EU country and EFTA country export differences

This research seeks to analyze the export differences facing countries in the EU and EFTA. This is firstly to analyze the effects on international trade of the trade bloc of the European Union (EU), and secondly the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), and provide a comparison of these two. This research seeks to analyze exports determinants to answer these two questions. There are two countries selected for this study, the small EFTA country Iceland, and the large EU country UK, before BREXIT. We apply a gravity model in our econometric analysis, with exports dependent on the gross domestic product, population, and geographic distance. We estimate these effects on the exports of both the UK and Iceland in separate equation systems. We conclude that exports from the UK, before BREXIT, are more negatively affected by geographical distance than exports for the EFTA country Iceland, when corrected for gross domestic product and population size.This research seeks to analyze the export differences facing countries in the EU and EFTA. This is firstly to analyze the effects on international trade of the trade bloc of the European Union (EU), and secondly the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), and provide a comparison of these two. This research seeks to analyze exports determinants to answer these two questions. There are two countries selected for this study, the small EFTA country Iceland, and the large EU country UK, before BREXIT. We apply a gravity model in our econometric analysis, with exports dependent on the gross domestic product, population, and geographic distance. We estimate these effects on the exports of both the UK and Iceland in separate equation systems. We conclude that exports from the UK, before BREXIT, are more negatively affected by geographical distance than exports for the EFTA country Iceland, when corrected for gross domestic product and population size.Peer reviewe

Ofmenntun á íslenskum vinnumarkaði: Staða meðal háskólamenntaðs fólks

Markmið greinarinnar er að kanna umfang og eðli ofmenntunar á íslenskum vinnumarkaði. Úrtak rannsóknarinnar byggðist á tilviljunarúrtaki úr þjóðská sem Þjóðmálakönnun Félagsvísindastofnunar Háskóla Íslands framkvæmdi 9. mars til 9. apríl 2016. Könnunin náði til 2.001 einstaklings á aldrinum 18 ára og eldri á landinu öllu og svöruðu 1.210 einstaklingar henni. Í þessari rannsókn var aðeins litið til þeirra þátttakenda í úrtakinu sem höfðu lokið háskólanámi og voru í launaðri vinnu á Íslandi. Eftir hreinsun gagna voru þátttakendur 420, þar af voru 192 karlar og 228 konur. Niðurstöður rannsóknar sýndu að 21% þátttakenda var ofmenntað, en þegar falskir ofmenntaðir voru dregnir frá voru 7,1% þátttakenda ofmenntuð. Fjölbreytuaðhvarfsgreining sýnir að marktækur munur er á menntavísindum og félagsvísindum á þann hátt að þeir sem eru með prófgráðu í menntavísindum eru síður ofmenntaðir en þeir sem lokið hafa háskólanámi á félagsvísindasviði. Vanmenntaða einstaklinga er helst að finnan innan menntavísinda og meðal þeirra sem unnið hafa lengi á vinnustað. Niðurstöður sýna einnig að konur eru líklegri en karlar til að vera ofmenntaðar. Ofmenntaðir virtust almennt vera síður ánægðir í starfi auk þess sem þeir voru með lægri tekjur en aðrir þátttakendur.The aim of the article is to examine the scope and nature of over-education on the Icelandic labour market. The target population of the research was based on a random sample drawn from the National Population Register by the National Survey of the Social Science Research Institute of the University of Iceland from 9 March to 9 April 2016. The survey included 2,001 individuals, aged 18 or above, from all over the country. A total of 1,210 persons responded to the survey. This research only involved those participants in the sample who had completed a university education and were in salaried employment in Iceland. After data cleansing, 420 participants remained, 192 males and 228 females. The initial results of the research indicated that 21% of participants were over-educated for their jobs; when, however, false over-educated individuals had been subtracted, 7.1% of participants were identified as having over-education. A multinomial regression identifies a statistically significant difference between educational and social sciences; those with a degree in educational science are less likely to be over-educated than those who have completed degrees in the social sciences. Individuals with under-education are most likely to be found within the educational sciences and among those who have been in longterm employment. The results also indicate that females are more likely to be over-educated than men. Those with an over-education generally appeared to be less satisfied in their work, and also had lower incomes than other participants.Peer Reviewe

The utilization of education among university educated employees in private companies and public institutions

Markmið greinarinnar er að kanna hvort munur sé á hagnýtingu þekkingar meðal háskólamenntaðs fólks sem vinnur annars vegar í einkareknum fyrirtækjum og í opinberum stofnunum hins vegar. Úrtak rannsóknarinnar byggðist á tilviljunarúrtaki úr þjóðskrá sem Þjóðmálakönnun Félagsvísindastofnunar Háskóla Íslands framkvæmdi 9. mars til 9. apríl 2016. Könnunin náði til 2.001 einstaklings á aldrinum 18 ára og eldri á landinu öllu og svöruðu 1.210 þeirra könnuninni. Í þessari rannsókn var aðeins litið til þeirra þátttakenda í úrtakinu sem höfðu lokið háskólanámi og voru í launaðri vinnu á Íslandi hjá hinu opinbera eða í einkafyrirtæki. Eftir hreinsun gagna voru þátttakendur 374, þar af voru 178 karlar og 196 konur. Niðurstöður rannsóknar sýndu að 20,3% þátttakenda voru ofmenntuð. Meirihluti kvenna vinnur hjá hinu opinbera en meirihluti karla hjá einkafyrirtækjum. Vanmenntaðir starfsmenn eru líklegri til að starfa hjá hinu opinbera á meðan ofmenntaðir eru líklegri til að starfa hjá einkafyrirtækjum (sá munur skýrist af van- eða ofmenntun kvenna). Hjá opinberum fyrirtækjum starfa frekar þeir sem lokið hafa námi á sviði mennta- og heilbrigðisvísinda meðan starfsfólk af verk- og náttúruvísindasviði er helst hjá einkafyrirtækjum. Laun eru hærri hjá einkafyrirtækjumThe aim of the article is to examine whether there is a difference in the utilization of education among university educated employees in private companies on the one hand and public institutions on the other. The target population of the research was based on a random sample drawn from the National Population Register by the National Survey of the Social Science Research Institute of the University of Iceland from 9 March to 9 April 2016. The survey included 2,001 individuals, aged 18 or above, from all over the country. A total of 1,210 persons responded to the survey. This research only involved those participants in the sample who had completed a university education and were salaried employees in Iceland. After data cleansing, 374 participants remained, 178 males and 196 females. The initial results of the research indicated that 20.3% of participants were over-educated for their jobs. The majority of females work in public companies, while the majority of males work in private companies. Individuals with under-education are most likely to be found within public companies, at the same time as over-educated individuals are most likely to be found in private companies (the difference lies in the under- and over-education of females). Those working in public companies come primarily from educational and health sicences, while engineers and natural sicentists work primarily at private companies. Incomes are higher in private companies.Peer Reviewe

Outsourcing of human resources : The case of small- and medium-sized enterprises

The outsourcing of human resources has increased in recent years. As in other fields of management research, limited knowledge is available on outsourcing in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The aim of this paper is to present a study on the outsourcing of human resources in Icelandic service SMEs in the period 2009–2018. Surveys were used to gather information on outsourcing, with the participation of 802 firms. The results show that three out of four firms have outsourced some activities, while only 21% have formulated a formal strategy for outsourcing. The main motives for outsourcing are accessing expertise and simplifying operations. Cost reduction comes in third place. SMEs tend to outsource human resources on a very limited scale, while 50% of firms outsource information technology and 39% outsource security services. Larger firms outsource human resources on a larger scale than smaller firms. Managers in companies that outsource human resources are more satisfied with many aspects of outsourcing compared to those managers who do not outsource those resources. Firms that outsource human resources also realise more actual cost reduction. Outsourcing in SMEs has little impact on employment, as 3% of firms lay off staff and 6% transfer staff to vendors. Larger firms and firms that outsource human resources are more likely to change their staff’s employment status after outsourcing.Peer reviewe

The Choice of Career after Graduation: The Case of Business Administration Graduates from a Small University

This paper presents a study of a group of undergraduate business administration graduates from a small university from a gendered perspective. The emphasis is on early career when the graduates entered a labour market characterized by high demand. Most of the graduates are married and have children, and are considerably older than traditional undergraduates. The findings show that there is no gender difference when the respondents choose the first job after graduation and residence, while more men are in managerial positions. This indicates that family status has similar impact on men and women, except regarding managerial responsibilities in the workplace. The study indicates that labour market situations should be taken into account when careers of men and women are considered

Íslenskir stjórnendur : einkenni, stjórnunaraðferðir og árangur

Ritrýnd greinÍ þessari grein er varpað ljósi á íslenska stjórnendur, stjórnunaraðferðir þeirra og sérkenni. Greinin kannar einnig hvort breytingar hafi orðið á stjórnunaraðferðum á árunum 2004‐2007. Rannsóknin byggir á rafrænni spurningalistakönnun þar sem stjórnendur í íslenskum fyrirtækjum af ólíkri stærð voru spurðir um stjórnun og svörun var 46%. Litlar breytingar komu fram milli kannana 2004 og 2007, nema hvað varðar stjórnunarstíl og kyn, liðsstarf og rekstrarárangur. Af öðrum niðurstöðum má nefna að íslenskir stjórnendur beita lýðræðislegum stjórnunaraðferðum og blanda saman ólíkum aðferðum. Konur beita frekar hvetjandi og veitandi stjórnun en karlar velja flestir felandi stjórnun. Meirihluti fyrirtækja er með liðsstarf og það er algengast í stærri fyrirtækjum á höfuðborgarsvæðinu. Staðsetning fyrirtækja á landinu og starfsgrein fyrirtækja hafði óveruleg áhrif á stjórnun. Stærð fyrirtækja og menntun stjórnenda hafði hins vegar nokkur áhrif á stjórnun. Liðlega sjö af tíu fyrirtækjum voru rekin með hagnaði 2006. Engin sjáanleg tengsl voru á milli stjórnunaraðferða og rekstrarárangurs. Helsta skýring þess er að mikill meirihluti fyrirtækja skilaði hagnaði.This article investigates Icelandic managers, their management methods and characteristics. The article also asks whether there were changes in management methods in Iceland during the years 2004‐2007. The study is based on an electronic survey where managers in Icelandic companies of varying size were asked about management. The response rate was 46%. There are few apparent changes between the 2004 and 2007 surveys, except regarding management style and gender and teamwork and company performance. Among other results are that Icelandic managers use democratic management methods and combine differing methods. Women tend to use supporting and coaching techniques while most men choose delegating techniques. The majority of companies have teams and this is most common in larger companies in the Reykjavík area. The geographical location of companies and the industry they are in have a negligible effect on management. The size of the company and the educational level of managers, however, had some effect on management. More than seven of every ten companies operated at a profit during the year 2006. There was no apparent connection between management methods and company performance. The principal explanation for this is that a large percentage of companies turned a profit

Skipulagsform íslenskra fyrirtækja

Ritrýnd greinMarkmið þessarar greinar er í fyrsta lagi að kanna hvaða skipulagsform (skipurit) eru við lýði í íslenskum fyrirtækjum. Í öðru lagi er markmiðið að kanna áhrif stærðar fyrirtækja og rekstrarumhverfis á skipulag þeirra. Greinin byggir á niðurstöðum netkönnunar sem framkvæmd var af Rannsóknar- og þróunarmiðstöð Háskólans á Akureyri. Svör bárust frá 222 fyrirtækjum (46% svörun). Niðurstöður benda til að stærð fyrirtækjanna hafi mjög mikil áhrif á marga þætti skipulags. Stærri fyrirtækin eru formlegri, sérhæfðari og hafa frekar starfslýsingar. Þau hafa einnig oftar samþykkt stjórnskipulag, eru skipulögð í anda fléttuskipulags, og hafa þrjú eða fleiri stjórnþrep. Rekstrarumhverfi fyrirtækja hefur áhrif með þeim hætti að starfaskipulag er algengara í stöðugu rekstrarumhverfi og einnig eru fyrirtæki í óstöðugu umhverfi óformlegri en önnur fyrirtæki. Enginn munur kom fram varðandi skipulag framleiðslu- og þjónustufyrirtækja, en þau síðarnefndu hafa hærra hlutfall háskólamenntaðra starfsmanna. Þörf er á frekari rannsóknum á skipulagi til að efla íslenskt atvinnulíf og tryggja varanlegan árangur fyrirtækja.The main goal of this article is to investigate the organizational structure of Icelandic firms. A secondary goal is to see what influence the size and external environment of firms have on their organizational structure. The article is based on an Internet survey which was carried out by the University of Akureyri’s Research and Development Center. 222 firms responded to the survey (46% response rate). The results suggest that the size of firms has great influence on many organizational characteristics. Larger firms are more formal and specialized and are more likely to use written job descriptions. They are also more likely to have a defined organizational structure, to be organized in a matrix structure, and to have three or more management levels. Firms’ external environment has an effect as well, in that functional structure is more common in stable environments, and firms in unstable environments are more informal than other firms. There were no differences in the organization structure of manufacturing versus service firms, though the latter have a higher percentage of university-trained employees. More research in this area would contribute to the strength of the Icelandic economy and to enduring success for Icelandic firms

Oragnizational forms in Icelandic firms in volatile business environment 2007-2016

Markmið þessarar greinar er að skoða hvort efnahagssveiflur hafi áhrif á skipulagsform (skipurit) íslenskra fyrirtækja. Bornar eru saman kannanir höfunda frá árinu 2007 og árið 2016 og greint hvort efnahagssveiflur hafi haft áhrif á skipulagsform viðkomandi fyritækja. Spurt var í síðari könnuninni hvort einhverjar skipulagsbreytingar hefðu orðið á undanförnum fimm árum, eða til ársins 2011, áður en uppsveifla hófst að nýju í íslensku efnahagslífi. Greinin byggir á niðurstöðum netkannana sem framkvæmdar voru af Rannsóknar- og þróunarmiðstöð Háskólans á Akureyri árið 2007 og af Viðskiptafræðideild Háskóla Íslands árið 2016. Svör bárust frá stjórnendum 222 fyrirtækja árið 2007 og stjórnendum 120 fyrirtækja árið 2016. Svarhlutfall var því 46,15% árið 2007 og 24,4% árið 2016. Samanburður kannananna bendir til þess að hagsveiflur, bæði uppsveiflur og samdráttur í efnahagslífi, hafi ekki haft mikil áhrif á stjórnskipulag þeirra fyrirtækja sem tóku þátt í rannsókninni. Þó er þess að geta að 36,4% fyrirtækja gripu til samruna við önnur fyrirtæki, yfirtöku á öðru fyrirtæki eða annarra skipulagsbreytinga eftir efnahagshrunið árið 2008, en stjórnendur voru beðnir að greina frá skipulagsbreytingum sem orðið hefðu síðastliðin fimm ár. Fyrirtækin hafa fleira starfsfólk hin síðari ár, stjórnendur þeirra eru með meiri menntun og fleiri konur eru við stjórnvölinn nú en voru fyrir hrun. Stærð fyrirtækjanna hefur áhrif á ýmsa þætti í skipulaginu. Stærri fyrirtæki hafa meiri formfestu, sérhæfingu og hafa frekar samþykkt stjórnskipulag, þau hafa þrjú eða fleiri stjórnþrep og eru frekar skipulögð í anda fléttuskipulags. Þá kemur í ljós að eftir því sem rekstrarumhverfi fyrirtækjanna er stöðugra, þeim mun meiri líkur eru á því að starfaskipulag sé við lýði.The aim of this article is to compare the organisational structure (organisational charts) of Icelandic companies in the period 2007-2016. Surveys by the authors from 2007 and 2016 are compared and an analysis carried out of whether economic fluctations affected the companies’ organisational structure. The article is based on the results of an online survey administered by the University of Akureyri Research Centre in 2007 and the Faculty of Business Administration at the University of Iceland in 2016. The managers of 222 companies responded to the survey in 2007 and 120 companies responded to the survey in 2016 and the response rate was 46,15% in 2007 and 24,4% in 2016. The comparison of the surveys indicate that economic fluctations do not have much influence on the organisational structure of the companies that participated in the research. However, it needs to be mentioned that 36.4% of the firms did merge with other firms, did take over other companies or made other organisational changes after the financial crisis in 2008. The companies have more employees after the collapse, their managers are more educated, and more women are in positions of power than (there were) prior to the collapse. The size of the companies influences various aspects of their organisation. Larger companies are more formal and have more specialisation and a defined organisational structure, have three or more management levels and are more likely to be organised in accordance to a matrix structure. Also, it is revealed that a more stable operational environment increases the probability that functional structure is in place.Peer ReviewedRitrýnt tímari