Examination of Factors Leading Expansion of Outsourcing and its Arrangements in Service Sector

Purpose – the purpose of this article is to identify factors that influence the spread of outsourcing practice in service sectors, classified by WTO and investigate links between factors which lead service sector firms to adopt outsourcing and outsourcing relationship type. Research methodology – the authors conducted a comprehensive review of the literature in the service sector and outsourcing practices researches to achieve a thorough understanding of the issues involved and identifying the problematic aspects and crucial factors groups affecting the outsourcing using in the service sector. The structured interview with general managers in each service sector group was held in order to explore the factors determining the outsourcing in separate service sector companies and revealed what relationship are used to maintain outsourcing arrangements. Collected data were analysed using the statistical method. Findings – the range of factors that contribute to the expansion of outsourcing in the service sector is distinctive and significantly narrower than those identified in the scientific literature. The significance of factors that lead service sector firms to adopt outsourcing varies according to what kind of activities – core or non-core are outsourced. Outsourcing relationships are based on short- and long-term contracts preferred domestic outsourcing. Research limitations – although the main factors affecting the expansion of outsourcing in the service sector were revealed, the compatibility of expert opinions was weak. Therefore, more in-depth research could be carried out in each of the service sector groups and its sub-domains. Practical implications – the practical implication should explain how the results of the research could be used in practice. Originality/Value – while most studies of factors motivating outsourcing where based on manufacturing sector or separate service sector companies’ groups (hotels, hospitals, etc.), this is empirical study focusing at all service sector groups distinguished by WTO

A THEORETICAL APPROACH TO THE IMPACT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT COMPONENTS ON SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION

espective actions with regard to the components of sustainable development. Since sustainable consumption is related to producer and consumer positions, extra investment in more environmentally friendly and less polluting technologies, observance of fair-trade stipulations, and the search for compromises between the implementation of the goals of businesses and securing quality of life for society are very important. An analysis of the scientific literature and the provisions of the European Commission and international organisations reveals that the three components of sustainable development, economic, social and environmental, are highlighted. Responsible organisations that pursue the creation of a green image based on a sustainable business concept are producers of goods and suppliers of services in line with the needs of the responsible consumer. For this purpose, they are in a continuous search for harmony between economic growth, environmental protection, social justice and the consolidation of the rule of law, so that the balance between progress and the preservation of natural resources for future generations is maintained.KEY WORDS: sustainable consumption, responsible consumption, sustainable development, green organisation.JEL codes: M10, Q01, O10, O30.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15181/rfds.v31i2.210

The impact of outsourcing implementation on service companies

International audienceOutsourcing, as a managerial phenomenon, is gaining importance and attention among both scientists and entrepreneurs. Despite an increasing outsourcing practice among business units, the nature of factors affecting growth of the use of outsourcing on service companies have not received adequate attention in the scientific literature. The aim of paper is to provide in-depth analysis of factor affecting the spread of outsourcing practice among service companies. A comprehensive review of the literature was conducted in the fields of services, to achieve a thorough understanding of the issues involved, and identify the crucial factors affecting the use outsourcing in service companies. Literature analysis shows that spread of outsourcing is affected by external and internal factors. Most important internal factors affecting growth of outsourcing use in service companies are strategic and economic factors

Оцінка впливу похідних на ранній системний ризик Єврозони

Introduction. Evaluation of systemic risk is very complicated, as it is difficult to accurately predict the extent of the links between various institutions, and the possible spread and scale of the country's systemic risk. In addition, the country's systemic crisis is affected by many factors, many elements of the financial system. Financial derivatives are one of many elements of financial system, and the market of financial derivatives is huge compared to other financial instruments. The impact of financial derivatives to economies of various countries has been widely studied, however, the research on their impact to countries‘ early systemic risk remains under-researched. For this reason, assessment of the impact of derivative financial instruments on the early systemic risk is very relevant. Aim and tasks. The purpose of the article is to assess the impact of financial derivatives on the country's early systemic risk in the Euro area region. Results. It is shown that correlation fluctuates between weak-strong level, when analyzing relationship between various factors of financial derivatives and early systemic risk in the Euro area. Results of linear regression analysis prove that the group of financial derivatives independent variables (interconnection, size, liquidity, complexity, stability, leverage) can be used to reliably estimate the dependent variable (early systemic risk). Logistic regression analysis also provides similar results to the linear regression analysis. Additionally, it is shown, that logistic regression is more suitable to analyze impact on early systemic risk. Analysis of impact of individual financial derivatives factors to early systemic risk demonstrate, that three financial derivatives factors – size, complexity, and leverage – may be the best predictors of an impending systemic crisis. Among these factors, the size factor has the largest impact on early systemic risk of the Euro area, and complexity factor shows improved statistical parameters, which indicates, that this parameter is more suitable to be used in early warning system models. Conclusions. The use of financial derivatives has strong impact on early systemic risk in the Euro area. The size factor of financial derivatives indicates the highest probability of an impending systemic crisis. Nevertheless, complexity factor of financial derivatives is the only statistically significant factor, that has an impact on early systemic risk. The results suggest that the inclusion of these factors in the systemic risk assessment models, which are developed by researchers, could increase the accuracy of the models. It is noted, that country’s systemic risk may not necessarily arise in financial derivatives, because there are many different financial products in the financial system. As a result, other financial instruments could also be the subject to further research by scientists. The inclusion of factors of various financial instruments could help to better identify the risks of impeding systemic crisis in systemic risk assessment models.Вступ. Оцінка ринкового ризику є складним процесом, так як достатньо важко проаналізувати зв’язки між різними установами, а також можливу ступінь розповсюдження та масштаб національного ринкового ризику. Національна системна криза відбувається під впливом багатьох чинників та елементів фінансової системи. Похідні фінансові інструменти є одним з багатьох елементів фінансової системи, а ринок цих інструментів значно перевищує об’єми інших фінансових інструментів. Вплив похідних фінансових інструментів на економіку різних країн вже було широко досліджено, однак тема їх впливу на ранній ринковий ризик країн залишається нерозкритою. Таким чином, оцінка впливу похідних фінансових інструментів на ринковий ризик є важливою. Мета та завдання. Метою статті є оцінка впливу похідних фінансових інструментів на ранній ринковий ризик країн Єврозони. Результати. При аналізі різних факторів похідних фінансових інструментів та раннього ринкового ризику у країнах Єврозони визначнено, що їх взаємозв’язок коливається від сильного до незначного. Результати лінійно-регресивного аналізу демонструють, що незалежні змінні, які входять до похідних фінансових інструментів (взаємозв’язок, розмір, ліквідність, складність, стабільність, співвідношення різних видів капіталу) можуть використовуватися для достовірної оцінки залежної змінної. Логістичний регресивний аналіз є більш прийнятним для аналізу впливу на ранній ринковий ризик. Аналіз впливу окремих факторів різних похідних фінансових інструментів на ранній ринковий ризик також показав, що три фактори похідних фінансових інструментів (розмір, складність та співвідношення різних видів капіталу) є найкращими маркерами близької системної кризи. Серед вищезазначених факторів найбільший вплив на ранній ринковий ризик країн Єврозони має фактор розміру, в той час як фактор складності демонструє покращені статистичні показники, за якими і було визначено, що даний фактор є більш прийнятним для використання у моделях системи попереднього попередження. Висновок. Використання похідних фінансових інструментів має значний вплив на ранній ринковий ризик країн Єврозони. Фактор розміру похідних фінансових інструментів визначає найбільшу вірогідність близької системної кризи. Єдиним статистично значущим фактором, що впливає на ранній ринковий ризик, є фактор складності похідних фінансових інструментів. Результати дослідження демонструють, що включення вищезазначених факторів до моделей оцінювання ринкового ризику може підвищити точність цих моделей. Ринковий ризик не обов’язково виникає з похідних фінансових інструментів, так як фінансова система складається із різних фінансових продуктів. Інші фінансові інструменти також можуть стати предметом подальших досліджень. Аналіз додаткових факторів фінансових інструментів може допомогти при визначенні ризиків близької системної кризи у моделях оцінювання ринкового ризику

Organizational Agility Conceptual Model

Organizational agility is a complex and multidimensional concept. One of the challenges in researching organizational agility is its unified definition and concept. Li terature analysis reveals various dimensions and frameworks are used to analyze organization agili- ty. Many of them focus on narrow industry or only approach the organizational agility concept from limited perspective. This article attempts to combine different approaches and angles to organiza- tional agility to a more cohesi ve and encompassing conceptual model that is applicable to variety industries and organizations. The variety and combination of attributes, characteristics, capabili- ties, and practices make the measurement of organizational agility are analyzed. Building on research main frameworks for analyzing organizational agility concept are identified. Conceptual organiza- tional agility model based on organizational agility attributes, capa- bilities and practices framework is presented. This article contrib- utes to research by providing more unified concept, which can be adapted in studying organizational agility in a wide and global range of organizations, regardless of the industry they operate in

The management model for human-resource outsourcing among service companies

Despite the growth of human-resource outsourcing in both the manufacturing and service sectors, it has been very complicated to measure this until now. Among scholars, outsourcing began to be analysed in the manufacturing sector when certain functions were transferred to subcontractors. In practice, outsourcing is related to tactical, strategic and restructuring issues. This article highlights the advantages of outsourcing human resources and examines outsourcing models, based on that there is derived human resource outsourcing management model and tested among service companies

Dynamic Capabilites for Strategic Flexibility in Retail Firms

The purpose of this conceptual paper is to explore the dynamic capabilities that are required to achieve or improve strategic flexibility in retail industry companies. Building on research on strategic flexibility and dynamic capabilities in general, author identifies five main dynamic capabilities, needed for strategic flexibility specifically in retail sector: marketing flexibility, brand building, distribution flexibility, store location and design, and customer relationship management. This paper contributes to the scientific literature by narrowing the focus and adding to retail industry specific research on strategic flexibility and dynamic capabilities

Evaluation of Derivatives Impact to Early Systemic Risk of Euro Area

The country’s systemic risk has become a fairly widely discussed topic since the global financial crisis of 2008. There is a growing interest among researchers in the development of an Early warning system that helps to assess the relationship between an independent variable for the current period and a dependent variable for a future period. Such models can be used to as early warning of the level of the country's systemic risk, and may help to take early actions to prevent or decrease the impact of systemic crisis. Evaluation of systemic risk is very complicated, as it is difficult to accurately predict the extent of the links between various institutions, and the possible spread and scale of the country's systemic risk. In addition, the country's systemic crisis is affected by many factors, many elements of the financial system. Financial derivatives are one of many elements of financial system, and the market of financial derivatives is huge compared to other financial instruments. The impact of financial derivatives to economies of various countries has been widely studied, however, the research on their impact to countries‘ early systemic risk remains under-researched. For this reason, assessment of the impact of derivative financial instruments on the early systemic risk is very relevant. Aim and tasks. The purpose of the article is to assess the impact of financial derivatives on the country's early systemic risk in the Euro area region. Results. It is shown that correlation fluctuates between weak-strong level, when analyzing relationship between various factors of financial derivatives and early systemic risk in the Euro area. Results of linear regression analysis prove that the group of financial derivatives independent variables (interconnection, size, liquidity, complexity, stability, leverage) can be used to reliably estimate the dependent variable (early systemic risk). Logistic regression analysis also provides similar results to the linear regression analysis. Additionally, it is shown, that logistic regression is more suitable to analyze impact on early systemic risk. Analysis of impact of individual financial derivatives factors to early systemic risk demonstrate, that three financial derivatives factors – size, complexity, and leverage – may be the best predictors of an impending systemic crisis. Among these factors, the size factor has the largest impact on early systemic risk of the Euro area, and complexity factor shows improved statistical parameters, which indicates, that this parameter is more suitable to be used in early warning system models

Opportunities for Lithuania to become a full member of international services market

Research on international trade in services is rather fragmented. Services usually are not an object for international trade, as they are intangible, non-transportable, non-tradable at the international market level. Here, in this article the concept of international service is presented, as well as barriers for trading them abroad are indentified. Tendencies of international trade in services are underlined. On the ground of secondary data, opportunities to trade globally for Lithuanian services suppliers are developed. At the end of the article recommendations for increasing the level of international trade of services are discussed.Paslaugų ekonomika vietinėje rinkoje pasiekė aukščiausią ekonomikos lygį. Pastaruoju metu paslaugų teikėjai pradeda vis dažniau atsigręžti į tarptautinę rinką, stengdamiesi neapsiriboti vietinių paslaugų verslu. Paslaugų eksportas yra gana specifiškas, kadangi paslaugos pasižymi neapčiuopiamumu ir yra parduodamos skirtingai nei apčiuopiamos prekės, medžiagos ar kiti apčiuopiami produktai. Pastarųjų metų studijos rodo, jog tarptautinė prekyba paslaugomis vis dažniau užima savo vietą tarptautinėje rinkoje. Net jeigu ir gamybos produktai, nafta ar kitos apčiuopiamos produkcijos vienetai užima didžiąją dalį tarptautinės prekybos, tarptautinė prekyba paslaugomis irgi sėkmingai auga. Didžiąją dalį tarptautinės prekybos paslaugomis sudaro prekyba turizmu, kelionėmis, transportu, taip pat ir verslo paslaugomis. Daugelis ekonomiškai pajėgių šalių konkuruoja tarptautinėje rinkoje kaip verslo sprendimų eksportuotojai, buhalteriai, strategijų specialistai, auditoriai. Šalys, esančios palankesnėse klimato zonose, gali konkuruoti turizmo, spa paslaugomis. Paslaugų eksportas, kaip ir gamybos produkcijos eksportas, dažnai nesiekia importo lygio, taigi užsienio prekybos balansas išlieka neigiamas. Tačiau paslaugos išlieka tarptautinės prekybos objektu, taigi įgalina teikėjus gauti iš jų pelną, o iš to pasipelno ir pati šalis. Augančioms šalims, Lietuvai paslaugų prekyba tarptautinėje rinkoje irgi yra labai svarbi. Ir nors Lietuvos paslaugų eksportui būdinga daugiau augančių šalių paslaugų struktūra (transportas, turizmas), dar tebėra daug galimybių plėtoti paslaugas užsienio rinkoje. Straipsnio tikslas yra atskleisti Lietuvos paslaugų teikėjų galimybes prekiauti užsienio rinkoje. Straipsnyje taikyta lyginamoji mokslinių šaltinių analizė, statistinių duomenų analizė bei sintezė. Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, jog Lietuvos paslaugų eksportą sudaro iš esmės transporto ir turizmo paslaugos, tačiau daugiau galimybių plėtoti turi ir komunikacinės, verslo paslaugos. Siekiant unifikuoti tarptautinių paslaugų prekybą, Lietuvoje turi būti laikomasi europinių paslaugų, parduodamų užsienyje, apskaitos standartų. Atskiras dėmesys turėtų būti skiriamas ir paslaugoms, parduodamos elektroninėje erdvėje. Santykinai pigi ir kvalifikuota darbo jėga yra pagrindiniai šaltiniai, atversiantys mūsų paslaugų teikėjams sienas į užsienio rinkas

Transnational Corporations and Economic Security: Interaction in Terms of Globalization

Since the end of the twentieth century, globalization processes in the world take a new level every year. This, in turn, affects the development of transnational companies (TNCs), which spread their influence on the economies of countries across the planet, as well as on the system of international economic relations as a whole. It can be said that, recently, transnationals have been the initiators and main supporters of the introduction of globalization. Given that TNCs have virtually unlimited financial resources, their activities pose threats to economic security for both host and home countries. This is mainly due to the fact that the interests of states and companies in relation to which the economic distribution of TNCs is directed are not fully taken into account, and also because the goals of many TNCs and the countries where they are based contradict the basic principles of economic security. The authors of the article describe the main components of economic security, analyze transnational companies, their impact on the economies of countries, as well as proposed steps to strengthen international economic security and that of the country as a whole