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Internationalisation of science and technology parks and the stage of their life: The Central European perspective
No full textResearch background: A science and technology park (STP) is an important tool of innovation policy. In order to carry out new tasks in the field of internationalisation of innovative processes, parks have to incorporate completely new ones into their classic roles and activities. There is still a low level of knowledge about the factors that limit this process. The identified research gap provided the rationale for addressing the issue of the internationalisation of parks in Poland, which is an original treatment of the issue and probably one of the first such studies in Central Europe.
Purpose of the article: The purpose of the article is to diagnose the stages through which the internationalisation of science and technology parks takes place in the context of the phases of the life cycle of these organisations, as well as to identify and assess the importance of obstacles limiting the internationalisation process.
Methods: A critical analysis of the literature and direct research was carried out using the survey method, according to the author\u27s questionnaire. The research was carried out in 2022 among 18 STPs in Poland (55% of all Polish parks). The diagnosis of internationalisation was made on an institutional level. Three phases of the park life cycle were defined and operationalised based on the criteria identified by J. Allen (2007): creation, consolidation and maturity phase. Ward’s agglomeration method (Ward, 1963) was utilised to group the parks based on the level of actions realised in their life cycle and their degree of internationalisation. In the identification of the number of groups, the Duda-Hart (Duda et al., 2000) Je(2)/Je(1) index-stopping rule was used. Thirteen of the most important obstacles to the internationalisation process were identified. In order to examine the internal consistency of variables describing the internationalisation of parks, Cronbach’s Alpha reliability index was calculated. In order to find out the strength and direction of the existing relationship between obstacles and the internationalisation index of the studied parks, Kendall’s τ test was used.
Findings & value added: The sequential development of parks at the national level is in line with the assumptions indicated in the literature. The problem, however, is the internationalisation of parks. Not only is it characterised by a low level, but its course also does not indicate that it is the result of the successive implementation of previously assumed activities. The processes of development and internationalisation are interrelated, but this is not a significant interdependence. The problem is also indicated by the results of studies relating to obstacles to the internationalisation process. This is because the most significant ones are diagnosed only at an advanced level of internationalisation. Such an important activity of parks is undertaken without a prior in-depth diagnosis of the international situation. This can result in limited effectiveness of the activities undertaken in the direction of internationalisation and generate related problems. The results of the study provide a basis for indicating the type of activities aimed at activating parks in the international arena. Such activities should be undertaken at a higher level than the parks themselves since they do not have sufficient procedures and resources to guarantee increased internationalisation. One desirable course of action could also be the creation of cooperation networks at different territorial and entity levels
The model of White Supply Chain Management for sustainable performance in the food industry
No full textResearch background: The evolving business sector, driven by environmental factors and social pressure such as natural capital, global competitiveness, etc., necessitates continuous improvement and adaptation. The study presents White Supply Chain Management (WSCM), which incorporates ethical, social, and environmental practices into supply chains to enhance competitiveness. WSCM expands on Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) by integrating principles of ethics and social responsibility towards achieving the SDGs. The variables include social pressure, ethical management and corporate social responsibility, promoting holistic sustainability across all supply chains.
Purpose of the article: The study\u27s objectives were to examine the validity components of WSCM in the food sector, analyze the influence of WSCM on the long-term effectiveness of the Food Industry, and examine the WSCM model to see how it promotes long-term effectiveness in the food business.
Method: The research used a quantitative survey design to elicit responses from a sample group of 664 respondents, selected using a lottery-based random sampling method with 2–3 key informants per factory, typically occupying middle to high-level executive positions. The test tool was a structural equation model.
Findings & value added: The results show that WSCM and sustainable performance (SUS) are much improved by social pressure. WSCM further improves SUS. The findings emphasize the need for food sector stakeholders to interact with their publics (both internal and external), maintain ethical standards, and leverage supply chain analytics for transparency. Theoretically, the findings show how societal pressure drives sustainability through WSCM, therefore addressing issues outside of conventional Green Supply Chain Management. The study focuses on the necessity of implementing an integrated framework for managing the supply chain, comprising ethical, social, and environmental factors, and advises future research to test the WSCM framework in additional sectors and investigate its long-term effects on sustainability
What drives large companies to cut jobs? Analysis of group layoffs in Poland in the period 2016–2024
No full textMotivation: Since the beginning of 2024, much information has been regarding waves of mass layoffs in Poland. Some media in early 2024 reported that the number of collective redundancies was alarming. Such information may make one wonder whether this state of affairs is different from the data from previous years (the study includes the period from 2016).Aim: This article presents the number of collective redundancies in the post-pandemic period compared to previous years and the reasons that induce employers to reduce employment through collective redundancies.Materials and methods: The study was carried out by analysing selected large companies that made, or reported, a plan to carry out collective redundancies in the post-pandemic period. In addition, the scale of the number of such redundancies in Poland over 2016–2024 was compared. The analysed companies were also compared in terms of the PKD section to which they belong, which allowed to conclude as to what were the main reasons for the collective dismissals. The materials for the study were taken from the EMIS database and collected through direct contact with provincial labour offices.Results: The analysis confirms that the number of collective redundancies carried out varies from 2016 to 2024, but remains at a similar level. Furthermore, it is possible to distinguish the sections of the economy where this situation occurs most frequently. The most significant number of collective redundancies during the analysed period were made in the sections related to industry and trade. This makes it possible to conclude that the most frequent reasons for redundancies are restructuring, poor financial situation, or broadly defined exogenous causes, which have been described in more detail in this article
Adapting online contracts in the era of digital transformation from an institutional perspective
No full textMotivation: The development of information and communication technologies in the digital age significantly transforms contracting practices, necessitating adaptation by market participants. The dynamics of online contracts require a deeper exploration of key concepts from the new institutional economics, including transaction costs, property rights, and contracts. Understanding user preferences and experiences is crucial for comprehending the adaptive processes of online contracting, which are increasingly relevant as technology reshapes market interactions.Aim: This article aims to enrich the discussion of institutional economics in the context of online contracting, focusing specifically on the effects of transaction costs, property rights, and contractual adjustments. It seeks to identify user preferences, analyse contract adaptation processes, and offer practical guidance to market participants as they navigate the complexities of online contracts.Materials and methods: The study employs institutional analysis tools to examine the transformation of contracts in the digital environment. A diagnostic survey using a questionnaire technique is used to gather data on user patterns and preferences in online contracting. The institutional economics framework is applied to interpret the findings, particularly concepts like transaction costs and property rights.Results: The analysis reveals how transaction costs and contract flexibility influence the adaptation of contracts in online environments. Key factors driving the choice of specific contract forms are identified, and the research highlights the importance of balancing efficiency, security, and adaptability in online contracts. This study provides insights into the evolution of contracting mechanisms, offering a better understanding of how contracts are modified and adapted to meet changing market conditions
Consumer affinity as a key factor to mitigate reluctance to buy foreign products: The moderating role of organic and induced image to counteract negative communication campaigns and image crises
No full textResearch background: Anti-consumption practices, in particular consumers’ reluctance to buy (RTB) foreign products, are increasingly common in today’s globalised and interconnected markets. This phenomenon is accentuated by the impact of negative consumer dispositions (e.g., animosity or ethnocentrism), which contribute to an unfavourable perception of foreign products and, consequently, increase RTB. However, knowledge about possible factors that may mitigate this RTB foreign products is limited, and even less is known about the influence that positive dispositions (e.g., affinity) may have on consumer perceptions and consumption/non-consumption decisions. Moreover, consumers are inundated with information from various sources, which can significantly influence their perceptions and image of a product-country, especially in a context associated with negative communication campaigns and image crises.
Purpose of the article: This research delves into the study of consumer affinity towards a foreign country, understood as an emotional feeling or positive disposition of a consumer that may mitigate their RTB foreign products, which often results from negative communication campaigns and a country-product image crisis. In addition, its influence on perceived risk and value, and the impact of these on RTB, is investigated. The moderating effect of the organic and induced image formed by the consumer on the risk-value relationship is also analysed, determining whether the induced image undermines this relationship.
Methods: The empirical study focuses on the Spanish agri-food sector, which has been the subject of negative communication campaigns and image crises in foreign markets. The conceptual model was tested in a sample of German consumers, as Germany is the primary destination country for these products and has also been the origin of several image crises in this sector. PLS-SEM was used to validate the proposed hypotheses.
Findings & value added: This research underlines the importance of fostering feelings of affinity towards a country and its products as a means to counteract negative campaigns, increase perceived value and mitigate RTB in foreign destination markets. Companies and public institutions, which influence the formation of the induced image in consumers, can contribute to improving consumers’ perception of a product-country. By shedding light on these dynamics, this study offers valuable insights for companies trying to cope with image crises fuelled by negative communication campaigns, which are increasingly prevalent in the competitive international landscape
The impact of ICT development on ESG performance: International evidence
No full textResearch background: Advances in information and communications technology (ICT) have been a key factor in the transformation of economies and societies around the world. However, the impact of ICT on national ESG (environmental, social, and governance) performance has not been fully explored.
Purpose of the article: This study intends to examine the relationship between ICT development and national ESG performance. In addition, this study will investigate the mechanism through which ICT development affect national ESG performance.
Methods: This paper uses the panel fixed effects models with panel data from 149 countries between 2003 and 2020. The dynamic panel model is used in the robustness test.
Findings & value added: The findings reveal that ICT development promotes national ESG performance through enhancing green innovation and improve human capital. Moreover, the effect of ICT development on national ESG performance is more evident in countries with higher levels of economic development, better government quality, and stronger financial development. The findings in this paper provide useful evidence and insights for countries to formulate policies to improve national ESG performance from the ICT sector
Business model innovation elements and product innovation radicalness: Central European lessons for innovation leaders and followers
No full textResearch background: Despite the increased interest in business model innovation (BMI) in the last 20 years, the current research landscape still lacks empirical efforts aimed at investigating the underexplored link between BMI and innovation performance. This is doubly true in specific contexts like Central European countries, whereas innovation systems are weaker than in Western ones, and firms strongly depend on internal R&D activities and absorptive capacity and technology upgrades via cooperation with other countries.
Purpose of the article: This study draws on the BMI theory with the aim of analyzing the effects of each individual BMI element on firms’ performance in terms of creation of radical innovations vs incremental ones.
Methods: The data used are from the Community Innovation Survey (CIS) 2018 — the latest micro data available to date — focusing on 16,364 firms in Central Europe, namely 5,749 Czech, 7,377 Hungarian, and 3,238 Slovakian firms. As the explained (dependent) variables are dichotomous (binary: 1 indicates the answer is yes, 0 indicates the answer is no) for all estimated models, a binary logistic regression is used in order to focus on the individual elements representing BMI and analyse their separated effects on firms’ creation of radical and incremental innovations in Central Europe. Individual BMI elements are: BMI methods, logistics, communication, accounting, external relations, human resource management, and marketing. Moreover, we check for control variables such as tax credits and allowances of R&D, public funding of innovation, cooperation with other organizations on R&D or other activities, in-house R&D activities and contracted out ones, lack of finance, lack of skilled employees and internal financial resources, and size.
Findings & value added: For radical innovators, practices for organising procedures and external relations are important. For incremental innovators, methods of organising work responsibility, decision making, and human resource management are significant. Surprisingly, regardless of the innovation radicality, several BMI elements are significant. This study suggests that managers should enhance strategic collaborations with external partners out of Central Europe, exploit their absorptive capacity, and increase the knowledge and experience of their employees, whilst policymakers should keep on providing tax credits and allowances for innovation activities, maintaining a supportive infrastructure and reducing administrative burdens
Digital loans and buy now pay later from LendTech versus bank loans in the era of ‘black swans’: Complementarity in the area of consumer financing
No full textResearch background: People who take non-banking loans are primarily perceived as excluded from accessing bank services. The growth of e-commerce and the increasing digitalisation of customer interactions with banks was particularly accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic (the first ‘black swan’). These processes have also influenced the rapid growth of the LendTech (LT) sector within FinTech with its digital loans and buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) services. The war in Ukraine (the second ‘black swan’) has led to an energy crisis, increased inflation, interest rates and credit costs, and reduced credit accessibility. In this context, the following research questions are addressed: Are the LT and banking sectors complementary or substitutive in the area of consumer financing? Does complementarity apply to all customer segments and loan amounts? How does the extent of complementarity or substitutability of the LT sector depend on, and to what extent do changes in the regulatory and macroeconomic environment affect, the interaction between the banking and LT sectors?
Purpose of the article: The aim of the article is to identify trends in the LT sector within FinTech in the context of assessing the scale and determinants of current and future complementarity of the non-bank sector and the banking sector in the area of consumer credit in time of black swans. An additional purpose of the article is to estimate revenues from the basic operating activities of companies from the on-line channel.
Methods: The research process was multi-stage and the research procedure was structured. Due to the lack of a uniform source of data on LT products and services, the study used many data sources — data from the Credit Information Bureau, a primary nationwide survey on LT users a primary survey of people representing LT\u27s managerial staff. The selection of LTs was carried out according to the concept of the monetary sampling unit. The Horvitz-Thompson estimator with Sen‐Yates‐Grundy variance form was used to estimate net operating income for LT from the online channel in 2021.
Findings & value added: The LT companies surveyed state that black swans (the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine) and the current macroeconomic situation have not significantly affected demand for non-banking loans. The reduction in the opportunities for the LT sector as a result of anti-usury regulations will only lead to a shift in consumer demand to the pawnshop sector and the shadow economy, which will be detrimental to consumers. Complementarity between LT and the banking sector is revealed especially in crisis situations, thus limiting the effects of market shock (limited supply of loans offered by banks). In periods of stabilisation, a rather clear division of preferences is noticeable – in the case of seniors and loans for higher amounts, banks dominate, while in the case of lower amounts and in younger age groups, non-bank institutions are more popular. The mechanism by which shrinking banking services are replaced by LT in short-term crises confirms the importance of LT in balancing the Consumer Finance market in the face of unstable periods. From a medium- and long-term perspective, it should be noted that inflation and rising interest rates will increase the scale of credit exclusion in commercial banks, shifting part of the demand to the non-bank sector. These phenomena have an international dimension. Similar observations were made already in 2012 by the CFPB in the USA and the British FTA, when analysing the consumer finance market immediately after the subprime crisis, emphasising the effects of limiting access to bank consumer loans and the resulting growth of the LT market (Gębski, 2013)
From intention to action: Understanding bank credit access through the lens of the theory of planned behavior
No full textResearch background: Bank credit access plays a determining role in enterprises’ financial growth, competitiveness, and internationalization. However, most entrepreneurs are afraid of being rejected from their credit applications due to financial disadvantages that reduce their probability of receiving credits. To minimize credit access concerns, their entrepreneurial behaviors that are included in the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), such as personal attitude (PA), perceived behavioral control (PBC), and subjective norm (SN), might be a good solution. However, depending on cultural differences, their attitudes regarding these factors might change, which also causes changes in firms’ probability of receiving credit.
Purpose of the article: This research aims to examine whether the impact of PA, PBC, and SN on credit access of enterprises differ depending on the countries where they do their business.
Methods: The researchers investigate 1367 enterprises from different countries. These firms are selected using a purposive sampling method, and then an online questionnaire is sent to the survey respondents. Binary Logistic Regression analyses are performed for analysis purposes.
Findings & value added: The results indicate that while the impact of PA on bank credit access does not differ depending on the countries where firms are located, international differences exist in the impacts of PBC and SN on the credit access of enterprises. This paper finds international differences in the impact of RBV’s intangible assets (PA, PBC, SN) on a tangible asset of RBV (financial capability) and explains these results with the factors (economic, political, legal systems) included in Institution-based View, and brings all components of both theories RBV and Institution-based View in a unique research. Financial and educational support from governments and universities for fresh graduate individuals can stimulate entrepreneurial attitudes and financing abilities of prospective entrepreneurs to overcome credit access obstacles
Sustainable urban mobility - an important element of EU climate policy
No full textSustainable urban mobility, decarbonisation and improving the mobility of the population itself are among the objectives of European climate policy - commonly referred to as the \u27Green Deal\u27. In order to achieve this goal, the main focus is on public transport, especially rail transport - the most sustainable, environmentally friendly mode. The railway provides a convenient and fast connection between the suburbs and satellite towns and the centre of the agglomeration. It makes it possible to move large numbers of passengers in an efficient, safe and faster way than by car. The railway should form the basis of the transport system of cities, especially agglomerations. This paper presents a synthetic analysis of the place of railways in the transport service of Polish agglomerations. This issue is presented in the aspect of ecological problems of contemporary cities, and against the background of the main trends of the entire rail passenger transport market in Poland. The analysis covered the years 2010-2022, and on its basis the essential features and trends of the market were identified