Preliminarno istraživanje obilježja ekoinovacija i ekodizajna u Sloveniji

Eco-innovation is crucial to Europe’s economic competitiveness; environment-friendly technologies have a positive impact on businesses and contribute to job creation. A survey of perceptions and attitudes about eco-innovation and eco-design among 712 Slovenian enterprises was conducted. The survey included micro, small and medium enterprises, and large companies. Analysis of the survey revealed that eco-design in Slovenia is underexploited. Only approximately 50 % of the 657 respondents have established an innovative environment for sustainable development or support for eco-innovation processes. Based on the survey results, it was concluded that further development and promotion will require comprehensive policies at the local and national levels. Specifically, policy solutions should advocate combining eco-innovation and adopting a life-cycle design approach. These policies could result in the development of successful innovations at a breakthrough level. Eco-innovation and eco-design present Slovenian enterprises with the opportunity to create new markets where they could dominate and prosper. Furthermore, Slovenia could become an important contributor to the European Union goal of becoming a smart, sustainable, and inclusive economy by fully satisfying the objectives of four “Europe 2020” Flagship initiatives, while simultaneously contributing to reducing climate change.Ekoinovacije imaju ključno značenje za ekonomsku konkurentnost Europe; okolišno prihvatljive tehnologije pozitivno utječu na poslovanje poduzeća i pridonose stvaranju novih radnih mjesta. Istraživanje percepcije i stajališta o ekoinovacijama i ekodizajnu provedena su u 712 slovenskih poduzeća. Istraživanjem su obuhvaćena mikropoduzeća, mala i srednja poduzeća te velike tvrtke. Analiza rezultata ankete pokazala je da je ekodizajn u Sloveniji nedovoljno iskorišten. Samo je oko 50 % od 657 anketiranih tvrki uspostavilo inovativno okruženje za održivi razvoj ili uvelo potpore za ekološke inovacijske procese. Na temelju rezultata istraživanja zaključeno je da daljnji razvoj i promocija ekoinovacija i ekodizajna zahtijevaju opsežne politike na lokalnoj i nacionalnoj razini. Naime, politička rješenja trebaju promicati kombinaciju ekoinovacija i usvajanje novog pristupa dizajnu uzimajući u obzir životni ciklus proizvoda. Takve politike mogu dovesti do razvoja uspješnih inovacija. Ekoinovacije i ekodizajn za slovenska su poduzeća prilika za stvaranje novih tržišta na kojima bi mogli dominirati i napredovati. Nadalje, Slovenija bi mogla postati važan čimbenik u ostvarenju težnje europske unije da postane pametno, održivo i inkluzivno gospodarstvo i da u potpunosti zadovolji ciljeve četiriju ključnih inicijativa strategije „Europa 2020”, a da pritom istodobno pridonosi smanjenju klimatskih promjena

Firm Performance, Business Environment, and Outlook for Social and Environmental Responsibility during the Economic Downturn: Findings and Implications from the Forest Sector

The recent economic downturn severely affected the US forest sector from a macro-economic perspective but little is known about changes in firm-level performance. In this study we investigate the changes in financial, social and environmental performance of forest sector firms during a period approximately corresponding to the downturn. We also assess industry dynamism and industry’s view about social and environmental responsibility as a competitive tool. We conducted a national survey of wood, furniture and paper companies. Approximately sixty percent of our respondents reported a decline in financial performance during the downturn. With respect to social and environmental performance, customer oriented actions show mixed trends, employee matters remained somewhat unaltered, community engagement significantly decreased, and engagement in environmental activities significantly increased. Respondents view their operating business environment as highly dynamic and difficult and they do not view engagement in social and environmental responsibility activities leading to either financial or non-financial benefits.This is an author's peer-reviewed final manuscript, as accepted by the publisher. The published article is copyrighted by NRC Research Press and can be found at: http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/journal/cjfr

Pure versus hybrid competitive strategies in the forest sector: Performance implications

The extant forest sector strategy research rests on Porter’s classic dictum that successful firms pursue a singular strategy. A growing research stream on organizational ambidexterity, however, challenges this traditional view and recommends the pursuit of hybrid strategies, a phenomenon that we note existing among forest sector firms. In this study, we set out to compare the financial performance of firms pursuing a singular or pure strategy and those pursuing hybrid strategies. We compare whether a differentiation, overall low cost, or hybrid strategy yields higher financial performance. We first deduce our study hypotheses and then test each using data from 441 US-based manufacturing firms drawn from multiple sub-sectors. We find no evidence that a hybrid strategy is a more effective choice towards enhanced firm performance than a singular strategy. We also find that firms pursuing a differentiation strategy are the highest performers while there is little difference in performance of firms pursuing other strategies.Keywords: Cost leadership, Ambidexterity, Business strategy, Differentiation, Financial performanc

Does the Business Case Matter? The Effect of a Perceived Business Case on Small Firms’ Social Engagement

This is an author's peer-reviewed final manuscript, as accepted by the publisher. The published article is copyrighted by Springer and can be found at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2835-6The business case for social responsibility (BCSR) is one of the most widely studied topics in the business and society literature that focuses on large firms. This attention is understandable because large firms have an obligation to shareholders who, as commonly assumed, seek to maximize returns on their investments, in turn, pressing corporate managers to show that firms’ expenditures in social engagement would pay off. Small firms, on the other hand, rarely face such pressures, yet the BCSR logic is increasingly applied to small firms as well. Our primary objective in this paper is to examine whether and how much do small firm owners’ perceptions of BCSR affect the firm’s social engagement. In finding a fine-grained answer to those questions, we consider BCSR as a two-dimensional construct consisting of tangible and intangible benefits, and also integrate the BCSR perspective with the slack resource perspective to offer a motivation-capacity lens to examine firm’s social engagement. Drawing on a multi-industry sample of 478 small firms in the US, we find that while small firm owners’ perceptions about potential tangible benefits of social engagement are not related to the firm’s social engagement, perceptions about potential intangible are positively related. Firm’s financial performance is also positively related to its social engagement, but there is no interaction between potential benefits and financial performance. This study contributes to an improved understanding about small firms’ social engagement, which still remains an understudied area. Our results are in line with studies which argue that firms’ social engagement is a response to institutional factors

Search for new particles in events with energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A search is presented for new particles produced at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV, using events with energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum. The analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 101 fb(-1), collected in 2017-2018 with the CMS detector. Machine learning techniques are used to define separate categories for events with narrow jets from initial-state radiation and events with large-radius jets consistent with a hadronic decay of a W or Z boson. A statistical combination is made with an earlier search based on a data sample of 36 fb(-1), collected in 2016. No significant excess of events is observed with respect to the standard model background expectation determined from control samples in data. The results are interpreted in terms of limits on the branching fraction of an invisible decay of the Higgs boson, as well as constraints on simplified models of dark matter, on first-generation scalar leptoquarks decaying to quarks and neutrinos, and on models with large extra dimensions. Several of the new limits, specifically for spin-1 dark matter mediators, pseudoscalar mediators, colored mediators, and leptoquarks, are the most restrictive to date.Peer reviewe

MUSiC : a model-unspecific search for new physics in proton-proton collisions at root s=13TeV

Results of the Model Unspecific Search in CMS (MUSiC), using proton-proton collision data recorded at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1), are presented. The MUSiC analysis searches for anomalies that could be signatures of physics beyond the standard model. The analysis is based on the comparison of observed data with the standard model prediction, as determined from simulation, in several hundred final states and multiple kinematic distributions. Events containing at least one electron or muon are classified based on their final state topology, and an automated search algorithm surveys the observed data for deviations from the prediction. The sensitivity of the search is validated using multiple methods. No significant deviations from the predictions have been observed. For a wide range of final state topologies, agreement is found between the data and the standard model simulation. This analysis complements dedicated search analyses by significantly expanding the range of final states covered using a model independent approach with the largest data set to date to probe phase space regions beyond the reach of previous general searches.Peer reviewe