Author: European Investment Bank
Publisher: European Investment Bank
ISBN: 9286143761
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 155
Book Description
Europe faces a historic opportunity. We need to reimagine European unity as a collective endeavour, as the only way in which we can turn threats to our way of life into the possibility to create a better life for all. This report focuses on three core areas where EU-wide political ambition and investment are truly necessary: Rapid technological change amid increasing global competition Increasing breakdown of the global climate and other ecosystems due to our economic system Growing threats to social cohesion and social sustainability from multiple trends Competitiveness, sustainability and inclusion have to be addressed together, holistically. This is why this report addresses all three with a focus on the complex interlinkages between them. The vital role of far-sighted investment is a key theme that emerges from this investigation. The critical role of European-level collaboration is another. Instead of merely adapting to change, we need to be proactive through timely reform and investment that sets us on a pathway towards a society that is productive, sustainable and inclusive, by design.
Three foundations: A competitive, sustainable, inclusive Europe
Author: European Investment Bank
Publisher: European Investment Bank
ISBN: 9286143761
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 155
Book Description
Europe faces a historic opportunity. We need to reimagine European unity as a collective endeavour, as the only way in which we can turn threats to our way of life into the possibility to create a better life for all. This report focuses on three core areas where EU-wide political ambition and investment are truly necessary: Rapid technological change amid increasing global competition Increasing breakdown of the global climate and other ecosystems due to our economic system Growing threats to social cohesion and social sustainability from multiple trends Competitiveness, sustainability and inclusion have to be addressed together, holistically. This is why this report addresses all three with a focus on the complex interlinkages between them. The vital role of far-sighted investment is a key theme that emerges from this investigation. The critical role of European-level collaboration is another. Instead of merely adapting to change, we need to be proactive through timely reform and investment that sets us on a pathway towards a society that is productive, sustainable and inclusive, by design.
Publisher: European Investment Bank
ISBN: 9286143761
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 155
Book Description
Europe faces a historic opportunity. We need to reimagine European unity as a collective endeavour, as the only way in which we can turn threats to our way of life into the possibility to create a better life for all. This report focuses on three core areas where EU-wide political ambition and investment are truly necessary: Rapid technological change amid increasing global competition Increasing breakdown of the global climate and other ecosystems due to our economic system Growing threats to social cohesion and social sustainability from multiple trends Competitiveness, sustainability and inclusion have to be addressed together, holistically. This is why this report addresses all three with a focus on the complex interlinkages between them. The vital role of far-sighted investment is a key theme that emerges from this investigation. The critical role of European-level collaboration is another. Instead of merely adapting to change, we need to be proactive through timely reform and investment that sets us on a pathway towards a society that is productive, sustainable and inclusive, by design.
Three Foundations :a Competitive, Sustainable, Inclusive Europe
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789286143755
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789286143755
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
Ireland: Selected Issues
Author: International Monetary
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1513587277
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 21
Book Description
Selected Issues
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1513587277
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 21
Book Description
Selected Issues
On Inequality
Author: Tessa Bending
Publisher: European Investment Bank
ISBN: 9286149301
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 59
Book Description
Does Europe have an inequality problem? Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, many Europeans are certainly struggling. The rise of populist movements is another signal that something is awry. Many Europeans no longer see their economy as fair. But is this a problem of too much inequality, or just a problem of ideology? Is inequality even a bad thing? We need to consider the statistics on economic inequality, but also look beyond towards the lived experience of trying to make ends meet. We need to consider different ideas on the impact and significance of the inequality we see. Does inequality drive entrepreneurship, and thus innovation, through the struggle for upward social mobility? Or does inequality affect life chances, becoming entrenched, blocking social mobility and innovation? And does anyone really need a billion euros? If we have a euro to spare, do we create more happiness by giving it to the rich or to the poor? An old, once infamous, now oft-forgotten question in economics. Tessa Bending conducts research on social inclusion, social development and impact measurement at the Economics Department of the European Investment Bank (EIB). The department provides indepth analysis on critical investment issues to support international policy debates. This is the sixteenth essay in the Big Ideas series created by the European Investment Bank. The EIB has invited international thought leaders and experts to write about the most important issues of the day. These essays are a reminder that we need new thinking to protect the environment, promote equality and improve people's lives around the globe.
Publisher: European Investment Bank
ISBN: 9286149301
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 59
Book Description
Does Europe have an inequality problem? Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, many Europeans are certainly struggling. The rise of populist movements is another signal that something is awry. Many Europeans no longer see their economy as fair. But is this a problem of too much inequality, or just a problem of ideology? Is inequality even a bad thing? We need to consider the statistics on economic inequality, but also look beyond towards the lived experience of trying to make ends meet. We need to consider different ideas on the impact and significance of the inequality we see. Does inequality drive entrepreneurship, and thus innovation, through the struggle for upward social mobility? Or does inequality affect life chances, becoming entrenched, blocking social mobility and innovation? And does anyone really need a billion euros? If we have a euro to spare, do we create more happiness by giving it to the rich or to the poor? An old, once infamous, now oft-forgotten question in economics. Tessa Bending conducts research on social inclusion, social development and impact measurement at the Economics Department of the European Investment Bank (EIB). The department provides indepth analysis on critical investment issues to support international policy debates. This is the sixteenth essay in the Big Ideas series created by the European Investment Bank. The EIB has invited international thought leaders and experts to write about the most important issues of the day. These essays are a reminder that we need new thinking to protect the environment, promote equality and improve people's lives around the globe.
Local Water Partnership
Author: Jarosław Gryz
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004699066
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 195
Book Description
The conservation of water resources together with environment protection will be a challenge for the European Union within the 21st century. Water management nowadays involves the cooperation of farmers, societies, industry and public administration. The solution based model of water protection in this book describes the creation of local water partnerships by local actors and stakeholders for the management of local water resources. These local water partnerships will enable the integration of the local community to comprehensively solve problems related to water security, while also cooperating with neighbouring partnerships. The local water strategy is based on local needs and priorities with reference to regional, national and global objectives. This strategy also provides for environment and species protection, as envisioned by the New Green Deal and the current EU actions to make the key economic sectors more resistant to climate change. The model for water protection can also be used to reduce the carbon footprint and environmental transformation within Europe.
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004699066
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 195
Book Description
The conservation of water resources together with environment protection will be a challenge for the European Union within the 21st century. Water management nowadays involves the cooperation of farmers, societies, industry and public administration. The solution based model of water protection in this book describes the creation of local water partnerships by local actors and stakeholders for the management of local water resources. These local water partnerships will enable the integration of the local community to comprehensively solve problems related to water security, while also cooperating with neighbouring partnerships. The local water strategy is based on local needs and priorities with reference to regional, national and global objectives. This strategy also provides for environment and species protection, as envisioned by the New Green Deal and the current EU actions to make the key economic sectors more resistant to climate change. The model for water protection can also be used to reduce the carbon footprint and environmental transformation within Europe.
Sustainable Transport Development, Innovation and Technology
Author: Michał Suchanek
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 331951427X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 279
Book Description
This proceedings volume presents current research on transport sector development, with particular emphasis on sustainable transport development, innovation and transport enterprise growth and survival. Derived from the 2016 TranSopot Conference held in Sopot, Poland, this book aims to show the possibilities of maximizing the efficiency of transport, while keeping the negative effects at a sustainable level. Transport is an important field of human activity, both from economic and social points of view. It has been proven that the development of transport contributes to the development of regional, national and international economic relations. Currently, the three most important topics in transportation research are green transport, transport innovations and metropolitan transport. These are the areas in which the contributions presented in this book are focused. Researchers in the field of sustainable transport provide the reader with a comprehensive description of possible activities towards green transport both in the terms of various transport branches and in the supply chain as a whole. This is the framework of the second field of transport research – innovation. The authors present a wide array of a technological, organizational, process and marketing innovation, which allow transport organizers and operators to provide service in a safe, sound and economically favorable way. The analysis of these innovations and the practical implications of their introduction should be a worthwhile experience both for the transport researchers and for the transport business practitioners. Lastly, the book reflects the tendencies of rapid development in urban and metropolitan areas which forces transport policy makers to provide citizens with a comfortable and faster way of commuting that doesn’t result in unacceptable congestion or other negative effects. Different concepts of metropolitan transport management are presented and their effect on the transport systems is also investigated.
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 331951427X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 279
Book Description
This proceedings volume presents current research on transport sector development, with particular emphasis on sustainable transport development, innovation and transport enterprise growth and survival. Derived from the 2016 TranSopot Conference held in Sopot, Poland, this book aims to show the possibilities of maximizing the efficiency of transport, while keeping the negative effects at a sustainable level. Transport is an important field of human activity, both from economic and social points of view. It has been proven that the development of transport contributes to the development of regional, national and international economic relations. Currently, the three most important topics in transportation research are green transport, transport innovations and metropolitan transport. These are the areas in which the contributions presented in this book are focused. Researchers in the field of sustainable transport provide the reader with a comprehensive description of possible activities towards green transport both in the terms of various transport branches and in the supply chain as a whole. This is the framework of the second field of transport research – innovation. The authors present a wide array of a technological, organizational, process and marketing innovation, which allow transport organizers and operators to provide service in a safe, sound and economically favorable way. The analysis of these innovations and the practical implications of their introduction should be a worthwhile experience both for the transport researchers and for the transport business practitioners. Lastly, the book reflects the tendencies of rapid development in urban and metropolitan areas which forces transport policy makers to provide citizens with a comfortable and faster way of commuting that doesn’t result in unacceptable congestion or other negative effects. Different concepts of metropolitan transport management are presented and their effect on the transport systems is also investigated.
ECKM 2023 24th European Conference on Knowledge Managemen Vol 1
Author:
Publisher: Academic Conferences and publishing limited
ISBN: 191458774X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 1021
Book Description
Publisher: Academic Conferences and publishing limited
ISBN: 191458774X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 1021
Book Description
Handbook of Research on Driving Competitive Advantage through Sustainable, Lean, and Disruptive Innovation
Author: Al-Hakim, Latif
Publisher: IGI Global
ISBN: 1522501363
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 772
Book Description
The global market is constantly evolving and it has become essential for organizations to employ new methods of appealing to customers in order to stay abreast on current trends within the world economy. The Handbook of Research on Driving Competitive Advantage through Sustainable, Lean, and Disruptive Innovation features theoretical development and empirical research in social media platforms, internet usage, big data analytics, and smart computing, as well as other areas of organizational innovation. Highlighting implementation challenges facing innovative processes, this publication is a critical reference source for researchers, students, professionals, managers, and decision makers interested in novel strategies being employed by organizations in an effort to improve their standings on the global market.
Publisher: IGI Global
ISBN: 1522501363
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 772
Book Description
The global market is constantly evolving and it has become essential for organizations to employ new methods of appealing to customers in order to stay abreast on current trends within the world economy. The Handbook of Research on Driving Competitive Advantage through Sustainable, Lean, and Disruptive Innovation features theoretical development and empirical research in social media platforms, internet usage, big data analytics, and smart computing, as well as other areas of organizational innovation. Highlighting implementation challenges facing innovative processes, this publication is a critical reference source for researchers, students, professionals, managers, and decision makers interested in novel strategies being employed by organizations in an effort to improve their standings on the global market.
The Changing Role of Geological Surveys
Author: P.R. Hill
Publisher: Geological Society of London
ISBN: 1786204762
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 300
Book Description
Senior managers and Heads of Geological Survey Organizations (GSOs) from around the world have contributed a collection of papers to provide a benchmark on how GSOs are responding to national and international needs in a rapidly changing world. GSOs continue to provide key scientific information about Earth systems, natural hazards and climate change. As countries adopt sustainable development principles and the public increasingly turns to social media to find information about resource and environmental issues, the generation and communication of Earth science knowledge become increasingly important. This volume provides a snapshot of how GSOs are adapting their activities to this changing world. The different national perspectives presented converge around several common themes related to resources, environment and big data. Climate change and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals provide an increased incentive for GSOs of the world to work in harmony, to generate knowledge of Earth systems and to provide solutions for sustainable management of the planet.
Publisher: Geological Society of London
ISBN: 1786204762
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 300
Book Description
Senior managers and Heads of Geological Survey Organizations (GSOs) from around the world have contributed a collection of papers to provide a benchmark on how GSOs are responding to national and international needs in a rapidly changing world. GSOs continue to provide key scientific information about Earth systems, natural hazards and climate change. As countries adopt sustainable development principles and the public increasingly turns to social media to find information about resource and environmental issues, the generation and communication of Earth science knowledge become increasingly important. This volume provides a snapshot of how GSOs are adapting their activities to this changing world. The different national perspectives presented converge around several common themes related to resources, environment and big data. Climate change and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals provide an increased incentive for GSOs of the world to work in harmony, to generate knowledge of Earth systems and to provide solutions for sustainable management of the planet.
Towards Success in a Competitive Market: The Importance of Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Author: Marcin Gębarowski
Publisher: Cognitione Foundation for the Dissemination of Knowledge and Science
ISBN: 8395108273
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 257
Book Description
The nine papers published in this issue of the Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation point to various problems which are important for effective management in a turbulent and dynamically changing contemporary market. The authors of the articles come from universities in the Czech Republic, Italy, the Republic of Moldova, Nigeria, Poland, Taiwan and Ukraine. The scientists present current and original views on issues related to: research & development expenditure and innovation levels in EU countries; the role of innovative entrepreneurship in economic development; the competitiveness of small innovative companies; social networking in family businesses; the connections between socioemotional wealth and competitive advantage of family firms; agrirural entrepreneurial alertness; the assessment of human resources` interactions; the impact of seasonality on employment in tourism; and socio-economic clients’ requirements for food packaging. However, regardless of the subject matter, all the papers indicate an organizational framework and solutions for achieving success in a competitive market. The first article, by Radka MacGregor Pelikánová, addresses R&D expenditure and innovations in the EU, which are the foundations for competitiveness in contemporary economies. The author focuses on the following three essential questions: How much is spent on R&D? How many patentable inventions are filed and succeed, and how many other ideas lead to innovations? Is it possible to imply a potential relationship and what are the trends? The described study entailed secondary data while exploring hard data sources, such as Eurostat and the European Patent Office databases, official or legislative documents, such as Europe 2020, and the academic literature. Furthermore, the author used direct observations, field search and her own experience, gained over 20 years by participating in many patent applications and other instruments protecting future innovations. Answering the questions, it was found that: the 3% threshold will not be met in the larger part of the EU, the number of patent applications and granted patents keep growing along with digitalization, and the possibility of a relationship between these factors and trends exists but is not conclusive or dramatically strong. The research challenge, taken by Radka MacGregor Pelikánová, requires an appreciation that, as she notes, “one of the limitations of the study was caused by the intangible, ephemeral and hardly predictable nature of innovations, and the impossibility to collect and mathematically process all the involved phenomena.” The second paper, written by Rodica Crudu, refers to the importance of entrepreneurship in driving innovation, economic growth and welfare, as well as job creation, and draws attention to the fact that innovation is seen as a driving force in the economic development of nations. Since innovative entrepreneurship has begun to be considered a key factor in modern economic development, finding a prominent place at the core of the European Union’s development strategy – Europe 2020, the author aims to analyse the role of innovative entrepreneurship in the economic development of EU member states by testing a model that captures new or young innovative firms as manifestations of innovative entrepreneurship along with determinants of economic growth rates. The key findings of the paper show that innovative entrepreneurs are more often present in countries with higher development levels and higher incomes, being motivated by the improvement opportunity they see in becoming entrepreneurs. However, a higher degree of entrepreneurship, especially in the creation of new firms, does not substantially contribute to accelerated economic development. This is explained by the variation in the motivation (necessity or improvement-oriented) of entrepreneurs across EU countries. In developed countries, entrepreneurs are most likely to be of Schumpeterian type, while in developing countries most of them are shopkeepers. The presented paper has significant practical implications for decision and policy-making authorities in terms of the possible directions of innovative entrepreneurship policy development, including friendlier and more efficient policies aimed at the creation of new firms and the development of SME-supporting tools. Edward Stawasz, whose paper is based on the results of conducted research, carried out an analysis and evaluation of the importance of selected determinants of competitiveness of small innovative enterprises operating in international markets and using business advice services. The first part of this article is a comprehensive literature review concerning the identification of determinants of competitiveness of small enterprises and the characteristics of motives for using, as well as the areas and effects of using, business advice. The second part of the article presents an analysis of the results of a survey conducted among 67 small, innovative enterprises operating in international markets and at the same time using business advice services, carried out with the use of the CATI method. The conducted analysis has shown that the use of business advice extends the scope of determinants of competitiveness of enterprises operating in international markets. Business advice can be considered an effective factor in improving the competitiveness of enterprises already characterized by high competitiveness, which means that a high level of competitiveness favors the effectiveness of the use of business advice. An important conclusion reached by the author is the existence of a positive relationship between business advice and enterprises’ capacity to absorb business knowledge. Therefore, improving the competitiveness of enterprises requires using business advice and improving the business knowledge absorptive capacity. The focus of the next article, written by Kenneth Chukwujioke Agbim, is the conceptual considerations regarding social networking and family businesses, presented in a review of the contribution of social networking to the financial and non-financial performance of family businesses. Based on an analysis of 55 peer-reviewed, published journal articles, the author identified the most frequently used social networking platforms, the measures of financial performance, the measures and proxies of non-financial performance, and the differences between the financial and non-financial performance. The study proposes the use of both financial and non-financial measures in assessing the performance of family businesses due to their complementary roles. Therefore, the presented research contributes to the family business literature by highlighting the importance of combining financial and non-financial measures in assessing family business performance, indicating that due to the specificity of a family business, its performance should be assessed in such a joint manner. The research topic of the fifth article, by Katarzyna Bratnicka-Myśliwiec and Martyna Wronka-Pośpiech, is socioemotional wealth in the context of competitive advantages of family businesses. These authors argue that socioemotional wealth may trigger or limit family firms’ strategic initiatives that ultimately shape their competitive advantage. The basic assumption is that, unlike non-family firms, family businesses have some unique qualities that should be considered. The research was conducted in almost two hundred firms through a telephone survey. The obtained results reveal that, indeed, socioemotional wealth and competitive advantage are partially associated, and socioemotional wealth can be regarded as an important strategic antecedent to firm performance. Therefore, the first main theoretical implication is the emphasis on the importance of socioemotional wealth as a strategic resource. The second main conclusion is the recommendation that socioemotional wealth is a relevant determinant of competitive advantage. Family businesses rely on more complex social dynamics than the dynamics of a pure market, where the informal sphere is critical for current functioning. Moreover, the connections between family business attributes and firm performance are by no means easy to understand. Consequently, this paper makes a significant contribution to the scientific literature. In the next article Chaoyun Liang presents research on agrirural entrepreneurship and the results of a series of three studies conducted to develop a measure of entrepreneurial alertness in the agrirural environment which is empirically valid, easy to use, and can analyze how the personality traits of agrirural entrepreneurs affect their entrepreneurial alertness. The results indicate that both extraversion and openness affect all of the dimensions of entrepreneurial alertness, whereas conscientiousness only influences scanning and searching, and agreeableness has an impact solely on evaluation and judgment. The presented findings also demonstrate the interactive relationships between extraversion and openness for all of the dimensions of entrepreneurial alertness. The research provides a new understanding of how agrirural entrepreneurial alertness can be assessed more practically and how personality traits can help predict various dimensions of agrirural entrepreneurial alertness. The author states that, due to the fact that agriculture remains the basis of socioeconomic development, governments worldwide are actively formulating relevant policies to aid in the restructuring and upscaling of their agricultural industries. Thus, providing essential guidance in agricultural entrepreneurship for diversifying rural regions should be their central concern. Therefore, recognizing and interpreting opportunities are the most crucial abilities that should be fostered in developing agrirural entrepreneurship. The seventh paper is devoted to the subject of human resources, in particular interactions. The author of this text is Anna Pereverzieva, who indicates that there is a need to develop a methodological approach to the assessment of united communities` human resources` level of interactions. Hence, in light of the gap in the scientific literature, she tries to determine such an approach. The author’s work is based on the example of a united community and a structural unit and, in addition, considers two determinants of human resources` interactions – the group size and the nature of labor. As a tool of the empirical study, the author used expert assessment and the application of certain mathematical dependencies that allowed the coefficient of interactions to be determined. It transpired that small groups with intellectual labor have higher levels of interactions than large groups with a predominance of manual labor. It is worth noting that the proposition of a methodical approach is universal and might be used by both communities and business entities. Moreover, an additional advantage of the study is the proposal of a 4-stage procedure for assessing the level of human resources` interactions. The eighth paper, written by Aleksandra Grobelna and Katarzyna Skrzeszewska, connects tourism seasonality with employment in the travel and tourism sector. The issue, raised by these authors, is a current and important topic, since nowadays seasonality plays a decisive role in creating demand in the tourist industry. The problem is investigated from the perspective of tourism and hospitality students of higher educational institutions located in the northern part of Poland (Southern Baltic Sea Region). The main point of the authors’ interest was the students’ attitudes towards seasonality in tourism employment and its impact on students’ tourism employment aspirations. As a research method, a direct questionnaire was used and the obtained data were analyzed statistically. According to one of the conclusions, more students agree that seasonality contributes positively rather than negatively to tourism employment. The authors indicate that the depicted results of the research study can be of substantial importance to managers in the industry, which suffers from low employment status and experiences chronic shortages of skilled and well-qualified employees. The last article by Agnieszka Cholewa-Wójcik, Agnieszka Kawecka, Carlo Ingrao and Valentina Siracusa presents interesting results of research on the requirements for packaging to answer contemporary consumers’ needs. The study represents a holistic approach to the topic. The authors conducted a survey among clients of shopping malls in the Małopolska region of Poland. Analysis of the obtained data indicated the following order of priority of consumers’ needs: ensuring safety, meeting legal regulations, wants related to lifestyle, improving consumers’ life quality through added value, and protection of the environment. Furthermore, the team of authors proposed the model packaging. According to them, modern food packaging should be characterized by health (safety), simplicity (reduction, convenience), identity (belonging), aesthetics (design), and meaning (sustainability, intelligence). These conclusions have a managerial dimension because they might be valuable premises for developing packaging and introducing innovative solutions in this area. The paper confirms that both the design of food packaging systems and the production of such kinds of packaging should be developed after giving due consideration not only to the technical requirements but also to the socio-economic and the environmental ones. As the editors of this issue, we would like to thank all the authors for their contribution, and for sharing their own theoretical considerations and the results of empirical research. We are convinced that the presented studies constitute a valuable contribution to management sciences in the area of effective organizational management in a turbulent environment. We would also like to thank the reviewers for their efforts in reviewing the articles for this issue, as well as their valuable comments and suggestions that have influenced its final shape. We hope that the articles presented in this issue will interest readers, scientists and researchers from around the world, in addition to inspiring them to conduct further research on the topics discussed.
Publisher: Cognitione Foundation for the Dissemination of Knowledge and Science
ISBN: 8395108273
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 257
Book Description
The nine papers published in this issue of the Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation point to various problems which are important for effective management in a turbulent and dynamically changing contemporary market. The authors of the articles come from universities in the Czech Republic, Italy, the Republic of Moldova, Nigeria, Poland, Taiwan and Ukraine. The scientists present current and original views on issues related to: research & development expenditure and innovation levels in EU countries; the role of innovative entrepreneurship in economic development; the competitiveness of small innovative companies; social networking in family businesses; the connections between socioemotional wealth and competitive advantage of family firms; agrirural entrepreneurial alertness; the assessment of human resources` interactions; the impact of seasonality on employment in tourism; and socio-economic clients’ requirements for food packaging. However, regardless of the subject matter, all the papers indicate an organizational framework and solutions for achieving success in a competitive market. The first article, by Radka MacGregor Pelikánová, addresses R&D expenditure and innovations in the EU, which are the foundations for competitiveness in contemporary economies. The author focuses on the following three essential questions: How much is spent on R&D? How many patentable inventions are filed and succeed, and how many other ideas lead to innovations? Is it possible to imply a potential relationship and what are the trends? The described study entailed secondary data while exploring hard data sources, such as Eurostat and the European Patent Office databases, official or legislative documents, such as Europe 2020, and the academic literature. Furthermore, the author used direct observations, field search and her own experience, gained over 20 years by participating in many patent applications and other instruments protecting future innovations. Answering the questions, it was found that: the 3% threshold will not be met in the larger part of the EU, the number of patent applications and granted patents keep growing along with digitalization, and the possibility of a relationship between these factors and trends exists but is not conclusive or dramatically strong. The research challenge, taken by Radka MacGregor Pelikánová, requires an appreciation that, as she notes, “one of the limitations of the study was caused by the intangible, ephemeral and hardly predictable nature of innovations, and the impossibility to collect and mathematically process all the involved phenomena.” The second paper, written by Rodica Crudu, refers to the importance of entrepreneurship in driving innovation, economic growth and welfare, as well as job creation, and draws attention to the fact that innovation is seen as a driving force in the economic development of nations. Since innovative entrepreneurship has begun to be considered a key factor in modern economic development, finding a prominent place at the core of the European Union’s development strategy – Europe 2020, the author aims to analyse the role of innovative entrepreneurship in the economic development of EU member states by testing a model that captures new or young innovative firms as manifestations of innovative entrepreneurship along with determinants of economic growth rates. The key findings of the paper show that innovative entrepreneurs are more often present in countries with higher development levels and higher incomes, being motivated by the improvement opportunity they see in becoming entrepreneurs. However, a higher degree of entrepreneurship, especially in the creation of new firms, does not substantially contribute to accelerated economic development. This is explained by the variation in the motivation (necessity or improvement-oriented) of entrepreneurs across EU countries. In developed countries, entrepreneurs are most likely to be of Schumpeterian type, while in developing countries most of them are shopkeepers. The presented paper has significant practical implications for decision and policy-making authorities in terms of the possible directions of innovative entrepreneurship policy development, including friendlier and more efficient policies aimed at the creation of new firms and the development of SME-supporting tools. Edward Stawasz, whose paper is based on the results of conducted research, carried out an analysis and evaluation of the importance of selected determinants of competitiveness of small innovative enterprises operating in international markets and using business advice services. The first part of this article is a comprehensive literature review concerning the identification of determinants of competitiveness of small enterprises and the characteristics of motives for using, as well as the areas and effects of using, business advice. The second part of the article presents an analysis of the results of a survey conducted among 67 small, innovative enterprises operating in international markets and at the same time using business advice services, carried out with the use of the CATI method. The conducted analysis has shown that the use of business advice extends the scope of determinants of competitiveness of enterprises operating in international markets. Business advice can be considered an effective factor in improving the competitiveness of enterprises already characterized by high competitiveness, which means that a high level of competitiveness favors the effectiveness of the use of business advice. An important conclusion reached by the author is the existence of a positive relationship between business advice and enterprises’ capacity to absorb business knowledge. Therefore, improving the competitiveness of enterprises requires using business advice and improving the business knowledge absorptive capacity. The focus of the next article, written by Kenneth Chukwujioke Agbim, is the conceptual considerations regarding social networking and family businesses, presented in a review of the contribution of social networking to the financial and non-financial performance of family businesses. Based on an analysis of 55 peer-reviewed, published journal articles, the author identified the most frequently used social networking platforms, the measures of financial performance, the measures and proxies of non-financial performance, and the differences between the financial and non-financial performance. The study proposes the use of both financial and non-financial measures in assessing the performance of family businesses due to their complementary roles. Therefore, the presented research contributes to the family business literature by highlighting the importance of combining financial and non-financial measures in assessing family business performance, indicating that due to the specificity of a family business, its performance should be assessed in such a joint manner. The research topic of the fifth article, by Katarzyna Bratnicka-Myśliwiec and Martyna Wronka-Pośpiech, is socioemotional wealth in the context of competitive advantages of family businesses. These authors argue that socioemotional wealth may trigger or limit family firms’ strategic initiatives that ultimately shape their competitive advantage. The basic assumption is that, unlike non-family firms, family businesses have some unique qualities that should be considered. The research was conducted in almost two hundred firms through a telephone survey. The obtained results reveal that, indeed, socioemotional wealth and competitive advantage are partially associated, and socioemotional wealth can be regarded as an important strategic antecedent to firm performance. Therefore, the first main theoretical implication is the emphasis on the importance of socioemotional wealth as a strategic resource. The second main conclusion is the recommendation that socioemotional wealth is a relevant determinant of competitive advantage. Family businesses rely on more complex social dynamics than the dynamics of a pure market, where the informal sphere is critical for current functioning. Moreover, the connections between family business attributes and firm performance are by no means easy to understand. Consequently, this paper makes a significant contribution to the scientific literature. In the next article Chaoyun Liang presents research on agrirural entrepreneurship and the results of a series of three studies conducted to develop a measure of entrepreneurial alertness in the agrirural environment which is empirically valid, easy to use, and can analyze how the personality traits of agrirural entrepreneurs affect their entrepreneurial alertness. The results indicate that both extraversion and openness affect all of the dimensions of entrepreneurial alertness, whereas conscientiousness only influences scanning and searching, and agreeableness has an impact solely on evaluation and judgment. The presented findings also demonstrate the interactive relationships between extraversion and openness for all of the dimensions of entrepreneurial alertness. The research provides a new understanding of how agrirural entrepreneurial alertness can be assessed more practically and how personality traits can help predict various dimensions of agrirural entrepreneurial alertness. The author states that, due to the fact that agriculture remains the basis of socioeconomic development, governments worldwide are actively formulating relevant policies to aid in the restructuring and upscaling of their agricultural industries. Thus, providing essential guidance in agricultural entrepreneurship for diversifying rural regions should be their central concern. Therefore, recognizing and interpreting opportunities are the most crucial abilities that should be fostered in developing agrirural entrepreneurship. The seventh paper is devoted to the subject of human resources, in particular interactions. The author of this text is Anna Pereverzieva, who indicates that there is a need to develop a methodological approach to the assessment of united communities` human resources` level of interactions. Hence, in light of the gap in the scientific literature, she tries to determine such an approach. The author’s work is based on the example of a united community and a structural unit and, in addition, considers two determinants of human resources` interactions – the group size and the nature of labor. As a tool of the empirical study, the author used expert assessment and the application of certain mathematical dependencies that allowed the coefficient of interactions to be determined. It transpired that small groups with intellectual labor have higher levels of interactions than large groups with a predominance of manual labor. It is worth noting that the proposition of a methodical approach is universal and might be used by both communities and business entities. Moreover, an additional advantage of the study is the proposal of a 4-stage procedure for assessing the level of human resources` interactions. The eighth paper, written by Aleksandra Grobelna and Katarzyna Skrzeszewska, connects tourism seasonality with employment in the travel and tourism sector. The issue, raised by these authors, is a current and important topic, since nowadays seasonality plays a decisive role in creating demand in the tourist industry. The problem is investigated from the perspective of tourism and hospitality students of higher educational institutions located in the northern part of Poland (Southern Baltic Sea Region). The main point of the authors’ interest was the students’ attitudes towards seasonality in tourism employment and its impact on students’ tourism employment aspirations. As a research method, a direct questionnaire was used and the obtained data were analyzed statistically. According to one of the conclusions, more students agree that seasonality contributes positively rather than negatively to tourism employment. The authors indicate that the depicted results of the research study can be of substantial importance to managers in the industry, which suffers from low employment status and experiences chronic shortages of skilled and well-qualified employees. The last article by Agnieszka Cholewa-Wójcik, Agnieszka Kawecka, Carlo Ingrao and Valentina Siracusa presents interesting results of research on the requirements for packaging to answer contemporary consumers’ needs. The study represents a holistic approach to the topic. The authors conducted a survey among clients of shopping malls in the Małopolska region of Poland. Analysis of the obtained data indicated the following order of priority of consumers’ needs: ensuring safety, meeting legal regulations, wants related to lifestyle, improving consumers’ life quality through added value, and protection of the environment. Furthermore, the team of authors proposed the model packaging. According to them, modern food packaging should be characterized by health (safety), simplicity (reduction, convenience), identity (belonging), aesthetics (design), and meaning (sustainability, intelligence). These conclusions have a managerial dimension because they might be valuable premises for developing packaging and introducing innovative solutions in this area. The paper confirms that both the design of food packaging systems and the production of such kinds of packaging should be developed after giving due consideration not only to the technical requirements but also to the socio-economic and the environmental ones. As the editors of this issue, we would like to thank all the authors for their contribution, and for sharing their own theoretical considerations and the results of empirical research. We are convinced that the presented studies constitute a valuable contribution to management sciences in the area of effective organizational management in a turbulent environment. We would also like to thank the reviewers for their efforts in reviewing the articles for this issue, as well as their valuable comments and suggestions that have influenced its final shape. We hope that the articles presented in this issue will interest readers, scientists and researchers from around the world, in addition to inspiring them to conduct further research on the topics discussed.