Work Organisation and Innovation - Case Study: Company X, Slovenia

[Excerpt] Company X is one of the largest and most successful commercial grocery retailing chains in south-eastern Europe (Euromonitor, 2011). It was established over 60 years ago in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Company X is the largest Slovenian retailer with 24,000 employees and approximately a third of the market share for its sector (Gvin.com, 2012). Company X also operates in six other countries in the region: Serbia (9% market share), Croatia (9% market share), Bosnia and Herzegovina (5% market share), Montenegro (19% market share), Bulgaria (0.5% market share) and Albania (1% market share) (Company X, 2011). Company X’s main activity is retail and wholesaling of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG). The chain has been expanding its core activity by selling clothing, furniture and household appliances as well. Company X has 1,581 outlets including hypermarkets, supermarkets, convenience stores, specialised stores, etc. (Company X, 2011)

Prospective Risk Assessment of Medicine Shortages in Europe and Israel: Findings and Implications

Introduction: While medicine shortages are complex, their mitigation is more of a challenge. Prospective risk assessment as a means to mitigate possible shortages, has yet to be applied equally across healthcare settings. The aims of this study have been to: 1) gain insight into risk-prevention against possible medicine shortages among healthcare experts; 2) review existing strategies for minimizing patient-health risks through applied risk assessment; and 3) learn from experiences related to application in practice. Methodology: A semi-structured questionnaire focusing on medicine shortages was distributed electronically to members of the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action 15105 (28 member countries) and to hospital pharmacists of the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) (including associated healthcare professionals). Their answers were subjected to both qualitative and quantitative analysis (Microsoft Office Excel 2010 and IBM SPSS Statistics®) with descriptive statistics based on the distribution of responses. Their proportional difference was tested by the chi-square test and Fisher's exact test for independence. Differences in the observed ordinal variables were tested by the Mann-Whitney or Kruskal-Wallis test. The qualitative data were tabulated and recombined with the quantitative data to observe, uncover and interpret meanings and patterns. Results: The participants (61.7%) are aware of the use of risk assessment procedures as a coping strategy for medicine shortages, and named the particular risk assessment procedure they are familiar with failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) (26.4%), root cause analysis (RCA) (23.5%), the healthcare FMEA (HFMEA) (14.7%), and the hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) (14.7%). Only 29.4% report risk assessment as integrated into mitigation strategy protocols. Risk assessment is typically conducted within multidisciplinary teams (35.3%). Whereas 14.7% participants were aware of legislation stipulating risk assessment implementation in shortages, 88.2% claimed not to have reported their findings to their respective official institutions. 85.3% consider risk assessment a useful mitigation strategy. Conclusion: The study indicates a lack of systematically organized tools used to prospectively analyze clinical as well as operationalized risk stemming from medicine shortages in healthcare. There is also a lack of legal instruments and sufficient data confirming the necessity and usefulness of risk assessment in mitigating medicine shortages in Europe. © Copyright © 2020 Miljković, Godman, Kovačević, Polidori, Tzimis, Hoppe-Tichy, Saar, Antofie, Horvath, De Rijdt, Vida, Kkolou, Preece, Tubić, Peppard, Martinez, Yubero, Haddad, Rajinac, Zelić, Jenzer, Tartar, Gitler, Jeske, Davidescu, Beraud, Kuruc-Poje, Haag, Fischer, Sviestina, Ljubojević, Markestad, Vujić-Aleksić, Nežić, Crkvenčić, Linnolahti, Ašanin, Duborija-Kovačević, Bochenek, Huys and Miljković

The relationships between technological turbulence, flow experience, innovation performance and small firm growth

The main objective of the paper is to address the question of how to foster innovation and small firm growth under different levels of technological turbulence. Specifically, the paper examines the relationship among risk-taking, arising from different levels of technological turbulence, flow experience, innovation and small firm growth (i.e. market share and ROI growth). The underlying premise of our research is that there are substantial differences in low and high technological environments in terms of the relationships of risk taking, flow at work, innovation and small firm growth. Based on a survey among 188 entrepreneurs, the paper tests the proposed relationships in technological diverse environments with structural equation modelling. The results show that, when the level of technological turbulence is high, flow experience is significantly related to innovation and small firm growth, while in low-technological turbulence environment such relationships are not present. The study contributes to the entrepreneurial literature by demonstrating that in highly turbulent environments, flow experience may promote entrepreneurs’ innovation and the efficiency of small firm performance. The study also provides new empirical insights about the relationship between entrepreneurs’ behaviour, which is influenced by environmental conditions, on the one hand and innovation and small firm growth on the other hand

Microfoundations of SME open innovation

Purpose–The purpose of this research is to better understand the human aspects of open innovation in small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by exploring how intrinsic and extrinsic motivation influence enjoymentin helping others, knowledge sharing and knowledge hiding and consequently firms’open innovation. Design/methodology/approach–We collected data with a survey among CEOs in 140 SMEs andperformed confirmatory factor analysis applying structural equation modeling in IBM SPSS AMOS (v. 26). Findings–Results reveal that intrinsic motivation is positively associated with helping behavior andknowledge sharing and negatively associated with knowledge hiding. We also confirm the positiverelationship between extrinsic motivation and knowledge sharing. Moreover, we find that knowledge sharingincreases and knowledge hiding decreases the firm-level open innovation. Especially in high-tech industry,knowledge sharing is a vital determinant of open innovation. Originality/value–Responding to the calls for a deeper understanding of the individual-level factors thatdetermine organization-level open innovation, in this research we focus on the human aspect of open innovationin SMEs. Open innovation is a widely recognized and implemented concept among large corporations andfacilitates better understanding of new technological and market developments both within and outside oforganizations. However, understanding of the microfoundations of open innovation in smaller firms is stilllimited, but this steam of research is growing rapidly

Što pokreće studentsku uključenost? Uloga ciljne orijentacije na učenje, osjećaja zavisti i etičke klime

Students\u27 engagement in their studies during their time at university is a fundamental building block of a high-quality learning experience. In this paper, we investigate learning goal orientation as a predictor of student engagement in the context of higher education. Moreover, we examine whether the perception of feeling envied mediates this effect and investigate the moderating effect of ethical climate in this regard. The proposed moderated mediation model was tested on a sample of 230 business students. Results reveal that learning goal orientation is positively related with study engagement and that feeling envied mediates this relationship. We also affirm the moderating role of ethical climate in the relationship between learning goal orientation and study engagement. Specifically, in schools where the climate is perceived to be more ethical, student engagement is higher, regardless of how envied students feel. The paper concludes with a list of practical implications that may serve educators in their attempts to create conditions that foster students\u27 engagement in class.Uključenost studenata na studiju predstavlja temeljni element visokokvalitetnog iskustva učenja. U ovom radu istražujemo ciljnu orijentaciju na učenje kao prediktor studentske uključenosti u kontekstu visokog obrazovanja. Nadalje, u radu istražujemo i medijacijski utjecaj percepcije osjećaja zavisti te moderatorski utjecaj etičke klime na odnos ciljne orijentacije na učenje i studentske uključenosti. Predloženi moderatorsko-medijacijski model testiran je na uzorku od 230 studenata. Rezultati otkrivaju da je ciljna orijentacija na učenje pozitivno povezana s uključenosti i da je osjećaj zavisti medijator u ovom odnosu. Potvrđujemo i moderatorski učinak etičke klime u odnosu između ciljne orijentacije na učenje i uključenosti na studiju. Preciznije, u visokoobrazovnim ustanovama, u kojima se klima percipira kao etičnija, uključenost studenta je veća, neovisno o osjećaju zavisti. Rad zaključujemo popisom praktičnih implikacija koje bi mogle poslužiti nastavnicima u njihovim pokušajima da stvore uvjete koji potiču uključenost studenata u nastavi

SHOULD I, WOULD I, COULD I: TRUST AND RISK INFLUENCES ON INTENTION TO INVEST

This paper examines how risk-taking and trust influence students’ intention to invest. The study employs a survey distributed to 84 students from business and economics programmes. Results show that trust does not have a direct positive impact on individuals’ intention to invest. However, financial risk has a direct positive effect on intention to invest. Implications for theory are discussed and recommendations for further research are provided