KNOWLEDGE FLOWS IN NETWORK STRUCTURES OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Zarządzanie projektami stało się obecnie wyodrębnioną specjalizacją zarządzania. Poniższy artykuł stawia sobie za cel przedstawić rozwiązania strukturalne dla umiejscowienia projektu w przedsiębiorstwie. Jednoczesne założenie o zmianie paradygmatu zarządzania strategicznego sprawia, że przedmiotem analizy staje się nie tylko forma struktury organizacyjnej zarządzania projektem, ale również przepływ wiedzy w jej ramach. Analiza literatury przedmiotu, jak i także prezentowanego przypadku pozwala zauważyć, że współczesne zarządzanie projektami przejawia cechy podejścia sieciowego wraz ze wszystkimi konsekwencjami dla przepływu wiedzy w ramach struktury powołanej dla realizacji projektu.Marcin Komańd

Forms of Employee Trainings Concerning Aspects of Cold Knowledge

Research relevance: Cold knowledge is perceived as a key issue in terms of the composition of the company and the sense of the procedures being implemented. Thus, organisation of appropriate forms of employee trainings in this regard becomes essential. Aim of the paper: Distinguishing the existence of schemes of applied forms of employee trainings in the contexts of relation between two aspects of cold knowledge (internal documentation and data bases) and the types of enterprises (their formal independence). Research methods applied: A survey based on the purposive sampling of respondents was conducted. A two-tiered clustering analysis and an analysis of correspondence were applied. Main findings: It was possible to distinguish four groups of particular forms of trainings. Three groups are represented by the same main forms of trainings in both cases (documentation/databases). The analysis of correspondence established that respondents from branches as well as head offices of multi-branch enterprises were, in case of trainings concerning internal documentation, more prone to point at two forms of trainings: blended and special, whereas, in case of training within the scope of databases, they were more willing to point at a special form of trainings. Theoretical and/or practical value of the study: Results allow to associate the forms of employee trainings in the chosen aspects of cold knowledge and show the differentiation of their use depending on the type of enterprise. These facts open up a new theoretical perspective for the description of organisation of employee trainings based on formal relations.

Financial satisfaction achieved from offered services: the case of fitness trainers

Purpose: An analysis was conducted regarding fitness trainers’ opinions on factors related to the profitability of rendered services. Answers to two research questions were sought: a) Is it possible to group respondents based on their opinions on the level of satisfaction from the achieved revenue and the profit margin on a standard service? b) Is there a relationship between respondents’ assignment to a specific group and the fact of conducting an additional business activity (not related to the fitness sector)? Design/methodology/approach: The study was based on the use of a structured questionnaire. The five-point scale and nominal variants of answers were used for the quantitative analysis of collected data. With regard to the nature of the surveyed subjects, non-representative sampling in the form of a snowball method was used. Findings: The results obtained reveal that, among trainers expressing satisfaction from the achieved revenue and the profit margin on a standard service, dominates the group of those, who do not conduct additional business activity and, conversely, among trainers expressing indecision and lack of satisfaction dominates the group of persons, who conduct such business activity. Research limitations/implications: The main research limitation derives from the sampling method – findings cannot be generalized on the whole population of fitness trainers. However, the obtained results shed new light on the conditions of conducting business activity by fitness trainers and formulate further research questions. Originality/value: Fitness trainers (especially those who conduct business activity) are not a popular topic of scientific work in this industry (the subject of fitness clubs dominates)

Rating conditions for the university selection by the students of chosen specialization in economics under the innovation economy

Poniższy artykuł prezentuje wyniki badania dotyczącego przesłanek wyboru kierunku i specjalności studiów. Zostało ono przeprowadzone na kilkudziesięciu studentach kierunku zarządzanie na Uniwersytecie Ekonomicznym w Katowicach. Powodem zrealizowania tego badania stały się wdrażane w Polsce zmiany funkcjonowania szkolnictwa wyższego, a szczególnie w zakresie roli studiów w rozwoju zawodowym młodych ludzi, a w konsekwencji także ich roli w całej gospodarce krajowej mającej cechować się innowacyjnością.Marcin Komańd

E-learning in public and private universities: the perspective of business students

Regulations for carrying out the activities of e-learning in higher education introduced by the legislation indicate the growing role of this type courses in the teaching process. It seems, however, that private universities express a much more positive approach to the implementation of solutions for e-learning. The aim of this study is to compare the opinion of students of public and private universities on the advantages and disadvantages of e-learning and to determine the prevalence of the use of such solutions. This intention was carried out by a questionnaire survey conducted among students of economics at selected universities from the area of Upper Silesia. The achieved results of the study point to the fact that in the non-public universities surveyed students have much more frequent contact with the e-learning solutions in teaching than in public universities. The main advantages and disadvantages of e-learning are determined by the students of both groups in the same way, however, in the case of disadvantages further indications reveal differences between the two groups. On the basis of these responses it can be said that the students of private universities were guided by their practical experiences with participation in such activities. These indications reveal at the same time also the problem of the implementation of the legal provisions governing the institution to carry out e-learning courses. The study was exploratory, and indicated results can only be referred to the group of surveyed respondents. These results may, however, be a source of inspiration to undertake comparative studies on the determinants of the development, implementation and execution of e-learning at public and private universities

Communication about A Business Model within An Organisation in the Opinion of Czechs and Polish

Business models are nowadays a popular topic in management science. The concept of ontology of business models in particular is used in numerous scientific works within this scope. The issue of shared understanding of a business model within an organisation is becoming essential in this regard. Therefore, this work presents the opinions of young Czechs and Polish studying on faculties of management on the issue of the subject matter of a business model in the dimensions of the way it is communicated within an organisation. The study has been conducted with the aid of a survey. Hundred and twenty persons altogether have given their answers, of which 50% were Polish and the other 50% were Czechs. The existence of statistically important correlation between independent variables (‘nationality’, ‘seniority’) and opinions concerning particular dimensions of communicating about business models within an organisation (dependent variables) has been proven. The existence of these correlations (despite their very low level) in the light of a generally formulated research problem may constitute a premise for conducting further studies on the issue of cultural conditionings of communicating about this problem as well as the way it is practised in Polish and Czech enterprises

The relevance of competencies of employees and their impact on the implementation of improvements in selected areas of knowledge use in business activity

Problematyka innowacyjności w przedsiębiorstwach jest współcześnie interpretowana wielopłaszczyznowo. Oznacza to, że wyróżnia się wiele grup czynników, które wpływają na konieczność, szybkość i zakres wdrażania zmian w organizacji. Wśród nich pojawiają się także te związane z kompetencjami i umiejętnościami pracowników, które są elementem gorącej wiedzy przedsiębiorstwa. Niniejszy artykuł na podstawie analizy zebranych danych empirycznych stawia sobie za cel określenie istnienia zależności między opiniami respondentów o istotności kompetencji twardych i miękkich w przedsiębiorstwie a postrzeganiem ich wpływu na wdrażanie usprawnień w obszarach wykorzystywania wiedzy w działalności organizacji.The issue of innovation in enterprises is interpreted on many levels nowadays. This very fact means that a lot of factors that affect the need for speed and scope of implementation of changes in the organization may be recognized. Among them there are also those related to the competencies and skills of employees that are the elements of hot knowledge of the company and should be properly recognized in the system of knowledge management of the organization. This paper based on the results of empirical study aims to determine the existence of the relationship between the opinions of the respondents on the importance of hard and soft competencies for the companies and the areas of improvements implementation in the functioning of the organization

Franchise, agency and affiliate program as forms of network cooperation / Franczyza, agencja i program partnerski jako sieciowe formy współpracy gospodarczej

<p>The purpose of this article is to present the most popular forms of networking between organizations on the Polish market. These forms on the one hand may be characteristic of the industry, but on the other hand are also of historical legacy. Moreover, the most popular form of this cooperation is already known even for hundred years (this is the phenomenon of franchising). Nowadays, however, the analysis of the mentioned forms of networks has gained wider context of reference - new paradigm of strategic management. </p