Purpose: The article explores changes in the institutional autonomy and accountability resulting from university reforms carried out over a period of 28 years under the influence of the traditional public administration and new public management logic.

Design/methodology/approach: This qualitative study uses rich empirical material, which includes archival documents as well as 16 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with deans, professors, representatives of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, and HEI experts. For analysis, we used the general inductive approach. Institutional logic has been used as the theoretical framework to analyze changes in resource allocation, autonomy, and accountability of HEIs.

Findings: Following the idea of reform as routine, our study shows that the implemented reforms have proven ineffective in comprehensively increasing the autonomy and accountability of HEIs and that they tend to turn into a routine. However, over the past 30 years, a certain increase in autonomy, combined with accountability shifts from input toward output control mechanisms can be observed. An important finding of this research is also the limited understanding of the concept of accountability by the top management of universities and by the ministry’s representatives. Moreover, this illustrates that accountability is understood only as a formal obligation to report to the funding agency and is treated as an integral part of the Polish HE landscape, increasing from reform to reform.

Originality/Value: This article explores the evolution of the Polish state funding systems of universities and analyzes the development from a stable traditional funding model – that was in place before the collapse of the communist system – to a complex multi-tier system and to recent attempts at reforming the HE field, aimed at increasing the autonomy and accountability of Polish universities. More efforts should be made by policymakers to create a sustainable balance between autonomy and accountability in the HE field.

Purpose: Because of the growing interest in the literature in education and political skill as facilitators of firm performance, this article aims to reveal whether there is a moderating role of women entrepreneurs’ political skill on the relationship between their education level and firm performance when firm- and entrepreneur-level characteristics remain under control.

Methodology: The study was conducted in Istanbul, Kocaeli, and Bursa, cities with the lowest gender gap in Turkey. The participants of the questionnaires were 291 entrepreneurs who are members of the Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey (KAGIDER), the Women Entrepreneur Members of Endeavor Turkey, and the TOBB Women Entrepreneurs. Hierarchical regression analysis was performed to analyze the dataset.

Findings: When firm- and the entrepreneur-level characteristics remain under control, women entrepreneurs’ political skill shows a moderator role in the relationship between women entrepreneurs’ education level and firm performance.

Practical Implications: A bachelor’s degree or higher, along with political skill, allow women
entrepreneurs to increase their firm performance. Furthermore, the higher the political skill, the higher the effect of education level on firm performance.

Originality/Value: This is the first study to investigate the moderating role of political skill of women entrepreneurs in the relationship between education level and firm performance. Moreover, political influence and human capital theories are jointly applied to the theoretical model.

Purpose: The main aim of the study is the analysis of the awareness of competency needs in businesses in relation to the development of Industry 4.0 and the possibility of meeting those needs within business cooperation networks.

Methodology: We formed a model of competency needs for companies operating as part of Industry 4.0 in Poland, considering the needs of managers and other staff members. The model was then employed in empirical studies. The pilot empirical study was conducted using two methods: a quantitative CAWI method, which covered 81 companies from the metal processing and machine industry in Podlaskie Voivodship, and a qualitative IDI on a sample of 25 organizations.

Findings: Manufacturing companies are not fully aware of the competency needs related to Industry 4.0, covered by the established model. Moreover, we found that the most strongly felt competency needs – both by managers and other employees – may not be met within the business cooperation network. In order to satisfy these needs, partners must be found outside the studied network. The business cooperation network that we studied may only satisfy the less noticeable competency needs.

Implications: The developed competency model should be studied and further verified, including testing with a larger sample of companies, specifying the behavioral competency gaps related to Industry 4.0, their filling in using formal education systems, lifelong education, internships, and apprenticeships. The need for further research is dictated by the intensity of processes occurring within the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Value: The pilot nature of the study and its limited sample do not undermine its contribution to the body of knowledge as it confirms that the competencies of managers and other staff members are one of the key determinants of successful implementation of the Industry 4.0 concept in Poland.

Purpose: This study aims to explore the role open data assumes in social innovation initiatives that combat the effects of Covid-19, in which quantitative information about these projects is complemented with the analysis of open data innovation capabilities.

Methodology: A mixed methods approach is adopted. Initially, quantitative data regarding the number of innovative projects is extracted from the OPSI framework. Then, in a second phase, qualitative data from each project is explored to explore the open data innovation capabilities offered by each initiative.

Results: The results reveal that most social innovation initiatives focus on the area of data visualization dashboards and open datasets. However, some projects address other areas, e.g. hackathons, service availability, and tourism information.

Implications: Covid-19 profoundly affects the lives of people and businesses, and open data can assume a determinant role in mitigating these effects and improve information transparency and collaboration between public and private entities.

Originality/Value: This study is relevant for the establishment of supportive public policies that promote the emergence of open-data-driven initiatives to mitigate the effects of Covid-19 in several areas such as the economy, education, and leisure.

Purpose: The aim of the article is to examine the selected determinants of the expected rate of return on human capital.
Methodology: We conducted an anonymous survey of expected salaries among the Accounting and Controlling students at the Cracow University of Economics, which provided a unique setting for the analysis. On the basis of collected data for the cost of living and the cost of professional education for every participant, we used the human capital model developed by Dobija to compute the perceived level of the human capital of each individual. Then, we compared the expected salaries with the perceived levels of human capital and computed expected rates of return on human capital. The following research methods are used: literature review, statistical tests, econometric modeling.
Findings: On the sample of 754 respondents, we found that male students expect a higher rate of return on their human capital than female students, while older students expect a lower rate of return on human capital than younger students.
Research limitations: Only one field of study was used to measure the determinants of the expected rate of return on human capital.
Originality: We contribute to the salary expectations and human capital literature by identifying a significant gender salary expectations gap that holds even after considering individually assessed costs of living and professional education. Our findings are consistent with the well-known observation that women tend to expect lower salaries than men.

Purpose: The technological progress of production processes causes changes in the social structure
of work, i.e. modifies the content of most, if not all, workplaces. In that respect, the identification
of changes in the intensity of creativeness, the level of education, and the experience of employees
in production processes and occupational tasks is a particularly important issue. The article investigates
the interdependence among work creativity, education, and job experience of employees of
one of the municipal companies operating in Poland.

Methodology: The study employs firm-level data covering over 2,200 observations. The study gathered
data from three major internal sources of information: the scopes of responsibilities of organizational
positions, personnel documentation regarding the individual level of education and
professional experience, and the results of interviews with executive staff and employees on particular
posts. The research proceedings base on document analysis, structured interviews, teamwork
methods, and a classification technique.

Results: Research revealed that the complexity of work increased in the company. Jobs requiring
higher levels of creativity are occupied by employees with relatively higher education. However,
their average level of education in the analyzed period decreased as opposed to jobs that require
relatively lower levels of creativity. The analysis of interdependence between creativity and job
experience identified that there emerged a relatively shorter average job experience for employees
who perform cognitive work. Moreover, the average job experience increased in the group of employees
who perform routine manual and non-routine cognitive work.

Implications: The study refers to the job polarization issue by confirming the tendencies of labor
markets. It also addresses issues concerned with technological progress, although they are not
confirmed by research in this paper.

Originality/Value: The main contribution of the paper is the interesting dataset gathered. Furthermore,
the paper addresses an interesting question where empirical research at the firm level is
lacking, particularly municipal company.

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: Since the higher education environment has become highly competitive, the application of marketing principles to the education environment becomes increasingly evident. In order to attract new students and continue business, the institutional brand also gains on importance. Considering the scant literature on the influence of the perceptions of service quality dimensions on brand equity in general and higher education in particular, this exploratory study seeks to determine whether the SERVPERF dimensions of service quality make significant influencers of the overall brand equity of select (South African) universities, and whether the overall service quality significantly influences the overall brand equity.

Design: The authors conducted a survey among a judgmental sample of 400 students from two selected university campuses, using the SERVPERF scale. The data were analyzed with inferential statistical methods, such as multiple regression analysis, with the help of SPSS.

Findings: Tangibles and Empathy were significant and positive influencers of the students’ perception of the institutions’ overall brand equity and the overall service quality as a significant predictor of the overall brand equity. It also became evident that the overall service quality has a significant and positive influence on the overall brand equity when it comes to the students’ perceptions of the surveyed universities.

Implications: Tangibles and Empathy must be closely monitored and carefully managed, while the important role that service quality plays in the overall sense in increasing brand equity perceptions implies that – in the branding efforts of higher education institutions – management and leadership should pay particular attention to offering high levels of service quality to increase the value of their brands.

Research limitations: Only two campuses from one public higher education institution in South Africa was included in the survey, thus any generalization of the research findings must be circumspect.

Originality/value: Management and leadership of higher education institutions must know the service quality dimensions which promote the brand of the institution and manage them to promote a positive image of the institution since these are the dimensions of quality emphasized by the students.

Purpose: The aim of the study is to evaluate the influence of team project experiences of students (presence and role of a leader; fairness in team projects; conditions supporting teamwork created by a university) on their attitudes towards teamwork, especially the perception of teamwork effectiveness and the preference of working in teams.

Methodology: In the study the quantitative research was done among master degree Polish students of Management (105 questionnaires). The measures used for the study were developed specifcally for the study referring to the previous research in the feld.

Findings: Results indicate that leaders in team projects and conditions supporting teamwork are connected with the students’ perception of teamwork effectiveness, while the fairness in team projects is connected with students’ preference of working collectively.

Research implications: We conclude that in order to develop a positive attitude towards teamwork, the teamwork projects should be better supported by the instructors (especially supporting the emergence of leader(s) and minimising the problem of free riders) and the university should create a climate that facilitates teamworking, otherwise team projects might negatively influence students’ attitude towards collective work.

Value: On the labour market the teamwork skills are one of the most important skills of employees, as the team-based organizational designs are becoming the norm in work organization. The study is contributing to the understanding of the relations between student experiences and their attitudes as well as the role played by high education in the development of these attitudes. Some previous research in Anglo-Saxon culture countries indicate that team project assignments realised by students during studies might even hinder their attitudes to teamwork and their willingness to work in teams in the future.

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to better understand why some SMEs who pursue a niche strategy on the international scale are more effective with a differentiation via innovation while others with marketing differentiation.

Methodology: Therefore, the paper studies the effectiveness of different points of differentiation (innovation, marketing) of hidden champion type of companies: (1) from the perspective of the unknowns of the key success factors in the specifc market segment, and (2) from the perspective of the professional mindset/education of the strategist.

Findings: The results show that differentiation via innovation positively impacts frm performance when there are many market unknowns over key success factors, whereas marketing differentiation positively impacts frm performance when there are few market unknowns over key success factors. On the other hand, when top management earns a business education, the impact of marketing differentiation on frm performance is signifcant, positive, and strong. The effectiveness of differentiation via innovation does not depend on education.

Research limitations/implications: These results mostly consider the hidden champion type of companies, which prefer not to reveal themselves or their data to the public. The transferability of this research is thus limited.

Originality/value: This paper studies the hidden champion type of companies, which usually receive little attention from researchers, through the lens of differentiation via innovation and marketing differentiation as two distinct ways of competing as their effectiveness is contingent on the market unknowns.

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: The article addressed the problem of relationships between university funding and efficiency on the one hand and the quality of teaching and research on the other.

Methodology: The measurement of teaching and research quality in Polish universities was derived from two sources: 1) evaluation scores of teaching quality given to universities by the Polish Accreditation Committee, and 2) the research category grades given to university departments or units by the Polish Committee for Evaluation of Scientific Units. Subsequently, the quality measurements were correlated with financial indicators and efficiency scores obtained from data envelopment analysis.

Findings: The correlation and regression results indicated that public universities that have received higher scores of teaching quality simultaneously have higher average scientific categories. There was also a substantial relationship between the revenue per student and the revenue per teacher and variables describing quality but the regression analysis exhibited opposite directions regarding the type of quality indicator.

Research limitations/implications: The quality of teaching and research at universities was assessed despite the limited availability of internal information gathered from higher education institutions (HEIs).

Practical implications: The authorities of a university can simultaneously track the improvement of quality or financial efficiency without losing their interdependence when reforms of HEI operations are conducted.

Originality: The study proposed new measurements of quality derived from external evaluation bodies and investigated the relations of these measures with selected financial and efficiency indicators.

Purpose: The theory of endogenous growth suggests a number of relations between income inequality and human capital. However, empirical evidence in this field is scarce. Therefore, in this paper we aim to demonstrate the existence of interdependencies between income inequality and human capital across OECD countries.

Methodology: We present findings of the endogenous growth theory on the mechanisms linking inequality with human capital. Subsequently, we attempt to verify these links empirically using the regression function estimated by means of the generalized method of moments (GMM). The empirical analysis is based on panel data from 1995–2010.

Findings: The results of the study reveal the existence of a negative relationship between income inequality and health indicators (infant mortality and maternal mortality). However, we did not reach an authoritative conclusion about the relationship between income inequality and quantitative indicators of educational achievement.

Research limitations: Research is limited to the sample of OECD countries. Interdependencies between income inequality and human capital could be captured more clearly using a broader sample.

Originality: This paper presents one of few studies testing the relation between human capital and income inequality. The use of high-quality empirical data on inequality (SWIID data) and the generalized method of moments made it possible to contribute new arguments to the discussion of empirical analyses of these economic categories.

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: To explain the conventions and conditions for implementing internationalization of a university as a strategic course for its development, as well as to provide universal strategic scenarios for expansion of the university abroad as well as to outline the factors contributing to success.

Methodology: The paper while conceptual in nature, is based on the diagnosis and analysis of the market for university education in Poland. Studies of specialized literature highlighted the main phenomena conditioning performance and trends in higher education which constituted the general background for deliberations and detailed projections.

Conclusion: The author underscores strategic conditions and decision-making procedures for a University’s expansion into foreign markets of higher education. He emphasizes the major opportunities and risks associated with the university going international. The proposals are not only cognitive but also can be the basis for application in the realism of Polish universities.

Originality: The activities of foreign universities in the domestic higher education market is a fact which is existent in many countries. This paper proposes a general concept for the internationalization strategy of a University in conjunction with a scenario accompanied by a detailed analysis and decision-making procedure. In the literature, this aspect of development of the university has been expanded in accordance with the objectives
international marketing.

Purpose: This text is a review of the results of a research project on Polish entrepreneurs and Polish enterprises in Silicon Valley, conducted by the author in Silicon Valley in The United States in the years 2007–2012.

Methodology: 81 participants took part in the research (members of 13 different companies and several government and third sector organizations). Among the organizations represented in the project there were companies established in the Valley by Poles, Polish companies present in the Valley, as well as institutions that are active in promotion and support of Polish business presence in the United States, especially in Silicon Valley.

Findings: The research indicates that there are three main areas for improvement in Poland, if it is to be home to companies characterized by a potential for rapid growth (as the ones that Silicon Valley is famous for). The first one concerns cultural aspects associated with low tolerance of risk and social censure of those who fail in business. The second includes financing, in particular limited access to venture capital and business angels networks. The third one refers to business education of entrepreneurs, for whom gaining practical experiences in world-class centers of entrepreneurship, such as Silicon Valley, is of utmost importance.

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to identify the important role of the family in shaping the values and attitudes of the young generation and especially to answer the question of whether family can be a democracy.

Methodology: This article reviews the current positions on democracy in the family, and the results of the discussion that took place during the conference: “Time to develop. Strategic thinking in work and everyday life”. The subject of the discussion was decision-making issues and achieving objectives in family life.

Findings: There is no doubt nowadays that family is important for a child, or regarding the significance of the development and educational environment of a child. The personality of a child is greatly influence by the parents. However, this influence only lasts for several years. Specific parental attitudes affect the school achievements of children, as well as the development of emotional stability and socio-emotional maturity, the formation
of self-image and that of the peer group.

Originality: The analysis of the problem is only an attempt to signal the important role of family decisionmaking, the development of values and sophistication in the young generation, as well as taking responsibility for one’s own actions. Based on the analysis of the family, the changes taking place in this area could be seen as a necessary effect of changes in the social system.