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Concerns about climate change are a hot topic in the current debate about a sustainable future, and despite more than 30 years of international conferences, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP), the annual usage amount of fossil fuel-based energy sources has remained largely unchanged, and the green transition to a carbon-free energy system is progressing at a much slower pace than anticipated. This paper presents an original approach that consists in addressing the green transition's dilemmas by analyzing the complex interplay of strongly interwoven forces hindering the rapid adoption of so-called green energy sources scrutinized from a three-fold perspective: socio-psychological; political–strategic and territorial; and technological. Moreover, these forces are ranked according to the magnitude of their impact on the anticipated transition to green, and it is estimated by logistic fit extrapolation that the total share of the contribution of low-carbon sources might reach a maximum of about 25% among all energy sources in 2050. A final original picture is presented, summarizing how all the involved forces are acting upon the expected transition as well as their consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global energy transition is an uneven process, fundamentally related to the level of economic development of countries and their access to energy resources (renewable and non-renewable) to a large extent. The global climate is interconnected, and all nations impact it through their products and services. The six countries discussed—China, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Russia, and India—account for 44.8% of global primary energy consumption and 49% of global CO2 emissions. Each of them has its own strategy for achieving carbon neutrality, based on different decarbonization scenarios, which, according to the authors, depend on geopolitical factors, national economy characteristics, and the established pragmatic goals and objectives. However, the "green agenda" itself may not always be among the top priorities when formulating energy strategies. The study objective is to analyze the feasibility of the stated goals in these countries using a combined logistic curve-based forecasting tool for predicting solar and wind production as well as investment volumes. It aims to justify the relation between solar and wind energy production and investment policies using a calculated technological coefficient. Results show similar, but time-shifted fluctuating investment dynamics in solar and wind energy trends in Japan, Germany and China, with Germany and Japan outperforming investment forecasts when considering the technology efficiency coefficient. Furthermore, the findings highlight the overwhelming appreciation of the unevenness of the green transition process, which will consequently make it impossible to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement until 2050. Taking these factors into consideration, exploratory decarbonization scenarios for these six major world economies alongside two dimensions, namely, the pace of green transition versus green technology and versus resources, are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study is to examine how Industry 4.0, and the digital environment, have together created a new situation for companies and universities in terms of soft skills for employability. While companies aim to introduce a new structure, universities try to align with these changes by developing new educational methods, curricula, and models. Many researches are focusing on - rightfully so - Industry 4.0 skills and competences to gain throughout higher education. However, we have shifted our research interest and asked students to what degree their university years added to their knowledge, self-management and skills. 147 engineering and technical manager students' responses from two faculties at Óbuda University, Hungary were analyzed to see their evaluations of the role of the university in the framework of Education 4.0, and their chances in the job market. Quantitative and CHAID analyses were used. Students' responses show significant differences between the two faculties regarding languages, teamwork, self-management and in the different order of the skills seen as most paramount to employability. Engineering students attach greater importance to field-relevant knowledge, while technical manager students find decision-making more useful. The research proved that Education 4.0 is here and Z generation studying at universities prefers problem-based learning, including creativity, analytical, and critical thinking while would like to have good communication skills. Universities need to adapt to these changes and integrate hard as well as soft skills development in tutoring. The importance of technical-IT knowledge is just as important as having interpersonal skills, excellence in problem-solving, so students need to be taught how to analyze problems, engage in scientific debate, or express themselves clearly as previous literature indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Serbian Journal of Management is the property of Serbian Journal of Management and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted education and required academics to shift to emergency remote education. The efficiency of the teaching-learning process is determined by several factors in a technologically enhanced learning environment. As part of the improvement of education, educational methodologies and the rate of involvement of digital technology in the "business process" of teaching, the shift was an enforced step in the course of business process redesign (BPR). Technological developments forced pedagogy to change methodologies. The methodological and pedagogical effectiveness and success depend on how academics will apply the best practices and the know-how of emergency remote education and how the capabilities of applications, software and online shared knowledge can be exploited. This paper aims to review the background of educational methodologies and it outlines the pre-COVID-19 practices and strives to survey academics' experiences of emergency remote teaching in higher education. Along with the "time-space-group" three dimensional model of distance learning a slightly modified "timeworkload-anxiety" 3D matrix of emergency remote digital education is introduced and considered from the lecturers' perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vaccination is critical to preventing the spread of diseases. It stimulates the immune system to produce antibodies that fight specific diseases, eradicating and reducing their incidence. However, despite the proven benefits, there is hesitation and skepticism in some areas due to side effects and lack of knowledge. Developing a data collection and processing system to analyze vaccination is critical in today's world. Vaccines are necessary to minimize morbidity and mortality, but success depends on analyzing data on vaccine use and efficacy. This system can identify potential side effects and adverse reactions, ensuring vaccine safety and building public confidence. This research focuses on IT support for analyzing vaccination side effects. The aim of this work is to develop an architecture model of the system to collect and process data on the health status of vaccinated patients. The research methodology consists of analyzing sources on the consequences and side effects of vaccination. On the basis of this knowledge, the key attributes (stakeholders, sources of information, input data, data analysis processes) of the data collection and analysis system were analyzed using an enterprise architecture approach. As a result, a general model of the architecture of the data collection and analysis system was proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an unstable economic climate, all market participants want to know is when is the timing to overcome a recession, and what measures and means to use for economic recovery. In this regard, the process through which the Eurozone economy has gained momentum since the summer of 2022 has been a volatile one. This was reflected in a sharp rise in the price level, followed by a sharp rise in the ECB interest rates. The purpose of this paper is to provide short-term forecasts of the main parameters of monetary and fiscal policy by the euro area monetary authorities, based on a model developed by the authors. The distinctive feature of the presented and proposed model lies in the particularly careful selection of the parameter values based on actual statistical data. The statistics used for the proposed model cover the period from 2015 to December 2022. The simulation results show that the European Central Bank (ECB) needs to maintain a policy of high interest rates for a period of 12 to 14 months, which will help to bring inflation down to 2–3 percent in the future and move to a stage and phase of sustainable economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globalization activates qualitative changes in multiple economic entities and requires the development of alternative forms of business organization. At present, one of the most promising development tracks is represented by the implementation of network structures, aimed at achieving common goals and obtaining a win-win outcome via joint effort. Business structures that invite dynamic and consistent transformations on a wide scale prove to be able to successfully compete in the market. In this regard, a project management system at a medical hub serves as a vital tool for implementation of open innovation. Participation in the medical hub allows coordinating intentions and establishing aligned communication between all stakeholders, suppliers and private institutions. In modern sectors of the economy, a developing hub becomes a unique structure, because it unites the contributions of the most important healthcare specialists in a single framework. This research examines the structure of healthcare business process models, and scrutinizes the communication between suppliers, partners and consumers of medical services. It also defines the main directions and outlines strategic goals. Assessment of performance of a project management system at a medical hub proves to be the issue of particular relevance, due to the fact that its tasks should be primarily aimed at increasing the share of successful projects and implementing only those ones that comply with the strategy. Based on the latter, a model for the project management system at a medical hub was designed. As a result, the authors developed an assessment mechanism for innovative projects using SNA methods that align with intra-communication interactions (transactions) between the participants in a medical hub. The conducted research allows concluding that in the current era of cutting-edge technologies, the project management system should be considered the most effective management tool for coordinating the actions of a corporate structure at a medical hub. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seventeen sustainable development goals were formulated to create a harmonious world order for the benefit of different nations and peoples. At the same time, economic practice provides a lot of examples of conflicts of an economic nature between individual sustainable development goals. One of these conflicts is the need for environmental imperatives and economic growth when a massive assessment of land used for crop production and green energy projects is needed. The present paper considers a non-traditional approach to the mass evaluation of land plots on the condition that geographic information systems provide the main source of information, such as the case of land allocation for green energy facilities and evaluation of agricultural plots. The novelty of the proposed approach firstly means the development of a comparative approach, which receives much less attention in the valuation literature than cost and income approaches, as it can give an adequate picture of the current state of the market. The model includes the study of the entire dataset, the selection of model distributions and the construction of estimates based on model distributions. The methodology of multivariate lognormal distribution of factors and prices of analogues is used. The peculiarity of the market evaluation of land plots in such cases is, as a rule, the absence of rank predictors and sufficient number of continuous predictors, which provides a base for the application of a novel approach. The method of express testing of hypotheses about joint normality of logarithms of values of pricing factors and prices is proposed. The market value is estimated as an estimate of the modal value of conditional lognormal price distribution. Secondly, the problem of market valuation is solved in case of the almost complete absence of information about price-forming factors in the areas being assessed, and thirdly, the factors are determined based on geoinformation databases (distance to the nearest large city, regional center, federal highway, large rivers, lakes, and solid waste landfills), which allow for market assessment in the absence of information on pricing factors for land plots, except for the offer price and the plot area. The research was necessitated by the claim to determine on a specific date the cadastral value of agricultural land for the purposes of taxation, corresponding to the market value, in the almost complete absence of information on pricing factors in the assessed areas. The value of land reflects a complex combination of factors, so the use of the proposed mathematical toolkit allows for building a consistent model for the evaluation of land where improvements are absent or have no value in terms of land acquisition purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The consideration of infectious diseases from a mathematical point of view can reveal possible options for epidemic control and fighting the spread of infection. However, predicting and modeling the spread of a new, previously unexplored virus is still difficult. The present paper examines the possibility of using a new approach to predicting the statistical indicators of the epidemic of a new type of virus based on the example of COVID-19. The important result of the study is the description of the principle of dynamic balance of epidemiological processes, which has not been previously used by other researchers for epidemic modeling. The new approach is also based on solving the problem of predicting the future dynamics of precisely random values of model parameters, which is used for defining the future values of the total number of: cases (C); recovered and dead (R); and active cases (I). Intelligent heuristic algorithms are proposed for calculating the future trajectories of stochastic parameters, which are called the percentage increase in the total number of confirmed cases of the disease and the dynamic characteristics of epidemiological processes. Examples are given of the application of the proposed approach for making forecasts of the considered indicators of the COVID-19 epidemic, in Russia and European countries, during the first wave of the epidemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outburst of the COVID-19 pandemic and its rapid spread throughout the world in 2020 shed a new light on mathematic models describing the nature of epidemics. However, as the pandemic shocked economies to a much greater extent than earlier epidemics, the recovery potential of economies was emphasized and its inclusion in epidemic models is becoming more important. The present paper deals with the issues of modeling the recovery of economic systems that have undergone severe medical shocks, such as COVID-19. The proposed mathematical model considers the close relationship between the dynamics of pandemics and economic development. This distinguishes it from purely "medical" models, which are used exclusively to study the dynamics of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike standard SIR models, the present approach involves the introduction of the "vaccine" equation to the SIR model and introduces correction components that include the possibility of re-infection and other nuances such as the number of people at risk of infection (not sick with COVID but not vaccinated); sick with COVID; recovered; fully vaccinated (two doses) citizens; the rate of COVID infection; the rate of recovery of infected individuals; the vaccination coefficients, respectively, for those who have not been ill and recovered from COVID; the coefficient of revaccination; the COVID re-infection rate; and the population fluctuation coefficient, which takes into account the effect of population change as a result of births and deaths and due to the departure and return of citizens. The present model contains governance so that it not only generates scenario projections but also models specific governance measures as well to include the pandemic and restore economic growth. The model also adds management issues, so that it not only generates scenario forecasts but simultaneously models specific management measures as well, aiming to suppress the pandemic and restoring economic growth. The model was implemented on specific data on the dynamics of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in selected developing economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent emergency measures had a fundamental and disruptive impact on societies and, in particular, on the educational sector. The transition of the modality of educational delivery from face-to-face to online occurred within days; this research study considered the concepts of digital trust and digital access, using structuration, postmodernism, and critical social theory as lenses to understand Higher Education (HE) student experiences during the first wave of the lockdown. The study compared these aspects in Hungary, South Africa, and Wales (UK) with different digital and network readiness indices. The digital development of the countries is presented using both the Digital Intelligence and Network Readiness indices. The research approach was cross-country, international, comparative, inductive, and quantitative. The research study found that there was a significant relationship between the countries' GDP and their network readiness, impacting students' online learning experiences. Significant differences were found between the participating universities in terms of digital access and digital trust; this research provides valuable insights for informing future pedagogical approaches and teaching best practice, specifically for residential universities. Understanding challenges and barriers to student learning experiences, and the impact of inequitable access to digital technologies and communication, is key for future pedagogical policy and practice. Several recommendations are made to inform practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Serbian Journal of Management is the property of Serbian Journal of Management and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Serbian Journal of Management is the property of Serbian Journal of Management and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The rise in cybercriminal activities in recent years has sparked concern about the costs of technological advancement and the growing reliance of humans on technology. The seriousness of this situation in the business world is indeed more noteworthy and more prominent than other areas, prompting many people to wonder how external auditors -- who are responsible for identifying any accounting flaws -- will respond to cybersecurity-affected businesses -- the ones which can make an honest effort to mask and conceal their difficulties and challenges from their investors and stakeholders. Consequently, the aim of this study is to search whether external auditors focus harder on cybersecurity-attacked firms and businesses by charging higher audit fees. The study found a positive correlation between audit fees and breach employing a sample of 100 global small-, medium-sized, and large businesses. This indicates that external auditors find more risks and spend more effort while auditing cybersecurity-attacked businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digitization and digitalization have transformed educational practices. The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a sudden change in the mode of the delivery of education and forced schools and universities to relocate education to digital platforms and revolutionize educational processes. The shift to online platforms brought terms like digital education/learning, online education/learning, blended and hybrid education/learning to the forefront, while traditional terms like eLearning, distance learning and mobile learning remain popular. This paper studies these terms and by backing the educational process redesign with ICT development and the time-space-group dimensions, it highlights the viral nature of the narratives of the terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2020, a global pandemic led to lockdowns, and subsequent social and business restrictions. These required overnight implementation of emergency measures to permit continued functioning of vital industries. Digital technologies and platforms made this switch feasible, but it also introduced several cyber related vulnerabilities, which students might not have known how to mitigate. For this study, the Global Cyber Security Index and the Cyber Risk literacy and education index were used to provide a cyber security context for each country. This research project—an international, cross-university, comparative, quantitative project—aimed to explore the risk attitudes and concerns, as well as protective behaviours adopted by, students at a South African, a Welsh and a Hungarian University, during the pandemic. This study's findings align with the relative rankings of the Oliver Wyman Risk Literacy and Education Index for the countries in which the universities reside. This study revealed significant differences between the student behaviours of students within these universities. The most important differences were identified between students' risk attitudes and concerns. It was also discovered that South African students reported having changed their protective online behaviours to the greatest extent, since the pandemic commenced. Recommendations are made suggesting that cyber security training and education, as well as improving the digital trust and confidence in digital platforms, are critical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pandemic and subsequent 'lockdowns' dramatically changed the educational landscape of higher education institutions. Before-COVID-19, traditional universities had choices in pedagogical practice, which included a variety of teaching delivery modes. Overnight, a single mode of delivery became the only option for traditional higher education institutions. All services migrated to digital platforms, leading to a period of "emergency eLearning". The full impact of this sudden shift to digital platforms on all cohorts of students is still unclear. A measure of disruption to the normal student learning experience, especially for those attending traditional universities, was inevitable. Moreover, this disruption was varied depending on the University's country and the country's lockdown logistics. This international, comparative, quantitative research project investigated and explored higher education students' perceptions of emergency eLearning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Experiences of students at universities in three countries were evaluated in terms of four dimensions: (1) home learning environment, (2) engagement, (3) participation preference, and (4) impact on learning skills. The research revealed significant differences between the participating universities students' experiences. The most important differences were in the 'home learning environment', followed by 'engagement' and the perception of 'impact on learning skills'. The differences in the 'home learning environment' can be attributed to the differing economic and digital development of the surveyed countries: South Africa, Wales, and Hungary. Finally, different cultural backgrounds suggest a noticeable difference in student engagement, participation, and learning skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]