EMPAS 14 (3) 2022

Currently, the market environment contains many factors influencing the enterprise’s competitiveness. Instability, the unpredictability of events, and insufficiently effective functioning of market mechanisms alter the management focus and processes engaged in an enterprise’s functioning. Some of them are intensive in terms of required resources and finance. Such a dynamic situation requires the enterprise management to build innovative solutions to flexibly respond and timely adapt to change. Therefore, this study aims to develop theoretical and applied approaches to determining the level of managerial and technological maturity of the basic set of technologies implemented in enterprises. In the context of this issue’s development and aiming to achieve the purpose, the study proposed a model approach where the introduction of individual technologies allows combining the rules for determining the enterprise’s management and the technological maturity level, i.e., its readiness for such changes. The construction of the model was based on the analysis and calculation of statistical data from four groups of technologies (corporate, industrial, decision support, and information technologies, which are divided into subclasses) and based on the theory of dynamic innovation development. The results were tested at seven food industry enterprises in Ukraine. Based on the study, the actual level of managerial and technological maturity of enterprises was determined, creating one complex set of technologies that depend on the level and structural changes in management and the level of technological maturity of enterprises. It can be used as a typical model for differently sized enterprises representing various industries.

Keywords:
innovation dynamics  technological maturity  food enterprises  development management  resources 

The article analyses the influence of contextual variables on students’ entrepreneurial intentions. The research seeks to extend previous findings concerning the impact of various contextual factors on entrepreneurial intentions. The main focus was on public policy, business environment and education as the contextual traits. The study answers the following questions: What role do contextual variables play in the formation of the entrepreneurial intention of young people? What factors comprise a latent variable — contextual factor? What is the relationship between various contextual factors? The survey was conducted among students of the Faculty of Engineering Management at Bialystok University of Technology (Poland). Data were collected from the sample of 332 respondents. This research used a causal quantitative methodology using structural equations (Structural Equation Modelling, SEM). The impact of education (E) on the business environment (BE) and of the business environment (BE) on public policy (PP) was confirmed. A direct influence of contextual factors — education (E), business environment (BE) and public policy (PP) — on entrepreneurial intentions (EI) has not been positively verified. The main theoretical conclusion is that contextual factors do not directly explain the entrepreneurial intentions of the surveyed student population in Poland. Decision-makers and politicians should consider additional measures to improve public policy in the country, but above all, measures that promote intentions indirectly. They aim to improve the educational environment in the country that is strengthening entrepreneurship education programmes in universities and earlier education stages and activities in the business environment, supporting the creation of new companies.

Keywords:
student entrepreneurship  contextual factors  entrepreneurial intentions  education  public policies  business environment 

This paper aims to identify the influence of intercultural competence on an organisation’s success and personal career in Lithuania. The study described in this paper is a part of international research on intercultural competence. An online questionnaire survey was conducted in Lithuania with non-probability convenience sampling to find out the views of employees working in different sector organisations. The survey was filled out by 1193 respondents from Lithuania. Employees’ intercultural competence (knowledge/cognitive dimension, skills/behavioural dimension, and attitudes/emotional dimension) was evaluated using 5-point Likert items and is elaborated elsewhere. The multivariate analysis was used to analyse the survey data and test three hypotheses stating that (1) employees support the notion that higher intercultural competence can foster an organisation’s success and personal career, (2) organisations tend to leave the development of intercultural competence to employees, and (3) current intercultural knowledge and skills are inadequate to operate in a multicultural work environment. The analysis showed that half of the respondents agreed with the statement that the development of intercultural competence (ICC) helped the personal career and an organisation’s success. The statement regarding organisations tending to leave the intercultural competence development to their employees was only supported by less than one-third of the respondents. Besides, the data did not fully support the statement that employees’ current intercultural knowledge and skills were inadequate to operate in a multicultural work environment, as no more than one-third of the respondents had frequent or very frequent issues when communicating with foreigners due to inadequate intercultural knowledge and skills in various sub-areas. The paper elaborates on detailed results.

Keywords:
competence  intercultural competence  multicultural environment  personal career  career strategies 

All manufacturers were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It can be assumed that producers were affected as much as the service operation field (based on company categories). This article aims to ascertain how COVID-19 affected various areas of service operations in manufacturing companies. So far, no literature is available identifying the impact of COVID-19 on various areas of service operations by current manufacturers. An electronic questionnaire was prepared and sent to the manufacturers. The questionnaire was completed by 88 respondents from four selected industrial areas. The findings show no statistically significant differences in the perception of the COVID-19 impact on various areas of service operations in manufacturing companies based on CZ-NACE, the number of employees, the type of customers and the type of services provided to products. However, in the area of the type of services, one statistically significant difference was found in the statement related to increasing interest in engaging in cooperation with suppliers in the field of smart services. Theoretical implication contributes to understanding the impact of COVID-19 on manufacturers in various areas of service operation. First, the research did not reveal any statistically significant difference in manufacturing companies sorted by their CZ-NACE, the number of employees and the predominant customers in the areas of service operations. It can be considered that the companies were hit by COVID-19 very similarly. Second, the research revealed statistically significant differences in the area of processing results according to the type of services, and in this case, only in the area of increasing interest in engaging in the cooperation with suppliers in the field of smart services. From a managerial viewpoint, this paper contributes to the field of impact of COVID-19 on areas of service operation in manufacturing companies.

Keywords:
student entrepreneurship  contextual factors  entrepreneurial intentions  education  public policies  business environment 

This study examined CRM’s effect on marketing performance and customer focus strategies. It also investigates the moderating role of environmental uncertainty in the relationship between CRM and customer focus on marketing performance. A quantitative research approach was used with a sample of the service industry in two countries, Indonesia and Thailand. The analysis unit was the manager responsible for customer relations. The number of examined surveys amounted to 406, with a distribution of 200 respondents from Thailand and 206 — from Indonesia. The purposive sampling approach was used. The study results indicated that CRM had a positive effect on marketing performance and customer focus. The latter positively affected marketing performance. The study also found that environmental uncertainty strengthened the relationship between CRM and the customer focus on marketing.

Keywords:
CRM  customer focus  marketing performance  environmental uncertainty 

This paper aims to establish the current state of knowledge on collective creativity in management science based on a systematic literature review. A systematic review was performed based on the three-step SPL procedure proposed by Tranfield et al. (2003). Two databases (Scopus and Web of Science) were searched electronically until March 2022. Literature analysis and content analysis were performed based on the secondary data. Eighteen studies met the inclusion criteria following the systematic literature review procedure. The conducted descriptive and thematic analysis allowed establishing the state of knowledge in the analysed area and identifying the main thematic areas along with the future research directions. The research was the first to conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) on collective creativity in management science. The main contribution of this paper is its exclusive focus on analysing existing research in the collective creativity field, limited to management science. SLR allowed determining that research in the analysed area was still at a fairly early stage. Although the existing literature sheds some light on collective creativity, studies investigating the aspects of teamwork focused on problem-solving are required.

Keywords:
collective creativity  creativity  teamwork  innovation