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Human resources management in small and medium enterprises
71-74Views:412Development of small and medium enterprises (SME) represents primary goal of every modern economy. It is complex challenge which includes great number of directly concerned parties in every sector of the state and economy. SME stimulate private ownership and entrepreneurship. Their characteristic is that they are flexible and can easily adjust to changes in supply and demand on the market. At the same time they open possibilities for increase of employment, promote diversification of economical activities, support sustainable growth and give significant contribution to export, trade and increase the competitiveness of the entire economy. Importance of SME for economy is undisputable. All research show that globally, more than 90% of all business activities are realized by SME. SMEs employ two thirds of total labor of European Union. Approaching to European Union presumes harmonization of the systematic environment and improvement of the climate of entrepreneurship, private initiative, development of SME. This determination has strongpoint in current world processes that prefer the development of SME, utilizing their profit efficiency and established advantages relating to the adaptability of small business to dynamic changes in economy. Problem of Human resources management is very sensitive issue in SMEs. Namely, in big companies there are entire teams of agencies or consultants are hired for selection and education of new employees, whereas in SMEs this work is done by owner or manager. Therefore, in this paper several facts were pointed out which need to be considered in selection of new employees, since every mistake in this activity can cause far-reaching consequences on functioning of SME.
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Impact of CAP’s pillars on Romanian rural employment
75-80Views:290This paper aims to clarify the direction of change in rural employment on short- and medium term in Romania, while CAP regulations are being introduced and the global economic crisis emerges. First we put into evidence the decrease of the role of agriculture as buffer for unemployment and the poor contribution of non-agricultural activities to provide employment for rural residents.Then we analyse the main characteristics of the rural labour force. Finally we synthesize the opinions expressed by 33 consultants (working at the Offices for Agricultural Consultancy from different counties in Transylvania) about the estimated short term evolution of rural employment and the impact of CAP on Romanian rural areas.
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Board diversity and firm value; mediating effect of CSR of listed oil firms in Nigeria
Views:478In this empirical study, the mediating effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on the nexus between corporate value and board diversity is investigated. However, hypotheses developed for this study were tested with annualized panel dataset of eight (8) Nigerian listed oil and gas firms in the upstream sector spanning 2012 to 2019. Stakeholder theory was used to underpin the study. The study employed three indicators for board diversity (board professionalism, board nationality and board gender), Tobin’s Q and amount spent on CSR. The panel regression results show that looking at the indirect effect in Model One; board diversity has no significant effect on firm value. However, empirical findings indicated that CSR exerts a significant and positive relationship with corporate value. Considering Model Two, the results show that CSR plays a pertinent role in establishing the nexus between corporate value and board diversity, this finding is congruent with stakeholder theory. The study recommends that environmental sensitive firms should maintain an appropriate and balance diverse board as it plays a pertinent and significant role in establishing the nexus between stakeholder relationship and the firms, which can also serve as a mechanism to mitigate manager's opportunistic tendencies behind CSR investment.
JEL code: L95, M14, M41
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Public Work - an International Outlook
125-132Views:381Labour market policy includes active and passive labour market programmes, aiming to solve different problems. Active labour market programmes assist the unemployed to find jobs and thus return to the labour market. Passive labour market programmes assist the unemployed by providing various kinds of aid, easing social tensions. Public work can be considered to be an active labour market programme, assisting people who receive social care with income based on public beneficial work. Consequently, public work is justified by some on the basis that it is purported to have some kind of moral foundation, as well as because it supposedly shows results within a short time. Yet, the rationale behind using public work programmes to fight unemployment is contested. Detractors see them as being rather costly, questioning their success and arguing that their overall results are uncertain, especially in the long run. In short, there are in fact pros and cons to using public work, with opinions being rather divisive. This study summarises these pros and cons, analysing the relevant international and Hungarian literatures in the context of active labour market programmes.
JEL Classification: I38
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Changes in the Relationship Between ICT Use and Economic Development in EU Member States 2010-2016
91-100Views:401In this study, we examined some ICT indicators of the EU Member States between 2010 and 2016 based on data of the World Bank and Eurostat. We wanted to know, how can the EU Member States be grouped according to these indicators, and which group can Hungary belong to. With the help of international literature reviews, three indicators were chosen. According to these we created three groups (underdeveloped, developing, developed) with the K-Mean cluster method that is classified by their level of development. Interesting changes took place during the period under review. By the end of the analyzed period, six countries lost their “developed” rating among others some founding members. There were also interesting changes in the clusters. The value of some indicators increased more than 40% in some cases, surprisingly, only in one case measured reduction. The proportion of ICT specialists decreased in developing countries (by 1%). The highest growth rate was observed in the developed countries in e-commerce. Because of the high proportion of ICT professionals and the share of e-commerce in the developed cluster we assumed that service would be the dominant sector. The two-sample t-test did not confirm our hypothesis. We supposed the focus in developing countries will be on the industry, due we think the developed countries started to outsource their SSCs (shared service centers) to less developed countries. With the help of a statistical indicator, we confirmed our assumption, but the result not so convincing since the significant level is only 11%. Although we thought that the underdeveloped group of countries was based on agriculture, statistical studies did not support our hypothesis.
JEL Classification: O13, O14, O52
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Global tendencies in pork meat - production, trade and consumption
105-111Views:2399World meat production is anticipated to stagnate in 2016, rising by a mere 0.3% to 320.7 million tonnes. Increases in output are expected in the United States, Brazil, the EU, India and the Russian Federation, while reduced production is foreseen for China, Australia and South Africa. Global meat trade is forecast to recover in 2016, growing by 2.8% to 30.6 million tonnes, which would represent a return to trend, after a fall in 2015. World production of pig meat in 2016 is forecast to decrease marginally, by 0.7% to 116.4 million tonnes, thus registering a second year of virtual stagnation. As in 2015, lower output in China, which accounts for almost half the world total, is the main reason for the slowdown. An unfavourable feed-pork price ratio in the country and new environmental regulations have caused farmers to reduce breeding sows, stalling growth. China’s production is projected to be 54 million tonnes, down 2.5% from the previous year. Elsewhere in Asia, the Philippines and Vietnam could boost output. Also, production in Japan and the Republic of Korea may expand, as the industry recovers from outbreaks of PED, which reduced piglet numbers in the previous two years. Recovery from the effects of PED has been faster in the United States, where a second year of growth is anticipated, when production could increase by 1.9% to a record 11.3 million tonnes. Output in Mexico also continues to recover, following a PED outbreak in 2014, and may rise in 2016 by 2.0% to 1.3 million tonnes. Pork meat trade could experience a second year of growth, increasing by 4.4% to 7.5 million tonnes – a record level. Lower international prices have stimulated trade. Most of the principal importing countries are anticipated to increase their purchases, including Mexico, China, the Russian Federation, the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Australia. In response to rising demand, exports are projected to grow, in particular those of the United States, Canada, the EU and Brazil (FAO, 2016). Summarizing, in this study we wish to examine how evolve the world pork meat production, trade and consumption, and to demonstrate the main consuming countries, highlighting the role of China, as it is the most populated country in the world with its 1.4 billion inhabitants.
JEL Code: Q13, Q12
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Integration Efforts in Agriculture
91-96Views:322The economic and political transition brought many challenges for the Hungarian agricultural sector. The break-up of large agricultural holdings had serious negative impacts on food production and on the export of agricultural products. Capital intensive profit-seeking intermediaries dominate the trading of agricultural goods that has injurious effects in terms of downward pressure on production prices and an increase in consumer prices. Cooperatives have a key role in effectively tackling the common challenges that small-scale producers have to face. More vertical integration along the food chain could contribute to providing rural employment and to an increase in living standards in rural areas. This study reviews the development, the specific features and the driving forces of modern cooperatives in Central Europe in general, and in Hungary in particular. The focus is on the integrator role of cooperatives and their future role in our globalised world.
JEL Classification: Q10, Q13
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Experiences on organisation of fruit and vegetable sector in Hungary
65-67Views:311The objectives are (1) to reveal some current issues on organisations founded by fruit and vegetable producers and (2) to stress upon those factors that should be highlighted in the very next future. In Hungary, POs have been accounting for bigger share of fruit and vegetable trading in Hungary, which refers to a better organisation in the sector. Bargaining force and level of experience on running such businesses, although, are still much behind the level expected. Flexibility and speed of a running business are highly determined by the legal form of Pos. The most favourite form is cooperative that is not flexible enough as a business form, especially for starting businesses. Low yearly turnover and weak market power feature the POs, preferring short time solutions to strategic thinking. It is macro environmental factors that generate short term thinking, but coupled with mismanagement on different levels of corporate management.
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Green networks: Innovative capacity of SMEs in the Dutch greenhouse horticulture industry
43-50Views:317The Dutch greenhouse horticulture industry is characterized by world leadership in high-tech innovation. The dynamics of this playing field are innovation in production systems and automation, reduction in energy consumption and sharing limited space. However, international competitive advantage of the industry is under pressure and sustainable growth of individual enterprises is no longer a certainty. The sector’s ambition is to innovate better and grow faster than the competition in the rest of the world. Realizing this ambition requires strengthening the knowledge base, stimulating entrepreneurship, innovation (not just technological, but especially business process innovation). It also requires educating and professionalizing people. However, knowledge transfer in this industry is often fragmented and innovation through horizontal and vertical collaboration throughout the value chain is limited. This paper focuses on the question: how can the grower and the supplier in the greenhouse horticulture chain gain competitive advantage through radical product and process innovation. The challenge lies in time- to-market, in customer relationship, in developing new product/market combinations and in innovative entrepreneurship. In this paper an innovation and entrepreneurial educational and research programme is introduced. The programme aims at strengthening multidisciplinary collaboration between enterprise, education and research. Using best practice examples, the paper illustrates how companies can realize growth and improve the innovative capacity of the organization as well as the individual by linking economic and social sustainability. The paper continues to show how participants of the program develop competencies by means of going through a learning cycle of single-loop, double-loop and triple loop learning: reduction of mistakes, change towards new concepts and improvement of the ability to learn. Finally, the paper illustrates the importance of combining enterprise, education and research in regional networks, with examples from the greenhouse horticulture sector. These networks generate economic growth and international competitiveness by acting as business accelerators.
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Determinants of dividend payout policy: An empirical study of banking sector of Pakistan
101-106Views:735One good way to communicate financial performance of a bank to its shareholders is the payment of dividend. The present study is attempted to explore the influence of financial efficiency, safety, risk and profitability on dividend policy using panel data of 10 commercial banks listed at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) for a period of 9 years between 2006 to 2014. The panel regression technique is used to analyze the data. The analysis shows a positive relationship of dividend payout ratio with safety and profitability in banking sector of Pakistan. The study identifies a negative association of dividend payout measure with financial efficiency and risk. The results show the statistically significant association of safety, risk and profitability with dividend payout ratio. Based on these findings it is concluded that safety, risk and profitability measures are relatively strong measures for defining dividend policy. The results are strongly indicating that safer the banks, the greater payout ratio the bank has. Moreover; banks with higher profitability and lower non-performing loans (NPLs) are believed to pay more dividends.
JEL code: G21, G23, G35
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Romanian insurance business trends and the International crisis effects on it
17-20Views:254Is it interesting a 2 billion euro insurance market for the “old” Europe? “Not very much” one may say considering this figure represents no more than 16% of the insurance turn-over in the case of the most recent entry in the Romanian market, Groupama.The answer is still not as simple as that because “interesting” in business terms is not only about today, but very much about tomorrow. By the end of 2007 it was obvious that the Romanian insurance market is far from calming down. Not only that for the time being change is still the main real constant in use, but figures show that the market environment becomes more challenging than ever these days. The market situation showed that this allegation it was by that time more likely to be true than ever.
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Swot analysis and identification of the needs, potential and development strategies of the fruit and vegetable sector in Montenegro
15-20Views:312Fruit and vegetable production in Montenegro benefits from naturally favourable conditions in terms of climate, soil and water resources. Such conditions enable high quality fruit, vegetables and vines to be grown, and fruit and vegetable production and viticulture have a long tradition as well as the cultivation of a wide assortment of produce. A significant number of Montenegrin households therefore deal with horticultural and wine production, although on a small-scale. Along with the global market trends, the level of domestic consumption, the expected evolution of the distribution system in Montenegro and the planned dynamic developments in the tourist sector, these natural conditions contribute to creating basic conditions for the development of the considered sector. Market opportunities are favourable and represent an additional contributing factor towards its development. In spite of the favourable climate for production in this sector and the supportive market opportunities, the real value of Montenegrin products at sector level is quite low. We conduct a SWOT analysis of the sector aimed to find out its potential as well as the needs of the sector. Our starting hypothesis is that the potential of this sector in Montenegro is greater than current activity/production, and that suitable strategies can provide higher results in this sector. The main outcome of this paper will be our suggestions for improvement within the sector. The SWOT analysis will be completed according to the PESTEL categorisation, after which Opportunities and Threats will be grouped into three major strategic categories: “New market trends”, “Sector financing” and “Structure and functioning of the value chain”. The SWOT analysis outcomes, when regarded alongside a review of global market trends and domestic production potential, lead to strategies for the improvement of the sector.
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Financing and operating questions of sports facilities
5-8Views:516This paper tends to present financing and operating questions of sports facilities. Infrastructure is very important for the sport businesses. Sports facilities and sports institutions, infrastructure development, and their legal, financial, accounting conditionality can be defined by the investors and the government (subsidies, taxes, etc.). Financial questions and IT background of facility management can be crucial for the enterprises interested in operating sports businesses. The paper focuses on these kinds of aspects of facility management based on practical examples.
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Price risk management using by a specified futures model
97-101Views:246The principal achievement of this paper is to introduce the operation of a specified ‘Futures’ model and it’s practice for decision makers of financial institutes through an example based on the price data’s of grain futures market from EU assessment 2004 to these days in Hungary. Based on a theoretical foundation, the calculation model was developed in order to assist short and long-term marketing decisions. The economical basis of the model is the combinative use of two market institutions: public warehousing and futures market. This electronically developed and working model ‘using excel background ‘allows all of the participants of the market: producers, consumers,banks and traders, to use this model in immediate calculations. In addition it helps in order to establish the own business strategy. The model can be used to analyze price influencing factors therefore; it can also be used for policy-making decisions for market participants as well as banks dealing with trade financing activity.
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MOTIVATION AMONG EMPLOYEES IN MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS
Views:1045Nowadays motivation plays a huge role amongst employees especially when we relate it to people working in multinational companies for example Pepsi, Coca Cola, Nescafe and many more. Motivation is a topic that relates to all of us. It is very essential for employers to seek and recognize what motivates an employee. Many people underestimate the benefits and importance of human resource management in their businesses or day-to-day life. When we talk about human resource management, we are talking about human capital. Human capital emphasises the ability, skills, and the personality of the person you are trying to recruit or employ. In this study, we wish to analyse the importance of how motivation stands out in employees in different types of offices/workforces. The different aspects in multinational corporations show different characteristics.
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A study on consumer habits in the dietary supplements market
5-12Views:1393There has been a continuous increase in the proportion of consumers using dietary supplements worldwide. Evidence based on former surveys suggests that in Hungary more than half of the population buy at least one type of dietary supplement (hereinafter DS). By using secondary research, the authors of the present paper examine the demographic factors determining the consumption of DS on a global scale. Consumption of DS increases with age and is more frequent among women. Consumers with higher qualifications and income tend to buy products containing vitamins and minerals to a greater degree. In the vast majority of cases the purchase and consumption of DS is based on consumers’ personal preferences and decisions, rather than on their physicians’ advice. It has been found that a high percentage of DS consumers probably do not even need any extra nutrient intake. In our primary research (N=1000) the specific attitudes to and characteristics of DS consumption among Hungarian adults are analysed on the basis of on a nationally representative survey. First, we identify the most important reasons which encourage consumers to buy DS. Consumer awareness concerning DS with a particular vitamin and mineral content and of other sources is examined, and we also assess the consumption of the product which is the most popular. The current paper attempts to identify the outlets Hungarian consumers typically buy DS from, and also what resources they use to keep themselves informed about these products. Consumers who admittedly reported (regular) consumption of a certain kind of DS product 6 months prior to the survey are further examined in relation to certain additional issues. The results of our survey provide an accurate picture of the DS consumption habits of the Hungarian population.
JEL CODE: I12, M31
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Synthetic biology applied in the agrifood sector: Societal priorities and pitfalls
89-95Views:577Synthetic biology offers potential for innovation in the agrifood sector, although concerns have been raised consumer rejection of applications will occur similar to that associated with the introduction of genetically modified foods. Risk-benefit assessment should address socio-economic, as well as health and environmental impacts. Ethical issues may be of particular relevance to the application synthetic biology, and may also resonate with societal concerns. A case-by-case analysis of relevant issues may be needed, and innovation must be driven by societal and consumer preferences as well as technological possibilities. Research into consumer and societal priorities is required early in the innovation trajectory.
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Impact of consumer innovativeness on shopping styles: a case study of university students from Pakistan
79-86Views:506This study examines the effects of various types of consumers’ innovativeness on the consumer shopping styles. The results highlight that social, hedonic and cognitive innovativeness have an impact on consumer shopping styles, but functional innovativeness doesn’t influence consumer shopping styles. The study is based on sample of university students from Rawalpindi and Islamabad and its outcomes pave grounds for marketers to develop a better understanding for marketing new products and services. New product and services can be designed to magnetize innovative consumers. Integrated marketing communications should be planned according to the shopping styles of innovative consumers. Youngsters being a sizeable market segment in Pakistan, therefore, this study will guide the marketers to understand this segment better. This study discovers the association between different kinds of innovative consumer and consumer shopping styles.
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Implementing Learning Design by lams to improve teaching and learning
21-24Views:334Learning Design has the potential to revolutionize e-learning by capturing the process of education, rather than simply content. By describing sequences of collaborative learning activities, Learning Design offers a new approach to re-use in e-learning. E-learning has a well developed approach to the creation and sequencing of content-based, single learner, self-paced learning objects.While definitions of Learning Design vary, the main elements tend to include greater focus on context dimensions of e-learning, a more activity based view of e-learning, and greater recognition of the role of multi-learner environments. While Learning Design does not exclude single learner, self-paced modes of elearning, it draws attention to a wider range of collaborative e-learning approaches in addition to single learner approaches. This paper shows an example, which is applied to speciality of economic and rural development agricultural engineer at University of Debrecen and its implementation in the Learning Activity Management System. We created a learning design was implemented at this speciality with LAMS, which is a learning design editing and play back tool that puts the learning process, rather than collections of content, at the heart of e-learning.
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The effects of the global economic crisis on the markets for fossil and renewable fuels
131-136Views:334The 2008/2009 world economic crisis had significant impact on oil and fuel markets. This crisis has been developed from the meltdown of the American mortgage and financial market and spread throughout the global economy. As each country reacted differently to the crisis, the changes in the fuel market have also shown significant geographic variation. In our present research, the changes of the US, German and Hungarian fuel markets were analysed, looking for answers to the reasons behind different crisis reactions. We examined the tendency of fuel consumption, the changes of gasoline and diesel price elasticity and the possible effects of the crisis on the regulatory system.
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Greener cement sector and potential climate strategy development between 2015-2030 (Hungarian case study)
65-74Views:549Advancing the domestic industrial production towards a sustainable, resource-preserving direction can become an important pillar to support competitiveness in the European Union, as well as in Hungary. Reaching the de-carbonization goals for industrial production via lowering the production volume may result in less desirable macro-economic effects, so decisions which concern the industry require a lot of attention from the climate policy as well. In the case of the cement sector, economic actors have to be motivated to make energy-efficiency investments and technology developments, which also show promise in terms of business efficiency. In the more natural-resource-intensive branches of the industry, both innovations and technological developments will be required to reduce the amount of used non-renewable energy resources, keep it in the industrial cycle, and reduce environmental load. The importance of greener cement will be essential in the near future to reduce the sector’s CO2 emission levels. We need to identify more sector branches which relate to sustainability, which can aid the country in establishing long-term competitiveness that points towards the de-carbonization goals. The cost-efficiency aspects of this development process are the most tedious questions in today’s business planning.
JEL classification: Q55
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EXPLORING THE NEXUS BETWEEN SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION BEHAVIOR AND ORGANIC FOOD PURCHASE: A Comprehensive Review
Views:440Recently, a remarkable increase in organic food consumption can been seen in both developed and developing countries. This research aims to identify the role of sustainable consumption behavior in purchasing organic food. The research problem has been formulated with several questions, most notably: Does sustainable consumption behavior has a role in purchasing organic food? The relationship between sustainable consumption behavior and organic food has received a lot of attention in the literature. However, take a comprehensive approach to examine how sustainable consumption behavior might affect purchasing organic food? In order to examine the role of sustainable consumption behavior in buying organic food, this article proposes a framework that adopts a comprehensive approach. The author conducted a qualitative synthesis of the literature (Systematic Literature Review (PRISMA), including 43 articles, revealing several findings. One of them, is that sustainable consumption behavior positively and directly impacts buying organic food due to the health, environmental cognition, high quality, trust, and food safety. The second finding is that complex factors influence organic food buying behavior. For example, price is always likely to be an important factor for most customers. Moreover, the lack of knowledge about organic food is another factor affecting customers’ buying organic food.
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Management issues of cropping with sorghum in the production structure - a case study of Hungary
Views:543One of the goals of the developments is to improve the efficiency of the activity by making the currently used traditional production structure more flexible and by making the necessary changes to the technology in the case of farmers with large agricultural land, having necessary machinery and equipments required. Farms with larger arables land are able to offset the effects of changes affecting efficacy and profitability. The main sector of Hungarian agriculture is crop production, so performance is largely determined by the annual output of the crop production sector and the price development of crop products. In the course of our analytical work, we defined a farm of 2100 hectares, for which we examined crop production, crop machinery and economic aspects. From the enterprise data, farm level results compiled according to the crop structure were calculated. Sorghum is suitable for replacing corn in the crop rotation in areas with unfavorable conditions, so a stably growing crop can be added to the crop rotation of autumn ears of corn, rape, and sunflower, instead of corn. It does not hinder the machinery modernization efforts either, since the precision tools and developments already started in corn production can be used well, and it does not require a special equipment park. At the same time, in light of the increasingly frequent negative climatic effects, sorghum’s integration into the plant production structure is encouraging, because we have to count on 3-4 drought years in a decade. Based on our analysis, the inclusion of sorghum in the crop structure does not significantly reduce the available income, which is acceptable in the given economic environment. However, its stability can significantly contribute to improving the resilience of farming, especially in comparison with corn.
JEL Code: Q12
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Safety culture measurements results in the agricultural sector
143-150Views:243The author examined the safety culture and in relation to that the safety and health-related human factors. The examination was conducted primarily in the agricultural sector. Safety culture is also a key factor in business life especially in productive sectors. Basically, it determines the general work safety and occupational hazard situations, which may have an impact on business, competitiveness, and efficiency, and also employee satisfaction.The concept of safety culture is new in the applied sciences. Scientific investigations of safety culture are diverse, varying by country, science background and economic sphere. The author has created a dimension-model, which organically reflects the relations of safety culture within an organization, projected mainly on conditions in Hungary. Some safety culture dimensions have been also examined on the basis of international safety culture research methodology. The author investigated some safety culture dimensions on the basis of international safety culture research methodology. This method is suitable to investigate the status of the relevant safety culture dimensions at agricultural organizations. It has possibilities, in the course of safety culture operationalization, to mark out dimensions which as elements of organization culture are suitable for denotation of safety culture. In this paper the author publishes some of his results about the examined 18 agricultural enterprises. The author used a self-made questionnaire for the interviews. In the questionnaire he used Likert-type scale to measure the qualitative elements of the dimensions.
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Strategy for the restaurant business in Russia in terms of sanctions and import substitution
71-80Views:351This article describes the situation established in August 2014 in Russia. The article considers an example of a famous restaurant «Metropol» (Moscow), taking into account the prevailing situation in Russia. The study of customer attendance, assortment and price policy towards the main products forming the restaurant’s menu was conducted. As a result, recommendations were given, in order to preserve the client base and revise the assortment of dishes.
JEL CODE: M21
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