<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Cooperation between and within the companies can be an important success factor. Based on trust, companies at present have created formal and informal network structures in which cooperation between them plays a special role. In the present times, the economic importance of supply chains can be observed in almost every industry regardless size: multinational companies and even small and medium-sized enterprises are actively involved in global value-creating chains. More and more business leaders recognize that when consumers are about to decide on their purchases, not just performance of a company is evaluated but that of the entire supply chain and supply network. Forms of cooperation in the supply chain affect the companies in several ways: we can investigate its impact on growth, operation and thus, on the effectiveness of the supply chain and competitiveness. Both cooperation between and within companies are important in creating the ultimate value added. This paper aims to explore the functional fields in which companies cooperate with each other, i.e. how and in what manner they are connected to each other. Results and conclusions are based on in-depth interviews and a questionnaire filled in by companies in Hungary.</abstract>

Business Cooperations Along the Supply Chain

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Learning quantitative courses in higher education is difficult because students need to understand complex principles and solve complicated questions. In these courses, new knowledge depends on prior knowledge and when gaps in students’ understanding occur, they are difficult to overcome. The study examines a new model called comprehensive technology-based learning (CTBL) designed to overcome these difficulties.The problem is addressed by full coverage of the curriculum in a variety of textual and video learning tools, as well as an ongoing process of diagnosis and prognosis, designed to overcome students’ difficulties and knowledge gaps. The study examined the students’ attitudes towards CTBL model relating to three quantitative courses (<italic>n</italic>1=39, <italic>n</italic>2=25, <italic>n</italic>3=18, <italic>ntotal</italic>). It points out that a quantitative course based on CTBL significantly nurtures students’ learning. Improving learning and overcoming knowledge gaps are influenced by several characteristics: Full coverage of the curriculum, excellent learning experience, repetition of the material without limitations, flexibility to learn outside the classroom, a variety of means to choose which ones are more appropriate, and making learning much easier. Beyond that, the diagnosis and prognosis done by the lecturer cause the instructor to intervene in real time, to solve the students’ difficulties on an ongoing basis.</abstract>

Comprehensive Technology-Based Learning (CTBL): A Comparison Between Various Types of Quantitative Courses

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Well-conducted recruitment and selection process is extremely important for the organization, permitting in-depth and objective verification of candidates in terms of meeting employer’s expectations and leads to their employment. Up to now, there has been little research on the impact of e-recruitment on the recruitment process as a whole. The present study fills part of this gap by investigating the effect of e-recruitment on the design of the recruitment process. Therefore, the main purpose of the paper is to analyze how new technology has influenced the recruitment process as a whole. The recruitment process will be presented on the example of ItutorGroup. The paper considers the possibilities of including modern technologies in the recruitment and selection strategies of the organization based on a case study method. The case study describes the project of cooperation of the Work Service personnel consultancy with the international organization ItutorGroup. Its selection and recruitment strategy was based on video-recruitment. The findings indicate that e-recruitment transforms the traditional recruitment process into a time- and space-independent, collaborative hiring process. The most significant changes are recorded in the sequence and increased divisibility of main recruitment tasks. For management, the main task is now that of communicating with candidates. Recruitment and selection strategy based on modern technologies requires an experienced and competent team, two unquestionable benefits are: limiting the length of the process in time and possibility to decrease the costs.</abstract>

New Technologies in the Recruitment Process

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">In this paper, the results of my research are presented that was carried out on a large sample to investigate how people look back at their previous business decisions. After a short literature overview, considering the role of time, the paper deals with the primary research: how people judge their decisions in the short term and in the long run, that is, how confident they are that the right one was chosen applying the available knowledge of facts and conditions connected with or relevant to their situation. Using statistical methods, comparisons were made, for example, based on the respondents’ gender, so it turns out whether gender has an influence on self-confidence or on exactness of judgement. Does the position, that is, the rank matter? Can it be assumed that the farther one gets up the corporate ladder, the more certainty can be observed about their decisions? And what about educational level? Does it influence judgement in a decision? Those who do not regret their decisions after a while, that is, after the original decisions were made, while being in possession of the information available later, can be more successful in business because they made the best decision. Trying to identify such characteristics or factors can be an advantage in the business life.</abstract>

Evaluation of Decision Effectiveness Over Time

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The article presents the results of the international study of the professional identity of schoolteachers of Russia and Latvia. In the study, the six component model of the content of the teacher professional identity (TPI) is used. According to this model, in 2017, the questionnaire “School Teacher Professional Identity” was created and international survey organized, in which 437 schoolteachers from Latvia and the Smolensk region of Russia participated. The aim of this article is to analyze the data of the two national samples for the 6th component of TPI: “Professionally Determined Social Behavior”. This behavior is not connected with the implementation of direct professional duties, but corresponds to the philosophy of the profession: taking up the mission of educating community, active involvement in social life, participation in formulation and solution of social problems having pedagogical aspects and unselfish professional help to those who need it. To process the data, statistical methods were used. On the whole, items of the component received relatively high scores in both national samples. Certain differences in the data of Latvian and Russian teachers as well as urban and rural subgroups of both countries are observed. High dispersion of data shown in this component indicates that the professionally determined social behavior is the most acute and controversial aspect of TPI; therefore, the elaboration of optimal ways and tools to strengthen TPI should be based on an in-depth study of social behavior of schoolteachers.</abstract>

University College of Economics and Culture

Social Behavior of Schoolteachers of Latvia and Russia in the Structure of Teacher Professional Identity

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">In this paper, the design and introduction of a framework for multidisciplinary business simulations at the School of Public Administration of Kehl University will be presented. Within Kehl’s Public Administration study program, various subjects like organization, law, human resources, computer sciences, finance, psychology and economics are supported in an interdisciplinary way. Both theoretical and scientific skills as well as soft skills such as teamwork, project management and coordination will be further developed by using an interdisciplinary approach. A framework for multidisciplinary business simulations has been developed to support this interdisciplinary approach. The framework integrates realistic and practical simulations of interdisciplinary case studies into the study program of Public administration at Kehl University. In order to reduce costs for case study development, the framework offers a generic case study pattern. This pattern was purposefully developed and covers very different disciplines in the best possible way so that the students can conduct simulations that are realistic and possible during their studies. Further, two different simulation implementations of the case studies were designed within the framework for multidisciplinary business simulations. A short-term simulation intends to check the ongoing learning success. A long-term simulation aims for giving students feedback concerning their skills just before graduating. The case studies based on the generic case study pattern come from a wide variety of public administration tasks. Examples of currently conceived case studies include e-invoicing, IT-infrastructure for schools and IT-office workplaces. The case studies were developed together with practitioners from municipalities and local agencies in order to create realistic simulations. This addresses the actual complexity of the future working environment of students. The comprehensive application of knowledge learnt in different subjects motivates students to work on these case studies.</abstract>

A Framework for Multidisciplinary Business Simulations

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Electronic payments are considered to be a fast and secure alternative for traditional payment methods. Today, it is impossible to imagine modern bank operations, commercial transactions and other payments without electronic payments. This article shows that electronic payments are not the only means for reducing costs with respect to other payment methods, such as cash, but can also generate significant benefits for increasing economic development and reducing shadow economy. The paper focuses on the development of electronic payments in Georgia and its impact on the economy of the country. Over the decades, the payment systems in Georgia have evolved significantly in line with the technological advancement. Significant progress has been achieved in improving the e-payment systems infrastructure. The evolution of e-payments in Georgia can be characterized by the following: debit (including prepaid) and credit cards, credit and debit transfers compose a core set of noncash payment types commonly used today by consumers and businesses. These core noncash payment types are used both in traditional ways, such as in-person purchases, payroll deposits, and bill payments, and in innovative ways, such as contactless and mobile payments, e-commerce and online bill payments. Using the economic-mathematical analyses of the information taken from the web-page of the National Bank of Georgia and commercial banks’ publications, a mathematical model was built, based on which the positive relationship between e-payments and economic growth in terms of real GDP was shown.</abstract>

Development of Electronic Payments in Georgia

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Clusterization has been named as one of the priorities of the development strategy of many European Union countries. Clusterization experts have already hypothesized that clusters of various economic activities are important not only in the formation of regional policy, but they also in a complex way stimulate the whole country’s economic growth from job creation to the development of intellectual property to new innovative industries. These realities show that cluster activity and its results are important not only for cluster participants, but also for the economy of the country in which clusters operate. However, there are currently no reliable and effective tools to validate this hypothesis. In the analysis of the problem and in order to deepen the theoretical knowledge of the object under study, this paper analyses and summarizes systematic, logical and comparative scientific literature, scientific studies, strategic documents and legal acts. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretical overview of the currently available knowledge on service clusterization and sustainable economic development, to demonstrate the acute absence of relevant theoretical foundations and linkages that would allow to analyse these phenomena, and propose a methodological approach that would allow to expand this field of study.</abstract>

The Effect of Service Clusters on the Sustainable Economic Development

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">A country’s qualification structure that meets the needs of the labour market and properly skilled professionals at different levels of qualification are the objectives targeted by each country, region and entity. Competencies demanded on the labour market determine the competitiveness of a person, entity and the whole country. In order to train professionals to better meet the labour market needs, solution formulas for the problems are sought in the field of infrastructure improvements, system management and other areas. This article analyses the opportunities for enhancing match of skills safeguarded by the national occupational standards in Lithuania, including the analysis of progress, problems and solutions.</abstract>

Occupational Standards: A Key to Improving Match Between Skills and Labour Market Needs in Lithuania

AHEAD OF PRINT

Volume 20 (2023): Issue 2 (December 2023)

Volume 20 (2023): Issue 1 (June 2023)

Volume 19 (2022): Issue 2 (December 2022)

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Volume 18 (2021): Issue 2 (December 2021)

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Volume 17 (2020): Issue 2 (December 2020)

Volume 17 (2020): Issue 1 (June 2020)

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Volume 15 (2018): Issue 2 (December 2018)

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Volume 14 (2017): Issue 2 (December 2017)

Volume 14 (2017): Issue 1 (June 2017)

Volume 13 (2016): Issue 2 (December 2016)

Volume 13 (2016): Issue 1 (June 2016)

Economics and Culture

Aims and Scope  Journal Economics and Culture is a international open-access journal that publishes original scientific papers on the latest empirical and theoretical research in the fields of economics, business management and culture. All articles are doubl-blind peer-reviewed.  Authors are specially welcomed to submit their papers focused on cultural economics, application of statistical methods to the field of culture, cultural and event management, cultural education, business issues in culture and creative industries, i.e. topics combining economic, management and culture issues.  Journal Economics and Culture has been published since 2010 by the EKA University of Applied Sciences. Periodicity of the edition　– 2 times per year (June and December).  Peer-review process. The journal uses double-blind peer review (neither the authors nor the reviewers know the identity of each other) to avoid bias. See more information in the section „For Authors – Reviewing Policy“  Plagiarism policy. Authors should strictly avoid plagiarism, including self-plagiarism. Papers submitted to Economics and Culture must be original and not be published or submitted for publication elsewhere.  The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process.  Open access statement. The journal is an Open Access journal that allows a free unlimited access to all its contents without any restrictions upon publication to all users.  Copyright policy. Economics and Culture publishes open-access articles licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License  Since Volume 2022, the journal has changed its license to the Creative Commons BY NC ND 4.0. (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)  Archiving policy. Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.  APC policy. To publish in Economics and Culture, the authors are not required to pay an Article Processing Charge. 