Číslo 2
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- ItemBenefits and risks of self-financing of NGOs: empirical evidence from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Vaceková, Gabriela; Svidroňová, Mária; Ekonomická fakultaSelf-financing of non-government organizations is a highly discussed topic in the theory and practice of non-government organizations (NGOs). In the presented paper we respond to the current theoretical and practical questions associated with self-financing in the context of an effort to achieve financial independence and thus a long-term stability of NGOs. Our intention is to present and interpret the results of the analysis of primary research of funding the NGOs in the Slovak Republic and Austria and preliminary results of a pilot pre-research in the Czech Republic. Based on the historical development of these countries, especially the development of the non-profit sector within the conditions of every country and on the relevant empirical findings we assess and compare the current extent and potential of self-financing in the selected countries (including the extent of other sources of funding). We point out the benefits and risks connected to the examined issue and try to show that self-financing of NGOs must be understood in a broader context than just a "business" or a commercial activity and that it can be in compliance with the core work. Furthermore we explore the effect of self-financing on the principle of non-distribution-constraint of NGOs and we try to point out that self-financing can be in compliance also with this principle. By presenting these conclusions we fulfil the scientific goal of the paper, which is to identify particular benefits and risks of self-financing of NGOs based on relevant empirical findings from the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic and Austria.
- ItemClassifications of environmental quality effects: The case of canadian cities(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Giannias, Dimitrios; Sfakianaki, Eleni; Ekonomická fakultaAmenities are goods and services that make certain locations attractive for living and working. Quality of life on the other hand can be perceived as an expression of well-being and its importance is demonstrated by a number of publications that have been developed and rank quality of life across cities and states based on their observable characteristics. Amenities’ assessments are employed in order to produce an index to rate quality of life. It is increasingly accepted that well-being cannot be entirely based on measures of income, wealth and consumption. Other indicators more qualitative (i.e. environment) should be considered. In the broader context, quality of life measures traditional economic goods such as food and accomodation but also more qualitative factors such as environmental and social (i.e. fresh air, low criminality). Environmental factors located in a given place can be considered as part of the wealth of the region in which they are located. A classification of the effects of environmental quality on consumers’ utility and producers’ costs that is based on housing prices and income differentials is useful because it provides information about the relative attractiveness to them of the total bundle of environmental and other attributes indigenous to each region. A theory is presented for this kind of analysis and classifications producing a qualitative evaluation of cities. The methodology used a number of Canadidan cities as a case study. An amenity-productivity classification was produced and cities were eventually classified as Low/High Amenity and Low/High Productivity providing useful information as to their relative attractiveness to firms and households.
- ItemCompetitiveness and convergence of czech regions: persistence of discrepancies(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Martinčík, David; Šlehoferová, Marta; Ekonomická fakultaThe article provides an extensive analysis of the development of regional competitiveness in the Czech Republic over time. At first the attention is paid to the meaning of “regional competitiveness” and to the evaluation of proposed methods to quantify it. After that the quantification of regional competitiveness is made according to the chosen method, which is based on a large number of indicators and then these indicators are summarized into three areas: Macroeconomic Performance, Growth Potential and Quality of Life. More than 4,200 figures represent eighteen indicators of fourteen regions during the time period of seventeen years and describe the level of regions from the viewpoint of various aspects. The ranking of individual regions in the three areas mentioned above is compiled on the basis of the selected measurement method of competitiveness. The level and dynamics of regions were in conformity with the expected results: Prague is the best region, followed by Jihomoravský and Jihočeský Regions and, on the contrary, the Ústecký and especially Moravskoslezský and Karlovarský Regions are the worst ones. Therefore, the convergence/divergence analysis was conducted to provide detailed knowledge of this phenomenon. The concept of β-convergence and σ-convergence was applied to our data and the sets of regions which converge or diverge over some period of time were searched for. Although some of these sets exist, it is not possible to say that the convergence or divergence is a strong process typical of the majority of regions. On the contrary, the discrepancies among regions in the Czech Republic are persistent.
- ItemThe economics of being stupid: a note on (ir)rationality in economics(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Šťastný, Dan; Ekonomická fakultaEconomists’ habit of imputing rational motives to all human behavior gives rise to ‘rational riddles’: rational explanations for seemingly irrational behavior. In the article I argue that economists’ solutions to these riddles are, despite their sophistication, of limited scientific value as they describe mechanisms that are never both new and correct: they may be empirically correct but not new as these mechanisms have been practiced (hence known) by some people before; or they are genuinely new (previously unknown to anybody), but empirically wrong as they fail to account for the real reasons of observed behavior. I further show that the hypothesized solutions to the riddles could be easily tested by consulting the people whose behavior is examined, and point to the strange lack of economistsefforts to do so. Finally I present results of a micro survey relating to one such rational riddle: ticket underpricing (why prices of tickets for various events do not adjust to eliminate the excess demand). By interviewing managers of theatres known to sell tickets at prices that create lines, I present some evidence showing that it is much easier to explain the observed behavior in terms of plain ignorance of some elementary economic principles or facts rather than in terms of some economic sophistication on the part of the managers. No interviewees, for example, explicitly related the existence of lines to ticket underpricing, and some actually denied any link there even if prompted. I conclude by pointing to the real cost to the economic profession stemming from its decision to ignore the possibility of irrationality in economistsresearch program.
- ItemIdentifying key success factors for international joint ventures in China: a foreign parent perspective from finnish firms(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Zheng, Xiaosong; Larimo, Jorma; Ekonomická fakultaInternational Joint Venture (IJV) has been one of the main foreign market entry approaches in the last decade and this is particularly true for entry to the huge Chinese market. Although IJVs have been a very commonly used entry form many studies have indicated that the IJVs have not reached the goals set for them or they have clearly failed. Recently there has been also a growing interest to examine the performance and determinants of successful IJVs in China from major developed countries. The studies have so far mainly focused on IJVs where the foreign partners are either from Asian countries or from big western economies like from the USA whereas research focused on IJVs established by firms from small developed European economies like from various Nordic countries has been extremely limited. This paper tries to shed some light on this gap by analyzing the performance and key success factors of Finnish-Chinese IJVs from a Finnish parent perspective. In the paper a conceptual model to examine key IJV performance determinants is first built up and then we apply this model in the analysis of a few Finnish-Chinese IJVs. The results of the study show that IJV performance depends on the measure of the performance. Focusing on management evaluation of performance the FDI experience and timing of entry are found to be the key success factors at IJV formation stage while partner commitment is the key success factor at IJV operation stage. At the end of the paper, conclusions are made and limitations are discussed together with an outline of future research directions.
- ItemThe implementation of internal communication system as a way to company efficiency(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Holá, Jana; Pikhart, Marcel; Ekonomická fakultaThe paper focuses on the management of internal communication inasmuch it can influence company efficiency and competitiveness in the current global business market. The implementation of internal communication strategies can be a way to enhance company efficiency and it can also increase and support engagement of employees in everyday company operations and connect the employees expectations and increase their morale. On the other hand, inefficient communication is a stress factor paralysing the key functions in a company structure and its strategy. The conducted research has proved the crucial role of internal communication in producing superior financial results and the implementation of internal communication into strategic management is considered to be a necessary condition for efficient internal communication in any company operating in the global market. The implementation of internal communication into strategic management of the company means accepting the importance of staff as communicators and partners and thus seeing them as the most important asset for the company. The conducted research carried out in 252 companies operating in the Czech market has shown that strategic and systematic internal communication is important for the company profitability and its competitiveness. Small companies do not focus on internal communication as such and solve the communication issues intuitively and ad hoc, however, it is important to set certain strategies of internal communication into a company management so that the problems of insufficient communication are eliminated as much as possible. The research has proved that in the companies which systematically manage their internal communication the efficiency evaluation of the internal communication is significantly higher than in the ones which do not manage their internal communication systematically, and in the companies which include internal communication in their strategic management the evaluation of efficiency of internal communication is significantly higher than in other companies.
- ItemMultidimensional credibility model and its application(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Pacáková, Viera; Šoltés, Erik; Linda, Bohdan; Ekonomická fakultaSolvency II project places emphasis on the modelling and management of risks of the insurance companies. This requires further improvement in actuarial methods and their application in insurance practice. Improving the quality of premium calculation methods is an effective factor in reducing the insurance technical risk of an insurer. Presentation the methods of premium calculation and its permanent updating is the aim of this article. Credibility theory is an experience rating technique to determine premiums, claim frequencies or claim sizes. Credibility models are based on the realistic concept of a heterogeneous insurance portfolio. Therefore, two sources of information are used in the calculation of the credibility estimators for the individual risk: typically little knowledge about the individual risk and quite extensive statistical information about entire portfolio. The most important model in the credibility theory is Bühlmann-Straub model. This model has a wide range of possibilities to be used in praxis mainly in general insurance. Besides that this model is a basis for other more specific models such as hierarchical, multidimensional or regression credibility models. In this article we deal with generalisation of one-dimensional Bühlmann-Straub credibility model to the multidimensional credibility model. We mainly focus on estimation of so-called structural parameters and usage of SAS Enterprise Guide application when estimating. The multidimensional Bühlmann-Straub credibility model is applied based the real data in motor vehicle third party liability insurance.
- ItemThe numerical example for evaluating the criteria describing the quality of the trip by international train(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Sivilevičius, Henrikas; Maskeliūnaitė, Lijana; Ekonomická fakultaThe paper aims to determine the quality of the trip by train, which depends on the number of factors described by four groups of criteria. Each group includes individual criteria. The weight of the criteria of each group describing the quality of the trip by train is different. It is determined by using Kendall’s rank correlation method. The normalized weights of sixteen criteria of the group A, describing the elements of the train and the state of the railway track, are found based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method. They are used in the original additive mathematical model, allowing the quality of the trip by train to be expressed by a single value – the multiple criteria index. The weight of each criterion is multiplied by its dimensionless variable calculated by comparing the real criterion value to its best, worst or allowable (standard) value. The validity of the developed mathematical model is checked by using the data on the technical state of the elements of the international train ‘Vilnius-Moscow’ and the railway track obtained on the territory of Lithuania.
- ItemPodniky se zahraniční účastí v Libereckém kraji. Výsledky dotazníkového šetření(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Potužáková, Zuzana; Demel, Jaroslav; Ekonomická fakultaForeign direct investment (FDI) influenced deeply the economic development of the transition economies after 1989. The Czech Republic is one of the leading recipients of the FDI in the CEE. The impact of the FDI is visible not only on national level but also on the regional level. Despite the fact that the Czech Republic belongs to the middle-size EU Member States, the regional development after 1989 differs distinctly. The article focuses on results of the questionnaire survey of the foreign-owned companies in Liberec region. The results are compared with the average values of the indicators for Liberec region. The aim of the article is to determine the motives of the investment, the structure of exported production, workforce development and employment of foreign workers in the companies that came to the Liberec Region as the FDI. We have also verified the hypothesis that the main reasons of the FDI entry were the low production costs and the investment incentives. According to the results of the questionnaire survey we can confirm only the first part of the hypothesis. The importance of the low production costs which were the most significant for almost 60% of the companies. Another essential factor for 50% companies was the qualified labor force. However, this does not corresponds with the education structure of the FDI workers, 62% of them achieved only basic education or secondary education without leaving examination. Anyway, the investment incentives were significant reason only for one company. According to our survey the FDI helped the region to reallocate the workforce form the previously dominating textile industry to nowadays dominating automotive sector. The other positive effect of the FDI is the employment of the lower qualified work force which has a worse position on the labor market than the highly qualified. Nevertheless it neither is important to emphasize that the positive effect of the FDI is nor based on the long-term factors.
- ItemPrávo európskej únie(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Pauličková, Alena; Ekonomická fakultaPrávo európskej únie
- ItemRedevelopment potential of brownfields: A-B-C classification and its practical application(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Doleželová, Lucie; Hadlač, Michal; Kadlecová, Milada; Polednik, Stanislav; Ekonomická fakultaBrownfields significantly influence the contemporary character of the majority of cities, towns and villages not only in the Czech Republic, but Europe wide. It is obvious that potential of individual brownfields to be redeveloped differs according to various factors. As a consequence of existence of thousands of brownfields classification of such sites has to be developed to enable their sorting and selecting for redevelopment. The majority of experts concerned with brownfields are familiar with the theoretical model of brownfield types A-B-C introduced by the Cabernet Project, funded by the European Union. This classification of brownfields according to their redevelopment potential could be applied in decision making on necessity of public funding for individual brownfields redevelopment projects. This proposal, however, has two caveats: The first one lies in the classification method used to sort brownfields into the individual categories. The second lies in applying the classification within the system of subvention programmes where regeneration has often different goals. This paper follows the theoretical debate on brownfields classification in its first part; the second part is devoted to analysis of the A-B-C model and its practical application on set of brownfields on the example of the South Moravian and Ústí Region (the Czech Republic). More than 20 various indicators were employed to evaluate redevelopment potential of studied brownfields
- ItemA study on the influence of family on family business and its relationship to satisfaction with financial performance(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Ayranci, Evren; Ekonomická fakultaThis article investigated, within family businesses, the theoretical and practical relationships between the influence of family on the family business and the satisfaction of the top manager family member with the financial performance of his or her business. How a family can influence its own business and what is meant by satisfaction with financial performance has been examined on the basis of the extant literature. Questionnaires have been created regarding the influence of family and satisfaction with financial performance. Afterwards, the relationship between influence and satisfaction was examined within the scope of a proposed model. Data were collected from the family businesses located in the organized industrial zones of Istanbul, Turkey. The influence of family and the satisfaction of the top manager family member with financial performance were found to be based on five and two key factors, respectively. In view of the findings, although spouses of the family members within the family business did not influence satisfaction with profit or debt, they did cause a decrease in satisfaction with sales and operations. The involvement of family in the financial decisions along with the business successor also negatively affected satisfaction with debt, profit, sales, and operations. Although the founder of the business did not have a significant influence on the factors that affected satisfaction with financial performance, family members’ loyalty to and harmony with the business positively affected satisfaction with financial performance. In conclusion, the influence of family has a weak inverse relationship with top manager family member’s financial performance satisfaction.
- ItemSuccess evaluation of small and medium-sized enterprises in terms of their participation in the internationalzation process(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Kubíčková, Lea; Procházková, Lenka; Ekonomická fakultaIn context of discussions about the Czech foreign trade development, questions of the Czech enterprises’ ability to participate in the internationalization process are often considered. The main aim of this article is to present various points of view on the globalization and enterprise internationalization process with a special accent on the analysis of the specifics in the internationalization process of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Those enterprises represent a significant part of the Czech economy because they considerably contribute to the creation of vacancies and GDP; they are a source of innovation and technological progress and the factors of their successful functioning in foreign trades differ from the large-sized enterprises. For this reason, SME shave been more frequently analysed in an effort to identify key factors, which involve their ability to succeed in international activities. Those factors could positively influence other SMEs in their plans to participate in the foreign trade. However, not all the enterprises have equal conditions for entering the foreign market field. In some business spheres, the export of SMEs is supported, which is considerably helpful, mainly in case of enterprises with insufficient funds. Some of the other spheres facilitate access to the foreign market because of their sort of production. Besides analysing the internationalization process of SMEs, this article is also focused on identification of both key factors of success and risk factors of the process. Determinants of SMEs success in the foreign market were examined using several extensive researches among Czech small and medium-sized enterprises of various business spheres. Results of the research have produced interesting information. It was discovered that all SMEs, although they operate in different business spheres, share similar problems concerning the internationalization process. Key factors, which determine success of Czech small and medium-sized enterprises in the internationalization process, are analogous in spite of diverse business spheres, but nevertheless every particular branch has a strong effect on an opportunity and willingness of SMEs to participate in the internationalization process.
- ItemVyužití balanced scorecard a vliv jeho využívání na finanční výkonnost podniků v ČR(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Knápková, Adriana; Homolka, Lubor; Pavelková, Drahomíra; Ekonomická fakultaThe article aims to analyze the use of the balanced scorecard (BSC) concept in Czech enterprises and the effect of its use on the financial performance of companies. The article defines the BSC concept and its important shift from the basic system for measuring the performance of the BSC as a strategic tool for measuring and managing business and management performance. There are also analyzed the results of the empirical findings of foreign studies that examined the relationship between the use of BSC and financial performance of companies. An extensive questionnaire survey carried out by the Faculty of Management and Economics of TBU in Zlín (a total of 350 enterprises in the Czech Republic) revealed that the BSC is used by approximately 13% of enterprises. A company’s size affects the use of BSC, which was confirmed by chi-square, and therefore we can state that the use of BSC grows with a company’s size. Although the use of BSC in manufacturing and service-based businesses is higher than in trading companies, the use of the chi-square did not confirm the impact of company specialization on the use of BSC. The BSC concept is also more frequently used in companies established before 1990 than in those founded later, but not even in this case did the use of the chi-square verified the impact of company age on the use of BSC. It was also tested whether the use of BSC in corporate practice improves the financial performance of companies. As financial performance indicators were selected return on equity and return on assets. The testing was carried out by using Wilcoxon test. Although enterprises using the BSC are reaching higher mean profitability, the differences in the achieved performance can not be due to the results considered significant. The results are consistent with the results achieved by Ittner et al. [22], and Griffith and Neely [15]. Different conclusions were then drawn by studies done by the following authors (Hoque and James, [16], Davis, Albright [8], Braam, Nijsen [6], Crabtree, DeBusk [7], DeGeuser, Mooraj, Oyon [9], which show that the concept of BSC use in the system for performance measurement and management is associated with higher performance. Using the Wilcoxon test, it was found that neither the level of satisfaction with the use of BSC has any effect on the financial performance of companies. There are specified benefits and limitations of this study in conclusion.