Reaction or anticipation? Resilience in small- and medium-sized enterprises

PurposeBuilding on the recent capability-based conceptualisation of resilience, this paper aims to explore whether the experience of a previous crisis and entrepreneur resilience are associated with Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs') adoption of different anticipation strategies for adversities.Design/methodology/approachUsing original survey data on 959 Italian and German SMEs, the research uses a multinomial logistic regression model in order to test the influence of the prior experience of a crisis and the entrepreneur resilience on the likelihood of adopting different anticipation strategies.FindingsThe paper shows that the previous experience of a crisis increases the likelihood of regularly adopting proactive but non-formalised anticipation actions while decreasing the likelihood of adopting a pure reactive strategy to adversities; in addition, entrepreneur resilience is nonlinearly associated with anticipation strategies.Originality/valueThe main originalities rely on eschewing a pure binary view in relation to the organisational choice of adopting a reactive or a proactive approach towards adversities and on considering the entrepreneur resilience as a factor with both “bright” and “dark” side effects in relation to the anticipation of adversities.

Minimizing the Total Weighted Waiting Times and Instability in a Rescheduling Problem with Dynamic Jobs Weight

Thanks to smart technological tools, customers can at any moment create or modify their commands. This reality forced many production firms to become sensitive in rescheduling processes. In the literature, most of rescheduling problems consider classical efficiency measures. However, some existing works also consider stability as a measure for limiting the deviation from initial schedule. In this work, we aim to bridge the gap in existing works on rescheduling by investigating a new approach to measure simultaneously efficiency by the total weighted waiting times and stability by the total weighted completion time deviation. This combination of criteria is very significant in industrial and hospital environments. In this paper, a single machine rescheduling problem with jobs arriving over time is considered. A mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model is designed for this problem and an iterative predictive-reactive strategy for dealing with the online part. Numerical results show that, at each time the jobs are rescheduled, the low weight ones move forward. Consequently, a new concept consisting in increasing the jobs weight as function of time is established. The effect of this new conception is evaluated by the evolution of the maximum flowtime. Eventually, the computing time of the MILP resolution is studied to explore its limitations.

Profitability of farm-scale management strategies against the boll weevil in the tropics: case study from the Colombian Caribbean

Decision making in pest management is a challenging task. While pest dynamics are often quite uncertain, such decisions are often based on tenuous assumptions of certainty (economic injury levels and marginal utility approximations). To overcome such assumptions and adequately consider uncertainty, we apply decision analysis to evaluate management strategies used by farmers in the Colombian Caribbean against the boll weevil (BW). We represent the decision to protect the crop using partial budget analysis. This allows us to capture key properties of BW control strategies, while accounting for uncertainty about pest infestation pressure, control effectiveness and cotton yield and price. Our results indicate that proactive pest management is more efficient than reactive control given the current BW infestation pressure. However, farmers may prefer the reactive strategy, since they have experienced seasons with low infestation pressure where no insecticide applications were required. The proactive strategy, in contrast, requires scheduled pesticide applications in all years. Results show that in seasons with high infestation pressure the expected revenues of the reactive strategy tend to decrease, mainly because more spray applications are required when fields are heavily infested by the weevil. Value of information analysis revealed that uncertainties related to the start of the infestation, loss damage rate and attainable yield have the greatest influence on the decision recommendation for crop protection. Narrowing these key knowledge gaps may offer additional clarity on the performance of the current management strategies and provide guidance for the development of strategies to reduce insecticide use. This is particularly important for the promotion of the proactive strategy, which, under the current infestation pressure, has potential to reduce insecticide use. While economic injury levels can only be applied to responsive measures, our approach of partial budget analysis under uncertainty allows us to assess and compare both responsive and preventive measures in the same methodological framework. This framework can be extended to non-pesticide control measures.

CREATIVE MARKETING AS A TOOL OF INNOVATIVE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ECONOMY

The article identifies the most important areas of development of creative marketing, which are the result of creative "imagination" of the marketer. In essence, this is the freedom to make a marketing decision based on market conditions, experience, knowledge, consumer behavior in each market segment. Thus, a great responsibility in this case lies with the marketer, who must have a non-standard thinking, the talent to creatively perceive the situation in the market and use them, as well as be able to choose a non-traditional marketing option that would immediately attract consumers, make them stay longer near this product or its advertising. This is the main difference between creative and traditional marketing - the ability to attract the attention of the buyer, to surprise him. The marketer must have a lateral thinking, which is to shift from traditional thinking, breaking the standard approaches to any particular idea, finding an original way to express it, creating something radically new. The article proposes a synthetic technology of innovation, which includes all components of the socio-economic system: society, economy and society and creates a sequence. It is proved that the use of a creative marketing approach is reflected in the product and its characteristics: novelty of the product, non-standard product, purposefulness in use, development. The article reveals the essence, advantages and disadvantages of implementing creative marketing strategies, including anticipation strategy and reactive strategy. Introduction and use of a creative approach to marketing activities of the enterprise is a key element of modern entrepreneurship, which plays a key role in achieving goals. The right combination of creative approach and pragmatic view is the key to the effective functioning of the enterprise in modern market conditions.

Guiding or Following the Crowd? Strategic communication as reputational and regulatory strategy

A recently emerging literature demonstrates that reputational concerns explain why regulatory agencies strategically communicate and engage with their manifold audience. We complement this literature by examining the potential of strategic communication as a reputational and regulatory strategy. Based on a reputational approach to public agencies, we assume agencies to strategically diversify between proactively or reactively engaging with public concerns raised by their audiences, depending on whether a core or evolving competency is at stake. We test these assumptions empirically by examining frame alignment between formal communication of the European Central Bank (ECB) and public concerns raised by ECB audiences. Our analysis yields two key findings. First, our findings indicate external frame alignment signaling a strategic reactive strategy by the ECB to diversify its timing in responding to concerns raised by its audiences. Second, we find a pattern of internal frame alignment between the ECB’s core competencies and evolving competencies, indicating strategic linkage of attention to various competencies. Our study demonstrates how analyzing an agency’s formal communication in tandem with public concerns of its audiences via machine learning techniques can significantly improve our understanding of agency responsiveness and yields significant insights into the democratic legitimacy of regulatory agencies.

Reactive strategy-based SERS determination of O2˙− generated from sunscreen

The synthesis of a novel surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) nanoreactor, and the reactive based determination strategy to determine the superoxide anion radical (O2˙−) produced from titanium dioxide by the UV radiation process.

A MANAGEMENT RISKS OF ENTERPRISE IS IN MODERN TERMS MENAGE

The article examines the definition of "risk" and "risk management" based on the scientific works of domestic scientists. There are six main interrelated stages (risk identification, risk analysis, risk assessment, action plan development, risk mitigation, risk monitoring and control) of risk management, which will prevent problems or adverse events through effective crisis management and prevention occurrence of additional costs at the enterprise. The end result of each stage of risk management is a decision. Usually the output is more solutions. An unacceptable level of risk requires stopping the current process and taking measures to reduce the risk. If the risk is acceptable and not insignificant and the profit potential is significant, a precautionary plan is usually used to mitigate it. A system model of risk management is developed and the characteristics of its constituent elements are given (risk management strategy; identification of processes and risks; risk management; monitoring of risks and their impact; optimization of corporate risk management system). Proactive and reactive risk management strategies are researched and characterized, indicating the advantages and disadvantages of strategies. Reactive strategy is used to solve problems after they arise, without planning for the long term. In some cases, unforeseen problems can arise, both internal and external. In such cases, the company must respond quickly. Proactive strategies are designed to anticipate challenges, threats and opportunities. This approach focuses on planning for the future. In addition, it helps to identify and prevent potential hazards before they appear. In this way, he can predict the future and achieve better results. Planning for the future will bring favorable results for the organization in all aspects. If the company follows a purely reactive approach, it will be exposed to enormous risk. However, there are problems that business cannot avoid, especially problems related to the external environment. In these circumstances, the organization must act quickly, and pre-planning does not work. Thus, businesses should apply both strategies in risk management.