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<bold>Research Purpose:</bold> The paper investigates the impact of the backward integration policy on manufacturing firms’ value added in Nigeria. It complements the existing literature and extends the frontier of knowledge by evaluating the impact of backward integration policy (local raw materials as proxy) on manufacturing firms’ value added in Nigeria.
<bold>Design/Methodology/Approach:</bold> Firm-level data were sourced from the annual reports and statement of accounts of 49 sampled manufacturing firms, Central Bank of Nigeria statistical bulletin, National Bureau of Statistics annual abstract and Nigeria Customs Service tariff books for the period (2002-2020). The Fisher-type Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) unit root test procedure was employed to examine the stationarity properties of each of the variables used in the study. The test was necessary to verify the time series property of the panel data employed. Thereafter, the Pooled Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) method was employed for the regression.
<bold>Findings:</bold> The findings show that backward integration policy through the use of local raw materials in production significantly led to an increase in manufacturing firms’ value added in Nigeria. An increase in the use of local raw materials in production leads to an increase in value added by all sampled firms across manufacturing industries in Nigeria. The findings also reveal that fixed assets, employment, energy cost and exchange rate have a significant positive influence on the value added of all sampled manufacturing firms, while the tax has a significant negative coefficient, implying that as tax paid by firms increases, the value added of manufacturing firms declines in Nigeria.
<bold>Originality/Value/Practical implications:</bold> Most previous studies focused on a single industry, but this study investigates the impact of backward integration policy on manufacturing firms’ value added in Nigeria. The study covers a wide range of firms and industries more than previous studies. It uses firm-level and panel data of manufacturing firms in Nigeria, which makes the study unique. It is the first study that hypothesises that backward integration can be used to improve the value added of manufacturing firms and consequently reduce import dependency, promote Nigeria’s product competitiveness and create more employment in Nigeria.
</abstract>

Backward Integration Policy and Manufacturing Firms Value Added in Nigeria

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<bold>Research purpose.</bold> This paper aims to explore Algerian academics’ perceptions of constraints to quality assurance recently implemented in higher education.
<bold>Design / Methodology / Approach.</bold> Data was collected through a survey. An online questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale was distributed to the Algerian academics through a snowball sampling method. In total, 121 answers were collected and treated using descriptive statistics.
<bold>Findings.</bold> The analysis reveals that academics perceived constraints in all dimensions examined in this study. The main constraints were: the low involvement of different stakeholders in quality assurance projects, the weakness of internal and external communication, the absence of evidence of compliance with the national standard, the lack of involvement of academics in the development of action plans and the lack of follow-up.
These constraints seem to hinder the quality assurance implementation process at the Higher Education Institutions (of the sample). These results may represent a challenge for institutions.
<bold>Originality / Value / Practical implications.</bold> The study is original in that it examines a recent subject that is little dealt with in Algeria. The main contribution of this research is an analytical discussion of perceptions of academics about quality barriers encountered in Higher Education Institutions, leading to a significant enrichment of the literature.
</abstract>

Academics’ Perceptions of Constraints to Quality Assurance Implementation in Higher Education in Algeria

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<bold>Research purpose.</bold> Adaptive Structuration Theory (AST), developed by Poole and DeSanctis (1990), implies that the application of information communication technologies (ICT) alone does not automatically lead to better outcomes and is dependent on the appropriation by the users of these ICT systems. So, authors in this paper research web-based idea management system (IMS) application adaptation and their relations with different IMS types and how it is all related to idea quantity (number of ideas generated). Do different IMS application types have different adaptation and appropriation levels?
<bold>Design / Methodology / Approach.</bold> The method applied for data collection was a global survey of >500 web-based IMS experienced organisations. The survey creation was based on the AST to evaluate web-based IMS in 8 different AST areas. In this paper, the authors analyse blocks about appropriation and adaptation. The survey was distributed through 100 web-based IMS developers that shared it with their clients (organisations that use web-based IMS). The holistic answer to the research question was based on 500 responses from diverse enterprises (different sizes, industries, and countries): the data analysis - statistical analysis. The study only deals with available commercial web-based IMS, not with privately designed or non-commercial IMS.
<bold>Findings.</bold> Different types of IMS applications have different adaptation and appropriation levels that could result in different outcomes. All adaptation and appropriation elements based on Innovation diffusion theory, Appropriation Scales and UTAUT models have a different impact on outputs. This paper answers the question: do different IMS application types have different adaptation and appropriation levels by exploring IMS application adaptation and their relations with different IMS types and how it is all related to idea quantity (number of ideas generated). Results prove that different IMS application types have different adaptation and appropriation levels: (H1) Active IMS provide higher adaptation and appropriation levels in the idea generation process than passive; (H2) External IMS provide higher adaptation and appropriation levels in the idea generation process than internal; (H3) Mixed IMS provides higher adaptation and appropriation level in idea generation process than internal.
<bold>Originality / Value / Practical implications.</bold> The research contributions can be summarised as follows: (1) the practical contribution helps organisations to predict what kind of idea quantity organisations could expect from different IMS application types based on their different adaptations and appropriations in the companies; (2) the research results highlight the elements of adoption of different types of IMS for organisations.
</abstract>

Adaptation and Appropriation of Different Web-Based Idea Management System Types

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<bold>Research purpose.</bold> To quantify such a subjective phenomenon as deprivation, we can use direct questions or more objective composite indicators, including more characteristics of the situation of individuals. Moreover, when ageing is of interest, the usually used indicators should be updated to reflect the needs of ageing citizens. The European Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe provides a vast database connected to the European population over 50. Two indicators for material and social deprivation from the survey are used to describe both types of deprivation in European welfare countries. The well-being of elderly inhabitants is a challenging problem for European economies; for this reason, information on the development of deprivation might be helpful to address future problems even before they become.
<bold>Design / Methodology / Approach.</bold> Data from the survey are used to describe differences between both deprivations and to analyse the impact of age, education and gender on the deprivation level. Regression and correlation analysis are used for the analysis.
<bold>Findings.</bold> The welfare countries relatively control material deprivation, but social deprivation is a more serious problem. The deprivation is slowly increasing with age with the positive impact of education. The gender is less significant. The situation is not similar in European countries, and the clustering of countries corresponds with the quality of life indicators and the country’s welfare.
<bold>Originality / Value / Practical implications.</bold> Quantification of the subjective phenomenon is shown. Data-driven information on deprivation during the ageing process in the European Union is given.
</abstract>

Ageing of the European Population and Deprivation

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<bold>Research purpose.</bold> The study aims to examine which indicators influence the amount of Lithuanian public debt to foreign countries.
<bold>Design / Methodology / Approach.</bold> First of all, in order to find out what could be preliminary indicators influencing the public debt, a comprehensive literature review has been done. This was implemented with the main goal of finding out the influencing independent variables, which were used for the next calculation. Successively was the selection procedure of the appropriate methodology for solving similar tasks. The pairwise and multivariate regression analyses have been carried out with the collected data.
<bold>Findings.</bold> Empirical research has shown that all independent variables are significant and can be used for pairwise regression analysis. After doing this, the authors found that no regression equation could be completed with no variable, which means that none of the variables affects the dependent variable (altogether). A multivariate regression analysis was also performed to check the impact of the selected variables on public debt. The regression equation was succeeded only when the criterion “population” had been eliminated. The results show that GDP, the unemployment rate, inflation and the minimum wage (in composition) may have an impact on the government’s external debt.
<bold>Originality / Value / Practical implications.</bold> Due to the emergency (pandemic) situation, the Lithuanian state borrowed a considerable amount of money from the European Commission - last year, it was planned to borrow 2.7 billion according to the initial budget, but due to the situation, the debt was increased by 5.1 billion Euros. The concept of reasoning the amount of public debt to foreign countries is valuable not only in the concept of the COVID pandemic. This empirical research analyses the critical substances which affect the public debt based on factual statistics, correlation analysis and pairwise and multivariate regression.
</abstract>

Investigation of Factors Determining Lithuanian Public Debt to Foreign Countries

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<bold>Research purpose.</bold> The main objective of this work is to highlight the adoption of project management practices in companies’ digital transformation initiatives as a critical success factor. Thus, on the one hand, we will seek to systematize the importance of project management practices in the digital transformation of economic organizations and, on the other hand, analyze them based on a digital transformation project of one of the largest publishing groups in Portugal. Having previously studied the process of digital transformation of the warehouse through the adoption of a Warehouse Management System, it is now important to analyze to what extent the transformation process was successful and to what extent the management as a project contributed to the achievement of the intended objectives and generated economic value.
<bold>Design / Methodology / Approach.</bold> The first part of the study was carried out through surveys to managers for a general characterization; the second part through the adoption of the focus group technique for analysis and study in greater depth of a case study. In the first phase, the focus group adopts semi-structured interviews with the different managers of the group’s different companies and respective departments. In the second phase, a joint reflection on the organizational and economic value creation was developed based on the different existing perspectives of the digital transformation project. This reflection allowed a more objective analysis of the results obtained, the adequacy of management options, and the deviations.
<bold>Findings.</bold> Technologies analysis investment is a management principle, and the project management approach facilitates this practice. It is essential to carry out a careful project management approach and analyze the economic and financial viability of the investment. The disruptive changes associated with digital transformation make it difficult, and it is not easy to achieve the strategic objectives associated with these investments. So, the adoption of a project management approach seems to be critical for the success of the implementation of digital transformation initiatives. The current study highlights three critical aspects in the global assessment of IST investment: the importance of analyzing the objectives achieved; the importance of economic and financial analysis in determining the return on investment; and the relevance of the analysis being carried out by the stakeholders involved as a way of perceiving, individually and collectively, the diversity of the benefits achieved.
<bold>Originality / Value / Practical implications.</bold> The digital transformation of companies is a current reality and justifies a project approach to guarantee success in economic and organizational initiatives. However, it is important to analyze how management adopts the associated practices and whether it is aware of the importance of evaluating the intended results.
</abstract>

The Project Management Approach. A Critical Success Factor in Digital Transformation Initiatives

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<bold>Research purpose.</bold> The aim of the research is to demonstrate the impacts of an absence of organizational policies and strategies in the field of work security on enterprise competitiveness. The movement of loads in the warehouses of industrial and distribution companies is critical in optimizing the times of availability of products to market. This is an activity that, in the field of management, appears to be simple and not very complex, duly framed by national and international laws. However, when poorly managed, it can express significant costs that affect competitiveness and even significantly affect the operational functioning of companies. Knowing that the safety of cargo handling by different equipment presupposes rules and safety policies at different levels, the present study aims to demonstrate the economic impacts based on a real situation in one of the largest handling equipment companies in Portugal.
<bold>Design / Methodology / Approach.</bold> Given the nature and objectives of the study, which seeks to demonstrate that the work security rules and policies compliance or non-compliance has benefits or costs and affects the competitiveness of economic organizations, the work was developed based on three phases. The first phase focused on direct observation of safety practices in operational activities. After this observation, in a second phase, we proceeded to collect and analyze existing data in the company under study, referring to the number of work accidents recorded in the past. In the last phase, we sought to understand and justify the results with the company’s top management. This last phase provided the understanding of the administrators’ view on the subject and the confrontation with the associated impacts, not only at the financial level but at the level of the company’s operation.
<bold>Findings.</bold> This study made it possible to show the impact (associated costs) on organizational performance and that this reality, unfortunately, is not often part of top management’s concern. As a management issue that is often relegated to middle management, this study demonstrates the frequent failure to comply with safety rules due to the pressure of daily activities, the increased number of accidents with the personnel growing in the company, and that this situation can be enhanced through the low degree of control by the enterprise top management over the existing reality. With this concrete study, it was possible to verify the weak relevance of the topic for the company’s administration and the assumption of the difficulty in regularizing the existing situation. The need to review management practices and models in this field became evident.
<bold>Originality / Value / Practical implications.</bold> The relevance of this study made it possible to point out to the top management administration that, in terms of competitiveness. However, the direct costs of the operation are relevant; there are indirect and opportunity costs, such as accidents or unavailability of equipment, which represent costs that can compromise the competitiveness of the company. This study also had the advantage of providing management with evidence of the existing reality in the company, which tends to be undervalued or go unnoticed in the day-to-day company’s current activities. In addition, it should also be noted that a proposal for an improvement plan for the company’s safety was made available.
</abstract>

Security Management Policies and Work Accidents

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<bold>Research purpose.</bold> The purpose is to study the household attitudes toward waste separation and prevention and present an innovative model of efficient and sustainable waste management.
<bold>Design / Methodology / Approach.</bold> In the empirical part, an online survey was implemented to research residents’ attitudes and intentions regarding handling household waste. It resulted in 228 valid responses, used for a quantitative analysis to answer the set hypotheses.
<bold>Findings.</bold> Regardless of the good results of waste separation in the municipality, the research showed that households do not know how to classify certain waste according to the type properly. It was confirmed that the use of penalty programs does not contribute to a higher level of waste separation. The already high awareness of the importance of separating waste could further be strengthened through the tools of social marketing as a factor for social change.
<bold>Originality / Value / Practical implications.</bold> It has been proven that residents’ motivation is an important factor that indirectly influences households to separate, prevent and reduce the generation of new amounts of waste. Changing people’s attitudes, mindsets, and behavior to be environmentally friendly is the best way to prevent further encroachment on the natural environment.
</abstract>

Social Marketing as a Tool for a Sustainable Municipal Waste Management

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<bold>Research purpose.</bold> The COVID-19 pandemic has become a theme of the research on the functioning of the economy and particular industries. The same concerns were raised regarding the issue of the cultural industry. Therefore, the content of this paper was dictated by the recognition of the impact of the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic on the activities of the cultural industry in Poland. The formulated research question reads: “How did the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic impact the economic standing of the Polish cultural industry?”
<bold>Design / Methodology / Approach.</bold> The conducted literature review, whose purpose was to recognise the threads of the scientific discourse on the pandemic and cultural industry together with the cultural issues of business activity in a broad sense, was based on the use of the VOSviewer software, based on the data obtained from the Web of Science Core Collection. This concerned publications from January 1, 2020, to April 4, 2022. The part of the paper that leads to answering the research question uses the inductive method. It is based on the analysis of the quantitative data and information obtained from Statistics Poland (GłównyUrządStatystyczny), research reports as well as media releases.
<bold>Findings.</bold> It was determined that in the first year of the pandemic, the number of cultural events, as well as the number of their participants, drastically decreased. There was also a change in the structure and value of expenditures of the citizens of Poland. This caused a drastic fall in revenues from the activity conducted by cultural institutions at the beginning of 2020. The situation improved after the disbursement of the government aid. However, even one year after the first lockdown, the increased debt of the art industry can be pointed out.
<bold>Originality / Value / Practical implications.</bold> Determining in a broad way the impact of the first wave of the pandemic on the cultural industry in Poland concerning the economic standing is a novel approach. The previous studies focused on the situation of particular types of cultural institutions and possibly on the people associated with them. Due to its specificity, the conducted research also makes it possible to identify potential research problems relating to this industry. On the one hand, these potential studies are in line with the research threads represented in world literature. On the other hand, they concerned the specificity of the Polish cultural industry.
</abstract>

Was it Doomsday? First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on the Polish Cultural Industry

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<bold>Research purpose.</bold> Due to the COVID pandemic, the culture and leisure industries were affected by many restrictions and canceled projects and events. Possibly cultural sector is one of the most affected by COVID-19 and one of the latest to recover from the pandemic restrictions (Radermecker, 2020). This situation changed not only the consumption habits of the cultural events attendees’ but also stopped many projects, both national and international forcing cultural institutions, including the sector of professional music, to find new solutions for concert activities locally and new possibilities for development. The orchestra RĪGA used this time to review the area of international cooperation and to find out how to look effectively for partners abroad. The purpose of the study is to determine how the professional orchestras can identify potential partner countries and which aspects should be taken into account in order to ensure sustainable and successful international cooperation in the field of classical music.
<bold>Design / Methodology / Approach.</bold> The study used empirical research methods: questionnaires and in-depth interviews, as well as modeling on international cooperation on the basis of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. In total 149 musicians of three Latvian professional orchestras took part in the survey. Five in-depth interviews with the musicians with international experience and orchestra managers were conducted.
<bold>Findings.</bold> Intercultural differences must be considered to promote international cooperation, so the authors conclude that with the help of Gert Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory, it is possible to assess the potential cooperation opportunities and threats of countries by comparing them. After in-depth interviews with experts and the analysis of the survey, it can be concluded that all respondents emphasize the need to develop a strategy for the promotion of international cooperation for Latvian professional orchestras. The results of the questionnaire show that the musicians of all 3 Orchestras consider that specific countries of international cooperation were named - Lithuania, Estonia, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Germany, which is in line with expert advice and the results of Hofstede’s 6-dimensional analysis.
<bold>Originality / Value / Practical implications.</bold> Based on the research, both empirical and theoretical, a model for international cooperation for professional orchestra was developed. The model consists of 3 aspects – existing cooperation on the city-level (partner-cities), countries which are closer to Latvia in according to Hofstede’s 6-dimension model and personal contacts of musicians and music managers.
</abstract>

Opportunities for the Development of International Cooperation for Professional Orchestras

AHEAD OF PRINT

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

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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. 