Tom 7 (2015): Zeszyt 4 (December 2015)

Much literature exists on the topic of ‘organisation’. Many different academic disciplinary areas stake their claim to aspects of business organisation. The social sciences offer many different perspectives of the phenomena associated with it; as different lenses, through which the object is perceived very differently. According to social constructivists, the business organisation is socially constructed. For psychologists, it exists at the nexus of individual human needs. For economists, the business organisation operates as a mechanism responding to signals of supply and demand. In this paper the business organisation is re-imaged as an entity existing within, and comprised of, chaotic systems. On the basis of a synthesis of seminal theory this paper attempts to offer a holistic perspective of business organisations; that ‘pulls together’ these multidisciplinary perspectives. On the basis of this synthesis, it is argued that the organisational context is inherently endogenous, and that qualitative research methods might offer management scientists a more valid perspective of the relationships within organisations than empirical methods can.

The main goal of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of intercultural aspects affecting cross-border knowledge flow in MNCs by recognizing similarities and differences pertaining to the practices supporting such flow in 200 Polish-based subsidiaries grouped into clusters according to ‘national’ origin of parent-company2. Analyses of data collected in 2014 encompassed descriptive statistics, and in-pair comparisons. Significant differences were identified by a Kruskall-Wallis test, Chi- Square Test, and a UMW test. Results suggest that such a flow was supported mainly by discussions via ICT and access to databases. Significant differences between clusters were found for usage of e-learning programs, e-mentoring/e-coaching, virtual teams, and HRM practices.

The authors indicate the role of leadership competences as a factor which is a response to the expectations of the labor market. In this presentation, leadership competences are treated as a system of skills existing among leadership relationships. The research of curricula in the best business schools around the world sees leadership as a dynamic, interdisciplinary approach to shaping the organizational reality and they treat this as the main goal of education. Experiences of business schools confirm that leadership skills could only be learnt in a practical approach to teaching, including workshops, simulations, work samples etc. The differences between teaching and market expectations on chosen positions, also in analyzed aspect, called the competence gap, have been studied for the last few years (2007-2013) and co-financed by the UE in the Human Capital Operational Program. After the completion of these projects we have to assume, that we still don’t have explicit or complete information about unadjustedness of skills to expectations of positions in chosen trades. The chance of precise identification and defining existing competence gaps is conducting studies of alumni career paths, who in their assessment collate possibilities of learning in business schools with the expectations of employers. Hence in the further part of this article we present the opinions of business school’s alumni about competence adjustedness in the domain of leadership skills. The last part of this article is an analysis of similarities and differences between the results of studies conducted in Poland and other CEE countries.

The paper focuses on the analysis of the employees’ behaviour, specifically in their involvement and commitment in hotel service after the implementation of a quality management system. When organization fails to involve the employees in a meaningful way, two types of workers could be identified; employees with high efficiency and employees with resistance to change. In this qualitative study, it was observed that if an employee doesn’t feel a sense of accomplishment, even when he constantly receives training courses, has incentives or sanctions, it is going to be difficult to get his involvement and commitment with the organization goals. This situation happens because the hotel quality management system is supported by an isomorphism with standardized rules that proceeded or originate from a different context and, in that system the features of the company and workers were not considered. The case study war carried out in a touristic destiny of sun-beach tourism in Mexico. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were prepared to elicit the employees’ participation in decision-making process, the employees’ involvement and commitment to achieve organization’s quality objectives, the employees’ efficiency in production processes and service, and the socialization. As already stated earlier, the intention of this paper is to develop an understanding of the actual practices that guide the relationships of human resources, when quality is joined as a contingent element.

Cultural and religious factors do have some connection with results achieved in business; it is particularly well visible on the financial market. The paper presented possibilities of researching connections between cultural and religious factors and success in business, based on selected measures. Analysis covers three areas: top managers’ incomes, effectiveness measured by return on capital, risk appetite of financial institutions with international capital and international board of managers. Indicators of correlations and comparison of measures used for analysis confirm inter-relationships of cultural and religious factors and success in business.

The main goal of the article is to present research findings regarding student’s attitude to working in a multicultural team (MCT). Research participants of different cultural background completed the research survey. Their willingness to work in MCT was measured together with factors that influence it. These include factors related to both team members and the task structure.

Research findings indicate that the respondents preferred to work in MCT if the task required diversity of cognitive perspectives, e.g. in a situation requiring creative or out-of-the-box thinking. In contrast, the strongest preference for working in a single-culture team (SCT) was present in the case of tasks requiring mutual understanding among the team members and like-mindedness. In addition, it was found that the preference to work in SCT or MCT entrusted with a task with specific requirements was also related to the experience in working in such teams declared by the respondents.

Conclusions and recommendations may be utilized to design methods for managerial education and training.

The paper focuses on the visual communication channel and it’s practical implications to the intercultural management practice. Introducing theoretical framework provides arguments for the increasing role of the pictures in the image economy, where esthetics and visual branding are the core elements. Two main fields of business applications of visual channels are drawn in the article: external consumers communication and internal organizational communication. Author’s definition of visual marketing communication (VMC) is provided and the semiotic approach is recommended for the culturally rooted customer communication that increases consumption globally, while information design and infographics are the visual messages suggested for the second field, which is internal, employees communication management.