M16 - International Business AdministrationReturn

This research aims, through a multi-perspective and multi-disciplinary approach, to identify the key dimensions as well as the scale of measurement of enterprise supply chain resilience for an in-depth understanding of the concept. This is among the first empirical studies examining the key dimensions and appropriate measurement scale of enterprise supply chain resilience to address disruptions induced by unavoidable risk events. A detailed literature review is conducted to identify the dimensions of the construct under study. Then, a measurement instrument is developed from a set of items. The questionnaire is purified through a pretest, a pilot test, and reliability and validity tests. Data are collected from a final sample of 150 senior and middle managers, whose responses are considered for confirmatory factor analysis using SPSS Amos 22. The research results show that the enterprise supply chain resilience construct is composed of seven distinct dimensions, including collaboration, alertness, preparedness, visibility, robustness, flexibility and velocity. Then, a measurement instrument containing measurement items for each of said dimensions is empirically validated. This research develops and validates a structured and comprehensive measurement scale for the concept under study while identifying measurement items that can guide further theoretical testing of this concept and thereby dilute the dimensional and measurement confusions surrounding this theoretical concept.
Implications for Central European audience: This research develops and validates a structured and comprehensive measurement scale for the concept of firm supply chain resilience while identifying measurement items that can guide subsequent theoretical testing and thus dilute the dimensional and measurement confusions surrounding this theoretical concept.

There is a great contrast between the real role of accounting and its public perception. Accounting can be regarded as the language of business operations, but it is also the representative and manipulator of corporate operations and culture. The major challenge of accounting is whether it allows the most honest and knowledgeable managers to make outstanding reporting decisions while preventing the others on the other side of the honesty competence scale from distorting what they know about their company. This study presents the results of the authors’ empirical research about the opinions of accounting practitioners in Romaine on the values, career opportunities and ethical behaviour of the profession. The findings are interpreted at the various levels of accounting professions (administrators, accountants, auditors) by the number of years spent in accounting and groups of internal and external colleagues, focusing on causal relations. The conclusions are drawn through structural-equations-based causal models by the qualification of accounting professionals and the time spent by them in their jobs.
Implications for Central European audience: The paper is examining the role and ethics of accountants within the small and medium-sized sectors. In Central Europe, we have a similar cultural and historical background which might be touchable even in the business environment. Accountants influence how business works and what is disclosed about it. For the aim of a clear view, accountants must behave ethically, and they have to learn about business ethics and professional ethic topics.

Technologies transform the total marketing mix of hotel products in the dynamic tourism market, where the distribution is detected as a key factor of market placement and profitability. The main goal of this paper is to explore the distribution channels in the hospitality industry and to identify the most successful elements of online distribution for the purposes of realising future excellence in post-COVID-19 tourism. The online distribution elements that could enhance competitiveness and incentives for reservation were identified and ranked. This was realised by choosing the most representative sample and by researching it using a structured questionnaire, where the mix of competitiveness and marketing elements were evaluated. The research findings present the importance of online travel agents (OTA), tour operators, social networks and conferences (MICE segment). The potential of Global Distribution Systems (GDS) systems is detected and, although not fully valorised in practice, implicate future franchising and contracting with global hotel brands and consortia. The answer to the question: “Which tools and techniques of innovative online distribution should be used and what product elements enhance sales in the hotel industry of the future?” is explored by the scientific methodology, which supports the purpose and presents the main contribution of the paper.
Implications for Central European audience: The paper represents a considerable contribution in the perception of the distribution channels, affirmed for exchange in the Central European tourism market as an emissive market for the receptive offer of Croatian tourism. Considered in the context of the accessibility of Croatia as a car destination that realises both long-term and short-term “impulsive” bookings, promptness, propulsion and dynamism of online distribution channels used by the hotel offer have exceptional importance for income management and profitability. Correspondingly, a positive perception is being developed of the Central European market demand, as well as tourism awareness about closeness and market potentials, which represents a platform for the development of applicative strategies in communication and business. Recognising the effect on intensification of tourist exchange through the affirmation of innovations and technology contributes to the development of science and practice of the hospitality industry.

This paper aims to examine how knowledge management is associated with perceived organisational innovativeness in global companies operating in Central European country and what role in this relationship is played by organisational environment stimulants – organisational trust, leadership support, training and access to resources, and information and communication technology (ICT). This empirical study used a quantitative approach with the data gathered by questionnaire from global companies functioning in IT service (94) and in money transfer service (109). The findings revealed that knowledge management is significantly associated with perceived organisational innovativeness in the global organisations’ context. Organisational environment stimulants (organisational trust, leadership support, training and access to resources, ICT) were confirmed to have a moderate positive association with perceived organisational innovativeness and mediated the relationship between knowledge management and perceived organisational innovativeness. The findings provide additional insights into the existing research on global companies’ knowledge management and suggest that global organisations aiming to foster their innovativeness through knowledge management should focus on the development of learning capability and orientation at the organisational level, as well as reconsider their level of organisational trust and leadership support perceived by employees. This research contributes to the literature by examining the relationship between knowledge management and perceived organisational innovativeness and looking into organisational environment stimulants’ role in this link in a specific global organisations’ context.
Implications for Central European audience: when more and more global IT or financial service providers are looking for options to expand their business across the international borders, Central European countries like Lithuania become an attractive destination. The recommendations derived from the results indicate that leadership in global organisations should strive to create a sense of benevolence and aim to maintain integrity between communication and behaviour, particularly focusing on organisational trust development. Global business organisations’ managers must be able to communicate values and norms in a clear and transparent manner as well as ensure that organisational policies are governed in a coherent way across the offices around the world.

In this article, we focus on ethnocentrism applying to the theory of consumer behaviour while a relatively new concept of consumer ethnocentrism was created, which is under-studied in Slovakia. A patriotism indicates a second research issue. However, this concept is used in purchase and marketing conditions rarely. Based on these facts, we decided to contribute to a set of knowledge with new findings and broaden a knowledge base. This work’s main aim is to research consumer ethnocentrism and patriotism impact on evaluation and preference of domestic products. The primary quantitative survey supports this study. The fundamental part of our survey is 628 respondents. We created partial goals which produce a foundation for the phrasing of survey questions and hypotheses. These were tested by a one-way ANOVA test. We used a model of linear regressive analysis for pinpointing direction and frequency effect. Results suggest a strong link between consumer ethnocentrism and patriotism. Based on these results, consumer ethnocentrism and patriotism can be marked as factors that positively influence a preference and evaluation of domestic products. But both concepts show themselves in different frequency in different product categories. Based on the results, we can state that it is necessary to explore both concepts when speaking of product categories. Results can be used in different fields (sociology, psychology and marketing) while representing a benefit for a theory and practice.
Implications for Central European audience: A knowledge used in different marketing campaigns supporting a domestic purchase can be established from the trade and marketing perspective. Noteworthy is also a discovery that the influence of concepts is not visible equally in each product categories. Results can be used by the Slovak republic government and domestic producers who are interested in an increase of competitiveness of domestic products. But also, it is for foreign producers who have an interest in expansion on the Slovak market.

Faced with an environment that is changing faster and faster, companies have long sought to encourage the almost automatic emergence of new approaches that can respond or even anticipate these changes. The development of creativity has become an essential theme. For more than 20 years, companies have been promoting the concept of agility at the same time as they attempted to extend creativity to all employees. Managers have been called upon to implement the corresponding actions. Our research, based on semi-structured interviews with 35 global managers, analyses several aspects of the implementation of the concepts. We looked particularly at what managers think of agility, how this concept relates to the efforts made to develop creativity, what they experienced, and the conditions for success. The analysis of the responses highlights the significant differences in perception, often linked to the functions performed in the company or to nationalities. Regardless of the value associated with agility, the interviewees agreed on the importance of the manager’s role while directing it in three different directions. The discussions also identify a series of necessary but not sufficient conditions for creativity to emerge.
Implications for Central European audience: This paper does not deal with a problem specific to Central Europe. It is a general problem going beyond regional limits, as international management tends to use the same concepts everywhere. However, in its processing, we sought to interview several managers from this geographic area. In the second phase, we plan to improve the representativeness of managers from Central Europe to understand better what is specific to them.

The main goal of this paper is to identify the major factors for the decision of Swiss IT service firms to nearshore their locations and to quantify their relative importance. Moreover, we develop an IT Nearshoring Index ranking the attractiveness of different European regions. We use a quantitative survey of 56 Swiss IT service firms that are either actively engaging in nearshoring or planning to nearshore parts of their business. Using the survey, we identified five main factors for the nearshoring location decision of Swiss IT firms: economic, labour, institutional, social and location. We pin down the relative importance (weights) of the aforementioned factors using the survey results and expert interviews. The labour factors (including labour costs on the one and the availability of skilled IT workforce on the other side) proved to be most important. We use the obtained weights to construct a (weighted) IT Nearshoring Index. Based on the IT Nearshoring Index, we find that in contrast to general belief, the most attractive locations cannot be found in Eastern Europe, but in Southern UK or Western Germany. The first is due to their high availability of IT workforce, the latter due to their cultural and geographical proximity. Eastern European regions can base their competitive advantage on offering attractive labour costs, but this cannot make up for the disadvantage of greater cultural and geographical distance to Switzerland.

Business excellence develops and strengthens the management systems and processes of an organization to improve performance and create value for stakeholders. Business excellence models frameworks can help to an organization to focus thought and action in a more systematic and structured way leads to increased performance. The paper focuses on the business strategy of Czech enterprises in the context of business excellence models. The objective of the paper is to identify the relationship between business strategy and international performance of Czech enterprises. The enterprises included in the study are 490 enterprises established in the Czech Republic. The primary data collection method was a questionnaire-interview. The results demonstrate that the business knowledge of managers and company resources significantly correspond with the business strategy of Czech enterprises on international markets.

Realization of international entrepreneurial activities is a significant step influencing the business strategy of each enterprise. The paper raises the question of which internal factors, particularly human resources, influence the decisions on the realization of international entrepreneurial activities in Czech family SMEs. The objective of the paper is to determine the effect of selected internal factors on the decisions on the realization of international entrepreneurial activities by Czech family SMEs. The enterprises included in the study are those Czech family SMEs that have already undertaken internationalization activities and were established in the Czech Republic. The research study includes 246 Czech family SMEs. The method included oral questioning and a questionnaire as the principal instruments applied for researching the relationship between human resources and decision making. The results of the research study show the significant influence of human resources on the decision in Czech family SMEs.

Globally, there are many profound changes going on within the automotive sector. There are new technological developments like e-mobility and autonomous cars, as well as new business models such as car sharing that may make purchasing a car obsolete for the younger, international target group. The intention of this paper is to identify the role and importance of cars in the young target group internationally and to explore current motives for buying an automobile. To this end, the authors conducted a psychological research study on a diverse group of upper division undergraduate and master’s degree level students originating from more than twenty different nations.  Research methods used include structured one-on-one interviews and in-depth focus groups. The study’s results are useful for international marketing practitioners as they contribute to understanding the relevance and importance of automobiles for the international youth target market as well as identification of motives regarding car purchase across various countries. The results have implications for international managers within the automotive industry for the development of new mobility concepts as well as for international marketing communications within the automotive sector.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the intercultural and gender differences between American and Czech customers in relation to their perceptions of the verbal and nonverbal personality characteristics of a salesperson during the personal sales process. This research provides scholars and practitioners with an understanding of the cultural and gender-specific personal interaction factors that should be addressed when designing effective interpersonal sales approaches. The study utilized an experimental design approach. Personal selling scenarios were filmed and shown to respondents (university students acting as potential customers) who completed a survey regarding sales effectiveness. The resulting data was factor analyzed and a conceptual personal sales model was developed. The model suggests that salesperson authenticity and personal interaction factors impact sales success in both the U.S. and the Czech Republic. However, there are variations in the receptivity of potential U.S. and Czech customers to specific interpersonal communication factors. Gender-based variations were also identified. The study focused on automotive retail sales scenarios in the United States; however, the results can be generalized to similar markets.

The expansion of the European Union (EU) and economic growth have propelled the development of intermodal transportation and logistics activities in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Yet, the inland location of most CEE economies requires improved connectivity to port terminals on both the Atlantic/Baltic and Mediterranean/Black Sea ranges. The paper provides a broader research perspective on inland logistics platforms focusing on the CEE region, particularly as it concerns the role of the public sector in port hinterland infrastructure development. The paper identifies the current bottlenecks in logistics activity in regard to the whole range of the national transport chains. A dual regionalization process is taking place between the ports of the Northern and Mediterranean ranges and that the Northern Range is more effective at servicing the CEE region, including the Czech Republic, in spite of the proximity advantage of Mediterranean ports.

For effective crisis management and communication, a decision maker has to understand the causes and nature of a crisis and how it influences stakeholder perceptions. Identifying an organization's vulnerabilities is essential for crisis prevention but practitioners often lack the ability to define crisis scenarios, especially the worst-case ones. A crisis typology is a structured approach to analyze crisis situations and to introduce measures for crisis prevention and containment. This paper aims to review recent literature on crisis classifications and to discuss their application. Because a single typology cannot capture the complexity and the interdisciplinary nature of a crisis, four relevant typologies from different disciplines are compared. Their combined application in an interdisciplinary framework is suggested. The paper discusses the need for typologies that reflect the cultural and contextual dimensions. Conclusions concerning the limitations and directions for further research are drawn.

The goal of this paper is to compare the characteristics of Polish and Czech companies which follow the Born Global internationalization model. More concretely, the analysis aims to discover the differences or similarities in terms of the internationalization paths of Polish and Czech SMEs in the characteristics of their managers in terms of the so-called "international vision" and in their innovativeness level. The introductory part of article provides a description of this internationalization model and the International New Ventures traits (INV) and summarizes the recent studies on this topic conducted in Poland and Czech Republic. In the empirical part, the International New Ventures from the two countries are compared. The Polish sample includes 105 companies which were surveyed with use of computer assisted telephone interviews in autumn 2014. For the Czech Republic, the sample consists of 54 small and medium-sized companies, which were surveyed using the computer assisted web interviews from November 2013 till January 2014. The surveyed companies in both countries fulfilled the definition of Born Globals. Descriptive statistics, cross-tabulation analysis and non-parametric tests are applied to accomplish the goals of the paper.

In recent years, some of China's leading firms have made headlines with their European expansion, by either opening new facilities or by acquiring or merging with significant enterprises in Europe. The goal of this paper is to contribute to the existing literature by examining Chinese enterprises expanding into Switzerland. The study also allows some conclusions for Chinese companies entering Central and Eastern Europe. We analyze via interviews the motivations of Chinese companies to expand into Switzerland as well as their behavior and the impediments in their internationalization process. Our findings show that Chinese companies fail to take advantage of certain benefits of western economies (such as open information and stable rule of law). To move forward efficiently, they should develop competence in dealing systematically with readily available market information, building professional networks that recognize a separation between business life and personal life, and managing their Chinese and foreign employees in the foreign cultural environment.

The forthcoming research characterises and analyses the key market players (shipping lines), their customer service policy together with the implications the container transport bottlenecks have for the market in the Czech Republic with customer orientation being one of these. Evaluating companies' customer orientation and analyzing container shipping dimensions in the market of transport and logistics is a highly complex task, especially in the times of the changes in the market. To obtain the data necessary for an informed analysis, open interviews with selected customer service managers will be made and questionnaires distributed in the Czech Republic. Due to the concentration of container and logistics activity within a relatively small number of global shipping lines present in the countries with substantial market share, the approach of market characteristics will be case study based. It must be stressed this is a conceptual paper only, the data has not been collected yet; therefore, there is no conclusion on the research. It is focused primarily on methodology applied and a literature review.

This paper discusses the increasing importance of emerging markets, particularly those in Africa, in terms of international business opportunities in the post-financial crisis period; while BRIC economies have received a lot of attention in the preceding decade, other emerging markets - especially in Africa - show indications of taking on more prominence in the upcoming period. In fact, at present, the continent of Africa represents one of the fastest growing markets in the world. This paper focuses on growth indicators and trends in the African markets as well as potential future international business opportunities; specifically, it examines the competitiveness of African nations, the business environments of countries in Africa, the continent's international trade situation and urbanization in Africa. The paper concludes with a brief discussion on existing business opportunities together with some challenges which remain on the continent.

This conceptual paper contributes to the discussion of the effects of the Great Recession on strategies of multinational companies operating in CEE. The author argues that the original business model that guided the "going East" of Western companies is still valid. However, foreign investors have adapted their strategies for CEE in the aftermath of the crisis: they differentiate stronger between the individual economies, follow a more cautious and selective investment approach, rationalize product portfolios, test new cost-efficient organizational arrangements and consider increasingly "value-for-money" strategies to tap the mass markets.

The objective of the paper is to assess the reasons for the current negative position of the Czech Government toward euro adoption and to find out whether the expected benefits of euro adoption for Czech companies still remain. The postponement of euro adoption in the Czech Republic has mainly been caused by the current problems of the euro area. The benefits arising from euro adoption are subject to the reduction of the exchange rate volatility and of the transaction costs, whereas they also depend on the degree of integration with the euro area. These benefits may still be expected - neither the financial crisis nor the economic recession has affected them. The integration of the Czech economy with the euro area is high and still growing. Therefore, euro adoption will lead to the stimulation of mutual trade of the Czech Republic and the euro area.

The objective of this research is to analyze the customer service orientation and policy of Czech logistics providers (3PLs), global shipping lines and multimodal transport operators (MTOs). Evaluating customer orientation in the market of transport and logistics is a highly complex task. To obtain the data necessary for an informed analysis, open interviews will be made and questionnaires will be distributed to the relevant companies' managers in the Czech Republic. Due to the concentration of container and logistics activity within the relatively small number of important market players active in the country's market, the approach of market characteristics will be case study based. Moreover, the research will offer an important analysis of the shipping lines' and logistics providers' services in terms of customer service policy in the Czech Republic. If possible and feasible given the data, a survey of customer perspectives will also be undertaken. The conceptual part of the paper focuses on a literature review, methodology and anticipated results only.

This article sheds light on the organizational context enhancing development of relational capabilities and examines the significance of relational capabilities for SMEs' financial and non-financial performance. The firm's relational capability is measured separately in customers' and suppliers' networks. This study is based on a sample of 67 SMEs from the five most internationalized industries in Slovenia. Research hypotheses are tested with linear regression models. The results support our prediction that fostering internal social capital, coupled with the usage of economic motivators, augments a firm's relational capability in a supplier network, which in turn is associated with better performance outcomes, both financial and non-financial. The results on relational capability in a customer network with respect to performance are less conclusive, indicating that vertical ties of internationally oriented SMEs (with suppliers and customers) are not of equal importance.

This paper discusses possible approaches for business schools regarding how to educate students to be future generators of sustainable value for business and society at large and to work for an inclusive and sustainable global economy. On the basis of the recently published Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) as well as contemporary learning theories, the paper provides concrete recommendations about how to foster students' development towards becoming long-term thinking, responsible business leaders. The paper argues that student learning needs to occur within powerful learning environments to provide active, problem-based and self-directed acquisition of knowledge, skills and attitudes. Two approaches to create best-practice learning environments are real-life case studies and real-life student projects which both lead to strong buy-in from students, faculty and company partners. Both approaches are exemplified with the International Management bachelor's degree program at Zurich University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland. As a result, responsible management education fosters students' knowledge, skills and attitudes towards responsible business leadership to shape the future direction of the 21st century.