M12 - Personnel Management; Executives; Executive CompensationReturn

As one of the essential human needs, autonomy affects internal motivation and drives job satisfaction. The aim of the article is based on long-term quantitative research (n = 631) to examine gender, age, education and job position differences in job autonomy and to evaluate the extent to which job satisfaction and job autonomy are related. The research shows that 72.6% of the respondents have a high degree of work scheduling autonomy, 68.1% have a high degree of decision-making autonomy and 53.9% have a high degree of work methods autonomy. An important finding is that most respondents (84.8%) are satisfied with their job. There are differences between generations and non/managerial job positions regarding work scheduling autonomy, decision-making autonomy and work methods autonomy. Additionally, there is a difference between education levels regarding work scheduling autonomy. The Spearman's rank correlation coefficients show positive mutual correlations between job autonomy categories, as well as between job autonomy categories and job satisfaction. The results also confirm the relationships between job autonomy categories and job satisfaction. Employees with a high degree of job autonomy feel more satisfied in their jobs than others. On the contrary, there are no differences between genders regarding work scheduling autonomy, decision-making autonomy and work methods autonomy. Furthermore, there are no differences between education levels regarding decision-making autonomy and work methods autonomy. Understanding the relationship between job autonomy and satisfaction is vital for employers and policymakers to enhance job satisfaction, retain employees and improve organisational performance.
Implications for Central European audience: The research reveals that employees with a high degree of job autonomy, encompassing work scheduling autonomy, decision-making autonomy and work methods autonomy, experience greater job satisfaction. No gender or education-based differences in terms of job autonomy were found, but differences exist between generations and non/managerial job positions and job autonomy. The results confirm that job autonomy drives job satisfaction. Employees with a high degree of job autonomy feel more satisfied in their jobs than others. Employers and policymakers should therefore prioritise increasing job autonomy to improve job satisfaction, retention and organisational performance.�

Recent industry developments emphasize the need for research into promoting employee well-being via virtual leadership. While the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated remote work, global trends such as low unemployment rates sparked an urgency to prioritize employee well-being. This SLR analyses findings to understand the role of leadership behaviour within this context for application in the business environment. Applying the PRISMA method, 15 relevant studies before and during the pandemic were selected. The analysis found critical aspects of remote work which affect employee well-being while emphasizing implications for leadership. Key themes are boundaries between work-life and private life, supportive relationships and adequate use of technology. Contributing to existing research into employee well-being, this review discusses the effects of remote work on employee well-being, differentiates between research conducted before and during the pandemic and identifies implications for leaders to manage employee challenges in virtual environments to design post-COVID-19 work environments using remote work as a resource, not a demand. Based on the results, the review provides suggestions for further research into (1) comparative studies of employee well-being in remote and traditional work forms, (2) manager-employee relationships in remote settings and (3) virtual onboarding scenarios.
Implications for Central European audience: The review informs leaders about well-being-promoting behaviour in remote work settings.

Using the arguments of conservation of resources theory and social identity theory, this study investigates the impact of abusive supervision on organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) through the mediating effect of burnout. Simultaneously, the moderator effect of organizational identity on the relationship between abusive supervision and burnout is examined. The intention here is to examine whether organizational identity would increase the negative effect of abusive supervision on burnout and to test the underlying mechanism by which abusive supervision affects OCB, with the most affected parties. According to this, we aim to contribute to the literature on the potential effects of organizational identity on coping with workplace stressors. Also, this study aims to be contributive in terms of filling the gap in the existing literature due to the limited number of studies examining how and by which mechanisms abusive supervision affects OCB. Using the data collected from 256 full-time employees from hi-tech, banking and manufacturing industries, it is found that burnout fully mediates the relationship between abusive supervision and OCB. Moreover, it is seen that the negative effect of abusive supervision is stronger for employees with higher organizational identification, suggesting that suffering from abusive supervision can be more overwhelming for employees who see their organization as a vital aspect of their identity. According to the study findings, both theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Implications for Central European audience: The present research fills the gaps in the literature by revealing the “black box” that underlies the association between abusive supervision and OCB. Victims of abusive supervision may feel burnt out and possess fewer resources to engage in OCB. To eliminate the negative results of abusive supervision and increase positive work outcomes, organizations should emphasize delivering a code of conduct and organizational culture that stresses proper behaviours within the work environment. Implementing a zero-tolerance to deviant behaviour policy may also improve and generate a positive and deviant behaviour-free work environment.�

Organizations are increasingly operating with a multicultural and diverse workforce. Researchers and practitioners have recognized that diversity is a double-edged sword and can result in many significant benefits but can also present challenges in organizations. Therefore, the goal of the paper is to analyse the influence of perceived diversity, a perceived inclusive organizational culture and an inclusive diversity paradigm on employee job satisfaction. In order to analyse the research problem, a quantitative approach was chosen. The research was conducted on a representative sample (n = 1 035) of Poles using a research panel. The data analysis showed a statistically significant, positive correlation between perceived diversity and job satisfaction, as well as a statistically significant, positive correlation between an inclusive work environment (defined as an inclusive organizational culture and an inclusive diversity paradigm) and job satisfaction. The paper broadens our understanding of the role of diversity and inclusion for job-related attitudes. It shows managers that developing an inclusive, diverse workplace can have an influence on job satisfaction. The paper contributes to research into diversity, inclusion and job satisfaction by addressing diversity, an inclusive work environment and its consequences for an organization from the perspective of the employees and their perception of the analysed issues.
Implications for Central European audience: Central European countries are rather homogenous in terms of socio-demographic diversity dimensions, especially in comparison to the US and Western European context, where the vast majority of diversity and inclusion research has been conducted. When analysing employee attitudes, it may be important to look not only at objective variables but turn towards their perception by the employees, who in this case are raised in the homogenous Polish society. Thus, the paper contributes to the literature by presenting a CEE context and gives managers operating in this region insight into how diversity and inclusion affect job satisfaction.

The revolutionary advancement of technology in the past decade brought the attention of academics and management practitioners to ways of improving innovative capabilities of organizations. Advice-seeking relationships have an essential role in the knowledge production of modern-day organizations as they enable actors to acquire information, professional support and knowledge elements that they can recombine to form new knowledge. This paper conceptualizes advice-seeking behaviour as part of an inherently complex social world that can best be captured by a multiplex approach to organizational network research. It investigates how different layers of interpersonal relationships in the workplace may contribute to the appearance of advice-seeking interactions. This study examines the cases of three knowledge-intensive organizations and applies binary logistic regression to shed light on the yet invisible relational foundations of workplace collaboration.
Implications for Central European audience: Central European countries attempt to improve their economic competitiveness by attracting knowledge-intensive companies as well as incentivizing innovation and digital transformation. Knowledge-intensive firms, such as business service centres or information and communication technology companies, are significant contributors to the economic output of countries such as the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. Recommendations derived from the results of this paper provide insights into the leadership of knowledge-intensive companies regarding creation of organizational environments that foster knowledge sharing and innovation. Measures that promote interpersonal trust, visibility of expertise and boundary-spanning behaviour are recommended.

This research examines the relation between annual report readability and company performance in a German-speaking country, Austria. The incomplete revelation hypothesis, management obfuscation hypothesis and agency theory assume that firms with lower performance strategically use readability in their disclosures to obfuscate negative results. For investors, reading, analysing, and interpreting data becomes a costly affair; this weakens the negative effect of such data on a firm’s reputation and share price. We use LIX and Flesch formulas to measure the readability of letters to the shareholders and/or interviews with the board in annual reports. The sample consists of 37 companies that are listed on the Prime Market of the Vienna Stock Exchange and their data from the year 2009 to 2020. Company performance is measured by the change in turnover, profit, and share price. The analysed sections mostly show high to very high levels of difficulty. During the observation period, readability levels do not change significantly. We find that the annual reports of firms with lower performance are not harder to read and, therefore, cannot confirm the management obfuscation hypothesis. A significant influence of change in profit/loss on readability is minutely observed. Possible reasons for this observation could be characteristics of the German language, statistical outliers, the long observation period, more professional investor relations offices, and changing communication channels between companies and stakeholders. The last point, changing communication channels, also puts the obfuscation hypothesis and its application to readability up for discussion again.
Implications for Central European audience: Our study shows that also Central European countries are confronted with low levels of readability in annual reports. Nevertheless, we cannot see a clear tendency towards obfuscation in corporate disclosures.

This article aims to investigate the impact of training perception on work engagement. In addition, self-efficacy and organisational based self-esteem are hypothesised as mediators of the above relationship. Data were collected from employees in Vietnam using a self-administered questionnaire survey. Path analyses with Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) were used to verify the proposed relationships. The results show that both perceived training benefits and transfer of training significantly and positively influence work engagement. In addition, organisational based self-esteem partially mediates the impact of perceived training benefit on work engagement. Self-efficacy mediates a portion of the effects of the transfer of training on work engagement. The results add to the existing literature on the determinants of work engagement and on the consequences of the transfer of training. The findings also provide insight into the conditions for effective training in organisations.
Implications for Central European audience: Developing an engaged workforce is a vital task to all organisations. However, data showed that the work engagement level in Europe is low, especially in Central Europe. The results of the study provide insight into the determinants of employee engagement at work. In addition, like Vietnam, most countries in Central Europe have been in transition from former central-command systems to market economies. The application of contemporary Western human resource practices needs special consideration to ensure its effectiveness. The current study may supply some empirical implications for both academics and practitioners.

Globalisation and increasing competition affect all existing enterprises, as well as those in emerging economies. For this reason, enterprises continuously improve their own management systems and try to gain a competitive advantage in the market in addition to eliminating shortcomings. In emerging economies in Central Europe, including Slovakia, there are still not well-established tools to support management decisions that could reveal reserves, identify deviations from the required state and reflect all these attributes in the system of motivation, evaluation, and remuneration of employees. Controlling is such a tool, the implementation of which is a prerequisite for growth in performance and market value of the enterprise. The aim of the paper is to identify and present the optimal software support for controlling for the given segment of enterprises based on the mapping of the current state of using Business Intelligence to support controlling in micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in the conditions of the specific emerging economy, namely Slovakia. This information system will allow MSEs to respond flexibly to market changes, offer alternative options to support managerial decisions and can simulate the impact of any change in the plan on business management. Within empirical research, a questionnaire was used as a method to survey the given problem in the business practice of micro and small enterprises in Slovakia. The questionnaire was sent to 2,415 MSEs, with the research sample consisting of 421 respondents, i.e. of 17.43%. The survey meets the condition of a minimum sample size. We focused on groups of micro and small enterprises, as these represent 99% of the country’s market potential. While the introduction of the controlling module into the basic information systems of the company or Business Intelligence are investment-intensive for MSEs, as a real option, affordable software support for controlling based on the MS Excel programme was identified in practice. In view of the above, a prototype of a controlling information system called ‘SOFIN-KA’ was designed and successfully tested in the practice of the Slovak Republic in an MS Excel programme, which is customisable to each MSEs.
Implications for Central European audience: For the success of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in today’s turbulent business environment, it is important to make better and faster decisions. However, MSEs in Central Europe, including Slovakia, currently do not often have sufficiently established tools to support management decisions. One of the ways to solve this problem is controlling. The proposed software support for controlling is applicable not only in Slovak MSEs but also in V4 countries. The software has been designed this way that it can always be adapted to the specific conditions of each company.

The consequences of both workplace ostracism and workplace loneliness may include negative impacts on employee performance, yet few studies have focused on the interactions between these three constructs. In this context, both current and future studies may make prospective contributions. The goals of this paper are to investigate the associations between these variables and to determine whether workplace loneliness has any moderating effect on the possible association between workplace ostracism and job performance. A quantitative study was designed, and 349 employees in different sectors were included in the research. Findings indicated that workplace ostracism was positively associated with workplace loneliness, while it was negatively associated with job performance. A negative association between workplace loneliness and job performance was also estimated. Neither workplace loneliness as a whole nor social companionship had any moderating effects on the workplace ostracism–job performance association. On the other hand, emotional deprivation was found to have a moderating effect on this relationship. The findings prove that in combination, emotional loneliness and ostracism cause greater damage to employee psychology and, therefore, more greatly reduce job performance.�
Implications for the Central European audience: The study demonstrates that among the aspects of workplace loneliness, the emotional component is more critical to employee psychology and, therefore, job performance. Determining the factors that cause emotional loneliness in the workplace and taking precautions against them seem to be significant to the achievement of organisational goals.

The article focuses on the analysis of the results of empirical research, which shows how motivation of knowledge workers influences their job performance. The analysis focuses on characteristics (that are differentia specifica) of a knowledge worker and their impact on the results achieved in their organization. It was assumed that the impact of motivation on job performance increases together with the intensity of these characteristics. Therefore, the main aim of this article is to verify the influence of motivation on knowledge workers’ job performance. In order to verify the formulated hypothesis, an empirical study with the use of a questionnaire was conducted among employees of 204 organizations operating in Poland. Methods of statistical description and estimation were used, including correlation analysis and regression analysis with moderator. A positive relation was established between the absorption of knowledge workers’ characteristics and work motivation, and a positive relation between absorption of knowledge workers’ characteristics and job performance. Together with the verification of the knowledge workers’ characteristics as the mediator of the relation between work motivation and job performance, the study allows for the advancement of the existing (and described) research area. The obtained results allow only to preliminarily verify the raised issue which proves that it is a field of study undoubtedly worth exploring further.

The characteristics of the workplace environment have a significant impact on executive well-being and organisations benefit when executives cope effectively with the stressors in their work and private life. Many aspects of coping with stress have been studied, but few studies have focused on the coping resources of executives and senior managers. This study focused on the relationship between coping resources and level of well-being as a factor of stress mitigation among a target middle-aged group of Czech executives and senior leaders. Using data collected from 100 executives and senior managers in Prague, Czech Republic, multiple regression analysis was used to examine the variables related to executive coping resources and their combined effects on executive well-being. The analysis revealed that executives who made use of a mix of coping resources showed better well-being. Furthermore, cognitive, emotional, spiritual/philosophical, and physical coping resources were shown to be positively related to total well-being. However, social coping resources showed no direct association with executive well-being. The findings suggest that executives can benefit from a much more extensive combination of coping resources than initially expected to provide better life satisfaction, and that overall physical and mental health is a mitigating factor against stress and burnout.

The aim of this study is to identify the individual and contextual factors that facilitate or hinder employees’ creativity. However, in this paper the literature is also referring to critical factors that impact employees’ creativity. According to the creativity’s state of the art, we focused on factors based on creativity’s 4P, choosing Person (characteristics of creative persons) and Place (environmental factors that influence creativity). Considerable research efforts have been invested to explore the possible connections between these two domains by investigating the Hungarian labour market. We found that the probability that a creative person works in a creative workplace is twice greater than that of the case of a non-creative person. This study presents the requisites of a creative workplace so that employees’ creativity can be developed and a kind of work environment which facilitates organizational creativity can be created. First, we have collected and presented the best practices of recruitment-tools which help managers to hire the most creative applicants. With these two components, i.e. finding creative workers and securing them a creative friendly environment, the business success is guaranteed.

The goal of article is to analyze the analytical tools applied in the identification of national cultures and to identify and schematically express these Czech cultural standards, which are perceived most strongly by Germans when dealing with Czechs in higher-middle management. The article consists of a review of the related literature extended by a polemic on the applicability of the models. The authors conducted qualitative research based on semi-standardized interviews with ten German managers who grew up in the territory of former West Germany and had worked in the Czech Republic in international corporations for a period of at least two years. The results present three propositions connected to the most perceived cultural standards of Czech managers: propensity for improvisation, avoidance of conflict, and rejection of hierarchical structures.

This paper researches the so-called "dark triad" personality traits of management student populations, because of their potential to generate dysfunctional organizational behavior and processes. Namely, the dark triad with characteristics such as lack of empathy, willingness to manipulate others (for self-betterment), antagonism, and belief in one's own superiority can represent a real organizational threat. The goal of this paper is to stimulate thinking and discussion around this issue. The paper is based on questionnaire measurement that adopts the standardized short dark triad measurement instrument of Jones and Paulhus (2012) who measure the scales of Machiavellianism (9 items), narcissism (9 items) and psychopathy (9 items). The sample included 150 students of professional management studies at the Faculty of Economics, University of Split in Croatia. Results of the Croatian students are compared with the results of 387 students in Canada. The results suggest significant statistical differences in the "dark triad" variables between the Canadian and Croatian samples. The practical implications of this paper are in raising awareness and stimulating the thinking of managers around the potential of the "dark triad" traits of engaged human resources to create organizational crisis, and to make preventive and responsive actions to manage the "toxic triad" threat.

Multinational companies that have settled in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) significantly contribute to the recognition of modern HRM concepts and implementation of the relevant HRM practices in the region (Lewis, 2005). To be a strategic partner, HRM managers have to possess various professional and personal competences (Orme, 2010). The aim of this paper is to analyze the main competences of HR managers and their impact on companies' performances. The research hypothesis, based on 2012-2013 CEEIRT data, is that there is a statistically significant relationship among the HR managers' competences and the performances of the MNCs' subsidiaries in Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia. The analyzed HR competences are: business knowledge, strategic contribution, personal credibility, HR services, HR information system and foreign language competences. The research analyzed the following organizational performances: profitability, service quality, rate of innovations and environmental matters.

This study presents a theoretical-empirical reflection about concepts, models, and practices of Maslow's Model of Need-Hierarchy in public and private commercial banks in Bangladesh. The empirical part of this study, comprising 130 samples, has been collected through a structured questionnaire. The study reveals that employees of commercial banks have high use of lower level needs and moderate use of upper level needs. The study also reveals employees of private commercial banks have a slightly higher motivational score of each level of Maslow's model, but these motivational differences are significant for safety needs and insignificant for basic, social, esteem and need for self-actualization at the five percent level of significance on a one way ANOVA test. On the basis of these findings, the study concludes that the employees of public and private banks follow Maslow's motivational model without any difference. Maslow's model holds across cultures, but its applicability, in some cases, will be culture-specific; it requires unique managerial attention to cultivating and sustaining well-motivated employees in different companies in different countries around the world.

This paper describes new trends related to the concepts contained in HR organizational structures within Czech organizations. In addition, it describes the specifics of the roles played by HR in those organizations which have transformed their HR departments in terms of the principles of the HR Business Partner Model, both in theory based on available resources, and at the practical level based on the results of primary examination. The goal of this paper is to present the key perceptions of the changes made in the HR structure within the organizations, as well as the impact of these changes on the effectiveness of the HR departments concerned. Another goal of the paper is to summarize the responsibilities of the newly created position known as the HR Business Partner in these organizations as well as the demands placed upon the personnel employed in the HR Business Partner role. The paper offers conclusions based on the results of both quantitative and qualitative surveys. It also contains a case study of one organization which has one of the best transformed HR departments, and whose services are classified, by internal clients, as being of high quality.

Every organization needs well-adjusted, trained, and experienced people to perform its activities effectively and efficiently. Today's business environment has become complex; the training for employees' education is becoming a diver for adjusting dynamic change in organizational interfaces. This survey reveals that employee training and job satisfactions have a significant positive relationship with organizational effectiveness. The survey also indicates that job dissatisfaction has an insignificant relationship with organizational effectiveness in commercial banks. The study indicates that to chase dynamic business environments, management should focus on building human resources through diverse training for promoting organizational effectiveness.

Based on summarizing the results of the global research on human resource management and the author's dissertation research on best practices in human resource management, this paper attempts to explain the essence of the positive relationship between best practices in human resource management and organizational performance and competitiveness. It supports the assumption that the essence is the optimal system of human resource management, based on proven best practices in job design, employee selection, performance management, employee compensation or employee training, that enables managers to achieve expected organizational performance and competitiveness by achieving desired employee abilities, motivation and performance. The author's dissertation research verified the theoretical assumptions about application of best practices in human resources management and, through a questionnaire survey, examined the views of executives and HR managers from Czech TOP 100 companies and the best employers in the Czech Republic.

The article aims to explain how general and specific managerial competencies relate to the business success of small and medium size enterprises (SMEs). This study was conducted among 264 managers of SMEs. SME success was measured as a subjective assessment of economic growth indicators in comparison with competitors on the market. General and specific managerial competencies were significant predictors of success in running a business. Specific managerial competencies proved to be a mediator between general competencies and SME success. This paper helps provide a better understanding of how individual differences - general and specific managerial competencies - influence entrepreneurial behavior and its outcomes.

This text presents some of the fundamental values and traits of American national culture with a focus on their potential effect on the behavior of US business people. The goal of the article is to map potential differences from the habits and norms typical in the Central European region (CEE region), i.e. to identify those which might have an important impact on business activities. Methodologically, the text includes a brief literary review including various different cultural frameworks; the paper then utilizes primarily descriptive and comparative methods, as well as analysis and synthesis, to comprehend the issue in hand. The author complements this input with real-life personal and professional experience gained by working and living in both geographic regions. Finally, the article provides some key managerial implications for executives operating within the CEE environment who potentially conduct business transactions with Americans or US-based organizations.

We expect businesspeople, managers and representatives to know and apply Central European rules of etiquette. When travelling abroad or dealing with people from different countries the guest, of course, adjusts their behavior according to their host; however, only as far as their own etiquette allows. However, many Czech managers are ignorant of the rules of their own etiquette. Nowadays, knowledge of etiquette is becoming an economic must. It is evident that in order to gain or retain a job or be promoted one must abide by its rules. Companies no longer accept undue behavior on the side of their employees or permit such behavior to harm the working atmosphere within the company. The more the professional qualification of employees evens out, the more their manners and neat appearance gain in importance. Significant deficiencies in this respect are apparent especially in dealing with foreigners. On an international level, perfect manners are imperative.

Together with the ever increasing economic position of China, the importance of understanding the specifics of Chinese national culture and their influence on knowledge management, or on the management of Chinese knowledge workers, is also increasing. The objective of this article is to present the most important specifics of Chinese national culture and clarify their influence on the behavior and ways of work of Chinese knowledge workers. The second objective is to sum up some managerial implications for managers from Central European Countries (CEC) - Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Switzerland. Methodologically, this article is based upon Hofstede's characteristics of cultural dimensions and their application on China. Also, an analysis of case studies from the Chinese environment has been used and comparison to Western approaches to knowledge management and knowledge workers performed. The article shall prepare managers for cooperation with their Chinese partners while emphasizing that this cooperation will be interesting, though absolutely not easy, since the Chinese approach to knowledge and its sharing under the influence of their national culture is very specific and different from Western ways. The term "Western cultures" is understood to mean namely the cultures of Europe and the U.S.A. (Hofstede, 2007); thus, CEC is a part of Western culture.