Cyclical impact of regional attractiveness characteristics on migration flows

Achieving strategic goals of the spatial development implies improving the living en vironment for the population, increasing its mobility on the one hand and concentration in pro spective centres of the economic growth on the other. The paper studies the migration behaviour with the use of coefficients of the mechanical growth rate of the population in conditions of the varying attractiveness of the Russian regions, which depends on stages of economic cycle. The methodological basis of the research comprises spatial economics, content theories of motiva tion, theory of population migration, and theory of economic cycles. The research uses the sta tistics of the socioeconomic development of 83 subjects of the Russian Federation for the period of 2005–2017 that corresponds to the declining phase of the long half-wave. To investigate the influence of regional attractiveness factors on the intensity of migration flow the authors apply regression analysis methods. The spatial regression models are built for each year of the studied period using the IBM SPSS Statistics. The dynamics analysis of the coefficients of migration growth during the period of the long half-wave reveals two short-term cycles, one lasting from 2005 to 2010 and the other continuing from 2010 to 2015. The findings indicate that indicators tend to converge in the descending phase of the short-term cycle and, au contraire, to diverge in the ascending phase across regions. Based on the dynamics of elasticity coefficients of the migra tion growth, the authors identify regions’ characteristics, which increase their influence on the intensity of migration flow in the ascending phase and decrease it in the descending phase of the short-term cycle. Obtained quantitative estimates of the cyclical effects of territories’ attrac tiveness characteristics may promote the efficiency of measures for controlling migration flows.

Impact of Innovation Culture, Organization Size and Technological Capability on the Performance of SMEs: The Case of China

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in both the manufacturing and service sectors have been viewed as an important driving force behind the rapid economic growth in China. There are multiple factors that drive the success of SMEs. In this paper, we study the effect of innovation culture, technological capability, and organization size on the performance of SMEs in China. We hypothesize that firm performance is positively affected by each of these factors. We use data from 1124 SMEs in China and apply regression analysis to test our hypotheses. We find that technological capability and organization size have a statistically positive effect on the performance of SMEs. Because manufacturing and service industries have distinct characteristics, we also compare the effects of these factors on firm performance within these industries. We find that technological capability is positively and statistically significantly related to firm performance in the manufacturing industry but not in the service industry, while innovation culture is positively and statistically significantly related to firm performance in the service industry but not in the manufacturing industry.

The ball of wax we call HR analytics

Purpose The debate surrounding automating analytics processes continues as technology becomes more prominent and advanced in the workplace. Specifically, when it comes to HR analytics, it is important to recognize that human judgment as it is used in recruiting today is flawed. One tool that can provide further analysis and measurement beyond performance indicators and predictors is machine learning. Through automation, HR professionals may someday be able to compare characteristics, apply regression analysis to identify the influence of a characteristic and make adjustments based on new hires, retention and promotion results. Design/methodology/approach With more and more companies using artificial intelligence, it is difficult to see how it will revolutionize the HR process. As humans already have biases, will they transfer over to these artificial intelligence machines? Human judgment is already flawed in the recruiting process, so it is crucial to take a look into how it plays a role when AI is becoming built into the process as well. Findings Advancements in automation and HR technology are not slowing down anytime soon. As HR departments become increasingly reliant on advanced technologies and the numbers they produce, they also will experience the need for new skillsets required to deploy and use them. The HR process is rapidly changing, and as people, we must adapt now to see how AI is going to affect it. With a growing need for a center of expertise (COE) for HR data and technology, we will need to use this to focus resources on workforce analytics to drive business insights and recommendations. Originality/value This paper discusses the importance of understanding the implications of advanced analytics on recruiting and people management.

ACTIVITY-BASED COSTING OF CANNED AND PROCESSED FOODS BUSINESSES IN THAILAND: EFFECTS ON ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, BUSINESS COMPETITIVENESS AND CORPORATE SUCCESS

This study aims at investigating the relationships among activity-based costing, organizational development, business competitiveness, and corporate success of canned and processed foods businesses in Thailand. In this study, 142 canned and processed foods businesses in Thailand are the samples of the study. Structural equation model (SEM) was employed to test the research relationships. The research results indicate that activity-based costing positively leads to organizational development and business competitiveness. Also, organizational development positively relates to business competitiveness and corporate success while business competitiveness positively affects corporate success. In summary, activity-based costing plays a significant role in determining, driving and explaining firm outcomes. Accordingly, firms need to pay attention to the development and utilization of activity-based costing through the provision of competencies, capabilities, resources, and assets to its implementation. To verify the current study, future research may need to search for activity-based costing’s dimensions and components, collect data from different populations and countries and apply regression analysis, partial least squared and path analysis to prove the relationships.

Supply network-enabled innovations. An analysis based on dependence and complementarity of capabilities

Purpose This paper aims to seek to explain the influence of power asymmetry and the moderating role of an organization’s absorptive and desorptive capacity on enhancing supply chain competence from its orientation to open innovation with its supply network. Design/methodology/approach To perform this study, the authors use data collected from 262 European firms. They apply regression analysis to test the moderating role of an organization’s absorptive and desorptive capacity on enhancing its supply chain competence from its orientation to open innovation. Findings The results confirm both the influence of power asymmetry and absorptive capacity on obtaining benefits that derive from an organization’s orientation to open innovation. The results do not, however, support the moderating effect of an organization’s desorptive capacity. Subsequent analyses performed in the study show that organizations that achieve complementarity among their own absorptive capacity and the capacities of its supply network manage to obtain greater benefits from its orientation to open innovation. Originality/value This paper responds to the need to study innovation in the context of a supply network and respond to calls in the literature on open innovation and supply chain management for the need to study the moderating role of absorptive and desorptive capacity.

Network competence in Finnish SMEs: implications for growth

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how network competence is related to the growth of domestic and international SMEs originating from the Nordic region. Business networks have been found to drive internationalization of SMEs in the Nordic context, but the impact of network-related organizational competencies on them has not been considered. Design/methodology/approach – The authors apply regression analysis on a sample of 298 Finnish SMEs across five industry sectors, gathered via an online survey in 2008, and with the data having been updated for its financial indicators up to 2010. Findings – The authors find that cross-relational network competence is a significant predictor of growth in internationally operating SMEs. This result is robust across measures among the firms. In comparison, the network competence of domestically operating SMEs is not related to their growth, and relationship-specific competence does not influence growth. Research limitations/implications – The study does not account for longitudinal aspect of competence development. Growth is measured by the growth in sales and assets, and there are other ways to measure organizational growth. A single-country context also extends some restrictions on the generalizability of the results, although they could be expected to hold across small, open economies similar to Finland and the Nordic area. Practical implications – The results imply that the strategic aims of SMEs determine their need for network competence, those SMEs seeking internationalization and growth through geographic expansion come to benefit from developing certain types of network competence. Social implications – Policy implications arise where governments in Finland and in the Nordic area may aid SMEs’ internationalization efforts by enabling the growth-seeking firms with increased resources for competence development. Originality/value – This is the first study to examine how the organizational competencies to develop and manage business networks, in particular dyadic and network-level competencies, come to determine realized growth outcomes in domestic and international SMEs. It contributes to the theory of SME internationalization and international entrepreneurship from the business network point of view, while providing further knowledge on internationalization of SMEs originating from the Nordic area.

The use of the be-passive in academic Englishes: local versus global usage in an international language

In this paper, we examine the diffusion of a syntactic change in a specialised text type in different World Englishes – in particular, the use of be-passives in academic discourse in nine contact varieties of English and six English as a Native Language (ENL) varieties. The Zürich-parsed International Corpus of English (ICE) makes it possible to retrieve automatically, for the first time, the two variants in the envelope of variation: active transitive constructions and be-passives. We apply regression analysis in order to gauge the effect of potential external factors that play a role in the choice between them: regional variety (with potential influence from the substrate in the contact varieties) and academic sub-discipline. The use of the passive has undergone change in the twentieth century (see, for example, Leech et al., 2009 ). As a necessary backdrop for variation found in the ICE corpora, we therefore use historical data from the extended Brown family of corpora, which have also been parsed at the University of Zürich. The results of our analysis show that regional variety is less important than academic sub-discipline: with the sole exception of American English, be-passives are about equally frequent in both ENL and contact varieties; moreover, they are distributed similarly across all varieties according to academic sub-discipline (humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and technology).

Dynamic capabilities, human resources and operating routines

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explain the outcomes and role of dynamic capabilities (DCs). To explain the outcomes, the authors study the relationship between new product development (NPD) (an example of DCs) and metaflexibility. To explain the role of DCs, the authors study how human resources and operating routines moderate the role of DCs in achieving adaptation in the firm. Design/methodology/approach – Using data from 200 managers of Spanish firms, the authors apply regression analysis to test the moderating role of human resources and operating routines in the relationship between NPD and metaflexibility. Findings – The results demonstrate that highly qualified and committed workers enhance the effectiveness of NPD, while high frequency in repetition of operating routines significantly damages such effectiveness. Research limitations/implications – This study is limited to analysing a unique DC (NPD), but future research could explore contributions on other consolidated DCs (e.g. alliance management capability) and compare results. Also, the database on managerial perceptions rather than objective measures. Practical implications – Managers who must address environmental changes should connect generation of DCs to complementary functional strategies, especially human resources strategy. Originality/value – This paper suggests additional outcomes derived from DCs, such as metaflexibility. It attempts to understand the complex process by which DCs interact to modify operating routines in order to respond to environmental changes.

DETERMINATION OF SYSTEM OPERATION HISTORY BASED ON OIL FIELD DATA

The paper is to apply regression analysis methods with confidence intervals in order to analyse field data with the aim of finding the dependence of Fe particles occurrence on operating time. When comparing the results of the method/approach the authors believe that they can estimate the real operating profile of observed technical systems as well as its operating history. The results might be used for optimizing during an operation and maintenance phase.