Problems of Management in the 21st Century

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Contents, Vol. 11, No. 2, 2016, PMC

71-92

Authors: Mohammed Aboramadan, Elio Borgonovi

Based on a review of prior studies, this research seeks to enrich the management literature by examining and empirically testing the impact of each of the strategic management practices (environmental scanning, strategy formulation, strategy implementation, and strategy evaluation-monitoring) on financial and non-financial performance of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). A questionnaire was developed and validated to measure strategic management practices and NGOs financial and non-financial performance. Questionnaires were distributed to projects coordinators, programs officers and administration officers of seventy-nine international NGOs operating in the Palestinian Territories. 237 questionnaires were distributed and 160 questionnaires were returned and were usable for statistical analysis. The research results demonstrates that strategic management practices have positive impact not only on financial performance but on non-financial performance of these organizations. Moreover, the research recommends that NGOs rely on strategic management as a means to achieve high performance.

107-123

Authors: Beáta Sz. G. Pató, Zoltán Kovács, László Szabó

There are many ways to define and to describe jobs and assigning to people. This is a key issue in both blue collar and in white collar jobs. This analysis focuses on the work content of jobs in logistics. However, the methodology allows the exploration of closely related issues to determine competence requirements as well. Jobs can be seen to have bearing on many areas including effectiveness, efficiency of individual and organizational level, social and political issues. The purpose of the research carried out by authors was to identify the necessary competencies in logistics jobs. It included the analysis of the tasks using company document (job description) analysis in order to identify the tasks and required competencies. Researchers extracted and then standardized the verb - noun pairs which described the tasks. The frequency of these pairs gave the weight of the task in a job. This method allowed the researchers to determine the overlapping rate of activities in different fields (trade, transport, comprehensive activities). It was found that the most different/independent field in the terms of similarities is warehousing. Results suggest the rethinking of the training content in order to find the right balance between the general and specific competencies. They also help organizations to optimize the composition of cross-functional staff.

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End, Vol. 11, No. 2, 2016, PMC

3

Authors: Editorial Board

Contents, Vol. 11, No. 1, 2016, PMC

8-15

Authors: Maya Bitsadze, Marine Japaridze

The intensive reforms taking place in general education field in Georgia impose considerable stress to those engaged in teaching profession. This may gradually lead to the condition of professional burnout of teachers. According to the conducted research some teachers have experienced burnout while others did not. The purpose of the present research is to identify how the personal quality such as control of locus may have influenced the level of burnout in Georgian teachers. Two self-assessment instruments, Rotter Scale and Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), were used in this research to measure control of locus type and level of burnout among Georgian teachers. Two questionnaires were distributed among 407 teachers at Public schools of Georgia. After dismissing inaccurately filled out questionnaires the analysis was conducted based on the data received from 373 questionnaires. The research findings revealed that Georgian teachers with internal locus of control are less likely to become professional burnout victims. Significant correlations proved to exist between locus of control orientation and teacher burnout on Emotional Exhaustion (EE) and Personal Achievements (PA) subscales of MBI. The article explores the opportunities to change locus of control from external to internal as a part of teacher professional development activities guided by school Principals and through redesigning of teacher preparation programs in order to make teachers more resistant to professional burnout.

29-42

Authors: Beáta Sz. G. Pató, Anna Freund

Today’s business world is affected by the 21st century’s processes, like globalization, fluent online attendance, digitalization and their direct consequence depersonalisation. The authors are motivated by these facts and want to vivify the „old fashioned” correct business models and find the indispensable parameter of the well-functioning economy, in one word today’s equivalent of „honorable gentlemen”. The assumed key to success could be useful for the for-profit sector because not only profit can be the impelling in the professional life of a corporation. The human value added is one of the most important keystones of thrift. The aim to establish a balance between economic and ethical behaviour of corporations has been enounced serving the interest of all participants, consumers, corporations and society. The before natural thought values seem nowadays to turn into something different or to be neglected. As a consequence the question has been raised, if society has the force to establish and improve Ethics, will it be able to destroy it as well?! The main focus of the research is therefore the mapping of criteria and marks which belong to on the competitive market successful enterprises whose procurement decisions are ethical as well. These marks can be formal or informal. The results of the research show well that there are parameters of a company, for example, a code of conduct within guidelines concerning the procurement or procedure manuals in which also ethical issues appear in a formal way. From another point of view there are informal signs like customs arising from the corporate culture, daily routine or just human behaviour and convincement of the management and procurement employees that also support the ethical performance of the company. The results of the research can serve as best practice for the other enterprises too in their daily appearance on the market. Particularly in that area the company’s most important goal is “gaining profit” which can have next to itself another value added the “fair work”. Its role is to lead the attention to the statement that next to fair working on the market profit can be produced as well. The researchers consider it important that the companies who have already kept in mind the ethical procurement could gain a feedback, an inspiration or even new ideas to follow their work.

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End, Vol. 11, No. 1, 2016, PMC

59

Authors: Editorial Board

Contents, Vol. 10, No. 2, 2015, PMC

62–76

Authors: Rafał Drewniak

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is becoming an increasingly popular area of activity of companies which are interested in not only the managers or owners, but also customers, suppliers, NGOs, administrative and other stakeholders groups. The analysis aim is to present CSR initiatives as part of deliberate strategy of the company, which is one of the key sources of competitive advantage in the market. The findings concern the scope of cooperation between companies and NGOs in the field of socially responsible activities. The analysis indicates that the expected form of cooperation of NGOs with small businesses is to provide financial assistance to social organizations. However, in the case of medium-sized enterprises, these expectations also apply to material support. Moreover, in the case of medium-sized enterprises a key determinant of cooperation with social organization is realization of the social objective, while small businesses are more guided by "goodness of the heart". Considerations based on the identification of scope of CSR, are pointing to the key aspects of this activity to the company, the environment and customers. Discussions were extended to the characteristics of the benefits, barriers and forms of the cooperation, as well as, there were presented the results of research in the field of forms and determinants of such cooperation. Considerations are based on secondary sources, from national and international journals, books, magazines and specialist reports.

88–99

Authors: Stephen N. M Nzuve, Mwangi Pauline Njambi

Performance is associated with quantity of output, quality of output, timeliness of output, presence or attendance on the job, efficiency of the work completed and effectiveness of work completed (Mathis et al., 2009). In an organization, committed employees are regarded as being willing to build and maintain long-lasting relationships with their employer (Argyris, 1998). Effective management teams need to recognize that positive employee attitudes are often vital to achieving organizational goals and this will be achieved when the employees are satisfied. The objective of the study was to determine the factors perceived to influence employees’ performance at Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission. The research design adopted was descriptive research design. The population of the study comprised of all the 175 employees in the commission head office. The study used primary data that was collected through self-administered questionnaires. The data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software and presented using tables and figures. The study found out that the employees of the commission perceived their performance to be influenced by rewards, job design and training and development opportunity. Management style was found to have hindered performance of employees. The employees were satisfied with wages and salaries paid, retirement benefit scheme, job security, performance appraisals were satisfactory hence encouraging the employees to work in the commission and improve their performance.

110–120

Authors: Christopher R. Schmidt

The types of whistleblowing claims made against institutions of higher education are not well understood nor are the various mechanisms used to solicit, investigate, and learn from such claims at the institutional and state levels. This research obtained and analyzed whistleblower claims made against institutions of higher education and explores and facilitates a discussion around the value of learning opportunities that come from whistleblowing claims. Aggregate claims data and detail workpapers for claims made against the 45 publicly funded colleges and universities in the state of Ohio, in the midwestern United States was analyzed to identify patterns and areas of focus which could improve institutional processes and internal controls. Four areas resulted from the analysis: hiring and pay practices, prevention of the theft of institutional assets, prevention of the theft of student funds, and an institutional accreditation issue. All claims that were reported reflected real concerns on topics of strategic importance to institutions and their management practices, although not all were substantiated or corroborated. One quarter of the claims resulted in proven cases for recovery and prosecution. At the state level, completeness of investigation and administrative learning were sometimes not pursued due to the code enforcement nature of the governing bodies whose mandate was limited to the identification and prosecution of crimes, although improvement opportunities clearly existed. The case of Ohio demonstrates that open government and public information request processes can provide sufficient information to allow insight into the nature of the claims and to identify improvement opportunities for both the institution and state level administration.

3

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Contents, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2015, PMC

6-17

Authors: Peter Bóna, Robert Lippert

What makes a company successful? What kind of instruments may it use to achieve outstanding results? Instruments necessary for effective operation depend remarkably on the current age and the environment surrounding the organisation. Various ages have had their different keys to success. This key has become more and more complex and complicated due to the continuous acceleration of world economy and the fact that distances have become negligible. The aim of this study is to explore, whether companies having an interest in the processing industry use hard or soft success factors as a key to achieve success. In order to do that, the research will identify the possible success factors first. Henceforward it will reveal the effect of the resulting factors on success by logistic regression, which will be examined via the balance scorecard by complementing the four classic aspects – as one of the pioneers – with a fifth one, i.e. sustainability. Thus it will become visible, to what extent strategic, structural, cultural and leadership success factors influence the performance of a company to reach excellence in accordance with the expectations of the owners, the customers, the employees and the social sphere. The results of the research will thereby show the unravelled correlations between the successful operation of a company and the instruments indicating hard and soft success affecting it.

26-36

Authors: Diāna Līduma, Aija Kairēna, Māris Priedens

There are 10 operating ports in Latvia and 3 of them – Liepaja, Ventspils and Riga ports are regarded as the leading commercial ports. Role of port operation in the economics of region and country is essential from the point of view of employment and entrepreneurship. This is based with data on investment of operation of Latvian ports in GDP, on average it is assessed to be 5-7% annually. In the context of employment, Liepaja Port gives work to 6.9% of human resources of the city. However, concern about the competitiveness of Liepaja Port influenced by the proximity of more developed competitive ports, technical possibilities of the port and dynamics of freight turnover has occurred in recent years. Therewith in framework of this article in the context of such criteria as location of ports and their technical parameters, volumes of freight, specialization and costs of ports, the operation of leading ports of Latvia is intercompared and analyzed by clarifying whether Liepaja Port is competitive among other ports of Latvia. Opinions of port experts on perspectives of port development and statistical data of ports from 2011-2013 are analyzed within the framework of the article. The aim of the research is to clarify the comparative advantages of ports of Latvia. The research revealed that the provision of competitiveness of Liepaja Port is to be related with application of the available free territories, advantages of location in relation to the Scandinavian market, and the necessity to develop the cooperation among ports of Latvia to offer joint freight acquisition, distributions and unified logistics solution and strengthen the position of ports in the circumstances of international competition.

49

Authors: Vincentas Lamanauskas

On behalf of the organizing committee, we are delighted to welcome you to Šiauliai, Lithuania, for the II International Baltic Symposium on Science and Technology Education, BalticSTE 2017. The Symposium will be held in Šiauliai (Lithuania) in June 2017 during days 12-15. We cordially encourage you to attend and contribute to one of the major events of 2017 on the field of science and technology education. We are confident that you will appreciate the scientific program and the city of Šiauliai. We look forward to seeing you in 2017 in Lithuania.

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End page, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2015, PMC

169

Authors: Editorial Board

Contents, Vol. 9, No. 3, 2014, PMC

173-182

Authors: Godson Ahiabor

It is believed that many of the problems confronting leaders can be traced to their inability to analyze and evaluate organizational cultures. Thus, many leaders, when trying to implement new strategies or a strategic plan leading to a new vision, will discover that their strategies will fail if they are inconsistent with the organization's culture. Organizational culture does not only affect the manner in which managers manage and consequently shape employee behavior, but also the total output and the way it provides services to its customers. Corporate culture or organizational culture is the behavior of humans within an organization and the meaning that people attach to those behaviors. Culture includes the organization's vision, values, norms, systems, symbols, language, assumptions, beliefs, and habits. In addition, different individuals bring to the workplace their own uniqueness, knowledge, and ethnic culture. Corporate culture covers moral, social, and behavioral norms of one’s organization based on the values, beliefs, attitudes, and priorities of its members. The researcher can say that corporate culture does have a positive impact on the productivity of any organisation, and with Vodafone, it does increase its productivity.

197-205

Authors: Agnieszka Bem, Paulina Ucieklak-Jeż

The aim of this study is to assess the functional state of health for elderly residents in Poland. The analysis has been using the data from the survey “Social Diagnosis” carried out in 2013, in Poland. The research concentrates on subjective measures, used to assess the population’s state of health, based both on mortality and disability studies, while disability is defined as reduced ability to carry out daily activities. The authors have evaluated the health status of the elderly in Poland in 2013, using measures of health function (ADL) and activity restrictions (IADL). The results show, that functional health of older people in Poland is significantly correlated with age and sex of respondents. The interpretation and the conceptualization of desirable directions of changes should lead to active life style’s promoting, adjusted, accordingly, to health state and age. It also provides important information for social care managers, by defining needed form of interventions.

213-222

Authors: Joanna Radomska

The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between the elements of the Eight "S" model that affect strategic implementation and results achieved by companies. The main research question, to which the author sought an answer, was whether there was a relationship between individual elements that affect strategy implementation and the effects it brings in revenue growth. The survey covered 200 of the best-ranked Polish companies (where revenues constituted one of the ranking criteria) where the level of strategic implementation was considered satisfactory. Testing of the research hypotheses has shown that the factors defined as Resources and Shared Values have a minor impact on the strategy implementation. The research also has shown that there is an additional element that could be incorporated into the model - the system of informal communication. In addition, the paper describes the interrelations between elements of the model.