Purpose: To draw research attention to service management (SM) as a subdiscipline of management science. Service management offers a different, more customer-value-centric perspective that is scarcely present in management science studies, rooted in manufacturing and production management. The purpose is also to define the scope of SM as an area of research in management science.

Approach: This is a conceptual article that foregrounds ideas and arguments found in the subject literature. The article analyzes the ideas to build a coherent structure and context for future empirical research.

Findings: Service management as a research area evolved from being a subset of monitoring/production management to the forefront of management science thought. Service management provides management science with the capability for staying relevant in the practicing management community. Service management’s importance in management science will continue to grow as there is an increasing number of companies with customer offers called “aaS” (as a Service). Service management presents a clear scope that provides another management science research area and enables it to evolve further.

Value: This article is not the first one to touch on the topic and evolution of SM. However, it is the first one to present SM as part of management science’s evolution as an academic discipline and to highlight the dependencies and connections between the two. The article defines what SM is, why it matters for management theorists and practitioners, and how it will enable management science to grow further.

Purpose: Studies find that psychosocial safety climate is positively associated with workplace safety behaviors. However, the mechanism through which psychosocial safety climate exerts its effect needs further investigation. Therefore, this study investigated the indirect effect of work self-efficacy in the relationship between psychosocial safety climate and workplace safety behaviors.

Methodology: Participants, who were 155 bank workers (F=66.5%; mean age= 33.9, SD=6.4), responded to an online survey of workplace safety behavior scale (WSBS), psychosocial safety climate scale (PSC-12), and work self-efficacy scale (WSES).

Results: Results from correlational analyses revealed that psychosocial safety climate positively related to workplace safety behaviors. Moreover, work self-efficacy positively correlated to workplace safety behaviors. The mediation analysis using Hayes Process Macros indicated an indirect effect of work self-efficacy in the relationship between psychosocial safety climate and workplace safety behaviors. Creating a psychosocially safe climate may enhance bank workers’ safety behaviors in the period after the Covid-19 pandemic.

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 critically reflects on the issue of age in workforces in human resource management and related fields. Age is widely used by scholars to denote the entire workforce of a company. The vast remit of this concept has resulted in many ongoing debates, such as young vs. old employees, mature employees, the aging workforce, as well as various stereotypes pertaining to age in academic research.

Methodology: The paper reviews recent academic literature: articles from peer-reviewed journals, written in English, and published in 2000–2018. Keywords and elimination criteria are explained in the corresponding section.

Findings: Research in this field shows the use of inhomogeneous groups in accordance to their age, which ultimately threatens to hinder the comparability of undertaken studies in this domain.

Research implications: There exists no clear consensus regarding the age-markers or barriers used to distinguish the workforce of an organization or to form groups of employees of a given age-cluster.

Originality: This text is the first review of studies in the field, in which age has been the main criterion to distinguish workforce. The review encourages dialog among scholars from various disciplines as a way to lessen discrepant categorizations.

Purpose: A wide range of approaches to defning, modelling, and measuring international competitiveness can be found in the scholarly literature across various felds of management and economics. Such number of perspectives enhances scientifc research, but confuses public debate. Despite certain defnitional ambiguities, there is a consensus that international competitiveness is a multi­ ­faceted concept that should be analysed at different levels of aggregation: company level (micro), industry/cluster level (mezzo) and national level (macro). This paper addresses international competitiveness at all three levels and tracks the interlinkages between them with the aim to fnd a common ground for understanding this economic phenomenon in a systemic perspective: as a complex whole.

Methodology: The paper constitutes an in­depth literature review, forming a basis for a new approach to categorizing the main perspectives on international competitiveness. A synthesis of the latest international competitiveness literature sources has been performed in order to categorize the existing approaches to defning, modelling, and measuring international competitiveness. Following Chandhuri’s and Ray’s (1997) two­dimensional classifcation approach (the level of analysis and the variable), the paper introduces new insights into the existing taxonomy of international competitiveness.

Findings: Based upon the developed taxonomy, the paper offers an interdisciplinary, multi­layered model of international competitiveness.

Originality: The offered fndings enhance the active shaping of modern competitiveness research directions to support the competitiveness policy on the regional and national level.

Purpose: Crowdfunding is a global phenomenon of rising signifcance and impact on different areas of business and social life, investigated across many academic disciplines. The goal of the article is to present the variety of methods applied in crowdfunding research, assess their strengths and weaknesses, offer the typology of methodological approaches, and suggest the most promising direction for further studies. Research limitations/implications: The overview renders crowdfunding studies more accessible for potential newcomers to the feld and strengthens transdisciplinary discussion on crowdfunding. Despite the broad variety of the analyzed articles that reflect the newest trends, the sample is not representative in the statistical meanings of the term.

Design/methodology: The paper is based on the review of the most recent academic and industry literature on crowdfunding and own analysis of data presented by crowdfunding platforms’ operators.

Findings: The article incorporates interrelations of methods, goals of inquiries, and types of results to propose a typology of methodological approaches that researchers currently apply to crowdfunding: from platform­centred to multi­sited. The authors discuss the advantages and limitations of the identifed approaches with the use of multiple examples of recent and most influential studies from the feld and propose the most urgent direction of future inquiries.

Originality/value: The article offers the frst review of methodologies applied in the transdisciplinary area of crowdfunding studies and connects it to broader methodological discussions about transdisciplinary research on the digital phenomena. The review strengthens the transdisciplinary dialog on crowdfunding.

Purpose: There have been numerous studies analyzing the role of psychic (and cultural) distance in the internationalization process focused on relationships between distance and market selection, entry mode, or subsidiary performance. Still, cumulative findings of this body of research are mixed and inconclusive. Thus, this review aims for a rigorous presentation of past research on psychic distance, with particular focus on the aspects of international business operations affected by psychic distance in the light of empirical studies.

Methodology: This review encompasses 55 papers, both empirical and conceptual, published between 1990–2015 in top IB, international marketing, and management journals. In general, the papers under review were published in 27 journals, with the vast majority of them being published in 2005 or later. The vast majority of reviewed papers are of empirical character (47 papers), while eight are conceptual.

Findings: Since 2005, the number of articles published in top academic journals that featured the term “psychic distance” in the title has quadrupled. Common research topics include not only the core domain of internationalization process and performance, but also focus on understanding the concept of psychic distance, analyzing its antecedents and coping modes. Other studies have addressed the performance implications of psychic distance in conjunction with variables like strategy adaptation to foreign markets.
Research limitations/implications: While the present review is limited in the number of papers taken into account, it does provide an initial overview of the structure of the field. However, the comparability of findings of different studies is limited by factors such as firm samples or presence of multicultural nations. In terms of directions for further research, promising topics include the relationship between perceived and ‘real’ distances or the effectiveness of different coping modes.

Originality/value: The present paper identifies key research streams related to psychic distance and its role for international business. Based on an analysis of their content, it outlines several avenues for further investigation.

Purpose: The goal of the paper is to analyse the determinants of the level of ROE (return on equity) for two groups of banks, interrelated by capital links, and their banking sectors.

Methodology: For the case study, we chose companies that, in 2011–2013, were designated by the Financial Stability Board as global systemically important banks (G-SIBs) and their subsidiaries operating in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe (CESEE) as well as their banking sectors. We sought to identify differences in the performance drivers, taking into account bank-specific and country- (or sector-) specific factors.

Findings: We found no significant differences in the level of ROE among the analysed groups; however, we identified a different set of determinants and their impact on ROE.

Purpose: To analyse the issue of public debt in Poland and examine its effect on other areas of socio-economic life as well as government policy.
Approach: The question of public debt is placed in its historical context by looking at how it grew during the Communist system and influenced the transition period. The article draws on a range of secondary economic statistics and considers in detail a number of public policy issues, such as the reform of the pension system.

Findings: One result of the large debt incurred by the end of the 1970s was that Poland became indebted to creditors in the West. This dependency helped to shape its economic policy at the end of the 1980s. The transition to a market economy placed new burdens on the country’s public services, primarily due to the resulting large deactivation of labour. Furthermore, the creation of a compulsory private pension system at the end of the 1990s diverted significant funds out of the government’s budget and swelled the country’s public debt. Since the outbreak of the economic crisis, Poland has avoided a recession by increasing public investment by utilising available European Union funds. However, due to internal and external limits on the size of its public debt, the government is being pressured to reduce this spending. In order to create more fiscal room, the government has partly dismantled the compulsory private pension system as a short-term solution to the growing debt crisis.

Value: In the wake of the global financial crisis and economic turmoil in the European Union, the matter of public debt has taken on increased importance. This paper considers this question from a long-term perspective in a country that has been relatively successful during the international economic downturn. By examining public debt from this broad perspective, we can better understand the economic situation in Poland and the European Union, whilst also shedding light on some of the surrounding academic perspectives and public policy debates.

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: In the past several decades of Islamic banking and fi nance (IBF) activity in many countries, notable literature on this topic has been produced all over the world. By analyzing this IBF literature, this study investigates and highlights some ignored aspects of IBF activities.

Methodology: Academic IBF literature includes defending the plausibility of IBF as a part of Islamic economics; theoretical analysis regarding some advantages of IBF compared with conventional systems, suggesting some methods for performing IBF; and concentration on introducing fi nancial instruments and innovations in Islamic fi nancial markets. After reviewing them, they are classifi ed as high ranking journal papers and graduate dissertations that were written on Islamic economics in I.R. Iran during the past three decades. Then they are analyzed via analytical methods and descriptive statistics to investigate the ignored aspects of IBF.

Findings: Through this systemic study of Islamic banking, real and not skeletal adaptation of Islamic contracts, Islamic goals of Islamic economy, Islamic and ethical values, and justice and poverty reduction are some of the more important neglected aspects in IBF activities.
Research Implications: Focusing on these areas in future research could improve the
performance of IBF as part of the Islamic economic system and guide IBF activities to the real nature of Islam (Islamicity).

Originality: Besides reviewing and classifying the academic literature on IBF, the study is unique in focusing on the neglected aspects of IBF because it is very important and infl uential to distinguish IBF from non-IBF activities.

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 paper aims at identifying the major information gaps related to the financial sector that have emerged during the last years, including the explanation of the reasons and consequences of these gaps.

Methodology: The analysis is conducted using the descriptive methodology based on real developments in the financial sector. This analysis identifies substantial institutional changes within the financial sector combined with the introduction of new financial instruments that significantly increased information gaps related to financial developments.

Findings: We found that one of the main reasons for the breakdown in the financial liquidity market was the sudden buildup of a systemic risk caused, among other things, by substantial information gaps and limitations in the transparency of financial markets. The low transparency of the financial markets has been caused by institutional changes and new financial instruments introduced within the financial sector. They were introduced by the financial institutions themselves to facilitate very risky financial activities that were very profitable for them in the short term, but – as it occurred – very disruptive for the whole financial system and the whole economy in the longer term.

Research limitations: The analysis is limited only to the consideration of the causes and consequences of statistical gaps substantially reducing the transparency of the financial sector. A more comprehensive project should also explore and provide an appropriate proposal for remedy data and – even more important – a proposal to setup a macroprudential policy framework.

Originality: The original contribution of the paper is the link between specific institutional changes within the financial sector as well as new financial instruments and the emergence of particular information gaps.

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to confirm the thesis that the amount of public funds expenditure has no impact on the effectiveness of state functioning, which – to a greater extent – is dependent on the efficiency of these funds. In the article, the author claims that in the case of the European Union there is no explicit evidence concerning the efficiency of public funds in Member States – both on the micro and macro level.

Methodology: A literature review conducted on the basis of collections of academic and scientific articles and an analysis of particular solutions implemented in the European Union and in OECD Member States as well as concerning the consolidation of public funds in the context of the effectiveness of state functioning.

Originality: The author of this work – on the basis of the (performed) analysis presented in the article, explains that the optimal fiscal policy should use appropriately selected tools allowing to achieve the best (optimal) method for the management of public funds, in particular the external and internal position of the economy of the given country. The key factors that decide on the effectiveness (excluding non-financial factors) are neither
universal (absolute) nor relative extent of public spending. The author concludes that the level of effectiveness is either dependent on the structure of this spending and procedures connected with public expenditure planning, executing, accounting and reporting processes, or the level (quality) of the effectiveness and efficiency evaluation system.

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 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).

Purpose: recapitulation of educational experiences in the field of business ethics. Identification of risks and opportunities referring to ethical education, both on academic and
professional levels.

Methodology: a broad description with more profound analysis of chosen issues.

Findings: the essay gathers experiences from the field of business ethics education on different levels: organization and academic as well as postgraduate. It shows a specificity at each level, especially the differences between assumptions, and then evaluates efficiency. It underlines the didactic and formation aspects of business ethics. It enables one to follow the changes within business ethics as an educational subject with aims and methods. In the end, the changes lead to presenting business ethics as an efficient instrument of forming desirable attitudes and standards in organizations.

Originality: a presentation of the main problems of ethical education gives an opportunity to improve programs and methods in the area of education. The essay presents the ways of adapting the educational offer to the expectations of society as well as to market requirements.

Purpose: the aim of this article is to present two models for teaching business ethics: ethics
of business and ethics for business. In the article, I defend the thesis that business ethics taught in corporations (ethics for business) is not a simple continuation of academic instruction (ethics of business) and should not be treated as such.

Methodology to justify the foregoing thesis, I refer to both theoretical and empirical research carried out by business ethicists, as well as to my own experience as an academic teacher.

Findings: taking into consideration the differences that occur between the two models of teaching business ethics, and also the threats associated with implementing ethics programs in companies, I conclude that in-company business ethics instruction does not constitute a continuation of academic instruction.