The small world phenomenon and assortative mixing in Polish corporate board and director networks

AbstractThis paper investigates the corporate board and director networks in the Polish capital market in 2014. We examined real board and director networks in comparison with networks that were randomly constructed. Through empirical analyses, we demonstrated that the real networks have the characteristics of small-world networks. In addition, the networks are assortative and highly clustered, which imposes certain behaviors on them

Non-verbal pictures of Russia and Russians in the artistic works of Polish students in grades VII-VIII of primary school

Opisane w artykule badanie przeprowadzono w celu pozyskania informacji na temat wyobrażeń o kulturze rosyjskiej zakorzenionych w świadomości polskich uczniów szkoły podstawowej kl. VII–VIII, rozpoczynających formalną naukę języka rosyjskiego w warunkach szkolnych. Jako metodę zastosowano analizę dokumentów. Zebrano materiał badawczy w postaci dokumentów intencjonalnych – 100 plakatów wykonanych przez polskich uczniów szkoły podstawowej kl. VII–VIII. Szczególną uwagę zwrócono na obraz niewerbalny Rosji i Rosjan utrwalony w świadomości polskiej młodzieży. Wyniki posłużyły powstaniu refleksji na temat poziomu kompetencji kulturowej uczniów rozpoczynających naukę języka rosyjskiego jako drugiego języka nowożytnego. Okazuje się, że obraz Rosji według rozpoczynających naukę języka rosyjskiego jest przeważnie stereotypowy. Wyniki pokazały również, że dwuletni okres nauki języka obcego w warunkach szkolnych wymaga uwzględnienia konieczności przygotowania do dialogu międzykulturowego poprzez położenie przez nauczyciela nacisku na wprowadzenie większej ilości różnorodnych treści kulturowych.In order to obtain information on images of Russian culture rooted in the consciousness of Polish primary school students of grades VII-VIII starting formal learning of the Russian language in school conditions, a study was conducted. The method used was the analysis of documents (also called, inter alia, analysis of products, analysis of children’s and teenagers’ own works). For this purpose, research material was collected in the form of intentional documents - 100 posters made by Polish primary school students of grades VII-VIII. Particular attention was paid to the non-verbal image of Russia and Russians recorded in the minds of Polish youth. The results were used to reflect on the level of cultural competence of students beginning to learn Russian as a second modern language. It turns out that the image of Russia according to those who start learning the Russian language is usually stereotypical, and knowledge about Russia’s inhabitants is usually basic. The results also showed that a two-year period of learning a foreign language in school settings requires teachers to introduce more diverse cultural content in order to prepare students for intercultural [email protected] w Białymstoku, Wydział FilologicznyBandura E., Nauczyciel jako mediator kulturowy, Kraków 2007.Barna L.M., Stumbling Blocks in Intercultural Communication, [in:] Intercultural Communication: A Reader, L.A. Samovar, R.E. Porter (eds.), Belmont 1994, pp. 337–346.Bodziany M., Komunikacja międzykulturowa w wielonarodowych jednostkach wojskowych, Wrocław 2012.Karolczuk M., Obraz Rosji, Białorusi i Ukrainy w językowej świadomości polskich studentów filologów (wyniki eksperymentu lingwistycznego), „Anuari de Filologia. Llengües i Literatures Modernes” 2019, nr 9, pp. 75–92.Karolczuk M., Nauczanie języka rosyjskiego jako drugiego języka obcego w Polsce z perspektywy edukacji międzynarodowej, Białystok 2016.Kossakowska-Pisarek S., Wyzwania dla nauczyciela jako mediatora kulturowego w procesie kształcenia kompetencji interkulturowej, [w:] Wielojęzyczność i międzykulturowość na lekcji języka obcego – między teorią i praktyką nauczania, A. Jaroszewska, B. Karpeta-Peć, M. Smuk, J. Sobańska, J. Sujecka-Zając (red.), Warszawa 2016.Krajewska G., Uczyć obrazami – materiały wizualne w procesie dydaktycznym w kształceniu zintegrowanym, „Języki Obce w Szkole” 2013, nr 1, s. 138–142.Mihułka K., Rozwój kompetencji interkulturowej w warunkach szkolnych – mity a polska rzeczywistość (na przykładzie języka niemieckiego jako L3), Rzeszów 2012.Mihułka K., Sposoby rozwijania kompetencji interkulturowej na lekcji języka obcego, „Języki Obce w Szkole” 2012, nr 2, s. 106–117.Mihułka K., Dylematy współczesnej glottodydaktyki: język – kultura, interlingwalizm – interkulturowość, „Języki Obce w Szkole” 2014, nr 3, s. 78–87.Mrożek S., Motywacja do nauki a rozwijanie kompetencji interkulturowych, „Szkoła. Miesięcznik Dyrektora” 2017, nr 9, s. 54–57.Oświata i wychowanie w roku szkolnym 2018/2019, [online], https://stat.gov.pl/obszary-tematyczne/edukacja/edukacja/oswiata-i-wychowanie-w-roku-szkolnym-20182019,1,14.html, [dostęp: 19.03.2020].Ter-Minasova S., Yazyk i mezhkulturnaya kommunikatsiya, Moskva 2008.Wieczorek-Tomaszewska M., Kompetencje wizualne w praktyce edukacyjnej, „Elektroniczne Czasopismo Biblioteki Głównej Uniwersytetu Pedagogicznego w Krakowie” 2014, nr 5, s. 1–12.PP 2017: Podstawa programowa kształcenia ogólnego z komentarzem. Szkoła podstawowa. Język obcy nowożytny, Warszawa 2017, [online], https://cke.gov.pl/images/_EGZAMIN_OSMOKLASISTY/Podstawa_programowa/SP_PP_2017_Jezyk_obcy_nowozytny.pdf, [dostęp: 12.03.2020].2424325

Smart Government: An European Approach toward Building Sustainable and Secure Cities of Tomorrow

The term Smart Government often appears in correlation with the Smart City subject and is seen as one of its elements. In fact, while those two terms share common interests and focus on similar technological solutions, they are still separate subjects that can, but do not have to, result from each other. A Smart Government might be a part of a Smart City’s agenda, but for municipalities with an already well-modernized governing system, it is not a necessary premise. In such cases, a Smart Governance, which is one of a Smart City’s dimensions, might be considered in regard to upgrading some of the existing governing tools without tackling the matter of redefining administrative structures. Those subtle differences fuse together because the debate on digital transformation concerns numerous varying urbanization aspects that often show only the big picture of possibilities and, subsequently, are not specific enough to provide the cities with useful directions and priorities in the real agenda setting. In this context, the effort linked to restructuring even a small administrative faction in terms of Smart Government can be seen by the public and municipalities as simply overwhelming. Therefore, focusing on this subject exclusively and defining the current, city-specific demand on the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) -driven administrative system seems to be crucial in developing real working solutions in this field. The first part of this paper clarifies the definition of Smart Government by showing its specifics and fundamental rules from the European perspective. It also focuses on different structural implementation tools and presents a new approach toward Policy Cycle. The second part concentrates on crucial ICT components of a Smart Government. The last part lists some possible challenges that might occur throughout the implementation process. The paper ends with a summary presented in the form of a charter that exhibits the key points and priorities needed to establish an effective and sustainable Smart Government agenda

How Organizational Trust Affects the Market Position: The Mediating Role of Innovativeness, and Operational Efficiency. Empirical Results

Este artículo reporta los resultados de un estudio llevado a cabo en 202 empresas que cotizan en la Bolsa de Valores de Varsovia, en el que se proporciona evidencia documentada de un impacto indirecto significativo de la confianza organizacional sobre la posición en el mercado, producto de la influencia de esta en la capacidad de innovación y el desempeño organizacional. Estos hallazgos contribuyen a la comprensión de cómo la confianza dentro de una organización se ve reflejada en su desempeño en el mercado. Asimismo, los resultados obtenidos señalan la existencia de una mayor influencia de la confianza sobre la posición en el mercado de una firma que sobre su eficiencia operacional. El estudio muestra además que la confianza, al dar cuenta de un clima organizacional, no tiene un efecto directo sobre la posición en el mercado. Por último, se presentan algunas reflexiones sobre el tema para la investigación y la práctica

The Framework of Leader’s Skills in Lean Manufacturing in the Chinese Automotive Industry – Empirical Results

Background. China is one of the most attractive investment destinations for the biggestglobal automotive players, and Lean Manufacturing (LM) is their most established businessimprovement methodology enhancing the automotive industry’s performance. Despite intensiveinvestments in LM, the automotive industry is still not able to employ Lean philosophyeffectively at Chinese locations.Research aims. Theoretical and empirical questions arise on how to improve the situationin terms of Lean Manufacturing performance at Chinese locations. Thus, in the paper, wepose that if we assume leadership is the crucial enabler in LM implementation, there is anurgent need to address the conditions of Chinese leadership.Method. Basing on the content analysis of existing job offers we estimated the alignments ofdemands of the job posed by the unique context of Chinese culture with the profiles of candidatesthat are mostly wanted.Key findings. The content analysis revealed that in job offers there is an underestimation ofcultural intelligence skills. The aforementioned analysis led us to the proposition of how toimprove leadership in China by introducing a model of Chinese leadership center developmentdenoted as a !China Lean Center". The Center can be used by practitioners to developin-house skillful and culturally aware leaders in order to enable successful implementation ofLM at Chinese locations

The Framework of Leader’s Skills in Lean Manufacturing in the Chinese Automotive Industry – Empirical Results

Background. China is one of the most attractive investment destinations for the biggest global automotive players, and Lean Manufacturing (LM) is their most established business improvement methodology enhancing the automotive industry's performance. Despite intensive investments in LM, the automotive industry is still not able to employ Lean philosophy effectively at Chinese locations. Research aims. Theoretical and empirical questions arise on how to improve the situation in terms of Lean Manufacturing performance at Chinese locations. Thus, in the paper, we pose that if we assume leadership is the crucial enabler in LM implementation, there is an urgent need to address the conditions of Chinese leadership. Method. Basing on the content analysis of existing job offers we estimated the alignments of demands of the job posed by the unique context of Chinese culture with the profiles of candidates that are mostly wanted. Key findings. The content analysis revealed that in job offers there is an underestimation of cultural intelligence skills. The aforementioned analysis led us to the proposition of how to improve leadership in China by introducing a model of Chinese leadership center development denoted as a “China Lean Center”. The Center can be used by practitioners to develop in-house skillful and culturally aware leaders in order to enable successful implementation of LM at Chinese locations

Application of scanning shear-force microscope for fabrication of nanostructures, Journal of Telecommunications and Information Technology, 2005, nr 1

In view of the rapid growth of interest in AFM technique in surface property investigation and local surface modification we describe here an AFM microscope with optical tip oscillation detection. The modular shear-force/tunneling microscope for surface topography measurement and nanoanodisation is described. The measurement instrument presented here is based on the fiber Fabry-Perot interferometer for the measurement of the conductive microtip oscillation that is used as nano e-beam for local surface anodisation. An advantage of this system is that quatitative measurements of tip vibration amplitude are easily performed

The listening talker: A review of human and algorithmic context-induced modifications of speech

International audienceSpeech output technology is finding widespread application, including in scenarios where intelligibility might be compromised - at least for some listeners - by adverse conditions. Unlike most current algorithms, talkers continually adapt their speech patterns as a response to the immediate context of spoken communication, where the type of interlocutor and the environment are the dominant situational factors influencing speech production. Observations of talker behaviour can motivate the design of more robust speech output algorithms. Starting with a listener-oriented categorisation of possible goals for speech modification, this review article summarises the extensive set of behavioural findings related to human speech modification, identifies which factors appear to be beneficial, and goes on to examine previous computational attempts to improve intelligibility in noise. The review concludes by tabulating 46 speech modifications, many of which have yet to be perceptually or algorithmically evaluated. Consequently, the review provides a roadmap for future work in improving the robustness of speech output

Enhancing knowledge exchange and combination through HR practices: reflexivity as a translation process

Knowledge-intensive firms (KIFs) need to encourage their employees to engage in knowledge exchange and combination (KEC) so as to create the new knowledge that is core to their success. Human resource management (HRM) has the potential to play a key role in encouraging KEC but relatively little is known about the microprocesses through which HRM and KEC are linked. Based on a sample of 498 knowledge workers in 14 KIFs in the pharmaceutical and ICT sectors in Ireland and the UK, this study focuses on the knowledge workers themselves and their perceptions of how HR practices influence KEC. In so doing, we drill down into the micro-foundations of the proposed linkages between HRM and knowledge creation, proffering reflexivity as a translation process in understanding these linkages