Business Commons^™

Effects Of Regional Trade Agreements On International Agricultural Trade, Biljana Ciglovska, Jeton Shaqiri

UBT International Conference

Determining the effects of the trade liberalization is a complex problem of the modern theory of international trade. For that purpose we need to determine whether the maximum benefits from the trade for one country and the world in general, could be achieved when the foreign trade liberalization is implemented on non-discriminatory base (in terms of globalization) or when the foreign trade liberalization is implemented on discriminatory base id est., within the regional economic integration by introduction of safeguard measures towards third countries (regionalism). Regionalization supporters affirm that the regional agreements promote more liberal trade and through the application of …

The Risk-Based Role Of Internal Audit Within Albania, Public Organizations, Holtjana Bello, Vjollca Karapici

UBT International Conference

The aspiration of Albania for European integration has added mandatory requirements for public sector to modernize the internal audit function in adherence with International Internal Auditing Standards. According to such Standards supported by Picket (2005) and CIPFA (2003) the internal audit is an assurance function that provides independent opinion on the effectiveness of internal controls that support the achievement of the organizations objectives. Internal auditors can provide consultancy service, in particular to aid management to improve the organization control environment. Meanwhile, Diamond (2002) explains that the internal audit role, remit, scope and activities are driven by the macroeconomic objectives and …

Impact Of Civil Servant Salaries On The Performance Of Local Public Administration In Kosovo, Naim Ismajli, Emira Qosja

UBT International Conference

Motivation is defined as the willingness to exert high level of effort to reach organizational goals, conditioned by the ability of these efforts to satisfy some individual needs (Robbis / De Cenze p, 407). As motivating factors are: wage increase in career, workplace safety, work contracts, working conditions, organizational culture, leadership in working organizations, the level of responsibility at work and rewards. All these factors have different scale in motivating employee performance. Based on the theory of many authors in the field of Human Resources, presented in scientific literature, scientific journal articles, reports of international institutions (UNDP, World Bank, Human …

Causes And Effects Of The Informal Economy – The Case Of Macedonia, Tome Nenovski

UBT International Conference

Republic of Macedonia (RM) has high level of informal economy activity. It accounts for about 35- 40% of GDP. It has a direct influence to the main indicators, categories and instruments for macroeconomic planning and regulation. By using qualitative, descriptive, statistic and comparative methodologies, this research attempts to locate causes and consequences of informal economy in RM. It also presents different ways for measurement of the size of informal economy and understands the basic characteristics of the Macedonian case in order to present well‐grounded policy recommendations. The main finding of the paper is that the informal economy in The RM …

Organisational Culture In Public Institutions And Its Effect Over The Implementation Of Total Quality Management Process – Kosovo Case, Ilir Rexhepi, Ermira Qosja

UBT International Conference

Total Quality management (TQM) is a philosophy management method, the importance of which continuously has been growing after '90. There is relatively short time since Kosovo Public Institutions are practically doing their activity as a part of an independent Country, and as such day by day they are facing with different management challenges which continuously are becoming more rough and tough towards the EU integration process. Total Quality Management within Public Institutions, is leaded by the phase of establishment and implementation of Quality management Systems based on ISO 9001. In this process, through an deep empiric study in three Kosovo …

The Challenges And The Insurance Industry Analysis. The Case Of Albania, Enida (Brakaj) Pulaj, Amali Cipi, Xhiliola (Shehu) Agaraj

UBT International Conference

Like any other industry, the service industries need to be analyzed in the light of changes and reforms improving them. Based on the nature of the product, the analysis, that accompanies the development and reforms in these industries, is very important. In the world, we live in every moment we are endangered by a high uncertainty. Our life, our house, our wealth and everything we dispose, is threatened by loss, theft, damage or destruction. To avoid the high intensity of natural risk, there are created the insurance companies. These companies cover the inability of insurers to take all the risk …

A Study On Relationship Between Brand Loyalty And Customer Service In Insurance Companies Companies. The Case Of Macedonia And Albania, Klijme Poposki, Ilir Elmazi

UBT International Conference

Despite of remarkable interests in the nature and role of marketing application from servicing perspective, there are limited researches on service branding. By describing four major aspects of service branding, present study studies these aspects and their impacts on service conceived quality and finally it investigates the impact of service conceived quality on customer loyalty. Represented model includes the impact of brand traditional image along with other three impacts, that is, company image, employees‘ confidence and company‘s confidence. By using a 100-subject sample of Albania and Macedonia Insurance Company‘s customers, the analyses show that brand image and company‘s image have …

Creation Or Destruction Of Value In Mergers? An Empirical Analysis On The Italian Stock Market, Fabrizio Rossi

UBT International Conference

The objective of this paper is to investigate whether mergers create value for shareholders in both the short and long term. For this purpose, 120 announcements of mergers that were registered in Italy during the period 1994-2006 among listed companies were examined. The short-term analysis was conducted using the event study methodology in order to estimate the cumulative abnormal returns (CARs) in the time window around the announcement date (-10, +10). In this work, the sample of 120 mergers was divided into two sub-samples: the first considers the mergers that were carried out in all sectors of the economy, and …

The Human Capital Valuation: A Methodological Proposal Among Intellectual Capital Elements, Domenico Celenza, Fabrizio Rossi

UBT International Conference

Intellectual Capital (IC) is an important source of value for companies and in recent years has been the focus of attention for scholars. In a knowledge-based economic scenario the role of human resources has been reallocated over time in the theory of the firm to a higher degree than in the past. The worker's labor and management have been transformed as a result of the growing attention to the intangibl e assets held by each business system. In knowledge economy, manufacturing industries are investing more and more in the processes of scientific and technological research in order to introduce new …

Analysing Toruism Consultancy Market In Albania. Problems And Conditions, Fioralba Vela, Ermelinda Kordha

UBT International Conference

Tourism in Albania is now facing a lot of challenges regarding the improvement of service quality, in terms of primary offer and secondary one. In this paper the main focus is consultancy in the tourism sector, its importance in tourism development and the situation in Albania regarding its usage and adoption. This paper refers to the market of service providers in tourism sector, its actual development in Albania with refer to the size, actors and factors that affect its development, its importance in the development of tourism sector in Albania, etc. In this study are included the most important market …

Skills Market System In Kosovo: How Relevant Is To The Labour Market Needs, Levent Koro

UBT International Conference

The paper will study whether current skills market system provides right skills and occupation required by the labour market and analyze in detail which are the critical functions required being in place in order to improve the relevance of the skills market system. The paper will initially review formal skills providers (vocational schools, tertiary education both public and private) as well non formal providers (Vocational training centers, private sector and NGO providers). Subsequently, the paper will review the occupations and skills required by the labour market and will draw attention to relevance of the skills generated by the formal and …

Why Smes Needs To Invest In Innovation?, Dorjana Feimi

UBT International Conference

History has amply demonstrated that innovation in the public and private sectors is the most important key to long-term prosperity and economic competitiveness. A recent OECD study using innovation surveys for 21 countries showed that firms receiving public support for innovation, invest 40% to 70% more than those that do not. Also, higher levels of firms‘ investment in innovation lead to higher innovation sales and productivity. Especially in countries in transition, they face a number of obstacles: administrative barriers, limited access to nance, lack of technology, entrepreneurial skills. Yet, these days Albania represents a deficit in innovation, with a poor …

New Perspectives On Human Resource Management In Public Organization, Arsim Gjinovci

UBT International Conference

The changing nature work of human resources, creates new challenges and requires increased commitment to maximize the results in the organization, which are achieved through knowledge, learning or continuing education respectively continuously study requirements and necessity of economynew. One of the main roles of human resources is their action as a factor of change, transformation and cultural organizational change. Development of new technology in the economy and business, separated man enough from the manufacturing process, changing its role in the replacement of physical labor with technology. But, despite this increase in the level of technology, informatics, human factor again placed …

The Impact Of Ict Application In Accounting Services In Albania, Filloreta Madani, Evelina Bazini

UBT International Conference

Prior to advances in technology, accounting records were maintained only on a manual basis, with the bookkeeper (or possibly the owner) required to complete a manual source document for each sale or receipt, and then spend the evenings or weekends writing the transactions of the day or week in special journals, stock cards, and debtor and creditor records. This obviously took some time, time that would otherwise have been spent operating the business. However, the development of computerized accounting systems has revolutionized the way small businesses keep their accounting records. This paper conveys the findings of a study conducted to …

Quality Management In Public Sector; How Is The Qm Approach Employed In The Public Administration Of The Republic Of Kosovo?, Shkelzen Sopjani

UBT International Conference

Quality Management as approach started to be rapidly developed and gained use in the early 1950‘s in Japan, while the result produced in Japan made the US organizations to embrace this approach and develop it further by introducing the ‗new‘ approach called Total Quality Management. Quality Management produced enormous results in the private sector; however, number of authors questioned the suitability of the Quality Management approach in the Public Sector1. Despite the hesitation expressed, many others see a little problem in adopting this approach in the government sector. Government of Kosovo made its priority the reform of Public Administration. In …

Inventing The University For The Future, Arnoud De Meyer

2012 AAPBS Academic Conference: Asian Business Leaders with a Global Mindset

No abstract provided.

Asia 2.0: Leading The Next Wave Of Growth In Asia, Korn/Ferry International

2012 AAPBS Academic Conference: Asian Business Leaders with a Global Mindset

Asia 2.0: Leading the Next Way of Growth in Asia

Spotlight: Asian Business Leaders With A Global Mindset, Kwon Ping Ho

2012 AAPBS Academic Conference: Asian Business Leaders with a Global Mindset

Evolving Models of Business Education in Asia-Pacific

Branding For Tourism: Case Of Nepal, Tek Nath Dhakal

International Conference on Marketing

This paper examines the sector-wise tourist arrivals and their contributions in Nepal. It also explores the major challenges for augmenting the tourism development in Nepal. For the purpose of study, both primary and secondary information has been generated. Secondary information will be generated from the publication of the Nepal Tourism Board, Nepal Rastra Bank, Central Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Finance and the tourism associations. Interviews have been taken with the governmental executives working with Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, Nepal Tourism Board, tourist business entrepreneurs and the tourists for generating primary information.

Branding In Bottom Of Pyramid (Bop): Case Of Grameen Bank (Gb), Mohammed Solaiman

International Conference on Marketing

The paper identifies that market development at the BOP will create millions of new entrepreneurs at the grass roots level – from women working as distributors and entrepreneurs to village-level micro enterprises. These micro enterprises will be an integral part of the market-based ecosystem. Thus, in the line of BOP model, the Grameen Bank creates opportunities for self employment for rural poor people in general and women in particular. As such, for creating entrepreneurs as well as consumers the framework is “low income plus credit facilities will be more investment and it will generate more income, more savings, more investments …

Keynote: The Identity Of Fashion Brands, Klaus Heine

International Conference on Marketing

Interest has been growing in the brand identity concept, because it offers a systematic approach for developing symbolic benefits, which are becoming more and more essential for brand differentiation. Although they are a distinctive feature of luxury brands and often even exceed their functional benefits, there still exists no comprehensive identity concept designed specifically for luxury brands.

Dependent on human identity, brands are also ascribed as having an identity. The brand identity comprises all brand associations that are intended by the company and corresponds with the intra-company self-perception of a brand, which determines precisely how the brand should appear to …

Parallel Session: Effects Of Bollywood Blockbusters On Crime Scene In Pakistani Society, Erum Hafeez Aslam

International Conference on Marketing

This study aims at examining the increasing popularity of Bollywood films in Pakistani market and its dynamic effects on various segments of Pakistani society such as criminals and victims. It primarily analyzes the contribution of Bollywood blockbusters to the demography of violent criminals and silent victims in real crime scene of the country across the four decades (i.e. 1970s, 80s, 90s & 2000s). It is arbitrarily assumed that violence is often projected on silver screen as a quick and easy remedy to social injustice and class discrimination in the blockbusters of Bollywood and Lollywood.

Parallel Session: Home-Based Female Entrepreneurs In Pakistan: An Exploratory Case Study, Faryal Salman, Amber Gul Rashid

International Conference on Marketing

Pakistani female entrepreneurs have received increasing attention in recent years as part of various initiatives. However, home-based female entrepreneurs still seem to be relegated to the background and have not received sufficient attention in academia or industry. In order to ensure that these female entrepreneurs are not only understood but also facilitated (if possible), it is crucial to understand how they function. These entrepreneurs are very often one of the key – yet unfortunately seldom acknowledged - enablers of economic activity. Given Pakistan‟s economic issues, these unsung heroines need to be nurtured. It is hoped that this case-based paper will …

Parallel Session: A Study Of Pre-Purchase Determinants Of Brand Avoidance: Moderating Role Of Familiarity With Country-Of Origin, Muhammad Asif Khan, Cécile Bozzo, Haroon Ur Rashid Khan

International Conference on Marketing

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the concept of pre-purchase brand avoidance, by identifying the factors motivating this phenomenon. In addition this paper aims to provide the negative effect of familiarity with country-of-origin. The paper finds that the concept does exist in developing countries as well, and for all categories of brands, undesired self congruence is the key determinant for pre-purchase brand avoidance.

Parallel Session: Consumers' Need For Uniqueness, Attitude And Ethical Behaviour Towards Counterfeit Products In Pakistan, Faryal Salman, Farishtae Minwalla

International Conference on Marketing

A major motivation for this study is to measure consumer buying behaviour and attitude towards counterfeit products in Pakistan. The author asserts that the stimulus for using counterfeit products is consumer‟s unconventional attitude towards these fake products and the reason for not using may be consumer‟s avoidance of similarity. Another minor objective of this study is to measure the ethical behaviour of consumers in lieu of using counterfeits.

Parallel Session: Building Pakistan’S Country Of Origin Image Through The Corporate Image: Exploring Optimal Corporate Brands For The Image Transfer, Ishrat Hussain

International Conference on Marketing

Pakistan is facing a multi-dimensional attack on its country image. While it is imperative to triumph over negative factors causing Pakistan’s bad country image, it is also necessary to explore additional images to strengthen favorable associations with Pakistan and support a distinguishing image. Such image will be beneficial for increasing tourism, foreign investment, exports of goods/services and generating favorable condition for achievement of economic and other strategic objectives in the world. Corporate image is one such image. But what are the optimal corporate brands for image transfer to build Pakistan’s country of origin (CoO) image overseas? This research aims to …

Mobile Marketing At Telenor: A Mad Strategy?, Yasmin Malik

International Conference on Marketing

In early 2010, Telenor Pakistan became the first local mobile network operator to implement a comprehensive mobile marketing strategy in a market where the true potential for mobile marketing was still nascent and misunderstood by both consumers and brands alike. This case study is the first documented study on how Operator-driven mobile marketing via opt-in based consumer profiling can enable and drive the development of a mobile marketing eco-system in Pakistan - in addition the case study also examines the positioning of the Operator in the mobile marketing value chain.

Keynote: The Role Of Marketing In Economic Development And Business: Trends And Challenges For Pakistan, Mushtaq Luqmani

International Conference on Marketing

This paper examines the role of marketing in economic development and business for developing countries and the marketing challenges for Pakistan within the context of some key emerging global trends.

Keynote: Branding A Nation In The 21st Century, Kriengsak Chareonwongsak

International Conference on Marketing

The concept of a ‘’Nation as a Brand’’ is not new, but has already been a historical reality. In the 21st Century however, it is necessary for each country to pay much more attention to this topic due to the greater and increasing interconnectedness and globalization of our world in every aspect; economically, politically and socially, as illustrated by the KOF Index of Globalization in 2011 which collected the data of 186 countries from 1970 to 2008, concluding that our world is more globalized (KOF Swiss Economic Institute, 2011).

Student Colloquium: Purchase Of Counterfeit Products, Muhammad Ahmed Anjum

International Conference on Marketing

According to Merriam Webster dictionary word “counterfeit” is defined as “made in imitation of something else with intent to deceive”. So the term counterfeit product refers to a product which is made in imitation of some famous or renowned brand. Therefore a counterfeit product can be great threat to the reputation of original brand as well as for the free market economy. This whole exercise gives rise to unfair market competition and unethical practices to follow. In Relation to that the purpose of this whole study is to investigate the respondent’s perceptions, ethical and personal traits and their understanding about …