Search

Research background: The idea of sustainable development, in the face of the challenges encountered by contemporary society, is gaining increasing popularity. Currently, it recognizes the substantial role that companies play in its successful implementation. Initiatives in the field of sustainable development may be undertaken by companies independently as part of their own activities, or together with entities forming the supply chain as an element of sustainable supply chain management. Purpose of the article: Identification of groups of companies that are characterised by a different approach to cooperation in the field of sustainable development in the supply chain. Methods: The quantitative research was conducted in September 2020 with the use of the CATI (Computer-Assisted Telephone Interview) technique and a standardised survey questionnaire. A total of 500 randomly selected companies located in Poland participated in this study. The respondents were representatives of top management of the companies. In order to identify various groups of companies, a cluster analysis was performed using the k-means method in SPSS. Findings & value added: Based on the literature analysis, 3 areas of sustainable development have been identified, in which companies can become involved -- green design, sustainable operations, and reverse logistics & waste management. For each of the 3 areas, 3 clusters of companies were identified: companies that are not involved in sustainable development at all (1), companies that carry out most of the sustainable development initiatives independently (2), companies that carry out most of the sustainable development initiatives jointly with supply chain partners (3). The article also shows that the companies in different cluster differ in terms of perceived economic benefits achieved thanks to the implementation of sustainable development initiatives. This may suggest the need to develop separate sustainability solutions for such groups of companies in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research background: Because the active labour market policy requires high resources, it is important to analyse the effectiveness of its instruments. For the unemployment, it is essential to identify the groups of persons threatened by the long-term unemployment, to assess the impact of programmes on exit from unemployment and monitoring the disbursement of funds. Purpose of the article: The goal of the article was identification of clusters of poviats in Poland with respect to cost and employment effectiveness of basic forms of professional activisation in the years 2008–2014. Methods: The poviats were clustered by means of the k-means method. Variables were standardised and the number of clusters was determined by means of the v-fold cross-validation. Findings & Value added: The analysis did not allow to unambiguously specify areas in Poland with better use of funds allocated in the activisation programmes. The poviats in the middle-east Poland were generally characterized by worse values of effectiveness. However, the unemployment rate in these areas was relatively small. On the contrary, the poviats in the north-east Poland had high unemployment rate and the funds were used effectively. Assessment of effectiveness of forms of professional activisation is very important because the activities of poviat labour offices influence the counteraction to unemployment.

Research background: In the era of demographic changes and the need for rationalization of public expenditure, the European Union social policy promotes the activation approach. In addition, a growing importance of increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of public entities can be noticed. These phenomena are visible in the implementation of the labour market policy. However, the EU countries represent a different approach to spending public funds on issues related to the implementation of labour market policy. Purpose of the article: The authors are presenting the main theoretical assumptions concerning effectiveness and efficiency of labour market policy. Moreover, in the paper the EU countries are classified in clusters according to their level of expenditure on different categories of LMP. A comparison of the situation over ten years — in 2004 and 2014 — has also been conducted. In 2004, ten new members entered the EU, and the year 2014 presents the most current data in the analyzed area. Methods: As a research method cluster analysis was applied. Cross-country labour market situation throughout the EU is presented by the analysis of the Eurostat data. The countries are grouped in clusters following Ward's and k-means methods. Findings & Value added: There is a need to work out a complex evaluation of labour market policies in the EU to provide comparative analysis of the EU countries (or groups of countries). It would allow to determine the level of development of the country in terms of the efficiency of labour market policies. The EU countries with the best labour market indicators represent diverse levels of LMP expenditure.

Research background: Because the active labour market policy requires high resources, it is important to analyse the effectiveness of its instruments. For the unemployment, it is essential to identify the groups of persons threatened by the long-term unemployment, to assess the impact of programmes on exit from unemployment and monitoring the disbursement of funds. Purpose of the article: The goal of the article was identification of clusters of poviats in Poland with respect to cost and employment effectiveness of basic forms of professional activisation in the years 2008-2014. Methods: The poviats were clustered by means of the k-means method. Variables were standardised and the number of clusters was determined by means of the v-fold cross-validation. Findings & Value added: The analysis did not allow to unambiguously specify areas in Poland with better use of funds allocated in the activisation programmes. The poviats in the middle-east Poland were generally characterized by worse values of effectiveness. However, the unemployment rate in these areas was relatively small. On the contrary, the poviats in the north-east Poland had high unemployment rate and the funds were used effectively. Assessment of effectiveness offorms of professional activisation is very important because the activities of poviat labour offices influence the counteraction to unemployment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research background: In the era of demographic changes and the need for rationalization of public expenditure, the European Union social policy promotes the activation approach. In addition, a growing importance of increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of public entities can be noticed. These phenomena are visible in the implementation of the labour market policy. However, the EU countries represent a different approach to spending public funds on issues related to the implementation of labour market policy. Purpose of the article: The authors are presenting the main theoretical assumptions concerning effectiveness and efficiency of labour market policy. Moreover, in the paper the EU countries are classified in clusters according to their level of expenditure on different categories of LMP. A comparison of the situation over ten years -- in 2004 and 2014 -- has also been conducted. In 2004, ten new members entered the EU, and the year 2014 presents the most current data in the analyzed area. Methods: As a research method cluster analysis was applied. Cross-country labour market situation throughout the EU is presented by the analysis of the Eurostat data. The countries are grouped in clusters following Ward's and k-means methods. Findings & Value added: There is a need to work out a complex evaluation of labour market policies in the EU to provide comparative analysis of the EU countries (or groups of countries). It would allow to determine the level of development of the country in terms of the efficiency of labour market policies. The EU countries with the best labour market indicators represent diverse levels of LMP expenditure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]