scholarly journals Asset sources of competitive advantage of SMEs from high-tech sector in the region of greater Poland

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Gajowiak
Keyword(s):  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Information Asymmetry ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Turbulent Environment ◽  
Intangible Resources ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The Given ◽  
Soft Factors

The article tackles the question of the ever-growing importance of soft factors of production in the process of competitive advantage for contemporary enterprises. This condition has resulted from turbulent environment characterized by increasing competition, generalized uncertainty and information asymmetry. Based on the above assumption during 2013–2014 a research project was carried out on the role of intangible resources in the process of gaining advantage over competitors in high-tech companies from Greater Poland. The study was carried out for the given population and conducted using the CATI method. On the basis of responses to the questions in the survey, one can conclude that these companies implement modern management paradigm and its activities are based largely on soft resources, which are impossible to be copied and on skills in the form of human capital, propensity for learning and the social capital of employees. The findings of the project can serve as a valuable clue for those companies which at the moment do not demonstrate a prospective approach to achieving entrepreneurial categories in practice.

Could CSR improve the financial performance of developing countries’ firms? Analyses of mediating effect of intangible resources

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Hamdoun ◽  
Mohamed Akli Achabou ◽  
Sihem Dekhili
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Human Capital ◽  
Financial Performance ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Intangible Resources ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to examine the link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and financial performance in the context of developing countries. More specifically, the mediating role of a firm’s competitive advantage and intangible resources, namely, human capital and reputation are studied. Design/methodology/approach The study considered a sample of 100 Tunisian firms. The analysis makes use of the structural equation modelling method to explore the relationship between CSR and financial performance, by including mediator variables. Findings The results confirm that CSR has no significant direct effect on financial performance. In particular, they indicate that the social dimension of CSR has a negative impact on performance. However, CSR does have a positive impact on competitive advantage via the two intangible resources considered, human capital and company reputation. Research limitations/implications The research fills a gap that occurred in the previous literature. In effect, previous studies focussed only on the direct link between CSR and financial performance. In addition, it enriches the limited literature on CSR strategies in the context of developing countries. However, further studies should explore the opposite relationship, i.e. the impact of financial performance on CSR strategy. In addition, the authors believe that amongst other potential research avenues, it would be interesting to study the moderating role of the activity sector. Practical implications From a practical point of view, this study suggests new applications with respect to the link between CSR and financial performance. To enhance their company’s financial performance, managers need to ensure that intangible resources are managed efficiently. Originality/value The paper contributes to the literature by examining how a firm’s intangible resources mediate between CSR and competitive advantage and how competitive advantage mediates between intangible resources and financial performance. Second originality is related to the study of the link between CSR and the financial performance of business organisations in the context of a developing country.

scholarly journals Do Women Affect the Final Decision on the Housing Market? A Case Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 4652
Author(s):  
Sabina Źróbek ◽  
Elżbieta Zysk ◽  
Mirosław Bełej ◽  
Natalija Lepkova
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Housing Market ◽  
Final Decision ◽  
Territorial Unit ◽  
The Social ◽  
Joint Decisions ◽  
Gradual Introduction ◽  
Decision Making Model ◽  
The Given

This article presents the results of research on the effect of the customer’s gender on the tenure choice (ownership or tenancy) on the housing market. In the study, an attempt has been made to investigate whether there is a significant role of women in making decisions in this market. The survey was conducted among residents of two cities—Olsztyn (Poland) and Vilnius (Lithuania). The obtained answers were subjected to a multi-dimensional categorical and quantitative analysis. The results showed, among others, that women generally have greater decision-making autonomy in residential issues than men, with Lithuanian women doing this much more often than Polish women. However, it should be noted that the dominant decision-making model in the housing market is the model of joint decisions taken by men and women. The results of the conducted analysis broaden the existing knowledge of the functioning of the housing market and may support the implementation of the pro-social and pro-sustainable spatial development policy of the given territorial unit. The results may also contribute to more sustainable development of enterprises in the housing construction sector. This is an important issue in a climate of intense competition between “providers” of flats and the gradual introduction of the idea of competition between them and the social environment.

scholarly journals The Consequences of Gender in Homogamic Couples

Sociology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-54
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Rosa
Keyword(s):  
Social Distance ◽  
Critical Approach ◽  
Social Divisions ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Family ◽  
Static Approach ◽  
Work Family ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Interpretative Approach

In studies which analyse the social distance between spouses at the moment a couple is formed, and which attempt to understand the role of the family, and in particular of marriage, in crystallising social divisions, the concept of homogamy has often been purely descriptive. This article questions this static approach and seeks to pinpoint the changes which social homogamy undergoes in the course of conjugal life, addressing women’s decisions on work–family articulation. Drawing on a critical approach to the concept of rational choice, the article intends to demonstrate the merit of an interpretative approach by analysing how members of a sample of 27 university-educated Portuguese partnered mothers take their decisions in the context of an interdependency framework in which the dynamics of family interaction tend to thwart individual career path development, rendering spouses dependent on each other.

scholarly journals The Role of Brand Trust in Achiving Competitive Advantage (Case Study: PT Pos Indonesia Bandung)

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-103
Author(s):  
Ani Solihat ◽  
Mimin Nurjanah ◽  
Rani Rahmayani ◽  
Andry Trijumansyah ◽  
Iis Iskandar
Keyword(s):  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Brand Trust ◽  
The Social ◽  
Freight Forwarding

The purpose of this study is to determine the role of brand trust in achieving the competitive advantage of PT Pos Indonesia Bandung freight forwarding services. The method in this study uses quantitative methods. This research uses the Stastical Pakage for the Social Sciences (SPSS) program which aims to measure the effect of brand trust on the competitive advantage of PT Pos Indonesia Bandung freight forwarding services. The sampling technique of this study used purposive sampling and the determination of samples was calculated using the Rao Purba formula with a total sample of 96 people. The respondents of this study were users of freight forwarding services, especially PT Pos Indonesia and other freight forwarding services (TIKI, JNE, JT, etc.). The design of this study uses descriptive and verification to assess the picture and influence between variables. The results of this study indicate that brand trust has a positive and significant effect on the competitive advantage of PT Pos Indonesia Bandung freight forwarding services.

Two Sociological Outlooks

2016 ◽  
pp. 69-106
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
Capital Accumulation ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
The Social ◽  
Nature And Nurture ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The Individual

The sociological distinction between ascribed and achieved statuses and the typology of roles attached to them construct “status sets” that form the building blocks of class, social inequality and stratification – the most important components of social structure. Among other topics, this chapter addresses the correspondences between work, salvation, piety and economics, by discussing the complexity of meanings in Islam, and through a discourse on Islamic culture. Both theoretically and empirically, we argue that work and social mobility have advanced by placing emphasis on achieved status rather than ascribed status, as in the Protestant vision. The prevalent assumption is that everybody is born with equal capabilities that can be actualized by individual endeavors. Thus, from the Protestant viewpoint, achieved statuses, and the social roles attached to them to build up the social structure, are more individually than socially based. This statement, that reflects a long debate on the role of nature and nurture, does not mean the authors are underestimating societal resources by an emphasis on psychologism. Attempts are made to avoid both sociologism and psychologism especially where theological foundational concerns are built upon here and beyond. Nonetheless, since creation starts with motivation, there are individuals who are prone to uphold and judge their creations to achieve a status without expert information. That is the moment that societal auditioning in various forms hold individuals' estimation of their creation to the societal standards whether in terms of subjectivity of taste or normative demands of a status. By de-emphasizing ascribed status, the individual's endeavors to gain rewards, material or non-material in this world not only contribute to capital accumulation, or prestige, but also open the avenue for the individual who believes in salvation, or engagement in innovation and scientific experimentation. As functionalists suggest, the expectation of reward, failure, and specialization create social inequality – that is, the qualities such as a degree of religiosity that have nothing to do with the stratification of people. If the degree of religiosity, measured by frequency of attending church or mosque, is able to impact drastically upon societal stratification, then the more stratified societies with large gaps between social classes are able to close them harmoniously.

The Politics of Innovation Policy: Building Israel’s “Neo-developmental” State

2020 ◽  
pp. 003232922094552
Author(s):  
Erez Maggor
Keyword(s):  
Innovation Policy ◽  
Public Investment ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Developmental State ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
Subsequent Transformation ◽  
The Social ◽  
Private Actors

This article contributes to an emerging literature on the “neo” or “entrepreneurial” developmental state that emphasizes the role of innovation policy in promoting the structural transformation of industry. It finds further evidence that supports this approach and advances it by making two unique contributions. First, it highlights an essential yet underappreciated feature of contemporary innovation policy: the state’s capacity to condition public assistance and discipline private firms that do not adhere to government guidelines. These capacities are necessary to guarantee that the benefits of public investment in innovation—the social and economic spillovers—are not appropriated by private actors but shared more broadly within society. Second, it highlights that politics—reflected in the relations between innovation agencies and key social actors—represents an important causal factor in both the formation and subsequent transformation of these institutional capacities. These points are illustrated through a historical analysis of a crucial case: the state-led development of Israel’s thriving high-tech sector.

scholarly journals The Principle Of Legality, Principle Of Public Law

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 512-515
Author(s):  
Alexandru Stoian ◽  
Teodora Drăghici
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Administrative Law ◽  
Public Law ◽  
The State ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Balance ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Principle Of Legality

Abstract The principle of legality represents one of the most important principles of the state of law, which significantly contributes to defending the law order and the social balance. Established as a principle of the organization and functioning of the state public authorities at the Revolution of 1789 in France, the acknowledgement of the principle of legality in an act having a constitutional value marked the moment of foundation for the state based on law principles and represented a premise of creating a modern public administration. The principle is present at the level of each judiciary branch, which provides for its popularity due to its specificity. The paper aims at achieving a brief analysis of the role of the principle of legality in public law, presenting its importance in constitutional and administrative law.

scholarly journals The Double-Edged Sword of RP: the Contrasting Roles of a Pronunciation Model in both Native and Non-native Environments

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miroslav Ježek
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
The Social ◽  
Late Twentieth ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Received Pronunciation ◽  
The Given

Received Pronunciation (RP) is often studied as the pronunciation model in Great Britain and non-English-speaking countries separately. What my paper focuses on is the duality with which RP is essentially endowed: the role(s) in which it has to satisfy the needs of both native and non-native speakers of English. Whilst the claim that RP has changed recently goes unchallenged, the issue of reflecting these changes in the preferred transcription models is hotly debated. Upton’s model of RP is one that does include several new symbols, motivated by an attempt to ‘ensure that the description of a late twentieth century version the accent […] looks forward to the new millennium rather than back at increasingly outmoded forms’ (2001:352). I discuss the feasibility of adopting Upton’s model of RP as the pronunciation model in non-English speaking countries, where it is desirable to resolve the paradox that ‘most of our teaching is aimed at young people, but the model we provide is that of middle-aged or old speakers’ (Roach 2005: 394). The observations I make are largely based on my MA research, which is now being modified for the purposes of my Ph.D. I asked undergraduate students of English in England and the Czech Republic to evaluate seven voices ranging from the clearly regional to the unquestionably RP. The objective was to discover which sounds are considered to fall within the scope of RP by students in both countries, which approach avoids treating RP as though it were to include only the sounds ‘allowed by a preconceived model’ (Upton 2000: 78). Further, the respondents were asked to comment on the most salient features in the recordings: what they opted to comment on reveals a marked difference in the role of RP as a model accent in the given countries. Societies which lack a prestigious non-regional accent are often oblivious to the social connotations RP carries. Whilst it seems technically impossible to replace the model accent in all teaching materials all over the world, creating awareness of the fact that a rather outmoded model of RP found in many textbooks may not always be the best option is a necessary step towards ensuring that non-English speaking students are not only understood but that their speech will attract no adverse judgements.

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