Factors of employee engagement at the workplace. Do years of service count?

This article deals with employee engagement in SMEs when the employee's years of service are taken into consideration. The aim of the paper is to show if seniority influences engagement and if there are further factors that have major impact on employee engagement. To fulfill the aim quantitative methodology was applied. It is based on the analysis of data that derives from an engagement survey that was conducted in 2017 with 70 SMEs globally that belong to the mechanical engineering industry. The sample consists of 5,078 employees that participated in the engagement survey. The survey was standardized based on the engagement model from Aon Hewitt and consisted of 74 questions. The organizational structure of the different legal entities is similar due to the common industry and types of employees who are mainly Service and Sales representatives. This also leads to a similar HR strategy and allows to compare the results. The data from the engagement survey was analyzed with IBM SPSS software that provided the regression analysis. The results indicate that the construct of employee engagement is complex and there is not only one influencing variable. However, seniority does have an impact. The engagement of recently hired employees is around 27% higher than for employees with higher seniority. Additionally, employees with a high seniority show less interest when it comes to rewards and recognition.O

Active work participation of the Czech elderly

Majority of developed countries exhibit changing transition towards older population structure. This explains why nowadays, the so-called active ageing - a policy focus to help people remain in charge of their own lives as they age and to promote their continuing contribution to the economy and society - is so frequently discussed. In the context of active ageing, active work participation of elderly is one of the prospective policy objectives, along with the identification of the motives of elderly to stay on the job market. Existing literature indicates that a large number of factors influence this decision, including income and living conditions, whether the person lives alone or not, health condition, social contacts, place of residence, but also varied interventions based on local or national government policies. Empirical results however remain scarce. This article provides insights into what influences the decision of the elderly to remain on the job market in the Czech Republic.O

Technostress of students during COVID-19 - a sign of the time?

University students are considered digital natives but they often have difficulties in the effective integration of information technology (IT) into their study routine. To unravel this puzzle we proposed a model of IT effects on students' well-being, based on the Job Demands-Resources theory, one of the most widely used models of human well-being in organizational contexts. We described three processes affecting students’ well-being. A techno-stress process generates strain via an increase in study demands. A techno-enrichment process sparks motivation through the creation of energizing study techno-resources. A dual-nature techno-challenge process sparks motivation but also creates strain. Our elaboration might help to reconcile conflicting findings on the role of IT in remote learning and contribute to a better understanding of the effect of IT on students. The proposed theoretical model might also spark further empirical research and provide guidelines for research on IT use in university learning

Scale Characteristics of Intercultural Competence Measures and the Effects of Intercultural Competence on Prejudice

Due to proceeding globalization processes, involving a rise in mobility and international interdependencies, the frequency and relevance of intercultural contact situations increases. Consequently, the ability to deal effectively with intercultural situations is gaining in importance. However, the majority of studies on measures of intercultural competence focuses on Western Europe and the United States or cultures of the Far East. For the present study, previously understudied Eastern European (former communist) cultures were included, by sampling in Hungary, Serbia, and the Czech Republic, in addition to (the Central or Western European country) Germany. Thus, this study enabled comparisons of scale characteristics of the cultural intelligence scale (CQS), the multicultural personality questionnaire (MPQ), as well as the blatant and subtle prejudice scales, across samples from different cultures. It was also examined how the CQS and MPQ dimensions are associated with prejudice. To analyse scale characteristics, the factor structures and measurement invariances of the used instruments were analyzed. There were violations of configural measurement invariance observed for all of these scales, indicating that the comparability across samples is limited. Therefore, each of the samples was analyzed separately when examining how the CQS and MPQ dimensions are related to prejudice. It was revealed that, in particular, the motivational aspect of the CQS was statistically predicting lower prejudice. Less consistently, the MPQ dimensions of open-mindedness and flexibility were statistically predicting lower prejudice in some of the analyses. However, the violations of measurement invariance indicate differences in the constructs' meanings across the samples from different cultures. It is consequently argued that cross-cultural equivalence should not be taken for granted when comparing Eastern and Western European cultures

Criteria of satisfaction with the service quality of tertiary institutions from the perspective of students of selected European countries

The following study examines the links between satisfaction, university students, and service quality provided by universities and tertiary education in five Central European countries. The study is based on dissertation thesis of one of the author. The following goals were formulated on the basis of theoretical knowledge obtained from scientific publications. The goal is to formulate the most important criteria of student satisfaction with the service quality of tertiary institutions among university students in five Central European countries. The primary research was done using the following techniques: individual interviews, focus groups and a questionnaire survey. The results of the primary research were analysed using the applications Microsoft Office Excel, Statistics and QC. Expert. The questionnaire survey was provided at these universities: in the Czech Republic – Brno University of Technology, Masaryk University, in Germany - Fachhochschule Jena, Universität Regensburg, and Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München, in Poland - Jagellonska univerzita, AGH - Akademie Gorno – Hutnicza, and Uniwersytet Papiesk, in Austria - FH Wien- Studiengänge der WKW a WU - Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, in Slovakia - Prešovská univerzita in Prešov. The total number of students involved in the research was 584. The first wave of the results brings interesting findings which are discussed in the study

Measuring student satisfaction with the quality of services offered by universities – Central European View

The study aims to determine whether the criteria for measuring the satisfaction of students with the quality of universities are identical in the following five selected countries of Central Europe – Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Austria, and Slovakia. A focus group technique was carried out at the first stage to identify possible factors (criteria) for measuring the quality of the services offered by university as perceived by students. Next, a questionnaire was designed to determine the key factors and their relevance for measuring the satisfaction of students. The result of the analysis of variance implies that the set of criteria is perceived in much the same manner in the countries in question. It is, therefore, possible to unify the application of the set of criteria in the countries to measure student satisfaction with the quality of universities. Further research after this study will focus on creating a methodology for measuring student satisfaction with the quality of universities mainly in view of the dynamic development of and global increase in the competition between universities in tertiary education

Czy nepotyzm i kumoterstwo mają granice opłacalności? : międzynarodowe badania

We współczesnym biznesie często obserwuje się zjawiska "nepotyzmu" i "kumoterstwa", które zwykle kojarzą się z korupcją w sektorze publicznym i nadużywaniem środków publicznych. Zjawiska te występują w różnych krajach i sektorach. Istniejące badania nie identyfikują wspólnych i sprzecznych interesów jednostek opartych na nepotyzmie lub kumoterstwie. Niniejsze badanie ma na celu wypełnienie tej luki badawczej. Opracowano i przetestowano hipotezę badawczą w celu ustalenia jakie są granice opłacalności nepotyzmu i kumoterstwa dla jego sprawców. Badania obejmowały Polaków i Albańczyków. Ustalono nie tylko owe granice opłacalności ale także to, że względny altruizm działa jako mechanizm wyjaśniający praktyki nepotyzmu lub kumoterstwa. Osoby zaangażowane w nepotyzm lub kumoterstwo postrzegają te praktyki jako narzędzie zmniejszające ryzyko niepowodzenia ich operacji. Zjawiska te prowadzą jednak do długotrwałej wzajemności, podobnie jak w przypadku korupcji. Badanie to przyczynia się do lepszej diagnozy kontekstowej organizacji i pomaga w opracowaniu strategii prewencyjnych.In modern business, the phenomena of "nepotism" and "cronyism" are often observed, which are usually associated with corruption in the public sector and abuse of public resources. However, these phenomena are international in scale, and no country or sector of the economy is free from them. Existing research does not identify shared and contradictory interests of individuals based on nepotism or cronyism. This study aims to fill this research gap. A research hypothesis was developed and tested in order to determine a point from which nepotism and cronyism are not beneficial to their perpetrators. The research data included Poles and Albanians. According to Transparency International (2022), the obtained results showed that Polish society is currently less vulnerable to corrupt practices than Albanians. Moreover, it was substantiated that relative altruism operates as the mechanism that explains nepotism or cronyism practices. Individuals involved in nepotism or cronyism perceive these practices as a tool to reduce the risk of their operations failing. However, the phenomena lead to long-lasting reciprocity, like in the case of corruption. This study contributes to a better contextual diagnosis of organizations and helps develop preventive strategies

Life satisfaction of Czech seniors: What actually matters?

We estimate the influence of various factors on life satisfaction of Czech seniors in a large survey sample. We find that good health, more education and awareness of voluntary work participation, employee satisfaction and being currently employed are the main factors that contribute to being satisfied with the current quality of life in the group of Czech seniors. Surprisingly enough, increasing selfreported financial sufficiency is negatively associated with the quality of life. The main factors contributing to the life dissatisfaction are associated with being socially separated. The worst outcomes are recorded for those living in social homes and living alone. Any reported expectations of expected life changes (both positive and negative expectations) are associated with lower probability of life satisfaction

Działalność gospodarcza starszych pracowników a stan zdrowia : implikacja zarządzania wiekiem

With regard to demographic ageing, there is an increasing need to study and understand the factors affecting labour market participation beyond age 50. The present study focuses on the relation between late employment (economic activity) and health condition among the Czech population aged 60+ with respect to gender. The control group used consists of Czechs aged 50-59 with the relation between economic activity and health condition with respect to gender is also investigated. The findings also showed that the health status of economically active Czech seniors in both age groups is worse than that of economically inactive ones. This outcome is in contradiction of previous researches which have found that poor health is the most frequently cited reason for an early exit from labour market to early retirement. Also these findings emphasize the increasing need of implementation of age management on the organizational as well as on the national level.Rozważając starzenie się społeczeństwa, istnieje coraz większa potrzeba zbadania i zrozumienia czynników wpływających na uczestnictwo w rynku pracy po 50. roku życia. Niniejsze badanie koncentruje się na związku między późnym zatrudnieniem (działalność gospodarcza) a stanem zdrowia wśród ludności czeskiej w wieku 60+ z uwzględnieniem płci. Grupa kontrolna składa się z Czechów w wieku 50-59 lat, przy czym bada się również związek między aktywnością zawodową a stanem zdrowia w odniesieniu do płci. Wyniki pokazały, że stan zdrowia aktywnych ekonomicznie czeskich seniorów w obu grupach wiekowych jest gorszy niż stan biernych zawodowo. Wynik ten stoi w sprzeczności z wcześniejszymi badaniami, które wykazały, że zły stan zdrowia jest najczęstszym powodem wczesnego wyjścia z rynku pracy na wcześniejszą emeryturę. Wyniki te podkreślają również rosnącą potrzebę wdrożenia zarządzania wiekiem zarówno na poziomie organizacyjnym, jak i krajowym