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Purpose: This paper aims to seek the perceptions of potential future corporate managers and directors on the issues raised in the literature, especially recent articles in the corporate communications literature, concerning corporate board gender quotas. It focusses on the Czech Republic, where research on board gender diversity is sparse. Design/methodology/approach: The study is part of much more comprehensive research into board gender diversity. It adopts a questionnaire approach, with this paper focussing on 13 research statements. A Likert Scale of 1–4 (Strongly Agree; Agree; Disagree; Strongly Disagree) was applied to the perceived views expressed. The questionnaires were completed by university students at a public university in the Czech Republic during March–April 2023. A pilot questionnaire was conducted in February 2023, resulting in minor changes being made. The data is analysed using SPSS and MedCalc® statistical software. Findings: There is overwhelming opposition to quotas, even from women. The opinions expressed by the respondents to this research, in many respects, support the literature, but there is unmistakable evidence of gender bias. Regarding the positive female benefits of quotas, male respondents disagreed; regarding the negative issues of quotas, male respondents agreed more than their female counterparts. Practical implications: The research findings have important implications for how women recruited through quotas may be received onto corporate boards – what challenges will they likely face? Some current female candidates for directorship, who would have been selected on merit and perceived as such by their male counterparts, may now be hesitant to apply for such positions if they are seen as being appointed due to quotas. Therefore, the selection procedure must continue to be based on merit and seen as such. Originality/value: One of the important aspects of the paper is that it focusses on a country that has, until recently, resisted pressures to implement mandatory corporate board gender quotas; in this respect, it has a corpus of originality and value. The Czech Republic and other European countries will also be affected by the recent EU law on gender balance or corporate boards. The paper also highlights the perceptions of potential future directors on various issues of board gender quotas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study examines Covid-19-related policies as a showcase for priorities in migration governance, the role of the state and employers' associations, as well as gaps in social security and social protection. Design/methodology/approach: This paper looks at how immigration interacts with the labour market in the Czech Republic through the prism of the varieties of capitalism framework and its relation to the concepts of labour market segmentation and flexibility. Findings: The findings show that pandemic-related measures focused on continuously adjusting a legislative framework granting access to third-country workers. However, protective measures that would guarantee migrant workers and their families access to social rights, such as healthcare, were lacking. In this context, several lines of segmentation are observed: between migrant workers in standard employment and those in non-standard employment, when looking at their access to healthcare; between migrants hired directly by employers and those working through temporary agencies in terms of their wages, stability and protection; and, at a sectoral level, between the skilled workforce and migrants that are pushed to low-qualified poorly paid, and routinised jobs. Originality/value: This paper expands the existing literature on the preferences and influence of governments, employers and trade unions regarding the demand for foreign labour in varieties of capitalism by adding the perspective of a Central European economic model. At the same time, its findings contribute to the understanding that labour market inequalities are not fostered on the supply side of migrant labour, through exogenous societal or cultural characteristics specific to countries of origin, but rather through institutionalised measures, practices and policies in countries of destination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to contribute to the literature on board gender diversity by soliciting university students' views on several perceptions raised by academics concerning the suitability of women to serve on corporate boards. In particular, if the opinions of male students differ from those of female students, this showing any gender bias. Design/methodology/approach: The study is part of a much more comprehensive investigation into board gender diversity. It adopts a questionnaire approach, with this paper focussing on twelve research statements. Two hundred and ninety-six university students completed the questionnaires at a public university in the Czech Republic during March–April 2023. A pilot questionnaire was conducted in February 2023, resulting in minor changes being made. The data is analysed using SPSS and MedCalc® statistical software. Findings: Whilst, in some respects, it supports the literature in relation to the observations highlighted in the research statements concerning female traits/characteristics, there is unmistakable evidence of gender bias in the respondents' opinions regarding the qualities women can bring to corporate boards. Overall, this research shows a negative bias by male respondents towards the positive attributes females can bring to the boardroom. This bias may influence the selection of female directors in the future. This research suggests that the apparent discrimination against women is not just because they are female but from a perceived mismatch between inferred female characteristics and male stereotype leadership requirements. There is, however, no gender bias with respect to students' leadership aspirations. Practical implications: The findings of this research should help with policy-making decisions concerning the selection of future corporate board directors and help break down any negative gender selection bias. The paper adds to the discussion and debate about ethical issues related to business and broader society concerning gender diversity in senior management roles. It also adds to the political debate on the issue of legislative gender initiatives. Originality/value: The research respondents' perceptions may well influence the decision-making process for the selection of future corporate directors. Whilst these current perceptions may, and invariably will, change over time, it is important to identify them at an early stage in the respondents' careers. This research gives a better understanding of the perceived qualities that women bring to corporate boards from an inexperienced perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The paper deals with the child benefits system in the Czech Republic, Slovak Republic and Sweden. Design/methodology/approach: The authors describe the systems as the key baseline for subsequent qualitative and quantitative comparison. An essential element is the quantitative comparison of child benefits using their statistically stationarised values. Findings: The Czech and Slovak systems provide a comparable rate of coverage as the Swedish system regarding the payment of both types of benefits, i.e. child benefits and tax allowances, for the first and second child; however, from the third child, the individual differences are considerable. Albeit the concepts of Czech and Slovak systems are framed by the same historical origins and conceptual approach, they differ significantly, with Slovakia providing the lowest aggregate level of child benefits. Originality/value: The paper provides insight into the child benefit systems in the respective countries. These systems are at the centre of attention of policymakers who are attempting to maintain birth rates and reduce child poverty. The Czech Republic has the lowest level of at-risk-of-poverty rates for persons under 16 years of age, while natality rates are comparable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Recently, efforts to fight discriminatory behaviour in many sports and to eliminate racial preferences among fans have intensified. However, uncovering discriminatory preferences may not be easy as they may be deeply rooted and even unconscious. This paper aims to discuss the aforementioned issues. Design/methodology/approach: Unfortunately, professional soccer and fantasy sports participation serves as a vehicle for explicit racial discrimination at a micro-level, but does it translate to the macro-level through fantasy team selection? The current study explored the potential of implicit racial discrimination in Czech participants in the English Premier League. Findings: Discriminatory behaviour in this context is defined by a consumer demonstrating preference for a white player over a non-white player in the fantasy soccer labour market when both players are performing at equal levels. Controlling for additional factors such as nationality and historically dominant team biases and accessing a more homogenous sample, the results confirmed previous research that racial discrimination cannot be found in team selection decisions among fantasy soccer participants in the Czech Republic. The manifestations of racism are still present at Czech stadiums and among Czech athletes. This contradiction is the major finding of this paper. Originality/value: Previous research found no evidence of racial discrimination among participants controlling for some game factors. However, the study had many limitations including a heterogeneous sample and not controlling for additional factors of participant bias. Given those concerns, the current study analysed line-up decisions of English Premier League participants, but did so with participants solely within the Czech Republic, a more homogenous sample, controlling for additional important factors that could impact racial discrimination among fantasy participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a legal analysis of some chosen aspects of protection of privacy of employee as one of its personal (personality) rights in labour-law relations so how to follow from the actual legal state of legislation of property protection and other rightful interest of an employer. Design/methodology/approach: Current legislation, in general, provides adequate privacy protection to employees in labour-law relations, but in the opinion of the authors is not quite adequately balanced with adequate legislative protection of property rights and employer private in the current legislative status of employee privacy protection. Employee privacy protection should be balanced by the increased protection of employer the interests who bears responsibility for the results of productive activities towards third parties and public power bodies, but responsible for any damage incurred to his employees. Authors of the paper are aware that the constitutional order of the Czech Republic, the Civil Code, EU legislation and the legal norms of labour law provides, in general, a sufficient guide for the fair and equitable application and interpretation of relevant law norms in the monitored area, next suggest realized legislative changes or additions in the area of employers protection of the interests and property in labour-law relations on the background of employee privacy protection. Findings: The authors are of the opinion that the proposed change is not a denial of constitutional rules and legal provisions for the protection of personality under the Civil Code and consider it to be a balanced and professional experience to apply. Its purpose is to exhaustively identify the reasons for the introduction of control mechanisms, without prejudice to the principle of use only to the extent necessary and proportionate manner. Research limitations/implications: Re-codified private law after 1st January 2014 is in many cases very a cased interpretation. For the issue of the interests and property protection of the employer on the backgrounds of the employee privacy protection would be appropriate to legislative more elaborate the particular legal passages and chapters of the legal text, and thus reduce the scope interpretation of the court decision. To stimulate discussion on the topic authors propose the following legislative adjustment provisions of §316 paragraph 1 and 3 of the Labor Code. The proposal allows for even that is rarely possible to get an audio recording that an employee in the course of his work, even without prior notice, if it is a compelling reason for involving the exercise and protection of employees. Practical implications: Employees may not, without the consent of the employer to use it for their personal use, production and employment employer resources including computers nor its telecommunications equipment. Compliance with the ban in the first sentence, the employer is entitled to adequate controls. The employer shall not, except as noted below, interfere with the privacy of employees in workplaces and public areas of the employer that the employee undergoing open or covert surveillance, interception and recording of his telephone calls, checking e-mail or check the correspondence addressed to employees or making video and audiovisual recordings employee during his employment. These control mechanisms employer is entitled to a proportionate manner and to the extent necessary in the following cases: on grounds of legitimate interests and property of the employer against the threat or violation, on grounds of health and property and other employees and other serious reasons. If it is for the employer is no reason that justifies the implementation of control mechanisms under paragraph 2, the employer is obliged to inform employees directly about the extent of control by way of implementation. The obligation to inform employees not arise in cases where there is an imminent risk of injury to the health or property of the employer, the employee, other employees or third parties or in the case of sound recording employees when acquired or used for the exercise or protection of other rights or legally protected interests of others people. Originality/value: The weaker subordination position of the employee in labour-law relations requires consistent protection and its personal interests towards employer follow from labour-law relations. These regulations have to have particular legal limits so that there was no threatened or even directly touched personal and personality rights of the employee such as honour, human dignity, ethics, morality, reverence, mutual tolerance and labour-law relations in relation to equality with participants with that employer carry responsibility for performance and results do work and it even towards to third persons when it has right to provide effectual protection property and personality rights. The proposal allows for even that is rarely possible to get an audio recording that an employee in the course of his work, even without prior notice, if it is a compelling reason for involving the exercise and protection of employees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The paper aims to identify retail models redistributing suboptimal food and their presence in Czechia. The author aims to give an overview of the status in comparison with other European Union countries and the form of such models in the Czech retail market concerning social super discount stores (SSDSs). Design/methodology/approach: The analysis is based on data obtained from an empirical study conducted by the study of secondary materials, author store-check observations and interviews with owners of SSDSs. The theoretical part consists of a literature review on social enterprises, food wasting and the definition of certain food distribution formats such as social supermarkets, food banks and SSDSs. The criteria for the selection of the research sample for observation were chosen based on the research conducted in Austria by researchers from the Vienna University of Economics and Business. Findings: The research sample consists of 40 retail stores belonging to five retailers. The particular variables of the study are the number of stores, store size, range of categories and products, discount rates, location and the number of employees in the selected stores in Czechia. Originality/value: This paper is a case study to identify and explore social retailing in Central Europe. This paper contributes to the emerging set of literature on social entrepreneurship, particularly in the field of retail for suboptimal food products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to define the impact of the investment in training in education by the European Social Fund (ESF) in four Eastern countries, namely, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Hungary. Those countries have some political, cultural, social and economic similarities and share some common ground in the human resource development (HRD) sectors. Design/methodology/approach: The authors use the human capital theory with some extensions to analyze the context, operations and impacts of the ESF in the Visegrad four (V4) countries between 2007 and 2013. The authors use three levels of methodology to access each one of those problems. Findings: The authors conclude that the ESF helped building the vocational training system in those countries, and to help them get near the equilibrium of high skills of the V4 Western European neighbors, and therefore, this one was a success story. However, quality issues remain to be addressed that may hinder the continuation of the success in the future. Research limitations/implications: The research could be enlarged in time and space and deepened in terms of methodology. This is one a first clarifying step. Theoretical work should become aware of the dichotomy between absorption and scientific logic. Practical implications: Detailed and precise evaluation practices must be implemented to guide and assess the policy. Social implications: Precisely because funds are scarce this paper enlights the dilemma and the tension between quantity and quality in the European HRD policy, this is an important social problem. Originality/value: The study is original because even if the HRD in those countries had already been studied (Sheehan and Buchelt, 2016), no study analyzing specifically the ESF in those countries has been carried out so far. The authors use an innovative methodology and address questions on context, operations and impact, which are also innovative and very relevant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the firm-level drivers of competitiveness of the Czech small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) using the complex firm-level competitiveness index. The authors explored the relationship between firm competitiveness and firm characteristics such as size, age, industry affiliation and location. Design/methodology/approach: The complex competitiveness index as a proxy for firm competitiveness was calculated from the survey data. In total, 132 complete questionnaires filled in by representatives of randomly selected Czech SMEs were collected in 2018. Additional firm characteristics (size, age, industry affiliation and location) considered as determinants of competitiveness were obtained from the commercial database Albertina and from the Czech Statistical Office. The determinants of competitiveness were tested econometrically by estimation of multivariate regression models. Findings: The authors mainly found a significant relationship between the firm size and competitiveness of the Czech SMEs. The authors have also confirmed that the least competitive enterprises are those operating in the agricultural sector and that regional location plays an important role in the determination of firm competitiveness. Practical implications: The identification of competitiveness drivers can provide entrepreneurs, managers and policymakers with important implications. It seems beneficial for the Czech SMEs to expand the scope of operations to achieve a larger company size, for example, by focussing on investment activities, direct marketing, improving entrepreneurial skills or by applying an aggressive sales strategy, especially towards markets with lower competition. Politicians may respond to these efforts by setting the appropriate policies that promote SMEs' competitiveness, for example, through the hard and soft public support for financial and human resources. Originality/value: Although many studies on competitiveness have been published, there is still a limited number of firm-level studies looking at competitiveness from multiple angles rather than from the study of profitability and productivity. In contrast, the study uses a complex firm-level competitiveness index based on ten competitiveness pillars (technology, human capital, products, domestic market, networks, international markets, online presence, marketing, decision making and strategy) to capture the contribution of different resources and capabilities to firm competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper aims to make contributions to the debate on "performance measurement in practice" focussing on how organisational participants respond to the "new regime" of key performance indicators (KPIs) and whether KPIs materialise as intended in a transitional economy. Design/methodology/approach: Inspired by the epistemological instruction of Schatzki's practice theory, this paper draws on qualitative data collected through face-to-face interviews, observations and documentary analysis of a single organisation. Findings: KPIs were introduced at PK (a manufacturing concern in Czech Republic) but widely seen as contradictory, inconsequential, top-down and unrealistic. These lead organisational participants to adopt a pragmatic approach towards PM embracing KPIs' subjective assessment and manipulation, common sense or doing the job as given, and superficial compliance (symbolism). Research limitations/implications: The paper would be interesting to researchers because of its explanation of performance measurement practice in a distinct empirical setting, for its application of a practice theory inspired by Schatzki, and for inspiring new research agendas in transitional economies. Practical implications: The paper recommends the mobilisation of artefacts, such as various forms of bottom-up discussions, to encourage interactions between organisational members and influence individual beliefs and practical understandings of the intended managerial projects. Originality/value: The paper has focussed on "organisations of practice" to unravel the "doings" of organisational participants to explore the micro-processes of PM which otherwise would have been ignored. These "doings" and "sayings", linked by pools of understanding, rules or instructions, and a teleoaffective structure, enabled the authors to unmask inherent tensions and contradictions in a new regime of performance measures such as KPIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper discusses the role of public leadership and the strategic response of local governments to the external shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors examine the typical Czech response with regard to how the leadership of municipalities in the Czech Republic responded to this extremely negative external stimulus. Design/methodology/approach: The authors use qualitative research methods for this investigation. They have chosen the case study method (see Yin, 2009; Stake, 1995; Klonoski, 2013). The general case is the Czech Republic. Mini-cases consist of municipalities from the Znojmo region, municipalities of the Central Bohemian region and the municipal districts in the capital city of Prague. Furthermore, the method of participant observation was used. Findings: The authors' analysis of the problem of local government responses to the pandemic crisis shows that municipal leaders responded with a variety of (non-)adaptation strategies. It appears that certain framework factors influenced the various local governments' behavior. Originality/value: The article examines the strategic behavior of Czech municipal leaders regarding the pandemic crisis based on the observation of the reactions of local governments in the Czech Republic to the pandemic crisis and strives to define their basic strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Knowledge sharing becomes crucial in today's competitive world to foster organizational performance. This paper aims to explore which employee characteristics facilitate knowledge sharing in the organizations and to examine the dimensions of these characteristics. Design/methodology/approach: Opinion-based questionnaires among employees in Czech companies were applied. The research design in this study was cross-sectional. The hypotheses were tested by Pearson's correlations and regression analyses. Findings: The findings support the idea that specific individual employee characteristics increase knowledge sharing in the organization. Four categories of potentially appropriate employee individual characteristics were suggested: social and communication skills; positive work feelings; competences for problem-solving; and employee's self-efficacy. However, only employee's positive work feelings and self-efficacy significantly predicted the extent of knowledge sharing in the organization. Practical implications: The findings offer a basis for future research. The results of the study can be used in recruiting new employees and managerial decision-making. The recruitment methods and the selection methods deployed should enable the firm to attract those whose values are in harmony with the organization's values. Managers should build a work environment that promotes greater and more trusting ties among employees via organizing social activities for employees, a supervisor's acceptance of an employee's autonomy and responsibility and increasing employees' confidence in their abilities. Originality/value: This is one of the first studies to investigate dimensions of employee knowledge-oriented characteristics. It supports the idea that some individual employee characteristics boost spontaneous knowledge sharing behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Effective management of shopping centres requires a good understanding of the consumers' behaviour and preferences as well as meeting the demand-side needs. The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the factors affecting the frequency of shopping centres' visits, providing implications for shopping centre managers from the perspective of a Czech consumer. Design/methodology/approach: The study was carried out in one of the Czech shopping centres in Brno due to its potentially standardisable common characteristics derived from the observation in the scatter plot. The standardized questionnaire survey on consumer shopping behaviour was conducted on a sample of more than 1,000 customers. The linear probability model and the logit model were applied to estimate impacts of included sociodemographic variables on the outcome. Findings: The findings on the frequency of visits give an overview of the sociodemographic and spatial determinants increasing the visit regularity. From the managerial point of view, the importance of customers' activities and purposes is highlighted. Practical implications: The implications can be provided to managers challenging to demand management and considering the investment projects. We come up with certain suggestions in terms of market segmentation, based on sociodemographic characteristics and shopping behaviour. Originality/value: The paper provides insights into the preferences of the Czech consumers and extends the previous analysis of shopping behaviour by developing the statistical properties and demonstrating the variables and their influence on the frequency of visit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Open government data (OGD) are considered as a technology capable of promoting transparency openness, and accountability, which in turn has a positive impact on innovation activities and creates responsive government, collaboration, cooperation, co-creation and participation. The purpose of this paper is to explore the adoption of OGD and open data portals among students, in an attempt to discover how governments can improve their actions in this respect. Design/methodology/approach: This study develops a behavioural intention-based analysis using constructs from the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, which is supplemented with additional constructs that meet the purpose of the study. In total, ten constructs divided into 33 items constituted the input for our study. Input data for the developed model have been collected through a structured questionnaire distributed between bachelor's and master's level students in three countries – the Czech Republic, India and Latvia. A structural equation modelling technique was used to analyse the relationships between variables of the model and test the nine hypothesis defined. Findings: Six constructs have been identified to facilitate significant relationships with behavioural intention. The analysis of the results of the three countries allows us to draw more objective conclusions in respect to the aim of the study and to reveal country-specific aspects that need to be addressed in the future. Originality/value: This study adds to the existing literature few theoretical and practical aspects. It highlights the role of open data portals as a central point of OGD infrastructures. It enables governments to understand the relationships among the related constructs, improving their actions and modifying their data infrastructures accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the potential of knowledge management (KM) as a discipline in helping understand and manage social and economic complexity. The paper highlights some of the potential relationships between KM in organisations and their economic performance. Finally, the authors assess the role of human resources and technological infrastructures in the relationship between organisation's approach to KM and their performance. Design/methodology/approach: The hypotheses are tested via a survey on a sample of managerial-level employees of information technology organisations located in the city of Brno in Czech Republic. The data collected are analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM) to study the relationship between KM; the workforce's willingness and ability to collaborate and co-create value; and the organisations' economic performance. Findings: The research found that there is a direct and positive relationship between an organisation's approach to KM and its economic performance. This study also shows that the workforce's behaviour and the technological infrastructure of the organisation have a direct effect on business performance. Finally, the authors proposed that a link between human resource management and technology orientation must be established and supported by a KM strategy. Originality/value: This paper offers a new perspective to the approach to KM in organisations. Reflections and empirical results underline the need for organisations to invest in the implementation of KM strategies that involve both the human resources and technological infrastructure as a way to improve the impact of knowledge on the companies' economic performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to overcome the problems that skill mismatch cannot be measured directly and that demand side data are lacking. It relates demand and supply side characteristics by aggregating data from jobs ads and jobholders into occupations. For these occupations skill mismatch is investigated by focussing on demand and supply ratios, attained vis-à-vis required skills and vacancies’ skill requirements in relation to the demand-supply ratios.Design/methodology/approach Vacancy data from the EURES job portal and jobholder data from WageIndicator web-survey were aggregated by ISCO 4-digit occupations and merged in a database with 279 occupations for Czech Republic, being the only European country with disaggregated occupational data, coded educational data, and sufficient numbers of observations.Findings One fourth of occupations are in excessive demand and one third in excessive supply. The workforce is overeducated compared to the vacancies’ requirements. A high demand correlates with lower educational requirements. At lower occupational skill levels requirements are more condensed, but attainments less so. At higher skill levels, requirements are less condensed, but attainments more so. Educational requirements are lower for high demand occupations.Research limitations/implications Using educational levels is a limited proxy for multidimensional skills. Higher educated jobholders are overrepresented.Practical implications In Europe labour market mismatches worry policy makers and Public Employment Services alike.Originality/value The authors study is the first for Europe to explore such a granulated approach of skill mismatch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This case study of the readiness of engineering companies for Industry 4.0 (I4.0) presents how surveyed key figures manage the implementation of I4.0. The research comprised a census of larger and medium-sized engineering companies in the Pilsen region of the Czech Republic. The selected region is characterised by a long industrial tradition and a high concentration of technical and technology-oriented companies. The survey questionnaire monitors a wide range of topics. In this text, the authors present the results only from selected areas. In particular, the authors examined: (1) the use of I4.0 technologies in individual areas, (2) the level of the digital strategy (DS), (3) factors influencing investments in I4.0 technologies, (4) the impact of I4.0 on the workforce and (5) existing threats to I4.0 implementation. The purpose of this paper is to show how key figures with a real impact on the implementation of I4.0 think and act in practice (as opposed to declarations). Design/methodology/approach: In the presented article, thanks to the unique data obtained in the form of a census in the selected, traditionally engineering-oriented Pilsen region, and within the highly industrially oriented Czech Republic, the authors explored the state of readiness of companies for implementation of I4.0. The obtained data allowed the authors to present, in a suitably descriptive way, the current level, with respect to the future, of the planned use of I4.0 principles in the surveyed companies. They monitored not only the state of the adoption process (Industry of 4.0 technologies) compared to the declared proclamations but also which phenomena represent key obstacles. Findings: First, medium-sized companies have barely implemented I4.0, whereas I4.0 is more often implemented in larger companies, especially the so-called DS aspect of I4.0. Furthermore, it appears that larger companies also clearly consider I4.0 more often and see it more significantly as a key success factor. Second, the survey highlighted the fact that customer satisfaction is the determining impetus for the introduction of I4.0. It can be assumed that with an increase in pressure from customers and a decrease in the price of technology, the introduction of I4.0 will increase. The third important finding is that the authors can observe a kind of two-stage flow of innovation in the results. The transformation towards I4.0 is approached by larger companies first, because they are more sensitive to customer satisfaction, are looking for new opportunities, and have greater resources to cover the costly implementation of innovations. Originality/value: In the presented article, thanks to the unique data obtained in the form of a census in the selected, traditionally engineering-oriented Pilsen region, and within the highly industrially oriented Czech Republic, the authors explored the state of implementation of I4.0. The obtained data allowed the authors to present, in a suitably descriptive way, the current level, with respect to the future, of the planned use of I4.0 principles in the surveyed companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The authors aim to demonstrate the impact of allowing for unequal intra-household distribution of resources on income poverty and income inequality. Design/methodology/approach: The paper applies a collective consumption model to study the intra-household distribution of resources in Visegrád countries (V4). It utilises subjective financial satisfaction as a proxy for indirect utility from individual consumption to estimate the indifference scales within couples instead of the traditional equivalence scale. The European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) 2013 and 2018 data are applied. Findings: This study's results indicate substantial economies of scale from living in a couple that are generally higher than implied by the commonly applied equivalence scale. The sharing rule estimates suggest that at the mean of distribution factors, women receive a consumption share between 0.4 and 0.6; however, some of the results are close to an equal sharing of 0.5. The female consumption share rises with her contribution to household income. Regarding income poverty and inequality, the authors show that both these measures might be underestimated in the traditional approach to equal sharing of resources. Originality/value: The authors add to the empirics by estimating indifference scales for Czechia (CZ), Hungary (HU), Poland (PL) and Slovakia (SK), countries that have not been involved in previous research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this study/paper is evidence to suggest that information communication technology (ICT) capital projects are different from non-ICT projects and that as a result the appraisal of such projects is more difficult. This may suggest that organisations would use dissimilar financial and risk assessment models or place different importance levels on such models between the two types of investment. The purpose of this paper is to investigate this issue and present the results of research into the practices of organisations in Czech Republic that have recently undertaken an appraisal of both ICT and non-ICT capital projects. Design/methodology/approach – A factual and attitudinal survey was developed and conducted during the end of 2011, addressed to organisations based in the Czech Republic. The object of the survey was the identification of current practices in respect of the appraisal of both ICT and non-ICT projects and the opinions of senior executives on a number of important issues regarding such practices. This paper focuses on the issues relating to ICT projects being “different” from non-ICT projects. Findings – The empirical findings support the literature in that ICT projects are, in many respects, different from non-ICT projects. However, the evidence indicates that, in practice, there is no significant difference in the financial and risk assessment models used in their appraisal. This indicates that any perceived difficulties, which may infer that the projects are “different”, are overcome (or ignored), to some extent, when it comes to the formal financial and risk assessment stage of project appraisal. There is also evidence to suggest that practitioners use assessment models that academics regard as unsophisticated. The findings also show that strategic issues are more important with respect of ICT projects than non-ICT projects. The research therefore supports the view that ICT projects are perceived to be different, but that the current conventional (financial and risk) appraisal models are adequate to appraise such capital projects, provided they are supported by a strategic assessment. Research limitations/implications – As the findings are based on a survey of companies in the Czech Republic only, we accept that the research results may have some limitations in terms of drawing general conclusions. The concern over drawing general conclusions is also brought about by the relatively low response rate, although the rate is in line with previous published research. Practical implications – ICT projects are different and as such these differences must be taken into account when appraising capital projects. The evidence supports the need for practitioners to review their appraisal of ICT capital projects, by adopting more sophisticated financial and risk models (as prescribed by academics) and linking their appraisal to corporate strategic goals. Future research should be aimed at identifying the formal and informal strategic approaches adopted by practitioners in the appraisal of ICT capital projects. Originality/value – This is the only survey to simultaneously address the appraisal issues concerning both ICT and non-ICT projects in the Czech Republic. As such, it gives a valuable insight into the practices of Czech Republic organisations in their appraisal of ICT and non-ICT capital projects. The identification of the four main problem areas with respect to the appraisal of ICT projects will help to focus academic research in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to express the development of market price of farmland in the CR and to describe causes and effects of these changes in the price on the ownership of land in the country.Design/methodology/approach Primarily, description methods (especially for describing the creation of investment farmland funds) and a comparative analysis (in the case of an indicator of the farmland prices in the Czech Republic) were used in this paper.Findings The findings show that the situation in the Czech agricultural sector has improved particularly due to increasing subsidies; non-agricultural subjects are showing increased interest and banks are changing their approach to granting loans for the purchase of farmland. The market price of farmland in the Czech Republic has been rising; in 2015, it exceeded CZK162,500 per hectare on average. However, it is still low compared to the old EU member states.Practical implications Practical implication of the paper consists in comparing market prices of farmland with prices at which state sold farmland through PRGLF. Plot owners are often approached about the sale or lease of farmland. However, there are many speculators among those interested in buying, who often focus on those owners who have no idea regarding the value of their plots.Originality/value In the paper, the model of farmland prices was newly used and applied to real data in the Czech Republic from 2004 to 2015. Moreover, current data on investments to farmland were acquired, and an analysis which could be useful for foreign investors was elaborated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore whether Czech companies believe that value is being generated by reverse logistics (RL), and whether (and how) they track its costs and benefits. The quality of performance measurement of RL was related to three corporate attributes. The findings were then compared to the results of an older study to describe developments over the past five years, and to evaluate the changes during this time period. Design/methodology/approach – This exploratory research is based on data from 102 Czech companies collected in 2009. The basic statistical tests were applied in the analysis. A part of the paper takes the form of longitudinal research. Findings – One third of Czech companies surveyed reported that RL had a positive influence on their profits. A positive relationship between the profitability of RL activities and a company's strategic focus on RL was also identified. The level of interest by companies in performance measurement has increased; however, the companies tend to focus on the efficiency of RL while the effectiveness is neglected. Research limitations/implications – Managers must acknowledge the issue of proper measurement of RL performance, and involve RL in the planning process if they want to improve it. They should focus more on effectiveness, not just on efficiency. The analyzed data express the opinions of executive management, and were not accompanied by financial or production data. Originality/value – The survey first maps the status of RL performance measurement in the Czech Republic. It finds a relationship between profitability of RL and corporate planning, and it points out that companies focus mainly on RL efficiency, and fail to consider effectiveness in their performance measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In this paper, the authors analyse a 2010 legal reform in the Czech Republic, which allowed retirees to simultaneously receive regular pension benefits and to work on a permanent contract for a period longer than one year. Previously, concurrence of employment and receipt of retirement benefits were only allowed in conjunction with a temporary work contract with a maximum duration of one year. Design/methodology/approach: The authors employ the difference-in-differences method. The authors include only males in the analysis because it is not possible to identify the legal retirement age for women from available data. Men in the workforce 1–3 years prior to the statutory retirement age are in a control group, while men 1–3 years older are in a treatment group. Findings: The authors show that the reform significantly increased the share of permanent contracts held by retirees (by 22.5–27.6 percentage points), though we do not find any aggregate short-term change in employment of retirees. Heterogeneity analysis shows a significant increase in the employment of retirees with only elementary school education (by 17.9 percentage points) and a significant decrease in the number of hours worked by retirees (by 2.5 h weekly for low-educated workers). Practical implications: The policy conclusion is that the regulation of employment contract does not affect aggregate employment, but may improve employment of low skilled workers. Originality/value: To the authors' best knowledge, there are no studies directly analysing motivation of retirees by types of employment contracts. The authors, thus, add to the literature that studies dealing with the general fixed-term versus permanent contracts (Engellandt and Riphahn, 2003) and motivation to work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The paper aims to investigate factors that drive the total factor productivity (TFP) and its growth in the Czech food industry over 2003–2017. The authors' analysis focuses on firm-level characteristics such as location choice, sub-sector affiliation, use of debt, liquidity, asset turnover, firm size and firm age. Design/methodology/approach: The determinants of productivity were tested econometrically by estimation of multivariate regression models. The firm-level panel data set consisted of 14,488 observations (data of 980 firms spanning 15 years). TFP was estimated by three regression-based techniques – ordinary least squares (OLS) regression, instrumental variables (IV) approach and two-way generalized method of moments (GMM) regression. All three measures of TFP were used as outcome variables to estimate the impact of firm-level determinants on both TFP level and growth. Findings: The results have shown statistically significant and reversed U-shaped relationship between the firm age and the TFP level (with a turning point in the age of 12.5 years). However, the dynamic models investigating the TFP growth have found that younger firms achieve higher productivity growth in comparison with older ones. Higher market share and assets turnover were positively associated with both TFP level and its growth. Research limitations/implications: This study brings several relevant propositions for future research. First, the authors recommend future researchers to study not only differences in the levels of productivity but also determinants of its growth. Second, the authors believe that adding a non-linear component to age as a factor explaining changes in the levels of productivity might be a very relevant contribution to the literature. Originality/value: Although it is generally accepted that successful and sustainable growth of firms, regions and economies can be achieved particularly through viable companies with high productivity, there is still a limited number of firm-level studies explaining the determinants of productivity levels and growth in agribusiness sectors in transition economies. Therefore, this study is expected to contribute to a better understanding of this important topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to examine issues surrounding the competitiveness of the Visegrad countries that have recently joined the European Union, and in particular, to analyse a set of structural indicators that help assess the degree to which they are meeting the terms of the Lisbon agreement. Design/methodology/approach - The approach taken is to examine and analyse published economic and associated performance data. Findings - The Visegrad countries lag behind in many of the structural indicators and thus have progress to make in raising their competitiveness to general European levels. There are also some surprising areas where these counties are in advance of general European levels - such as in technical education. Practical implications - The paper suggests areas where governments might intervene to improve longer-term competitiveness. Originality/value - The paper performs a useful analysis of available data to highlight key policy areas and issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to examine the theory and regulation of non-profit subjects in the Czech Republic. Design/methodology/approach -- The paper provides an examination of legal theory and its influence on emerging understandings and legislative changes. Findings -- It is important that recognition exists then the adequacy or otherwise of the legal controls can begin to be addressed by both policy and law makers. Originality/value -- This paper identifies the emerging categories of non-profit subjects/ entities in the Czech Republic and raises issues about the effectiveness or otherwise of the recognition and control of their property ownership. The paper is one of the first to begin to consider the recent changes to and emergence of non-profit subjects in the Czech Republic and the consequent need for control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to provide a detailed overview of the structure of professional valuation practice in the three countries that acceded to the European Union in May 2004 - the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. Specifically, it examines the relationship between the bases of valuation and their relationship to external changes in the regulatory systems. Design/methodology/approach - Based on a critical review of the existing literature, empirical information was obtained through structured interviews with practitioners in the three countries. Findings - The paper highlights the potential problems that investors can face when commissioning valuations that may not accord with internationally recognised definitions of "market value". There is a recognised need for consistency and universality in the application of adopted valuation practices. Research limitations/implications - The research is the first phase of a longer programme. Originality/value - The paper presents recent evidence of market practice and could inform potential investors or their advisors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the most interesting points and currently discussed problems in the context of developments in the Czech Republic (CR).Design/methodology/approach The paper describes the resource-sharing environment in the CR. It also presents some problematic issues of ILL and electronic document delivery (EDD).Findings There is a great potential of implementing IT technologies into providing ILL and EDD services, but the current state of copyright agreements partially limits the resource-sharing environment.Originality/value The paper presents a brief review of inter-lending and document delivery services in the CR based on statistics and surveys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on earnings inequality within dual-earner couples in four Central-East European (CEE) countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. It aims to analyse the factors that influence earnings distribution within couples. Design/methodology/approach – The analysis uses OLS regression applied on the Statistics on Income and Living Conditions 2011 survey to reveal the various influence of relevant factors, especially relative education and the presence of children, on relative earnings. Findings – Women, on average, contribute less to a couple’s income than men. While considerably higher in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, such disparity is relatively low in Hungary and Poland. These countries have the highest share of dual-earner couples where the woman outearns her partner. The factor that substantially reduces the within-couple earnings inequality in all the analysed countries is a higher relative education of women. On the contrary, the presence of children, especially those of younger age, increases this disparity in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Originality/value – The research on within-couple earning inequality in CEE countries lags behind the relatively rich evidence from western Europe. This is the first study which systematically describes the situation in CEE countries from a comparative perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to supplement the international knowledge on factors determining retention in the teaching profession with findings from the Czech Republic. The study aims to answer the question of what factors on the part of schools and teachers are related to teachers' decision to leave the teaching profession, either temporarily or permanently. It also examines the differences between teachers at the beginning and end of their professional careers. Design/methodology/approach: This study presents a secondary analysis of the data collected in a survey of 1,230 Czech secondary school teachers implemented in 2021 in the same schools as the TALIS survey in 2018. The longitudinal design makes it possible to observe the impact of school variables on teachers' willingness to remain in the profession. Data are analysed through logistic regression. Findings: The analysis shows the importance of sufficient financial evaluation, the composition of the student body, instructional leadership, and school innovativeness for the retention of teachers in the profession. The analysis further shows that the factors causing teachers to leave the profession differ for those at the beginning and at the end of their teaching careers. Research limitations/implications: The limitations of the study lie in the fact that this is a secondary analysis. The questionnaires were not designed in accordance with the aim of our study, and so the variables were constructed from existing data to best fit our chosen framework. Practical implications: The results of our analysis indicate that the Czech education policy should focus not only on general increases in teachers' salaries, but also on the adjustment of increases over the course of a teacher's career. The starting salary may be important for retaining young teachers in the profession, while at later stages in their careers their decision to stay may be more influenced by other factors. Our research also showed the importance of leadership. In schools where the principal supports his or her teachers and takes care of their professional development, teachers have a greater tendency to stay in the profession than in schools where the management does not perform this function. Originality/value: The study enriched international knowledge about factors affecting teachers' retention in the profession with findings from the Czech educational system characterized by high school autonomy and low teacher salaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study examines the case of an initial training, called "Dojo", invented and implemented at a production site in the Czech Republic. It clarifies the initial training program implementation process and offers a conceptual framework for cooperative management of subsidiary activities at the site and firm. Design/methodology/approach: This study conducts an in-depth analysis of qualitative data from the Czech production site over a five-year period. The theoretical base is the theorization and labeling phase of management innovation (MI), the final phase of which legitimizes a new management practice. Interview data, archival data, pictures and financial data are used for the analysis. Findings: To legitimize the Dojo in the operational flow controlled by the site and firm, the Czech production site acquires validation of the Dojo from employees and board members of the Japanese and European headquarters, helping the site build trustful relationships with them. Training programs, process standardization and skills standardization of the workers offer benefits to the trainees, production site and firm. Originality/value: The authors offer theoretical insights into MI at the subsidiary-level, which past studies have not differentiated at the firm-level. The authors also provide details of the implementation and management of initial training for newly hired blue-collar workers at the production site. The findings complement related literature on human resource management and operational management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to elicit young economists' job preferences through the use of a choice experiment (CE). Design/methodology/approach: A CE conducted at a total of five universities in Spain, the Czech Republic and Germany. After estimating a random parameter logit model, the monetary value of the willingness to accept a specific job attribute is simulated. Findings: The most important job characteristic, consistent across countries and universities, is a long-term career prospect at the company. Originality/value: This is the first CE conducted on business and economics students' job preferences in three European countries. Using the same survey instrument allows for the comparison of students' job preferences across countries and also between private and public universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the current state of provision for homeless people in Prague. Design/methodology/approach – This is primarily a narrative account, though supported by and referenced with contemporary Czech social policy scholarship. It first traces the roots of the current situation through the history of the Czech legal framework for citizenship; the effects of communist-era ideology, when homelessness was simply hidden; and the post-communist (new-era) economic and political climate. The range of existing services is then described and analysed with respect to the difficulties in the demands posed for people in this situation. Findings – The paper outlines the current approach with outreach (“terrain”), engagement (“threshold”) and “accommodation” (support and rehab) services; and the challenges in transition from one to the next. Many systemic barriers remain for the re-integration of homeless people, stemming from attitudes within the community and amongst professionals, as much as a sheer lack of resources, or the psychological and emotional difficulties of the homeless themselves. Originality/value – There are few papers published internationally on homelessness in the new EU states. The similarity in the structure of services to what are sometimes called “staircase models” may therefore be instructive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to describe the document supply service of the Czech National Library and its use of OCLC in supporting the service. Design/methodology/approach -- The service is described in detail and placed in the context of the Czech Republic. Findings -- The use of OCLC has increased the use of the National Library internationally in terms of both requesting and supplying material. Originality value -- The paper is one of the few articles in English to describe the work of the Czech National Library and provides a good insight into the use of OCLC's WorldCat for international document supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to diagnose the perception, knowledge, awareness and position of the bioeconomy in university education and research. Design/methodology/approach: This study is based on a questionnaire survey conducted at universities in Poland, the Czech Republic, Spain and Portugal (n = 464). The questionnaire consisted of open-ended, dichotomous and Likert-type questions. Variable frequency distribution methods and the non-parametric chi-square test were used to test the independence of the characteristics. The Cramer's V contingency coefficient was used to determine the degree of dependence between the variables. Findings: The researched academic community is dominated by a traditional approach to the bioeconomy, which relates to agriculture and ecological aspects. Respondents believe in the positive environmental impacts of the bioeconomy, while less often being aware of its importance from a socio-economic perspective. Insufficient teaching and research in the field of the bioeconomy can be widely observed. The presumed link between the existence of a bioeconomy strategy at national level and awareness of the bioeconomy was not confirmed. Research limitations/implications: The limited sample, the narrow geographical scope of the study does not allow for a comprehensive analysis of the topic. Another limitation is the lack of representativeness of the results in relation to all university representatives in the countries studied and the uneven composition of the samples. Originality/value: This study fills the knowledge gap about the status of the bioeconomy in European academic communities by analysing its perception among both teachers and students of social, natural and applied sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Family policy is an area where policy transfer has garnered a lot of attention lately. A growing body of research demonstrates policymakers' interest in and willingness to adopt foreign family policies. However, previous studies have tended to neglect the second mechanism of policy transfer: resistance. This manuscript aims to address this research gap by exploring both the willingness and resistance to policy transfer in Czech and Korean childcare and leave policies. Design/methodology/approach: This study employs a qualitative research design, incorporating structured expert interviews instrumental in in-depth thematic analysis. Findings: The analysis shows that policymakers in both countries demonstrated interest and willingness to transfer family policies, albeit employing different strategies and to varying extents. Moreover, the two countries exhibited significant differences in resistance to family policy transfer, with resistance in the Czech Republic being more frequent and effective. Resistance is directed towards both forced and voluntary transfers, although it isn't always against transfers that require a paradigm change. Policy transfer and non-transfer can concurrently be perceived as threats. Originality/value: The study concludes that integrating both policy transfer and resistance in the analyses helps to shed light on cross-national differences in family policy change and contributes to a more nuanced portrayal of the world of policy transfer in this policy field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the question regarding how the similar implementation traditions in two countries (Czech Republic and Italy) have influenced the implementation of activation policies in the frame of similar reform trajectories (decentralization and marketization) but different modes of governance (multilevel vs hierarchical). Design/methodology/approach – Moving from a policy implementation studies approach, the paper assumes that substantive reforms and procedural reforms are mutually interdependent: activation policies often require changes in delivery structures while the changes in these structures influence the key substantive features of the activation policies. Further, implementation capacities and implementation traditions shape the real policies implemented. Findings – Although the two countries compared are different in terms of the mode of governance emerging from the governance reforms, in both cases the gaps in coordination and implementation capacities have led to several implementation failures in the field of activation policies. In poorly developed active labour market policy (ALMP) regimes, activation governance reforms (such as decentralization and marketization) may not be effective due to enduring implementation gaps. Originality/value – The paper is innovative since it develops a full-fledged comparative approach by focusing on two countries with similar implementation traditions which contrast with different modes of governance. Furthermore, the findings put implementation traditions and capacities at the heart of policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to present risk analysis procedures which have been successfully applied by Czech small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The methodology, which is based on the modification and combination of two standard methods, aims to accelerate (and make more affordable) the risk analysis process, as compared to other risk analysis methods used for public organizations and major corporations in the Czech Republic. Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents in detail the individual steps the authors used in risk analysis of SMEs in the Czech Republic. The method is based on the facilitated risk analysis process (FRAP) methodology and the BITS recommendation. Modifications of both methodologies are described in detail. Findings – To perform risk analysis in the SME sector in the Czech Republic, it is necessary to have a broad portfolio of instruments. Besides using the CRAMM methodology, the authors have created a new method based on combining the BITS and FRAP methods. The advantage of this method is its ability to accelerate the risk analysis, especially the identification and asset evaluation phases. Another advantage is that the method produces simple spreadsheet tables, providing the consumer with a tool that is easily editable and may be used for follow-up procedures. Practical implications – The risk analysis method produces benefits for SMEs by speeding up the risk analysis and lowering its cost. Another benefit is that the method is open-source and can potentially be further modified. Originality/value – The paper presents in detail an approach to risk analysis based on the modification of the FRAP methodology and the BITS recommendation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This short study aims to describe the participation of the National Library of the Czech Republic in the project TELplus. Design/methodology/approach - The paper reports the results of project TELplus and describes the challenges of the project. Findings - Documents OCR production in the National Library of the Czech Republic. Originality/value - The study provides general information about the project TELplus and its subsequent participation in the framework of the National Library of the Czech Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The paper deals with the question to what extent implementation conditions influence the profile of activation policies in the Czech Republic. In this way, it helps to clarify more general questions: how are broader objectives of these policies specified at the bottom level of implementation and why activation policies differ among countries, although guided by similar general objectives and principles. Design/methodology/approach - The findings are based on implementation case studies carried out at several local labour offices during the pilot stage and later during the routine stage of implementation of Individual Action Plans (lAPs). Findings - The paper shows that in the pilot stage of TAPs, the employability approach of enforced activation originated from the top-down and was adopted at the local level; however, in a fragmented way due to unfavourable implementation conditions (above all poor staffing and a lack of activation programmes). It follows from these very conditions that, in the routine stage, the programme has been dying away, despite being supported by legislation and programme documents. On the other hand, processes of institutional learning have been initiated owing to IAPs and, with the availability of new policy opportunities at the local level (brought about with projects funded from the ESF), policy coalitions and activation policies emerge from the bottom-up, giving rise to another model: capability approach of inclusion through participation. Practical implications - The findings are signalling to policy makers the necessity to control the implementation conditions at the national, as well as local level and to take the bottom-up processes of policy re-formulation into consideration. Originality/value - The analysis of the contradictions between the levels of policy-making and of the volatility of implemented policies emerging from specific implementation conditions represents the original contribution of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to examine the context and nature of marketing used by nonprofit organizations in the Czech Republic.
Design/methodology/approach - A number of senior self-designated marketing managers in a wide range of non-profit organizations in Prague were interviewed to generate a descriptive narrative of what these key persons understood marketing to be and how they devised and implemented marketing within organizational strategy.
Findings - The findings paralleled that of other research (1995-2005) on the understanding and role of marketing within the profit sector of the Czech Republic. While marketing was identified as an interesting and powerful concept, non-profit policy makers generally had a limited understanding of a marketing theory or of the context in which exchange transactions occurred.
Research limitations/implications - This project was designed as an initial survey. The limited number of representatives interviewed and their purposeful selection from a small number of high-profile non-profit organizations limit the reliability of the findings and reduce the extent to which they can be generalized.
Practical implications - This paper provides a useful entry point for those interested in the use of marketing in the Czech Republic, a very significant transformative economy in the centre of Europe. Since one of the authors is a native Czech speaker, the paper reviews relevant marketing and non-profit literature in Czech as well as English.
Originality/value - While there has been some interest in the understanding and practice of marketing in the profit sector, it is believed that this is the first paper to address the non-profit sector - a sector that plays a very significant role within transformative economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to deal with the formulation of the technological principle for precise positioning using global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) in railway engineering during construction and maintenance of a railway line and its spatial position. Solution of optimal route is based on finding the shortest Hamiltonian path in the graph method with additional conditions in nodes.Design/methodology/approach The core of the algorithm is a dynamic data structure which is based on events list. The optimization of field measurement solves the time demands and brings economic effectiveness.Findings The technology enables to determine the precise position with absolute difference limit from 10 to 15 mm within GNSS CZEPOS permanent network in the territory of Czech Republic.Research limitations/implications Technology is the result of applied research.Practical implications This technology innovates the current procedure of geodetic control network determination used by Railway Infrastructure Administration (state organization) in Czech Republic.Originality/value The event means measurement at a given track point and time for a specified duration of observation. The algorithm was realized in Borland Delphi. The optimization of field measurement solves its time demands and increases economic effectiveness. The technology enables precise position determination with absolute difference limit from 10 to 15 mm within GNSS CZEPOS permanent network in the territory of Czech Republic. It has been verified in field selected electrified and non-electrified railway lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The paper aims to sum up the principal and original set of information related to the special project covered by Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, which was oriented to quality assurance and assessment at Czech higher education institutions. It brings main results and lessons learned from comprehensive quality assessment methodology pilot testing. Design/methodology/approach – Brainstorming conferences, seminars, comparative analysis, interviews, design review and validation were used by the expert team to develop and to test the comprehensive quality assessment methodology. Findings – The EFQM Excellence Model is the most comprehensive tool for quality assurance and quality assessment. It is pragmatic and practical, but it is necessary to adapt this model for effective use at Czech higher education institutions as a set of assessment criteria. The comprehensive quality assessment approach does not only examine what universities and other higher schools have achieved in the past (through lagging indicators), but it also includes assessment of their potential for the future through the so-called leading indicators. Research limitations/implications – The pilot testing of designed methodology of comprehensive quality assessment was performed within 12 Czech higher education institutions, but the lessons learned have common validity for any Czech higher education institution. Originality/value – The proposed methodology of comprehensive quality assessment is a quite new approach from the point of Czech higher education institutions view. It offers new and efficient tool for next higher schools and universities development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to determine how much company participation in a type of cluster affects its economic performance. Design/methodology/approach: This study includes companies operating in seven industries (automotive, engineering, textiles, information technology (IT) services, furniture, packaging and nanotechnology) in the Czech Republic. The companies are divided into three groups: members of institutionalized cluster, operating in the same region (natural clusters) and operating in other regions. Data envelopment window analysis is used to measure their performance for 2009–2019. Findings: Results show that the effect of clustering differs among industries. Companies in three industries (automotive, engineering, nanotechnology) reveal a positive impact of the cluster initiative on performance growth. Two industries (textile, packaging) with companies operating in a natural cluster show better performance than those in an institutionalized cluster. Moreover, the IT services and the furniture industries show no positive effect of clustering on corporate performance. Research limitations/implications: This research includes 686 companies from seven industries and monitored for 11 years. On the one hand, the sample includes a relatively high number of companies overall; but on the other hand, the sample is relatively small, especially for nonclustered companies. The reason is the lack of available financial statements for small companies. Practical implications: From the perspective of practical cluster policy, the authors can recommend that monitoring the performance of member companies in clusters must be one of the criteria for evaluating the success of a cluster, such as cluster initiatives. Originality/value: This study distinguishes between long-standing natural clusters in a given industry and institutionalized ones that have emerged because of a top-down initiative. An original database is created for clustered and nonclustered companies in seven industries, covering the entire Czech Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to show how relatively little is known about the consumer perceptions of own brands in the newly emerging markets of central and eastern Europe. The paper attempts to fill a gap in knowledge by investigating various aspects of consumer perceptions of Tesco own brands in the Czech Republic. Design/methodology/approach - The key data for this research were collected by structured questionnaires from Tesco supermarket customers in the Czech Republic and the UK, Non-probability quota sampling was used and the sample was stratified according to gender, age and income. Findings - The results of the research indicate that the general view of Tesco own brands is slightly less positive among Czech than among British customers. However, significant differences emerge when these are examined in terms of income. Increases in income lead to a decrease in the favourability with which own brands are viewed in the Czech Republic - the opposite to the position in the UK. The age of consumers was also found to be significant, although there is no linear trend. No strong correlation was found to exist between gender and any of the characteristics under investigation. Research limitations/implications - The sample was limited in size (n = 100 in each country}. In-depth interviewing would be necessary to assess consumer attitudes further. Practical implications - The results of the research may help Tesco in relation to its general expansion in central and eastern Europe and its brand building in particular. Originality/value - The originality of the paper relates to its study of consumer behaviour in one of the emerging markets of central and eastern Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - To provide an analysis of the privatisation of the Czech Republic's former state-owned telecommunications monopoly, Český Telecom, in relation to governance, organisational restructuring and strategic human resource management (SHRM) practices.
Design/methodology/approach - This research project used a qualitative approach that supported an in-depth case study analysis. This included semi-structured interviews that were conducted across a broad range of stakeholders associated with the Czech telecommunications sector. SHRM and downsizing theories were used to assist in the analysis of this data.
Findings - The paper finds that management strategies at Český Telecom exhibited some similarities with those of Western TelCos facing similar deregulation issues. However, these processes were tempered by country-specific historical and institutional factors, including the relatively weak institutional structures and mechanisms found in Eastern Europe.
Research limitations/implications - A qualitative analysis concentrating on one case study lessens the universal applicability of the findings.
Practical implications - A useful source of information for academic researchers and HRM practitioners who wish to conduct research and/or manage workers in the Czech Republic.
Originality/value - Provides an original case study analysis within an important strategic sector that has undergone large-scale change: the telecommunications sector of Eastern Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marketing is one of the key pillars of the successful management of an enterprise. For the transition economies of Central and Eastern Europe, this had previously been a neglected aspect. The aim of this paper is to assess the development of marketing practice in the firms of one of those economies, the Czech Republic, between 1999 and 2003. It analyses the implementation of the Internet as amarketing tool and how Czech enterprises approach marketing and marketing strategy. With the accession of the Czech Republic and other formerly communist countries to the European Union in 2004, the importance of marketing to such firms cannot be overstated, if the benefits of the enlarged marketplace are to be realised fully. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Partisan news media, which often publish extremely biased, one-sided or even false news, are gaining popularity world-wide and represent a major societal issue. Due to a growing number of such media, a need for automatic detection approaches is of high demand. Automatic detection relies on various indicators (e.g. content characteristics) to identify new partisan media candidates and to predict their level of partisanship. The aim of the research is to investigate to a deeper extent whether it would be appropriate to rely on the hyperlinks as possible indicators for better automatic partisan news media detection. Design/methodology/approach: The authors utilized hyperlink network analysis to study the hyperlinks of partisan and mainstream media. The dataset involved the hyperlinks of 18 mainstream media and 15 partisan media in Slovakia and Czech Republic. More than 171 million domain pairs of inbound and outbound hyperlinks of selected online news media were collected with Ahrefs tool, analyzed and visualized with Gephi software. Additionally, 300 articles covering COVID-19 from both types of media were selected for content analysis of hyperlinks to verify the reliability of quantitative analysis and to provide more detailed analysis. Findings: The authors conclude that hyperlinks are reliable indicators of media affinity and linking patterns could contribute to partisan news detection. The authors found out that especially the incoming links with dofollow attribute to news websites are reliable indicators for assessing the type of media, as partisan media rarely receive links with dofollow attribute from mainstream media. The outgoing links are not such reliable indicators as both mainstream and partisan media link to mainstream sources similarly. Originality/value: In contrast to the extensive amount of research aiming at fake news detection within a piece of text or multimedia content (e.g. news articles, social media posts), the authors shift to characterization of the whole news media. In addition, the authors did a geographical shift from more researched US-based media to so far under-researched European context, particularly Central Europe. The results and conclusions can serve as a guide how to derive new features for an automatic detection of possibly partisan news media by means of artificial intelligence (AI). Peer review: The peer review history for this article is available at the following link: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-10-2020-0441. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In recent decades, the concepts of sustainable development (SD) and sustainability have become a part of the everyday information flow. Is there real impact on students who have potential to become stakeholders and decision-makers? To be able to answer this question, the authors focussed on the following problems: whether the discourse of SD has any impact on students of economics concerning their knowledge of the environmental pillar of SD; and whether it has an impact on their individual value orientation towards the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP). Design/methodology/approach: A group of 120 university students of economics programs from the Czech Republic was chosen for the quantitative research of this study. About a half of them have already encountered environmental education. The questionnaire included topics of environmental pillar of SD and revised NEP scale. Findings: Using correlation analysis, the results show that the discourse of SD does have an impact on the students' knowledge of the environmental pillar of sustainability and it also has an impact on their individual value orientation towards the NEP in general. The knowledge of the environmental pillar of SD is not significantly influenced by the study of a subject which included the topic of SD and its principles. Value orientation towards NEP is not significantly influenced by the study of a subject which, among other things, included the topic of SD and its principles. Research limitations/implications: Findings should be accepted with the knowledge of the limited sample from one country, on the other hand, information flow – usual discourse of SD is global. Social implications: There is positive NEP orientation among the students of economics – young women and men have pro-environmental attitudes. This can be considered as great unused social potential in higher education. Originality/value: This study deals with knowledge of SD, environmental education and value orientation. It is broader concept taking into account the real social environment in terms of usual SD discourse and individual value orientation, not only direct influence of education on knowledge. The study rejected direct impact of the environmental education on knowledge and value orientation in terms of SD discourse among the students of economics. The findings bring several important questions regarding the effective forms of environmental education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the results of a survey which aims to determine how present workers under age 50 perceive their knowledge in terms of value for the organization in the future and is part of an ongoing study investigating older workers' knowledge. Topics discussed include knowledge management as the process of enhancing company performances by designing and implementing tools, processes and systems for improving the creation, sharing and use of knowledge.

Purpose: Comprehensive management systems such as ISO 9001 or ISO 14001 are designed to help organizations improve processes, ensure customer satisfaction, efficient information flow, efficient use of resources and many other prosperous management areas. These systems can also bring unintended direct and indirect effects on organizations. In this study, the authors examine the environmental effects that the implementation of these management systems cause. Design/methodology/approach: A survey-based methodology was used for this study, with textile organizations in three countries – Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The research focused on four areas related to environmental effects. The first area was the level of improvement of the organizations' environmental performance, which was examined by the methods of descriptive statistics. The second area was analyzing differences in environmental effects concerning the implementation of the systems using inferential statistics. The third area was the analysis of latent links between individual effects using factor analysis. Findings: This study's insights shed some light on the benefits of implementing more, not fewer systems with benefits to organizations and entire industries with new possibilities for economic growth that do not have to come at the expense of the environment. Originality/value: Organizations implementing management systems can realize dynamic benefits across a supply chain and within a manufacturing organization. Here the authors see an opportunity for ISO systems as a stepping stone to a more sustainable textile manufacturing economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]