Problems of Management in the 21st Century

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Authors: Editorial Board

Contents, Problems of Management in the 21st Century, ISSN 2029-6932 (Print) ISSN 2538-712X (Online) Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

8-24

Authors: Idongesit Oto Eshiett, Oto Eyamba Eshiett

The idea of New Product Development (NPD) has its origin from constant changes in consumer preference and choices based on available products. The changing trend in customer accessibility to information on product availability and performance driven by Information and Communications Technology (ICT); has emboldened manufacturing firms to modify their NPD process in line with customers’ needs and wants for the ultimate purpose of satisfying the end users of their products. The aim objective of this study is to examine the effect of new product development on organizational performance, additional challenging issues include; the far-reaching effect of market research, specific allocation of budget for NPD by manufacturing firms and effective training and re-training of personnel for Research and Development (R&D). The study evaluates the concept of new product development and organizational performance by adopting the dynamic capability theory. The descriptive research methodology was adopted in which 302 questionnaires were administered to respondents who were basically staff, distribution intermediaries and end users of products in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State and Port Harcourt Rivers State.; also, comprehensive interview was conducted on areas where the questionnaire could not cover effectively. The result of the study revealed that there was a significant relationship between New Product Development and organizational performance. The study recommended that key towards outstanding performance by manufacturing firms ‘lie in their ability to effectively train their personnel to conduct effective market research to identify the preferences of the consumer, and deliver products that satisfy their exact need, as a pre-requisite for sustainable performance.

36-47

Authors: Putri Hergianasari, Muhammad Uhaib As'ad, Novriest Umbu W. Nau

In many developing countries, various development models have been used, but the results are far from expectations. This happens because this ideology only focuses on equitable development by focusing only on economic growth factors. Even so, we can assume developmental deviations are common because when applied in the field, we cannot study them completely thoroughly. However, based on the conditions above, we can take the most optimal approach to formulate an optimal mutually dependent and beneficial relationship between the community and the government as stipulated in legal policy. Therefore, this paper examines how the political economy and the role of the state shape the development of Papua in Special Autonomy System. With FGD data and research from the literature, we use a descriptive-qualitative strategy. According to the findings of the study, the background of economic exploitation in Papua and the sustainability of nature as a production space has a paradoxical relationship, where the result of increasing the economic value of mining activities is conducted by PT. Freeport which is inversely proportional to the loss of green open space. This results in damage to living ecosystems. As a result, the sustainability of the Papuan people's livelihood in the future is threatened. Based on this, the author provides the results of his study as a solution for government policy makers to provide recommendations so that the government prioritizes human-centered development strategies. This study concludes that "capacity building" is needed by humans in order to become the subject of development. With this framework in mind, the people of Papua can optimize development in their area more effectively because the process is carried out through social development that emphasizes education, knowledge, and skills.

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Authors: Akeem Tunde Nafiu, Danlami Joseph Aduku, Napoleon Ukwubile Abah

This study focused on link innovativeness and Competitive Advantage (CA) of Small and Medium-size Enterprise (SMEs). The study examined the effect of Value Capture Innovation (VCI) on the CA, as well as the effect of VPI on the CA of SMEs in Kogi State. The survey research design was adopted. 255 SMEs were surveyed, but 219 owners/managers eventually became active participants. Multi-stage random sampling technique was adopted. The reliability results showed VCI (α=0.917); and VPI (α=0.776). Multiple Regression analysis was used for testing hypotheses. Descriptive statistics aggregated and characterized the data in a straightforward and clear manner. Finding showed that VCI has significant effect on the CA of SMEs in Kogi State, and that (Value Proposition Innovation (VPI) has significant effect on CA of SMEs. The study concluded that SMEs need to possess innovation capabilities so as to enhance reasonable position in the competitive business environment. The study recommended that SME owners should increase their commitment to VCI so as to achieve sustainable CA for their enterprises, and that SME owners should invest in VPI to create effective medium route towards the achievement of sustainable CA of their enterprises.

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Authors: Editorial Board

End page, Problems of Management in the 21st Century, ISSN 2029-6932 (Print) ISSN 2538-712X (Online) Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

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Authors: Editorial Board

Contents, Vol. 16, No. 2, 2021, PMC

65-73

Authors: Simona Činčalová, Zuzana Nováková

Corporate social responsibility is a much-discussed topic because it includes an inexhaustible number of activities in the economic, social and environmental fields. The basic theoretical basis of social responsibility is applied to a specific Czech company. A questionnaire for the employees of the subsidiary helped with the research. It was found that the company is doing very well in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and has a good portfolio for compiling a comprehensive CSR report, which is a proposal as one of the measures. Another area suitable for the development of some activities is the ecological part. The company actively supports the ecological approach and behaviour, and it has set some measures, such as ISO 14001 certification at its gas station branches, so it is well on its way to certifying its office buildings.

87-101

Authors: Diāna Līduma, Inese Lūsēna-Ezera

The main feature of teamwork is a common goal, and the involvement of employees is essential to its achievement. In a wider scope, it is understood not only by the involvement of employees in decision-making but also as the involvement of employees in operational planning and strategic issues. Research aim is to find out whether the involvement of employees in decision-making, goal setting and planning is inherent in manufacturing enterprises. According to a survey of 268 different level employees of 25 manufacturing enterprises in Latvia, it was found out that involvement of all employees in the decision-making process is not perceived by the enterprises` performance and strategic planning, and the involvement of employees in decision-making and goal setting can only be seen within the department.

112-121

Authors: Kaja Prystupa-Rządca, Maciej Rządca

The goal of executive education programs is to prepare the leaders to act in swiftly changing business and social environment. However, various research show that the program completion may not induce the expected change unless it has more transformational nature. In other words, the program curriculum should put more emphasis on soft skills development and incorporation of experiential learning methods. Therefore, the quantitative, longitudinal research was conducted among participants of executive education program at a highly ranked university which met the criteria of transformational education program. The study aimed to measure the change at the level of basic motivators among 71 Executive MBA students that occurred during 2 years of studies at the executive program using REISS Motivation Profile®. There were discovered significant changes in 5 motivators: Acceptance, Social Contact, Status, Order and Tranquility. The results indicate that the program participants become leaders that are more oriented towards collaboration with others and value more planning and balanced approach to management. The results bring valuable indication for both university management and educators calling for changes in the executive education curriculum.

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End page, Vol. 16, No. 2, 2021, PMC

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Authors: Editorial Board

Contents, Vol. 16, No. 1, PMC, 2021

7-18

Authors: Dana Egerová, Lucie Rotenbornová

Workplace conflict is regarded as a naturally and unavoidably occurring phenomenon in today's organisations. To identify the causes of workplace conflict it is critically important to determine appropriate conflict management strategies and effectively manage conflict. The purpose of this study was to explore causes of interpersonal conflicts between managers and employees and the conflict management styles used to handle these conflicts. A qualitative approach including thematic analysis and content analysis was employed. The thematic analysis was carried out to explore the themes concerning causes of conflicts between managers and employees. The content analysis was used to identify the conflict management styles. The data for both analyses included 47 individual written assignments describing conflict situations between managers and employees. Four general themes including poor management, manager personality, poor communication and differences in views emerged from the thematic analysis. Each theme also encompassed a number of subthemes. The findings of the content analysis showed that fight was the most adopted style used by both male and female managers. The findings also revealed that three styles emerge as the most frequently adopted by employees including avoidance, adaptation, and collaboration. The practical implications and limitations of this study are discussed.

28-41

Authors: Thiago Nunes Klojda, Antônio Pedro de Britto Pereira Fortuna, Bianca Menezes Araújo, Daniel Bouzon Nagem Assad, Thaís Spiegel

Health care systems are affected by sudden increases in demand that can be generated by factors such as natural disasters, terrorist attacks, epidemics, among others. Patient demand can be divided between scheduled and walk-in and, in pandemic scenarios, both of them must be managed in order to avoid higher patient waiting times or number in queue. A discrete event simulation model is proposed in order to evaluate critical indicators like: patient waiting times, number in queue, resource utilization (doctors), using four different patient schedule appointment rules. In this study it was also considered patients impunctuality, walk-in patients and no-show in different scenarios. The best schedule appointment rules for each demand scenario were evaluated. After comparing six performance indicators, four schedule appointment rules in nine different scenarios it was found that the most known scheduling rule had the lowest queue sizes at scenarios with low or no walk-in patients, whereas, as the unpredictability of the scenarios rose, other rules outperformed it. It was also presented to exist an inverse relation between queue size and the physician idle time.

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Authors: Editorial Board

End page, Vol. 16, No. 1, PMC, 2021

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Authors: Editorial Board

Contents, Vol. 15, No. 2, 2020

79-91

Authors: Cantífula de Castro

Organizational communication is a key element for the survival, maintenance and consolidation of human relationships in the workplace. This research aims to understand how organizational communication is being managed in the Mozambican Catholic Vida Nova Magazine, verifying how inclusive communication contributes to maintaining good quality of the journal and a high productivity of employees. The methodology used was qualitative, with a field work that consisted of participant observation for one year, complemented by semi-structured interviews with key witnesses. The results showed that Vida Nova Magazine experiences a particular kind of participatory, dialogical and strategic communication processes, coming mainly from the spontaneity of personal relations and communication among employees rather than due to a strategic option of the management. In view of the global demands in the field of social communication, Vida Nova Magazine seeks to broaden its field of action using instrumental forms of communication, based on new technologies, as digital platforms, both social networks and the website. The socialization process of its employees is promising as it cooperates in the consolidation of personal life and is expected to have a new life with Vida Nova.

100-107

Authors: Adam Metelski, Jerzy Kaźmierczyk

Should sports clubs be managed by former professional athletes? There is a belief in the sports world that team management is a mystery, something that only former players can understand. Some studies indeed indicate that practicing sports may actually predispose a person to also performing managerial functions. The aim of the research was to verify if former professional football players do better than other people as coaches of football clubs. The interest in this topic was due to the fact that like a top manager in a company, a coach is a very important figure in the football club and sport is an important part of the global economy today. The research was based on the top Polish football league – Ekstraklasa. The study covered the years 2015-2020 and during this period, a total of 46 head coaches worked in the analyzed clubs. The results indicate that owners of football clubs often hire former successful athletes, and in the research group their average results were better than others.

125-143

Authors: Ekaterina Panarina

The focus on the relationship between sustainable development, regionalism and clusterisation of economy formed a scientific interest of the present paper. Based on a questionnaire filled in by a sample of managers from 3 cluster-oriented regions of Russia, the perception of business strengths and weaknesses and the assessment of the external environment were investigated and paralleled with the main causes for the success of clusters or underutilization of the clusters integrated benefits. The efficiency of a region’s cluster-type development was linked to optimization of resources potential and national industrial complex enlargement, growth of market infrastructure, recruiting qualified personnel, attracting small and medium-size innovative businesses, and collaborative engagement of all entities participating in the strategic alliance within a cluster. The purpose of this research was to identify key factors of successful clustering of an economy based on experience of foreign clusters and leading clusters of the Russian economy, and to stimulate the influence of innovative clusters on regional social-economic development in Russia. The research methodology is based on the cluster concept of regional management and numerous case-studies that describe the cases of high-tech clusters nationally and internationally. Conclusions of the study give a plausible picture of the level of development, interrelated with the quality of business strategies in the measured regions, and ask for a comparative analysis of more Russian regions. The present study contributes to the government body of regional management to approach sustainable development of social-economic systems and increasing entrepreneurial activity in the regions of the Russian Federation.

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Authors: Editorial Board

Contents, PMC, Vol. 15, No. 1, 2020

9-22

Authors: Luca Bussotti, Charles Torres

Islamic terrorism has been a serious threat for Eastern and Southern Africa since the 1990s. Many of these African countries have developed different forms of struggle against Islamic terrorism, from a military intervention to social policies, in order to improve the general socio-economic conditions for society as a whole. In Mozambique, no specific measure was adopted to cope the diffusion of terrorism, leaving that radicalized forms of Islamism spread in particular in Cabo Delgado, a Northern Province bordering with Tanzania. Research aimed at approaching Islamic terrorism in Cabo Delgado according to the strategy of risk prevention and risk management by Mozambican State. This study demonstrates that during the second term of Guebuza as a Chief of State, Mozambique had to face three different, potential threats. Nevertheless, Mozambican government identified two of these threats as a priority (namely Somali piracy in Mozambique Channel and Renamo´s action), neglecting possible Islamic terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado Province. This study demonstrates – using privileged witnesses as well as open sources available in the public sphere - that this choice was typical of a fragile and authoritarian State. Firstly, it was not based on an objective risk analysis, but on political as well as on patrimonial interests of political elite, and secondly local civil society could not oppose any resistance. This choice allowed radical Islamic groups to grow undisturbed in Cabo Delgado, until carrying out violent attacks from October 2017, which Mozambican government seems unable to counter until today.

40-55

Authors: Jorge Magalhães, Marcos Hir, Luc Quoniam, Zulmira Hartz, Daniele Alves de Oliveira

The 21st century presents itself as the informational and knowledge age. The aging population and the technological innovation to medicine have been a constant concern due to the search for the complete state of well-being of the individual. Nations are making increasing efforts to continually improve their populations. There is an urgent need for better management of knowledge and integrality of health care, such as the integration, convergence and pragmatism of actions in multiple areas. According to the World Bank and the World Health Organization, half the world's population does not have access to essential health services and more than 1 billion are threatened by neglected diseases. Therefore, information science aid in the complexity of identifying, extracting, and treating the quintillions of data added daily to the Web. After processing by ScripLattes tool thousands of resumes on the Lattes platform, 39,046 triple threat experts have been identified, but only 0.3% are senior competencies. The scientific papers published in Dengue fever, Zika virus and Chikungunya fever are 11,743. The ScripLattes tool proved to be efficient to support in the management of scientific knowledge in public health. Thus, this research provides an overview from the core competencies in triple threat in Brazilian territory and their mainly scientific and technological publications.

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End page, Vol. 15, No. 1, 2020, PMC