying rules. The evidence is inconclusive as to whether the level of corruption is significantly affected by the presence or lack of lobbying regulation. Finally, the paper shows that there is a noticeable weakness in the existing lobbying regulations in European countries in terms of enforcement. Without strengthening the enforcement mechanisms of lobbying laws, there will be no significant shift towards a better-regulated and more transparent lobbying environment in Europe.
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The definition and scope of sustainability have evolved over the years, stimulated by debates which have won the attention of investors, thereby creating concepts such as responsible investment, socially responsible investment, responsible finance, etc. The purpose of the paper is to demonstrate whether screening has an effect on the financial performance of mutual funds and whether these effects are positive or negative. The study mainly focuses on the U.S. market as it is well developed and therefore provides greater insight and value. The research method uses the Markowitz and Sharpe market models to determine the market value of SRI and non SRI mutual funds. The study also depicts the investors’ attitude towards embedding sustainability driven variables in the decision making process as well as the market response to socially responsible investments.
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A decision to start a business is not easy because it is result of the economic conditions, cultural context, but also “push” and “pull” factors. In order to determine woman motivational factors, a survey of 1,157 Eastern Croatia respondents was conducted. The purpose of the research was to determine which motivations the potential future entrepreneurs believe trigger women entrepreneurs’ decision to start an entrepreneurial venture. The results show that women are considered to be financially motivated. The fact that real-life women entrepreneurs from previous research have stated slightly different motivations shows that there is room for improvement of entrepreneurship education. Keywords: entrepreneurial venture; women entrepreneurs; motivational factors; “push” and “pull” motivation; entrepreneurship education.
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High level stress in work place is known to be associated with negative organizational behaviors and bad organizational performance. There are individual and organizational factors influencing stress coping behavior of employees. In this study we explore the impact of employees’ perceptions of organizational support on their stress coping capabilities (problem-focused stress coping and emotion-focused stress coping) and whether their psychological capital (PsyCap) plays a mediating role in this relationship using the sample of employees in special education and rehabilitation centers in Turkey. Multivariate statistical analyses show a significant positive relationship between perceived organizational support (POS) and problem-focused stress coping (PFSC), and no significant relationship between POS and emotion-focused stress coping (EFSC). A significant positive association is detected between POS and PsyCap. Accordingly, our findings show that PsyCap plays a partial mediating role in the association between POS and PFSC.
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The focus of the presented research is attitude and loyalty to two brands of beer produced by the Carlsberg Group – Tuborg and Carlsberg. Both beers are lagers. The Carlsberg Group markets Tuborg as a more premium brand, and it also aims to promote it to women. Unlike in the Netherlands with one brand – Heineken and unlike in the Czech Republic with many well-known brands by a multitude of producers, the Danish case gives a unique opportunity to investigate if customers truly prefer one of two brands or are approximately equally low with regards to both brands as it is produced by the same company and tastes very similarly (if not the same). The survey was conducted in Denmark. Respondents were Danish (not international) university students; such selection was done in order to ensure familiarity of respondents with both brands.
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Advertising spokesperson is one of the undeniably important factors affecting advertising effectiveness. However, advertising spokesperson has to have some particular features to be effective. Various previous researches resulted in determination of different features of advertising spokesperson and their effectiveness; i.e. type of a spokesperson (celebrity vs. a regular person); gender and race of a spokesperson; etc. were found to have an impact on the spokesperson’s effectiveness. However, the research on the impact of shooting color temperature on its effectiveness is still scarce. Moreover, an assumption can be made that color temperature might cause a different effect depending on advertising spokesperson’s gender. The aim of this paper is to fill this gap by analyzing the relationship between spokesperson’s gender and advertising color temperature in a framework of advertising effectiveness. Neuromarketing research methods were applied to meet the aim and to determine the guidelines for its usage in advertising.
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Counterfactual impact evaluation (CIE) is a scientific quantitative approach mainly based on experiments and quasi experiments. CIE is trying to prove a causal relationship between outputs and outcomes. CIE does not take into account coherence of external incentives of companies with internal incentives that have or may have an impact on the behaviour of enterprises. The paper sets up internal evaluation indicators for businesses, counterfactuals useful for creating a more complex metrics evaluating businesses in the area of performance. The aim of the paper is to present model situation using the elementary principle of counterfactual impact evaluation based on “the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)”.
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With the advent of social media where customers have the technical ability to upload own content the change occurred in some of the communication habits online. This world of constant communication is a challenge for businesses as well researchers. Academic research in this area is bringing valuable insights into people attitudes and behaviour on the social media. What is the current situation and where the research field is heading is a question of high importance. This study uses the systematic approach to reviewing the literature and to show the development of publications produced at Czech universities. Although the results show an increasing number of studies, Czech research is lagging behind other similar countries. Compared with the best countries, it is lagging behind in the number of quotations per article. On the basis of these analyses, suggestions for future research that can help to promote future theory development are proposed.
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The decision making problem considered here is to rank n alternatives from the best to the worst, using information given by the decision maker(s) in the form of an n×n pairwise comparisons (PC) matrix. We investigate pairwise comparisons matrices with elements from a real interval which is a traditional multiplicative approach used in Analytic hierarchy process (AHP). Here, we deal with two essential elements of AHP: measuring consistency of PC matrix and the method of eliciting the priority vector by which the final ranking of alternatives is derived. Classical approaches introduced by T. Saaty in AHP are compared with later approaches based on the AHP criticism published in the literature. Advantages and disadvantages of both approaches are highlighted and discussed.
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The Paper’s goals: For the last two decades, sustainability reporting has increasingly been gaining the attention of managers, and consequently, academicians, too. This is due to the growing interest of a wide range of stakeholders, such as governments, investors, and customers, in non-financial information disclosed by business and public organisations. However, designing and implementing a sustainability report that fits the needs of these different stakeholder groups is a challenge. The differences between the various sectors make this challenge even greater. The focus of this paper will be on the healthcare products sector. The aim of this paper is to investigate the scope and quality of sustainability reporting practices of companies operating in the European and North American healthcare products sector. Research methods: The study is based on the current literature on sustainability reporting and non-financial (NFI) reporting. The empirical part of the paper will be based on a qualitative descriptive research design. Content analysis will be conducted on sustainability reports issued in 2018 and 2019, by 11 European and 8 North American organisations in the healthcare products sector. The nature of the study will be descriptive and based solely on information from secondary data sources. Expected results of the research: This paper will contribute to the international health management literature and to the existing research of sustainability reporting. Based on the findings, the health sector’s sustainability reporting practices will be carefully identified. The authors will also compare the practices of North American and European organisations, and subsequently, they will define the trends and best practices in this field.
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Motivation: Notwithstanding the privatization processes, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) continue to play an important role in Poland and other post-socialist countries. Governments declare that privatization is completed and that they do not intend to sell any more enterprises. They justify this by pointing to the national security and strategic sectors in which companies should remain state-owned. Unfortunately, SOEs are used by politicians for economic and personal rent-seeking.Aim: This article aims to discuss the idea of economic rent-seeking by politicians, particularly its impact on SOEs. We claim that politicians, being a group of interest, capture SOEs in order to achieve private gains for themselves and their parties, which compromises economic performance of these companies. We analyze the mechanism of influence that politicians have on SOEs, including the processes related to rotations of managers and boards of directors after winning parliamentary elections. To illustrate this, we analyze the scale of rotations in Polish SOEs in the years 2001–2017. The rotations are presented in absolute terms. Additionally, an index of the average number of changes in a company was estimated.Results: We listed several examples of capturing SOEs by politicians. The number of SOEs in EU countries varies. Most SOEs are located in Germany and France. Among the countries of the post-socialist EU–11, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania have the most SOEs. The average number of rotations in personnel was significantly greater in SOEs than in private companies in Poland. Rotations in SOEs are positively correlated with political elections. The greatest increase in the number of changes in SOEs can be observed in the periods following parliamentary elections, regardless of which political party wins. This means that politicians treat SOEs as well-deserved spoils of victory and take it as their own.
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The paper deals with current trends and changes in the requirements for knowledge, skills and attitudes in the digital age. According to research by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, Slovakia is a country that, compared to other European countries, has a below average level of human resources readiness for the most important Industry 4.0 challenges. The expected consequences of these socio-economic challenges should be radical changes in the character and organization of work and jobs. Successful orientation and application in the digital world puts new demands not only on the core expertise in the relevant field of work, but especially on soft skills such as self-decision-making, teamwork, flexibility, creativity, communication skills, critical thinking and more. The aim of the paper is to clarify what are the current trends in the demand for soft skills, especially in the context of current labor market requirements in the Slovak Republic.
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