Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Ilya Bolotov Title: Comparison of Competitiveness and Business Performance in the Visegrád Group since the EU Accession: A Quantitative Analysis Abstract: The goal of this paper is to analyze main changes in the business performance - as in part of the overall competitiveness - of the Visegrád Group, i.e. Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Poland and Hungary, in the last ten years, 2004-2014, based on Pearson correlation, Chow and Granger Causality tests. The business performance in the Visegrád Group is defined with the help of five indicators: business density, value added per business entity, investment in fixed capital per business density, inward foreign direct investment stock per business entity and ex-ports of goods and services per business entity. The author finds that the business performance, and hence the business environment, in the Visegrád Group has diverged since EU accession with the exception of internationalization indicators, which indicates the necessity for managers to adjust to the specifics in each particular country. Keywords: competitiveness, Central and Eastern Europe, business environment, Visegrád Group Classification-JEL: M21, O10, O52 Pages: 5-17 Volume: 2015 Issue: 4 Year: 2015 File-URL: http://cebr.vse.cz/cebr/article/download/192/139 File-URL: http://cebr.vse.cz/cebr/article/view/192 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlcbr:v:2015:y:2015:i:4:id:134:p:5-17 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlcbr/references/134 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Jana Filová Title: Measuring Consumer Innovativeness: Identifying Innovators among Consumers of Modern Technologies Abstract: The methods currently used in innovation marketing research are focused on the late phases of the innovation process and are usually methodologically complex. This limits their practical impact. The presented work aims to create a simple self-report scale applicable in the initial and late phases of the innovation process, highly modular and suitable for a wide range of research. The main battery of questions was inspired by the adopter categorization by Rogers. The questions determine both (1) general characteristics of innovation adopters and (2) their relationship to a specific innovation. The scale was tested during robust longitudinal online research, thematically focused on users of modern technologies. A representative sample of 4,000 Internet users in the Czech Republic took part in the survey from 2013 to 2015. The result is a new self-report scale measuring consumer innovativeness applicable for prototyping, strategic decisions and effective communication of innovations to consumers. Keywords: Adopter categorization, online research, consumer innovativeness;, measurement of innovativeness, self-report scale Classification-JEL: M31, O32 Pages: 18-29 Volume: 2015 Issue: 4 Year: 2015 File-URL: http://cebr.vse.cz/cebr/article/download/213/145 File-URL: http://cebr.vse.cz/cebr/article/view/213 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlcbr:v:2015:y:2015:i:4:id:135:p:18-29 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlcbr/references/135 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Mario Bogdanovic Author-Name: Domagoj Cingula Title: Dark Triad of Croatian Management Students Abstract: This paper researches the so-called “dark triad” personality traits of management student populations, because of their potential to generate dysfunctional organizational behavior and processes. Namely, the dark triad with characteristics such as lack of empathy, willingness to manipulate others (for self-betterment), antagonism, and belief in one’s own superiority can represent a real organizational threat. The goal of this paper is to stimulate thinking and discussion around this issue. The paper is based on questionnaire measurement that adopts the standardized short dark triad measurement instrument of Jones and Paulhus (2012) who measure the scales of Machiavellianism (9 items), narcissism (9 items) and psychopathy (9 items). The sample included 150 students of professional management studies at the Faculty of Economics, University of Split in Croatia. Results of the Croatian students are compared with the results of 387 students in Canada. The results suggest significant statistical differences in the “dark triad” variables between the Canadian and Croatian samples. The practical implications of this paper are in raising awareness and stimulating the thinking of managers around the potential of the “dark triad” traits of engaged human resources to create organizational crisis, and to make preventive and responsive actions to manage the “toxic triad” threat. Keywords: human resource management, Dark triad, Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy, organizational management, organizational pathology, organizational culture Classification-JEL: M12, M5 Pages: 30-47 Volume: 2015 Issue: 4 Year: 2015 File-URL: http://cebr.vse.cz/cebr/article/download/215/141 File-URL: http://cebr.vse.cz/cebr/article/view/215 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlcbr:v:2015:y:2015:i:4:id:136:p:30-47 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlcbr/references/136 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Emilia Startseva Author-Name: Natalja Gurvitš Author-Name: Inna Sidorova Title: Human Capital Reporting and its Linkage with Key Performance Indicators of Companies: Evidence from Estonian Companies Listed on Nasdax OMX Baltic Abstract: Today the subject of non-financial accounting and reporting has become very popular. Human Capital Reporting (HCR) has become a vital part of everyday business activities of companies across the world. Most companies declare that human capital is the most important factor of their competiveness, which is also reflected in their CSR reports by incorporated social disclosures. The subject of the present research is human capital reporting and its linkage with the performance indicators of companies. The aim of this research is to establish whether there is a linkage between HCR and financial performance indicators of Estonian companies listed on the Nasdaq OMX Baltic (Tallinn market). The authors calculated various ratios and carried out HCR scoring to examine the presence of linkage between HCR reporting and companies’ financial performance. The results demonstrate that there is no direct relationship between the level of HCR and the financial performance of selected companies. Keywords: sustainability, CSR, Human Capital Reporting, performance indicators, market value added Classification-JEL: G30 Pages: 48-57 Volume: 2015 Issue: 4 Year: 2015 File-URL: http://cebr.vse.cz/cebr/article/download/214/140 File-URL: http://cebr.vse.cz/cebr/article/view/214 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlcbr:v:2015:y:2015:i:4:id:137:p:48-57 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlcbr/references/137 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Stefano Valdemarin Title: Analysis Regarding the Growing Presence of Italian Firms in Romania Abstract: At the end of 2014, the number of firms with an Italian presence in Romania was 39,556, representing 19.33% out of total registered firms and this number is still growing. This article focuses on answering the following question: what kind of Italian firms are investing in Romania and why? Starting from the empirical observation that the number of Italian firms in Romania grew by 6.82% last year, we have used a PESTEL analysis to find the key points characterizing the country, paying attention also to the concept of country brand. From the point of view of Italian firms, we have also analyzed the shifting paradigm of internationalization from a Vertical Foreign Direct Investment model to a Horizontal Foreign Direct Investment model. This paper can be useful for managers and entrepreneurs who are oriented towards investing in Romania following the path of Italian firms. Keywords: internationalization, Italian firms, Romania Classification-JEL: F20, O10 Pages: 58-70 Volume: 2015 Issue: 4 Year: 2015 File-URL: http://cebr.vse.cz/cebr/article/download/218/142 File-URL: http://cebr.vse.cz/cebr/article/view/218 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlcbr:v:2015:y:2015:i:4:id:138:p:58-70 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlcbr/references/138 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Yves-Fréderic Livian Title: Cultural Obstacles in MNCs? Yes, but… "Back to Basics" Guidelines for Success in HRM in Central Europe Pages: 71-74 Volume: 2015 Issue: 4 Year: 2015 File-URL: http://cebr.vse.cz/cebr/article/download/217/143 File-URL: http://cebr.vse.cz/cebr/article/download/217/143 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlcbr:v:2015:y:2015:i:4:id:139:p:71-74