OCTOBER 28, 1918 AND THE CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING THE ORIGIN OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA IN HISTORY TEXTBOOKS OF THE CZECHS’ NEIGHBOURS

October 28, 1918 represents one of the most important milestones of the Czech collective memory. Th e aim of the study is to capture the main traits of the explanatory refl ection of the events related to the formation of the fi rst Czechoslovak Republic in history textbooks of the selected neighbouring countries (Poland, Slovakia, Austria, and Hungary as a “historical neighbour”) and to compare them with the Czech approach, as well as mutually with each other focusing on the characteristics of educational texts which are typical for historical narration in each of the given countries. We focused in particular on the secondary school textbooks and a specifi c interpretation of the concrete themes which are accentuated in the national explanatory texts, on the one hand, or suppressed, on the other. Th e content analysis shows that there is an apparent eff ort for an objective approach, however, we can fi nd there also stereotypical views which the authors of textbooks oft en repeatedly adopt or derive from the same specialized publications. Th e objectivity of their elaboration could be achieved by the elimination of inaccuracies, the simplifying characteristics leaving aside some essential facets of the problem and by overcoming a one-sided view focused only on one situation or event and neglecting other essential historical information

Change - a basic component of the current organizational environment

Abstract Contemporary society is marked by a defining feature, namely the change, which manifests itself at all levels of human activity. Indirectly affects the activities of organizations often forced to reorganize, to continually adapt to meet changes in their products and their environment and determined action in the main scientific and technical knowledge, manifested by acute competition in the national and global change in people's needs and tastes and trends in the economy and society. Organizations and organizational development issues are a topic of great interest for both theorists field and for those directly involved in their operation.Keywords: change, organization, economic crisis, strategic management

GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE NETWORK – A SWOT APPROACH

We live at a local level but act at a global one and each organization is a player in a global world. Each company has its own knowledge base and network and we can say that at the global level exists an unorganized global knowledge base without connections between local ones which limits the access to knowledge. The solution for this problem is represented by a global knowledge network based on an organized global knowledge base. This paper underlines the need to create a global knowledge network and a global knowledge base composed of connected local knowledge bases and presents a SWOT approach for this issue.network, knowledge network, knowledge base

BENCHMARKING - A VALID STRATEGY FOR THE LONG TERM?

The present paper work deals with a popular method for developingrequirements and setting goals ââ¬â benchmarking. It contains general aspects about thispowerful performance improvement tool, including types of benchmarking, steps tofollow in Benchmarking analysis, its goals, the benefits in using it and some dangerscaused by using it, also; the whole paperwork can be considered as being a plea forcontinuous, ongoing, unending improvement in management context and sustains theidea that benchmarking enables decision-makers to understand exactly how muchimprovement they will need to accomplish in order to achieve superior performance. Wedecided to broach this issue because even if it is an actual one, none of the existingarticles did not attempt to answer whether or not benchmarking is a valid long-termstrategy that should be implemented by nowaday’s companies. The case study examinesthe benchmarking initiatives taken by Xerox, one of the world's leading copiercompanies, as a part of its 'Leadership through Quality' program; the case discusses thebenchmarking concept and its implementation in various processes at Xerox and it alsoexplores the positive impact of benchmarking practices on this company.benchmarking, management, strategy;

Genetic algorithm for the continuous location-routing problem

This paper focuses on the continuous location-routing problem that comprises of the location of multiple depots from a given region and determining the routes of vehicles assigned to these depots. The objective of the problem is to design the delivery system of depots and routes so that the total cost is minimal. The standard location-routing problem considers a finite number of possible locations. The continuous location-routing problem allows location to infinite number of locations in a given region and makes the problem much more complex. We present a genetic algorithm that tackles both location and routing subproblems simultaneously.Web of Science29318717

Policy, Institutional Factors and Earnings Mobility

This paper uses ECHP and OECD data for 14 EU countries to explore the role of labour market factors in explaining cross-national differences in the dynamic structure of earnings: in permanent inequality, transitory inequality and earnings mobility. Based on ECHP, minimum distance estimator is used to decompose earnings inequality into the permanent and transitory components and compute earnings mobility. The predicted components together with the institutional OECD data are used in a non-linear least squares setting to estimate the relationship between permanent inequality, transitory inequality and earnings mobility, and labour market policy and institutional factors. The results revealed a highly complex framework, where institutions interact significantly not only with each other and with the overall institutional setting, but also with the macroeconomic shocks in shaping the pattern of the three labour market outcomes.Panel data, wage distribution, inequality, mobility, labour market institutions, labour market policies

Equalizing or Disequalizing Lifetime Earnings Differentials? Earnings Mobility in the EU: 1994-2001

Do EU citizens have an increased opportunity to improve their position in the distribution of lifetime earnings? To what extent does earnings mobility work to equalize/disequalize longer-term earnings relative to cross-sectional inequality and how does it differ across the EU? Our basic assumption is that mobility measured over a horizon of 8 years is a good proxy for lifetime mobility. We used the Shorrocks (1978) and the Fields (2008) index. Moreover, we explored the impact of differentials attrition on the two indices. The Fields index is affected to a larger extent by differential attrition than the Shorrocks index, but the overall conclusions are not altered. Based on the Shorrocks (1978) index men across EU have an increasing mobility in the distribution of lifetime earnings as they advance in their career. Based on the Fields index (2008) the equalizing impact of mobility increases over the lifetime in all countries, except Portugal, where it turns negative for long horizons. Thus, Portugal is the only country where mobility acts as a disequalizer of lifetime differentials. The highest lifetime mobility is recorded in Denmark, followed by UK, Belgium, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, and the lowest, Portugal. The highest mobility as equalizer of longer term inequality is recorded in Ireland and Denmark, followed by France and Belgium with similar values, then UK, Greece, Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Italy.panel data, wage distribution, inequality, mobility

Earnings Dynamics and Inequality among Men in Luxembourg, 1988-2004: Evidence from Administrative Data

Starting with the late 1980s and intensifying after early 1990s, Luxembourg evolved from an industrial economy to an economy dominated by the tertiary sector, which relies heavily on the cross-border workforce. This paper explored the implications of these labour market structural changes for the structure of earnings inequality and earnings mobility. Using an extraordinary longitudinal dataset drawn from administrative records on professional career, we decomposed Luxembourg’s growth in earnings inequality into persistent and transitory components and explored the extent to which changes in cross-sectional earnings inequality between 1988 and 2004 reflect changes in the transitory or permanent components of earnings. Thanks to the richness of the Luxembourgish data set, we are able to estimate a much richer model that nests the various specifications used in the US, Canadian and European literature up to date, thus rejecting several restrictions commonly imposed in the literature. We find that the growth in earnings inequality reflects an increase in long-term inequality and a decrease in earnings instability, and is accompanied by a decrease in earnings mobility. Thus in 2004 compared with 1988, low wage men in Luxembourg are worst off both in terms of their relative wage and in terms of their opportunity of improving their relative income position in a lifetime perspective.panel data, wage distribution, inequality, mobility