Search

Project quality management is one out of ten areas of project management defined by the Project Management Institute (PMI). According to definition, it includes the processes for incorporating the organization's quality policy as regards planning, managing, and controlling project and product quality requirements in order to meet stakeholders' objectives. The current paper focuses on R&D (research and development) projects, whose specificity and high-uncertainty of the results requires a specific approach to quality management. In view of the lack of research efforts in this area, the objective was to propose a new, multicriteria based model for R&D project quality management. The construction of this model was based on the review of the extant knowledge and interviews with certified R&D project managers. The model includes factors influencing both the quality of project activities and the quality of R&D results. As a next step, the model was tested based on multi-criteria evaluation of the relative importance of these factors. It has potential, inter alia, to support decision-makers in selection of the optimal project quality management strategy. Finally, relevant recommendations have been provided for researchers and practitioners.

The article presents the use of the ahp in the evaluation of work in a selected municipal enterprise operating in one of the agglomerations in Poland. Based on the case study, the use of AHP was presented in terms of overall evaluation of jobs of municipal company, which enabled to determine the hierarchy of organizational positions due to the difficulty and arduousness of work. The research proceedings were suplemented by document analysis, structured interviews, team work methods, and classification technique. The article shows that such an approach ensured, on the one hand, the inclusion of qualitative aspects of tasks performed at individual positions in the assessment of work difficulties, and ensures team coordination of assessments and opinions, promoted in quality management, on the basis of which decisions regarding remuneration are made.

Ethical competence is not an easily defined concept, especially with respect to the job requirements resulting from new technologies and digital transformation of the economy. The present paper attempts to define the competence profile of a worker in knowledge-based economy and workplaces using automation and digital technologies, but in relation to sources from encyclicals and other moral-theological documents. This profile includes specific ethical criteria, which are relevant and valid regardless of the times. Moreover, in the face of technological progress in modern economies, these criteria seem to have the power to influence the effectiveness of work processes. Thus, features such as respect for human dignity, responsibility, honesty, quality, courage, trustworthiness, justice, and secrecy should be considered as key for recruitment and evaluation of human capital in the modern labour market. As these are values mentioned in moral-theological documents, including papal encyclicals, they refer to the essence of human work and ensure that no man is reified.

The objective of this paper is to present how the requirements of the EU funds in Poland 2014-2020 force or foster academics to establish and run their own businesses, and/or cooperate with industry. Poland is one of the major beneficiaries of the EU funds in Europe, receiving over EUR 80 billion distributed through operational programmes. Entrepreneurs and researchers receive money mainly through Operational Program Smart Growth (EUR 8,6 billion). Its aim is to stimulate research and development (R&D) and transferring the innovative results to the industry. In this article, we present the results of interviews with academics who established and run their own companies with support of the EU funded R&D projects. The following aspects have been explored: 1) profile of companies established by academics; 2) EU-funded projects submitted and realised by the company; 3) difficulties with running the company; 4) motivation of academics behind establishing their businesses (and benefits thereof).

Ethics and trust should be significant values for the food market actors. Firstly, these values will be shortly characterized. Then, the authors describe the role of ethics and trust in food quality and safety assurance and the role of ethics and trust when food hazards appear. The main weak points, the areas of possible problems in keeping ethics and trust will be indicated. The main aim of this paper is to find answer to the question if there is the same importance and role of ethics and trust while food crisis and under normal condition. What should be done to avoid panic among consumers and what should be done to protect the brand of the product. Another key issue is the role of the various participants of the market – producers, distributors, consumers as well as the food control institutions. Each food safety crisis result in big loss - what can be done to reduce these loss.

Food risk analysis is very important. The risk management process is not only carried out in the event of a threat in the food consumed, but also at a time when there is no crisis situation - although during food crises it has a key role in dealing with panic and consumer health protection. Consumers see the risk in food associated with, for example, new technology, a new type of food (confront the risk with the benefits offered by new technology, product), food on which there are different opinions of specialists. In this paper the perception of food risk will be discussed as it depends on many characteristics such as: gender, level of education, age, income and others. In the next part of the paper the stages of food risk analysis will be presented: 1) risk assessment including: hazard identification, hazard characteristics, exposure estimation, risk characterization; 2) risk management: including risk evaluation, estimation possibilities, types of implementation, monitoring and review; 3) risk communication. In the third part of this paper tasks and responsibility in the field of risk communication will be shown.

Quality of decisions depends largely on the ability to correctly define and assess the problem. In the case of complex issues, it is recommended to use decision support methods, e.g. multicriteria methods. The objective of this paper is to report the studies related to the influence of the graphic form of the 9-point, fundamental Saaty’s comparison scale used in the AHP method on the consistency of judgments, that is, to measure the fraction of judgments with CR>0,10. Since the AHP is one of the most frequently used decision support methods in management, in terms of modeling decision problems, there is a need to explore one of its most frequently discussed problems – inconsistency of results. It will improve the quality of decisions made with the use of this tool. The empirical study was conducted among 540 respondents, using the AHP method. Due to errors in filling in the questionnaire, only 424 questionnaires were included in further analysis. Individual model was prepared and analyzed for each respondent. All results were then entered into a spreadsheet and subjected to statistical analysis. It examines four most commonly used graphic forms of scale (specifically: numerical, two-stage tabular verbal, tabular verbal horizontal and vertical). Chi-square test and F-test showed no significant difference between them in relation to the existence of inconsistent results (CR > 0.1). It allows suggest that the form of graphic scale does not affect the consistency of answers. However, additional analysis showed that it affects errors in questionnaires.

The objective of the research is to develop the risk-benefit assessment models based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and test them in certification of organic products. The ISO Guide 65 /EN 45011 standard and Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 oblige the certification bodies to conduct risk assessment during certification process. However, no specific methodology of risk assessment has been provided in this respect. The AHP decomposes a complex problem into a hierarchy involving goal, criteria, and decision variants. Two hierarchical models, risk and benefit, were constructed based on the relevant publications and consultations with the key experts from one of the nine Polish third party certification bodies (CB), with experience in certification of organic products. Both models have the same decision variants considered in the process of surveillance. The results show that parallel production of conventional products and production of the same goods in organic and conventional versions appeared to be the major risk factors in organic farming. In benefit model, increased trust to certified products and minimization of costs of improper decisions were the most important. The AHP-based models proved very useful in risk-benefit assessment of organic producers and demonstrated a new approach to risk assessment. However, several conditions must be fulfilled before their implementation in practice, such as adjustment to individual needs of a certification body and refinement of the quality management system.

Artykuł odnosi się do mechanizmów programowania rozwoju przedsiębiorczości przez samorząd terytorialny. Osadzony jest zatem w problematyce zarządzania strategicznego w instytucjach publicznych.Przykład przedsiębiorczości, jako elementu potencjału endogenicznego podlegającego interwencji strategicznej, wybrano ze względu na rolę tego zjawiska, podkreślaną nie tylko w opracowaniachnaukowych, lecz także w wielu dokumentach strategicznych i praktyce samorządowej.Podstawowym celem opracowania jest zatem określenie atrybutów skutecznego mechanizmu wspierania przedsiębiorczości przez instytucje samorządu terytorialnego. W realizacji postawionego celu pomocne są studia literatury dotyczące takich zagadnień, jak: przedsiębiorczość, zarządzanie strategiczne czy przełożenie koncepcji governance i New Public Management na praktykę zarządzaniarozwojem JST. Wyjaśniając problem, nie ograniczono się tylko do rozważań teoretycznych, posłużono się również badaniem metodą case study. Na podstawie przeprowadzonej analizy sformułowano wnioski dotyczące optymalnej procedury programowania rozwoju przedsiębiorczości na poziomie samorządu terytorialnego. Opisano zarówno narzędzia oddziaływania na przedsiębiorczość, jak i zasady planowania oraz controllingu podejmowanych działań. Sformułowano również inne zalecenia dotyczące samego mechanizmu określania odpowiedzialności za realizację celów związanych z oddziaływaniem na sferę przedsiębiorczości.Odnosząc się do tych kwestii, uwzględniono występujący w Polsce trójstopniowy podział władzyterytorialnej, a więc poziom: regionu, powiatu oraz gminy.

The present paper aims to review and discuss potential and existing risks of GM crops to the environment, in comparison with organic and conventional agriculture. The review of over 30 relevant papers on the environmental effects of modern agriculture allowed us to define five main sources of risks, namely: 1) Pollution by synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, 2) Exploitation of marginal lands and protection of natural habitats, 3) Gene flow, invasiveness and “superweeds”, 4) Impact on non-target species, particularly pollinators, 5) Biodiversity of crops and wildlife. Although these effects are typically considered with respect to GM crops, the paper compares them with conventional and organic systems. The review shows that each factor, except for the “Gene flow, invasiveness and superweeds” (which is a risk specific to GM crops), may have positive and negative effect dependent on the breeding method. For example, conventional crops require the use of a large amount of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, unlike organic crops, while GM agriculture reduces the use of pesticides. Moreover, some risks typically associated with transgenic crops, i.e. decrease of genetic biodiversity, may also arise from conventional agriculture. The paper concludes that there is no perfect agricultural option and trade-offs are needed to satisfy the need for sustainability.

AHP, czyli Analityczny Proces Hierarchiczny oraz jej rozszerzenie ANP, czyli Analityczny Proces Sieciowy to jedne z najbardziej znanych w świecie wielokryterialnych metod wspomagania decyzji. Gromadzenie danych w metodach AHP/ANP polega na dokonaniu przez eksperta porównań parami między sobą wszystkich elementów modelu hierarchicznego bądź sieciowego. Celem artykułu jest weryfikacja tezy, Ŝe wysoka wartość współczynnika CR (ang. Consistency Ratio) w badaniach AHP/ANP, wskazującego na brak logiczności (zgodności) wyników, jest związana z brakiem symetrii osądów wynikającego z niewłaściwie zaprojektowanego kwestionariusza. Zaprojektowano eksperyment, którego celem było sprawdzenie, czy frakcja odpowiedzi powyŜej i poniŜej wartości środkowej jest probabilistycznie jednakowa, a jeśli nie, to czy miało to wpływ na wysoką wartość współczynnika CR. Postawiona hipoteza stanowi, Ŝe frakcja, obliczana jako iloraz odpowiedzi powyŜej wartości środkowej do odpowiedzi leŜących powyŜej i poniŜej wartości środkowej, powinna wynosić w przybliŜeniu ½. Do weryfikacji hipotezy o symetrycznym rozkładzie odpowiedzi wykorzystano test serii. W kilku badaniach, w których przeprowadzono w sumie 8434 porównań, wzięło udział ponad 400 respondentów poproszonych o ocenę róŜnych obiektów. Kolejność porównywanych obiektów oraz liczba kryteriów oceny była róŜna i ułoŜona losowo. Do eksperymentu wykorzystano 9-stopniową, dwubiegunową skalę werbalną w formie pionowej tabelarycznej. W prawie kaŜdym przypadku uzyskano wynik wskazujący, Ŝe symetria odpowiedzi została zachowana. Stąd teŜ moŜna uznać, Ŝe ankieta została zaprojektowana w sposób właściwy, a źródła wysokiego poziomu niezgodności naleŜy szukać gdzie indziej. Przedstawiony sposób weryfikacji kwestionariusza ankiety nie dotyczy tylko metody AHP/ANP, a zaniechanie sprawdzenia „jakości” kwestionariusza moŜe prowadzić do sytuacji, w której uzyskane wyniki będą obarczone błędami.