Zsuzsanna Győri and Borbála Benedek
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the stakeholders of debt settlement programmes in general and some lessons learnt from the most significant debt settlement programmes of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the stakeholders of debt settlement programmes in general and some lessons learnt from the most significant debt settlement programmes of recent years in Hungary. The study also presents a planned debt settlement programme in Hungary. The paper explores and details behaviours and motivations of different stakeholders in debt settlement in general and also with reference to a specific case study. As for its main research question, the paper seeks to identify the preconditions of a successful debt settlement programme with specially emphasis on the poor.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from semi-structured in-depth expert interviews, documents and former research papers were collected for identifying previous Hungarian debt settlement programmes and potential lessons learnt. After a general discussion, based on primary and secondary sources, a case study is presented to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of opportunities and challenges of debt settlement.
Findings
Six preconditions of successful debt settlement targeting the poor are identified. In the case study, the existence and relevance of these preconditions are tested: the main finding is that they all are important for solving the situations, so a partial solution is not sufficient. In the scope of the case study, more precisely within the planned innovative banking solution, the motivations of the bank and the coordinator NGO are identified. On the part of the bank, motivations for solving social problems (both as far as business and moral issues are concerned) are relevant, while – as for the other party – the situation of the debtor is important to understand so that opportunities of cooperation can be identified. In addition, as other stakeholders also influence the potentials of the programme, their cooperative attitude is also needed.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations consist in generalisation: the study presents some cases from one single country and finally it focuses only on one specific case in one specific social and economic context in Hungary. Having recognized this risk, the author opted for basing research questions on theory, documented the process in detail, and also used triangulation through applying a multiple data collection (interview, content analysis, literature review) method.
Practical implications
Besides presenting an academic understanding of the phenomena, the goal of the study is to contextualize and interpret the case, to help the realization of currently frozen initiatives and to promote similar future ones.
Social implications
Indebtedness is a stressful situation affecting families, smaller communities and broader society as well. The planned cooperation of BAGázs and MagNet tries to help people excluded from the banking system. So that a deeper debt trap can be avoided, the goal of this programme is to purchase, partially discharge and reschedule pre-accumulated debts of carefully selected people who have regular income and are willing to undertake bearable repayment. The idea is very innovative with literally no good practice to follow. The research seeks to clarify the pitfalls and opportunities to help the realization of the project and similar future ones.
Originality/value
A certain form of values-based banking concerns the financial inclusion of the poor, e.g. debt settlement. Nevertheless, over-indebtedness and the settlement of existing debts as well as the relevance of such issues to the financial inclusion are not emphasized enough in the literature or in practice. Besides presenting an academic understanding of the phenomena, the goal of the study is to contextualize and interpret the case, to help the realization of currently frozen initiatives and to promote similar future ones.
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Maxim Vlasov, Karl Johan Bonnedahl and Zsuzsanna Vincze
This paper aims to contribute to the emerging entrepreneurship research that deals with resilience by examining how embeddedness in place and in trans-local grassroots networks…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to contribute to the emerging entrepreneurship research that deals with resilience by examining how embeddedness in place and in trans-local grassroots networks influences proactive entrepreneurship for local resilience.
Design/methodology/approach
Three theoretical propositions are developed on the basis of the existing literature. These propositions are assisted with brief empirical illustrations of grassroots innovations from the context of agri-food systems.
Findings
Embeddedness in place and in trans-local grassroots networks enables proactive entrepreneurship for local resilience. Social-cultural embeddedness in place facilitates access to local resources and legitimacy, and creation of social value in the community. Ecological embeddedness in place facilitates spotting and leveraging of environmental feedbacks and creation of ecological value. Embeddedness in trans-local grassroots networks provides entrepreneurs with unique resources, including globally transferable knowledge about sustainability challenges and practical solutions to these challenges. As result, entrepreneurship for resilience is explained as an embedding process. Embedding means attuning of practices to local places, as well as making global resources, including knowledge obtained in grassroots networks, work in local settings.
Research limitations/implications
Researchers should continue developing the emerging domain of entrepreneurship for resilience.
Practical implications
The objective of resilience and due respect to local environment may entail a need to consider appropriate resourcing practices and organisational models.
Social implications
The critical roles of place-based practices for resilience deserve more recognition in today’s globalised world.
Originality/value
The specific importance of the ecological dimension of embeddedness in place is emphasised. Moreover, by combining entrepreneurship and grassroots innovation literatures, which have talked past each other to date, this paper shows how local and global resources are leveraged throughout the embedding process. Thereby, it opens unexplored research avenues within the emerging domain of entrepreneurship for resilience.
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Elhassan Kotb Abdelrahman Radwan, Zsuzsanna Győri and Antonella Russo
The study aims to evaluate and compare the quantity and quality levels of corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) practices on the websites of the largest Islamic and…
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to evaluate and compare the quantity and quality levels of corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) practices on the websites of the largest Islamic and conventional banks worldwide.
Design/methodology/approach
Two indices were developed: the quantity index, consisting of seven categories, and the quality index, which includes eight characteristics, to adopt the quantitative content analysis of the global leading 94 Islamic and 100 conventional banks’ websites.
Findings
The results show that conventional banks have higher levels of CSRD quantity and quality on their websites than those of Islamic banks. The study found that the products and services category is the most disclosed by largest Islamic and conventional banks worldwide, while environment and energy information is the lowest for Islamic banks and employee and human resource information is less common for conventional ones. The analysis reveals low levels of CSRD quantity and quality on Islamic banks’ websites (43.69% and 54.56%) and high levels on conventional banks’ websites (70.84% and 73.26%).
Research limitations/implications
The study focuses on analyzing the quantity and quality of CSRD on English-accessible websites of the largest Islamic and conventional banks in 2022, focusing on English as a uniform language for data collection because it analyzed 194 websites from 48 countries with over 20 languages.
Practical implications
The results of this study are likely to be valuable to many interested parties because they inform investors about the status of CSRD practices on the largest Islamic and conventional banks’ websites worldwide and how they disclose such information. To ensure investor satisfaction and accurate investment decisions, these global banks should provide comprehensive and high-quality CSR information on their websites to show how they contribute to CSR activities. For scholars, its limitations may be helpful in their future research.
Originality/value
The originality of this paper derives from its focus on largest-world Islamic and non-Islamic banks, collecting primary data directly from their websites, and offering valuable theoretical, methodological and practical insights.
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La Ode Nazaruddin, Md Tota Miah, Aries Susanty, Maria Fekete-Farkas, Zsuzsanna Naárné Tóth and Gyenge Balázs
This study aims to uncover apple preference and consumption in Indonesia, to disclose the risk of non-halal contamination of apples and the importance of maintaining the halal…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to uncover apple preference and consumption in Indonesia, to disclose the risk of non-halal contamination of apples and the importance of maintaining the halal integrity of apples along the supply chain and to uncover the impacts of food miles of apples along supply chain segmentation.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopted mixed research methods under a fully mixed sequential dominant status design (QUAN → qual). Data were collected through a survey in some Indonesian provinces (N = 396 respondents). Samples were collected randomly from individual consumers. The qualitative data were collected through interviews with 15 apple traders in Indonesia. Data were analysed using crosstab, chi-square and descriptive analysis.
Findings
First, Muslim consumers believe in the risk of chemical treatment of apples because it can affect the halal status of apples. Second, Indonesian consumers consider the importance of halal certification of chemical-treated apples and the additives for apple treatments. Third, the insignificance of domestic apple preference contributes to longer food miles at the first- and middle-mile stages (preference for imported apples). Fourth, apple consumption and shopping distance contribute to the longer food miles problem at the last-mile stage. Fifth, longer food miles have negative impacts, such as emissions and pollution, food loss and waste, food insecurity, financial loss, slow development of the local economy and food unsafety.
Practical implications
This research has implications for the governments, farmers, consumers (society) and business sectors.
Originality/value
This study proposes a framework of food miles under a halal supply chain (halal food miles) to reduce the risk of food miles and improve halal integrity. The findings from this research have theoretical implications for the development of the food mile theory, halal food supply chain and green supply chain.
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Sara Csillag, Zsuzsanna Gyori and Carmen Svastics
The purpose of this paper is to explore and analyse the barriers entrepreneurs with disabilities (EWD) face when establishing their own enterprises, as well as the supporting…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore and analyse the barriers entrepreneurs with disabilities (EWD) face when establishing their own enterprises, as well as the supporting factors in starting and running a business.
Design/methodology/approach
This is an explorative study. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with ten Hungarian entrepreneurs with physical disabilities or sight-loss, during the summer of 2018.
Findings
The paper classifies the barriers and supporting factors, as personal, economic and social. Based on the perceptions of the entrepreneurs, personal characteristics, identity and various types of family support play an important role in becoming entrepreneurs, but the entrepreneurial ecosystem generally is not favourable in Hungary, and there are no special support programmes focussing on EWD.
Research limitations/implications
Sample size is a serious limitation: the ten entrepreneurs do not represent in any sense the entire EWD community in Hungary, so the patterns found cannot be considered a generally valid picture.
Originality/value
The article contributes to the literature on entrepreneurship and disabilities, especially through the systematic review of the possible barriers and supporting factors and to the existing empirical body of knowledge by shedding light on the barriers and supporting factors in a rarely investigated region, in Central Europe: Hungary.
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Gabriella Lamanda and Zsuzsanna Tamásné Vőneki
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between ESG disclosure and banks performance and to discuss how banks are committed to the implementation of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between ESG disclosure and banks performance and to discuss how banks are committed to the implementation of sustainability issues.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors examined the annual, risk and sustainability reports published by 26 banks located in four Central European countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) in the period of 2017–2021. The authors applied the methodology of content analysis and developed indexes. Panel regression was performed to improve and ensure the robustness of this study.
Findings
The results show that social and governance aspects dominate the ESG preparedness; however, after 2019, there was a significant improvement in the integration of environmental issues. This study confirms a strong association between bank size (total assets) and ESG reporting, and between capital adequacy and ESG reporting. The results demonstrate that there is no connection between banks' operational and financial performance and ESG disclosure. Finally, this study concludes that the integration of ESG risks into the risk management framework is at an early stage.
Practical implications
This study also adds to the existing research in the field of sustainability reporting. For regulators, this research proves their essential role in the facilitation of sustainable development. For practitioners, the ESG disclosure index could serve as a “detection tool” in the sustainability self-assessment process.
Originality/value
The authors examined – through a self-developed multidimensional ESG disclosure index – the sustainability reporting of the banking sector in four countries from the Central European region.
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Zsuzsanna Eszter Tóth, György Andor and Gábor Árva
This paper aims to describe an internal quality enhancement system based on peer reviewing and summarizes the first results of application at the Budapest University of Technology…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to describe an internal quality enhancement system based on peer reviewing and summarizes the first results of application at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences.
Design/methodology/approach
A peer review framework has been developed to evaluate and further develop the teaching programs and practices. The questionnaire-based peer review program included 22 courses and involved almost 100 lecturers. Peer review outcomes are completed by end-of-semester student course evaluations.
Findings
The results allow us to map differences between lecturers and courses and to identify correlations between the assessment criteria applied for peer reviewing.
Practical implications
The implemented framework implies individual, faculty and organizational development to enhance a deeper understanding of how to create quality in teaching programs and processes. Secondly, the peer review program contributes to the establishment of a learning community with a growing common understanding of what is considered good quality in business education.
Originality/value
The paper is valuable as a guide to faculty management wishing to implement a peer review framework within their own institution. The novelty of the presented approach is that it focuses on a semester-long teaching performance including classroom performance, course outlines, teaching materials, course requirements and processes and means of student performance assessments.
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Tímea Beatrice Dóra and Zsuzsanna Szalkai
This paper aims to investigate the dyadic relationships of actors engaged in public–private (P-P) collaboration in health-care prevention. The purpose is to characterize a new…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the dyadic relationships of actors engaged in public–private (P-P) collaboration in health-care prevention. The purpose is to characterize a new type of actor as an intermediary that connects different actors in P-P collaboration and to compare P-P collaboration based on results expected with and without the inclusion of this new actor.
Design/methodology/approach
For the investigation, the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing Group approach to business relationships is used. The substance (activities-resources-actors) and the functions (dyadic, single actor and network) of business relationships are applied as a research framework. The analysis is based on these theories through a case study.
Findings
This study delivers four important findings: the relationship with this new type of actor results in new resources for all of the participants that are involved, the new actor is a key channel for generating corporate social responsibility recommendations for private actors, relationships with this new type of actor are a great basis on which private firms may build relationships with the public that involve higher levels of health care and also generate sponsorship for public causes, thereby increasing social welfare and the new type of actor can cause potential tensions that require constant and coordinated management.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the conceptualization of the “interacted actor” through characterizing a new type of actor and its renewing network in P-P collaboration.
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Tereza Dlestikova and Márta Miklósi
The aim of the paper is to emphasize the importance of physical activity in prisons, its link to mental health and the potential for desistance bringing the perspective of two…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of the paper is to emphasize the importance of physical activity in prisons, its link to mental health and the potential for desistance bringing the perspective of two Eastern European countries – Czechia and Hungary. The paper aims to show that sport in prison has to be seriously considered as an activity that has the potential to positively contribute to the physical and mental health of prison inmates. The aim of the paper is to show that sport in prison is a very potential rehabilitative tool. Doing sport in prison presents an opportunity for meaningful leisure and contributes to the development of good leisure habits.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology integrates a literature review and legal analysis, complemented by practical experiences, which provide both theoretical and empirical understanding of the research topic; the review covers international research papers regarding sports activities in prisons and also the legal framework of the topic, both the international one and the national (Czech and Hungarian) ones providing the experience with concrete activities from the Czech and Hungarian prisons as well.
Findings
Sport in prison has to be seriously considered as an activity that has the potential to positively contribute to the physical and mental health of prison inmates. Sport in prison is a very potential rehabilitative tool. Doing sport in prison presents an opportunity for meaningful leisure and contributes to the development of good leisure habits. The possibility for prison inmates to do sports activities corresponds to a comprehensive approach to prison treatment and rehabilitation which works with leisure time as a pro-desistance factor.
Research limitations/implications
This is not extensive research, rather it is a theoretical mapping with national (Czech and Hungarian) experience.
Practical implications
Physical activity in prisons should be officially recognised (politically and systematically) as an activity with significant potential to improve both the physical and mental health of inmates, serving as an effective rehabilitative tool. From a systemic perspective, allowing physical activities in prisons reflects the trend towards normalising prison life, addressing issues related to prisonisation. Engaging in physical activity can bridge the gap between prison and post-release life, helping individuals maintain and cultivate pro-social habits developed during incarceration. For that reason, it should be considered as relevant part of prison throughcare and aftercare.
Social implications
Improvement of physical and mental health of prison inmates, as well as their socialisation. Increasing the rehabilitation potential of the prison system. Contribution to desistance from crime through leisure-time physical activity as a pro-desistance factor.
Originality/value
It is a theoretical analysis of the research topic focused on two Eastern European countries, Czechia and Hungary, including examples of national practices, which is interesting for international readers.
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Zsuzsanna Tóth and Bálint Péter Bedzsula
The purpose of this paper is to identify and interpret the critical quality attributes of core educational services at the course level both with student and lecturer involvement…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify and interpret the critical quality attributes of core educational services at the course level both with student and lecturer involvement. Significant differences between the viewpoints of these two directly involved stakeholder groups are also demonstrated to provide a better understanding of student expectations.
Methodology
Students of quality management courses were invited to collect those attributes that could have an impact on their perceived educational service quality. The compiled list of 23 characteristics has been formed on the basis of a four-point Likert scale-based questionnaire. With approximately 360 responses, thorough statistical analyses have been executed to investigate whether any significant differences could be detected between the quality attributes perceived by the different student segments. A group of lecturers has also been invited to fulfil the same questionnaire to compare their viewpoints with those of the students.
Findings
The results allow us to identify critical quality attributes which may be used in all platforms and interactions with students. The conclusions can be implemented on the course level to adjust the plan-do-check-act-based improvement of courses in which lecturers are directly interested.
Originality
As the new generation of students increasingly regard themselves as customers, they have become more aware of how they are taught and how they participate in the learning process. Institutionalizing this approach may contribute to the shaping of the organizational quality culture by emphasizing student focus and may result in the identification of best practices and standardization of processes at the course level.