M50 - Personnel Economics: GeneralReturn

The underrepresentation of women in leadership positions is common evidence of gender inequality. Consequently, the European Commission brought a directive to balance the underrepresentation of women on boards in EU countries. Often, females are presumed to be less favourable for top management positions in successful companies and are faced with different obstacles during their careers. However, they possess many different characteristics, which makes them excellent leaders and may create positive differences in financial reporting quality (FRQ). Croatia still lags behind other EU countries in terms of the share of women within corporate boards; therefore, in this paper, we aim to investigate whether the FRQ differs based on the boardroom’s gender structure. The research is conducted on a sample of listed Croatian companies using univariate and multivariate statistical methods. Two sub-samples were formed in order to capture the effects of the Gender Equality Act (GEA) application. Our results show that women are still underrepresented as board members despite the regulations that introduced a list of activities for gender equality. The gender structure of corporate boardrooms is significantly associated with FRQ, and issuing positive audit opinions is related to tilted-structured management boards, where up to 40% of the board members are women. The contribution of our research is twofold: to investigate the trends and level of gender inequality in leadership positions of Croatian listed companies, and to identify whether the gender structure of top management plays a significant role in a company's FRQ.
Implications for Central European audience: The results of this study provide significant insight into the underrepresentation of women on corporate boards within EU countries. Our findings and recommendations may be of special interest, particularly for Central European countries that share the experience of transition from planned to market economy with Croatia and are characterised by similar institutional, political, economic and financial systems. The topic is crucial in contemporary business, especially following and adapting to the directives brought by the European Commission, pinpointing the issue as a current and future challenge.

In recent years, we have observed a growing interest in generational change. Various journalists, commentators and trend watchers have drawn attention to the differences of the newly emerging generation known as Generation Z (for purposes of this study, young people born in 2000 and later). It seems that the specificity of Generation Z is mainly determined by exposure to technology from an early age. It affects not only the way young people communicate but also their values, career expectations and lifestyles. The aim of the study is, therefore, to find out which factors are important for a successful labour market entry and the most influential for young people of Generation Z. We predict that the quantity and quality of online communication, life and work values and career expectations relate to career adaptability and resilience of Generation Z. Data were collected via a questionnaire based on validated and adapted scales – life values inventory, career adaptability scale and career resilience scale. The sample included 804 high school students, representatives of Generation Z, in the last year of their studies. The data of this study were analysed with the SPSS statistical software using exploratory factor and correlation analysis. The correlation analysis showed a significant relationship between career adaptability/career resilience and both variables of the model, value orientation and career expectations. The results of the study also reveal Generation Z’s perception of the ideal workplace, the main priorities in selecting a job, perceived working potential and their career aspirations. The results suggest that Generation Z appreciate when their employer provides them with the possibility of online communication as a necessary part of their work expectations. The ranking of the life values shows the importance of the value “prestige” among students, which indicates the importance of sharing success and experiences online.
Implications for Central European audience: Employability of Generation Z is a viable concept used and researched worldwide. A modified successful labour market entry model for Generation Z is supported in the Czech context, and it provides a base for future research. The results of the study support an investigation of Generation Z employability and provide an insight into the expectations and values of grammar school students in Czechia. The model might offer a convenient roadmap to accommodate the work expectations of Gen Z from the Central European region: career adaptability/resilience and factors of Generation Z’s entry onto the labour market.

The consequences of both workplace ostracism and workplace loneliness may include negative impacts on employee performance, yet few studies have focused on the interactions between these three constructs. In this context, both current and future studies may make prospective contributions. The goals of this paper are to investigate the associations between these variables and to determine whether workplace loneliness has any moderating effect on the possible association between workplace ostracism and job performance. A quantitative study was designed, and 349 employees in different sectors were included in the research. Findings indicated that workplace ostracism was positively associated with workplace loneliness, while it was negatively associated with job performance. A negative association between workplace loneliness and job performance was also estimated. Neither workplace loneliness as a whole nor social companionship had any moderating effects on the workplace ostracism–job performance association. On the other hand, emotional deprivation was found to have a moderating effect on this relationship. The findings prove that in combination, emotional loneliness and ostracism cause greater damage to employee psychology and, therefore, more greatly reduce job performance. 
Implications for the Central European audience: The study demonstrates that among the aspects of workplace loneliness, the emotional component is more critical to employee psychology and, therefore, job performance. Determining the factors that cause emotional loneliness in the workplace and taking precautions against them seem to be significant to the achievement of organisational goals.

The article focuses on the analysis of the results of empirical research, which shows how motivation of knowledge workers influences their job performance. The analysis focuses on characteristics (that are differentia specifica) of a knowledge worker and their impact on the results achieved in their organization. It was assumed that the impact of motivation on job performance increases together with the intensity of these characteristics. Therefore, the main aim of this article is to verify the influence of motivation on knowledge workers’ job performance. In order to verify the formulated hypothesis, an empirical study with the use of a questionnaire was conducted among employees of 204 organizations operating in Poland. Methods of statistical description and estimation were used, including correlation analysis and regression analysis with moderator. A positive relation was established between the absorption of knowledge workers’ characteristics and work motivation, and a positive relation between absorption of knowledge workers’ characteristics and job performance. Together with the verification of the knowledge workers’ characteristics as the mediator of the relation between work motivation and job performance, the study allows for the advancement of the existing (and described) research area. The obtained results allow only to preliminarily verify the raised issue which proves that it is a field of study undoubtedly worth exploring further.

The aim of this study is to identify the individual and contextual factors that facilitate or hinder employees’ creativity. However, in this paper the literature is also referring to critical factors that impact employees’ creativity. According to the creativity’s state of the art, we focused on factors based on creativity’s 4P, choosing Person (characteristics of creative persons) and Place (environmental factors that influence creativity). Considerable research efforts have been invested to explore the possible connections between these two domains by investigating the Hungarian labour market. We found that the probability that a creative person works in a creative workplace is twice greater than that of the case of a non-creative person. This study presents the requisites of a creative workplace so that employees’ creativity can be developed and a kind of work environment which facilitates organizational creativity can be created. First, we have collected and presented the best practices of recruitment-tools which help managers to hire the most creative applicants. With these two components, i.e. finding creative workers and securing them a creative friendly environment, the business success is guaranteed.

Based on summarizing the results of the global research on human resource management and the author's dissertation research on best practices in human resource management, this paper attempts to explain the essence of the positive relationship between best practices in human resource management and organizational performance and competitiveness. It supports the assumption that the essence is the optimal system of human resource management, based on proven best practices in job design, employee selection, performance management, employee compensation or employee training, that enables managers to achieve expected organizational performance and competitiveness by achieving desired employee abilities, motivation and performance. The author's dissertation research verified the theoretical assumptions about application of best practices in human resources management and, through a questionnaire survey, examined the views of executives and HR managers from Czech TOP 100 companies and the best employers in the Czech Republic.