Issue #2 (Volume 15 2017)

Measurement of employer’s attractiveness has been given much attention in many countries all over the world, but there was no extensive research performed in Lithuania so far, providing empirical evidence to define the landscape of organizational attractiveness in Lithuanian business sector. The aim of this study (N = 1020 respondents) is to identify which dimensions make organizations attractive as employers in Lithuanian business sector. The article employs a research approach based on a postpositivistic perspective. The relevant literature on organizational attractiveness is critically reviewed, analyzed, compared and generalized. Addressing research aim, a scale to measure organizational attractiveness as an employer was developed and administered in Lithuanian business sector in such a manner. Existing methodologies measuring organizational attractiveness were analyzed composing a list of 67 dimensions. Using content validity, scale comprising 30 dimensions was developed to measure organizational attractiveness of companies in Lithuanian business sector. A telephone interview survey method for data collection was used. Descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations, and frequencies) is used to analyze the data of the survey. 30 dimensions of organizational attractiveness were rank-ordered according to their means in descending order from most important to least important drivers of employer’s attractiveness. Specifically, the results suggested that good working atmosphere, adequate salary and interesting job are key to the attractiveness as an employer of business companies in Lithuania as perceived by their employees. The article also discusses the implications of the findings.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting plays a key role in management control, particularly in light of the increased demand for non-financial reporting after the financial crisis of 2008–2009. This literature review evaluates 47 empirical studies that concentrate on the influence of several board composition variables on the quantity and quality of CSR reporting. The author briefly introduces the research framework that underpins current empirical studies in this field. This is followed by a discussion of the main variables of board composition: (1) committees (audit and CSR committees), (2) board independence, (3) board expertise, (4) CEO duality, (5) board diversity (gender and foreign diversity), (6) board activity, and (7) board size. The author, then, summarizes the key findings, discusses the limitations of the existing research and offers useful recommendations for researchers, firm practice and regulators.

The author introduces the regional-globalized organizational design model suited for business schools wishing to play leading roles in research in the global knowledge economy. Professors were interviewed and secondary sources were used in the data collection process. In the time period lasting from 2010 until 2016. Chaos theory is used to illustrate the relevance of the regional-global model analyzing six business schools in China, Europe and the USA. The research suggests that the sampled business schools have become more research-focused in the time period the research took place due to a more complex and turbulent business environment. This is particularly the case for the elite business schools Harvard Business School, IESE Business School and China-Europe Business School. The research suggests that tailor making of research efforts can help business schools in their struggle for success, using elements from the crafting society as a benchmark.

For countries such as Ukraine, one of the decisive factors of their economic development is the state of transport infrastructure. Ukraine has an extensive river network, which determines the availability and the possibility of efficient use of its inland waterways. The article analyzes the state of river transport in Ukraine, assesses the prospects for its development, as well as the problems associated with the existing limitations. It offers instruments for creating effective complexes ensuring the functioning and development of this kind of activity.

Spurred by the need to evade possible parameter bias associated with earlier works, this study intended to address the subject of whether performance of commercial banking contributes to economic growth. With the aim of answering this question, the present review concentrates on analyzing the association between profitability, deposit and credit facilities as proxy for performance of commercial banks while gross domestic product proxies economic growth. The population of the study is characterized by the Jordanian banking industry; the study enclosed a period of six years from 2010 to 2015 constructed on the annual report of thirteen chosen banks. Using Ordinary Least Square, the regression outcomes found a significant positive association between measures of bank performance and economic growth. Findings demonstrate that measures of bank performance in particular profitability deposits credits have positive relationship with economic growth as measured by GDP. The empirical results suggest that the policy creators should make arrangements to augment and prompt the banking sector in Jordan on account of its key significance in making and advancing development of the economy. It additionally can be inferred that not only commercial banking performance but also other movables such as political stability and technology may assume essential part in the economic prosperity in Jordan.

The article analyzes the outsourcing services market and its consumption volumes in the recent years, assesses the industry range of outsourcing by paying close attention to the construction services companies, and evaluates the general trend in the development of the construction industry market in Ukraine. The paper determines the growth in demand for outsourcing services by construction companies by singling out outsourcing as an instrument of management in the construction industry. It demonstrates the expediency of the use of outsourcing for construction industry companies and describes the main reasons that prevent the making of decision regarding the transfer to outsourcing. The main objectives and the procedure of transition of construction companies to outsourcing are formulated. Given the importance of certain types of construction works, six stages of transition to outsourcing by construction companies were identified.

This study investigates the impact of various resources, specifically both tangible and intangible ones, together with capabilities of Malaysian listed firms, on their performance. This empirical study attempts to enrich the understanding of the resources-performance relationship, which is one of a business process within the firm, as well as filling the gaps in present knowledge. Firms, which are not able to develop and sustain their performance, are associated with the vulnerability and adverse performance result, especially during various periods of economic crisis (three sub-periods of major shocks, i.e., The Volcker Shock (Commodities Shock) of early 1980s, Asian Financial Crisis of the late 1990s, and the Global Financial Meltdown of 2008). Hence, this research intends to explore which resources matter the most to firm profitability and its success. Drawing upon the combination of Donabedian’s structure process outcome and resource-based theories of the firm a conceptual framework is developed. Data for the study were collected from a sample of 250 publicly traded companies listed on Bursa Malaysia (MYX). In order to achieve the objective and response to the study question, partial least square and regression analysis are applied. Findings indicate that tangible resources have no impact, while intangible resources have positive and significant impact on firm performance. In addition, results show that efficient allocation of intangible resources is crucial to achieving good performance.

In recent years, all economically developed countries of the world experience formation of knowledge economy as the highest stage of postindustrial economy development. International companies, basing their activity on accumulation of human capital according to the principles of innovativeness, scientific nature, continuity and progressiveness, play an important role in activation of this process. Owing to global nature of their activity it influences all spheres of human life in the world, improving it, as well as having an adverse impact (enhancement of poverty in some regions of the word, environment pollution, etc.). Achievement of these conditions of sustainable economic growth is possible just by the way of prevention of the adverse impact, which, among other things, depends on the active social position of the management of international companies. Therefore this paper is aimed at identification of priority focuses of socially responsible activity of international companies. This goal was achieved through generalization of basic program initiatives of the activity of three companies, leading in innovations (Apple, Samsung and IBM). Adoption of the above-mentioned initiatives by other companies of the world as guides while developing their own development strategy has to facilitate the growth of positive effects from enhancement of knowledge economy in the world.

In the recent period, of significant importance is the topic of ensuring national security, which is based, in particular, on the possibilities of existence of economic systems under the conditions of isolation, the maximum use of one’s own internal resources to ensure import substitution. One of the types of such resources is recreational resources, which can be of interest both for the country’s citizens and foreign citizens. However, a significant impact of geopolitical problems on the development of the tourism industry makes it possible to effectively calculate and most objectively forecast revenues only from its internal component. In this regard, the problem of development of the domestic tourism industry is becoming increasingly relevant with a view to making a positive impact of the sector’s development on the welfare of the state as a whole and the creation of a favorable social climate for citizens. This article, on the basis of the methods of theoretical and empirical research, studies the peculiarities of development of the domestic tourism industry in Russia and examines the need in tax incentives for its effective development. Based on the analysis of the current state of the domestic tourism industry in Russia, the authors propose a division of the subjects of the tourism market, which are targeted by tax incentives, a new system for classifying domestic enterprises indicating the basic requirements and conditions for obtaining support, as well as specific measures of organizational and fiscal provisions for the growth of the domestic tourism market.

Land parcels fragmentation problem in different agriclimatic zones of Ukraine is reviewed; general pattern, as well as regional specific is outlined. Land management of fragmented parcels in agricultural use is discussed, including land ownership and jurisprudence issues of land consolidation. Three key plots were chosen to analyze issues of land fragmentation, geospatial data shown demonstrate need for land consolidation to optimize agricultural land-use of such territories. Specificity fragmentation of land for agricultural companies, located in the mountainous regions of Ukraine, is noted. Gaps in the legal regulation of relation connected with land fragmentation were disclosed. Problems of land inheritance in the context of fragmentation, exchange of land resources as a tool for effective functioning of land market, the small and medium producers, economic development and agriculture in general; the creation of a land bank is regarded as a factor in reducing fragmentation of land were examined.

The wholesale and retail industry is the fourth largest contributor to South Africa’s Gross Domestic Product. However, it faces the major challenge of attracting highly skilled and motivated workers. Although South African universities launched programs in retail management, attracting young talents to a career in retailing remains a tough challenge. Drawing on previous findings from the field of graduate decision-making and industry image from other countries, this research examines the perceptions and expectations of Gen Y members with regard to their field of study and their prospective career. A nationwide survey with 1363 South African first year students, in their first week at university, shows significant differences between freshmen enrolled in retail business management and those enrolled in other business majors. While retail students, as compared to other participants, tend to hold stronger positive associations with their field of study and a retail career, majoring in retailing appears to be a fallback option. Over all participants, the analysis reveals that the perception of retailing careers primarily exceeds expectations on attributes that are only of minor importance. When it comes to important career attributes like payment, work-life balance and advancement issues, the retail image lags behind that of other industries. Comparing the field of study with the preferred industry, we identify four different segments of students that qualify to be targeted by companies and universities in different ways.

The cascading order variability from downstream trumping up the upstream site of the supply chain network indicates the deleterious effect to the performance of the fast moving consumer goods industry. The fundamental likelihood to optimization in this industry requires dexterous flows of quasi-real-time information, as well as reliable product availability. In this context, this study analyzes the challenges of bullwhip effect on the perspective of ingenious optimization strategies, and further contemplates to establish the engineering patterns of interrelationships on the magnitude of pooling the resources to advance supply chain capabilities. The suppression of bullwhip effect on underlying optimization strategies is sought to elevate accelerated responsiveness, improve network demand visibility and reduce volatility in frequencies to inventory replenishment. A rigorous and disciplined quantitative approach afforded the tentatively development of pattern of interrelated supply chain dimensions. The factor analysis method was used on 448 responses and insightful findings were produced from the compelling purposive sampling technique. The findings indicate that the magnitude of better ameliorating bullwhip effect, the value of competitive economic information and strength of selected optimization strategies depend on the model of unified engineering patterns. This paper provides insights to FMCG industry on using innovative strategies and modern technology to enhance supply chain visibility through integrated systems networks.

A study was conducted at the South African Department of Health (DOH) in order to assess the perception held by employees of the DOH at national and provincial levels about the suitability of the Performance Management System (PMS) tool that was being used in the DOH for the assessment and evaluation of the performance of employees working for the DOH at national and provincial level based on their Key Performance Areas (KPAs) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The study was based on a stratified random sample of size n=120 employees of the DOH working at national and provincial levels. The study was quantitative, and used methods of data analyses such as frequency tables, cross-tab analysis and binary logistic regression analysis. The degree of productivity of employees at work was measured by using a composite index defined by Le Brasseur, Zannibbi & Zinger (2013). Results obtained from the study showed that about 74% of employees held a favorable view of the PMS tool that was used for the assessment and evaluation of employees. The percentage of respondents who viewed the PMS tool as unhelpful was about 26%. The study showed that the view held by employees working in the DOH about the relevance and objectivity of the PMS tool used for the assessment of employee performance in the DOH was significantly and adversely affected by the perception that the PMS policy was incapable of promoting the effectiveness of the DOH as an organization, the perception that the PMS policy was incapable of rewarding deserving employees, and the perception that there were not enough training opportunities in the PMS, in a decreasing order of strength.

The South African higher education sector introduced structural changes, which resulted in the creation of universities of technology, (hereafter referred to as UoTs). There, however, has the not been any known studies that investigated organizational culture and job satisfaction among academic professionals at these new types of institutions in the country. This study’s main objective was to determine perceptions of organizational culture and their impact on job satisfaction among academic professionals at a University of Technology in the Free State Province, South Africa. The study’s respondents had positive perceptions of the organizational culture with academic professionals showing satisfaction with co-worker relations, supervision support and the work itself, as well as moderate satisfaction with the available advancement opportunities. Academic professionals were, however, dissatisfied with the salaries they were receiving. A significant correlation between overall organizational culture and job satisfaction was found.