Moving towards agile: managing Loxon solutions’ hiring strategy, organizational development and agile transformation

Subject area This case focuses on organizational development, leadership and HR management questions. Study level/applicability This case is mainly aimed at students specialized in leadership, organizational development and HR, or in MBA and executive education. However, undergraduate students can benefit from it as well and learn about key terms related to organizational development and HR. Case overview Loxon Solutions is a Hungarian technology startup founded in 2000 that develops various software solutions for the banking industry to improve processes such as retail and corporate landing, collateral management and monitoring, among others. The company grew significantly since being founded, and from a small IT company it became a significant player in the banking software industry all around the world. However, with rapid extension comes a drastic internal transformation as well: Loxon now employs 252 people, has 5 physical offices in 2 different countries and is trying to balance an effective organizational structure and a friendly startup environment. It is clear that the company needs to adapt its previously informal structure to fit the now middle-sized organization while maintaining the current benefits of their culture. Also, they require stability and maturity which the current team consisting of mostly junior employees and the significant fluctuation cannot provide. Tamas Erni, the CEO and Kristof Farkas, the founder of Loxon are now working on these pressing issues with the company’s HR department to rethink the company’s organizational structure and policies as well as their hiring and employer branding strategies. Expected learning outcomes Students should get familiar with typical organizational structure models, the meaning of Employee Value Proposition and main KPIs related to hiring and employee retention. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 6: HR Management.

Subculture of convicted as from criminal subculture: cultural and historical aspect

The purpose of the article is to distinguish the subculture of convicts and criminal subcultures as a known concept Methodology. The basis of this study is a theoretical analysis, synthesis, generalization, systematization of available scientific literature on the subject. Results. The theoretical analysis of scientific works on the basis of an interdisciplinary approach helped to distinguish the subculture of convicts and the criminal subculture in the context of their manifestations in the public consciousness. It is determined that the subculture of convicts develops on the basis of the criminal subculture, which performs a regulatory function in relation to convicts. The criteria of delimitation of subcultures are singled out, which gives each of them a separate place in the general continuum and concerns: attitude to social and legislative norms, places of formation and forms of manifestation, peculiarities of communication and self-presentations. It is proved that a clear distinction between the convicted subculture and the criminal subculture will provide a basis for the rehabilitation of convicts and the effectiveness of the penitentiary service in prison conditions. It was established that the subculture of convicts is a structural element of the criminal subculture with its own system of norms, values, traditions, customs that regulate the behavior of convicts in the informal structure of penitentiaries. Its emergence and existence in places of imprisonment causes a compensatory psychological reaction with a forced desire to adapt, ensure their safety, assert themselves in a community of their own kind, where inevitably formed a system of values, concepts, customs, regulating relations between individuals isolated from society. Practical implications. The subculture of convicts is created and manifested in places of imprisonment, is characterized by the preservation of norms, values, traditions, customs of the criminal subculture, provides for the formation of adaptive mechanisms for places of imprisonment with subsequent inclusion in the rehabilitation process. Value (originality). The clarity of the distinction between the subculture of convicts and the criminal subculture will create the basis for the deployment of prison rehabilitation processes and increase the efficiency of the penitentiary service. Key words: subculture (criminal, prison, convicts), penitentiary institutions, norms of behavior regulation.

Global Green New Deal: A Global South perspective

Most proposed solutions in the Global Green New Deal literature involve finance and technology transfers to address the imbalance between the Global North and Global South, while providing little discussion of the internal socioeconomic structures within countries in the Global South. This article uses China as a case study to show that without addressing the issue of domestic informality, the potential benefits of a Global Green New Deal are less likely to be fully realised in the Global South. We use the Input-Output method and our originally constructed data on formal and informal employment to calculate the informal employment share in two exemplary renewable energy sectors: solar and wind. We find that more than half of the jobs created in the solar and wind energy sectors, with a given level of spending, will be in the informal economy, and hence are associated with low wages and little social welfare protection. The results imply that, without addressing informality, both renewable energy sectors perpetuate the informal structure in the broader economy. We also question the capitalist nature of ‘green jobs’ created by the Green New Deal. Based on the results, we call for a more organic integration of a Global South perspective in the studies of a Global Green New Deal. JEL Codes: Q01, E26, N55

The rural community in Belarus after the abolition of serfdom

The article explores the creation and the functioning of rural societies in Belarus after the abolition of serfdom. Considerable focus is given to the definition of differences between the terms «rural society» and «peasant community». Territorial differences in the activities of rural societies in Belarus are noted and their formal and informal structure is highlighted. The object of the study is the peasantry of Belarus in the second half of the 19th – early 20th century. The subject of the study is the regularities and features of creation and existence of rural communities in Belarus in the post-reform period. The choice of the object and subject of the study is determined by the importance of peasantry in the population structure and the principal role of peasantry in the processes of social transformation and modernisation in Belarus in the 1860–90s. The goals of the study are to determine the roles and functions of rural society in Belarus after the abolition of serfdom by identifying the differences between the terms «society» and «community»; to investigate the official structure of rural society in Belarus; and to depict the informal influence of society and public opinion on peasant life.

Informal Regional Institutions and National Resilience

With the apparent demise of globalization, many states are turning to regional solutions to achieve trade and development goals while institutional structure is fundamental to the strategic and managerial operations of such associations. This study seeks to understand the strategic costs and benefits, as well as the management opportunities and challenges, of a regional institution that maintains an informal structure while specifically examining the relationship between informal regional structure and member (national) resilience. This investigation develops a resilience framework and tests it against a unique structural form, the Pacific Alliance (Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru), which operates without incorporation as a legal entity, without a centralized budget, and without a secretariat. This study reasons that an informal regional institution supports national resilience through an adaptation strategy but not an adaptability strategy and concludes that an informal regional model appears to support continual national development through the adoption of member ‘best practice'.

The Magic of a Local Academic Community for Online Adult Learners in Completing the Doctoral Journey

The dissertation journey from student to scholar is filled with hurdles that can be difficult to navigate alone, especially as online students. Many adult students who have stepped foot onto the path to earning a doctoral degree did so in a non-traditional environment that included a mix of work and family obligations, and the need to prove that they have earned the right to be called “doctor.” In 2017, the Jersey City Campus of University of Phoenix launched the Research Club, a monthly gathering of doctoral students, faculty, and alumni in the New York-New Jersey area. The initiative was designed to bring together a team to help doctoral students succeed through an in-person informal structure of conversation and peer-to-peer support to supplement the work of the dissertation committee. This chapter chronicles the first three years and affirms the need for innovative in-person strategies for providing doctoral support through informal communities of practice.

The Quad

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, abbreviated to Quad, comprises Australia, the United States, Japan, and India. Although many think tanks and media outlets have written about recommendations to further this initiative, this essay believes the Quad is only evidence of a rising patchwork of small strategical dialogues within the Indo-Pacific region. The aims here are twofold: (a) to demonstrate the definitions and relevance of the Quad amid the soaring rivalry in the Indo-Pacific; and (b) to grasp this initiative as a “minilateral”grouping, which is settled in a more informal structure than multilateral institutions. In assessing these hypotheses, this research employs a qualitative content analysis of official statements and documents about the Quad meeting and national policies toward the Indo-Pacific. A systematic bibliographical review was applied to refine theoretical frameworks and to triangulate sources. In conclusion, this paper infers the Quad is not as ambitious and strong as previous literature claimed. These four members developed divergent interests in the Indo-Pacific; thereby, an alliance against China seems unlikely.

Social functioning of disabled and non-disabled students in integration classes

In each class team a specific informal structure is created. Depending on the social position of the student in this structure, the class is for him an attractive place or area of unpleasant experiences – fear and anxiety. In order to learn about the functioning of students in the school class, research was carried out using the diagnostic survey method with the author's own questionnaire. The research shows that some students make social contacts with others. They perform the tasks recommended by the teacher, solve tasks, do homework and also read and are on duty in the classroom. Most students evaluate their class behaviour positively. There are also negative behaviours that should be corrected by teachers.