scholarly journals The Competency Niche: An Exploratory Study

Risks ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 187
Author(s):  
Zbysław Dobrowolski ◽  
Grzegorz Drozdowski ◽  
Józef Ledzianowski

In the era of a turbulent and less-predictable business environment, as confirmed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the ability to efficiently use human resources has become particularly important. There is a need to reduce employees' competency niche, and competency mismatches have become noticeable in the European Union. We performed qualitative interviews (n = 282) to determine the competency niche of employees from private firms in Poland. Results show that employees were passive in identifying their competence needs. Moreover, firms did not use the weak signals methodology to eliminate the competency niche. This novel study found that firms should be more active in identifying employee competency niches by analyzing early signs to be ready for any changes without delays. The findings create a basis for proposing preventive measures, and we point out avenues for future research.

2015 ◽  
pp. 90-116
Author(s):  
Jolanta Szymańska

The economic crisis showed the weaknesses of the institutional system of the European Union, raising questions about its shape. The article aims to determine whether internal structures of the EU institutions and their modes of operation are chances or barriers for effective treaty implementation and the ability of institutions to face unexpected, difficult situations. The article focuses both on the formal structure of the institutions and their human resources. The article aims to conclude if the crisis may give impetus to a significant improvement in the EU institutional system.


Pathogens ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 1077
Author(s):  
Silvia Bellini ◽  
Alessandra Scaburri ◽  
Marco Tironi ◽  
Stefania Calò

In 2019, the area of the European Union (EU) affected by African swine fever (ASF) expanded progressively in a southwestern direction from Baltic and eastern countries. The disease can severely affect and disrupt regional and international trade of pigs and pork products with serious socioeconomic damages to the pig industry. Lombardy is one of the most important European pig producers and the introduction of ASF into the pig population could adversely affect the entire sector. A study was carried out to identify the farms and territories in the region most at risk of ASF introduction to plan preventive measures. The pig holdings were identified through a descriptive analysis of pig movements and Social Network Analysis (SNA), while, for the identification of the most exposed municipalities, an assessment of risk factors was carried out using the ranking of summed scores attributed to the Z-score. From the analysis, it was found that 109 municipalities and 297 pig holdings of the region were potentially more at risk, and these holdings were selected for target surveillance. This information was provided to veterinary authority to target surveillance in pig farms, in order to early detect a possible incursion of ASF and prevent its spread.


Author(s):  
Ivo Zdráhal ◽  
Věra Bečvářová

The aim of the paper is to evaluate the development of the Czech foreign trade in milk and milk products and specify the typical features and consequences within its territorial and commodity structure using a specific system of indicators intended to show a relevant image on the topic. The analysis covers the period between 1999 and 2015 and are interpreted in the context of changes of the business environment that have occurred in the last two decades, particularly in relation to the Czech Republic’s entry into the European Union. Throughout the studied period, the Czech Republic revealed a positive balance of trade in milk and dairy products, as well as favourable values of TC index (value of coverage of import by export). The dynamics of the territorial structure of export and import is embodied in the overall trade dynamics between the Czech Republic and countries of EU-28. The Czech Republic’s entry into the EU common market, however, led to a change in the trading milk product structure. As a negative is regarded the fact that the structure of Czech export to the EU countries has changed and that is mainly concentrated on basic raw milk or dairy products of the first phase of processing with relatively low added value.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Augustin Ignatov

Abstract Entrepreneurship is the driving force of economic development and progress. A successful state, first of all, provides favourable conditions motivating the businesses to grow and flourish. Presently, the European Union is developing unevenly with multiple economic misbalances across the community, the West and the North being more competitive than the South and the East. The aim of the present research is to examine the framework of interdependence between the degree to which the governance quality and economic freedom in the European Union are supporting entrepreneurial activities and the performance of the community in terms of entrepreneurial innovation. The results reached through applying both qualitative and quantitative analyses show that the interdependence between entrepreneurial innovation and regulatory efficiency is strong for many of the European Union states which is determined by multiple factors including the institutional and economic ones. Also, the present paper underlines the importance of the proper regulatory framework for the efficient development of business innovation. The future research on this matter could consider in depth the impact of socio-cultural environment, its influence on the quality of governance and the impact of both upon the European entrepreneurial innovation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 64-70
Author(s):  
Miroslav Raicov ◽  
Andrea Fehér ◽  
Tabita Adamov ◽  
Sorin Stanciu

The growing competition between different regions, thus their activities performed under both within and outside the European Union represents a fact of the "globalized" world in which we are living. For many years, the regional disparities in terms of development level and life quality were subject to national policies of the Member States. Many improvements have been observed since the European Union initiated the policy of reducing them. The Cohesion Policy of the European Union has an unique irreplaceable role in the coagulation of integrated development strategies, comprising interventions in different areas, such as infrastructure, research and innovation, employment, education, business, environment protection, climate changes and energy efficiency within a package of coherent policies addressing to regional or even local context, being one of the most visible policies, especially in what regards the relationship with citizens. Thus, the Cohesion Policy target is represented by supporting the process of reducing the disparities between the regions and Member States more developed of the European Union and the ones that are less developed.


2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julien Chevallier

Since the creation of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) in 2005, a burgeoning academic literature has emerged to identify the factors that shape the price of carbon, where one European Union Allowance is equal to one ton of CO2-equivalent emitted in the atmosphere. Thus, there is a need for an updated and thorough literature review on the state-of-the-art on topic that this paper aims to fulfill. Namely, the author considers the main econometric studies that have been recently published in the academic literature, which feature the influence of the following determinants to explain the variation of the price of carbon: institutional decisions; energy prices and weather events; macroeconomic and financial market shocks. The paper concludes with some directions for future research in this area.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathanaël Betti ◽  
Gerrit Sarens

Purpose This paper aims to gain an in-depth understanding of how the internal audit function evolves in an increasingly digitalised business environment. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on 29 semi-structured interviews with members of management committees and internal auditors based in Belgium. Findings The analysis reveals that a digitalised business environment affects the internal audit function in three respects. First, it impacts its scope. The agility of the internal audit planning and the required digital knowledge are expected to increase and information technology (IT) risks gain importance, especially cybersecurity threats. Second, the demand for consulting activities performed by internal auditors is higher and third, digitalisation modifies the working practices of internal auditors in their day-to-day tasks. New technologies such as data analytics tools are being implemented progressively in internal audit departments and digital skills are considered a critical asset. Research limitations/implications This research was conducted in the European Union and gathers opinions of members of management committees and internal auditors. Future research could focus on other internal auditing stakeholders in other legal contexts. Practical implications The internal audit function needs to integrate IT and data analytics skills. In addition, the internal audit function should develop consulting activities to help organisations deal with the digitalisation of the business environment. Originality/value The impact of digitalisation on the internal audit function and its effect on internal audit practices is an underexplored area.


2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 46
Author(s):  
Pawel Dec ◽  
Piotr Masiukiewicz

This paper focuses on the analysis of comparative models bankruptcy in selected EU countries and the evaluation of the effectiveness of the insolvency proceedings. These models are quite similar in the countries concerned; also they give the opportunity to the many variants of the bankruptcy procedure. The main thesis of the article is—so far developed and applied models of bankruptcy are still insufficient and need to be improved and reorientation to a greater extent, particularly concerning the taking into account of weak signals from the business environment. The authors analyzed the relevant theories of the firm and its reference to bankruptcy, presented various models of insolvency procedures in selected EU member states, analyzed the so-called European Company for bankruptcy. Complementing the paper detailed research on the effectiveness of insolvency proceedings in many countries. Included in the text of the conclusions show the shortage of both in theory and in practice, a comprehensive solution to the problem of insolvency proceedings.


2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 701-725
Author(s):  
Matteo La Torre ◽  
Svetlana Sabelfeld ◽  
Marita Blomkvist ◽  
John Dumay

Purpose This paper introduces the special issue “Rebuilding trust: Sustainability and non-financial reporting, and the European Union regulation”. Inspired by the studies published in the special issue, this study aims to examine the concept of accountability within the context of the European Union (EU) Directive on non-financial disclosure (hereafter the EU Directive) to offer a critique and a novel perspective for future research into mandatory non-financial reporting (NFR) and to advance future practice and policy. Design/methodology/approach The authors review the papers published in this special issue and other contemporary studies on the topic of NFR and the EU Directive. Findings Accountability is a fundamental concept for building trust in the corporate reporting context and emerges as a common topic linking contemporary studies on the EU Directive. While the EU Directive acknowledges the role of accountability in the reporting practice, this study argues that regulation and practice on NFR needs to move away from an accounting-based conception of accountability to promote accountability-based accounting practices (Dillard and Vinnari, 2019). By analysing the links between trust, accountability and accounting and reporting, the authors claim the need to examine and rethink the inscription of interests into non-financial information (NFI) and its materiality. Hence, this study encourages research and practice to broaden mandatory NFR practice over the traditional boundaries of accountability, reporting and formal accounting systems. Research limitations/implications Considering the challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis, this study calls for further research to investigate the dialogical accountability underpinning NFR in practice to avoid the trap of focusing on accounting changes regardless of accountability. The authors advocate that what is needed is more timely NFI that develops a dialogue between companies, investors, national regulators, the EU and civil society, not more untimely standalone reporting that has most likely lost its relevance and materiality by the time it is issued to users. Originality/value By highlighting accountability issues in the context of mandatory NFR and its linkages with trust, this study lays out a case for moving the focus of research and practice from accounting-based regulations towards accountability-driven accounting change.


Author(s):  
Luisa Esteban-Salvador ◽  
Ana Felicitas Gargallo-Castel ◽  
Javier Pérez-Sanz

This study aims to develop a better understanding of what drives small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to engage in environmental practices in isolated rural areas. Despite a growing literature on environmental behavior in different contexts, the green activities of SMEs in rural areas remains underexposed. This neglect is remarkable, and deserves attention given the serious depopulation problems they have to face, and the economic and social challenges that lie ahead. Using unique data from 141 SMEs in one of the most sparsely populated regions in the European Union, we study the influence of territorial relations on firms’ environmental conduct. Our results suggest that different territorial factors have some impact on the adoption of environmental practices. We report evidence indicative of the role of these factors in shaping environmental decisions. Finally, we offer suggestions for future research that could further develop our understanding of environmental management decisions in rural and underpopulated areas.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document