bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
INNOVATIVE APPROACHES AND INNOVATIONS IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN BULGARIA
Authors: Doitchinova Julia , Stoyanova Zornitsa , Harizanova-Bartos Hristina
Published: October 2019

The LEADER approach has an important role for strengthening and the development of local communities and for stimulating innovations and innovative practices in rural areas.  The aim of this paper is to analyze and evaluate the LEADER approach as an innovative approach and on this basis to prepare general conclusions about the innovative development of rural areas in Bulgaria. The local active group (LAG) is interpreted as an innovative "coordinating" activity and it is the core of the innovation system that solves conflicts, and creates and implements local strategies for rural development. The LEADER and the Community – led local development approaches introduce innovative practices for Bulgarian conditions in order to improve local governance and facilitate innovations. The main contributions of the LEADER and the Community approaches are related to: the establishment of local active groups in different network structures of partnership; activating stakeholders, broadcasting leaders and improving coordination between them; establishing local expertise and administrative capacities; support for business organizations, local authorities and the non-governmental sector in the development and management of innovative projects. The factors that influence the success of the LEADER approach and its importance for rural development in each country differ in their administrative, socio-economic, historical and cultural contexts. Bulgarian LAGs continue to implement the Community – led local development approach (CLLDA) in the process of adapting to the specific conditions of rural areas.

The results are part of scientific project DN 15/8 2017 Sustainable multifunctional rural areas: reconsidering agricultural models and systems with increased demands and limited resources funded by the Bulgarian research fund.
SKILLS FOR THE BANKING SECTOR. A PERSPECTIVE FROM ROMANIAN GRADUATE STUDENTS
Authors: Folcut Ovidiu , Folea Victoria
Published: October 2019

Due to the current nature of jobs and the labour market landscape, jobs themselves change much more rapidly today for many reasons, one of them being the increased digitization of life and the economy. We use digital technologies for social interactions and online transactions, but we increasingly use digital technologies at work as well. Universities prepare the next generation for the workforce and deliver graduates according to the needs of employers. However, in many cases, employers need to train or re-train their newly employed graduates according to the real and specific needs of the job. In some cases, this may be justified by the specific nature of the job. Here, we attempted to understand the mismatch between university specializations and the requirements of jobs in a certain field.

The paper analyses the perception of students and graduates of the way in which university programmes help them become well-trained professionals that match job requirements in the field of economics and finance. Between March 2018 and March 2019, 500 surveys were distributed to students and graduates in the fields of economics, business administration, finance and banking, and 396 completed questionnaires were analysed. In the course of our research, we also interviewed employers in the banking sector to obtain their thoughts and opinions on the correspondence between jobs and university specializations and programmes.

Based on our research, an increased collaboration between universities and employers would be beneficial. The involvement of students and graduates in collaborative projects between universities and employers and the direct participation of employers in delivering courses and seminars are some examples of implementing these ideas.
ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF INFRUSTRUCTURE ON THE DEVELOPMENT LEVEL OF RUSSIAN REGIONS
Authors: Groznykh Rogneda , Ignatieva Elena , Mariev Oleg , Serkova Alla
Published: October 2019

Infrastructure is one of the main determinants of consistent and sustainable development in different countries and regions. Considering the Russian Federation, where there are 85 regions, not counting the federal cities, the problem of regional development and factors that can promote it, is currently of high importance. Different levels of regional development lead to higher economic differentiation between regions and cause serious damage to the Russian economy. Our main hypothesis suggests that a higher level of infrastructure development in a region positively affects economic development in the areas. Therefore, the main aim of our research is to estimate the impact of infrastructure on economic development in Russian regions using econometric analysis. In addition, cluster analysis was implemented to reveal the difference in infrastructural development levels in the regions. To provide a precise estimation, a database was constructed on Russian regions for the period of 2012 to 2016. The main method used in the research is econometric analysis and cluster analysis by using k-means method based on three main indicators: social, industrial and financial. The results of the analysis reveal 5 different clusters with highly differentiated levels of infrastructural development. Econometric analysis has shown that the most significant infrastructural factors are industrial factors and social factors. The results of the research could be taken into consideration as recommendations for development in order to improve government policy towards less developed Russian regions.
THE IMPACT OF INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS ON FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT INFLOWS: CROSS-COUNTRY ANALYSIS
Authors: Groznykh Rogneda , Drapkin Igor , Mariev Oleg
Published: October 2019

This research paper is devoted to analysis of various institutional factors as determinants of foreign direct investment (further – FDI) inflows to different countries. The objective of the research is to estimate the effect of institutions on FDI inflows. The analysis is provided on a database of cross-country FDI inflows on 72 countries FDI-importers and 112 countries FDI-exporters in the period from 2001 to 2016. It is supposed in the paper that the impact of institutional factors might be different for the groups of developed and developing countries; since developed economies have higher institutional indicators, they tend to attract larger amounts of foreign direct investment compared to developing economies, where institutional development is at the lower level. The estimation is based on the gravity approach, which considers the positive effects of countries’ GDP and the negative effect of the distance between them. The main method used for the econometric estimation is the Pseudo Poisson Maximum Likelihood (PPML) regression, which is considered to be one of the adequate methods for estimating such data. During the research the problems of zero-observations and correlation between institutional indicators are solved. The results have shown that higher quality of institutions tends to attract more foreign direct investment to a country. Thus, institutions in developed countries have positive and significant impact on FDI attraction. At the same time, the analysis of developing countries has shown that some institutions have less significant influence on the FDI inflows. Based on the results of the research, possible recommendations for government policy on institutional improvement can be suggested.
COMPARISON OF THE CONDITIONS OF TAXATION ON LABOR IN HUNGARY AND THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC
Authors: Gyurián Norbert , Szobi Ádám , Nagyová Nikoleta
Published: October 2019

Income taxes constitute an important source of revenue for public finances everywhere. Essentially, the incomes of natural and legal persons are taxed. The tax on income from dependent activity, i.e. tax on labor, is one of the most important sources of tax revenue. The amount of tax revenue depends on the activities of the natural person (employee) but also on the activities of the persons who are in the position of the employer. These persons in the position of employer can also be natural persons, but in the majority of cases, they are legal persons. The focus of the study is on incomes from labor in Hungary and in Slovakia from the perspective of regulation and economic conditions. The main objective of the study is to examine the legislation on the taxation of labor and study the tax wedges in the two selected states. The conducted research is based on secondary sources. The results are presented in part in the results and discussion section and also in conclusion of the study. Our results point out the fact that even neighboring countries can have several differences in taxation with regard to the studied tax. One reason for studying this fact is that a good number of people in the bordering regions might extend their activities into the territory of the other country as well.
INCOME TAXATION REGIMES FOR PRIVATE ENTREPRENEURS IN HUNGARY AND THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC
Authors: Gyurián Norbert , Szobi Ádám , Kútna Angelika , Halasi Dániel
Published: October 2019

Private entrepreneurs have an important role in national economies worldwide. Most of them operate and assume legal obligations as private persons. Consequently, they are taxed pursuant to the legal regulations pertaining to personal income taxation in the respective countries. Incomes tax from individual activities is a substantial source of proceeds for national budgets. When taxes are imposed on the individual activities of private persons, they act as both taxable entities and taxpayers at the same time. They are obliged to account for the payable amount of taxes with the state, and present all the associated, necessary records. Therefore, the persons in question are to shoulder considerable administrative burdens. This aspect surfaces in increasing costs, because in most cases they have to rely on external, professional services. Countries aim at shaping taxation environments that encourage taxable persons to account for and state their own taxes. In pursuing this goal, most states have adopted several methods that allow the simpler quantification of the amounts of taxes beyond the scope of complicated accounting systems. This paper has set the objective to look into these methods in Hungary and the Slovak Republic.
WHY PEOPLE JOIN VIRTUAL WORLDS OF COMPUTER GAMES? QUALITATIVE RESEARCH AMONGST POLISH USERS
Authors: Hofman-Kohlmeyer Magdalena
Published: October 2019

Introduction: When virtual worlds (e.g. Second Life or World of Warcraft) became immensely popular, with millions of active users around the world, real life companies started to utilize them for business purposes, such as testing new products or organizing various events. However, the activities of companies can only be successful if a sufficient number of players are engaged in virtual worlds.

Objectives: The present paper is aimed to investigate individual players’ motives for joining virtual worlds of computer games.

Methods: The author carried out 22 in-depth interviews amongst polish players (20 were finally accepted) of three virtual worlds: The Sims, Second Life and Euro Track Simulator 2. Interviews were carried out from August 21, 2018 to December 5, 2018.

Results: Respondents most frequently mentioned consecutively: curiosity (caused by TV series, TV programme, newspaper or advertisement), interact with others, interest in the topic of a game, enjoyment from playing, opportunity to see or do things unattainable in real life, exploring the virtual world, spending free time. With reference to the gratification paradigm, individual motivations were divided into: experiential (16 motives), functional (6 motives), social (3 motives). From the perspective of marketing managers, understanding the motivations of players allows them to describe the target market of their promotional activities inside the game environment. For game developers, it can help attract new and maintain current users.
HOTEL RESERVATIONS VIA ONLINE TRAVEL AGENCY BOOKING.COM. EU DIMENSIONS OF THE “BEST PRICE” CLAUSE
Authors: Ivanov Ivaylo , Atanasova Irina
Published: October 2019

The use of online reservation systems has become a must for hospitality businesses. This article is focused on the use of www.booking.com as an online search engine for accommodation in a family hotel in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. The aim of the research is to analyze the behavior of people, using one of the best performing online travel agencies in the world for hotel room reservation. The article reveals interesting statistical facts about the nationality of the guests and how far ahead of time reservations are made. Data for the electronic device, which is used to make a reservation, is stated in the article. The “best price” clause of booking.com is taken into account, as it is being banned in some EU countries, but still influencing the decision making process of hotel customers. A brief outlook of the ‘’most favored nation’’ (“MFN”) clause, also known as ‘price parity’ or ‘best price’ clause (“BPC”) and its application in EU countries is included.
SMART CITY CONCEPT WITHIN SELECTED COUNTRIES
Authors: Jaculjaková Simona , Repková Štofková Katarína , Laitkep Dominik
Published: October 2019

This manuscript deals with the issue of the Smart City concept in the capitals of selected European countries, which are the Slovak Republic, the Czech Republic, and Austria. This scientific manuscript defines technical terms such as Smart city and also the whole concept of the Smart City. An overview of Smart City services is also presented. The analysis of the current state of the article is focused on the Index Cities in Motion 2018 which evaluates the current development concept of a Smart City in selected major cities such as Vienna, Prague, and Bratislava. Based on the analysis, we wanted to verify whether the Slovak Republic is ranked in the first half of the surveyed countries within the Index Cities in Motion.This hypothesis has been confirmed.Within these selected capital cities, we focused on mobile applications, which are provided under the three chosen areas of the concept of a Smart City such as transportation services, environmental services, and real-time localization services. Subsequently, we found that most applications in the countries under review are implemented in the transport sector. Subsequently, we focused on the number of downloads and the cost of each app. We've also researched apps through Google Play.Based on a detailed analysis, we defined the advantages and disadvantages of the three most frequently used areas of the Smart City concept.
FINANCE MANAGEMENT IN ARTS ORGANIZATIONS IN BULGARIA
Authors: Kazashka Vesela
Published: October 2019

Arts organizations are a major factor in the Bulgarian economic. Good management of Art  organizations  is also associated with good financial management and control in order to achieve their  goals and objectives. The delegated budgets, the small scale of most of the Arts organizations, are a prerequisite for saving money or imposing the appointment of a financial controller. The lack of such a specialist in turn leads to poor control, inefficient spending of funds, violations and failure to verify costs, which can sometimes lead to bankruptcy. The objective of the report is two-sided - on the one hand, preventing the repetition of mistakes perceived as unsuccessful practices and, on the other hand, emphasizing the place and role of controlling the financial execution of a project and its importance for optimizing the effectiveness of the implementation as well as in the overall activity of Art  organizations.
JUSTIFICATION OF SCENARIOS OF STATE REGULATORY POLICY OF UKRAINE
Authors: Kolupaieva Irina , Shevchenko Olena
Published: October 2019

The research is devoted to justifying regulatory policy scenarios. The base of the analysis is the built cognitive map that shows the interactions between factors, leverages and goals of regulatory policy. For the purpose of justifying the possible dynamics of factors in the future in every scenario, changes of the most negative and positive factors were investigated, according to which the possible forecast for them was proposed. In the process of investigation, the impact of negative factors on the regulatory policy goals, the combination of leverages that must be included for overcoming the negative impact of all these factors were analysed and justified. As a result of the research we have determined three scenarios: optimistic, pessimistic and most probable. For every scenario, a specific set of leverages was proposed.
DIFFERENCES IN ASSESSING SELLERS' BEHAVIOUR BY THE CUSTOMERS OF BABY BOOM, X, Y AND Z GENERATIONS
Authors: Kovaľová Jana , Birknerová Zuzana , Frankovský Miroslav , Benková Eva
Published: October 2019

The role of sellers is changing in a turbulent business environment and only the sellers who provide first class services and approach to them in a responsible way can survive among competitors. Customers perceive it as an added value and have a good feeling from buying. It is just sellers who are becoming the main factor that contributes to the competitiveness of a whole organization. The segmentation of customers into individual generations enables us to better understand their preferences and requirements, it is then possible to predict their tendencies in buying behaviour and thus increasing the success of sales. The main aim of the paper is to present the issue of different assessment of sellers’ behaviour by the customers of the Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y and Generation Z. In connection with these differences, the aim of the research is to identify generational differences in the assessment of manipulative, assertive, stressed and engaged behaviour of sellers, as well as to analyse the determinants that affect the buying behaviour of customers. The research was conducted using a questionnaire method and mathematical-statistical methods on a sample of 207 respondents. The research results confirm the existence of statistically significant differences in assessing the determinants of sellers’ behaviour from the perspective of individual customer generations.
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES USING THE METHOD OF STANDARD VARIABLE
Authors: Krasňanská Dominika , Hurbánková Ľubica
Published: October 2019

The aim of this paper is to compare the European Union countries on the basis of selected socio-economic and demographic indicators for the year 2016. The following indicators are selected for analysis: gross domestic product per capita, government gross debt as a percentage of gross domestic product, inflation rate, unemployment rate, total fertility rate, infant mortality rate and crude divorce rate. The contributions of the paper are to order the countries on the basis of the above-mentioned indicators, from the best country to the worst country using one of the multidimensional comparison methods – the method of standard variable. The aim of this method is to replace a number of selected indicators with one final characteristic – an integral indicator. Since the used indicators do not have the same weights, calculations are used on data weighted by weights I (calculated using the coefficient of variation) and weights II (calculated on the basis of the correlation matrix). When evaluating the EU countries on the basis of the selected indicators using the method of standard variable; Luxembourg, Ireland, Denmark and France ranked first. Among the worst countries we include Greece, Hungary, Spain and Portugal.
ORGANIZATIONAL MATURITY MODELS - REVIEW AND CLASSIFICATION
Authors: Kucińska-Landwójtowicz Aneta
Published: October 2019

The continuous development of the organization and business excellence currently belongs to the most important challenges of modern management. It requires many activities aimed at the improvement of the efficiency of processes and the improvement of the product quality. This is accompanied by a wide range of performance evaluation and organizational maturity analysis in many aspects. The objective of this paper is to provide a systematic review protocol followed and the associated reasoning. The systematic review of the literature is carried out according to strictly defined four phases. The literature of the subject placed in the universal Thompson/Reuters Web of Science database was adopted as the object of exploration. The analysis of the most important articles, proceedings, books and reviews has been performed. The review covers the last 25 years. The systematic review reported in this paper was guided by the objective to classify existing organizational maturity models (OMM), in order of their application area and to indicate the latest research trends. The result of the conducted research is the classification of organizational maturity models including key categories. The main contribution of the paper is the subsequent grouping of these models into nine areas of application to allow further study and development of these. In addition, new maturity models were selected for specific areas of the organization's operations or related to new management concepts. The value of the article is a clear and detailed review of the models proposed in the literature, which may be useful for both researchers and practitioners. The main limitation is the analysis in the scope of topic organizational maturity models including only the Thompson/Reuters Web of Science. This is the first stage of literature review that are continued.
TAX LICENCE OF A LEGAL ENTITY – PROS AND CONS
Authors: Kútna Angelika , Antalík Imrich , Gyurián Norbert , Šeben Zoltán
Published: October 2019

In 2013, the Slovak Parliament adopted the Law on Amendments to the Law on Income Tax. One of the most significant changes was the introduction of the Tax License of a Legal Entity. On January 1st, 2018, a minimum corporate tax (the so-called tax license), which was introduced in 2014, was abolished. The main aim of this paper is the evaluation and quantification of the impact which the minimum corporate tax has on the amount of tax liability of a selected group of legal entities in the agricultural sector. The research had tried to find an answer if the tax license abolishment was more in the political interests or if it had some economic background. The main research questions are how has the corporate tax duty increased in the agricultural sector in the Slovak Republic after introducing the minimum corporate tax and how has the tax burden for agricultural holdings increased after introducing the tax license. The analysis presented in this paper confirms that the instrument of introducing the minimum tax is for loss-making sectors, such as the agricultural sector, undoubtedly unfair. On the other hand, the study has confirmed that the public which regularly pays the taxes, agrees with its introduction.
ATTITUDE OF SLOVAK SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES TOWARDS RISK MANAGEMENT – INVESTIGATION OF THE REGIONAL DIFFERENCES
Authors: Masár Matej , Hudáková Mária
Published: October 2019

Contemporary trends highlight the need for education in each enterprise. The current business environment is characterized by many changes such as increased customer expectations and high levels of competitiveness in the environment. World trends, shows, that managers and owners of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) perceived the need to take care of risk management in their enterprise. This issue has been analyzed and discussed for a long time. It is necessary to concentrate on this field mainly in the Slovak Republic. SMEs in Slovakia are very sensitive to changes in the environment.

The aim of this paper is to investigate regional differences in the attitude of Slovak SMEs towards risk management, with special emphasis on the attitude towards significance of the education in the field of risk management based on empirical research, which was provided by authors in 2017. This paper will evaluate: the level of dependence between the selected Slovak regions and the created space for discussion about risks in SMEs, the level of dependence between selected Slovak regions and the created space for employee education in risk management in SMEs, and the level of dependence between selected Slovak regions and the required education possibilities in the field of risk management. It will use: association, the Pearson’s coefficient and the Tschuprov coefficient for evaluating the results.

Overall results of the empirical research point towards the significance and importance of using risk management in SMEs. The results, shows, that there is a very large association between investigating dependence. Based on the results, it is necessary to improve the level of education in the field of risk management, which will be based on current entrepreneurial requirements.
THE SLOVAK CITIZEN’S AND UNIVERSITY STUDENT’S PERSPECTIVE ON THE BENEFITS OF ROBOTIZATION
Authors: Mišík Tomáš , Štofková Jana
Published: October 2019

We live in a time which is determined by rapid technological development, increasing automation, creating electronic services and implementing robots. The current Fourth Industrial Revolution is not just about technology or business, it is also about society, the quality of life and the integration of new technologies where humans and robots interact. New technologies create space for job opportunities that will require specific kinds of skills. Today, computers and machines can do a high level of work involving routine and manual work, but they cannot replace some analytical, creative and, most importantly, social skills. An education and employment policy is needed to transform the trends and challenges of the digital economy. The aim of the contribution is point to the theoretical background of the digital transformation of society and define the level of robot skills acquisition. Moreover, it identifies the life situations and sectors where respondents from Slovakia would accept the presence of robots and the article compares data with a survey conducted by 168 students of Zilina university. The contribution also focuses attention on the approach to the relationship between human and the robot and the perceived benefits of using robots from the point of view of citizens.
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF FACEBOOK PROMOTING THE BRANDS OF SLOVAK WELLNESS HOTELS BASED ON THE DEA METHODOLOGY
Authors: Moravcikova Dominika , Krizanova Anna
Published: October 2019

This contribution presents an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Facebook social network promoting the brands of a number of selected Slovak wellness hotels based on the DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) methodology and its selected models.

The research question is that hotel guests use the funpages of the Slovak wellness hotels on the Facebook social network to learn more about its services and also how the Slovak wellness hotels use their funpages to promote their brand and communicate with their consumers.

During the four months in 2018 (September – December), data on input and output variables was collected, with data from photos, videos and links to "funpage" hotels on Facebook and output to "Likes" and "Comments". The measurement of the efficiency of these input and output variables in order to assess the effectiveness of 16 wellness hotel brands operating in the Slovak Republic was based on an input-oriented CCR DEA model with weight adjustment via the Assurance Region.

The number of Likes and comments on the Facebook pages of the 16 Slovak wellness hotels suggests that hotel guests use Facebook to learn more about the services and events they provide. The DEA model is therefore an effective tool to help evaluate the effectiveness of a business in a hotel sector on a social network, such as Facebook, in promoting its brands, as it uses multiple variables and does not necessarily require an input-output relationship. The results of using this method confirmed the research question.
ADMINISTRATIVE BARRIERS AND THEIR IMPACT ON THE EFFICIENCY OF ORGANIZATIONS IN HOUSING CONSTRUCTION: THE CASE OF ST. PETERSBURG
Authors: Oparin Sergey , Yudenko Marina , Polovnikova Nadezhda , Nikolikhina Svetlana
Published: October 2019

The purpose of the article is to draw attention to the importance of the issue related to administrative barriers in the field of housing construction, the redundancy of which leads to the rise of transaction costs and reducing the effectiveness of organizations. The estimate of the creation of formal rules in the context of social infrastructure in St. Petersburg is given. The conclusion is made about the direct impact of the effective standard on the effectiveness of the organization. An integral method for measuring the economic efficiency of the resources used is proposed, which improves the quality of the measurement and the evaluation of their effectiveness, taking into account the impact of transaction costs.
TRANSFORMATION OF SOCIAL CAPITAL INTO ECONOMIC CAPITAL THROUGH EDUCATION (BY THE EXAMPLE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AND BULGARIA)
Authors: Parvanov Petar Lyudmilov , Petkova Nadezhda Emilova
Published: October 2019

This paper is an analysis of different types of capital as well as of the opportunity for capital to be transformed into various types. The basic sorts of capital and their theoretical conceptions are being viewed with an attempt to prove that every resource should be considered as capital as long as they bring benefits which can be regarded as economic ones. Education and knowledge are important factors for the process of observing and analyzing the transformation of human or social capital into economic capital. On the basis of statistic data from Eurostat it is shown in this paper that there is a direct dependency between education and the economic growth of a given country. The main objective of the paper is to present the theoretical opportunities for capital transformation and to give examples for the latter through data from Eurostat. Moreover, we accept the working hypothesis that capital should be related to the personality that it belongs; and that in its essence it is uniform and it takes different forms through transformation. For the writing of the text we have used comparative and theoretical methods, adaptive methodology, deductive and empirical method and the statistical analysis method. The main outcomes of our research are as follows: capital exists in various forms; it can be transformed and it should be defined as a resource that brings additional dividends; human capital, albeit personal. Through its social function it is transformed into economic one and is useful not only for the individual but for society as a whole; education is one of the fundamental ways for human and social capital accumulation. There is a direct correlation between education and economic growth. Moreover, on the basis of the examples from the data from the European Union, it is clear that the more educated young people there are in the real economy, the higher the economic development is.
PUBLIC SERVICE MOTIVATION OF STUDENTS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS FROM UNIVERSITIES OF RUSSIA AND SOUTH AFRICA
Authors: Pivovarov Ivan , Kroukamp Hendri , Nekrasova Victoria
Published: October 2019

: A career choice in the public sector might seem strange as more financially lucrative careers beckon in the private sector.  Similarities and differences in the motivation of choosing and staying in the public sector between students currently enrolled in undergraduate studies towards a career in the public sector (referring to all spheres of government) in Russia and the Republic of South Africa are analyzed in this article. Through this process new knowledge is generated for public personnel managers in recruitment drives, promoting current and new employment opportunities possibilities are enhanced and ideas are generated for tertiary institutions for the development of curriculum to ensure that public servants will be able to address, through the attainment of the necessary skills, the changing circumstances within which public servants operate in the public sector. Recommendations in respect of further research possibilities are also explored
INNOVATION DEVELOPMENT OF THE FURNITURE INDUSTRY IN BULGARIA
Authors: Popova Radostina
Published: October 2019

This paper presents an analysis of the innovation performance of furniture enterprises in Bulgaria for two periods – before the economic crisis and after it. It contains general characteristics of the Furniture industry (structure of the enterprises, different type of production, export and import) and the results of the surveys of the innovation activity for two 3 year periods. The results from the studies are of the periods: 2006-2008 (563 enterprises) and 2014-2016 (358 enterprises) and are based on officially used EU definitions and indicators (European Commission, OECD, Oslo Manual), which allows for comparability of results. The used indicators are: introduced product innovations, introduced process innovations, introduced organizational innovations, introduced marketing innovations, revenues and costs of innovation and financing of the innovation activities.

The results of the comparative analyses of the innovation activity of the furniture enterprises in Bulgaria for the two periods under review showed an increase in: the innovation expenditures and revenues from innovative products, the process innovations -  additional  activities and the financing of innovation activities by the EU. It also showed a decrease in the number of furniture enterprises, product innovations, process innovations and organizational innovations.
REDEFINING THE MANAGEMENT OF PERFORMANCE ORIENTATION IN THE ROMANIAN HIGHER EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
Authors: Pușcă Andy , Pîrju Ionel Sergiu
Published: October 2019

Education is the best investment in the future of a nation. This article reviews the Romanian educational system and offers insights into the issues surrounding the performance orientation of the universities in the context of recent transformations after the ingression in the European Union. Our intention through this article is to present solutions for the improvement of performance orientation in the Romanian educational system.  We will analyze the situation of higher education in Romania as: regional performance of the universities, which is a direct result of national literacy rate, the enrolment rate of the youth, the governmental funds etc. The contemporary Romanian educational system is focused on the development of a performed management style in synergy with the European educational strategy. The article presents the issues related to the national higher education performance and its strategic role for enhancing the excellence of a sustainable economy. The prospects of the Romanian performance orientation are discussed from a synchronic point of view.
INFLUENCE OF A TURBULENT ENVIRONMENT ON THE MANAGING OF A MINING ENTERPRISE
Authors: Rybak Aurelia
Published: October 2019

Motivation: It should be taken into consideration that classical planning methods that worked well at the end of the 20th century are often not effective in a turbulent environment. The article presents planning methods that can be applied in such conditions.

Problem statement: The article presents methods of planning of the future in a variable environment. There are constant changes in the macro-environment of mining enterprises in Poland. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to create an appropriate plan for the company's core business i.e. extracting hard coal deposits.

Approach and results: The scenario-based planning and SARIMA mathematical model and the forecasts for the demand for hard coal based on them have been presented. The scenarios are used to verify the potential company strategy.

Conclusions: It should be noted that the strategy must be created in several variants which finally will enable the company to choose the one that will let it gain a competitive advantage. Only then will the mining company be able to stay ahead of its competitors. In order to allow decision-makers in companies to make the right decisions, appropriate methods and tools for managing the company should be used.
SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MARKET SUPPLY FORMATION IN THE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT SECTOR AND RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS RECONSTRUCTION UNDER THE PRESENT-DAY CONDITIONS IN RUSSIA
Authors: Selyutina Larisa , Vasileva Natalia , Maleeva Tatyana , Frolova Natalya
Published: October 2019

It is necessary to understand the housing market situation for selecting strategic measures that are able to ensure the balanced state of market supply and demand. This task is very relevant in the field of housing stock development and reconstruction in Russia. The up-to-date aspect of this issue has been investigated in this paper, and it is marked by the particular characteristics of intercommunication of the processes of supply generation for the purpose of satisfaction of demands for reconstruction and building activities projects in the housing sector and investment supply introduced into the investment market. This paper directs attention to the necessity of expanding the forms of housing needs satisfaction in order to increase housing affordability. This research is of practical importance and is intended to improve the performance of the modern housing reproduction market in Russia owing to the further development of the market mechanisms and tools, which ensure the reliability of housing development and housing stock reconstruction investments in line with people's investment and consumer demands
NEW APPROACHES OF REGIONAL POLICY AS A SUPPORTING FACTOR OF THE SOCIOECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE REGION
Authors: Šoltés Viktor , Repková Štofková Katarína , Lenko Filip
Published: October 2019

Increasing economic growth and employment, as well as improving the quality of life of the population, is one of the priorities of each country. One of the options to achieve these goals is to balance regional disparities. In the current globalization process, balancing regional disparities is all the more important. The European Union, as one of the most important communities of states, seeks to reduce regional disparities within the Community through a cohesion policy. The Slovak Republic, as one of the member states of the European Union, seeks to support the least developed regions through incentives and grants. Because of this, it analyzes the situation in the regions, identifies the least developed regions and takes measures to support them. This article deals with the socio-economic analysis of the least developed regions and analyzes the measures that are taken to support them. The results of the article can be used by public authorities when planning other activities that are expected to have a positive impact on regional development.
THE CHANGE FROM A COMMAND-TO A MARKET BANKING SYSTEM IN THE CASES OF SELECT GROUPS OF EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
Authors: Stavrova Elena
Published: October 2019

In this article, the general stages of the banking sector’s transition to a free market are examined in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the effects of the last crisis on the financial and economic system of these countries. The process of this change is different and is important for their integration into the common European banking market, as well as their influence on the development of the economies of these countries as a whole. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to compare the processes of change in organizational structure and the difficulty of integrating these banking sectors with the banking sectors of Western European countries. The focus is also on assessing the impact of the global financial and economic crisis on their sustainable development. The databases of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have been used to establish a common pattern in some sectors - the growth of non-performing loans during the crisis, it also implies a concerted effort to overcome this important indicator of their sustainability and behavior.
THE IMPACT OF EXCHANGE RATE ON ECONOMIC GROWTH IN ALGERIA
Authors: Touitou Mohammed , Laib Yacine , Boudeghdegh Ahmed
Published: October 2019

The transmission of changes in the exchange rate to macroeconomic performance has led to debates about their impact, particularly on growth economic. Many economists consider the exchange rate as a transmission channel of economic policy for open economies. This article focuses to determining empirically the impact of the exchange rate on economic growth. For this, we will adopt an approach in terms of the vector autoregressive model (VAR) with four variables namely, the real effective exchange rate, economic growth, financial development with credit indicators and finally the money supply. The empirical results allow us to confirm our theoretical expectations that decline in the real effective exchange rate of the dinar increases the growth economy through public spending for consumption and is stimulated by oil taxation.
THE IMPORTANCE OF BRAND IN CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR AND PRODUCT QUALITY ASSESMENT
Authors: Valjaskova Viera , Kral Pavol
Published: October 2019

In order to maintain or increase market share, every company tries to use the most optimal combination of marketing communication tools or marketing mix tools. There are a large number of products placed on the market from a large number of companies that need to distinguish one another from competing companies. The most important tool to differentiate from competitors is the brand of products. The aim of each company is to ensure that their product brand is brought to the attention of customers and that customers associate especially positive associations with its brand(s). We are of the opinion that if the first and then repeated purchase of customers of the same product of a given brand confirms that the product meets the required characteristics and quality they expect from the product, customers will not doubt the quality of the products sold under the brand and will regard it as quality. For this reason, the aim of the paper was to confirm the importance of the brand in consumer buying decisions and to find out whether consumers really perceive the brand as a guarantee of product quality. To meet the aim of the paper, we conducted a questionnaire survey, which confirmed the importance of the brand in consumer purchasing decisions and the perception of the brand as a guarantee of product quality. We also confirmed a statistically significant dependence between brand perception as a guarantee of product quality and the age of respondents, confirming the importance of demographic characteristics in the implementation of company marketing activities.
IMPACT OF OUTSOURCING OF HUMAN RESOURCES ON TEAM PERFORMANCE IN A POLISH MINING COMPANY
Authors: Włodarczyk Ewelina
Published: October 2019

Motivation: In recent years outsourcing of a variety of different activities has been more commonly observed in the coal mining industry. It is connected with employing workers through external companies. These practices are not necessarily perceived as good ones by employees.

Approach and results: This article aims to present how workers perceive these practices. Therefore, two surveys have been conducted. The first, of outsourcing underground work to third-party vendors, was carried out in a group of randomly chosen underground workers of a mining company (PGG Sp. z o.o.). The other survey, also of outsourcing underground work to third-party vendors, was carried out in a group of workers of a third-party vendor working for PGG Sp. z o.o.

Conclusions: Analysing the results from the surveys allowed for a better understanding of the reasons for the disapproval of outsourcing underground work. This in turn may be used for better human resource management in coal companies including in particular planning an incentive based pay systems
STUDY OF THE ORGANISATIONAL SCHEME IN A COAL COMPANY
Authors: Włodarczyk Ewelina , Rybak Aurelia
Published: October 2019

Motivation: One of the most important elements in each organization is its organizational structure, which will undoubtedly largely influence the way the company is managed. There are many types of organizational structures that are subject to continuous transformation due to economic development and progressive globalization. As a result, classical organizational structures are less and less present, while indirect structures are more and more often appearing. Moreover, in order for modern enterprises to compete effectively in the market, they must reach for modern management concepts, and thus their organizational structure should be flexible. Undoubtedly, one of the main problems of each company is the proper organization of logistic activities that would be compatible with the company's goals. Therefore, when treating logistics as one of the functions of an enterprise, internal units that perform logistical tasks should be incorporated into the company's organizational structure.

Approach and results: The purpose of this article is, then, to show how logistics has been organized and integrated into the organizational structure in one of the most important coal companies in Poland. In order to achieve such a goal, JSW SA has been analysed in terms of the solutions applied for the last few years in the field of organization of the company, including in particular the position of logistics in its organizational structure.

Material and methods: The material of the paper has been taken from the review of online resources. The method of theoretical analysis has been used in the article.

Conclusions: In the analysed mining company, the impact of logistics development on the management of the company, i.e. centralization of logistics, was also noticed. Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa selected in its organisational structure a separate unit – Material Logistics Facility, which was later transferred into the Production Support Facility.