Holistic approach in many disciplines assumes that each component actually contains information about the whole as a unit. A holistic view of an interorganizational collaboration structure should provide a description based on simple laws of all connections between entities (nodes) and network external universe. This approach is claimed on the basis that each entity reflects and contains the network and this, in turn, contains the entire footprint. Biology, chemistry and physics base their theories on a specific law of evolution of man, human group or physic-chemical structure. These sciences state that everything is evolving and suffers constant changes, the human evolution, the evolution of society - and social groups in particular - going through a succession of continue or choppy innovations. Sometimes, a phase or a situation seems new just because the context is changed. Innovation is viewed in a holistic way, so just as a new perception of those involved in the innovative process, just a different aspect of how to see and feel the world. The rules and regularities of the whole are constant presences. Life, social and economic systems, in all their complexity, are subjected to the same laws of evolution being processes of continuous innovation. In terms of innovative process, decisions are not taken between good and evil, or between right and wrong, but between good and better. Although it is applied correctly, an effective process of selecting ideas that will be transformed into innovations is not a prerequisite for choosing the best variant. Once introduced into the process of launching and exploitation in the market, an innovation that can bring profit to companies may actually be an incremental innovation that eliminated the possibility of being selected a better innovation, a radical innovation.
- Type: Original Research
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: Collaboration, Transdisciplinarity, Innovative network, Intelligence
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
A crisis can be defined as “a high degree of instability and carries the potential for negative results that can endanger the continuity of the organization” (Klann, Gene, 2003, p. 4) or other way round, a crisis represents a status of threat, urgency, and uncertainty (Boin et al., 2009). The purpose of this study is to gain better understanding of bank’s situation in the time of an international financial crisis in different countries. The objective of the study is to find out how Garantibank faces the international financial crisis in Turkey and at the same time in Romania. The story of Garantibank's crisis in Turkey and Romania is presented. An empirical data for two cases of Garantibank: Garantibank in Turkey and Garantibank in Romania, which have been collected through interviews, statistics, organizational documents, are presented.
- Type: Case Study
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: International Financial Crisis in Turkey and in Romania, Garantibank
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
The increasing competitiveness has become in recent years an important coordinate of the socio-economic development strategies in most countries of the world, especially in the most developed ones, of the sectoral development strategies within the national economies, as well as of the business strategies. This paper presents an analysis of the competitiveness indices of several countries, including Romania and it is based on data provided by "The World Competitiveness Yearbook 2012-2013". "The World Competitiveness Yearbook" represents an analysis of the competitiveness of 60 economies using 333 criteria, published continuously since 1989. The 2013 edition shows competitiveness of national/regional economies based on 2012 data. The International Institute for Management Development uses over 300 criteria in determining competitiveness and they refer to economy, authorities’ efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure.
- Type: Case Study
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: competitiveness, competitiveness indices, the sectoral development strategies
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
Purpose - This study aims to identify characteristics and behaviours typical for male and female managers from the managers` perspective as well as from the subordinates`. Design/methodology/approach – The study involved 232 employed persons, 111 managers and 121 subordinates working in different branches. The independent variables of the research were: the position in the organization (manager or subordinate) and the managers` gender (male or female). The dependent variables were multiple and focused on the characteristics of managers in Romania. In order to develop tools for the assessment of Romanian managers` characteristics, 25 managers and 25 employers (from various professional categories) listed 10 qualities that they consider important for a manager. Findings – The differences between female and male managers are less than the similarities. Practical implications/originality/value – The overall conclusion – organizational characteristics have a greater influence than the personal ones in the managers` behaviour.
- Type: Case Study
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: manager, subordinate, differences, gender, characteristics
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
In many national societies, projects and programmes are performed not only in companies but also in other organizations, such as municipal administrations, associations, schools and ever in families. The globalization of the economy, new technologies with ever-shorter product life cycles and the application of a new management paradigm, characterized by virtual organizations, „empowerment” and knowledge management, promote the use of project and programme management. The article describes the implementation of an integrated waste management in the county of Arges, in accordance with the requirements and provisions of European Community Directives, in order to preserve, protect and improve environmental quality in Arges (project "Integrated management of solid waste in Arges").
- Type: Case Study
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: management project, solid waste
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
After the recent global crisis, corporate scandals and bankruptcy in US and Europe, there is some certain evidence on weak auditing, risk management, accounting and audit system. This paper chooses a different analytical approach and among its aims is to give some systematic opinions on corporate governance criteria as a benchmark for stock markets. Firstly, it classifies limited Western European representative corporate governance (CG) standards into two (2) groups: The Netherlands and Belgium latest CG principles covered in group 1 and, group 2, including corporate governance principles from Italy and Austria, so-called relative good CG group, while it uses OECD and ICGN principles as reference. Secondly, it identifies through analysis the differences and advantages between the above set of standards which are and have been used as reference principles for many relevant organizations. Third, it establishes a selected comparative set of standards for Western European representative corporate governance system in accordance to international standards. Last but not least, this paper covers some ideas and policy suggestions.
- Type: Case Study
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: Corporate governance standards, Board structure, Code of best practice, Financial crisis, Corporate scandals, Market manipulation, Internal audit
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
Purpose- This research aims to investigate the timeliness of financial statements of the companies across the European Union‘s emerging economies. Research Design- Out of the emerging economies from European Union, the following sample was constituted: the companies listed on Bucharest Stock Exchange, Warsaw Stock Exchange, Prague Stock Exchange and Budapest Stock Exchange, no matter what tier. The final sample, after eliminating the financial institutions and the entities which were not listed in all the studied years (2008-2012), consists of 37 companies. Findings- While comparing the results of this research with those from prior literature, it can be noticed a slightly decrease of days delay in the case of the analyzed emerging economies. Moreover, consistent with other researchers` findings, companies audited by a Big 4 auditor and with a qualified opinion in the auditor`s report, publish their financial results later than entities which have a favourable audit opinion. Value/Practical Implications- This study highlights the importance of financial statements` timeliness in the context of four European Union`s emerging economies, economies which are known for their delay in publishing their financial results compared to the market economies.
- Type: Case Study
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: Financial reporting, Emerging economies, Timeliness, European Union
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
This paper provides a critical review of current research on clusters in the textile and clothing industry and the connection to the development of the areas they are concentrated in. The study aims to systemize the main concepts and theoretical research regarding clusters, offering insights into the way clusters determine a more efficient and competitive industry and to what extent. In the current continuous competition for markets, companies that seek economic success need to intensify relations with others that activate in similar fields of interest but also with educational institutions, research and development, government and other economic actors involved. Clusters prove to be a successful solution for small and medium companies because these provide cooperation between companies and institutions, easy and fast access to information and facilitate cooperation in different stages of production and selling a product like acquisition of technology and equipment intended for shared use or marketing strategies.
- Type: Review Article
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: Cluster, Textile & Clothing, Development, Porter’s Diamond, Competitive Advantage
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
Along with the evolution of society, the classical economic models are confronted with serious challenges regarding continuous diminishing of resources, social pressure and limited capacity in satisfying people’s needs. Searching for alternatives that could solve social problems led to the promotion of new alternative economic models, like social economy or economy of solidarity. Based on social solidarity and placing the people in center of the economic activity, the social economy entities need a new marketing trend for developing their social businesses. The social economy marketing mixes the principals of social and non for profit marketing with goods and services marketing assuring the community development and integration of vulnerable categories.
- Type: Review Article
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: Social economy, Social economy marketing, Social marketing, Non for profit marketing
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
The image of the country can be influential in various buying decisions, especially in cases where there is a strong competition among market players and if price is not the factor with the utmost importance. In a psychosemantic experiment we study the demand patterns for imported goods in Bulgaria. We aim to assess how Bulgarian citizens build their image of other countries, especially the neighbour ones. We find that “market dimension” and “power dimension” are the major factors in the perceptions. We find also that perceptions of Bulgarian respondents give a more important role in Bulgarian economy to globally more important economies, despite the vicinity of neighbour countries.
- Type: Case Study
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: Neighbour countries image, Psychosemantics, Balkan countries
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
This paper is trying to prove how social normality should start from a prescriptive, judicial reflection of democratic rationality in social-economic relations instead of starting from the generalization of exceptions under the form of normativity. From the point of view of realistic systemic knowledge, “real levels” and “necessary levels”, as well as the rational interaction between them can be determined sufficiently accurate for all social sub-systems, based on present knowledge. The necessary and sufficient condition is that self-regulatory decisions are independent of the speculative groups of the society (i.e. of politics and oligopolies). There are numberless approaches for separating governance from politics but the social power which supports these approaches is still incomparably smaller than the power of those who do not want social normality. University education is meant to explain this theoretical dualism that reflects, in fact, real economic – social dualism and to propose solutions toward really democratic, social normality to new generations. Therefore, if each university specialization does not receive a minimum information level on patterns of social self-regulation and social normality, the rapid progress to such a state is permanently hindered by the groups of interests that control the power of states.
- Type: Review Article
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: State of normality, Political normality, Social normality, Social power, Social self-regulation
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
The efficiency of banks has been widely and extensively studied in the past few decades. Using a sample of Balkan and Baltic countries and by employing a Data Envelopment Analysis model, we want to highlight the main challenges for the highly concentrated banking system. Over the period 2007 - 2011, these countries have coped with the worst financial crisis from the Great Depression, which has severe effects on the banking systems. Our sample includes the least developed countries in the EU and for reference purpose, Luxembourg, with the highest GDP per capita. We expect to find similarities between Balkan countries and Baltic countries and we can draw lessons from Luxembourg`s results.
- Type: Case Study
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: Efficiency convergence, Balkan & Baltic countries, challenges
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
The transmission of monetary policy to the economy is a subject of major importance for central banks because, by using these measures, central banks can achieve their purpose of ensuring price stability without neglecting the objective of sustainable economic growth. In order to analyze the evolution of the monetary policy transmission mechanism in Romania, a time varying structural vector autoregression model is estimated, by using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm for the posterior evolution. The conclusions of the empirical study are: both systematic and non-systematic monetary policy have changed during the investigated period of time, the systematic response of the interest rate to shocks in inflation and unemployment being faster over the recent period. Also, non-policy shocks seem more important than interest rate shocks in explaining inflation and unemployment evolution.
- Type: Case Study
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: Monetary policy, Transmission mechanism, Time varying structural vector autoregression model, Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm, Romania
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
In the context of global economy a dominant role of knowledge is the importance of human resources in the process of innovation and value creation. This paper aims to address Romania’s competitiveness in the context of global change mitigation by analyzing the counties competitiveness and eco-innovation. The efficiency-driven stage of development, which Romania is part of require specific regulatory measure in order to achieve sustainable development and competitive advantage. Analyzing the eco-innovation local needs by focusing on the SME can be seen as a solution, as they are creative in order to compensate for the lack of funding in research, development and innovation (like cluster research which is beneficial for sharing the risk and cost involved in research activities).
- Type: Review Article
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: eco- innovation, sustainable development, competitiveness, Global Competitiveness Index, SME’s
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
According to many linguists, a culture can exist only in comparison with the ‘other’ culture. In other words, a culture’s or a people’s identity may be created only by competing with the ‘other’ culture or people. The discrepancy and competition between the ‘self’ and the ‘other’ is the main purpose of our research. In our opinion, this competition may be resolved by building a bridge across cultures. In our paper, we intend to highlight the identity of the Romanian culture in contrast to the English one and attempt to resolve the discrepancies between them.
- Type: Review Article
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: competition, self, other, identity, bridge
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
In an era of speed and turbulences, a significant aspect in any organisation is the management of emergencies occurred as large-scale change challenges by implementing new cost reduction development and reorganisation strategies (J. P. Kotter, 2010, p. 11). The common practice proves that many organisations register failures. In relation to this aspect, J. P. Kotter (2010, p. 12) supports the idea that biggest mistake made by any organisation when trying to change themselves is their failure to create a sense of emergency among a sufficient number of people in order to prepare the change. The assurance that the change solution will be accepted and implemented by the employees reveals the resistance to change.
- Type: Review Article
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: management, change, methods, resistance to change, practices
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
Purpose – Our paper aims to present in short the theoretical foundation of the concepts of business strategy and creativity, and to highlight the relationship between them. Design/methodology/approach – Using the literature review, the study examined the conceptual framework of the notions of strategy, business strategy, and creativity. Also, it analysed the relationship between business strategy and creativity. Findings – The results confirm previous studies related to the beneficial impact of creativity on the business strategy of a company. As creativity has become an important input for a successful business strategy, companies are making significant efforts in order to bring creativity into play. Practical implications/originality/value – Business strategy and creativity are two interconnected concepts not only in theory, but also in practice. Also, creativity represents a fundamental asset of a successful company in turbulent times.
- Type: Review Article
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: strategy, business strategy, creativity, Cirque du Soleil
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
The objective of this article is to define the concept of network identity and to validate its role as a catalyst and its role to maintain in time the collaborative structure in order to achieve the goal of innovation. I have analyzed collaborative structures in various fields of activity in which individual actions are linked and participants consider their effect on a common goal. Human behaviour in general, according to the sociological definitions, is a result of the native factors (as I think I should behave) and social factors (as I show that I should behave). Non-economic motivations have a role as collaborative network builders and as supporters of individuals’ intensity of connecting, but they also have a role in maintaining the collaborative sustainability. These are related to beliefs about how organizations - and particularly individuals - act and simultaneously have expectations of other network members. Non-economic motivations, in turn, are studied in particular by sociologists, these coming from the structure of the social individual (native characteristics or induced by the influence of the organizational environment or society as a whole). A descriptive research is needed to identify the existence of a set of specific characteristics that can define the identity of collaborative structure.
- Type: Original Research
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: Evaluation model, Collaborative structure, Innovation
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
Currently, two anthropological models are dominant in Romania. The first is the atheistic-evolutionary model and the second is the Christian model. The purpose of this article is to assess the students’ opinion on the two anthropological models and, in particular, on the purpose of human life. To that effect, there have been used the coefficients of association between the main aspects of the two models. Starting from the two outlined approaches, this paper aims to investigate the opinions of the students from two different specializations within Ovidius University of Constanta – the Faculty of Economics and the Faculty of Theology – on the issues mentioned above
- Type: Case Study
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: Anthropological model, Coefficients of association, Coefficient of contingency
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
This paper focuses on the most important estimation approaches of human capital. These approaches can be labeled as either monetary or non-monetary methods of estimation. The three major monetary methods of human capital are the prospective method, the retrospective method and the integrated approach. The income-based approach (prospective method) estimates human capital based on the present value of a person’s future income stream. The cost-based approach (retrospective method) is centered on the “production” costs of human capital, trying to determine the costs of producing human capital by adding up the education and schooling costs. The integrated approach is a mixture of the prospective and retrospective method. On the other side, the non-monetary measures are essentially education-based indicators, such as the literacy rate, the school enrollment rate or the average years of education.
- Type: Review Article
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: Human capital measurement, Monetary methods, Non-monetary methods, Retrospective method, Prospective method
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
This paper starts from the assumption that the degree of compliance of the taxpayer increases in direct proportion to the effectiveness of public campaigns carried out by the tax device. Information campaigns with a view to increase voluntary compliance can be carried out in various ways. They can emphasize either the potential benefits that taxpayers would receive if the compliance were full, or the potential losses when the degree of compliance is reduced. In theory, these campaigns are effective when intersecting with the promotion or warning of taxpayers about certain fiscal aspects. Following the presentation of campaigns carried out in other states, we propose the initiation of a campaign in Romania as well. Corporate taxpayers will choose out of several campaigns and in the end we will present the results of the research based on the methods of the questionnaire and of the interview.
- Type: Case Study
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: Tax campaign, Taxpayer’s compliance, Sustainable, Economic growth
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
Knowledge-based organizations (KBO) are usually considered to be those whose product or service is knowledge-intensive. The characteristics of a KBO, however, go beyond product to include process, purpose and perspective. Process refers to an organization’s knowledge based activities and processes. Purpose refers to its mission and strategy. Perspective refers to the worldview and culture that influence and constrain an organization’s decisions and actions. In order for organizations to remain globally competitive, new tools for decision-making are required. Of these tools, it is internationally recognized that Competitive Intelligence (CI) is fast becoming a norm rather than the exception to assist management with decision-making in the modern knowledge-based organization. The purpose of competitive intelligence in the organization is to support and lead to management decisions and action. There exists a clear and concise link between competitiveness and the process of innovation. Innovation depends on a number of factors for success. Of these factors, information and intelligence are believed to be primary drivers. The main purpose of this paper is to explain the need for competitive intelligence in KBO and to present a model for the implementation of competitive intelligence in the KBO and the involvement of the information professional in the competitive intelligence process.
- Type: Review Article
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: Knowledge based, Organization, Competitiveness, Competitive intelligence, Strategy
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
This paper examines the key energy challenges that Croatia faces, how those challenges are likely to evolve in the coming years, and some possible solutions to the issues presented. While there is a wide variety of issues that Croatia will need to address, this paper will address two of the most pressing: reliance on energy imports, and an inadequate power grid and energy infrastructure. After identifying current vulnerabilities that the country is facing, the analysis points out the trends and the ongoing challenges regarding the demand for energy in Croatia. Finally, this paper concludes with the recommendation that Croatia pursue a multi-pronged approach to renewable energy generation, emphasizing decentralized production as the most time and cost effective strategy until the national power grid can be sufficiently upgraded and integrated to support more centralized approaches. Its geographic location, immanent admission to the EU and potential for diverse domestic sources of renewable energy combine to set the stage for a bright future for Croatia’s economic development, as long as the Croatian authorities place a priority on a multi - pronged approach to energy sources on the one hand, while continuing to work to a unified energy infrastructure on the other.
- Type: Case Study
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: Energy, Development, Europe, Croatia, Policy
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
EVALUATING SKILLS AND CHALLENGES AS ANTECEDENTS OF COMPELLING ONLINE INFORMATION-SEEKING EXPERIENCES
In contemporary information societies, consumers are increasingly expected to be proficient users of online information to support and guide their buying decisions. Due to the world wide web and its availability on a wide range of connectable devices, information from infinite commercial and non-commercial sources can be instantly accessed and used. However, consumers’ level of self-efficacy in dealing with technology and the wide range of information content as well as the extent to which they feel cognitively challenged by the technological and content issues may significantly influence the intensity of their involvement with companies’ marketing information. Based on the online flow theory, describing total involvement experiences, as well as on recent developments of the information literacy construct, in the present paper we propose a research instrument for assessing two essential preconditions of optimal, highly engaging consumer online information-seeking experiences. We posit that consumers have compelling online search experiences when the level of both their technical and their cognitive skills match the informational challenges perceived in the online medium. Nevertheless, the following study represents only the first step in a complex scale development process and in building and testing the structural model describing causal relationships between flow constructs.
- Type: Case Study
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: Information-seeking experience, Conceptual flow model, Online information skills, Online information challenges, Scale development
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
The current study sets out to analyze the cooperative sector throughout several decades, both in the European and the Romanian area. After a presentation of the definitions and characteristics specific to the cooperative societies, as well as the principles and methods of the cooperative organization, this study goes through the defining elements of a cooperative in the European Union and Romania. Given the geo-political conditions encountered in the Romanian space, our attention was focused particularly on the opportunities and limitations encountered in the development of the sector for the future.
- Type: Case Study
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: Social economy, The consumer cooperative, Indivisible part of the patrimony, Voting rights, Investment recovery
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
Dialectics, multicultural matrix and exosomatism are three major ideas marginalized by the contemporary mainstream economic thinking. Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, through the concept of bioeconomics, argumentatively defended epistemic pillars of economic science and elaborated a revolutionary paradigm based on the evolutional principle. This paper aims to integrate, in the UE approach of bioeconomics, the Romanian economist’s original vision, epistemology and methodology of economics.
- Type: Original Research
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: Multi-cultural matrix, Roegenian bioeconomic, Epistemology
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
Knowledge society led, simultaneously, to the globalization of fraud potential. In this purpose, numerous tools and computer techniques have been created in order to combat fraud. Analyzing the main characteristics and specific operations we consider that all have a great drawback: they don’t allow the identification of irregularities or fraud in real time, exactly when they occur. From this perspective, the purpose of this article is to introduce a new concept of software which, once implemented, will not only allow access to such data in real time, but, at the same time, will facilitate the work of auditors. The article presents the basic principles for the functioning mode of such applications. Located at the concept stage, the design and implementation of this program involves collaboration between many national bodies (CECCAR, CAFR, MFP) and adapting accounting legislation in the field. However we consider that this can be the future of a small percent of economic frauds and less work for auditors or state institution in this field.
- Type: Case Study
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: Fraud, Information Technologies, E-accounting
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
The paper tests and evaluates the causality between the dynamics of the Romanian mutual fund market and the economy. Using the Granger causality test, a regression analysis has been developed on quarterly data during 2004Q3 – 2012Q2 for the Romanian economy. Based on this relationship, we can emphasize that the controversial debate upon the economic growth and the mutual fund market has became a complex research subject. Therefore, due to its complexity, the timeliness and the continuous growth of the investment funds area, this paper complements the existing literature by identifying the causal linkage between the mutual fund market and the economy. The paper is organized as it follows. First part presents the main premises that have emphasized our research. Second part presents a brief literature review and extracts the studies that appreciate best the relationship between the analyzed variables. Next section is set on defining the potential correlation between the analyzed variables. Then, section 4 tests the causality by using the R facility. The last part concludes.
- Type: Case Study
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: Investment market, Economic growth, Causality, Granger, Romania
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
In today’s competitive environment, any organisation should carefully design its commu-nication strategy as it reflects on its overall image. On one hand, this article aims to define what a good visual identity means by highlighting the elements of a good visual identity through a qualitative analysis of more than three dozen visual identities documents from organisations from different industries, private companies, governmental agencies and NGOs. Moreover, by observing different perspectives on what organisations consider as a desired visual identity, the article suggests directions for improving the visual identity documentation. Finally, as the most common elements of visual identity are identified, the authors briefly draft a strategy for creating a visual identity.
- Type: Review Article
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: Organisational visual identity, Logo, Communication strategy
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
Notwithstanding that each and every company, even the sweetshop around the corner has found its way to the Internet, some customers still hesitate to shop online or to shop from one site and ignore the other. In order to build an online effective communication between the participants, one of the most important factors is interactivity. In the last decade it received extensive attention in the marketing literature, but few are the studies which have seen new methods to measure it. Eye tracking technology has been broadly used in the cognitive sciences. The purpose of this study is to investigate the existing literature in order to give insights into the eye tracking methodology when measuring the online interactivity. It also describes the eye tracking technology in general, extracts various examples from the eye tracking research field, with different applications, highlights its importance when analyzing the online consumer behavior, giving examples from various studies and finds the key points of the methodological difficulties. Finally, this work has an important merit for the future studies when taking into consideration the eye tracking technology in the online interactivity research and further, it is relevant for marketers, regarding the enhancement of online interactive interfaces and web or mobile applications.
- Type: Case Study
- Published on: 1st June 2017
- Keywords: Eye tracking, Website interactivity, Eye movement, Consumer behavior, Visual attention
- Received: 25th April, 2017
- Final revision and acceptance: 27th May, 2017
