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Assessing the financial viability of the floricultural industry in Ghana
119-126Views:410This study determines the financial viability of the floricultural industry in Ghana using both discounting and non-discounting investment appraisal methods. The feasibility analysis suggests that large-scale floricultural firms are more profitable particularly with the production of cut flowers. However, investors with limited capital can venture into small-scale production specifically cut flowers. The conclusion is that the floriculture industry is financially viable therefore investors are encouraged to expend their resources in the industry. We recommend that the government and stakeholders need to create institutional support to enable the already established firms to further develop and attract new investors in the sector.
JEL. Code: Q13
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TREND ANALYSIS OF UGANDA’S COFFEE SECTOR
Views:712Coffee (Coffea arabica and C. canephora) is an important commercial crop globally, and the second most traded global commodity by developing nations after oil. Uganda is among the top 10 coffee exporters worldwide, and second in Africa. The total export amounted to 301,366 tons of “green” coffee in 2021, forming the second-largest commodity export, and contributing about 12.4% to Uganda’s total formal exports. However, the country’s overall performance over time remains unclear given the fluctuations in production and export prices. This study aimed to evaluate the production and export trends of Uganda’s coffee sector by: (i) defining the overall direction of coffee production and export value, (ii) assessing the market variability, and (iii) evaluating the global cross-cutting issues regarding coffee production and export. Data was extracted from FAOSTAT and Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) databases. Trends were analysed using the Mann-Kendall and Sen’s Slope test, while market variability was analyzed using the fixed base index (FBI) and coefficient of variation. VOSviewer software was used to analyze literature from the Web of Science database to highlight cross-cutting issues. Results indicated a significant positive increase in coffee production and export value (p = 0.0001, Slope = 1736.67 tons and p = 0.001, Slope = 4.44 million USD) respectively. Among the top ten coffee producers, Uganda presented the third worst unstable coffee export value with a 20.1% coefficient of variation. Fairtrade, climate change, and certification were the most outstanding global cross-cutting issues. Market stabilization mechanisms should be developed through value addition by establishing coffee processing and roasting plants, as well as strategic governance and policy support to counter emerging global challenges such as climate change.
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Efficiency analysis of dairy farms in the Northern Great Plain region using deterministic and stochastic DEA models
113-122Views:316Running any dairy enterprise is a risky activity: the profitability of the enterprise is affected by the price fluctuation of feed and animal health products from inputs, as well as by the fluctuation of end-product prices. Under these circumstances, it is essential for the cattle breeders, in order to survive, to harness the reserves in management as effectively as possible. In this research the efficiency and risk of 32 sample dairy farms were analysed in the Northern Great Plain Region from the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) by applying classical Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and stochastic DEA models. The choice of this method is justified by the fact that there was not such an available reliable database by which production functions could have been defined, and DEA makes possible to manage simultaneously some inputs and outputs, i.e. complex decision problems. By using DEA, the sources that cause shortfall on inefficient farms can be identified, analysed and quantified, so corporate decision support can be reinforced successfully. A disadvantage of the classical DEA model is that the stochastic factors of farming cannot be treated either on the side of inputs or outputs; therefore, their results can be adopted with reservations, especially in agricultural models. This may have been because we could not discover that many agricultural applications. Considering the price of inputs and outputs as probability variables, 5000 simulation runs have been done in this research. As a result, it can be stated that at which intervals of the input and output factors can become competitive and the fluctuation of these factors can cause what level of risk at each farm.
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Adjustment of poland’s agriculture and food sector to challenges of agricultural policy of the European Union
39-44Views:372Paper is aimed in assessment of first period of Poland’s membership in EU and covering agriculture and rural areas with the support under the Common Agricultural Policy in the context of future challenges faced by the agricultural policy.Analysis shows that accession to EU became a strong impulse for growth of the Polish food economy, however the main challenge for the Common Agricultural Policy in future, from Poland’s perspective, will be strengthening the multifunctional agriculture, i.e. territorial cohesion and positive effects of agricultural activity on natural environment.
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Modelling and analysing an innovative cooperation to support operation of a science centre
5-11Views:305A science centre was built in Debrecen with the purpose to extend natural scientific knowledge and increase commitment to science and innovation in an experience-focused way. In addition to science centres’ original role of education and scientific communication, their function has been extended for today with showcasing innovation and innovation findings, thereby “grabbing their slice” of the regional innovation process. However, in order to succeed, it is indispensable to maintain these institutions in the long run and to constantly renew their innovation content. By integrating the process established with using the “Triple Helix” approach, it is possible to assure one of the most important principles of the institution in the long run, which is its constant renewal that provides a wide range of the society with experiencebased “tangible” knowledge. By following the concept we use, it became obvious that a science centre – as an organisation which creates knowledge – calls for the direct collaboration of the government, science and business actors in order to successfully operate in the long run, to attain its goals and, consequently, to develop the innovation potential of the region. However, the accumulated knowledge as a result of strategic partnerships can only contribute to establishing regional knowledge if the user – the organisation of the Science centre in Debrecen – is able to convey it successfully to the members of the fourth and fifth helix.
JEL code: R11
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THE ROLE AND IMPACT OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES IN HAJDÚ-BIHAR COUNTY
Views:319In our survey-based research, assessed the opinions of 39 small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) leaders in Hajdú-Bihar County on digitalization, how they evaluate their employees' digital skills, what digital best practices they apply, and how familiar they are with current trends in digital best practices. In the literature review, we touch on the concepts and significance of digitalization and digital transformation, the characteristics and types of best practices, benchmarking as a tool for identifying them, and the steps involved in their implementation. We introduced five currently popular digital best practices: optical character recognition, homomorphic encryption, robotic process automation, intelligent process automation, and blockchain technology. The advantages and impact of these practices on corporate efficiency are highlighted. Based on the results, we reached the following conclusions:
The findings show that most Hungarian companies view digitalization as an opportunity, but there are deficiencies in strategic planning and commitment. Although leaders theoretically support technological progress, 93% of companies do not have a developed digital strategy, and leaders also rate employee engagement as low. The resources allocated for digitalization investments are also low, with most companies spending only between 0-10 million HUF. The application of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies is still in its early stages, though there are positive examples. Dissatisfaction is evident regarding employees' digital competencies, particularly in problem-solving and data security. The lack of knowledge of modern digital technologies also hinders innovation. Companies' digital maturity is low, with most having only taken initial steps in this area. Often, the perceived digital intensity of the industry does not reflect reality, which can hinder development. -
“Treasures” of Debrecen selection of and attention to sports talents in the Sport School of Debrecen
55-58Views:312The article is about a program selecting and attending sports talents in order to select and attend to the conscious sports talents so as to support convenient supply for the sections of the Sport School of Debrecen as well as for the adult sports organizations of Debrecen.
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Human resources management in small and medium enterprises
71-74Views:411Development 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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THE CHANGES IN THE HUNGARIAN HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM DURING THE CHANGE OF REGIME – THE SPREAD OF CHURCH AND FOUNDATION RUN INSTITUTIONS
Views:96This study examines the transformation of the Hungarian higher education system during the change of regime (1989-1990), with particular emphasis on the spread of church- and foundation-run institutions. It presents the legal framework that enabled the establishment of non-state institutions, highlighting Act XXIII of 1990 and subsequent legislation. It uses statistical data to support the significant increase in the number of institutions and students in the non-state sector. It illustrates the different development paths of these institutions through case studies of Károli Gáspár Reformed University and Kodolányi János University. The article analyzes the socio-economic impacts of the changes, including social mobility, economic development, and educational equality. Finally, it reflects on the current challenges and future prospects of Hungarian higher education.
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Composite indicators and sustainable development of regional agriculture applied to the Stavropol Territory in Russia
81-88Views:493The aim of this paper is to understand and evaluate agricultural sustainability in the Stavropol Territory by means of a composite indicator. In particular, the paper applies principal component analyses to calculate a composite sustainability index by integration of selected economic, social and environmental indicators. The results demonstrate the utility of analyzing several indicators in conjunction. The results also may indicate which variables influence development of regional agriculture. This information is important in order to design agricultural support policy and to implement an increase the sustainability of the agriculture sector.
JEL Code: O13, Q11
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The PLACE OF AMORTIZATION AMONG COSTS, AS WELL AS EFFECT OF DIFFERENT DEPRECATION CALCULATION METHODS ON MANAGEMENT FROM BUSINESS ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL VIEW OF POINT.
Views:450In our article, we try to present the place of amortization (depreciation) among costs, based on several aspects. After that, we will present the different description methods based on their characteristics, giving priority to what their use means for the entrepreneur. We support this with the help of model calculations. We present what mean the amortization accounting methods assuming that management is without inflation or between inflationary conditions. Based on this, we try to formulate proposals on how state intervention how could help businesses in inflationary economic conditions beyond that it would be more permissive in the choice of description method. Following the business economics approach to the question, we will examine the effect of amortization on tax base and the income, taking into consideration financial and accounting aspects. Considering that the use of the fixed assets and thus the expected return period takes several years, we must attention to the careful planning of the amount of replacement costs. When determining the required capital value, we cannot ignore the time factor, the time value of money. The required value of capital accumulation supplementing amortization per period is determined using the annuity method.
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Payback analysis of E85- and CNG-powered vehicles in Hungary
47-50Views:347As a result of my analysis it was found that when purchasing a new alternative fuel car only a CNG-powered vehicle could be a reasonable choice, the extra cost of which (depending on its scale) ensures a return within 2 – 7 years, i.e. over the real expected duration of use of the car. However, the spread of these cars is determined by the lack of CNG fuel stations in Hungary. The E85-powered so called FFVs could become a competitive alternative with lower ethanol prices or moderate government support (for example a registration fee allowance similar to that enjoyed with hybrid vehicles, or reduced taxes).
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Greener cement sector and potential climate strategy development between 2015-2030 (Hungarian case study)
65-74Views:547Advancing 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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The role of leaders’ emotions
103-108Views:496Western cultures support the notion that the ideal ‘professional’behaviour for a leader is primarily rational and carefully controlled emotionally. The relationship of reason and emotion is often played out as one of mutual exclusion, and moreover as one representing hierarchy of leaders and followers. Power positions in most organizations are ritually emphasized through strict emotional control/suppression. Thus this display of unemotional rationality is held to be synonymous with control, may actually belie emotional and psychical insanities, and indicate organizational incongruities. Since, emotions play crucial role in the regulation of workplace relations. Negative emotions are the basis of awareness and positive ones are that of trust, and hence they both are needed in everyday situations. Leaders’emotions can be used as tools to motivate and to express individualist attention and caring. However, this use of emotions as tools may come at a price for those leaders who are less apt at emotion regulation. In sum, workplace is an emotional place and it is of best interest of the organizational members, – both the leaders and those led, – to understand the leaders’genuine and displayed emotions, their antecedents and their consequences.
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MONTE CARLO SIMULATION FOR STRESS TESTING ENDOGENOUS PROFITABILITY FACTORS DURING POLYCRISIS: A CASE STUDY FROM THE POULTRY SUBSECTOR
Views:138Can historical company data help estimate future performance during economic uncertainty? This study investigates whether past business cycles can be used to estimate profitability in the context of a polycrisis – a period marked by overlapping disruptions such as avian influenza, COVID-19 trade restrictions, extreme weather events, and rising feed and energy prices. These shocks have severely impacted agro-related industries, such as poultry processing. Focusing on three Central European poultry processing companies, we use Monte Carlo simulations for stress testing their profitability for the 2023 period, aiming to support financial planning by analysing firm-specific, endogenous, management-controllable factors. Return on Sales (ROS) and Return on Equity (ROE) are used to evaluate profitability, incorporating variables such as euro exchange rates in the case of export-driven firms. Our results indicate that Company “A,” characterized by stable operations, had the lowest probability of negative ROE, while Companies “B” and “C” demonstrated greater volatility. We found that the model provides a good estimate of the factors affecting the companies’ profitability that are directly or indirectly reflected in their accounting data. Indicating that the test could be a valuable tool for supporting managerial decision-making in financial planning, though further refinements are needed to enhance accuracy.
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On tests for long-term dependence: India ’s international tourism market
109-113Views:337There have been growing interest in studying behavior of long memory process in tourism market. In this research examine the behavior of India’s international tourism market based on long-memory analysis. The international tourism market of India combined with nine countries: USA, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Japan, Malaysia, Australia and Sri Lanka. Moreover, three statistical tests for longmemory process such as R/S test, Modified R/S test and GPH-test are employed to test in these market. The empirical findings in general provide more support for no long memory process or no long-term dependence in international tourism market of India.
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Recruiting recent graduates to work at agricultural enterprises: Siberian region case study
27-30Views:348The authors present the results of the analysis of the employment of graduates of agricultural specialties in the Siberian Federal District of the Russian Federation. In the Siberian Federal District, more than 20 universities are engaged in the training of specialists in agriculture. The universities pay special attention to the employment of their graduates and often have their own programs of graduates’ employment.
The article is devoted to discussing the reasons why the graduates consider the work in the rural area to be unattractive (low standards of living conditions compared with town, lack of quality education for children and possibilities for professional development, etc.) The necessity of realization of the state strategy intended to support graduates of agricultural specialties is grounded, including assigning the status of civil servants to social workers in rural areas and attracting successful entrepreneurs to the village and creating conditions for the development of the entrepreneurial
environment.JEL Code: J21
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OPERATING RESULTS OF SILAGE ENTERPRISE OF A FARM - A CASE STUDY
Views:447Improvements in agriculture has been focusing on innovations to improve the efficiency of the activity by making the traditional production structure currently in use more flexible and by making the necessary technological changes for farmers with large areas and the necessary machinery and equipment. Farms with significant arable land are able to offset the effects of changes affecting efficiency and profitability. The decisive sector of agriculture in Hungary is crop production, therefore its performance is largely determined by the annual output of the crop sector and the volatility in prices. From the farm data, we calculated farm-level results that support the need for machinery modernisation efforts, as precision tools and improvements already started in maize production can be applied fruitfully even in the light of the increasing frequency of negative climatic effects. During the development of silage maize cultivation technology, the achievements of precision farming were applied. Differentiated nutrient replenishment and sowing operations were used, in addition to the fact that harvesting was also documented. We set ourselves the goal of analyzing the management data of the study period between 2019-2022 in order to reveal the nature of the changes that occurred in terms of production value, production cost, and income, as well as the components that shape them. The presented values are average values of such conditions which are also suitable for crop-level conclusions. At the same time, they can be used to identify sector-level challenges and trends.
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Factors of success. Attitude differences of one Hungarian and one Serbian team’s youth handball players
113-116Views:298Results of the Hungarian and the Serbian handball teams are similar on the international level (IHF rankings: Serbia 4. Hungary 5. IHF-10.03.2012.), however the general supposition is that the Serbian handball players are more successful and more acknowledged. This is confirmed by numerous Serbian internationals that play at high level in Hungary and other European countries and the results of the youth national teams. In this article we were searching for the influential factors behind the success of the Serbian team. While there are no considerable differences in physical performance and anthropometric parameters so we assume the main differences are in their relation and stance to coach and to training. In our study we support an explanation for the reasons of the differences in the results between two nations youth handball players with an analysis of the attitude to the head coach and players relation to work and physical training. Our sample was chosen from one Serbian (Crvenka) and one Hungarian (Komló) youth team. The measurement was completed with a standard survey according to Hagger et al. (2007) Passes questionnaire. The results show that the Serbian youth players have better relations with their head coach and have better stance for work and training, which might be an explanation for their better success.
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Trajectories of agricultural modernization and rural resilience: some first insights derived from case studies in 14 countries
31-43Views:420In this paper, alternative trajectories of agricultural modernization and rural resilience are explored based on case studies in 14 countries. The analysis is to support discussions about the further development of agriculture at a time when the agricultural sector must respond to an increasing scarcity of natural resources, challenges like climate change, urbanization, demographic change, food security, consumer demands, distributional issues in food value chains and changing urban-rural relations. The discussion relates different trajectories of agricultural modernization to the multiple mechanisms underlying rural prosperity and resilience. The mainstream capital-intensive and technology-driven model of agricultural modernization is contrasted with more incremental, socially embedded and localised forms of development. Potential synergies between different modes of farm ‘modernization’, resilience and sustainable rural development are highlighted and a different future-oriented understanding of the term ‘modernization’ explored. The basis for the analysis are case studies in 14 countries (including Turkey and Israel). The key question asked is how actors are connecting economic, social and natural systems in the different cases and how the connections made (or not) point to different ideas about modernization. The conclusions focus on some current information needs of policy-makers: the links between different forms of farm modernization, rural development and resilience, and the implications for agricultural knowledge systems and the new European Innovation Partnerships. It is emphasized that local capacities for transdisciplinary research need to be strengthened and that more attention should be paid to addressing modernization potentials that are less mainstream. The paper seeks to foster discussions that help overcome simplistic viewpoints of what ‘modernization’ entails. It is based on an earlier review paper by Knickel, Zemeckis and Tisenkopfs (2014).
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