Meeting employee interests depending on the age and form of employment Abstract The aim of this chapter is the identification and assessment of meeting employee interests among the employed in standard and non-standard forms based on the age criterion. An empirical study was conducted using the CAWI technique covering a sample of 1,000 working Poles. Descriptive statistics methods and statistical tests were used to analyze the findings. The analysis of employee interests was performed by comparing the assessed interests by the representatives of four separate age groups. The statistically significant differences were examined. For this purpose, the non-parametric ANOVA Kruskal-Wallis test and the post-hoc test (statistical significance level * p<0.05, ** p<0.01) were used. The conducted analysis showed common strengths and weaknesses in meeting employee interests regarding the standard and non-standard forms. Providing employees with safe and hygienic working conditions was highly assessed, whereas employee participation was rated low. The specificity of Generation Z was evident, whose representatives (compared to older cohorts) frequently rated meeting employee interests higher. Filling the research gap related to the analysis of the authors’ presentation of employee interests regarding the age and form of employment in Poland. The results have practical usefulness for shaping employment, taking into account the above-mentioned variables. The research results covering a representative sample of working Poles fill the empirical data gap, extending beyond the scope of data available in statistical reporting (Statistics Poland, Eurostat). The empirical research used an original concept combining the issue of employee interests with the age and form of employment. Keywords: forms of employment, employee interests, age, cohort. Circular economy in the implementation of the investment and innovation policy of environmental management in post-war Ukraine Abstract The purpose of the study is to develop methodological support for a comprehensive assessment concerning dominants of the investment and innovation policy of nature management based on the circular economy. It also conducts an assessment of current trends and problems in post-war Ukraine. The basic methodological platform introduces the concept of sustainable development. The dominants of the investment and innovation policy of nature management are derivative and closely related to the objectives and indicators of sustainable development goals. To generalize and systematize the categorical apparatus and identify modern vectors of scientific research on this issue, a descriptive analysis was used - based on the sources of the Scopus scientometric database. The modern imperatives of the circular approach in the economy and the possibility of introducing the latest investment and innovation policy of nature management in post-war Ukraine are considered. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the development of methodological support for a comprehensive assessment and is based on: (1) a set of principles (systematicity and complexity, adequacy and dynamism, objectivity and accuracy, effectiveness, purposefulness, scientificity); (2) an expanded system of national indicators of sustainable development within the framework of Sustainable Development Goals 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 15, which integrates European, author's, economic and environmental indicators focused on an in-depth assessment of investment and natural resource potential in terms of species and structural-sectoral dimension, the relationship between the investment and environmental components of nature management; (3) a 7-stage procedure for quantitative, qualitative and expert assessment of the degree of implementation of the dominants of the investment and innovation policy of environmental management in the internal and external dimensions, the results of which form an analytical basis for adjusting the dominants, substantiating directions, ways and mechanisms for implementing the investment and innovation policy of the circular economy. The prospect of further research in this direction is the development of adaptive mechanisms to stimulate the introduction of eco-investments and innovations in the activities of business entities in various sectors of the economy. Keywords: circular economy, nature management, investment and innovation policy of nature management, sustainable development, Sustainable Development Goals, dominants of investment and innovation policy of nature management. The impact of economic activity zones on local development: The example of Wieliczka Municipality in Poland Abstract The purpose of this chapter is to present the impact of economic activity zones (EAZs) on local development and to identify good practices in the management of EAZs, based on the experience of the commune of Wieliczka, Poland. Nevertheless, beyond the theoretical insights, the empirical evidence of effective local development governance in EAZs is still limited, even in metropolitan areas where a range of instruments are provided to support local development. The chapter attempts to provide evidence of the impact of EAZ on local development by indicating the influence of investments located in economic activity zones on the management of local government units in the Krakow metropolitan area. The analysis of the impact of EAZs on local development has led to findings that a valuable tool for the impact of EAZs on local development are the investments located there, which determine the more effective use of local resources. These are challenging resources (including land and infrastructure) and soft, intangible ones (including location, quality of intellectual capital, and entrepreneurship of residents). As a result of the application of good practices in municipal management, they become key determinants that determine the potential of EAZ and increase competitiveness. The example of EAZs shows that their impact on local development can receive significant support from the EU and public authorities. Nevertheless, the development of EAZs is limited to metropolitan areas and tends to limit their development in peripheral areas far from major growth centers. Exploring further options for the impact of EAZ on local development may be an interesting direction to involve external stakeholders in order to enable the incorporation of their skills and resources. The experience of the municipality of Wieliczka is and will be, to a significant extent, a form of more effective use of a variety of local and external resources. The chapter briefly discusses the impact of EAZ on local development and provides practitioners with areas on the potential challenges of using EAZ. Local development carries certain risks, which have implications for EAZ creation efforts. Keywords: economic activity zones, EAZ, local development, municipal investment, entrepreneurship, innovation, EAZ management. A challenge for sustainable public management: Administrative performance measurement and public sector reform Abstract This chapter proposes a rational approach to administrative performance measurement. As Japan has entered an aged society with a low birthrate, administrative organizations in Japan are required to conduct performance-based public management under tight fiscal conditions. Aiming at efficient management with various schemes for administrative performance measurement based on the theory of New Public Management has been proposed. However, a tangible way of management has not been established due to authoritarianism or political shackles in organizations. In addition, such a performance measurement sometimes involves subjective factors in relation to outcome indices. Therefore, developing a practical evaluation scheme is not straightforward. By applying the Analytic Hierarchy Process, this chapter makes it possible to quantify subjective factors in the evaluation: the degree of contribution of each measure for the achievement of a policy. In order to verify the effectiveness of the application, a case study is performed in a local government in Japan. The proposed approach practically supports public service evaluation based on subjective judgment by executives of administrative organizations in addition to extant project appraisal. The results obtained from the case study show the practical effectiveness of the proposed approach. Based on the evaluation procedure, this chapter further considers a possible scheme of public sector reform in conjunction with a prospective way to transfer authority from an administrative organization to substitutable sectors. The implication of the scheme of reformation illustrates sustainable public management. Keywords: public management, sustainability, publicness, analytic hierarchy process, administrative performance measurement, public sector reform. Plan or die: Entrepreneurs' response to crisis situation Abstrac Thanks to the COVID-19 epidemic, the last two years have been filled with changes for entrepreneurs. As a result, the change leads to a new level, much higher than the previous one. It is a long-term strategy focused on debt levels, risk-advantage approaches, reinvestment in profits, and organizational changes. The purpose of this chapter is to present the results of the entrepreneurs’ response to the situation within and nearly after COVID-19 restrictions. Research findings are based on primary research in more than 300 companies in the Czech Republic (2 rounds of survey – 2020 and 2021). The comparison contrasts the change in strategic thinking due to long-term crisis. The results showed that measurable goals are extremely important during the crisis to maintain discipline in business (an increase of 91%). On the other hand, the exit strategy as a response to crisis is not the preferred solution (the lowest preference). Findings could be applied in managerial practice as a recommendation when research findings illustrate a possible combination of optimal business behavior within a crisis environment. Originality could be seen in the importance of ongoing profit investments and planning of individual activities in the company and the need for an active approach of the entrepreneur. Keywords: COVID-19, crisis behavior, changes in future goals, planning activities, entrepreneurs Hydraulic supplier selection: An Analytic Hierarchy Process approach Abstract In industrial environments, hydraulic systems work in continuous operation, for several applications that may demand control of large loads and high-power density. The inputs used in the maintenance of this type of equipment should follow the policies and procedures established by ISO standards, which may guarantee safety and operational reliability. The supplier selection for hydraulic components is a subject that involves several factors with complex decisions. Efficient and reliable suppliers can be decisive for the company's success. The aim of this study is to propose an evaluation framework for supplier selection of hydraulic equipment in the steel industry. The methods of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) facilitate the decision-making, including the supplier selection strategies for hydraulic equipment. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is the MCDA method applied to select suppliers by a Brazilian industrial plant. This chapter presents a case of supplier selection of hydraulic equipment, with four suppliers evaluated regarding five criteria and more than 20 sub-criteria, according to three experts. The AHP, the most widely used MCDA method, proved to be a reliable and useful MCDA method even in a case of more than nine criteria. In this case, Quality was the most important criterion, and Price was the less important. The main contribution of this study is to prove that a simple MCDA model, with the AHP application alone, may be enough to solve a practical decision problem, without increasing its complexity with hybridism. Keywords: Analytic Hierarchy Process, multi-criteria decision analysis, hydraulic systems, supplier selections. Strategic business planning technology for weakly-structured subject domains Abstract The purpose of this study is to create a technology and respective software tools for collegial (group) development of strategic plans for businesses in weakly structured domains. Strategic planning in such domains is an often challenging task, as quantitative (or even quantifiable) deterministic data is scarce or unavailable, uncertainty levels are high, and expert knowledge often represents the key information source (potentially, alongside open data). The technology is intended to overcome these challenges. It is based on group construction of a goal-oriented model of the system (subject domain), which is built through the decomposition of the main strategic goal and considers the terminal and resource properties of the system’s components, as well as mutual connections between them. The software toolkit allows knowledge engineers and their invited experts to remotely provide knowledge for building the system model. Then, based on the developed model, using the method of target-oriented dynamic estimation of alternatives and evolutionary methods of optimization, a set of measures (projects) is selected, complete with suggested funding allocated to them within the limited resource volume during the specific planning period. The selected set of measures guarantees the maximum level of achievement of the strategic goal within a given time perspective under limited funding and become the basis of the strategic plan. Methods of group knowledge acquisition and processing have been developed. They became the basis for the development of the original technology and software tools for strategic business planning. Theoretical foundations and methods for reliable obtaining of (thorough and undistorted) collective knowledge in a subject domain, ensuring their concordance and aggregation for further application in various areas, have been suggested. This research aims to solve a global problem of knowledge transfer from people with expertise (experience, intuition) in a certain field to people who need this knowledge to solve practical problems. This theoretical basis is intended for strategic planning practice in various areas, including business. An original way of automating the process of group subject domain model construction and the suggested application of existing and newly developed knowledge-oriented methods to strategic planning are proposed. All material presented in the chapter, is the result of ongoing original research led by the author. Keywords: strategic business-analysis, knowledge transfer, goal dynamic estimating of alternatives, rational distribution of resources, genetic algorithm, technology, subject domains

The Covid-19 pandemic has induced a crisis grasping the world abruptly, simultaneously, and swiftly. As a critical juncture, it ignited a change of era for international business. This book illustrates how governments have dealt with the pandemic and the consequent impacts on international business. It also explores the disrupted operations and responses of businesses as their worldwide interconnectivity has been seriously threatened. The book discourses multidirectional aspects of the effects of Covid-19 on international business, ranging from the juxtaposing forces disrupting globalization and installing a change of era through decoupling of technological, production and knowledge flows to its stimulating aspects to the strategic response on business, industry and state level. The book contains thirty chapters that offer a multidimensional interpretation of impacts of Covid-19 on international business theory and practice. Employing the latest state of knowledge on the topic, the book is aimed at international business audience - scholars, students and managers who need to understand better the nature, scope and scale of the impacts of the pandemic on international business.

This book offers a comprehensive analysis of the pre-Covid-19 and post-Covid-19 situation and public policy measures needed to revive the economy in the light of the recent initiatives by the state government, including a committee to suggest post-Covid-19 revival strategy. This collection of essays by specialized author/s in her/his/their area of research examines the impact of Covid-19 in the larger context of economic and developmental context of Punjab, ranging from basic developmental transformation analysis to the specific policy issues in each sector and policy domain, including the larger developmental crisis in the context of the regional economy and society of Punjab. The sectors analysed include: agriculture including dairy sector and agricultural markets, industry, services, education, health, besides fiscal, banking, diaspora, gender, governance, and sustainability challenges the state economy faces. It dwells on sector specific issues as well as ways forward for betterment of livelihoods of those engaged, especially farmers and industrial and service sector informal workers.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made it necessary to redefine the most significant challenges faced by individual economies and society today. It contributed to the change of contemporary social, technological and economic trends, the effects of which will indeed be the subject of many scientific studies in the coming years. As the pandemic progresses, it promotes reflection and summaries of the consequences of behaviors or omissions in each country. One of them is a synthetic presentation of ten lessons from the pandemic (Gorynia, 2021), which the professor accurately diagnoses in the economic context: 1) the pandemic as a non-economic (sanitary-medical) shock that caused the economic, social and political crisis; 2) the pandemic as a "black swan", an unpredictable threat of high species gravity, but requiring anticipation to minimize its harmful effects in the future; 3) determining the causes of the appearance of the virus determines different preventive actions for future threats; 4) resilience as the foundation of long-term economic efficiency; 5) the set of measures to counteract the harmful effects of a pandemic should not be unified but adapted to the specificity of the facilities it is to affect; 6) the world economy as a system of vessels connected with its positive and negative consequences; 7) the pandemic highlighted the role of coordination of international cooperation; the shortcomings of globalization must be overcome by fairly sharing the positive fruits of international cooperation and resilience aimed at diversifying supplies; 8) economic policy pursued by individual states with a view to preventing the effects of the economic crisis caused by a pandemic cannot be voluntary; 9) the pandemic has sharpened the perception of the shortcomings of contemporary economic, social and political systems and prompts the questioning of certain pillars of the market economy (e.g., homo oeconomicus, individual and global rationality, private and state property, canons of monetary, fiscal, budgetary or industrial policy); 10) the pandemic increases the pressure on systemic and holistic thinking taking into account green economic development, saving energy, water and other resources, using renewable energy sources, avoiding wastage of resources, paying attention to social inequalities in the world, regions and countries, solving poverty problems, and social exclusion. This monograph is partially a response to the in-depth issues covered in these lessons. The authors of individual chapters challenge contemporary topics relating to ​​the COVID-19 pandemic, industry and inter-organizational cooperation, pro-environmental, resilient, and innovative organizations. The monograph consists of three parts. The first part (PART 1) covers an overview of very recent research, considering the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, industries, and business. The article by Anna Ujwara-Gil and Bianka Godlewska-Dzioboń deals with, among others, the issues relating to pandemic impacts on the slowdown in the functioning of the construction, electric automotive, and water industries. Also, it affects the tourist industry, where countries are starting to pay attention to the resource-saving green economy and problems of professional exclusion in the pandemic era. In another article, Maria Czech refers to the influence of public debt on the volatility of spreads during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research is part of the study on the use of sovereign credit default swap spreads to assess a country's credit risk, which may be distorted in a pandemic period. It is undisputed that the COVID-19 pandemic has a global dimension. The crisis resulting from disorders such as in value chains has caused industry to slow down. The Czech luxury fashion industry is no exception. As Radka MacGregor Pelikánová points out, COVID-19 has turned out to be a threat to its development.. Leading Czech luxury fashion companies withdrew to a passive role and felt the negative consequences of the pandemic. As the Author points out, few have engaged in corporate social responsibility and showed ingenuity, which increases their chances of survival in the future. In other studies, Tereza Horáková and Kateřina Maršíková identified factors influencing the environment of effective knowledge exchange in SMEs, which in the era of hybrid work during COVID-19, is particularly important. The second part of the monograph (PART 2) includes two studies on the photovoltaic cell industry in China from the perspective of comparative and intra-industry advantage. As a significant player in the global trade scene and various value chains, China is a fascinating subject of research undertaken by Paweł Brusilo and Bogusława Drelich-Skulska. The results of the first article demonstrate the success of the Chinese industry in terms of growth potential, competitiveness, and development opportunities thanks to effective state support and favorable market forces. As the authors point out, the Chinese solar cell industry has not been studied so far in the context of comparative advantage and the new structural economy. The results show the way for other countries to consider or develop innovative industries, such as renewable energy and solar energy. In the second article, Paweł Brusilo examines the topic of the Belt and Road Initiative in the context of the Chinese photovoltaic cell industry, energy transition policy, identification of modern intra-industry trade patterns and opportunities for this industry, which is characterized by significant state interventionism. The considerations in this article may inspire EU countries to deepen economic and trade cooperation in the export and import of solar cells with China. On the other hand, Joanna Kurowska-Pysz has undertaken the analysis of the cooperation conditions within the innovative processes of representatives of science, business, the legislative, and economic environment cooperating on the capital market. The Author focused on the motivators, barriers, but also the search for an effective form of development of intersectoral cooperation enabling the exchange of knowledge and experience, learning, including the flow of personnel between sectors, joint organization of conferences, seminars, training, and implementation of research projects constituting the basis of innovative processes, or the diagnosis of network relationships. The model proposed by the Author will surely inspire other researchers. The third part of the monograph (PART 3) includes articles referring, inter alia, to the pro-environmental organizational culture of enterprises. Katarzyna Piwowar-Sulej, as an advocate of this valuable orientation today, has shown that organizations are interested in developing pro-ecological behavior and are aware of their impact on the natural environment. The article is in line with the global trend focused on the sustainable, ecological, and green economy enterprises operating in this trend, not only because of COVID-19. Taking action to develop a pro-ecological organizational culture, taking care of the natural environment is not only a moral and ethical requirement but also an obligation for the future generation. This part also includes an article by Piotr Tomszys and Bartosz Grucza, who present an inspiring model of organizational resilience and an attempt to operationalize it. The organizational resilience model proposed by the Authors is in line with the growing interest in the analyzes and measurement of the enterprises' resilience. The conceptualization and measurement of economic resilience can inspire other researchers to further research in this area. The COVID-19 pandemic, as an unpredictable and destructive shock, might be a unique opportunity to verify the developed model, as the authors point out. The last article deals with the issue of innovative management and its measurement based on a proprietary tool developed by Magdalena Gorzelany-Dziadkowiec. The considerations undertaken by the Author are a reliable starting point for further research concerning the impact of COVID-19 on the organization's functioning, the development of innovative management, changes in work processes, and interpersonal relations in the era of increasingly dominant digital technology and skills to use it. The editors profoundly thank all the Authors for their valuable contribution to this monograph and cooperation in its co-creation. We address our grateful thanks to all the Reviewers for their insightful evaluation and high standards of their work. These special thanks go to (in alphabetical order) Barbara Błaszczyk Institute of Economics, Polish Academy of Sciences; Justyna Bugaj, Jagiellonian University; Anna Fornalczyk, COMPER Fornalczyk and Wspólnicy; Marta Gancarczyk, Jagiellonian University; Anna Maria Lis, Gdańsk University of Technology; Andrzej Lis, Nicolaus Copernicus University; Mieczysław Morawski, Warsaw University of Technology; Paweł Pisany, Institute of Economics, Polish Academy of Sciences; Natalia R. Potoczek, Institute of Economics, Polish Academy of Sciences. We also thank Paweł Japoł for his thorough proofreading of this monograph.

The global health and economic threats from the COVID-19 pandemic are not yet behind us. While the development of multiple safe and highly effective vaccines in less than a year is cause for hope, several significant dangers to recovery of global health and income are still clear and present: New concerning variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, continue to emerge at an alarming rate in different parts of the world; at the same time, vaccine rollouts have been shockingly inefficient even in some rich countries, while much of the developing world waits in line behind them for vaccines to arrive. The Briefing covers several policy areas in which cooperative forward-looking policy action will materially improve our chances of truly escaping today's pandemic and making future pandemics less costly.

This book examines economic policies utilized within Southeast Europe in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Covering countries both within and outside the European Union, the human and economic cost of the pandemic is calculated using macroeconomic models from a short and longer term perspective. The economic policies used during the pandemic are analyzed, alongside crisis management approaches, to highlight the effectiveness of monetary policy, fiscal policies and potential future economic solutions for the post COVID-19 period. This book aims to provide policy recommendations based on findings from Southeast Europe. It is relevant to researchers and policymakers involved in economic policy and the political economy, as well as anyone interested in the responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

1) This is a comprehensive book on the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on the Indian economy. 2) It discusses various socio-economic issues related to economic policies, labour, environment, and education. 3) Timely, and written by experts, this book will be of interest to departments of South Asian studies and political economy across UK.

This is an open access book. The first Bengkulu International Seminar on Economics, Management, Business, and Accounting (1st BICEMBA) will be held in Bengkulu, Indonesia, on October 4th, 2023. 1st BICEMBA aims to bring together academia, researchers, and scholars to exchange information and share experiences as well as research results in boosting optimism and revitalization by the scientific framework. This event provides an opportunity for all to network, share ideas, and present their research to a worldwide community. Discussion on these fields' latest innovations, trends, practical concerns, and challenges is also encouraged.