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Use of methods and tools for an effective small and medium-sized enterprise in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county in Hungary
Views:185Small and medium-sized enterprises form the engine of the Hungarian economy, both in terms of their number and their employment rate. Therefore, the efficient operation of this sector is in the interest of many economic actors. However, experience shows that today's SME sector still needs to develop in many ways to become efficient. This study aimed to analyze whether SMEs use the necessary methods and tools to be efficient. Planning and the development of strategy are very important methods and tools for efficient and organized work, as it defines and clarifies the direction taken by an enterprise. However, the survey and the in-depth interview showed that they are not necessarily considered important for the participating SME leaders. According to the interview, one of the reasons is that SME leaders have a better understanding of everyday tasks and their implementation than the managers of large companies. Furthermore, in most cases, the SME leader is personally involved in everyday work. This provides the advantage of having the opportunity to fully understand the enterprise, thus managing, and developing it more effectively, as he or she can intervene more flexibly, faster, and more accurately if necessary. However, due to the small size of the organization, the manager also must perform the tasks of several functions (marketing, management, finance, etc.), which require multidisciplinary knowledge and skill. In SMEs, due to their specificities, it is difficult to apply best practices in large enterprises in both management and various functions.
JEL code: M21
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Economic, practical impacts of precision farming – with especial regard to harvesting
141-146Views:148Today agricultural practice is faced with a paradigm shift. In terms of natural resources, the World’s growing population calls for rational management and environment-conscious behaviour. Precision farming may provide a solution for the above mentioned criteria and problems. It has an array of technological equipment, elements and complete systems which are in themselves suitable to create conditions for efficient farming, to reduce environmental load and to provide farmers with optimal return on their investment. Agricultural production has started to focus mainly on efficient crop production and machine operation. Due to this trend, machinery exploitation emerges as a secondary priority for agricultural enterprises. The underlying reason behind this shift is primarily the rise of machinery operation costs. Efficient machinery operation can provide farmers with a solution to reduce their expenditure and through better logistical organization they can obtain extra returns. On the leading edge of my research is to introduce, quantitatively underpin and to justify the application of precision technologies. Our fundamental research methods rely on scenarios and economic calculations.
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Defining the strategic objectives of Hungarian mutton product chain and elements of marketing strategy in the beginning of the second decade of the century
119-132Views:211The sheep sector is regarded to be a “black sheep” in Hungary, both in terms of economy and marketing. On one hand, the sector is not easily traceable as available relevant data are partial and infected by the effects of black market or underground economy; on the other hand, there are no clear, concrete statistical data or surveys on consumption either.
The present study attempts to dissolve the above anomalies and present findings by fact-based model calculations and actual marketing surveys. The fact-based model developed and used for more than 200 variables verifies the correctness of economic calculations. Original examinations were performed by Béla Cehla, doctoral candidate, in 2000–2011. The marketing survey, although not in full accordance with statistical requirements, was carried out in 2012 and it processed relevant data authentically.
The main conclusions are the following: It is clear so far that genetic basis should primarily be evolved in the industry, as it is the factor that mainly contributes to profitability and price-type factors come only following it. Genetic modification is achievable by changing breeds or crossbreeding. The findings of product chain level sensitivity analysis have provided clues that the added value generated in the sector is already determined during slaughter lamb production and progeny influences this value in approximately 80%. Critical points are feed conversion ratio and the relating price of lamb feed, which influence added values by 2.7–2.9%. The remaining factors affect added value through feeding costs, although not considerably.
The following activities can boost interest in the market of sheep products:
• Comprehensive market research
• Stimulation of cultural development by product-tasting, exchanging information and recipes
• Development of supply in accordance with demand
• Identification of target markets, positioning products
• Diversification of product range
• Community trade mark to guarantee excellent quality and Hungarian origin
• Selection of credible poster faces, organization of advertising campaigns -
Economical aspects of thermal and medical tourism
77-84Views:163Thermal and medical tourism in Hungary are characterised by a continuous development. The management, efficiency, operational effectiveness and offer of enterprises in the field of tourism influence the competitiveness of Hungary’s tourism. In the present day economic life the thorough analysis of the enterprises’ economy is indispensable. The result of the analytical methods applied by the report provide information for different stakeholders (owners, transporters, customers, employees, habilitators). The aim is to have data which inform us about the functioning, financial situation and profitability of the economic entities parallel with the factors and conditions determining these elements. In our paper we present the financial situation of the Demjén Thermal Spa Ltd., being one of the newest thermal spas of Hungary.
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Communication of trainers as one of the means for customer retention in fitness clubs
35-40Views:357Acquiring the adequate communication style is a vital element in trainers’ profession. This research aims to reveal the effects generated via the communicative style by trainers of fitness club customers. It also intends to explore whether communication style has any relation to the regularity of class attendance as well as to the length of training periods which is conceptualised in this paper as trainers’ economic efficiency. Data collection was carried out by structured interviews in a country-side large sport centre. Trainers with at least three training sessions per week (N=20) and their groups (N=160) were interviewed using Rudas (1994) communication style survey and additional selfdeveloped interview protocols. The results revealed that the examined trainers were distributed in all four communications styles, but showing dominance in aggressive and passive styles. The classes of trainers with aggressive and assertive communication style were those that showed the highest and maintained attendance rates. It seems, that classes held by trainers who communicate in a deliberate way and convey positive messages are attended more and in a sustained way. Accordingly, their precisely set targets and explanation of training sessions content correlated with repeated attendance and customer retention. It seems that groups with extended scope of communication are characterised by stronger group cohesion where social relationships could develop easier, which have relations to perseverance and commitment. Therefore development of trainers’ communication skills may be considered as an effective tool for fitness clubs for customer retention.
JEL code: Z20
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Management issues of cropping with sorghum in the production structure - a case study of Hungary
Views:200One 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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Comparative yield risk calculations of sour cherry and pear varieties regarding risk aversion
111-116Views:114Fruit production in the world is increasing continuously. Though in the past few years China and some South-American countries have extended their fruit producing areas, Europe remains to be one of the greatest fruit producers in the world. In the middle of Europe Hungary has to face several challenges as competing for market. Since yield risk has an important role in Hungarian fruit production we investigate the yield risk of two of the most important sour cherry varieties (’Újfehértói fürtös’ and ’Oblacsinszka’) grown in Újfehértó (1984-2005), moreover, two of the most important pear varieties (’Bosc Beurre’ and ’Williams’) grown in Bánfa and Zalasárszeg (1984-2009). In the examined periods we analyse yield risk with different comparative methods such as E,V-efficiency, first and second degree as well as generalized stochastic dominance methods. We conclude that the production of sour cherry variety ’Oblacsinszka’ in Újfehértó is more preferable compared to the other sour cherry varieties and pear variety ’Bosc Beurre’ in Bánfa is more advantageous than the other pear varieties and sites.
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Safety culture measurements results in the agricultural sector
143-150Views:119The 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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The economic situation of Hungarian crop production enterprises, especially in Hajdú-Bihar county
Views:191Increasing the competitiveness of Hungarian crop production plays a key role in moving forward at the international level. However, improving efficiency and profitability is essential in this regard. The natural resources in Hungary provide an excellent opportunity for crop production. About 8% of the arable land in Hungary (a total of 4.3 million hectares) belongs to farmers in Hajdú-Bihar County. This research is based on secondary data that can be found in the HCSO and EMIS databases. HCSO data was used for the comparison of national and county data characterising crop production, while the EMIS database was used to process the financial data of enterprises dealing with field crop production. The Hungarian sample size is 853, of which 69 enterprises are from Hajdú-Bihar County. The aim of this study is to assess the profitability, assets and financial situation of arable crop production enterprises operating in Hajdú-Bihar County as a function of national average data. Based on the examined profitability indicators (operating ROS and ROA), it was established that the enterprises in Hajdú-Bihar County are profitable, even in a national context. In terms of operating ROS, the farms in the examined county were able to achieve a 3.6 percentage point higher value due to their more efficient cost management, despite having a similar level of technology compared to businesses spanning across the entire country. The proportion of farms with the lowest leverage ratio (<20%) is 16 percentage points higher at the county level than at the national level. In addition, almost 70% of the enterprises operating in Hajdú-Bihar County have excellent liquidity. This rate is 50% at the national level.
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The use of models in optimizing the field crop production in agricultural enterprise
105-108Views:107The full use of resource capacities of agricultural enterprises favorably affects the general increase in economic efficiency and rational production making them more competitive in the market. This creates the need for constant improvement of business strategies that uses all available resources to create the most profitable production. The main objective of this study was to find the ideal structure of production in agricultural enterprise and to enable the realization of maximum profit using the available production resources (land, mechanization, labor forces). As the basic method of planning, this study used the simplex method of linear programming which gives the most profitable sowing structure after detailed analysis of resources and achieved results, based on the limitations and gross margin. This work showed that the use of modern methods in production planning is one of the cheapest and safest methods for development of agricultural enterprises.
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The use of models in optimizing the field crop production in agricultural enterprise - MBA thesis
93-96Views:180The full use of resource capacities of agricultural enterprises favorably affects the general increase in economic efficiency and rational production making them more competitive in the market. This creates the need for constant improvement of business strategies that uses all available resources to create the most profitable production. The main objective of this study was to find the ideal structure of production in agricultural enterprise and to enable the realization of maximum profit using the available production resources (land, mechanization, labor forces). As the basic method of planning, this study used the simplex method of linear programming which gives the most profitable sowing structure after detailed analysis of resources and achieved results, based on the limitations and gross margin. This work showed that the use of modern methods in production planning is one of the cheapest and safest methods for development of agricultural enterprises.
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The effect of logistic controlling on business processes
107-111Views:144The increase in the significance of logistics can be attributed to two major reasons: the increasing cost sensitivity of companies and the necessity for the higher fulfilment of customer needs. Logistic controlling is a tool of management used to coordinate logistic activities and to reach logistic managerial decisions by providing information through the analysis of the system. The up-to-date and precise information that can be gained from the logistic controlling system helps the management in the preparation of decisions, and the adaptation to environmental conditions. With these activities, logistic controlling makes the enterprises more efficient and successful. Taking the above into consideration, I carried out a survey on why commercial entities decided on the introduction and application of a logistic controlling system, what conditions are necessary for the introduction of a logistic controlling system, and what experiences the users gained by the application. Positive effects of logistic controlling were proved on operations, and the introduction and application of logistic controlling were analysed.
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Education as a factor of awareness development of organic product consumers
39-42Views:127Organic agriculture provides good quality products, the development of sustainable agriculture, environmental protection and economic efficiency. To develop a habit of consuming organic food, as is case with all habits, it is necessary to educate the younger population, so that they can become accustomed to the fact that organic food is a source of both human health and a healthy environment. Therefore, educational institutions should initiate actions in order to develop awareness of the importance of healthy and safe food (especially fresh fruits and vegetables) among youth. This action has already been carried out in some countries.
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Renewable energy resources in Hungary – solid biomass utilization in terms of necessity and opportunity
75-78Views:142In the 21st century a country’s success significantly depends on how it can solve the problems (supply safety, growing prices, climate change, etc.) induced by the application structure of the fossil energy sources with the means of energy saving, energy efficiency and the utilization of renewable energy resources. The utilization of renewable energy sources has positive effects on five key areas: environment protection, energy policies, fulfilment of EU expectations, agriculture and rural development and on the whole of the national economy. The bioenergy – beside fulfilling the national economic aims – it is putting up the value of the role of agriculture and rural development. The role of agriculture is multi-functional in the process. The agricultural sector has an important task in the area of bioenergy to ensure the proper quality and quantity of raw materials for the increase of bioenergy utilization. This also means new sales perspectives and opportunities for the producers. Above all this, the agricultural policy aims for the agriculture and the rural development segment to be the unambiguous winner of the new bioenergy sector and for most of the available profit to stay with the agricultural sector, with the rural players. For this reason encouraging the raw material production it wishes to encourage the producer their primary process and their local utilization. One of the fundamental objectives of the measures is that agriculture should go beyond the raw material production and take steps towards processing and utilization. The multifunctional role in the product chain might mean extra income and more added value for the producers and the active players in the process. The other objective is to promote the local utilization, the scatter of the environmentally friendly energy sources in rural areas, to change the energy is “lying on the ground unutilized” principle while local processing and promoting the utilization, to achieve a lower energy dependency and to optimize and disseminate cost efficient solutions. To realize all this means a great task and a huge challenge for the agricultural government as well as the rural societies and micro regions but might lead to a successful rural development. The range of the tools and measures to fulfil the aims might be very broad, from the regulating instruments to the various subsidies, coordination and dissemination tools. Part of the subsidy schemes are direct production-type of subsidies (the so called direct payments, for example the area based subsidies) and the other main forms are the investment-type subsidies which are for technology development, promotion of competitive production and local processing and for establishing a green energy industry. In the period of 2007-2013 the key elements of the development schemes were drafted in the frame of the New Hungary Rural Development Programme (ÚMVP) and the Environmental Energy Operational Program (KEOP). The available raw materials and the conditions are taken into consideration while designing the development schemes because a successful realization of a product chain means the assurance of the inputs and outputs. The starting point of determining the development direction is the principle of an operation which is sustainable and economical on the long run. In addition such developments are considered reasonable which are viable on medium and long term and bring numerous rural development, environmental and societal returns.
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Economic issues of duck production: A case study from Hungary
61-67Views:147The Hungarian waterfowl sector is characterised by export orientation, as 55-57% of the revenue comes from exports, so its importance is high in the national economy. The production of slaughter animals in the duck sector has doubled in the last decade. The objective of the study is to examine production parameters, as well as the cost and profit situation of broiler duck production and to reveal the correlations between the factors with a case study through the example of a Hungarian company. The production parameters and cost data of the investigated farm (2014-2016, 96 production cycles) were analysed using descriptive statistical methods, correlation and regression analysis. The results show that the average cost of the duck produced in intensive, closed farming system was between 72.6 and 101.7 eurocent kg-1. The most significant cost items were feed (52-63%) and chicken cost (14-19%). The sales price decreased from 112.9 eurocent kg-1 to 98.4 eurocent kg-1 during the examined period, resulting in a profit from -3.3 to 25.7 eurocent kg-1, and overall profitability was decreasing. The study also revealed that there was no correlation between average cost and final bodyweight, while the correlation between average cost and reared period was weak. At the same time, the relationship between average cost and average daily weight gain, mortality, feed conversion ratio was moderate. In addition, the European Production Efficiency Factor (EPEF) can be adapted to the duck sector as strong, positive relationship can be scientifically verified between the indicator and average cost. There is a close correlation between the sold live weight per m2 and the amount of feed used per m2, as well as between the final bodyweight and the amount of feed used to rear a duck, while the correlation between average cost and the sold live weight per m2 is weak.
JEL Code: Q13, Q19
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