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L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele as a Case Study of Traditional Speciality Guaranteed and International Franchising
17-23Views:923This work explores the case study of L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele as a best practice of traditional speciality guaranteed and international franchising. Besides being one of the most ancient and successful pizzerias in Naples, da Michele is renowned all over the world for the quality of its raw products, dough processing, and output. In the last years, da Michele also started pioneering the pizza production and commerce industry with an innovative franchising model and a new company appointed to managing this latter business. This work makes use of in-depth interviews and data collected on the field. For such scope, top managers and employees of both the local and the international companies were interviewed. The study finds that da Michele managed to become a benchmark for territorial food products and, more recently, for high-standard franchising, jumpstarting a successful brand-new company and food business project.
JEL Classification: O13, Q13, Q16, Q1
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THE PLACE OF AGRICULTURE IN YOUNG PEOPLE'S LIVELIHOOD ASPIRATIONS
Views:56This study examines the dynamics of youth livelihood choices and aspirations in agriculture, focusing on how combined socio-economic, individual, and household characteristics in Bure Zuria Woreda, a rural community in West Gojjam, Northwest Ethiopia, influence youths' future-oriented livelihood decision-making. In the study, we employed a sample survey of 232 randomly selected young farmers, purposively selected 12 focus group discussions (FGD), 12 in-depth interviews (IDI), and 16 key informant interviews (KII). Using both individual and household data, we conducted a multi-stage analysis to understand the impacts of socioeconomic factors on youth livelihood choices. The study used a mixed method to triangulate the qualitative and quantitative analysis, specifically descriptive statistics and a multinomial logistic regression model along with thematic analysis for qualitative data. We contextualize young people in agriculture by exploring how changing access to land, educational levels, gender, the conditions of agriculture, the economic viability of the agricultural sector, and the perceptions of the status of agriculture influence livelihood decision-making. The result shows that youth livelihood choices and aspirations in agriculture are affected by socio-demographic factors at the individual, household, and societal levels. Farming land size, educational level, gender, the conditions of agriculture in the locality, the economic viability of agriculture, and nearby family career preferences were found among the factors that determine the aspirations and livelihood of young people in agriculture. Therefore, targeted interventions are essential to improve youth livelihood options in agriculture.
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Women on ice - gender equalization
137-145Views:656In the last decades the women started to do sports which were originally masculine (Pfister, 1990). The parity led to the slow transformation of the old-school thinking about the traditional roles of sexes (Hall, 1996). The main questions of our investigation were whether the athletes’ thought of the figure skating and the ice hockey are different according to their sport or to the existing stereotypes in the Hungarian sport society. We used semi-structured interviews to gather opinions of two different gender type icy sports’ top women athletes (figure skating and ice hockey) to see their viewpoints about the gender equalization. We can verify Metheny (1965) findings, that the social acceptance or refusal of women in sports on the basis of traditional features is changing slightly. Research questions were: Are there differences in the childhood sport socialization processes of the representatives of the two sports? What was the motivation behind their choice of sports? Are there differences in the gender identities of female athletes? What is the athletes’ opinion on one another and the representatives of the other sport? Method was semi-structured in-depth interviews and the samples were the members of the Hungarian women ice hockey and figure skating national team. According to our results family and siblings were decisive in the childhood socialization process. Early age patterns do not seem to have much influence on the selection of sport. Although among water polo/ice hockey girls there were a few tomboys. Among the ice hockey team members there were girlish girls and boyish girls as well, but among the figure skaters there were no one who was boyish. No differences can be observed in their views on gender roles concerning for example employment or housework.
JEL Code: Z29
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Integration at the workplace studies within multinational pharmaceutical factories in Hungary
69-71Views:285The primary objective of this essay is to assign a gap in Human Recourse Management literature. Many studies and resources are known about hiring and maintaining people and their loyalty to organizations. Work socialization is the first step to keeping people; however, most of the literature on integration at the workplace focuses primarily on organizational commitment and not on the individuals. Various perspectives of work socialization have been discussed including socialization stages, guidance and carrier development. This essay focuses on the approach of Human Resource Management, but the scope is expanded to the individual as well. In this paper, the reasoning, the methods and the questions of my future doctoral research on integration at the workplace are analysed. First, the issue is discussed from the perspective of social changes in Hungary. The next part of this essay illustrates varying definitions from the literature, providing then my own view of how to explain the integration process in the workplace and through which what I would like to focus my research. This article also aims to show possible methods (in-depth interviews with Human Resource Managers and document analysis) for examining the topic at multinational pharmaceutical factories in Hungary, while highlighting the most important questions for which my research aims to find answers.
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Theory and practice in the management of university championships organized in Hungary
47-51Views:345After the 1989-1990 political changes the aim of the Hungarian University Sports Federation was to follow its traditions of nine decades in foreign policy as well, therefore the organization of international competitions in Hungary was promoted. Up to now the study of the management of these international events was neglected in the Hungarian scholarly literature, although all university sporting events held in Hungary were successful and they were highly appreciated internationally. Taking the example of three university world championships hosted by Hungarian towns, the objective of this paper is to analyze how the management succeeded to solve the major tasks of the organizational work and how some management theories were implemented in its activity. In order to collect data the following methods were used: analysis of documents, in-depth interviews and participant observation. The results are presented on the basis of some theses of the event planning theory, the event management theory, and the situational leadership theory. More specifically, the issues of motives-decisionactions, consistency- coherency- harmony and these of the quantity indicators of event organization in connection of the three underscored world championships organized in Hungary are discussed. In conclusion it is stated that in the management the situation theory had to be taken into consideration the most in the leading process. It was proven that despite preparations lasting often for several years and expanding to every detail of requirements, the flexibility of the management was crucial to search and to find response to every critical situation.
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CURRENT ISSUES IN THE TRAINING SYSTEM OF THE MASTER OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME IN THE LIGHT OF THE FEEDBACK OF THE PROGRAMME LEADERS
Views:260Over the past decades, business schools' Masters in Entrepreneurship Development have become one of the most important venues for training future entrepreneurs worldwide. The concept of entrepreneurship and the role of the entrepreneur has been in a constant state of flux over the years, with a significant impact on the structure, methodology and objectives of training courses. Universities need to focus not only on providing traditional business skills but also on developing competences adapted to an increasingly changing economic and social environment.In this article, after reviewing the most important foreign and domestic literature on the topic, we examine the current situation of Master's programmes in business development in Hungary through qualitative research. We focus on the social and economic changes that have influenced the development of entrepreneurship education in recent years and on the trends that may shape the content and form of education in the coming period. The research will use in-depth interviews with programme leaders to find out what expectations different stakeholders - labour market actors, university leaders, students and external stakeholders - have of the Master's in Business Development. We will explore the entrepreneurial competences and effective educator roles that are seen as key today, as well as the main challenges that programme leaders of training courses are currently facing. Based on this, this paper aims to identify potential opportunities and directions for improvement in the teaching of Masters in Business Development, which can contribute to preparing students more effectively for the challenges of a dynamically changing economic environment.
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Aspects of working Ukrainian citizens in Hungary
113-120Views:390The primary focus of the joint survey, by the National Employment Foundation (OFA) and the researchers of the University of Debrecen in 2009, was to identify the employment characteristics of Ukrainian citizens in Hungary in relation to their impact on the labour market. Our research activities implied the analysis of existing data, relevant scientific literature and a survey questionnaire. For all the target groups, we were guided by the principle of representativity. Statistical analyses and the survey questionnaire were supplemented by indepth interviews. Our research findings are instrumental in simplifying the administration of the Foreign Affairs Police, the process of issuing work permits for foreign employees and their access to employment. The responses given by employees revealed that access to employment in Hungary posed several administrative and official problems for both Hungarian and Ukrainian citizens. Moreover, Ukrainian employees felt a kind of negative discrimination regarding their wages and the conditions of employment as compared to Hungarian employees and they sought remedy from Hungarian official bodies for this problem. The authors hope to call the attention of competent authorities to structural problems and loopholes in the employment of foreign citizens. If these are corrected, it will not only improve employment conditions for foreign workers, but for Hungarian ones as well.
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Smallholder Food Marketing Behaviour: Exploring the Role of Informal Credit and Traders in Stabilization of Food Crop Prices
67-82Views:324Many farmers in Africa sell their produce at low prices immediately after harvest because they need cash. They could solve temporary liquidity constraints by use of credit and store their produce to sell when prices are high. However, due to various reasons such many poor farmers have been excluded from formal financial services. In response, the informal financial market has expanded, but the question why informal credit has not facilitated storage to enable farmers benefit from intertemporal arbitrage opportunities remains largely unanswered. To answer this question, we investigate the role of informal credit markets and traders in stabilizing seasonal food crop prices. Our analysis is based on a household survey data, and in-depth interviews with key players in the informal credit market and grain traders in rural southwestern Uganda. We find that community-based self-help savings and credit associations provide credit for the majority (62%) of farmers. Informal credit still excludes the very poor and is not sufficient to enable farmers benefit from intertemporal arbitrage opportunities. Thus, poor farmers continue to ‘sell low and buy high’. The study also addresses a related fundamental aspect of food marketing: why is there no competition between traders bidding up prices after harvest and eliminating seasonal price fluctuations? We analyse traders’ costs and profit structure in the study area, and shed some light on imperfections in the grain market and the barriers that limit competition between traders. We find that grain trade is not highly competitive. High transaction costs and limited access to credit are the main barriers limiting competition. Supporting community-based self-help savings and credit associations to raise their portfolio can enable more farmers to borrow at the same time. Investing in infrastructure, organising and supporting small scale farmers to bulk their produce might lower transaction costs, promote competition and dampen price fluctuations.
JEL Classification: D53, O13, O16, Q12, Q13
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Krishna consciousness in Europe: The way farming communities became the focal points of marketing
13-24Views:542Krishna Consciousness is regarded as one of the most successful new religious movements in terms of marketing in the Western World. The aim of this research was to identify and analyze the marketing strategy the members of the Krishna-conscious community apply in Europe via content analyses, field research observations and in-depth interviews. The marketing mix of services marketing (7P) are often suggested to be applied by religious communities as well, however, this concept has boundaries due to the principles of the religions, which may not be altered for the sake of marketing. The research has shown that in Europe Krishna-conscious communities have overcome this problem by shifting the product from religion to a complex touristic product, which is realized in the form of farming communities, which have become an important rural tourist attraction in some countries. As the comparison of the websites of the different institutions has shown that rural and farming communities are the ones, which focus mainly on attracting people, who are not familiar with Krishna Consciousness yet, while the websites of the other institutions communicate mostly with devotees or people already interested in the religion or its certain aspect (cuisine, education), rural and farming communities were the institutions chosen to be analyzed more closely. The marketers of these tourist attractions are therefore free to make certain modifications in the marketing mix, as its focus is a tourist attraction, not the religion itself; while the transmission of knowledge about the religion happens in the touristic attractions only. Seven European farming communities of six different countries have participated in the research so far, which may be extended to further communities and continents on the future for a more thorough analysis.
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DECODING THE BLOCKCHAIN PRODUCTIVITY PARADOX IN SMES: A QUALITATIVE INVESTIGATION OF COGNITIVE BARRIERS AND INSTITUTIONAL PRESSURES
Views:45While blockchain technology (BCT) has emerged as a disruptive force capable of redefining trust and transparency in global supply chains, its adoption among Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) remains critically low, resulting in a severe digital productivity paradox. Existing literature predominantly attributes this technological lag to financial constraints and complex technical requirements. This study challenges the traditional cost-centric paradigm by exploring the underlying cognitive, organizational, and institutional factors driving SME decision-making. Utilizing a qualitative, exploratory research design, 22 semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with strategic decision-makers across five SME sectors in Hungary. The theoretical framework synthesized the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), and Institutional Theory. An innovative "negative proof" thought experiment—assuming 100% external funding—was applied to rigorously isolate cognitive barriers from financial constraints. The findings reveal that the primary barrier to adoption is a fundamental cognitive gap: the lack of technological awareness, profound fears regarding transparency (e.g., GDPR conflicts, trade secrets), and exceptionally low perceived business usefulness. Furthermore, SME innovation strategies regarding decentralized networks are structurally reactive. Adoption intentions are almost exclusively driven by coercive institutional isomorphism—specifically, the mandates of dominant multinational partners and regulatory compliance—rather than internal innovativeness. These insights emphasize that BCT must be treated as a socio-technical system, necessitating proactive mentoring from large corporate integrators and targeted regulatory frameworks to bridge the technological divide.
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