Purpose: The aim of this study is to determine a structure of brand personality at an ecological level and to develop norms for positioning a particular brand in relation to other brands by means of brand personality scales.

Methodology: We present the results of a study in which 1,642 participants aged 15 to 82 (mean 35.3; 51.9% females) were involved. Each respondent marked three to four brands from different categories of goods and services on a 20-item adjectival list for measuring brand personality. As a result, 6,548 descriptions of 224 brands from 46 categories were collected. Findings: Our analyses show that the structure of the differences among brand personalities on the Polish market can be described in terms of four dimensions: competence, spontaneity, subtlety, and egoism. The established dimensions explain 85% of the variance. A distribution of the results within the scales applied served as a basis for establishing specifc norms for each of the four scales.

Limitations: The norms established have a country-level character and are inclusively adequate and reliable for companies that purchase products and services on the Polish market.

Originality: Our study presents a new, ecological approach to thinking about brands. Namely, it enables a more precise determination of the position of a certain brand in relation to many other competing brands and allows for a more effcient use of the potential for constructing brand personality.

Purpose: The article discusses selected methodological issues of natural and social sciences with particular consideration of behavioural economics to highlight the signifcance of experimental research.

Design approach: The order of the issues covered is as follows: (a) science as a product of a research community, (b) basic cognitive activities in science, (c) a short description of social sciences, (d) a discussion on the methods applied in behavioural economics.

Findings: The article offers a description of research procedure, its objectives and the methods applied therein; it has been stressed that testing theories and hypotheses involves exposing them to falsifcation; it has been emphasised that research conducted within the framework of social sciences is more diffcult than in the case of natural sciences because of the large number of independent variables and the possible interaction between the researcher and research participants.

Practical implications: The content presented in the article highlights the value of scientifc fndings as opposed to common-sense knowledge adopted with the disregard of the principles of proper methodology.

Value: The authors believe that the emergence of behavioural economics was an attempt to overcome certain defciencies in the methodology of classical economics by means of experimental research.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to explore and compare reporting practices on provisions for liabilities in different countries.

Methodology: The research was limited to the types of provisions that are addressed in the International Accounting Standard 37 – Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets. For the purpose of the study, fnancial statements of the biggest public companies in Great Britain, Germany and Poland have been chosen to be taken into consideration. The following detailed issues have been explored: – Presentation of the types of provisions in a statement of fnancial position and additional notes to a fnancial statement, – Presentation of the amounts of provisions made, used, and reversed during a given period and the effects of changes in the discount rate, – Scope and quality of descriptions of the nature of obligations presented by entities. The results of the analysis have been viewed from two perspectives – the areas of compliance and non-compliance of reporting on provisions with IFRS have been identifed and a comparison of the extent of compliance with particular requirements between companies from different countries has been developed.

Findings: The results of the analysis have revealed that companies from selected countries demonstrate different levels of compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Substantial differences in the scope and the quality of descriptive disclosures on provisions have been also identifed.

Originality/value: The study contributes to the research on cross-country differences in reporting practices and indicates the need for a further analysis of the underlying determinants.

Purpose: This study was of a theoretical character and aimed at presenting various descriptions of the interactions between all possible pairs of four well-known negotiating styles dependent on personality traits.

Methodology: This study was based on analysis of the interactions as well as authors’ experiences from their observations and analyses on human behaviors during numerous negotiations and role-play exercises arranged at the courses for practitioners. The stress was put on analyzing the interactions occurring between people representing both different and the same negotiating styles.

Findings: The attempt at describing such interactions was successful and promising for farther research. The concept constitutes a useful tool for analyzing human behavioral aspects of different types of business negotiations, within the process of their planning, conduct and evaluation. Nevertheless, the concept will be a subject of subsequent authors’ research, focusing on its improvement mainly by searching more precise features of negotiating styles and interactions between them.

Practical implications: The concept can be applied to analyze many real negotiation situations as well as within the experiment to be arranged by the authors to examine those interactions within the hundreds of pairs of negotiators solving particular case studies. Thus the description of such interactions can be treated as a specific hypothesis.

Originality: In general, the suggestion for solving complex, difficult and essential issues of negotiating styles was presented but was rarely investigated in the literature on negotiations. In particular, an original concept of describing the interactions between those styles was suggested.

Purpose: This article provides a general review of the debate over rigor and relevance in academia,
specifically in the scientific field of management. It seeks to contribute to the body of literature
while emphasizing instances where the gap between rigor and relevance has been bridged, along
with the role of business schools.

Approach: This takes the approach of underscoring the most important works in the present literature
regarding rigor and relevance, and then focusing on three points of emphasis: 1) role of
business schools in the debate; 2) main points of contention; and 3) strongest examples of success
in this field.

Findings: The most important findings in this work indicate that the debate surrounding relevance
and rigor still persists and may also be reaching a breaking point where the two sides of the debate
cannot reconcile. Various proposed solutions to the debate are available but meaningful action has
yet to be taken.

Implications: The practical applications of this work are manifold. Scholars would have a clearer
understanding of the environments in which their works are operating and practitioners would
find academic works in management more accessible.

Value: This work provides a description of both the points of contention in the rigor vs. relevance
debate and the points of successful unification of the two.

Purpose: Sixty-five HR general managers representing companies from a variety of industries took
part in the research that we conducted between April and October 2013. They had identified leadership
development as the most significant factor in the growth of the top firms in Poland’s economy.
We have conducted in-depth interviews to understand the perception of the leadership concept.
We have found that they tend to focus on the following dimensions of leadership: conveying
a vision, inspiring, being charismatic, being credible, being able to manage others, and having good
interpersonal skills.

Research limitations and implications: The main limitation of the research is that it does not allow
for generalization of findings on perceived dimensionality of leadership on larger population of HR
Executives. Our findings imply that leadership development will soon be a strong priority among
HR teams of 500 largest companies, but several dimensions are not present in their description of
leadership.

Originality/value: Our paper makes three contributions to the literature. We have developed a managerial
attention view of the firm by surveying senior HR executives. CEOs, CFOs, and top management
teams tend to be subject of studies in this theoretical tradition more often than HR executives,
Another contribution is the use of mixed methods that is rather rare yet offering vast opportunities
for triangulation and knowledge building in the discipline. Our third contribution is that we applied
a standard scale of the multidimensional leadership concept.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to answer the following question: what concepts should be used to explain how marketing contributes to value creation in business-to-business (B2B) relations?

Methodology: The method consists of: (1) using net present value (NPV) as a goal of B2B purchasing decisions and (2) analysing the supplier’s controlling system to differentiate between value drivers and value causes.

Findings: A conceptual framework of B2B value creation has been proposed. NPV-related product description is the main concept in the framework.

Originality: The study contributes to the B2B marketing theory by increasing the clarity of conceptual foundations by (1) proposing the NPV-relevant product description and (2) making a distinction between value drivers and causes of value.

Purpose: The aim of the study is to analyse marketing challenges facing Polish public universities. Polish universities must urgently adjust their educational offers to deep declines in internal demand and to increased internationalisation of the educational market. The author explores the impact of management decentralisation in faculties of higher education institutions upon their market orientation, relationships with the external world and commercialisation of educational services targeting foreign students.

Methodology: The study is based mostly on direct observations and an extensive review of international literature devoted to the model of the university of the future and its relationships with the environment. The author has been lecturing on marketing for many years; he also manages educational business programmes at a large public university in Poland where he acts in the capacity of a dean.

Findings: Future universities should develop an array of services based on the relationship marketing with key strategic partners (business, local authorities, students and graduates). The idea of a modern educational service should be based on an individual approach to students expanded with complementary services. Educational services should be developed interactively in cooperation with key stakeholders.

Practical implications: Polish public universities should become more marketing oriented and develop a set of commercial educational services addressed to foreign students and to entrepreneurial and internationally-oriented Polish students.

Originality/value: Conclusions formulated by the author result from his long personal experience and knowledge of the specifi city of the educational market in Poland and across the world and his experience in managing an interdisciplinary faculty of a large public university. The interdisciplinary approach to the subject combines elements of the relationship marketing and interactive development of new educational services.

Purpose: The objective of the article is to present the changes that have taken place
in relationships between business partners in the FMCG distribution channels in
Poland after 1989 and to identify the consequences for competitiveness in particular
groups of commercial enterprises. The scope of analysis covers relationships between
chains of large trade facilities and FMCG manufacturers and wholesale enterprises,
inclusive of cash and carry, as well as between goods suppliers and receivers.

Methodology: The article is prepared on the basis of relevant literature on cooperation
of enterprises in the distribution channels, as well as on the results of surveys
carried out by the Institute for Market, Consumption and Business Cycles Research
(IBRKK) in the 1990s and in the first years of the 21st century. It also includes
mid-2011 survey results among independent commercial enterprises and companies
operating in the chain as well as among FMCG producers. In individual periods, the
same research method is applied - face-to-face interviews, carried out among representatives of the surveyed firms. They were based on a questionnaire, which was
expanded in subsequent research periods with new aspects of cooperation between
enterprises, i.e. creation of private labels, training and consulting for business partners,
and integration processes.

Originality/value: The description and analysis of the phenomena and processes
occurring in relationships between subjects in various channels of FMCG distribution
covered multiple criteria. These include selection of a business partner, enterprise
position in its contacts with business partners, expected and achieved benefits
of cooperation, impediments and abnormalities occurring in contacts between the
goods supplier and the commercial company, and new areas of cooperation.