Purpose: The paper scientifically analyzes sustainable development in the context of economic entities and their integration in supply chains that reflect the various business models between parties involved in value creation.

Methodology: The authors seek the relationship between three aspects of sustainability and limitation of the functional weaknesses of the market through the integration of supply chains that reflect various business models. The paper bases on a survey conducted to identify interests of the companies in integrating innovations for greater sustainability.

Findings: The integration of supply chain is one of the reasons for using or limiting the functional weaknesses of the market related to the three sustainability aspects pictured by the concept of sustainability as environmental, social, and economic resources. Different forms of integration may contribute to the maintenance and enhancement of these resources.

Limitations: To clarify the influence of the supply chain integration on sustainable development, scholars need to conduct further research. The main point of the future research should be the development of a measure for the extent of influence of the supply chain integration on sustainable development.

Originality: The connecting of the integration of supply chain and sustainability is a new direction of scientific research that has previous studies. Thus, the research outcomes will impact the scientific field and community in both the area of supply chain management and sustainability studies. Keywords: innovation, business model, sustainable supply chain, integration

Purpose: The scientifc purpose of the study is an attempted synthesis of interpretation of “the virtual economy” and “the virtual environment” in the Polish and foreign literature on the subject. The cognitive purpose thereof is to offer an identifcation and a qualitative analysis of the factors that determine the development of e-entrepreneurship using an example of business practice. Methodology: The theoretical basis of the study is a scientifc research of leading scholars on the theory of entrepreneurship in the context of virtual economy. An exploratory, qualitative case study methodology has been applied for the purpose thereof. The research has been conducted using the example of Currency One SA, operating on the currency exchange market in virtual economy. The application of the empirical method of a case study has made it possible to characterize the essence of e-entrepreneurship and present the studied phenomenon in business practice. Findings: Research results reveal an existence of interdependencies between the intellectual potential of staff members and the market success of a company. Explanation of the critical success factors, showing the implementation of innovative ICT solutions and stages of company development, illustrates how the existing theory is experienced by practitioners in virtual economy. Furthermore, the paper confrms the positive impact of e-entrepreneurship on the effectiveness of the company subject to analysis, and presents virtual economy as a completely new sphere through which it is possible to offer new products and services. Research implications: The rationale for conducting research on case studies is the need to orient the practice towards a better understanding of modern economic reality. The study may provide a starting point for empirical quantitative research, as well as act as a contribution to the discussion on entrepreneurship in the rapidly changing virtual economy. Originality: This paper comprises not only a set of notions related to and the concept of e-business models, but also offers new arguments in the discussion on the framework for entrepreneurship in virtual economy. The conducted research is an original attempt to explain the essence of the studied phenomenon and to illustrate its progress in a changing business environment.

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: The paper presents the results of a qualitative analysis of selected aspects of general business
environment. The author strives to answer the following question formulated in the context
of postcolonial deliberations: has the general business environment been affected by European
colonialism?

Methodology: Semantic and semiotic analysis of primary sources (statistical data and research
findings formulated by international organisations, such as the World Bank, OECD, UNIDO) and
secondary sources (scientific and research studies of Polish and foreign authors based on primary
sources); literature review.

Findings: In the postcolonial perspective, qualitative analysis shows neither a positive nor a negative
impact of colonialism on the contemporary general business environment. If certain signs of
its deterioration are observed, they are mostly due to the erosion of state capacity, whose origins
can be traced back to the Berlin Conference.

Originality: Papers on Postcolonial Management and Critical Management Studies (CMS) bridge
the gap in literature pertaining to management issues, especially in Poland. Due to their interdisciplinary
nature, Postcolonial Management and CMS cover a broad range of research areas (i.e.
theory of state and nation, sociology, economic history). They pertain to both economics an management, and are therefore difficult to classify.

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.

Methodology: The paper discusses major issues with references to existing literature and real business cases from S&P500 consumer discretionary sector.

Findings: The main fi nding of this paper is that CSRS could provide the company with a competitive advantage as a growing number of consumers become more sustainable conscious. It could also help to overcome the increasing consumers’ skepticism towards corporate social responsibility practices. Finally, it can also be seen as a step forward in defi ning what types of corporate activities are associated with desirable social and environmental gains.

Research limitations: Our sample was restricted to the U.S. fi rms from the consumer discretionary sector. Therefore, conclusions should not be generalized to other markets. Our study is based on the analysis of environmental and social responsibility statements and assumes that they accurately represent corporate commitment in majority of the cases.

Practical implications: CSRS offers corporations the opportunity to use their unique skills, culture, values, resources, and management capabilities to lead social progress by making sustainability part of its internal corporate logic.

Originality: The paper raises the importance of the different conditions necessary for making sustainable development concept an important part of corporate strategy.

Purpose: The objective of this paper is to describe concepts and assumptions of predictive marketing analytics in reference to decision making. In particular, we highlight issues pertaining to the importance of data and the modern approach to data analysis and processing with the purpose of solving real marketing problems that companies encounter in business.

Methodology: In this paper authors provide two study cases showing how, and to what extent predictive marketing analytics work can be useful in practice e.g., investigation of the marketing environment. The two cases are based on organizations operating mainly on Web site domain. The fi rst part of this article, begins a discussion with the explanation of a general idea of predictive marketing analytics. The second part runs through opportunities
it creates for companies in the process of building strong competitive advantage in the market. The paper article ends with a brief comparison of predictive analytics versus traditional marketing-mix analysis.

Findings: Analytics play an extremely important role in the current process of business management based on planning, organizing, implementing and controlling marketing activities. Predictive analytics provides the actual and current picture of the external environment. They also explain what problems are faced with the company in business activities. Analytics tailor marketing solutions to the right time and place at minimum costs. In fact they control the effi ciency and simultaneously increases the effectiveness of the firm.

Practical implications: Based on the study cases comparing two enterprises carrying business activities in different areas, one can say that predictive analytics has far more been embraces extensively than classical marketing-mix analyses. The predictive approach yields greater speed of data collection and analysis, stronger predictive accuracy, better obtained competitor data, and more transparent models where one can understand the inner working of the model.

Originality: Authors describe the importance of analytics which enhance the decisions that the company makes as it executes strategies and plans, so that the company can be more effective and achieve better results. The key factor that enables to execute marketing strategies accurately and build competitive advantage in the future includes predictive modeling. The ability to predict probable futures allows us to shape the future, rather than
merely survive whatever it brings.

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to make the reader acquainted with the linguistic identity of modern companies, taking into account its complexity and the multiplicity of factors creating its character. The author presents the theoretical aspects associated with linguistic heteroglossia in companies of the 21st century as well as the practical possibilities of using organizational multilingualism, showing the opportunities and challenges associated
with the dialogism of organizations.

Methodology: The issue of heteroglossia in the business environment is discussed to show the various aspects determining the linguistic dimension of organizational identity, paying special attention to corporate polyphony at the individual and group level as well as its implications for creating the linguistic performance of modern companies. In terms of the theoretical dimension of this paper, based on the postmodern and systemic traditions
in management, it presents the relation “language-individual-organization”. The practical part of the paper presents the challenges associated with managing a heteroglossic organization.

Findings: The conducted discussion on the issue of heteroglossia characterizing linguistic identity allows to show the various aspects and factors of the investigated phenomenon, which are present on both the individual and social level. The described issues associated with organizational multilingualism point to effective ways of managing linguistically diversifi ed organizations.

Practical implications: The investigated topic can be interesting not only for those involved scientifically in management, linguistics and widely-understood social sciences, but also for practitioners working in companies with a complex cultural and linguistic structure. The described theory followed by the discussion help understand how heteroglossia may infl uence the development of organizations as well as its potential and how to avoid mistakes in managing organizations with a multidimensional linguistic capital.

Originality: Taking into account the already-conducted investigations on corporate linguistic identity, the paper offers an approach that has not yet been investigated.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of corporate posturing and deception in the area of social and environmental responsibility, its main types and causes and to assess the actual scale of the problem.

Methodology: The paper discusses major issues with references to existing literature and practical examples.

Findings: The main fi nding of this paper is that environmental and social responsibility statements accurately represent corporate commitment in the majority of cases. There are a number of reasons for this state of affairs. The most important of them are: easy consumer and investor access to various sustainability ratings, the rising scale of external verifi cation of social responsibility reports by independent third parties and stakeholder groups, and the rising liability for corporate social responsibility frauds.

Research limitations: The paper explores issues related to the problems and challenges of fair and accurate corporate social reporting. Many questions remain to be addressed.
Practical implications: Social and environmental branding could give companies competitive advantage as a growing number of consumers become more sustainability-conscious. It could also help overcome the increasing skepticism of consumers towards corporate social responsibility practices.

Originality: The paper raises the importance of the different conditions of corporate disinformation in the field of social and environmental responsibility and adds value to the existing body of literature on corporate greenwashing.

Purpose: The aim of the paper is to present a model of the network of relationships of an enterprise with entities around it in the virtual environment, with particular consideration of internet communities against the background of its earlier forms, along with a presentation of the crucial factors, which have influenced its shape. An additional aim is to identify the key factors that determine the relationships of the network.

Approach: The article is theoretical. The basis for discussion are literature studies in economics and management.

Findings: The results of the discussion indicate the manner in which new information communication technologies change the form and nature of relationships between companies and their external environment. The author puts forward a proposal concerning the development possibilities of these mutual relationships in two opposing directions, i.e. cooperation and destruction.

Originality: A model of business relationships in the virtual environment is presented. The author also suggests the key internal and external factors determining the form of the mutual relationships in the virtual environment

Purpose: The purpose of the article is to analyze some of the innovation drivers in Poland in comparison to the selected developed and developing countries, to present the general determinants and features of the “open innovation” concept, and finally to determine the most important incentives of the open knowledge ecosystem creation process in Poland.

Methodology: The research approach and methodology are based on the assumption that in the contemporary world economy innovativeness and competitiveness depend not only on traditional modes of technology transfer (e.g. foreign direct investment, license or arm’s length agreements), but also on knowledge absorption capabilities.

Findings: The transnational corporations have already perceived the knowledge creation potential of Internetbased digital communities, therefore they are strongly interested in the implementation of the “open innovation” concept in their business models. Based on completed survey results and a selected data comparative analysis one can conclude that the innovativeness of the Polish economy has not increased since the last two decades, and
future development prospects in this area are rather gloomy. It seems that the cornerstone of the open knowledge environment building process is a systemic change concerning citizen-state relations.

Originality: The value of the article stems from emphasizing the importance of trust and cooperation as the fundamental factors influencing growth of networked innovation capabilities of society. Moreover, without promoting the development of such social attitudes it is impossible to create a modern digital society, and to profit from ideas and knowledge circulating on the Web.

Purpose: The article is aimed at determining the business environment through an analysis of concepts of and approaches to organization management, and subsequently proposing a methodology for testing company profiles considering the preferences of the decision-makers.

Methodology: The research includes literature studies, critical discussion and personal research in the area of the meta-method for company testing.

Findings: The contemporary business environment, which is complex and dynamic, requires adequate measuring tools. Such tools, like meta-methods, should operate on quantitative and qualitative variables, as well as consider the time factor. While testing companies one should not omit the preferences of their decision-makers. The profile of an organization depends on their point of view.

Originality: The image of business environment, which is a discussion on issues involving, inter alia, sources of competitive advantage, professionalism of services, virtuality and telepresence, as well as behavioral and resource-based approaches to management. A proposition of testing profiles of small and medium companies considering the preferences of the decision-makers.

Purpose: The article concerns the contemporary approach to employees in organizations, and the research question is whether strategic thinking about employees is a possibility or necessity of the contemporary organization.

Methodology: Literature research was the basis for the deliberations and proposals, which were analyzed using several empirical studies conducted by Polish and international research centers.

Results: The presented discussion suggests that contemporary organizations should think strategically about their employees if they want to succeed. But this approach cannot be limited only to investing in employee competencies, but should also take into consideration building a working environment that ensures the success of both the organization and the worker.

Originality: The article suggests the necessity of a strategic approach regarding employees in the contemporary business world. At the same time it indicates that organizations cannot treat employees only with the organizational profits in mind. In strategic thinking about employees there must also be room for other benefits, such as the success of an employee.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to assess the competitiveness general landscape
of MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) in sub-Saharan Africa through
selected factors driving productivity and effectiveness in doing business, as elements
of the general business environment.

Design: To present a general outlook of competitiveness a narrow number of factors
was chosen – public institutions, infrastructure, women in business and strategic
partnership – corresponding to the contents of four Global Competitiveness Index of
the World Economic Forum pillars (public and private institutions, infrastructure,
labor market efficiency, business sophistication). The factors selected – elements of
the general business environment, have one common feature: all are state-performance-
dependent. The scientific method of research in this study, uses primary sources like the Global Competitiveness Report or The World Bank documents and data. Secondary sources
include a number of syntheses, calculations and interpretations of primary sources
presented by Polish and foreign scientific literature. Primary and secondary sources
gathered became a base for semiotic and semantic analyses.

Findings: The approach in this paper highlights the organization general business
environment elements set by the state and their adverse affect on business environment
of MSMEs across the region. Competitiveness’ paths then may be called
devious.

Originality: This study is at the intersection of two different strands relating to organization
theory: the business environment and competitiveness, and critical management
studies. A qualitative research, a thorough theoretical approach concerns
issues hardly available in Poland.

Purpose: The essay aims at identifying the role of local government in supporting R&D efforts and knowledge transfer mechanisms and diffusion practices within the biotechnology clusters in the Flanders and Wallonia regions (local knowledge exchange and learning), as well as the role of informal interaction between the cluster actors.

Methodology: The main research method chosen for this study was qualitative analysis,
based on interviews with a series of researchers, academic scientists and technology
transfer officers from the Flanders and Wallonia regions. This was undertaken in September-October 2011 as a part of the COST/STRIKE initiative of the European Commission.

Findings: The high patent dynamics within the biotechnology sector is explained
by growing investments into R&D, highly qualified human capital, and geographical
factors such as cluster development. The answers of interviewed experts confirm
the view that the importance of geography should differ by technology type. The importance grows quickly for technologies undergoing radical innovations. Regional policy should therefore focus on promoting innovation through R&D support, improving the quality of human capital and the overall business environment (cluster).