scholarly journals BUSINESS ENGLISH AS THE LINGUA FRANCA IN THE MACEDONIAN COMPANIES – A STRATEGY FOR THE FUTURE

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikola Dimeski ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Business Environment ◽  
Internal Communication ◽  
Language Diversity ◽  
Business English ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Native Languages ◽  
Corporate World ◽  
The Future ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
And Performance

The progress of society, in all areas, largely depends on the quality and the advancement of the companies in one country. Since the economy of a country is the primary drive for progress, the corporate world must evolve and advance in order to keep up with the trends and the constant changes in the business environment and thus continue the progress of societies. This paper aims to provide an understanding of the importance of business English as a lingua franca in advancing Macedonian businesses. Although the primary purpose for developing business English has been business interaction among English-speaking and non-English speaking companies, with time, the companies have dragged in native languages turning business English into a lingua franca in the corporate world. Therefore, not only has business English progressed into the backbone of international trade, which is crucial for the economic development of the countries, but it also became essential for the companies' internal communication, which is vital for their operation and performance. That being said, the main implication of this paper is to enlighten Macedonian society on the significance of introducing business English as the lingua franca in Macedonian companies. By discussing and analysing specific areas on how business English can improve the competitiveness of the Macedonian companies and workforce, the researcher proposes a strategy for the future based on; introduction of a Business English course in the Macedonian educational system, training of employees, employment of staff conversant with English, use of simple vocabulary and repetition of statements, and embracing language diversity.

Segmentation Approach for Athleisure and Performance Sport Retailers Based on Data Mining Techniques

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 71-85
Author(s):  
Sunčica Rogić ◽  
Ljiljana Kašćelan
Keyword(s):  
Data Mining ◽  
Direct Marketing ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Customer Segmentation ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Data Mining Techniques ◽  
The Future ◽  
Segmentation Approach ◽  
Promotional Materials ◽  
And Performance

This paper seeks to compare certain customer segments from two sport footwear, apparel, and equipment retailers and to examine an objective market segmentation method, based on the recency, frequency, monetary (RFM) and the decision tree (DT) models. The case study is based on two data sets, aiming to compare the different customer segments, both from sport retail industry, and represents an application of data mining techniques in a business environment. The customer segmentation enables the customer selection for the future direct marketing campaigns based on the previous purchasing behavior. Analyzing the customers' purchasing history can help the company determine the value of each customer and therefore target or not target such customers in the future with promotional materials, based on both the customers' interests and their value. Thus, based on the results, personalized offers can be created for each of the defined customer groups, which may increase the efficiency of the overall campaign, reduce costs, and increase profitability.

Corporate Growth Strategies and Performance of Selected Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies in Nairobi City County, Kenya

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-30
Author(s):  
Hamida Mwilu ◽  
Reuben Njuguna
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Growth Strategies ◽  
Inferential Statistics ◽  
Market Expansion ◽  
Acquisition Strategies ◽  
Corporate Growth ◽  
Diversification Strategies ◽  
And Performance

The dynamic nature of business operating environment has called on business leaders to be strategic in their leadership roles if they are to sustain their competitiveness into the unforeseen future. Growth is important in Sacco’s because it is future oriented establishing ways in which the organizational operations can be aligned to future changes in the business environment to ensure that competitiveness is sustained. The SACCOs in Kenya have experienced problems in the past; some even shutting down therefore there is need for customer growth to be enhanced so as to increase their incomes so as to sustain the business. These SACCOs have to look for leaders and managers who can develop future targets, direct and lead other staffs towards meeting the firm’s objective and gaining a competitive edge. The aim of this study was an assessment of corporate growth strategies and performance in savings and cooperative societies in Kenya, Nairobi County. The study sought to determine the influence of market expansion, diversification strategies and acquisition strategies. The study target population was 41 licensed SACCOs in Nairobi County. The study used primary data to collect information, and the data collection instrument was a questionnaire which was given to the 41 operations managers in the 41 selected SACCOs. The data collection procedure was done by the researcher and drop-and-pick strategy will be applied. The data was coded and keyed in Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS Version 23.0), and was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. For descriptive statistics was through mean scores, standard deviations, frequencies and percentages, while the inferential statistics was through regression analysis to establish the relationship between strategic leadership and customer growth. The findings were presented in tables and charts for easy understanding, interpreting, and describing the data. The study established that market expansion, diversification strategies and acquisition strategies as corporate growth strategies had a positive and significant effect on the performance of SACCOs in Nairobi City County. The study concluded that the SACCOs significantly employed market expansion strategies through improved branch network, customer base enhancement, new distribution channels and technological innovation. The study concluded that the SACCOs embraced a hybrid of the main diversification strategies, diverse products and services significantly. It was concluded that to a little extent the selected SACCOs in Nairobi City County have employed acquisition as a corporate growth strategy. The study recommends that the SACCOs should embrace integrate technology in the implementation of corporate growth strategies to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.  Further studies should be undertaken to establish the effect of corporate growth strategies on the performance of other SACCOs in other regions to establish the disparities or similarities among the financial sector players. 

An Incomplete Journey Away from the Past: The Life and Ideas of Antonius Ameuney (1821–1881)

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 318-338
Author(s):  
Anthony Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
Personal Life ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future ◽  
English Speaking

Abstract This article recovers a dissonant voice from the nineteenth-century nahḍa. Antonius Ameuney (1821–1881) was a fervent Protestant and staunch Anglophile. Unlike his Ottoman Syrian contemporaries, who argued for religious diversity and the formation of a civil society based on a shared Arab past, he believed that the only geopolitical Syria viable in the future was one grounded in Protestant virtues and English values. This article examines Ameuney’s complicated journey to become a Protestant Englishman and his inescapable characterization as a son of Syria. It charts his personal life and intellectual career and explores how he interpreted the religious, cultural, political, and linguistic landscape of his birthplace to British audiences. As an English-speaking Ottoman Syrian intellectual residing permanently in London, the case of Antonius Ameuney illustrates England to have been a constitutive site of the nahḍa and underscores the role played by the British public in shaping nahḍa discourses.

Migrating Meanings

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
James W. Underhill ◽  
Mariarosaria Gianninoto ◽  
Mariarosaria Gianninoto
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Historical Narratives ◽  
Individual Rights ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Broad View ◽  
European Languages ◽  
The People ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Historical Accounts

Exploring the roots of four keywords for our times: Europe, the citizen, the individual, and the people, Mariarosaria Gianninoto’s and James Underhill’s Migrating Meanings (2019) takes a broad view of conceptualization by taking on board various forms of English, (Scottish, American, and English), as well as other European languages (German, French, Spanish & Czech), and incorporating in-depth contemporary and historical accounts of Mandarin Chinese. The corpus-based research leads the authors to conclude that the English keywords are European concepts with roots in French and parallel traditions in German. But what happens to Chinese words when they come into contact with migrating meanings from Europe? How are existing concepts like the people transformed? This book goes beyond the cold analysis of concepts to scrutinize the keywords that move people and get them excited about individual rights and personal destinies. With economic, political and cultural globalisation, our world is inseparable from the fates of other nations and peoples. But how far can we trust English to provide us with a reliable lingua franca to speak about our world? If our keywords reflect our cultures and form parts of specific cultural and historical narratives, they may well trace the paths we take together into the future. This book helps us to understand how other languages are adapting to English words, and how their worldviews resist ‘anglo-concepts’ through their own traditions, stories and worldviews.

Towards a framework for measuring creative economy: evidence from Balkan countries

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Ndou ◽  
Giovanni Schiuma ◽  
Giuseppina Passiante
Keyword(s):  
Business Environment ◽  
Creative Economy ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Balkan Countries ◽  
World Economic ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Diverse Data ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Performance Dimension

PurposeThe creative process through which the territorial resources, knowledge and culture are used, exploited and configured to match needs and to achieve congruence with the changing business environment has become a crucial process for competitiveness. This is even more relevant for economies of developing countries which are continuously struggling to reap the benefits of globalisation, as well as to grasp the new opportunities for competitiveness. As such, this paper aims to try to concentrate on the dynamic perspectives of the creative economy of countries by distinguishing between the potentialities and performance. The paper tackles the influence that creativity capacities might have on performance of countries.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology consists in identifying creative economy indicators from a diverse data set of the World Economic Forum and distinguish them between potential and performance indicators.FindingsData reveal as good progress and emphasis is being devoted to increasing the level of creativity; however, the Balkan countries still holdup in their capacity to boost innovation.Practical implicationsThe paper provide a new focus of research on creativity measurement that is significant for understanding what creative capacities territories possess and the ability to make proficient use for growth and innovation.Originality/valueThis paper proposes a new operational framework for measuring and interpreting the creative economy indicators by identifying not only indicators that gauge the potentialities of a country, but also indicators that are linked with the performance dimension, as well as the relationship amongst them.

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