Purpose: The aim of this paper is to describe another possibility of portfolio creation using the minimum spanning tree method. The research contributes to the existing body of knowledge with using and subsequently developing a new approach based on graph theory, which is suitable for an individual investor who wants to create an investment portfolio.Methodology/Approach: The analyzed data is divided into two (disjoint) sets – a training and a testing set. Portfolio comparisons were carried out during the test period, which always followed immediately after the training period and had a length of one year. For the sake of objectivity of the comparison, all proposed portfolios always consist of ten shares of equal weight.Findings: Based on the results from the analysis, we can see that our proposed method offers (on average) the best appreciation of the invested resources and also the least risky investment in terms of relative variability, what could be considered as very attractive from an individual investor’s point of view.Research Limitation/implication: In our paper, we did not consider any fees related to the purchase and holding of financial instruments in the portfolio. For periods with extreme market returns (sharp increase or decrease), the use of Pearson’s correlation coefficient is not appropriate.Originality/Value of paper: The main practical benefit of the research is that it presents and offers an interesting and practical investment strategy for an individual investor who wants to take an active approach to investment.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the significance and the role of supplier rating as a formalised supplier quality measure to achieve better- negotiated prices and to identify price premium resulting from improved rating.Methodology/Approach: Data from real B2B environment of electronic reverse auction SW solution ProeBiz were obtained and processed. Data from the reverse rating approach were used where the default rating value is 1 and improvements of rating lead to decreasing the rating value. Except standard descriptive statistics, non-parametric correlation and Kruskal-Wallis tests, the knowledge discovery techniques by decision trees CHAID algorithm were used.Findings: From our empirical research results, there is the evidence of a significant positive relation of supplier quality or rating improvements on a negotiated price for suppliers. Improving rating from the default value (1.00) to (0.98-0.95) can lead to better- negotiated prices for suppliers in English auction expressed as price premium in the value of 4%.Research Limitation/implication: Research has several limitations, esp. in the size of the sample and sectorial view as the research is based on data from construction, electro-mechanics and logistics sector.Originality/Value of paper: The paper is original and not published in other publications.

Purpose: The paper deals with the differences of supplier performance management characteristics by different size of the enterprises and sectors of industry.Methodology/Approach: The research is based on a questionnaire survey carried out in 2016-2019 in 366 enterprises. Four hypotheses were formulated, focused on supplier selection preferences, frequency of supply evaluation, providing feedback to the suppliers about their performance and quality control. The results are analyzed by the tests of Chi-square statistics.Findings: The results show that the enterprises differ in the criteria of the selection of the supplier, frequency of supply evaluation and providing feedback to the suppliers about their performance according to their sector industry. In terms of the size of the enterprises, differences were found only in the evaluation of suppliers and evaluation feedback. Enterprises did not differ in quality control of the deliveries.Research Limitation/implication: The results show that quality is the most evaluated criterion in the selection of the suppliers. In the future, the importance of other environmental and Industry 4.0 criteria will grow. It is recommended combining supplier evaluation and reviews with the feedback to the suppliers to improve the performance of the suppliers.Originality/Value of paper: The study compares the enterprises in terms of their size and industries in the area of supplier performance management characteristics. These criteria are often not mentioned nor compared in other publications.

Purpose: This study explores the characteristics of STV service to empirically examine effects of the services on adoption and usage of STV to lead sustained growth of the STV industry.Methodology/Approach: This study employs structural equation modeling as a quantitative approach, to examine causal relationships between service characteristics and user intentions. The survey collects 212 data only from actual users of STV, who have experienced STV functions or services, in South Korea.Findings: The results of service-oriented model based on extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) indicate that ‘interactivity’, ‘content quality’, and ‘simplicity’ as service characteristics influence intention to use STV.Research Limitation/implication: First, the STV industry should establish a distribution structure that generates sufficient profits for content providers as done in Smartphone market. Second, Services of STV should be provided to allow two-way communication and to allow users to engage in active interactions with other users.Originality/Value of paper: This study makes contributions to research on both new products and service adoption by providing richer explanations of the mechanisms acting on the actual use of STV. Given that STV is considered a key appliance for the next generation of social media and smart appliance, our findings offer new directions on how to realize high quality services in the STV industry.

Purpose: The purpose of the paper to reveal the linkage between the customer perception of the supplier’s CSR and inter-organisational trust in a B2B context.Methodology/Approach: The paper conceptualises the customer perception of CSR activities as a latent second-order factor composed of three dimensions: CSR towards environment and community; CSR towards employees; and CSR towards customers. Three-dimensional understanding of inter-organisational trust, is applied in this paper. A quantitative study was conducted.Findings: As it was expected, the findings revealed that the customer perception of supplier’s CSR, namely CSR towards environment and community, towards employees and customers, generates inter-organisational trust that could be divided into competence trust, benevolence trust and integrity trust.Research Limitation/implication: Seeing that the paper uses a sample from a single country, it has a limitation due to its restrictive generalisability (especially having in mind that the research was done in a low-trust societal context). Moreover, the paper does not incorporate the characteristics of organisations, and the future research could elaborate on the issues of how the perceived CSR and its impacts on inter-organisational trust vary depending on organisational financial performance, market share, and so forth.Originality/Value of paper: The paper challenges the researchers and managers to move towards more sophisticated assessments concerning the way the customer perception of CSR affects inter-organisational trust in a B2B context, which might lead to improved organisational performance and sustainability.

Purpose: The paper examines the potential effects of academic publications on patenting and the share of high technology exports. We test the short-run and the long-run causalities among high technology exports, the number of academic publications and the number of patents in three separate models.Methodology/Approach: Our sample consists of panel data for 61 countries and 20 years. The panel Granger causality and vector error correction model have been used in order to capture the short-run causalities. Furthermore, panel cointegration regressions have been applied to test for long-run causalities.Findings: Our results strongly suggest that there is a positive long-run effect of academic publications on both patenting and the share of high technology exports. This suggests that the outcomes of basic science in the form publications strongly support technological development, and thus emphasises the importance of basic research. In addition the effect of patents on high technology exports is mostly insignificant when controlling for academic publications and GDP.Research Limitation/implication: First, the variables used in the analysis are only proxies. The scope of the data has been significantly limited by the data availability. This leads also to limited the number of control variables.Originality/Value of paper: There are still only a very limited number of studies testing the effect of academic outcomes on the technological development of the economy. Our research brings new empirical insights into this problem.

Purpose: SPC can be defined as the problem solving process incorporating many separate decisions including selection of the control chart based on the verification of the data presumptions. There is no professional statistical software which enables to make such decisions in a complex way.Methodology/Approach: There are many excellent professional statistical programs but without complex methodology for selection of the best control chart. Proposed program in Excel APSS (Analysis of the Process Statistical Stability) solves this problem and also offers additional learning functions.Findings: The created SW enables to link altogether separate functions of selected professional statistical programs (data presumption verification, control charts construction and interpretation) and supports active learning in this field.Research Limitation/implication: The proposed SW can be applied to control charts covered by SW Statgraphics Centurion and Minitab. But there is no problem to modify it for other professional statistical SW.Originality/Value of paper: The paper prezents the original SW created in the frame of the research activities at the Department of Quality Management of FMT, VŠB-TUO, Czech Republic. SW enables to link altogether separate functions of the professional statistical SW needed for the complex realization of statitical process control and it is very strong tool for the active learning of statistical process control tasks.

Purpose: This paper aims to study how a pair of hosts for one bed and breakfast establishment and their guests create value for the visit by communicating and interacting with each other on the island of Gotland.Methodology/Approach: A case study was conducted on one single Bed and Breakfast (BnB) accommodation. An interview and a Questionnaire study were performed.Findings: The study shows that there are several processes involved in the co-creation of values between visitors and hosts. Co-creation processes begin already when visitors are planning their visits to the island. Their expectations are created while choosing their accommodation type, often done online on different websites. Pre-information about the chosen BnB accommodation contributes to visitors’ expectations and image of the object, which can be seen as a part of their identities. In the physical meeting with the accommodation and the hosts and other guests, the co-creation process is strengthened. There are processes of participation, communication, creation of meaning for the stay, processes of trust and responsibilities which all together create a common culture which in turn contributes to co-creation of values for both parties. These processes also take place between guests. The processes are furthermore dependent on meaning-making and sensemaking processes. This all together generate knowledge about the destination and the values that enhance the positive experience of the visits. It also creates knowledge for the hosts about how they can develop their service to achieve increased customer satisfaction. Finally, these skills can be valuable for the continued planning and development of the tourism industry.Research Limitation/implication: The study is limited to a one single BnB accommodation with its hosts on the island of Gotland in Sweden.Originality/Value of paper: The study makes a contribution to the knowledge of processes of co-creation values by exploring how some visitors and their hosts experienced visits to the island. The study can help bridging the gap in the views and actions on co-creation of values among visitors and those who are visited.

Purpose: The current study has, as its fundamental objective, the conceptual analysis of organizational culture management models that could be applied in public institutions of the education sector, as well as on management models of the organizational culture mainly those aimed at providing customer services in this sector.Methodology/Approach: It was made an analysis of the main models that exist, and the possibility of adapting them to public institutions in the educational sector, which will improve the management of the organizational culture, according to processes that take place within them.Findings: The non-existence of organizational culture management models aimed at providing customer services in public institutions of the educational sector was identified, as well as the complexity of applying other models of organizational culture management in institutions of the sector referred to from the gaps that they present.Research Limitation/implication: The analyzed models are directed to private and public companies, they do not present methodological frameworks of action beyond the elaboration of business strategies, that allow to be applied directly in organizations with academic aims.Originality/Value of paper: The document was based on the literary review of management of the organizational culture, in which it was detected that the models studied are aimed at companies, being complex their adaptation for institutions of the educational sector. No references were found about management models of the organizational culture focused on the provision of services to the client, which brings novelty to future research.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to provide a review of the impact on culture (attitudes, values and assumptions) among both healthcare professionals, as well as users, when involving users for improving quality in healthcare.Methodology/Approach: The paper is based on an extensive, narrative literature review considering studies that included professional’s and users experiences of user involvement in quality improvement. The included articles were analyzed using an interpretive, along with a deductive, approach according to a theoretical framework.Findings: The results indicate that there is currently limited research focusing on the impact of user involvement in quality improvement processes regarding professionals’ and users’ attitudes, values and/or assumptions. The articles identified during the study provides situations and statements, during the process of development, which can be interpreted as change in the culture. Although few articles specifically draw conclusions on user involvement as a “tool” for cultural change, the authors interpret several findings which strengthens that theory.Research Limitation/implication: Research published in other databases could have been missed. The authors have tried to avoid this by using a snowball method reading references in identified articles.Originality/Value of paper: The review provides a platform for both future research and the development of current practice within the area. There have been literature reviews showing obstacles and enablers when using patients, users and relatives in quality improvement work, but few which investigates cultural change.