Purpose: The article evaluates the associative relationship between international supervisory board experts and foreign ownership, along with the experts’ influence on the financial and operating performance of firms. The study was based on data collected for 257 companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in 2010–2015.

Methodology: The dataset was built as a panel, and then generalized least squares regression models with a fixed or random effect were employed to test hypotheses.

Findings: The findings of the study clearly show that the presence of investigated firms in foreign markets positively affects company performance. Moreover, models with dependent variables ROA and ROS show that supervisory board members with foreign experience positively affect profitability indicators of firms that do not operate on foreign markets. The data analyses reveal that international experts are more effective advisors for companies that conduct no business activities on foreign markets. Furthermore, the results show a positive moderate association between the share of international experts in supervisory boards and the share of foreign ownership in the company.

Originality: The article contributes to the understanding of determinants and consequences of the presence of international experts in supervisory boards and company internationalization.

Purpose: The study aims to identify the main directions of intragroup cooperation, along with crucial areas of cooperation in business groups, and develops theoretical models of cooperation in a business group.

Methodology: The qualitative approach is applied in the study that is based on the cross-case analysis of four business groups operating in Poland.

Findings: Results indicate that business groups cooperate mainly vertically (cooperation between the core company and affiliates) in operations. Horizontal (among affiliates) and vertical cooperation in other areas – marketing, R&D, finance, and human resources – are not so intense. The study enables us to propose a theoretical framework of cooperation models in business groups based on two dimensions – the direction of cooperation and the number of cooperation areas. It leads to the identification of four models: two-sided loose cooperation, two-sided tight cooperation, multi-sided loose cooperation, and multi-sided tight cooperation.

Implications: Identification of main directions of cooperation in business groups, along with areas of cooperation have implications for both researchers and managers. Findings of the study and the theoretical framework of cooperation models in business groups can be used as a basis for the further theoretical exploration of the organization and functioning of business groups in the economy and a strategic decision guideline for managers.

Originality: The literature focuses mainly on the interorganizational cooperation between dispersedly owned standalone entities. Studies on intraorganizational cooperation in business groups are limited. The study aims to provide a better understanding of cooperation between entities in business groups.

Purpose: To explore how the predecessors and successors of Polish family businesses use and refine existing knowledge, identify knowledge deficiencies or absences, and create new knowledge during the working together stage.
Methodology/approach: The article builds on qualitative empirical material gathered in 2018 and 2019 with a problem-centered interview approach aiming to capture the complex and potentially diverging realities of both generations. Altogether, 48 preliminary interview questionnaires were completed and, subsequently, 46 interviews were conducted.
Findings: The study captured that the use of existing knowledge during the Working Together period is significantly supported by the fact that the old and young generation share several unarticulated beliefs, mental models, and behaviors. However, the identification of knowledge gaps and the creation of new knowledge are heavily hindered by the fear of confrontation and only declarative – instead of active – interest of the older generation in creating new knowledge.
Originality/value: The article bridges the gap between the literature on organizational ambidexterity and family business by empirically investigating the intergenerational dynamics of owners’ families regarding knowledge creation. Moreover, we introduce the concept of intergenerational familial ambidexterity.

Purpose: The article presents business models developed in organizations of the “new cooperativism” trend, whose application leads to a bottom-up solution of important social problems at the local level and, in a broader perspective, stimulation of sustainable development.

Methodology: The adopted methodology uses a qualitative approach. The research was conducted in the form of case studies of four organizations following “new cooperativism,” based on in-depth interviews, observations, and analyses of organizational documents and various types of publicly available materials.

Findings: The study showed that “new cooperativism” organizations use in their business models the old practices developed by classical cooperatives, which work well in today’s conditions and have the potential to provide a positive impact on important socioeconomic dysfunctions, which can be fully implemented through modern technologies.

Research Limitations: The limitations typical of the case study method entail the uncertainty of results replication, which disallows their broad generalization. However, the obtained results indicate the need to conduct a scientific diagnosis of emerging collaborative grassroots organizations and the importance of their participation in the three-sector economic concept of the state.

Originality: The article and its conclusions are based on empirical research of the practical effectiveness of business models used in organizations of the “new cooperativism” trend.

Purpose: The fundamental objective of this article is to discern whether business model maturity is perceived through the prism of the ability to deal with unexpected challenges, overcome unprecedented threats, and use emerging business opportunities (agility) or – perhaps – more as a feature of the organization, which makes a business model less vulnerable to unpredictable external changes or sets it in a better position to make it respond effectively to these changes (flexibility).

Methodology: The reconnaissance of opinions requires the creation of a catalog of desiderata that significantly identify agility and flexibility. Theoretical and design layers will use a method of reconstruction and interpretation of the subject literature supported by a discussion within a group of deliberately selected experts. This will be reflected in a set of parameters, on the one hand, characteristic of the categories of agility and flexibility and, on the other hand, reflecting business model maturity.

Findings: The conducted research allows us to state that mature business models – as implemented by the surveyed companies – are perceived rather through the prism of the strategic ability of enterprises to quickly adapt to unforeseen and sudden changes on the market (agility category).

Originality: The article includes not only academic postulates of agility or flexibility but also practical tips that enable constructing guidelines for decision-makers and managers of the agricultural machinery sector. The study carries a charge of a theoretical and empirical study. It takes into account knowledge and expert experience.

Purpose: The article is a review aimed at presenting the concept of and available knowledge on
teal organizations and at indicating further research objectives.
Methodology: Research methods employed in the study included a systematic review of the literature, along with its critical analysis and logical deduction.
Findings: The analysis shows that teal management – based on self-organization – may prove to be an opportunity for companies to adapt to changing circumstances. The teal organization concept is a true revolution in modern management, as it rejects all systems and previously immutable rules of the business world. The subject requires further empirical research.
Research limitations: Limitations apply to both the concept of teal organizations itself and the literature review. Since the teal organization concept was established in 2015, there is a lack of reviews and scientific studies or in-depth empirical research on this topic. Thus, the articles included in the review do not exhaust the issue.
Implications: The issues discussed in the article require further scientific research, primarily empirical. The said research should cover various aspects, such as building a culture of trust and self-organization, leadership (3.0), management through values, and new management methods.
Value: This is the first publication in this field that falls within this research gap. This study constitutesa significant contribution to the development of research on the concept of teal organizations.

Purpose: Strategy determines the patterns of internationalization. The speed, scale, and scope of
internationalization are important dimensions from the perspective of firms’ behaviors and activities.
The aim of the article is to identify and verify the relationship between the international
strategy and its impact on three dimensions of the studied phenomenon.

Methodology: The article uses a quantitative approach. The survey was conducted on a sample of
355 internationalized firms from Poland, varying in size.

Findings: The analysis with t test and U test (ANOVA) shows a correlation between a company’s
international strategy as a planning instrument and the speed and scope of internationalization.

Research limitations/implications: While considering a firm’s development, especially its international
growth, one should plan the activities related to entering into foreign markets. The results
presented in this article are just a starting point for further analyses. In an attempt to eliminate its
limitations, further research should focus on building a comprehensive model that includes the
remaining components of international strategy and other categories that stimulate internationalization
processes.

Originality: The originality of this article lies in three elements: (i) the article comprehensively
captures the scale, scope, and speed of internationalization at the same time, (ii) the strategy is
introduced as a determining factor of the scale, scope, and speed of internationalization, and (iii)
the article enriches empirical studies about emerging markets such as Poland.

Purpose: Entrepreneurship is a vital tool for the economic development of any country. As a fiel of research, entrepreneurship has become a diversified area of study. A plethora of studies appeared that investigate the antecedents of entrepreneurial intention, most of them focus on personality traits and other psychological factors. However, the studies focus less on practical entrepreneurial education such as internship and business incubation. Thus, the current study seeks to fill this gap by empirically investigating the impact of business incubators and internship programs on student’s entrepreneurial intention in the Pakistani context.

Methodology: The authors collected data through a structured questionnaire from students and ran partial least square structural equation modeling technique by SmartPLS software. Findings: The results show that business incubators and internship programs have a strong and positive statistically significant impact on entrepreneurial intentions.

Implication: The current study can help policy-makers get a better insight on entrepreneurship so as to improve its innovation, proactivity, and risk-taking ability and how these factors can amend the lack of entrepreneurial awareness among business students.

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: This paper aims to analyse selected aspects of the marketing strategy of the frst and biggest network of self-service shops with organic products in Poland – Organic Farma Zdrowia.

Methodology: The adopted methodology involves a qualitative approach. The case study is based on an analysis of company documents and marketing communication, especially that offered on its website and in its social media channels.

Findings: The company specializes in distribution of organic products in Poland. It has gone through organic growth, acquisitions, attracting a Dutch investment fund, and entering the NewConnect stock exchange. It operates based on the model of multichannel distribution, combining physical and online retailing. The assortment consists of 4,000 products, including organic food, cosmetics, and cleaning aids. The company has managed to create 3 own label product lines. The online retailer belonging to the company (organic24.pl) is organized in a professional way, although some improvements are possible. In 2015, the company engaged in ambitious marketing projects.

Practical implications: The fndings may be useful for the Organic Farma Zdrowia company as certain modifcations in its marketing communication are recommended. Other companies operating in the sector may also beneft from the analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the business in question. Furthermore, our case study may offer a framework of reference for researchers interested in this area.

Originality: This is the frst study to examine the strategy and marketing activities of Organic Farma Zdrowia, a major player in the sector of organic food distribution in Poland.

Purpose: The increasing pace of technological progress, hyper-competitiveness, volatility of markets, dominant in the contemporary society all cause signifcant changes in the approach to innovation and lead to the emergence of a new generation of models of innovation processes. An open innovation model is based on a systematic search for as well as research and use of various sources of opportunities for innovations that offer commercial potential. The main objective of this article is to analyse the possibilities of application of models of open innovation in management of micro, small, and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Poland. This article intends to explore the essence of open innovation by values, its inception, and conditions for its implementation in the management process specifc to the SME sector.

Methodology: The study has been based on in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted among business managers/owners responsible for innovation development of SMEs in Poland (16 interviews in total).

Findings: SMEs usually do not have their own research and development (R&D) departments, but need external support and R&D solutions tailored to their needs. SMEs need innovations and skills, which requires close cooperation with different partners. In order for SMEs to beneft from innovation processes, a structured cooperation not only with scientists and researchers, but also with other market partners needs to be established and intensifed. It changes both the creation of intellectual capital and the ways to manage it.

Originality: The new approach in the context of management of innovation is now one of the key challenges faced by smaller businesses. It is necessary to make changes in the approach to integration of external sources of innovation with the potential and resources at the disposal of a given company.

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: The goal of this paper is to develop a framework describing the mechanisms which explain how and when CSR engagement affects company’s bottom line, based on a review of the business case for CSR literature.

Approach: This article is conceptual and based on literature review. By using a CSR stage development model, behavioral and stakeholder perspectives, it offers a descriptive multi­dimensional integrative framework of the business case for CSR.

Findings: The fndings show that the relationship between engagement in CSR activities and corporate performance (CP) depends on a CSR development stage, managerial interpretation of CSR issues, stakeholder management model and moderating factors.

Originality: This article integrates disconnected models and conceptualizations in the subject literature and contributes to the theoretical discussion by arguing that type and scale of benefts from CSR activity progress along the stages of organizational CSR development. Moreover, it also shows that the CSR­CP relationship depends on internal and external factors (mediators and moderators). It therefore supports the contingency argument.

Purpose: This study empirically investigated the factors that affect customer retention in the airline industry in North Cyprus. These factors were service quality attributes, perceived safety, customer satisfaction, loyalty reward program, relationship commitment and customer loyalty. The study also investigated four different groups for purposes of travel (business, education, vacation and family visit) in the empirical model.

Methodology: A descriptive approach was chosen to conduct this research. A quanhip between customer retention and the related study factors; however, not all of these relations are significant. The results also showed that the different purposes of travel had different influences on the variables regarding the positive and significant relations between them. Some independent variables had a negative effect on the dependent variables.

Conclusions: This research was limited to one group and place: the students of Eastern Mediterranean University in North Cyprus.

Originality: This study connected the retention, loyalty, satisfaction and service quality factors as attributes. In addition, this research was the frst to include other independent factors affecting satisfaction and loyalty in a comparison between four different groups regarding the purpose of travel in the airline industry.

Purpose: Summarize the experience of using modern methods in the business plan with the application of economic and mathematical modeling.

Methodology: Theoretical and methodological basis of the study is the basic principles of economic theory, agricultural economics and scientific research of leading home and foreign scholars on the theory of planning.

Originality: This further justifies business planning processes in agriculture from the standpoint of raising economic protection of farmers. The methodology for assessing farm income for planned indicators through the application of fuzzy numbers method in business planning is improved.

Purpose: This study argued that desipite what the content of the debate might suggest, there is
a conflict between the two concepts of rigour and relevance and their actual relationship is a symbiotic
one. Drawing on a definition of symbiosis, the study showed that the concepts of rigour and
relevance are actually two separate “organisms” that are bound by a long term relationship that
benefits both sides.

Methodology: The study reviewed selected literature concerning rigour and relevance and presented
the historical development of the debate and theoretical models of the relationship between the
two concepts.

Implications: The implications were presented from a PhD student’s perspective and included
suggestions on how to approach the issues of rigour and relevance in the research project and how
to cope with their seemingly conflicting nature.

Originality: The originality of this study resulted from approaching the issue of rigour and relevance
from a biology perspective and extending the definition of symbiosis to the relationship between
the two concepts.

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 research was an assessment of the experiences of Polish owners of family companies in organizing family meetings as mechanisms of family governance as well as evaluating the usefulness of solutions developed in this sphere for both family and company.

Methodology: The character of the conducted research was qualitative. The main technique used to gather data involved interviews. A total of thirty nine respondents from twenty companies were questioned. Nineteen were representatives of the older generation while twenty represented the younger second generation of owners of family businesses.

Findings: Research results indicated the rather extensive use by the examined owner families of family meetings to discuss company matters. Depending on their needs, they developed various models ranging from the ad hoc bringing up of company matters to the transformation of such meetings into formal, family meetings of the management board organized in company offi ces. Regardless of organizational form, family meetings were an important forum for the exchange of information and views on the functioning of the company among family members. The experiences of the examined families of owners in building family governance systems, understood as a complex of structures and mechanisms making possible the maintenance of a balance between tensions stemming from economic and emotional ties among family members, both involved in the company and outside it, remain small.

Research limitations: The qualitative character of the research, including the size of the examined sample (twenty family companies represented by thirty nine representatives), means that the generalizations made for the purposes of this study refer only to the experiences and opinions of the interviewed respondents.

Originality: The research performed is the fi rst of its kind devoted to family meetings as a component of the system of family governance created in the family forum of owners of family companies. At present, questions of family governance subject to Polish conditions are not a popular research fi eld undertaken with respect to family companies. This is dictated by the current phase of development of most domestic family ventures, where no
signifi cant diversifi cation of stakeholders on the family level has as yet occurred. However, this should in no way suggest that Polish family businesses are not acquiring their fi rst experiences in the sphere of family governance that, in the future, may prove useful in the forming of more complex structures.