Číslo 3
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- ItemMediating effect of psychological capital on the relationship between spiritual leadership and performance(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Baykal, Elif; Zehir, Cemal; Ekonomická fakultaThe challenging and changing business life of the 21st century has resulted in a stressful and negative work atmosphere that negatively charges and demoralizes people. Accordingly, nowadays business life necessitates a more positive approach in handling issues regarding leadership and management. This change in focus has contributed to the fame of spiritual leadership which is a holistic leadership approach that can integrate the minds and souls of people and integrates the four main components of human existence: body, mind, heart, and spirit. Spiritual leadership draws from an inner life nourished by spiritual practices that contribute to the development of values, attitudes, and behaviors that are necessary to intrinsically motivate one’s self and result in a sense of spiritual well-being. Spiritual leadership creates the sense that life is purposeful and meaningful; thus, under spiritual leaders, followers feel themselves to be more capable and they show continuous growth and self-realization. In our study, we proposed that spiritual leadership would have a positive effect on the psychological capital of followers, which is a human capacity focusing on the strengths of humans rather than weaknesses; i.e., positivity rather than negativity. Also, we supported the idea that spiritual leadership has a positive effect on performance due to its positive effects on cognitive capabilities of leaders’ followers and due to the meaningful and alluring vision that entices followers to perform at their best. We expected that the psychological capacity of followers may have a mediator effect in this relationship. We conducted face-to-face and online surveys with 736 white-collar workers in Turkey and we analyzed our data using SEM. Results of the study confirmed our expectations.
- ItemAt the threshold of the fourth industrial revolution(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Kraftová, Ivana; Doudová, Iveta; Miláček, Radim; Ekonomická fakultaAt the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century, the Fourth Industrial Revolution based on the digitization of production processes, more precisely connecting the virtual world to the real world began. The aim of this article is to present the results of the research that focused on comparing the positions of the selected group of countries at the threshold of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in terms of their performance and competitiveness. The analysis is aimed at 13 countries – the six largest economies of the world and seven economies of the former Soviet bloc – from 1993 to 2015 using the localization quotient and index of regional concentration of the industry on the basis of gross added value, supplemented by the SHADE model, the Balassa index and evaluating the comparative advantage of countries in the area of ICT. The research defines the position pattern of countries for the manufacturing and ICT industries. It cannot be said that the differences in localization, resp. the concentration of the industries surveyed were determined by the size of the economy or its membership of traditional market economies. Exportability in ICT goods positively evaluates those economies that have managed to increase their positive Balassa index over time, resp. to get from its negative values to positive ones. The beginning of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is an unrepeatable moment of human history, just as it was with the First, Second and Third Industrial Revolutions. The one who knows and is able to accept, use and multiply the supporting trends is the one who gains.
- ItemInquiry into high school students’ utility function(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Janáček, Julius; Šťastný, Dan; Ekonomická fakultaThis study uses data from our life-satisfaction survey of 1,414 students in 11 high schools in Northern parts of Czech Republic in the spring 2017 to discover certain parts of high school students’’ utility function. This is potentially useful for audiences ranging from macro-level policy-makers to teachers to parents to the students themselves in improving the design of policies and practices that either address life-satisfaction directly or affect it indirectly by pursuing other objectives. We use ordered logit and OLS regression models in various specifications to explore how different factors of students’ life from various domains (e.g. housing, economic, lifestyle, personal) associate with their self-assessed degree (0-10 scale) of life satisfaction or happiness. The effects of independent variables were investigated both separately within their own domain, and in all-inclusive models while always controlling for gender, age and specific effects of particular schools. The results confirm quite robustly several well-established and expected effects, namely the positive effects of one’s relations to parents and friends, or one’s health conditions, and negative effects of smoking tobacco or being discriminated. The findings also reveal some relatively unestablished facts such as a large positive effect of being needed, or the negative effect of commuting time. The outright surprising results include the irrelevance of alcohol consumption (contrary to expected negative effects and in contrast to identified negative effects of tobacco consumption) or of the absolute amount of money available (contrary to expected positive effects); the positive effect of cannabis use and of being a vegan; or the partially negative effect of engaging in arts or creative activities. While the above results are not all easily turned into recommendations for students, their parents, school administrators or policy makers on how to secure a happy life of teenagers, there are a few that may go beyond the obvious: avoid smoking, consider commuting time seriously, encourage and nurture good relations. Caveats regarding external validity apply.
- ItemUse of time in single-member households in Slovakia(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Knapková, Miroslava; Kaščáková, Alena; Ekonomická fakultaHouseholds represent one of the basic units in economy. In the last years, the increasing number of single-member households has become a significant issue in Slovakia. In 2011, ratio of single-member households was more than 25% in Slovakia (The 2011 Population and Housing Census in Slovakia). It is an interesting phenomenon influencing not only labor market (paid work), but also unpaid work activities (work performed in households) and spending of the leisure time. The aim of this study was to examine the time use of single-member households in Slovakia. We analyzed 301 single-member households and allocation of their daily time into 13 activities. To get information about the daily time use of persons, we used household member diary. Study offers unique data, based on the original field research on time use of Slovak households and individuals, which was conducted in 2017 by team of researchers from Faculty of Economics, Matej Bel University in Slovakia. Besides collecting data on time use, we also collected information about the attitudes and preferences of individuals concerning the paid work and unpaid work. Within the single-member households, we analyzed and compared specific groups of persons – men and women, and persons younger than 30 years of age and persons over 65 years of age. We found out, that young persons living alone spend significant part of their daily activities by paid work (almost 2 and half hours more than an average for person in multi-persons households). Men living alone spend significant part of their daily time in paid work and by sport and usage of modern technologies. Time use of persons over 65 years living alone pointed to problem of their social isolation and absence of education in this age group.
- ItemInternet use by the older adults in the Czech Republic(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Klímová, Blanka; Poulová, Petra; Šimonová, Ivana; Pražák, Pavel; Cierniak-Emerych, Anna; Ekonomická fakultaAgeing is becoming a big social issue nowadays. For example, in 2000 the percentage of older individuals aged 65+ years reached 12.4% worldwide. In 2030, this number should rise to 19% and in 2050 to 22%. Therefore, there is a need to prolong an active life of older people, especially by implementing non-pharmacological approaches. Current technological devices and services can assist them in this process. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the use of the Internet among older people in the Czech Republic with respect to their age. The key methods exploited in this study include a questionnaire survey, statistical processing of data collection, as well as evaluation of both empirical and theoretical findings on the research issue. The results indicate that the age is a decisive factor in the use of the Internet by seniors. In fact, the use of the Internet falls with the declining age with the breakthrough age 75+years. Generally, older people use the Internet for communication purposes with the help of e-mail, the most frequent ICT tool for this generation group. Nevertheless, the findings of this study show that the second most common reason for the use of the Internet is the Internet banking, followed by Skype communication and photo sharing. The results also suggest that older people should be trained in the use of the Internet since the training may help them overcome both psychological and social barriers, which represent the constraints in their use of the Internet. Furthermore, seniors could be divided into three basic age groups according to their special needs, which should be considered when designing new technological devices or services for these aging population groups, which could help them to enhance cognitive functions.
- ItemEvaluating efficiency in specialized hospital facilities(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Szabo, Stanislav; Mihalčová, Bohuslava; Gallo, Peter; Ivaničková, Marianna; Ekonomická fakultaCurrently, companies use for the diagnostic their performance different methods, parameters and indicators when the high current measurement and evaluation of effectiveness. Choosing the right key performance measures is to ensure the evaluation of the effectiveness with high recall and the possibility of subsequent influence and control very important. The main object of contribution is evaluating efficiency in hospital facilities specialized for patients suffering from cardio-vascular diseases, ailments that affect the largest group of people in living in Slovakia. This followed the discovery that the number of newborns in Slovakia suffering from congenital heart diseases has increased over the recent years, and in the period between 2002 and 2012 annually 451 children at an average are born with this congenital disorder. Another factor that prompted our research was that the diseases of the circulatory system are rated among the most frequent cause of hospitalization and mortality in Slovakia, as confirmed by the International Classification of Diseases or the ICD (the international equivalent of the Slovak MKCH-10). Accordingly, people suffering from cardio-vascular diseases belong to the most-frequently hospitalized patients. The third finding we have arrived at is the high level of consumption of prescription medicines by the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) Classification, again dominated by cardio-vascular diseases. The paper describes both the cardio-vascular diseases and the hospital facilities specialized in their treatment, assessing their efficiency in evaluating the major factors affecting them. The evaluation is carried out based on financial ratios and application of prediction models. The ouptut of this contribution consists in the evaluation of the efficiency of specialized hospital facilities (further only SHF) applying the DEA method and the evaluation of efficiency of the SHFs using financial ratios.
- ItemThe impact of social network on the innovative behavior of it professionals(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Khorakian, Alireza; Jahangir, Mostafa; Ekonomická fakultaIn today’s competitive world, organizations need constant innovations in products, services and processes in order to grow and survive. Key of Innovation is in the innovative behavior of organization employees. Various factors affect the innovative behavior of the staff. The existence of a social network among the employees is one of the factors which can affect this behavior. Despite this fact, the way it affects is one of the major issues in the society of IT professionals. The aim of the research is investigating the mediatory role of sharing mistakes in the impact of social network on innovative behavior of IT professionals. In order to evaluate the research variables, a questionnaire of 18 questions has been used. This questionnaire has been distributed among 210 IT professionals in Mashhad. To analyze the data, structural equation modeling has been used. The results of this research showed that social network has positive impact on sharing mistakes. Also sharing mistakes has impact on generating and promoting ideas. In addition sharing mistakes mediates the impact of social network on generating and promoting ideas. Finally, in the conclusion of the scientific achievement of this research, one can refer to the fact that to promote and develop the IT companies in this competitive industry, innovation is needed. Innovation is created by the innovative employees. To behave innovatively, the employees should have contact through social network, yet if the social network leads the employees to share their mistakes, it would enhance the innovative behavior to a greater extent.
- ItemWebsite usability and user experience during shopping online from abroad(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Bucko, Jozef; Kakalejčík, Lukáš; Ekonomická fakultaThe Internet became a non-stop market of goods and services. As the market is oversaturated, companies are forced to fight for each customer because it is easier than ever to change the partner who will fulfil customer’s needs. User experience and website usability is an important factor during the online purchasing process. The main objective of our study was to analyse the website usability issues users have when purchasing products from abroad. In order to achieve our objective, we analysed the data from Consumer Barometer. We conducted the principal components analysis, followed by fuzzy clustering in order to determine the groups of users based on the perceived website usability problems during online purchasing. By using factor analysis, we created two factors consisting of variables explaining website usability issues. Moreover, with the use of fuzzy clustering, we created and described three groups of users based on their perception of website usability issues during online purchasing from abroad and assigned countries of origin of these users. The results of our analysis pointed out to one particular group of Internet users (Cluster 3) which are highly sensitive when it comes to the usability issues during their online purchasing process. These results can be used by companies operating on one or more of the observed markets in order to improve their performance when serving their potential customers. In addition, the results can be used in the educational process of educational institutions which field of study is focused on economics and business. As we did not find any similar study, this study extends the current knowledge of the issue and gives insight to the contemporary needs of international online shoppers.
- ItemThe impact of special economic zones on export behaviour(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Nazarczuk, Jarosław Michał; Umiński, Stanisław; Ekonomická fakultaSpecial economic zones play an important role in the global economy and in the economies of particular countries, including Poland. Given the whole body of literature on SEZs-led export activity, the vast majority of papers, restrict the research methods used to the descriptive analyses or the case studies of specific zones, only describing the impact thereof on the national economy. The existing empirical evidence (econometric) in the vast majority of papers associated to zonal operation does not account for the endogeneity bias, which can have a distorting effect on the results. Nevertheless, little is known about the real (based on solid evidence) SEZ influence on the firm-level characteristics, with regard to the creation of exports. The role of SEZs in relation to firm-level export probability/scale/intensity/volume has been investigated using a unique dataset for 155 firms operating in special economic zones (SEZs) in Poland, accompanied by the data for 155 non-SEZs economic entities (matched sample). With the use of different estimation techniques, conditioned by the uneven nature of the tested dependent variables, a positive role of SEZs was found in relation to certain aspects of the firm-level exports. The possible endogeneity problem in the SEZ variable was properly addressed by utilising a kernel-based propensity score matching difference-in-difference estimator and by calculating the average treatment effect on the treated (ATT), accompanied by a series of robustness/sensitivity tests (changes in kernel type, bandwidth, dataset trimming). The results provide consistent evidence on the effect of the SEZs on export probability in firms operating within the zones, as compared to the control group. The positive impact of the SEZs on the scale of exports, export intensity and the volume of exports was however sensitive to dataset trimming. Hence, the impact of the SEZs operation in this regard could not be full acknowledged.
- ItemMeasuring financial intermediation(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Boďa, Martin; Zimková, Emília; Ekonomická fakultaThe paper proposes a model for measuring the attainment in financial intermediation that answers to situations when functions of financial intermediaries from a macroeconomic viewpoint may be primarily reduced to taking deposits and providing loans (which is characteristic of financial sectors of Post-Communist economies or economies with underdeveloped financial markets). The model builds on the methodology of Data Envelopment Analysis [DEA] since it estimates the production possibility set in a traditional manner as a conical or convex hull of observed production activities. Unlike DEA, the model seeks simultaneously to deflate only deposits and inflate loans to a greatest extent possible so that the production activity of a financial intermediary (typically a bank) remains feasible and stays in the estimated production possibility set. The model translates the identified slacks in deposits and loans into a metric that measures by which factor it is feasible to increase multiplicatively the actually observed loan-to-deposit ratio of a financial intermediary. The metric is computable for individual banks on a yearly basis, but is equally aggregable for a bank over the entire period. In contrast to traditional usage of DEA for efficiency measurement, the proposed model is associated more with the notion of productivity in financial intermediation rather than with the concept of efficiency. The model is presented and demonstrated in a case study of Slovak commercial banks for the period from 2008 to 2016. It is found that only smaller organizational units (smaller banks and branch offices of foreign banks) were in the past few years capable of financial intermediation at the best utilization of their resources, which is an observation relevant from a regulatory point of view.
- ItemProject portfolio optimization as a part of strategy implementation process in small and medium-sized enterprises(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Vacík, Emil; Špaček, Miroslav; Fotr, Jiří; Kracík, Lukáš; Ekonomická fakultaThis paper presents an improved managerial approach to project portfolio development using software optimization tools. A review of literature revealed a gap formed by the lack of either an established approach or a normative model of how to develop portfolios in SMEs. To bridge this gap, this paper is based on topical information and offers a method that supports decision makers in their choice of the most suitable project portfolio. This method can be implemented by the use of a simulation software tool for project portfolio optimization while considering constraints and conformity with corporate strategy. The authors conclude that the foundation of success is to formulate optimum portfolios, the configurations of which reflect all key strategic parameters. Moreover, it must be feasible to implement such a portfolio in the environment of SMEs within disposable firm resources and consider identifiable risks upon the selection of the effective project portfolio. One chosen case study evidenced the viability of this approach. The approach to project portfolio optimization discussed in this paper shows the effectiveness of the selected methodology for project portfolio optimization that in turn significantly contributes to meeting strategic goals and thus an increase in company performance and shareholders’ value. The use of a common software tool together with the right access to data collection and processing allows managers to make better decisions for the effective future allocation of resources over the chosen project portfolio.
- ItemAn evaluation model of business intelligence for enterprise systems with new extension of codas (codas-ivif)(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Heidary Dahooei, Jalil; Kazimieras Zavadskas, Edmundas; Vanaki, Amir Salar|Firoozfar, Hamid Reza; Keshavarz-Ghorabaee, Mehdi; Ekonomická fakultaDue to today's dynamic and changing environment and the organization need to decide in emergencies and accurate analysis of the internal and external environment from different aspects, creating a decision support environment is considered as a vital factor for the success of organizations that is achieved using business intelligence. Hence, it is necessary to have enterprise systems at a reasonable level of business intelligence to provide an environment suitable for supporting decision makers through aggregation and analysis of data in their database. Therefore, this study provides a novel assessment framework of BI for enterprise systems, by extending of CODAS method with interval-valued intuitive fuzzy sets. The CODAS is a new method for multiple attribute decision making (MADM) problems. In the proposed model, a number of 34 criteria from the most important BI indexes are identified and, accordingly, five enterprise systems are evaluated through expert discussions. The results reveal that the most important assessment criteria defined by expert panels include visual graph display, dashboard design, capable of data storage, meeting stakeholder needs, and the possibility for detailed realistic analysis. Then, one alternative is defined as the final selection which provides an outstanding performance on the criteria of groupware programs, group decision-making tools, training techniques, data transfer capability, knowledge inference, supporting fuzzy concepts under ambiguity and uncertainty, real-time analytical processing, managing email channels, and achieving stakeholder satisfaction. The results obtained from the extended method are compared with three different ranking techniques. And, the analysis of correlation coefficients confirms similarity between this solution and such methods as COPRAS-IVIF and MABAC-IVIF.
- ItemSustainability criteria assessment for life-cycle phases of petroleum refinery projects by MADM technique(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Gholipour, Yaghob; Hasheminasab, Hamidreza; Kharrazi, Mohammad; Streimikis, Justas; Ekonomická fakultaPRI projects have large impacts on various sustainability attributes in different phases. A comprehensive assessment of these impacts for project’s life-cycle is of great importance. The proposed methodology has created the required framework for such assessment by using Concept Mapping, Focus Group, and Multi-Attribute Decision Making Techniques. Petroleum refinery industry (PRI) is comprised of a chain of expertise and engineering disciplines and is also connected to various other industries. Consequently, apart from its physical products that fulfill the fuel needs of the society, PRI has a great contribution to economic development and to the prosperity of different businesses. On the negative side, however, PRI is one of the primary contributors to global warming and other environmental issues and could have some unwelcome effects on the society as well. Hence, development of these projects should be done with careful assessment of their life-long impacts from a sustainability viewpoint. In this study, a sustainability framework for PRI projects, which was developed and presented in a previous publication, is used in a multiphase methodology to assess the relationship between life-cycle phases and sub-phases of a petroleum refinery on one hand, and sustainability indicators and factors on the other hand. As a result of this study, critical sustainability factors can be highlighted, to help managers and industry experts consider long-term sustainability consequences in their decision making process. The proposed methodology has been applied to a real petroleum refinery project, using an MADM-based scenario approach, to assess the correlation between sustainability factors and various life-cycle phases and sub-phases of the refinery. Based on the results, the most important phase in the petroleum refinery life-cycle with regards to all three pillars of sustainability is found to be the operation phase. As such, implementation of various operation phase sustainability aspects should be the first priority of stakeholders during design, procurement, construction, and operation phases.
- ItemEconometric assessment of customers’ personality biases and communication preferences correlation(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Kostelić, Katarina; Križman Pavlović, Danijela; Ekonomická fakultaThe tendency of bias identification and quantification with the goal of better estimation and prediction, grows. The purpose of this paper is to question how deep analysis is necessary to increase prediction of communication preferences given the customer’s personality traits/biases. Examined communication preferences regard to the communication approach, language use and information sharing. This paper offers a psychometric assessment of the personality estimates and traits, as well as econometric examination of correlation to consumer first-choice communication preferences using linear logit model with binomial dependent variable. The results point out that the more detail analysis provides more accurate predictions, to the point where estimators as regressors for communication choices provide more accurate prediction than the use of the personality traits as independent variables. Paper delivers empirical assessment of consumers’ communication preferences using primary data set. Practical implications relate to the use of the findings in communication with consumers in online and/ or digital marketing communication. One of the possible practical use of the results can be as an input for the recommendation agents. Theoretical implications of the findings request questioning the use of the personality traits as an interim stage in decision-making predictions. In addition, these findings fill the gap in the field of communication preference based on personality traits and personality estimators. The data set has been previously used for the doctoral thesis research. For the purpose of this research, data was re-coded and analyzed using different approach, namely binomial logistic regression.