Issue #3 (Volume 18 2020)

Leaders play a strategic role in the process of organizational change. Various studies were conducted to show the role of leaders in succeeding change. One famous concept of leaders’ role was the Mintzberg managerial role, which divides the role of the leader into three main roles: interpersonal, informational, and decisional. This research was conducted to explore the leaders’ role in creating organizational readiness to change. The study was conducted at 40 government-owned public health centers in Indonesia, involving 190 midwives as respondents. The study results show that all three leader’s roles were well implemented by the head of the public health center with the best score in the informational role. However, organizational readiness to change at public health centers is not on the same level. The linear regression test indicates that the decisional role has the largest contribution in building the organizational readiness to change. The successfully implemented role of entrepreneurs, disturbance handlers, resource allocators, and negotiators was the key to the successful implementation of changes. Therefore, the advice given was the need for leaders to improve their decision abilities so that the organizational readiness to change becomes better.

Acknowledgment
The researcher thanked the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education, Republic of Indonesia, for funding this research.

Solving the problem of enhancing the efficiency of the financial and economic regulation of land relations contributes to the development of entrepreneurship in Ukraine. The purpose of the paper is to determine new incentives for encouraging entrepreneurial activity by increasing the efficiency of the financial and economic regulation of land relations by local governments. The study is based on applying the method for predicting amounts of local budget revenues in Ukraine from the land tax and lease fees through the use of communally owned land plots to stimulate entrepreneurial initiatives of the unemployed. In the process of research, the projected amounts of local budget revenues from financial transactions with plots of industrial lands in each region of Ukraine have been determined, taking into account the possibilities of leasing the lands, for which lease fees are covered by a one-time benefit provided to the unemployed for organizing entrepreneurial activity. It is proposed to determine the efficiency of the financial and economic regulation of land relations in the regions of Ukraine, applying indicators such as the use of industrial lands together with objects of lease located on them and the involvement of the unemployed from among the economically active population in entrepreneurial activity. To improve the efficiency of financial and economic regulation of land relations, local governments are proposed to establish the optimal proportion of amounts of borrowed resources, taking into account the need for their saving and rational use.

This paper responds to the current issue of Earnings Management (hereafter EM) initiatives in the Visegrad Four. The aim is to identify EM practices and determine a statistically significant relationship between EM practices and firm size, country, or business sector. The paper contains a literature review, bibliometric analysis, and a description of the methods used in the practical part. Many publications containing the term “EM” in scientific databases, a keyword science map for “EM” publications, a science map of the most cited contributions dealing with EM, a science map of countries with the highest number of cited publications with the term “EM”, and a science map of sources with the highest number of publications with the term “EM” are included. The analysis covers the period from 1900 to 2019. The study is focused on detecting the presence of EM initiatives in the Visegrad Four using the modified Jones model. Results confirmed the EM initiatives in the Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Poland, and Hungary. Using the one-way ANOVA test, a statistically significant relationship was confirmed between EM practices and firm size, country, and business sector. The study uses a sample of 250 financial statements of entities from each Visegrad Four country for the year 2018. The sample is adjusted for outliers using the IQR method.

Acknowledgment
This paper was financially supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency – Grant No. APVV-17-0546 Variant Comprehensive Model of Earnings Management in Conditions of The Slovak Republic as an Essential Instrument of Market Uncertainty Reduction.

Stakeholder theory dominates in revealing the features of the stakeholders’ influence on various entities; however, only few studies rely on it in the field of enterprises that select banks as financial partners. Considering the enterprise-bank relationship from the stakeholder theory perspective, this paper represents an approach to selecting strategies for interaction with this stakeholder type.
The proposed approach includes the following steps: determining the interaction objectives for enterprises and banks; specifying and comparing potential partners; ranking banks to justify the chosen partner/partners for interaction; and selecting interaction strategies and forming the content of the behavior patterns inherent in enterprises (offensive or negotiation strategies). The criteria for choosing a strategy include the objectives of the interaction between enterprises (providing comprehensive services or satisfying individual financial needs) and their financial status that determines the interest of banks in partnership.
The application of the proposed methodology for calculating rating indicators and the respective bank ranking showed that 18% of the banks included in the studied list of reliable Ukrainian banks have a high level of innovation activity and an acceptable level of banking service costs for business customers (that is, they implement a customer-oriented policy). Therefore, to receive comprehensive banking services combined with high or medium levels of banks’ interest in interaction, the paper recommends enterprises to choose a large-scale offensive strategy or a large-scale negotiation strategy, respectively.
The stakeholder theory, as well as consideration of the criteria defined in the paper, will allow enterprises to choose interaction strategies that meet their needs for financial services and harmonize the interests of partners.

Enhanced positive outcomes and benefits require project management to be integrated with knowledge management (KM) to induce ambidexterity and project success. To offer an empirical insight into this issue and advance the field of knowledge further, this research studies the mediating role of ambidexterity within the KM project success connection. The data collected from a sample of 350 senior people who have familiarity with relevant capital projects in the manufacturing companies in Jordan were analyzed using the algorithm of partial least squares (PLS) and bootstrapping techniques. The findings of the study show that KM is an integral aspect of project success, and it has a significant positive effect on project success, but KM, which does not induce ambidexterity, could not significantly enhance project success. KM can induce and stimulate enhanced project performance and benefits only when it induces ambidexterity. This implies that project success requires KM, given that KM allows organizations to possess exploitative and explorative capabilities simultaneously to tackle issues arising from the external environment. That this study covers only the manufacturing sector in Jordan, the research model can be replicated in other contexts to solidify the findings of the current study.

The university leaders of the 21st century have failed to expose the transformation needs and demands of their institutions and have only implemented transformational strategies and measures that suit their career endeavors. This has been compounded by their lack of personal, interpersonal, and cognitive capabilities, which are essential in driving, shaping, and achieving the transformation agenda of their respective institutions. Against this backdrop, this article ascertains university leaders’ knowledgeability of factors and their understanding of change initiatives that could drive and achieve universities’ transformation agenda. The leadership traits, cognitive abilities, and qualities that can also influence transforming universities are assessed in this empirical study. A quantitative research approach was adopted in this comparative study, where a structured questionnaire was distributed to 191 respondents. A 70% response rate was obtained at the Durban University of Technology (DUT), while 59% was achieved at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT). The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 12 was used to capture and analyze the data. This study has the potential to influence university leaders in totality in their nomenclature on transformation and the traits needed for effective transformation. The current research study revealed fascinating results that leaders from both the universities believed that transformation refers to restructuring rather than the widely shared narrative of addressing the racial imbalances of the apartheid era. Furthermore, the results suggest that the university leaders understand their institutional transformation agendas although the freedom of speech and open debates are not promoted and that leaders are not good listeners.

It is necessary to choose proper methodology and indicators for assessing sustainable economic development as the information becomes a tool for decision-making support of sustainable development policies and implementation of programs. In Ukraine, evaluating the results of implementation of different programs for development is essential as an analytical basis for making a strategy for the next period and a prerequisite for further progress.
Certain shortcomings of linear models for evaluating the results appeared during the design and implementation of the strategy to manage sustainable economic development. The potential for establishing erroneous targets increases in the formation of strategic objectives for the next forecast period. There is a special need to choose adequate indicators to comprehensively approximate the factors of economic development and evaluation methods that allow more sensitively measuring the results of management decisions in the implementation of the strategy.
The article evaluates the results of the Sustainable Development Strategy “Ukraine – 2020”, employing the potential of the neural network method for a flexible combination of a large number of factors in constructing nonlinear models of impact on the resulting indicator. As a result of applying the neural network model with one hidden layer for evaluation, based on 16 indicators identifying economic, social, and institutional aspects of sustainable development of Ukraine, it was found that institutional transformations contribute most to achieving sustainable development. Reforms in terms of deregulation and support of entrepreneurship, property rights protection, and competitive environment have the most significant positive impact. On the other hand, low efficiency of capital market reforms, implementation of the energy efficiency program, and reform in the field of public procurement determine the need to revise the program of their fulfilment.

The use of cloud technology in business provides for many benefits. The use of cloud computing in business management varies greatly across the EU. The answer to the question of what factors influence the level of cloud computing usage in enterprises can be used to boost the utilization of cloud technologies and contribute to their popularization in Poland.
This study aims to identify the factors and assess their influence on the level of cloud computing use in enterprise management, considering business activity types.
The study is based on secondary data published periodically by the Eurostat. The study uses the r-Pearson correlation analysis. Statistical data for all EU countries for the period 2014–2018 was analyzed. Nine factors were selected for the correlation analysis. After verifying the research hypothesis, it was proven that there is a statistically significant relationship between the extent to which cloud computing is used in enterprises with different types of business activities and the selected factors. It was clearly shown that the percentage of the ICT sector in national GDP has no impact on the use of cloud technologies. Other research hypotheses were confirmed or partially confirmed.
A ranking of factors influencing the use of cloud technologies in enterprises, taking into account the type of business activity, was compiled. The obtained results will be useful to theoreticians and practitioners in developing a company’s growth strategy and making decisions on modernizing the information structure or company virtualization.

Acknowledgment
This paper emerged as part of the work on a grant for a research project conducted by the research and teaching staff of the Faculty of Economic Sciences at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn in 2020. The title of the project is “Information as a factor in managing municipal, water and energy resources”.

Integrated reporting (IR) is an important element in the development of corporate reporting in the European Union (EU). It turns out that stakeholders need not only financial but also non-financial information about the company. Due to changes in the environment, the role of CSR is growing. Enterprises undertake more and more pro-social and pro-environmental activities. European countries and organizations introduce regulations and recommendations that are to improve and standardize IR. The article aims to present IR within the EU and analyze the relationship between the number of reports prepared and the welfare of individual countries. Research methods used in the article are study by action, statistical technique, and critical analysis of literature. The development of IR in the EU is briefly described. It was also analyzed whether there is a correlation between the popularity of IR in a country and its wealth. A high correlation was found between the wealth of a given country and the number of integrated reports prepared. The wealthier the country, the more integrated reports are made there. There is a big difference in the popularity of IR between the EU countries which joined the EU before 2004 and those in the EU from 2004 or later. More than 200 integrated reports are prepared in the countries that joined the EU before 2004 than in the countries that joined the EU in 2004 or later. Although the popularity of IR is growing steadily, there are still a few EU countries where integrated reports are hardly ever present.

High dependence on a particular category of exports results in fluctuations in income as the price of the export item fluctuates. In Saudi Arabia, a single category of mineral exports forms over 78% of the total exports, exposing the country to revenue volatility. The study aims to assess the magnitude of diversification of the export basket for the country. It uses data from 1984 to 2018 to study the importance of non-mineral exports in total exports. It applies Granger causality, variance decomposition, and impulse response function in the vector autoregressive framework. The study also uses the growth-share matrix to evaluate individual items of non-mineral exports. The results show a long-run relationship with a 1% increase in non-mineral exports, leading to a 0.30% increase in total exports. Non-mineral exports Granger-cause total exports. In the long run, non-mineral exports have a share of 64% of the forecast error variance in total exports. Moreover, a 1% shock in non-mineral exports creates a huge initial impact on total exports. Also, the growth rate of non-mineral products is higher than mineral products. The results indicate the importance of non-mineral exports for a predominantly oil-exporting country. Finally, the study attempts to classify its non-mineral export categories based on growth rates and market shares. Targeted emphasis on export category with a strong growth rate and low market share can be an effective strategy for further export diversification.

The analysis of scientific approaches to understanding the psychological characteristics of the role of the management team is important in the context of ensuring the organizational development of educational institutions. The purpose of the study is to explore the basic approaches and views of modern researchers on defining team roles, to identify the main functional and role positions in the management team.
Determining the types of leadership roles of educational institutions based on empirical research data. Also based on the method of case studies problem-situational analysis − solving leadership problems by educational managers − were analyzed the effectiveness of role-playing positions in management teams. Conclusions were made about the need for some correction of understanding and assessment of the importance of all roles in the staff of heads of educational institutions. Each of these command roles related to specific personality traits identified by the tests.
An analysis of the orientation of education leaders towards team roles shows that they tend to focus on all team roles. However, one can say that some roles are more attractive to researchers, while others are less attractive. The government can use the research findings to create and implement training programs for educational leaders.

Nowadays, leading world companies widely use methodology, standards, and project management tools in many areas of project-oriented activities, including investment, innovation, and information projects. Last years the implementation and functioning of the country’s enterprises’ project management system have been actively discussed in Kazakhstan.
This work aims to identify critical processes of project management planning that affect the effectiveness of projects at the enterprise of the military-industrial complex of Kazakhstan. For this purpose, a survey of top managers of defense industry companies was conducted. A total of 28 respondents were interviewed, working at 18 enterprises of the military-industrial complex of the Republic of Kazakhstan and directly participating in the implementation of projects. Data were personally collected by a questionnaire survey conducted during 2019. To verify the formulated model’s assumptions and success, correlation analysis, and other relevant tests were used. Using the model of project management planning quality (PMPQ), process efficiency has been assessed, and critical factors for the effectiveness of defense industry projects have also been identified. The results show that the Republic of Kazakhstan’s defense industry complex projects has a low level of efficiency and an average score for the use of project planning processes. Project efficiency evaluation has also revealed critical knowledge areas for defense projects like human resource management, schedule development, and define scope. The research expands knowledge in PM, revealing the importance of planning processes for the defense industry that need more focus to achieve top-level success and effectiveness of projects.

Acknowledgment
This study is the second part of grant AP05134488 that has been funded by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Most studies in the area of corporate governance measure certain characteristics and the effects on financial performance; however, other authors only focus on profitability and do not analyze financial performance in all its dimensions; this is relevant because in some situations the government corporate governance can influence performance measured by liquidity, solvency or activity. The aim of the study is to relate the independence of corporate governance and the financial performance of non-listed companies using econometric techniques. This process was carried out by collecting primary information for the independent variable and secondary data for the dependent variable; the independence of corporate governance was measured by applying a confirmatory factor analysis to data collected through a survey, while the financial performance was measured through average Z factors created for liquidity, solvency, profitability and activity indicators. As a result, it was found that the independence of corporate governance influenced financial performance, but this relationship was statistically significant only with solvency and activity variables. As a result, it can be seen that there is a direct relationship between corporate governance independence and financial performance, in such a way that if the perception of board independence increases, financial performance can increase positively.

Acknowledgments
An acknowledgment to department SINDE from University Catholique Santiago of Guayaquil, who helped with the necessary resources to conduct this research.

The creation and growth of new enterprises and, on the other hand, their decline and market exit are crucial factors of business dynamism and economic growth. Thus, business dynamism is an important aspect in the market chain and productivity of an economy, as well as a trigger for market reforms. The aim is to analyze business dynamism using Global Competitiveness Index 4.0 and its variables worldwide and to verify the relationship between business dynamism in the EU states and economic characteristics such as Valued added at factor cost, Enterprise Birth Rate and Enterprise Death Rate. Data were collected from the 2019 Global Competitiveness Report and from the EUROSTAT database, using the most recently updated source for each indicator. The 11th pillar of the Global Competitiveness Index, focused on business dynamics, and a set of indicators were analyzed using PCA to verify if all the variables are effective representatives of the concept. It was found out that the pillar does not effectively represent the concept of business dynamism in case of the EU countries; therefore the new pillar was constructed. A strong and statistically significant correlation between business dynamism and Value Added was confirmed. A relationship between business dynamism and other economic indicators was not proven. From a territorial point of view, Oceania achieved the best overall result in the analyzed field. The process of starting a new business is the most challenging in terms of start-up costs in South America. By contrast, the EU has reached the best result in this process.

Most government and international financial institutions worldwide have adopted financial inclusion as a veritable platform for achieving the Social Development Goals of hunger and poverty eradication, inequality reduction, and employment creation. Their efforts will not yield much dividend if a sizeable part of the populace are constrained from social and formal financial inclusion due to social disorder. This study examined the relationship between social seclusion of forcibly displaced persons from formal financial inclusion in twenty-seven Sub-Saharan African countries. Granger Error Correction Method (ECM) with Generalized Methods of Moments (GMM) was used to analyze the short panel data obtained from the World Bank database. The study found a negative long-run relationship between social seclusion and financial inclusion. That is, an increase in social menace overtime will result in more people being financially excluded from formal financial transactions. It, therefore, recommends, amongst others, that government should encourage forcibly displaced persons to become gainfully employed and productive. Specifically, persons in refugee and internally displaced persons camps should be trained to acquire skills that will enable them to become self-employed, create wealth for themselves, and contribute actively to the sustainable economic growth of their host country rather than just provide food and other welfare packages as a temporal palliative for survival.

Continuous cost management is considered vital for the sustainability of any business enterprise in modern society. Over the years, the Nigerian airline industry has been experiencing rising operational costs, probably due to inadequate business process reengineering. Based on the assumptions of the value chain model, this article investigates the effect of business process reengineering on operational costs of selected indigenous airline companies in Nigeria. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population was 1,938 employees of key professional departments of the selected Nigerian indigenous airline companies. The sample size was 699 staff of the selected departments with 84% response rate. The copies of the questionnaire were administered using trained research assistants. The study adopted a mixed sampling method. Proportionate sampling was used to determine the sample size for each of the three airlines; stratified sampling was used to select the specific units within the organization, while random sampling was used to select the respondents. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive and simple linear regression methods. The descriptive analysis revealed that the overall average and standard deviation for business process reengineering were 2.80 and 0.57, while operational costs were 4.29 and 0.54 respectively. The inferential result showed a positive and significant effect of the business process reengineering on operational costs (R² = 0.024, β = 0.147, t = 3.709, p < 0.05). Thus, the study concluded that business process reengineering affects the operational costs of the selected indigenous airline companies in Nigeria.

Acknowledgment
The researchers acknowledge the contributions of the anonymous reviewers for the useful comments in making the article better. We acknowledge the management of the University that made it mandatory for the supervisee to publish two articles from their thesis, one in the name of the supervisor as the lead author while another in the name of the supervisee as the lead author. The research assistants are acknowledged for the cooperation during the field work and the management of the airlines for allowing the research in their various organizations.

An effective strategy for managing the national information security with capabilities to resist information threats significantly impacts its further development. This study aims to assess the level of threat to the information security of countries based on the integral index. It is proposed to use five indicators characterizing individual areas of information security and 37 world development indicators, selected from the World Bank database. Correlation analysis selected 12 out of 37 development indicators relevant to security indicators for which the correlation coefficient exceeded 0.5 or –0.5. The Harrington-Mencher function is proposed to determine the information security threat index. Nonlinear normalization was carried out to bring the initial data to a comparable measurement. Canonical analysis was performed to determine the indicator weights. The data from 159 countries were taken for 2018 to assess the index. The result was presented on the map showing countries’ distribution by the information security threat index, thus forming five groups. The group with a “very well” resistance to threats includes economically developed countries with a high level of information security. The “well” group was formed by new industrial and developing countries with economic potential sufficient to prevent information threats and combat their consequences. The information security level in developing countries, where the results of overcoming information threats will affect the economic sphere, is defined as “acceptable”. Countries with a low level of development and information security formed groups designated as “bad” and “very bad”, which indicates a high level of threats to their information security.

Acknowledgment
This work is carried out with in the tax payer – funded researches: No. 0118U003574 “Cybersecurity in the banking fraud enforcement: protection of financial service consumers and the financial and economic security growth in Ukraine”.

The paper’s principal purpose is to present the original concept of the project supply chain’s entrepreneurial management. Based on the literature on the subject, one defines the entrepreneurial management concept showing the influence of entrepreneurial management on company operation. Moreover, the paper also outlines the most important concepts of the project supply chain and presents the functioning scheme. Theoretical considerations concerning contemporary theories of entrepreneurial management and project supply chain are the prelude to presenting the concept of entrepreneurial management. The presented approach can be found helpful for the effective management of the project supply chain, which has not yet been thoroughly defined. It should be mentioned that the designed model of the entrepreneurial supply chain management is an original proposal for the paradigm of project supply chains. Both in a classical and project supply chain, a significant role is given to the flow of material resources between the individual chain components. It determines that the project supply chain is mainly driven by the need for its members’ value increase. It was explained that regarding entrepreneurial competences, knowledge can be transferred to other organizations in the whole supply chain. It was also mentioned that the project supply chain’s entrepreneurial management takes into account the flexibility manifesting itself through the establishment of agile project teams, and by focusing on human relationships. It is the basis for the presented concept of the entrepreneurial management model of the project supply chain.

Acknowledgment
The project is financed within the framework of the program of the Minister of Science and Higher Education under the name “Regional Excellence Initiative” in the years 2019–2022; project number 001/RID/2018/19; the amount of financing PLN 10,684,000.00.

Performance appraisal is the bedrock of talent management and has received much attention from scholars and researchers alike in their pursuit to develop accurate, objective, and robust Performance Management Systems (PMS). Through survey questionnaire the present study examines the prevalence of idiosyncratic rater biases on the performance appraisal systems and evaluates the measure of its impact. The correlations between the personality traits and the similarities of the raters’ workplace characteristics with the raters’ performance ratings are also determined. The study has provided empirical evidence of the manifestation of idiosyncratic rater bias in the company under study. The idiosyncratic rater tendencies showed a significant impact on performance ratings. It was seen that about one-third of the variations in the ratings were resultant of the idiosyncratic factors, such as similarities in the personality traits and workplace identities. It is also found that there exists a positive correlation between the similarities in the identities, as well as the personality traits of the raters and the ratees, and the way the rating awarded by the rater.

The firm’s effective alignment of Information Communication Technology (ICT) capabilities with the SME’s business process to achieve agile communication strategies will distinguish profitable and failing firms in this global market milieu. The paper examined SMEs’ communication strategies in South Africa and Nigeria by evaluating their ability to align business and IT to promote innovation and competitive edge in their operations. Quantitative data from 230 SMEs in Nigeria and South Africa were presented. The findings indicated that the business manager’s knowledge of IT understanding is limited (= .29), the effectiveness of IT and business liaison and cooperation (= .30), and the dynamic of IT-based decision-making (= .33), and the SME’s knowledge sharing experiences through organization learning (= –.07). These findings showed a lack of communication effectiveness due to the inability to align ICT capabilities with the SME’s communications strategies. Similarly, an inverse correlation between communication and ICT infrastructure (–.26); between communication and skill (–.32); between communication and business and IT governance (–.71); between communication and ICT value that the SMEs derived from their use of information communication technology (–.78) due to lack of business and IT alignment. The paper recommends that SMEs must not rely on the acquisition of ICT infrastructure but must ensure its integration with their business processes.

Acknowledgment
The financial assistance of the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences- Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (NIHSS-CODESRIA) towards this research is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed and conclusions are those of the author and are not necessarily to be attributed to the NIHSS- CODESRIA.

The investment policy of the state is an important tool for diversifying the economy. This paper analyzes the share of capital investment in GDP, the index of fixed capital investment for 2015–2019, and assesses the investment policy determinants of the state of developed countries and emerging countries. Correlation-regression analysis methods were used to determine the relationship between real GDP, the share of industrial output in GDP, and the index of fixed capital investment in countries with economies in transformation. As a result, it was determined that in the vast majority of countries studied, the increase in investment in fixed assets contributes to the acceleration of economic growth, and the level of economic growth determines the investment potential of countries; that the heterogeneity of the impact of investment on the level of economic growth in countries with transformational economies is due to their raw material orientation, insufficient level of validity and predictability of the implemented investment policy of the state; the state’s investment policy is an important tool for ensuring macroeconomic stability and stimulating economic growth in a recession. Using the data of the panels for the period from 2015 to 2019, it is substantiated that the creation of conditions for macroeconomic balance will increase business activity of enterprises, which is the result of purposeful influence of state investment policy on economic processes by ensuring quality transformation and innovation of the national economy. The obtained results show that the level of influence of the state investment policy on the level of economic growth varies significantly depending on the level of development of financial institutions in the country and the infrastructure of the financial market.

In contemporary society, corporate communications are becoming an increasingly important and significant component of management. This field includes not only building an external and internal image of a company but also interacting with stakeholders and achieving business aims. This research aims to define the potential and features of company’s top officials (owners, CEOs, presidents, and other top managers) involvement in corporate communications and representing a business. It is based on the content analysis of corporate websites of the first 100 international companies from the Forbes list. The study demonstrated that most (62%) world successful firms involve their owners, CEOs, and top managers in corporate communications as speakers. At the same time, business owners appear on corporate websites less often (only 2%). CEOs engage in such communications in 47% of cases. Most often, other authorized representatives are speakers of companies (51%). A descriptive analysis of topics helped to distinguish the most common types of texts: formal ideological speeches, corporate news, corporate blog texts, and personalized corporate storytelling. Most texts are posted on corporate websites in the News chapter (28%). This suggests that news as a genre may be the most appropriate form of communication on behalf of management. Thus, some recommendations are proposed regarding the participation of top officials as speakers. From a practical point of view, companies can be guided by the outcomes of this research when deciding to engage their leaders in corporate communications.

The adoption of Management Accounting Practices (MAPs) has been acclaimed for providing positive administrative and strategic influence on large organizations, and are understood to play an integral part in decision-making. However, SMEs are operating in a turbulent environment, they are now challenged to effectively utilize the embedded MAPs to strengthen their strategic business approaches to maintain their sustainability and survival. Therefore, this study seeks to explore the challenges of integrating the adopted MAPs as an innovative strategy towards sustaining small businesses. The research sample consisted of 120 manufacturing SMEs operating in eThekwini metropolitan South Africa. A nonprobability convenience sampling technique and a quantitative questionnaire were utilized to identify and collect the data from the sampled population. The results of the study indicated that amongst other critical factors, lack of education and training of owner/manager and shortage of skills were the contributory factors influencing the integration of MAPs as an innovative strategy towards SMEs’ sustainability. The study results further revealed that there are a variety of other challenges hindering SMEs from utilizing MAPs as an innovative strategic tool and those were the enterprise age and years in operation, lack of government business incubation and technology adoption. These contributory factors were identified as necessary aspects that SMEs needed to align and iron out before integrating MAPs as an innovative strategic tool.

Since the financial crisis of 2008–2009, nonfinancial-related shareholder activism increased, as public interest entities (PIEs) should strengthen their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) activities. This study aims to determine whether institutional ownership (IO) impacts ESG performance and disclosure and vice versa. Moreover, IO’s moderating and mediating influence on the relationship between ESG and firms’ financial consequences is included. This is the first literature review focusing on IO and ESG, describing IO as independent, dependent, moderator, and mediator variable. A structured literature review with 81 empirical-quantitative (archival) studies on that topic is presented based on an agency theoretical framework. Regarding the main results, long-term IO leads to increased ESG performance. Moreover, ESG performance promotes the ratio of institutional investors. Other relationships are rather heterogeneous and too low in an amount yet, stressing major research gaps.

The characteristics and importance of leadership styles to organizational change are of particular importance for the development of organizational culture. This study aims to test leadership styles and the impact of the correlation between leadership style and organizational culture on the level of employees’ readiness across a range of leadership outcome measures. This study provides empirical evidence for the impact of leadership styles on organizational culture and vice versa. A questionnaire was distributed to 450 employees in private organizations in Kosovo. The obtained results show that organizational culture was a significant predictor for both transactional and laissez-faire leadership styles. Based on the dimensions of organizational culture concerning Kosovar leadership styles (transformational, transactional, laissez-faire), their mutual influence dominates more on one variable and less on any other variable as a measuring mechanism for outputs and their interpretation. The study will help the organizations’ leadership understand that their leading style influences the organizational culture and, as such, the employees’ performance. In Kosovo, the concept of organizational culture concerning Kosovar leadership has not been properly developed, and measures should be taken by private businesses to settle this issue.

This study aimed to fill the literature gap of entrepreneurial intention antecedents from the academic staff’s perspective using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) in an underdeveloped country context. Empirical results were derived from a quantitative approach based on a survey method with a selected academic staff sample of 97 Sudanese public universities. Hypotheses testing was done using the structural equation modeling (SEM) through the partial least squares (PLS) method to test the impact of attitude, subjective norms, and perceived control as the antecedents of entrepreneurial intention. The study results revealed the applicability and consistency of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) in explaining Sudan’s academic entrepreneurial intention. The results indicated that attitude, subjective norms, and perceived control explained 61.70% of the entrepreneurial intention (EI) variance. Perceived control (PC) proved to be the primary antecedent of EI, which explained 42.20% of EI variance, while the business environment and experience were the leading influencers of perceived control. This result can guide the authorities to formulate policies that encourage the transformation of the Sudanese universities to be entrepreneurial.

The research investigates the bases of succession planning in family businesses (FB), especially the cultural background of the phenomenon. The significance of the issue under study comes from the importance of family business in every economy and the delicate matter of succession as an important business development element. The research is based on the observation that the succession determinants are still outside the mainstream of the research. In this study, it is hypothesized that succession planning is influenced by cultural background. The investigation is done by performing a comparative analysis of family businesses’ potential successors from the culturally distant countries: Poland and Indonesia. An empirical survey-based method is applied to investigate the younger generation’s involvement in preparations for the transfer of the family business. The differences in the approach to the younger generation’s succession identified in the survey are not related to such factors as age, size, or succession experience of the business. Instead, there are premises to say that the differences come from the family and business culture based on national specificity. First-hand support for the cultural embeddedness of FB succession planning was found. Furthermore, the results also reaffirm the doubts concerning the importance of post-communist countries’ economic transformation for succession planning. The empirical study confirms the expectations that the specificity of cultural background in Poland could be especially harmful to succession planning in the family business.

Innovation processes are vehicles of growth and, therefore, require effective management systems. These circumstances raise the question of how a particular innovation process model influences the features of budgeting implementation at the enterprise. The article aims to figure out the main provisions, which profoundly impact using budgeting for particular innovation process models. Methodologically, this article reviews theoretical approaches and practical basis on innovation process models and peculiarities of using budgeting in this area. Authoritative sources on these issues and the search covering 43 years were observed. This study was also based upon the secondary research data provided by international institutions, such as consulting companies, which help to reveal theoretical foundations and extensive experience in using budgeting practices on innovative companies around the world. Thus, the following statements were identified: an interconnection between the innovation process model and the creation of business units that become budgeting points; specific innovation process models require stage-based budgeting; particular innovation process models demand greater budgeting flexibility. Investigation of these statements led to the discovery: innovation processes models, which require being closed within business units and others that can demand to be more separated; models that are more in need of milestone budgeting; nature of influence flexibility on the efficiency of innovation. The demonstrated findings on features of using budgeting for particular innovation process models can help executives reconsider the existing systems to increase its efficiency.

The extreme volatile behavior of Africa’s output and consumption is strongly related to the extent of exposure to external shocks in its trade earnings. The volatility of export earnings inherent in African economies depicts trade and export structure not diversified, and the need for development managers in easing the over-arching dependence on commodity exports earnings as a major source of budget financing. This study investigates the effect of commodity price volatility on real GDP using a longitudinal data covering fifty-three African commodity-dependent countries for the period 1970–2017. The theoretical framework is premised on the neoclassical growth model, and the system generalized method of moments (SGMM) estimation technique was adopted. The results from the estimation procedure indicate a negative contemporaneous relationship between commodity price volatility and growth. However, the intervention of policy instruments such as contrasting openness degree signals short-run relief for commodity export-dependent economies, as trade policy mitigates the adverse effect of commodity price volatility on growth.

The current hyper-competitive environment offers many great opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), but on the other hand, this business environment is also hazardous. SMEs are a significant economic power and employer in the European Union. Their competitiveness and long-term stability are a crucial factor for European cohesion and economic growth. The research aim is to design a strategic management controlling system that should be implemented to SMEs and be useful for their long-term future development. The study was conducted in 2017–2020 based on data from 403 SMEs. The PAPI method was used to collect data. The implications between defined variables controlling, ROA, turnover, financial analysis, and strategic management were explained, and the results obtained from an in-depth analysis were indicated. The research was concluded by a model of strategic management controlling system tested by experimental in-practice implementation on SMEs and verified. The model and the research findings are suitable for business practice and should support the long-term stability and development of SMEs.

Acknowledgment
The paper has been prepared within the project “Risk Management in Industry 4.0” (7427/2019/02 IGA VŠFS) using the objective oriented support for specific university research of the University of Finance and Administration.

In the current conditions of globalization and European integration trends, domestic agricultural companies use the transfer pricing mechanism when exporting agricultural products, which on one hand allows owners to increase the efficiency of internal management, and on the other to hide real profits and reflect unprofitable production in financial statements. At the same time, traditional double-entry bookkeeping and financial reporting (including those prepared in accordance with IFRS) are unable to show the real power momentum of domestic agricultural enterprises profitability (their return on capital). This narrows the circle of potential investors when making decisions on the feasibility of investing financial resources in the development of Ukrainian agricultural sector. The purpose of the study is to develop a 3D-form of the Actuarial Report on Capital Force Impulse (3D - ARCFI), which informational content will provide an objective assessment of the capital force impulse of an agricultural enterprise and help to attract investment in its development. The object of the study is the process of actuarial accounting and 3D reporting as information subsystems for controlling the capital power momentum at domestic agricultural enterprises. The research methodology is based on the application of 3D-recording method and classical mechanics methods in displaying information from the actuarial accounting system on 3D-force accounts to develop a model of power momentum management of an agricultural entity return on capital as an alternative approach to transfer pricing based on informational filling of 3D-ARCFI with the help of net profit method. The study results showed dependence of domestic agricultural enterprises investment attractiveness on the qualitative informational filling of the actuarial management reporting in 3D format. The practical value of the results received confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed 3D-model of profit power momentum management within the transfer approach based on accounting-informational basis of 3D-ARCFI, which will contribute to an objective perspective assessment of agricultural companies return on equity power momentum and increase their market investment attractiveness.

Acknowledgment
The article has been prepared within the research project “Business Value Management” (state registration No. 0118U000131) implemented in the Kyiv National University of Trade and Economics.

The journey of modern management ideas to the public sector in post-socialist countries is expected to be hampered by several barriers. This paper aims to justify the need to implement management innovation practices for public sector organizations. The study was conducted using the method of typological analysis to determine the organization of managerial innovations; modeling method to determine the conceptual model and the position of the travel of management ideas to the country. As a result, a conceptual model was proposed, including elements of the internal and external control environment. Conclusions are given on the barriers that affect the choice and acceptance of management ideas. The article extends current research understanding of man-agreement innovation in the public sector in the region by specifically addressing the success, or failure, of the travel of modern management ideas to it and outlines key barriers to modern management adoption ideas in the public sector.

Acknowledgment
The research was funded by the Lithuanian Council of Research grant S-MOD-17-15.

Local governments play an important role in the economic and social development of local services provided to localities. In Jordan, local governments face problems and challenges that impede this development. The purpose of this descriptive study is to investigate the magnitude of challenges faced by local governments using a random sample (251) of mayors and heads of provincial governorates. Qualitative methods with a purposive sample employing twenty in-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted to identify the major challenges. After analyzing data using the SPSS, the study pointed out that the lack of financial resources and the lack of independence of local government in managing local funding is another major challenge. The study revealed that environmental protection was the biggest challenge. Responsiveness and public participation are other challenges faced by local governments. Based on the study results, the recommendation and provision of centralized technical assistance are required to maintain environmental protection. However, capacity building for local employees is a must. The critical financial position of local governments needs to be addressed by re- evaluating the share of funds allocated to local units.

Leadership has an important role in achieving the SMEs’ innovation and performance. One of the great concepts of leadership styles is the Burns’ (1978) concept, which divides leadership into two: transformational and transactional. This study analyzed the direct and indirect effect of transformational and transactional leadership on SMEs’ performance. This was conducted in seven regencies/cities in East Java Province, with 165 SMEs on superior indigenous food and beverage. The main research data were obtained by distributing the questionnaires. It uses path analysis to determine the direct and indirect effect using the LISREL software. The results showed that transformational leadership has a positive and significant effect on SMEs’ innovation and performance directly and indirectly. Transactional leadership has a direct positive and insignificant effect on SMEs’ innovation and performance. However, transactional leadership was found to have an indirect positive and significant effect on SMEs’ performance. In conclusion, transformational leadership is more important for improving SMEs’ performance in Indonesia than transactional. These results provide a practical contribution for SMEs’ leaders to improve transformational leadership, which is oriented towards charisma, intellectual stimulation, and individual consideration.

Acknowledgment
The researcher thanked the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education, Republic of Indonesia, for funding this research.

The Carpathian Region (Zakarpattia, Lviv, Chernivtsi, and Ivano-Frankivsk) is inferior to other regions in Ukraine regarding its economic development, which does not contribute to migration stability and, rather, serves as a factor motivating the active part of the population to emigrate. The problem of the labor market disproportions in the Carpathian Region is one of the significant causes of the formation and subsequent implementation of migration intentions, especially in rural areas, less economically developed areas, and district centers, where labor demand is much lower. The research aims to develop an innovative approach to calculating the intensity of the population’s external migration based on the introduction of a correction coefficient, which enables to consider the scale of transit migration in the Carpathian Region. The data presented in the study were collected for the period 2005–2018. Granger causality analysis is used to assess the relationship between migration and socio-economic development of the region. The analysis reveals that in all regions of the Carpathian Region, there is a short-run causal relationship between the intensity of external migration and the share of total household expenditure on food; in the medium run, the real household income, the size of the average monthly wages, and the volume of foreign portfolio investment, the foreign economic activity and retail trade turnover in the region; in the long run, living standards and indicators of economic growth. Future studies may require a more diverse set of indicators to evaluate the causal relationship in other regions of Ukraine, which will provide the integrity of the results of Granger causality analysis.

Acknowledgment
The research has been conducted within the framework of applied research ‘Migration Activity of the Population of the Carpathian Region’ (Dolishniy Institute of Regional Research of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Reg. No. 0119U002010, 2019–2021).

The linkages between corporate culture, corporate performance, and human resource management (HRM) practice have been broadly investigated, but, none of the previous studieshave analyzeda mediation mechanism in the relevant research models. This article aimed to analyze the complicated linkages among corporate culture, performance, and HRM practice. Especially, it aimed to underline the mediation of HRM in the research model. The research data were collected in Vietnam as one of the quickly developing countries, receiving a humble amount of research on that issue. Multiple regression analyses were employed to scrutinize the causal correlation from corporate culture to performance, while the mediating procedures were applied to investigate the mediating mechanism. The research findings reveal that clan, adhocracy, and market cultures likely improve corporate performance, whereas hierarchy culture negatively influences corporate performance. Furthermore, HRM practice was evidenced to partially mediate the effects of clan, market, and hierarchy culture on performance. Nevertheless, it fully mediates the influence of adhocracy culture on performance. This research is one of the first to link HRM practice to the relationship between corporate culture and performance, and then explore HRM mediation. The empirical results could help researchers and business managers in developing economies more deeply understand the complicated links among corporate culture, performance in business, and the mediation of HRM practice to make better decisions on corporate culture and HRM for their enterprises. Ultimately, they can gain better corporate performance.

The study aims to identify the financial performance measures used as a proxy of the firm-level competitiveness dimensions of small and medium-sized enterprises and their competitiveness. By investigating the factors that affect competitiveness in general, those areas will be introduced, related to an identified competitiveness dimension. Financial and non-financial performance indicators will assess these areas. The paper considers competitiveness as an outcome variable, suggests a relationship between financial performance and the identified areas, and searches for the financial performance measures drivers.
A panel data model was tested on Hungarian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and US SMEs. The collected data cover the period between 2013 and 2017. As a result of the applied panel regression, those variables were successfully identified that drive and could predict financial performance measures related to competitiveness. The research found a significant difference between the two-sample dataset results, which differences can be connected to country, industry, and, in general, to economic development characteristics.
The results provide decision-making support and hint about the managerial tools and techniques aiming to control the firm characteristics, performance, and, eventually, firm-level competitiveness. Based on the results, further research can be dedicated to the development characteristics of firm-level competitiveness and the analysis of the relationship between the competitiveness dimensions and competitiveness itself.

Acknowledgment
The research was financed by the Higher Education Institutional Excellence Programme of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology in Hungary, within the framework of the 4th thematic programme „Enhancing the Role of Domestic Companies in the Reindustrialization of Hungary” of the University of Pécs.

Regulation and regulatory agencies are to serve as external control mechanisms to ensure that the financial statements provide a fair view of the company’s operating performance and financial position, free of any unethical practice and suitable for all stakeholders’ needs. Despite the increasing importance of regulatory agencies in enforcing compliance with the standards and laws, it occupies a limited space in accounting research. This study, therefore, investigated the impact of regulatory agencies on creative accounting practices. The study used descriptive and survey research design to achieve its aim. It employed a multi-stage sampling technique, also questionnaires were distributed among 405 respondents consisting of preparers of accounts, users of accounts, and regulators. Out of the number distributed, the respondents returned 241 copies, and all of them were found suitable. The study used Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) to analyze the data and test the hypothesis. The empirical findings showed that the regulatory agencies jointly show a significant impact on creative accounting practices, but the level of contribution to the overall impact by each regulatory agency varies. The study concludes that Nigeria’s regulatory agencies are weak and inefficient in enforcing compliance with the relevant rules. The study recommends that the institutional capacity of the regulatory agencies should be strengthened by enforcing compliance with financial reporting rules and regulation. Most of these agencies should develop capacity in the areas of manpower, information technology infrastructures, and funding.

Acknowledgment
The authors acknowledge Covenant University who has solely provided the platform for this research and has also fully sponsored the research cluster search for data across the country.

Work creativity manifested in innovative workplace behavior (IWB) and employee work engagement is fundamental to maintaining firm’s sustainability and competitiveness. In this regard, this study investigates the supporting effect of innovative leadership on IWB and employee engagement by maximizing employee vigor, dedication, and absorption. The study data were collected using a questionnaire-based technique, and the questionnaires were administered to 150 respondents working in mobile phone companies in Southern and Central Iraq. The results were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and SmartPLS software. The study results revealed that inclusive leadership and work engagement were significantly related to IWB, and work engagement played a mediating role between inclusive leadership and IWB. The findings further indicated that inclusive leadership behaviors such as openness, accessibility, and availability motivated the subordinates to be engaged in IWB. To promote IWB, company leaders need to effectively engage their followers by taking pride and satisfaction in employee output, which might help employee work engagement and IWB.

This study aims to investigate the impact of social distancing policies on SMEs in Indonesia. It used a quantitative method with a survey design. Respondents were all SMEs in Indonesia that are affected by social distancing policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. It involved a total of 587 SME samples selected randomly. The data were collected through observations, questionnaires, and literature studies. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics with SPSS software to determine the mean value. The result showed that social distancing policies affect SMEs during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is indicated by the decreasing income and demand for SMEs products, and even some have no income (mean values of 2.40) due to the social distancing policies. Besides, the policy’s impact is also shown in the increasing cost of raw materials and production costs due to supply chain problems (mean values of 4.79). The policy’s impact raises anxiety for SMEs to survive so that business actors change their plans by utilizing information technology (mean values of 4.81). This change is a strategy to survive due to the impact of the applied policies. Although social distancing policies affect SMEs’ survival during the pandemic, research findings show that SMEs in Indonesia did not terminate employment (mean values of 4.37) due to the presence of economic stimulus policies that helped SMEs survive and grow during the COVID-19 pandemic.