Ying Liu, Geng Peng, Lanyi Hu, Jichang Dong and Qingqing Zhang
With the ascendance of information technology, particularly through the internet, external information sources and their impacts can be readily transferred to influence the…
Abstract
Purpose
With the ascendance of information technology, particularly through the internet, external information sources and their impacts can be readily transferred to influence the performance of financial markets within a short period of time. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how incidents affect stock prices and volatility using vector error correction and autoregressive-generalized auto regressive conditional Heteroskedasticity models, respectively.
Design/methodology/approach
To characterize the investors’ responses to incidents, the authors introduce indices derived using search volumes from Google Trends and the Baidu Index.
Findings
The empirical results indicate that an outbreak of disasters can increase volatility temporarily, and exert significant negative effects on stock prices in a relatively long time. In addition, indices derived from different search engines show differentiation, with the Google Trends search index mainly representing international investors and appearing more significant and persistent.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the existing literature by incorporating open-source data to analyze how catastrophic events affect financial markets and effect persistence.
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Beatrix Lányi, Miklós Hornyák and Ferenc Kruzslicz
The purpose of this paper is to examine the importance of websites and social media platforms to find out how they contribute to the improvement of business performance. A new…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the importance of websites and social media platforms to find out how they contribute to the improvement of business performance. A new automated data collection method is developed to determine the technology maturity level of websites. These website quality indicators are linked to and compared against small and medium enterprise (SME) competitiveness data set to find competency pillars having significant impacts on the online presence, and to identify most important factors for online digital transformation. In this way, periodic analysis of websites can signal early warnings if competitiveness data of an SME is worth to refresh. Continuous maturity monitoring of competitors’ websites provides useful benchmark information for an enterprise as well.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual model was developed for the examination of the online presence and its effect on the competitiveness of small- and medium-sized businesses. An innovative, automatically generated WebIX indicator was developed through technical and content analysis of websites of 958 SMEs’ included in the Global Competitiveness Project (GCP) network data set. A series of ANOVA analysis was used for both data sources to determine the relationships between Web quality and competitiveness levels to define the online presence maturity categories.
Findings
Both the existence and the quality of the websites proved to have positive impact on the SME’s competitiveness. Different online presence maturity categories contribute to different competitiveness pillars; therefore, key factors of online digital transformation were identified. According to the findings, company websites are more related to marketing functions than information technology from the point of competitiveness.
Originality/value
Competency relationships were identified between online activity and competitiveness. The foundations of automated competitiveness measures were developed. The traditional survey based subjective data collection was combined with objective data collection methodology in a reproducible way.
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The paper discusses the position of low rise, high density housing in Hungary on a theoretical level, from the conceptional point of view. The purpose is that the dissemination…
Abstract
The paper discusses the position of low rise, high density housing in Hungary on a theoretical level, from the conceptional point of view. The purpose is that the dissemination and popularization of the housing type would be beneficial to the society. Before and after World War Two different nature of this housing type was present in the country, but after the regime change in 1989 the continuity has been lost.
This paper aims to support the above assumptions - discussing the benefits of the installaton type in the light of global and local issues, and search of the housing type’s local positions. The actuality of housing issue is relevant because of the planning of 2014-2020 housing program, the fall of yearly built houses, the imbalance of housing allocation and the urgent questions of global problems.
The paper’s method is threefold (1) discusses the potential of the housing type in correlation with the three pillars of sustainability, (2) analyses past examples from three different periods of the past century and (3) searches its position according to actual social changes and suggests strategic objectives for the future use of low rise, high density housing in the country.
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The purpose of this paper is to identify important principles which should be applied to electronic library websites to make them usable for all people.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify important principles which should be applied to electronic library websites to make them usable for all people.
Design/methodology/approach
The goal of this paper was to make the simplified user interface of Hungarian Electronic Library (VMEK) more accessible and usable by leveraging the latest technologies, standards and recommendations. Vision-impaired and motor-disabled people were also involved in brainstorming and collecting ideas during the design phase and in testing the implemented website.
Findings
This paper showed that the perspicuity of the Web page is greatly improved by semantically correct HTML codes, clearly defined links and alt attributes, hotkeys and typographic principles.
Practical implications
The paper presents the design principles of electronic library Web pages which can be applied by Web developers and content managers. The paper identifies design principles, which improve the perspicuity of user interfaces to a great extent (especially in the case of blind users); draws attention to the typographic principles, which promote reading and understanding documents; and recommends guidelines for developing electronic library home pages and managing the content of these home pages.
Originality/value
This paper bridges the gap between the information and library science field and the Web accessibility and usability field. Based on brainstorming results where people with various kinds of disabilities were involved, the paper gives 11 recommendations which should be taken into account while designing and developing electronic library websites to ensure equal access to their services and documents.
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Anna Róza Varga, Norbert Sipos, Andras Rideg and Lívia Lukovszki
The purpose of this paper is to identify the differences between Hungarian family-owned businesses (FOBs) and non-family-owned businesses (NFOBs) concerning the elements of SME…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the differences between Hungarian family-owned businesses (FOBs) and non-family-owned businesses (NFOBs) concerning the elements of SME competitiveness and financial performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The research covers the Hungarian data set of the Global Competitiveness Project (GCP, www.sme-gcp.org) of 738 (data collection between 2018 and 2020) non-listed SMEs, of which 328 were FOBs. The study uses the comprehensive, multidimensional competitiveness measurement of the GCP built on the resource-based view (RBV) and the configuration theory. Financial performance was captured with two composite indicators: short-term and long-term financial performance (LTFP). The comparative analysis between FOBs and NFOBs was conducted using binary logistic regression.
Findings
The results show that FOBs are more prone to focusing on local niche markets with higher longevity and LTFP than NFOBs. However, FOBs have lower innovation intensity and less organised administrative procedures. The most contradicting finding is that the FOBs’ higher LTFP is accompanied by significantly lower competitiveness than in the case of NFOBs.
Originality/value
This study goes beyond other GCP studies by including composite financial performance measures among the variables examined. The combination of performance-causing (resources and capabilities) and performance-representing (financial performance) variables provides a better understanding of the non-listed SMEs in terms of family ownership. The results help academia to enrich the RBV-competitiveness, the non-listed SME management and finance literature, and policymakers to design business development and support schemes. They also show future entrepreneurs the impact of family ownership on entrepreneurial success.
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Niloofar Fallahi Daryakenari, Mohammad Reza Jalilvand and Seyed Mohammadbagher Jafari
Running advertising campaigns and attracting the traffic, as well as collecting information from users who have entered the website once, provides the conditions to perform…
Abstract
Purpose
Running advertising campaigns and attracting the traffic, as well as collecting information from users who have entered the website once, provides the conditions to perform retargeting campaigns and consequently increases website visit rates and sales. The purpose of this research is to design a roadmap of retargeting campaign for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as well as to compare normal and retargeting advertising campaigns in order to confirm the effectiveness of retargeting campaigns.
Design/methodology/approach
A single-case-study strategy was adopted by choosing advertising Company-X to design the roadmap of retargeting campaigns and evaluate its effectiveness. Using a purposive sampling, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 experts of advertising Company-X. Furthermore, the documents and reports available in the company were also analyzed. Thematic analysis was employed to analyze the interviews and documents. Next, a one-way ANOVA test and a two-sample t-test were used to measure the effectiveness of retargeting campaigns of the Company-X compared to normal campaigns with secondary data of 22 SMEs for a six-month period.
Findings
The qualitative phase led to the presentation of a roadmap for the retargeting campaigns in three stages: preparation, process and implementation. The results of the quantitative phase revealed that the ratio of clicks to impressions (click-through rate) and the ratio of successful purchase tags to clicks (conversion rate) are much higher in the retargeting product campaign. Therefore, the performance of selected SMEs as an example in the product retargeting campaign was better than that of the non-retargeting campaigns. Also, the ratio of cost to the successful purchase tag was higher for the product retargeting campaigns.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature of retargeting. First, this study provides SMEs with a successful roadmap for retargeting campaigns. Second, this research reveals the effectiveness and mechanism of retargeting for SMEs.
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Part I The International Conference on “Epistemological Foundations of Social Theory” was an intriguing step in the project of establishing a new ‘ethico‐economic’ paradigm. The…
Abstract
Part I The International Conference on “Epistemological Foundations of Social Theory” was an intriguing step in the project of establishing a new ‘ethico‐economic’ paradigm. The conviction that a ‘value‐free’ economics is no longer adequate for understanding or living within the world we inhabit, motivated participants: the vision of such an economics is failing fast because it is rooted in a divorce between economics and the enriching influences of the other social sciences, philosophy and religion. And this divorce means economics works with a distorted representation of human nature, and consequently inhibits the achievement of social justice. Discussion and debate at the Conference clarified and explored that conviction, showing it to be a reasoned premise for an argument rather than an assumption. Successfully articulating the argument for an alternate vision of ethico‐economics, is, however, no easy task.
Zoltán Kárpáti, Adrienn Ferincz and Balázs Felsmann
The purpose of this paper is to identify different types of resource and capability configurations among Hungarian family and nonfamily firms and explore which compositions can be…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify different types of resource and capability configurations among Hungarian family and nonfamily firms and explore which compositions can be considered competitive. In a rivalrous, dynamic world, understanding which sets of resources and capabilities lead to a higher level of competitiveness is vital.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on a quantitative competitiveness survey carried out between November 2018 and July 2019 in Hungary. The authors used the Firm Competitiveness Index (FCI) to measure competitiveness and the resource-based view (RBV) approach to understand which configurations of resources and capabilities are responsible for a higher level of competitiveness based on 32 variables. An exploratory factor and cluster analysis were conducted to analyze the ownership's effect on firm competitiveness. The final sample size contained 111 companies, of which 53 were identified as family and 58 as nonfamily firms.
Findings
Factor analysis reveals five factors determining resources and capabilities: “operational,” “leadership,” “knowledge management,” “transformation” and “networking.” Based on these factors, the cluster analysis identified five groups in terms of types of family and nonfamily firms: “Lagging capabilities,” “Knowledge-based leadership,” “Innovativeness and transformation-oriented management,” “Relationship-oriented management” and “Business operation-oriented management.” Results show that nonfamily businesses focus on operational and leadership capabilities, reaching a higher FCI than family businesses, which are likely to invest more in their networking, transformation and knowledge management capabilities.
Originality/value
By defining the different configurations family and nonfamily firms rely on to reach competitiveness, the paper applies an essential element to the Hungarian and Middle Eastern European contexts of family business research. The findings contribute to developing family business literature and point out specific resources and capabilities family firms should focus on to shift toward reaching a higher level of professionalization and competitiveness. The characterization of different types of competitiveness comparing family and nonfamily firms enables the firms to assess customized implications.
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This paper aims to study the effects of inorganic CaCO3 nanoadditives in the polylactic acid (PLA) matrix and fused filament fabrication (FFF) process parameters on the mechanical…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study the effects of inorganic CaCO3 nanoadditives in the polylactic acid (PLA) matrix and fused filament fabrication (FFF) process parameters on the mechanical characteristics of 3D-printed components.
Design/methodology/approach
The PLA filaments containing different levels of CaCO3 nanoparticles have been produced by mix-blending/extrusion process and were used to fabricate tensile and three-point bending test samples in FFF process under various sets of printing speed (PS), layer thickness (LT), filling ratio (FR) and printing pattern (PP) under a Taguchi L27 orthogonal array design. The quantified values of mechanical characteristics of 3D-printed samples in the uniaxial and the three-point bending experiments were modeled and optimized using a hybrid neural network/particle swarm optimization algorithm. The results of this hybrid scheme were used to specify the FFF process parameters and the concentration of nanoadditive in the matrix that result in the maximum mechanical properties of fabricated samples, individually and also in an accumulative response scheme. Diffraction scanning calorimetry (DSC) tests were conducted on a number of samples and the results were used to interpret the variations observed in the response variables of fabricated components against the FFF parameters and concentration of CaCO3 nanoadditives.
Findings
The results of optimization in an accumulative scheme showed that the samples of linear PP, fabricated at high PS, low LT and at 100% FR, while containing 0.64% of CaCO3 nanoadditives in the matrix, would possess the highest mechanical characteristics of 3D-printed PLA components.
Originality/value
FFF is a widely accepted additive manufacturing technique in production of different samples, from prototypes to the final products, in various sectors of industry. The incorporation of chopped fibers and nanoparticles has been introduced recently in a few articles to improve the mechanical characteristics of produced components in FFF technique. However, the effectiveness of such practice is strongly dependent on the extrusion parameters and composition of polymer matrix.