International Journal of Economics and Statistics
E-ISSN: 2309-0685
Volume 2, 2014
Notice: As of 2014 and for the forthcoming years, the publication frequency/periodicity of NAUN Journals is adapted to the 'continuously updated' model. What this means is that instead of being separated into issues, new papers will be added on a continuous basis, allowing a more regular flow and shorter publication times. The papers will appear in reverse order, therefore the most recent one will be on top.
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Volume 2, 2014
Title of the Paper: Theoretical and Practical Aspects of Operational Planning for Industrial Enterprises
Authors: Valery V. Leventsov, Igor V. Ilin
Pages: 368-373
Abstract: The article considers the issues related to the use of mathematical tools in the form of methods and models in drawing up production schedules for production floors at industrial enterprises, which, to a large extent, depend on optimal employment of the resources available. The models that have been suggested take into account various technical, technological, economic and business features of production. This model is distinctive due to its multicriteriality. At the same time, in order to simplify the process of production schedules elaborating, the paper proposes a statistical model that enables to facilitate operational plans and to consider, without loss of quality, the entire variety of business and economic production parameters.
Title of the Paper: On the Use of Johnson's Distribution in Quality and Process Improvement
Authors: M. Aichouni, N. Ait Messaoudene, A. Al-Ghonamy
Pages: 362-367
Abstract: Modern Quality Improvement methodologies such as Total Quality Management (TQM) and Six Sigma use statistical process control (SPC) techniques to improve processes and assure high quality delivery to customers. Statistical Process Control charts used in industry and services by quality professionals require that the quality characteristic of interest follows a normal distribution. However, in real business situations such as in the construction industry, process distributions show departure from normality. Any conclusions drawn from standards control charts on the stability of the process and its capability to meet customer requirements may be misleading and erroneous. In the present paper, an alternative approach, based on the identification of the best distribution that would fit the quality characteristic data, is proposed. In particular, Johnson distribution is used as a model for normalizing real field data showing departure from normality. Through such an approach, false alarms of variability can be detected and unnecessary corrective actions can be avoided. An illustrative example from the construction industry is used to demonstrate the validity of the analysis.
Title of the Paper: A Method of Interorganizational Cooperative Profit and Cost Allocation Considering the Transaction Costs: From the Perspective of the Interorganizational Sharing Economy
Authors: Kangbae Lee, Doohwan Kim, Hyung Rim Choi, Soon Goo Hong, Min Je Cho
Pages: 355-361
Abstract: Recently, many enterprises have been facingdifficulties in their technology, capital, and labor force, and thus,respective efforts have been carried out as solutions for these problems.With this, many enterprises are attempting to strengthen theircompetitiveness by spreading the investment costs and risks throughcooperation and by sharing their resources and profits. The sharingeconomy that has recently emerged refers to a cooperativeconsumption in economic activities to increase the efficiency of idlegoods or services by sharing with other enterprises. The fair allocationof the profit and cost that are incurred among enterprises with variousinterests is thus becoming the important success element of theinterorganizational sharing economy. The fair allocation of the profitand cost is a complicated issue. Although preceding researchsuggested the method of profit and cost allocation based on thecooperative game theory, research that suggests the allocation methodin consideration of the transaction cost, which is the essential elementof the economic activities of enterprises, are seldom conducted. In thisresearch, a method of allocating the profit and cost that are incurred inthe process of forming a coalition for cooperation among enterpriseswas analyzed using the cooperative game theory and a method ofprofit and cost allocation that applied transaction cost was suggested.In addition, it was identified that the transaction cost is an importantelement in forming a coalition and that it is associated with the trustrelationship among enterprises.
Title of the Paper: Determinants of Marital Dissolution: A Survival Analysis Approach
Authors: A. Sanizah, F. Hasfariza, S. Norin Rahayu, A. Nur Niswah Naslina
Pages: 348-354
Abstract: The dissolution of marriage, also known as divorce, occurs when the bond of matrimony between a married couple is dissolved. Since the rate of divorce is on the rise, this study aims to identify potential determinants affecting the dissolution of marriage using survival analysis. We retrospectively studied 531 secondary data of the Muslim couples who filed for divorce in Selangor, Malaysia. The age at marriage of husband and wife, the presence of children, duration of marriage, couples’ educational level and employment status, household income and counseling session were identified as potential determinants. The AIC (Akaike Information Criterion) were used to compare the efficiency of models between Weibull and Cox model. The Cox model had the best fit with respect to the lower AIC value. The survival result from the Cox model showed that age at marriage of husband and attending counseling session significantly affect marital dissolution.
Title of the Paper: The Role of Productivity Benchmarking in Tariff Regulation of Public Utilities: Evidence from Czech Gas Distribution Industry and Implications for Post-Communist European Countries
Authors: Ondřej Machek, Jiří Hnilica
Pages: 339-347
Abstract: Regulatory benchmarking is becoming a frequently used tool in tariff regulation of public utilities, including natural gas distribution companies. One of the possible approaches is based on total factor productivity (TFP) benchmarking. However, regulatory agencies do not have a great deal of experience in this field and the benefits of this regulatory regime are not clear-cut. The article starts with the discussion of principles of incentive regulation and total factor productivity measurement. Then, the international experience with TFP benchmarking and possible weaknesses of the TFP approach have been discussed. Further, the authors determined the productivity development of the Czech regional gas distribution companies in the period 2001-2011 using Fisher index and partial factor productivity analysis. Finally, the authors summarized the assumptions and measures which should be taken in order to apply TFP benchmarking in practice. The authors do not recommend using TFP-based tariff setting in the Czech Republic, nor in other post-communist countries. In particular, it has been shown that the events which took place in the period under consideration resulted in a distortion of available data which disallow their efficient use in tariff regulation at the present time and in the near future. The authors suggest using the TFP approach rather as an underlying method for further analysis and tariff setting.
Title of the Paper: Intellectual Property Protection: Between a Property Right and a Paucital Right
Authors: Alin Speriusi-Vlad
Pages: 329-338
Abstract: Considering that Intellectual Property is characterizedby various incoherent legal mechanisms, it is imperative to identify acommon conceptual basis for any further interpretation andimplementation. For this reason it is necessary to establish the placeof the intellectual property rights within the classical classification ofrights used by the general theory of law, in rights in rem and rights inpersonam. The analysis is based on common-law and continentallegal systems, arguing the absolute and relative rights, the natural andpositive law. If at the beginning it seems another complex andunanswered question regarding the intellectual property rights legalregime comparing to the classical property rules involving Lockean,Hegelian, utilitarian and monopolistic arguments, at the end myconclusion is that the intellectual property rights, more precisely theeconomic ones represents rights in personam, relative rights, paucitalrights as Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld called them in opposition tomultital rights, corresponding to a propter rem obligation of thematerial or electronic support owner incorporating the intellectualcreation, which cannot reproduce it or in some case even use itwithout an intellectual property right infringement. The actualintellectual property system by stating limited terms of protectionboth for copyright and industrial property, embrace a utilitarianphilosophy. Incentives are given to the authors for their uniqueintellectual creations. The rule of law protects the intellectualcreations only to guarantee the remuneration of the author for hiseffort.
Title of the Paper: The Assessment of the Comparative Effectiveness of Various Reforms by Life Quality Index
Authors: Samson Davoyan, Ashot Davoyan, Ani Khachatryan
Pages: 319-328
Abstract: The authorities of different countries implement political, economic, social reforms based on the opportunities to develop and implement various perspective, strategic and short-run projects contributing to the development of the economy. During that period some questions arise such as 1. how effective, interconnected and reasonable various reforms are, 2. how efficient the implemented reforms in one country are compared to others. As an answer to these questions we make following supposes: the effectiveness of all various reforms to some extent are revealed in the indexes by international and non-government organizations. In order to solve the problems we have developed a new methodology to create more integral index that can include a large amount of indexes to assess the comparative efficiency of various reforms for some period.
Title of the Paper: An Analysis of the Effect of Sharing Economy Introduction to SMBs using the Simulation Method: Focusing on the Business of a Joint Distribution Center
Authors: Hyung Rim Choi, Chang Hyun Park, Kangbae Lee, Soon Goo Hong, Min Je Cho
Pages: 312-318
Abstract: As the competition among enterprises is increasingly being intensified, the SMBs are faced with difficulties in securing the necessary resources such as manpower and facilities. To solve these difficulties, the introduction of sharing economy among enterprises, which can solve the difficulties in securing resources by mutually sharing the surplus resources, is being studied. Sharing economy in the past was mainly focused on that between individuals, and the sharing economy between enterprises is also not a new concept but it had already existed in the form of cooperation, outsourcing, etc. With the development of information technology, the sharing economy between enterprises will have a greater ripple effect than ever. However, it is still in its early stage even with no establishment of the concept. Accordingly, to activate the sharing economy between enterprises, the effect of sharing economy introduction needs to be analyzed. In this study, a simulation model was constructed targeting a joint distribution center, a representative case of sharing economy, to analyze the effect of introducing the concept to enterprises. In particular, this study analyzed the introduction effect by carrying out the experiments on joint space utilization and on a transportation business that shares vehicles.
Title of the Paper: The Incorporation of Transaction CostVariable in the Maximin Optimization Model and the Implication on Active Portfolio Management
Authors: Norhidayah Bt Ab Razak, Karmila Hanim Kamil, Siti Masitah Elias
Pages: 306-311
Abstract: In real investment practice, transaction cost is recognized to play an essential part in determining investors’ true portfolio return. Maximin model was one of the established optimization models introduced by previous scholars which have ignored the cost function in their formulation. The importance tohave this transaction cost function as additional variable in the model is more emphasized as investors adopts active portfolio management such as rebalancing process. In this paper, we construct an extended Maximin optimization model whileprovided its application into Shariah compliant securities listed in Bursa Malaysia. Implementing periodical rebalancing strategies of annual, semi-annual and quarterly basis, results in this paper show that, the extended models of Maximin proved to be effective in illustrating the transaction cost effect on the performance of investors’ portfolio return.
Title of the Paper: The Effect of Special Treatment Designation on Information Transmission in the Chinese Stock Market
Authors: Enoch Cheng, Fan Xia, George Yungchih Wang
Pages: 294-305
Abstract: We study the short-term price effects for a Special Treatment designation, the first step by a Chinese stock exchange in delisting a stock, and conclude that it serves a useful purpose in transmitting information to investors. We find that that being designated as Special Treatment (ST) negatively affected stock returns. Investors differentiated between certain ST categories, resulting in significant differences in cumulative negative returns. There is evidence of information leakage prior to the announcement and the impact is reflected in prices within 10 days. For some ST categories, investors distinguish between stocks that are able to successfully remove their designation.
Title of the Paper: Concerns and Opportunities of Marketing Managers in the Times of Crisis – A Comparison of the Czech and Global Study
Authors: Martina Juříková, Olga Jurášková, Josef Kocourek, Leona Tolarová
Pages: 288-293
Abstract: The current economic situation has significantly been changing responsibilities as well as realized activities of marketers in businesses. It markedly pressures on the decrease of costs and on the increase in all activities, which reflects into the attitudes and activities of marketing managers who react to this situation in different ways. The objective of this study is to introduce the comparison of global study and an authorial research that deals with the readiness of marketing managers for the current economic crisis. In its individual parts, the attention is paid to current marketing trade and their acceptance within the Czech environment. A comparison of the utilized information sources for decision-making processes and perception of their reliability are also presented. The main part discusses the current concerns and readiness of the managers to react to the changing marketing environment with the emphasis on their competences.
Title of the Paper: The Impact of Tender Specifications and Evaluation Model of the Waste Collection Procurement on the Waste Collection Fees
Authors: Jana Põldnurk
Pages: 277-287
Abstract: The current paper analyses the impact of the tender specifications and evaluation model of the waste collection public procurement on quality and waste collection fees of the organised waste collection service in Harju County municipalities. The tender specifications, including service quality requirements, and tender evaluation model are the two key factors which influence the final service quality and price. Since the organised waste collection is a public utility which is organised by local authority and executed by private enterprise, the service quality and price must be fair and reasoned. In the current research a new formula for the formation of the municipal waste collection fees within the organised waste collection scheme (OWCS) is introduced, and the impact of tender specifications on the OWC service is analysed. The OWCS enables the municipality to take more control over the formation of the waste collection service prices, and make the waste collection fees more transparent. Through the optimisation of waste collection routes within OWCS the environmental impact and economical costs of municipal waste transportation can be reduced remarkably. However most of the Estonian municipalities have not occupied this administrative tool effectively. The municipal waste collection fees in most of the municipalities are obscure, unequal, and unreasonable in terms of price-quality ratio of the waste collection service. This is the result of weak evaluation criteria of the waste collection public procurements. The current research gives the municipalities arguments to take more control over the municipal waste collection service.
Title of the Paper: Value Added Taxes in OECD Countries
Authors: Šárka Sobotovičová, Beáta Blechová, Jana Janoušková
Pages: 270-276
Abstract: Value added tax is the most widespread general consumption tax in the world having been implemented by over 150 countries and in 33 of the 34 OECD member countries. In each country, there are different approaches to the application of this tax, both in terms of tax rates, exemptions and exceptions, as well as in terms of the status of VAT in the tax mix. This article deals with selected indicators of general consumption taxation within the OECD countries. The analysis of their dependence is determined on the basis of the correlation matrix. Comparative analysis showed that the performance of the VAT in OECD countries has a low dependence on all investigated factors. Generally it can be said, that the performance of VAT depends on five main factors, which are the structural features of the tax, the evolution of consumption patterns, place of taxation, capacity of tax administration and the rate of tax compliance by taxpayers and the interaction between these factors is crucial.
Title of the Paper: The Role of Technological Innovations as the Assumption of the Communication Efficiency between Service Providers and Tourists that Making Decisions about Travel
Authors: I. Mihajlović, I. Milić Beran, Z. Krželj Čolović
Pages: 257-269
Abstract: This paper focuses on studying the role of technological innovations of the communication efficiency of participants on travel market. According to research opportunities provided by innovative tools through interactivity, interoperability and multimedia, new technologies encourage positive trend of participation of those media and channels in distribution systems that implement the same. Respecting the opinions of scientists in this field, as corroborated by their theories, the first part of the paper emphasizes on studying the intensity of the use of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) application in the segment of the business activities of service providers and the consumer behavior in Europe, over a the last decade. Results show that the use of ICT varies in each country, whereby it can be concluded that there are factors that are a prerequisite to new trends in the consumers’ use of new technologies. The second part focuses on the empirical research concerning the use of new technologies by tourists when they obtain information or book a trip. The framework of research covered the period between June 2010 and November of the same year. The study was conducting on the sample of 400 tourists that spent at least one overnight in Dubrovnik. Although tourists still use intermediaries to a large extent, survey results show a growing trend of using Internet as an acceptable source of information for tourists when making decisions about travel and as a means for trip organization indicating its complementary value.
Title of the Paper: Employees' Health Care in the Current Business Environment (Inspiration by Bata Company before 1945)
Authors: G. Končitíková, P. Staňková, M. Sasínková
Pages: 249-256
Abstract: This article presents the results of research, which was focused on the analysis of health care in Bata management system introduced by Bata Company before 1945.This management system was introduced by Tomas Bata (1876-1932) in 1894 and lasted until 1945, when the company was nationalized due to the change in political regime.Bata management system may be perceived as very specific in the way it shows signs of modern Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Creating Shared Value philosophy (CSV). This research focuses on a subset of CSR, which includes emloyees` health care. Employees` care in Bata management system was very sophisticated and was composed of several areas such as: social care, health care, educational system, cultural background and urban development of the city. Aim of this research is employees` health care in Bata Company before 1945. Due to the fact that different aspects of CSR and CSV in Bata Company before 1945 have not been described yet, upcoming research is based on the analysis of historical documents of Bata Company. Analysis of data and interviews with witnesses of the time, who experienced Bata Management System before 1945, help us to understand how the system of employee`s health care worked.The results of the research will be applied to the specific group of companies in order to test whether our findings might improve health care policy towards their employees.Prior to the application, the research of how employees, managers and senior managers perceive the employees` health care, was conducted.
Title of the Paper: Determination of the Average Quality of a Company Based on the Obtained Results
Authors: Nicolae Dobritoiu
Pages: 240-248
Abstract: The average quality of a company is the most complex indicator of the activities of a company because it depends on all these activities. In determining this indicator, a qualitative failure of a function can not be compensated with qualitative achievements of other functions or activities of a company. The average quality of a company is expressed best in points, and when it tends toward maximum score indicates a high economic efficiency of the company. We present in this paper a method for determination of the average quality of a company based on the obtained results. Finally, a practical example is given.
Title of the Paper: The Development of CSR in Current Business Environment Based on the Philosophy of Tomas Bata the Founder
Authors: T. Culík, G. Končitíková, P. Staňková
Pages: 230-239
Abstract: This paper presents the results of research, which was focused on the analysis of social responsible business of Tomas Bata (1876-1932) and Bata Management System before 1945. Aim if the research was to investigate how socially responsible approach of Bata Company before 1945 operated. Consequently, this research determined how the core elements of Bata`s CSR might be applied into current business environment. The research is divided into two parts. Firstly, it is focused on the research of archival documents. The first part is focused on the research of archival documents. It is based on the method of oral history - testimony of the witnesses - the people who have experienced Bata Management System before 1945. Furthermore, the method of biographical research and the method of phenomenological research was applied. Using historical data analysis, there were established basic principles of CSR in Bata Company before 1945. The second part of the research is aimed on finding attitude of entrepreneurial environment toward an implementation of selected principles of Bata Management System into its business strategies.
Title of the Paper: On the Use of Contingent Claims in Portfolio Selection Problems
Authors: M. Cassader, S. Caglio, S. Ortobelli L., V. Caviezel
Pages: 220-229
Abstract: In this paper we propose some portfolio selection models with contingent claims to invest either in the fixed income market or in the stock option market. Firstly, we describe a possible solution of the portfolio choice problem in the fixed income market taking into account the default risk. With this purpose, we consider CDSs contracts to hedge the default risk of investments in bonds. Secondly, we use European options in two distinct portfolio problems: in a reward-risk portfolio framework, to hedge the underlying portfolio risk of some stock indexes. Since we use a large number of trading European option written on principal international stock indexes, we discuss how to reduce the dimensionality of the large-scale portfolio problems taking into account the liquidity of the options. Finally, we propose an ex post empirical analysis of different portfolio models with contingent claims.
Title of the Paper: Event History Analysis of the Stock Return: Taiwan Stock Market
Authors: Po-Sheng Ko, Jui-Chan Huang, Ming-Hung Shu, Luo-Chih Li
Pages: 210-219
Abstract: Although CAPM has been comprehensively applied in practice for a long time, it is established under the perfect-basis assumption which does not always exist in reality because there are several factors affecting the capital return. Hence, the actual performance of the CAPM model has been questioned. There have been numerous proposals in improving the performance of the model. And, our study aims at finding the actual correlation between price/book ratios effect and stock return so that investors may anticipate whether a certain stock will be transformed between growth stocks and value stocks, and buy/sell such stock to make profits in the future. Based on monthly data from listed companies on Taiwan stock market from 1991-2010, it is found that higher price/ earnings ratio generates high possibility in transformation as well as increase in the expected return. Therefore, investors should take these determinants as the key variables in their investing models in order to implement their proper stock-selection strategy. The investment methods from this research could be a new stock-selection strategy for investors' excess return and better investment performance.
Title of the Paper: Investment Decision Making of Public Administration in Terms of Emerging Economy
Authors: Filip Mezera, Jiří Křupka
Pages: 202-209
Abstract: Investment decisions possibilities are proposed and analyzed in this paper. The equity and bond funds approved by the Czech National Bank and with long-term presence on the Czech and foreign markets are used in as examples in this analysis. Options for a single-time investment and for regular investments are analyzed on the basis of descriptive statistics and cluster analysis. The clustering was done by means of method K-means. Positive and negative features of potential individual investment options are shown on possible gains or losses of investment decisions done from 1997 to 2013. The achievement results can be used in the framework of financial decision making in public administration and in not-for-profit sectors.
Title of the Paper: New Paradigm in the Regional Management
Authors: Peter I. Kamyshanov, Alexander P. Kamyshanov
Pages: 193-201
Abstract: The European Union countries are realizing economic integration transformations. Period of these reforms is coinciding in time with the global economic downturn. These reforms are affecting the whole continent with economies on various stages of development and operating on different principles. To overcome crisis new theoretical and practical approaches are working out. Modern time is the period of knowledge economy, which is based on information technologies and cognitive science. A net-centric paradigm is one of the key concepts of these sciences. In the framework of this paradigm new approaches are working out for planning, implementation, and management of the European transformations with the goal to increase competitive advantages of the countries and to ensure the prosperity of the citizens.
Title of the Paper: Transport System and Competition
Authors: Říha Z., Jírová V., Faifrová V.
Pages: 186-192
Abstract: The division of labour in the transport system, or allocation of transport capacity among different modes of transport, is one of the key issues at hand and it is important to deal with it. Generally, it is mainly a question of what affects the division of labour. As already shown in the first chapter in the historical research, the technological development in the last 200 years in Europe contradicted mainly the road and rail transport. Fast acceleration of railways in the second half of 19th century and the development of road transport in the 20th century enabled business to development in many new parts of the world on the one hand. On the other hand, it raised questions of the impact the transport system made on the environment (externalities).
Title of the Paper: Sustainability of the Public Pensions System in Terms of Demographic Factors. Case Study: Romania
Authors: Elena Lucia Croitoru, Felicia Alexandru, Stela Aurelia Toader
Pages: 179-185
Abstract: Romania is facing problems regarding the social policies, particularly in the social security pension, due to the deficit of the state social insurance budget. The research aims to achieve the following objectives: to identify the correlation between demographic phenomena and pensions system, to identify a correlation between demographic phenomena and dependency ratio retirees / employees, to identify a correlation between the dependency ratio retirees / employees, GDP and average pension in Romania, to identify limitations of research results and necessary measures to eliminate them. The models and the results obtained, in Romania's case, allow us to highlight some conclusions about the negative impact of the demographic factors on the sustainability of the public pensions system.
Title of the Paper: The Relationship between Corporate Environmental, Social and Governance Performance, and Economic Performance: Empirical Study on Czech Manufacturing Industry
Authors: A. Kocmanová, J. Hornungová, M. Dočekalová
Pages: 170-178
Abstract: The article examines the relationship between environmental, social, governance (ESG) performance and economic performance of the Czech manufacturing companies. The aim of the empirical study is to test whether ESG performance improves economic performance of these companies. The interaction between ESG and economic performance indicators was tested in 79 Czech manufacturing companies. Data was acquired through empirical research in the Czech Republic, which was completed in 2011-2013. The analysis was performed using multiple linear regressions. The results show that the Czech companies in manufacturing industries do not exhibit a significant correlation between ESG performance, and economic performance.
Title of the Paper: Insurance Industry in Macedonia: A General Overview
Authors: M. Pervan, M. Ćurak, K. Poposki
Pages: 161-169
Abstract: The development of insurance industry in Macedonia has undergone through the similar process to those of economies in region. However, although a vast literature exploring insurance industry from different aspect can be found for the regional countries, a scant number of articles are devoted to the Macedonian financial system as whole and insurance industry in particular. Therefore the aim of this article is to give insights into the main characteristics of the Macedonian nonlife insurance industry. In order to accomplish this goal, we explore several different segments of the insurance industry. First, key development indicators of insurance industry are compared to those of countries in region. Second, we investigate the changes in the structure of this industry. Furthermore, in order to assess strength and weaknesses of this sector, a SWOT analysis is performed. Finally, we evaluate the influence of the financial crises on the insurers' performance, by confronting insurers' profitability before and during the crises period.
Title of the Paper: Creating Business Intelligence upon Conflicts
Authors: Lung-Hsing Kuo, Hsieh-Hua Yang, Wen-Chen Hu, Miao-Kuei Ho, Hung-Jen Yang
Pages: 151-160
Abstract: Business Intelligence (BI) represents the ability to look into the core of a business, in order to fundament the most effective and profitable decisions. An operational BI system sustains daily activities through the following functionalities: real-time informing, secured access to information and easy to use analysis. This change is a natural response of a passing to a new organizational culture of management based on measurable objectives. An operational BI system assumes tracking down trends, problems and other factors as soon as they act, allowing employers to solve them in real time. There is a need to continually adjust business intelligence based upon certain cruses. A conflict-map proposed in this study could be used on the purpose of formulating BI. The intent of this study was to focus on operating conflict-map to inform readers of the potentials as well as the limitations of formulating BI.
Title of the Paper: Factors of Risks Influencing the Safety of the Company and Its Strategy
Authors: J. Štofa, I. Zolotová
Pages: 145-150
Abstract: The paper focuses on corporate strategy for managing enterprise security. In paper is developed the issue of enterprise security policy and with that associated security project. The paper looks at the interaction of the company with a social web. With the implementation of security measure into company is developed also the topic of evaluation and quantification of risk. The paper points out the use of strategy of risk management as well as the importance of using modeling tools and itself business process modeling. They affect the security of enterprise, data protection and all assets which the company uses.
Title of the Paper: Impacts of R&D-Marketing Interaction: Market Performance of New Products
Authors: Lai-Wang Wang, Nai-Peng Kuang, Ming-Hung Shu
Pages: 137-144
Abstract: New product development (NPD) involves a variety of interactive activities among departments of research and development (R&D), marketing, finance, manufacturing, and procurement. Studies of high-tech products have shown that the steady collaboration between R&D teams and marketing department members renders beneficial effects upon diverse departmental activities and downstream marketing performance for the product; that is, aligned with efficient and effective communication protocols, close collaboration has a positive impact on new product market performance with regards to financial gains and advanced market penetration. However, in previous research, the explicit communicative ways and decisive factors to perform successful collaboration between R&D activities and marketing department operations have not been seriously addressed. In this research, we first conducted a comprehensive survey with mainstream high-tech companies in Taiwan, then the definitive factors for the collaboration between R&D and marketing departments in high-tech companies were identified. Moreover, the hierarchical relationships and interactions between factors were built and their impacts on final responses obtained. The results show that the outstanding financial performance and market share gain are strongly reflected by well-defined communication procedures, information transparency, and selfless resource sharing within NPD-project team members and their cross-departmental cooperation.
Title of the Paper: Civil Service Reform in the Czech Republic and Protection of Civil Servants’ Rights in Light of European Courts’ Case Law
Authors: J. Janderová, M. Skřivánková
Pages: 127-136
Abstract: Czech Civil Service Act adopted in 2002 has not become effective yet apart from several provisions. A reform of civil service is currently under preparation mainly due to EU strong criticism. New act, or rather a mere amendment to the mentioned Civil Service Act, either of them based on public law regulating method, is expected to be adopted soon. Once the new legislation becomes effective, new rights of civil servants will be protected and a court review of administrative decisions related to recruitment, remuneration, disciplinary and dismissal from service will be granted. The article analyzes recent case law of the European Court of Human Rights and demonstrates on selected recent cases that major tendency in those decisions is extending the scope of judicial review, and thus granting the right of a fair trial to civil servants. Those decisions shall serve as a basis for the Czech administrative courts, when developing their own new case law. The same tendency of extending standards of court review may be detected when analyzing EU Civil Service Tribunal case law. Although its decisions concern only EU staff, the article argues, that the Czech administrative courts will have a chance to use the EU Civil Service Tribunal decisions at least as support when reasoning their judgments. This is so because the main principles of civil service, such as no unfair discrimination, are common to the whole of Europe.
Title of the Paper: Best Forecasting Models for Private Financial Initiative Unitary Charges Data of East Coast and Southern Regions in Peninsular Malaysia
Authors: S. B. A. Kamaruddin, N. A. M. Ghani, N. M. Ramli
Pages: 119-126
Abstract: Value for money where the optimum efficiency and effectiveness of every expense made is one prominent phase that needs to be given main attention in Private Financial Initiative program in Malaysia. In this paper, determining the best forecasting models of unitary charges or construction materials price indices in two main regions in Malaysia was the key objective, where the Peninsular Malaysian East Coast (Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan) and Southern (Johor) regions were in the context of interest. The unitary charges indices data used were monthly data from year 2005 to 2011 of different construction materials price indices in both regions. The data comprise the price indices of aggregate, sand, steel reinforcement, ready mix concrete, bricks and partition, roof material, floor and wall finishes, ceiling, plumbing materials, sanitary fittings, paint, glass, steel and metal sections, timber and plywood. The concluding part of this paper suggests that the backpropagation neural network with linear transfer function was proven to establish results that are the most accurate and dependable for estimating unitary charges price indices in this region of the Peninsula based on the Root Mean Squared Errors, where both the estimation and evaluation set values were roughly zero and highly significant at p < 0.01. Therefore, the artificial neural network is regarded as adequate for construction materials’ price indices’ forecast in the southern part of the Peninsular Malaysia, and this lends itself as a great contribution for realizing the economy-related national vision, that is harmonious with the National Key Economic Areas or National Key Result Areas (NKEA or NKRA).
Title of the Paper: The Influence of Trust and Empathy in Word-of-Mouth Communication on the Internet on Consumer Behaviour: Research Based on a Questionnaire
Authors: F. Isada, Y. Isada
Pages: 108-118
Abstract: The aim of this research is to analyse quantitatively the influence which word-of-mouth communication in social networking, prospering today on the Internet, has had on consumer behaviour. In this study, the customer’s purchasing process was divided into decision making before a purchase and after-purchase satisfaction, and the influence on both of these in terms of factors such as the sense of trust, expertness, the assessment system, access frequency, and degree of empathy, were evaluated quantitatively. As an interesting finding, while trust in word-of-mouth promoted consumers’ purchasing behaviour, empathy raised the satisfaction level. Although consumers’ trust in word-of-mouth stimulated decision making in relation to purchases, it lowered the satisfaction level.
Title of the Paper: Model of Expectation and Satisfaction in B2C Electronic Commerce
Authors: R. Bilkova, H. Kopackova
Pages: 99-107
Abstract: Expectation disconfirmation theory compares pre-purchase expectation with post-purchase perceived performance based on the subject of purchase. In this article we will expand this model to include other parameters that influence visitor willingness to buy. Causal loop diagram is used to find hidden links and feedbacks. Service performance, which emerged in model, is significantly associated with findability, usability and design of electronic commerce sites. On the basis of this finding, we prepared simulation to answer one important question. “How will differ metrics of customer satisfaction for two online stores if they will vary only in findability, usability and design?”
Title of the Paper: Economic Land Use Theory and Land Value in Value Model
Authors: Mohamed M. El-Barmelgy, Ahmad M. Shalaby, Usama A. Nassar, Shaimaa M. Ali
Pages: 91-98
Abstract: The paper explores the relationships between land use, land price, and land value. It draws on the value model with explaining and analyzing the relationship between land value and land use, especially each type of use. The paper starts with an overview of a limited number of economic theories on the land market and subsequently introduce some well known land use models of economic theories on the principles. Later, the paper analyzes the variables affecting land use functional structure of the city namely: geographical, economic, urban, laws and legislation , political, environmental, social, public interest, and demographic variables. Finally, the integrated value model will be developed in this study. The value model is a mathematical based model for simulating future land use, especially in valuable lands; that has a foundation in economic equilibrium theory.
Title of the Paper: Bank Market Structure and Firms’ Leverage: Case of Croatia
Authors: S. Pepur, M. Pervan, M. Ćurak
Pages: 83-90
Abstract: This paper analyzes the impact of bank market structure on firms’ leverage in the Republic of Croatia with respect to the firms’ size. Two opposite theories, the market power theory and the relationship lending theory, are tested on very large and large enterprises, and medium and small companies, separately using panel data for the period from 2002 to 2011. According to the results the bank concentration positively affects firms’ leverage, regardless of the firms’ size, confirming predictions of relationship lending theory.
Title of the Paper: A New Model for Multiple Criteria Decision Making with Ordinal Rankings of Criteria and Alternatives
Authors: J. Mazurek
Pages: 75-82
Abstract: The aim of the paper is to propose a new model for multiple criteria decision making with ordinal rankings of criteria and alternatives. In this setting a set of alternatives is ranked from the best to the worst by a set of criteria, where also criteria are ranked from the most important to the least important, and no cardinal information is available. The goal is to find the best alternative or the overall ranking of all alternatives respectively. This is a modification of the social choice theory setting, where different voters play the role of different criteria and it is assumed that all voters (hence criteria) have the same weight (power). The winner in the social choice theory is selected by a social choice function (procedure), which must satisfy some desirable properties, such as Pareto efficiency, monotonicity, independence of irrelevant alternatives, etc., though famous Arrow’s impossibility theorem rules out a possibility of the existence of a procedure satisfying all the important properties for at least three alternatives. In the paper it is shown which properties are (not) met by the proposed method, and in the last part of the paper the use of the method is illustrated by an example of a real-world decision making problem: a selection of the most appropriate textbook for an elementary science education.
Title of the Paper: Methods of Structuring Business Intelligence
Authors: Lung-Hsing Kuo, Hsieh-Hua Yang, Hsueh-Chih Lin, Miao-Kuei Ho, Hung-Jen Yang
Pages: 63-74
Abstract: Business Intelligence (BI) represents the ability to look into the core of a business, in order to fundament the most effective and profitable decisions. An operational BI system sustains daily activities through the following functionalities: real-time informing, secured access to information and easy to use analysis. This change is a natural response of a passing to a new organizational culture of management based on measurable objectives. An operational BI system assumes tracking down trends, problems and other factors as soon as they act, allowing employers to solve them in real time. There is a need to organize business intelligence. A structural business intelligence should be verified based upon theories gained by experiences. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is a versatile statistical modeling tool. Its estimation techniques, modeling capacities, and breadth of applications are expanding rapidly. This study identified some common terminologies. General steps of SEM for verifying BI were discussed along with important considerations in each step. Simple examples are provided to illustrate some of the ideas for structural BI. The intent of this study was to focus on foundational issues to inform readers of the potentials as well as the limitations of verifying BI with SEM.
Title of the Paper: Collaboration between the Japanese Manufacturers and the Local Suppliers in Vietnam
Authors: Chunwei Lu, George Yungchih Wang, Enhou Zu
Pages: 51-62
Abstract: Various academics began to consider the possibilities of collective and collaborative strategies. Under the growing complexity of the business environment states, firms must consider a new level of planning collective strategy. The collective approach helped enhance the awareness of organizational nuances that were so important in controlling the environment. The simultaneous developments involved the globalization make alliances necessary. To compete in the global arena, firms should find partners that can help amortize the immense fixed costs. And collaborations meant to acquire new technologies, or skills, and collaboration as competition in a different from learning from partners was paramount. This research explored the relations between foreign direct investments by Japanese manufacturers in Vietnam and the local suppliers. Base on collaboration and supply chain theories, a specialist questionnaire was utilized to evaluate the relationships between the Japanese manufactures and the local suppliers in Vietnam. This study found that from the view of vertical integration, Japanese manufacturers in Vietnam collaborated with local suppliers enhanced both of them to prepare future more clearly and faithfully. The finding indicated that Japanese manufacturers in Vietnam thought local suppliers were reliable and they would like to make long term collaborations with their local suppliers. The implication of this study was to enhance on communication between Japanese manufacturers and local suppliers improve the collaboration closely.
Title of the Paper: Analysis of Standard of Living Models based on Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis
Authors: Jiří Křupka, Romana Provazníková
Pages: 40-50
Abstract: The aim of this article is to design our own ranking and analysis of standard of living in selected countries (17 Eurozone countries) and to compare calculated ranks of countries with ranking acquired in selected indexes. After the selection of appropriate approaches and indexes of standard of living (Czech Economic Journal E15 Index and Prosperity Index), the modeling of ranking is provided. Modeling of countries ranking is designed by means of multiple criteria decision analysis with using analytic hierarchy process. In conclusion, the obtained results are based on the comparison of different approaches to modeling of standard of living rankings.
Title of the Paper: Determinants of Voluntary Internet Financial Reporting: Analysis for Selected CEE Countries
Authors: M. Bartulović, I. Pervan
Pages: 32-39
Abstract: Research on Internet financial reporting was conducted on the sample of 91 companies whose securities are listed on the following capital markets: Zagreb Stock Exchange, Ljubljana Stock Exchange, Belgrade Stock Exchange, Sarajevo Stock Exchange and Banja Luka Stock Exchange. Research results have shown that there are differences in the level of the Internet financial reporting between observed countries. For example the highest level of Internet financial reporting measured through IFR score was reported in Slovenia and it amounted 23.25 while the lowest level of transparency was measured on Banja Luka Stock Exchange where the IFR score was only 3.61. In the second part of the research authors analyzed the variables that affect IFR scores significantly. Results have shown that for each of the observed capital markets it is possible to identify variables which significantly influence the level of Internet financial reporting. As variables that significantly influence IFR scores on the observed markets regression models pointed out the following variables: official listing, turnover, assets and industrial sectors.
Title of the Paper: Verification of Convergence in Tax Mixes and Selected Tax Rates in the European Union
Authors: Bušovská Monika, Ivana Petrovická
Pages: 24-31
Abstract: Common single market is one of the main priorities in the European Union. The main question of this paper is whether the European Union has been meeting its target especially in taxations. The paper focuses on the question whether the tax systems are converging in the context of fiscal pressure, tax mixes, and tax rates of selected taxes. Specifically, the authors focus on the value added tax rates and social security contribution rates. These taxes were selected as representatives of different groups with a relatively high share in tax mixes of the Member States. They also differ in the classification into direct and indirect taxes and in the level of their harmonization/coordination in the EU. In order to achieve the goal of this paper, Beta and Sigma convergences were used. The result is that the process of tax harmonization is complicated but tax mixes, fiscal pressures, VAT standard rates and social security contribution rates for employees are converging during the analysed period of 1965 - 2011.
Title of the Paper: Data Envelopment Analysis in Evaluating Taiwan's International Tourist Hotel's Operating Performance
Authors: Yi-Fang Chen, Hui-Chin Tang
Pages: 15-23
Abstract: This study uses Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) of Context-dependent DEA model to measure the inputs and outputs of the relative operating performance in order to understand Taiwan's international tourist hotel performance and relative competitive advantage. The data is compiled by assessing 67 international tourist hotels in Taiwan of 2011. In this study in accordance with the values of the efficiency of international tourist hotels, it will distinguish between different classes of efficient frontier. Subsequently using the different layers of the efficient frontier as the assessment of background, to obtain the value of relative attractiveness and the value of relative progress. Then by sorting its high and low efficiency values in order to achieve an objective analysis on the performance of international tourist hotels. This distinguishes the existing competitors and potential competitors. According to the hotel of the relative attractiveness of different values of short and long term, adjustments are made in management strategies to enhance business performance. The empirical results show that in order to form a five investment-oriented benchmarking of performance levels. According to the efficient frontier layers attractive value distribution: the first level consists of 17 best hotels; second level with 11; third level with 19; fourth level with 14; fifth level with 5; and the sixth level with 1. Best performance Level 1 in the hierarchy, the Taipei area hotels accounted for 58.8%, whereas sightseeing hotels accounted for 29.4%. This shows the superiority of interest in the Taipei area, as compared to other metropolitan areas with higher operating performance and sightseeing hotels.
Title of the Paper: Determinants of Cybernetic Controls in Croatian Manufacturing Companies
Authors: Ivica Pervan, Ivana Dropulić
Pages: 9-14
Abstract: Research is aimed to investigate the influence of several contingency variables on the design of cybernetic controls as a part of management controls systems (MCS). Cybernetic controls are conceptualized in terms of four dimensions: budgets, financial measurement systems, non financial measurement systems and hybrid measurement systems to form a composite measure of cybernetic controls. The methodology comprises an analysis of 43 responses to a postal questionnaire survey carried out among the medium and large manufacturing companies in Croatia. Using contingency theory framework we investigated the influence of business strategy, external environment, company size and organizational life cycle on cybernetic controls of company. Research findings indicate that business strategy and company size are significant predictor of cybernetic controls utilized by companies.
Title of the Paper: Enterprise Performance Management in Context of Economic Development in the Beginning of 21st Century
Authors: Veronika Burešová, Lilia Dvořáková
Pages: 1-8
Abstract: The development of world economy raises changes in enterprise financial management focus. Still more attention is devoted to enterprise value creation and management for shareholders. The target of the paper is to present the results of the research focused on mapping, identification, analysis and summary of main aspects and significance of two aspects – approaches to value-based management of an enterprise – specifically Economic Value Added concept (EVA) and Balanced Scorecard (BSC) within enterprise performance measurement and management. The strengths and weaknesses of Economic Value Added are analyzed and discussed in the context of economic development paradigm changes in the beginning of the 21st century. A part of the research outputs is a case study which practically documents EVA concept use in enterprise practice.
