Purpose – The study aims to determine whether audited organizations experience differences between external audits and official controls.
Design/methodology/approach – A survey among 100 organic food producers was conducted to explore differences regarding the usability of external audits and official controls. The survey was conducted in 2020 using the computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) method supplemented by the computer-assisted web interview (CAWI) method. Organizations processing organic farming products in Poland were chosen for the study.
Findings – Three primary benefits associated with external audits and official controls were identified, i.e.(1) enabling and initiating activities related to the improvement of the organization, (2) improving the financial performance of the organization and (3) enhancing credibility. For most organizations, the assessment of these features was at the same level for both external audits and official control. However, if these assessments differed, commercial audits were assessed at a higher level than official controls.
Research limitations/implications – The study is limited to only one specific type of manufacturing organization and one European country.
Originality/value – The literature review shows some conceptual differences between audits and official controls, but the results of this study show that the business environment does not perceive these differences as significant. Thus, the value of the study is reflected in the conclusion that both external audits and official controls are considered useful and credible approaches to monitoring the quality within the organization, which allows us to state that external evaluation is generally seen as an opportunity to improve the performance of the organization.

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to present the results of empirical research concerning the identification of the impact of the transfer of companies from the alternative market to the regulated market of the Warsaw Stock Exchange on their operating and net performance.
Design/methodology/approach – The study was conducted based on the empirical data of the companies that changed the listing place on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Data regarding the years before the transfer were collected from the prospectuses of companies prepared mandatorily in connection with the transition to the regulated market. Data regarding the years of the event and subsequent years were obtained from companies’ annual reports. As in other studies in the analysis, the operational metrics were used (operatingreturn on sale, operating return on assets, total asset turnover), which was further extended to net profitability ratios (net return on ale, net return on asset, net return on equity). The significance analysis was based on the Student’s t-test and Wilcoxon’s test.
Findings – The results show that before the transfer from the alternative market to the regulated market, companies improved financial performance. As a result of the change of listing venues, the results already collapsed in the year of the event. The downward trend continued in the following two years, with a noticeable improvement in the third year after the transfer.
Originality/value – The literature lacks such studies based on the Polish market. To the best knowledge of the author, this is one of the first studies in Poland showing the changes in operating and net performance of companies changing the stock listing venues. The research is based on a large group including all companies that have changed listing venues since the beginning of the alternative market in Poland. The article presents an original empirical result that can be used both by managers and investors in their decisions.

Purpose – The aim of this article is to investigate how the use of financial instruments influences the development of Regional Development Funds (RFR) in Poland and to assess the maturity and coherence of the regional development financing system in this country.
Design/methodology/approach – The methodology is based on the multilevel governance literature and on data collected during 26 in-depth interviews in regional, national and international institutions.
Findings – The authors demonstrate that the use of financial instruments stimulates new kinds of cooperation between several institutions and contributes to the establishment of RFR. The authors also show that the Polish regional financing system is still developing and formulate recommendations about necessary improvements.
Originality/value – The main contribution of this article, in addition to taking up a new, relevant topic for the regional development policy in countries benefiting from European Union (EU) cohesion policy, is the application of the multilevel governance (MLG) concept to explain the development of the Polish regional development financing system. Moreover, the significant added value of this study comes from the use of data collected during 26 in-depth interviews (IDI) in regional, national and international institutions on the use of
repayable instruments in regional development policy.

Purpose: This study identifies and analyzes the factors that impact the financial performance of companies after a merger and acquisition transaction.
Methodology: As many as 130 Polish market observations were analyzed with an OLS regression model to verify the research hypotheses.
Results: The results reveal that the company’s size, performance before the transaction, and its international nature translated into improvement of post-transaction financial performance. Moreover, industry diversification transactions and CEO changes in acquiring a company had a negative impact on the company’s financial performance after the transaction.
Originality: This investigation is the first study devoted to the Polish market in the research field of M&A determinants with the use of such a large sample.

Purpose: Knowing the factors that might affect board structure is an important step in understanding
boards and their role in corporate governance. This research aims to examine the effect of firm
characteristics closely related to corporate governance mechanisms, such as the model of corporate
governance, shareholder capital concentration, and stock exchange listing on board structure variables (size, independence, and gender diversity).

Methodology: The sample of this study stems from large Macedonian joint-stock companies. We run
a hierarchical linear regression of board characteristics on common demographic firm characteristics
as control variables and contextual firm characteristics related to corporate governance mechanisms
as independent variables.

Findings: Joint-stock companies in the Republic of North Macedonia have relatively small boards,
which provide no positive effects that would originate from the larger number of board members.
Moreover, the number of outside independent members is small, insufficient to influence the boards
with greater objectivity, independence, and quality. Larger companies with a one-tier model have
statistically significant larger corporate boards and a larger number of independent directors.

Implications: The best corporate governance practices worldwide must be used as a basis for future
improvements of corporate governance in joint-stock companies in developing economies.

Purpose: This study is aimed at analyzing the influence of the size of the board of directors, audit committee, institutional ownership and managerial ownership on the fnancial performance of manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange.

Methodology: The study analyses 156 Indonesia frms listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange using linear regression analysis.

Findings: The results indicated that the size of the board of directors has a positive effect on fnancial performance, while the size of the audit committee, institutional ownership and managerial ownership has no effect on the fnancial performance. While on the simultaneously testing, it showed that the size of the board of directors, audit committee size, institutional ownership and managerial ownership influence the fnancial performance.

Research limitations/implications: The research has been limited to the manufacturing sector of Indonesian companies and the internal mechanism of corporate governance. The study suggests considering an external mechanism of corporate governance as predictor variables.

Originality: The study adds to the literature of corporate government and frm performance in emerging countries. The study implies that corporate governance mechanism for audit committee, managerial ownership and institutional ownership do not enhance company performance. The average size of an audit committee just to fulfll the regulation. Corporate governance mechanism that improve fnancial performance is size board director. Improvement in board performance as board size increase has positive impact that enhance fnancial performance of company.

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

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

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

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

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

Purpose: The aim of this article is to analyse the theoretical views and results of empirical research
concerning the relation between organisational learning (OL) and organisational performance (OP).

Methodology: The study was carried out through extensive literature research, including relevant
literature review from databases such as ProQuest, Elsevier, Emerald and EBSCO (the phrases:
“organisational learning”, “learning organisation” and “organisational performance” were searched
in the keywords, titles or abstracts).

Findings: From a theoretical point of view, the relation between OL and OP is neither obvious nor
clear, but the analysis of the empirical studies allows one to assume that OL has an essential impact
on OP. However, differences in the strength of the relation were shown and some contradictions
related to the presence of the relation between OL and selected (mostly financial) performance
aspects identified. Furthermore, the article discusses the significant differences and inconsistencies
in the methods of measuring OL, measuring OP, selecting contextual factors and adopted
methods of data analysis.
Implications: Inconsistencies and gaps found in the studies of the relationship between OL and
OP made it possible to designate the direction for promising further research.

Value: The article presents valuable insight through its in-depth, critical analysis of the organisational
learning and organisational outcomes. First and foremost, this indicates that the formula of
the previous empirical studies does not allow for the development of precise solutions pertaining
to organisational learning management for the benefit of OP improvement.

Purpose: This paper critically evaluates the development of the impact assessment instrument in
Lithuania’s public administration and suggests improvements to its impact assessment system.

Research question: What interesting conceptual imperatives have appeared in Lithuania’s investigation
of the impact of regulatory policy?

Methodology: This research study uses positivist methodology to analyse the problems that researchers
have identified in Lithuania’s impact assessment. This investigation explains why certain
problems have appeared, what has changed and what system changes can be identified traced. The
study proceeds as follows. First, the research on impact assessment carried out in Lithuania is
analysed. Second, regulations on impact assessment in Lithuania are investigated. A substitute for
non-existent integrated theory is emphased by the logical structure of the EU administrative system
imperatives, principles, and norms, whose modifications have become the basis of impact assessment
system design in Lithuania. The present research combines, integrates and consolidates the
theoretical and practical information on impact assessment into an explanatory scheme, which
could be developed into a model in the future. Information from two qualitative interviews conducted
in 2009 and 2010 was also used.

Conclusions: The present research reveals that Lithuania’s regulatory impact assessment model is
still being constructed and reconstructed towards evidence-based management. A model which
revises the old impact stereotype has been designed, based on contemporary methodologies (cost-
-benefit and cost-effectiveness analyses), consultations with the interested parties, a small but
exhaustive legal initiatives impact assessment, and a centralised and institutional coordination of
impact assessment.

Practical consequences: The present research presents the issues which could be useful for the
states that are starting to implement a regulatory impact assessment model. This study described
the pitfalls to avoid in order to implement a successful evidence-based management initiative.

Originality: In the present research, regulatory impact assessment is emphased as an assessment
model and normative of the EU administration effectiveness and optimality, which can be used as
a good-practice example for the modernisation of administrative activities in Central and Eastern
Europe to the level their European counterpart

Purpose: To present author’s concept of the evaluation of bargaining power in negotiations (in particular business ones).

Methodology: The paper is based on the review and comparative analysis of literature. A universal (general) concept of assessment is applied. The stress is put on presenting characteristic of bargaining power as well as the elaboration of its evaluation criteria and constructing set of indicators (measures) refl ecting those criteria.

Findings: it occurred that an attempt of creating such a concept is effi cient. It can constitute a useful tool of evaluating bargaining power in different types of (business) negotiations, within the process of their planning. Nevertheless presented concept will be a subject of subsequent author’s research, focusing on its improvement, mainly by searching more precise measures of bargaining power.

Originality: in general the suggestion for solving complex and diffi cult problem of evaluating bargaining power is presented, rarely investigated in the literature on negotiations. In particular the set of evaluating criteria and measures of bargaining power is pointed out.

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.