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Family policy in the context of parenting and equal opportunities is a system of provisions, programs and policies sharing the common goal of supporting families and other types of partnerships. They are financial, material and legislative instruments that influence people’s decisions about family and having children. The foundation of family policy is the form of maternity and parental leave, possibly including the provision of father leave . The goal of family policy in regard to parenting should be the creation of a family-friendly environment in which people can freely decide whether they want to have children and how many. In such an environment people need not worry about their and their children’s socioeconomic situation and about their future, and can therefore freely decide to have as many children as they really wish. In the long term, this approach to parenting support is more effective than temporary pro-population measures which typically aim to stimulate the birth rate of some age groups but do not create stable conditions for parenting in the long run. Creating and fostering a positive environment is also more useful than implementing policy approaches based on penalizing one-child or childless families as some family policy or retirement concepts propose. Family policy that observes equal opportunities principles and promotes work-life balance, allows for a variety of life strategies both for those who decide to balance work and family as well as for those who prefer to look after their families full-time. Neither social group should be neglected or discriminated against – be it by the system of maternal and parental leave or by an associated policy (the retirement system, for instance), as it happens today. A good system of maternity and parental care is grounded in anti-discrimination principles which actively prevent discrimination of parents and other caregivers and promote equal opportunities. Ideally, a family policy that provides equal opportunities does not support only the types of idealized family units that are in accord with the party lines of the governing political party. On the contrary, a fair family policy understands families are dynamic entities that take many of well-functioning and responsible forms. [...]
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Dear readers, This publication will present you with examples of work-life balance provisions in several European countries: the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany and Poland. International perspectives from countries which are geographically, culturally and historically related to the Czech Republic can lend direction and inspiration to the policy makers who shape the family, social and employment policies in the Czech Republic now and in the future. Although we culturally share many notions on gender roles and the position of women and men with our neighbors, the texts in this publication show there are great differences among the specific policies in each country and their impact on the real lives of women and men. Julia Kubisa from Poland, for example, describes the development of family policy in Poland in the last decade and its effects, including the legal aspects regarding professional babysitting, the abolishment of the parental allowance, and the policy of paternity leave. Good practices in these areas are discussed by Oľga Pietruchová and Mária Jacková, who describe work-life balance provisions and flexible parental allowance mechanisms in Slovakia. In addition, examples from Germany illustrate a well-conceived and stable approach to family policy. A series of interviews with Czech women living abroad gives a comparative perspective on work-life balance policies in different countries and the ways these policies affect families’ choices and living conditions. [...]
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Dear readers, We are pleased to bring to your attention Women on labour market: today and in the future, a book, which is one of the outcomes of the project Fit for Gender Mainstreaming - Gender-Sensitive Transcending of Borders between East and West. Based on cross-border qualification initiatives for multipliers and public events in all countries participating in the “East-West Dialogue”, the goal of the project is to advance gender mainstreaming strategies on a local level and enhance exchange of experiences and qualifications. The publication follows up the international conference Future of Women on the Labour Market, which took place under the auspices of Kateřina Jacques, a Member of Parliament, in Prague in October 2007. Our goal is to assess situation of women on the labour market, refer to persisting inequalities and inspire discussion about the future. We are aware of the fact that gender equality policies need a thorough evaluation to prevent biased application, which may lead to cementing gender stereotypes instead of disrupting them. Our texts address not only decision-makers, but they also represent a call for solidarity between women, since its lack often stands for a barrier in achieving equality. Thus, we decided to focus some of our current activities especially on women.
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The aim of the current chapter is to present the essence of sustainable consumption andits basic rules: Reduce-Reuse-Recycle. Minimalism and sharing economy were presented as the manifestation of the Reduce rule. Reuse requires distribution systems which will give access to preowned products (in a broader scope), thus, they will provide products with a second life. This may be provided by alternative retail formats which are oriented towards the sale of second-hand products. Some of these formats, especially online applications, are becoming quite popular—their number, as well as the amount of their customers is rapidly growing. Also, traditional mainstream retailers have become involved in second-hand product sales.
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Since 2020 the modern world has been witnessing a complex crisis, which is essentially a medical crisis (the COVID-19 pandemic) within a structural economic crisis. In addition to the current nexus of risk stressors, such as anthropogenic climate crisis, biodiversity loss, financialization and income inequality, all global and cross-cutting by their very nature, in the last period biorisk has been growing dramatically. The COVID-19 pandemic is a devastating and tragic moment which is rapidly becoming a matter of primary public concern. Social distancing, as the most effective anti-pandemic measure, has pushed the economy into sleep mode. Hibernation provokes a truly systemic economic downturn. The current crisis is particularly deepening structural imbalances of the neoliberal model of capitalism. Core policies responses, such as liquidity infusion and fiscal stimulus, are massive and permanent. Increasing moral hazard and irrational exuberance, such policies are destroying capital markets,as a brain of the market economy. But every crisis is also a chance to change. By tackling the neoliberal capitalism’ fault lines in a more effective way, it may actually accelerate the pace to the future we had in mind. A quick restart (or recovery) of the economy and a later rebound require systemic and concerted action in order to mitigate the negative effects of both medical and economic crisis. In managing a complex crisis such as this one, guided by the vision o fa sustainable, inclusive and prosperous economy, governments all around the world should take radical reform steps. It means, at least, two things at once. First, dealing with the pandemic as a macroeconomic variable. Second, implementing core economic policies (monetary and fiscal) in a structural way. To do so, the transition from shareholder capitalism to stakeholder capitalism is imminent. An emerging system will combine two institutional choices,the “visible hand” of state (impact investments based on structural or industrial policies)and the “invisible hand” of market forces. It’s time to give the government a stronger voice in the economy. To create value instead of redistributing value, the major part of impact investments will be in circular and regenerative economy, health care, infrastructure (physical and conceptual), science, and education. The objective of this paper is twofold. First, to fill the present conceptual vacuum created by the neoliberal doctrine economics rules with the aim of identifying key components of Serbia’s economy revival based on its macroeconomic specifics and catalytic impact of new economics rules during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.Second, to highlight the relevance of key components of stakeholder capitalism, including the regenerative and circular model of growth and heterodox economic policy platform for the Great Reset, or recovery and rebound respectively.
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The coronavirus pandemic represents a major shock for the global and EU economies and is expected to bear unpredictable, yet severe and long-lasting socio-economic consequences.Health crises provoked economic contagion and is now, it seems, spreading as fast as the disease itself. During the crisis, national economies found themselves in a free fall with different velocities. In general, it is expected that COVID-19 will take much higher toll in terms of GDP if compared with three main crises in past 100 years: the great depression in 1930s, first OPEC oil crises in the 1970s and the recent financial crises in the period of 2007-2009. Global GDP is projected to contract by about 4.4 percent in 2020, which is a sharper downturn than during the Global Financial Crisis in 2008-2009. It is then expected to rebound by 5.2percent in 2021, implying that global output should recover above it 2019 level but remain well below the level projected in the autumn 2019 forecast.The health and economic crisis has led to a significant job crisis that will increase the inequality and widen the gap in social structures. This paper presents the role of business and societal resilience. At the policy and societal level, the COVID-19 crisis has brought about a will to question the current functioning of economy and society with citizens’ initiatives. The economic system supporting the increasing share of precariat workers due to gig economy and deterioration of workers’ bargaining power, eroding the public institutions by austerity measures and siphoning value out of the economy by rewarding shareholders through stockbuyback schemes, rather than supporting investment in research and development, wages,and worker training, has proven to be ineffective to combat serious exogenous shocks. The current crisis calls for a new policy approach, based on theoretical foundations of (i) the developmental state, (ii) legal institutionalism and (iii) the entrepreneurial state.During the recent COVID crisis the switch in policy paradigm will improve the resilience of the companies in order to be capable of managing future disruptions and handling the most important challenges we need to solve like climate change, inequalities or financial crises, by reaping the synergies between collaboration, digitalization and sustainability.
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Motivation has the potential to make a difference in terms of results both individually and organizationally. Motivation based on classical processes, such as the theory of hope, the theory of goal setting and the theory of equity. In the social context of governmental organizations, public values have the potential to infuse the value structures of organizations and individuals, leading to forms of prosocial motivation that focus on supporting the public interest and helping citizens. The management of human resources has evolved considerably since this function was named the Personnel Administration. Currently, organizations do not only manage resources, but focus in particular on the proper management of human capital. There are many aspects of human resources management, all of which are just as important for the development of an organization.
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Global technological advances continue to bring about major changes. The present study aims to address important aspects for the application of Education 4.0 for the fourth industrial revolution, immediately following the COVID-19 pandemic. The research work focuses in particular on modern technologies for education and training, responding to the challenges and opportunities of business in the conditions of Industry 4.0. Research methods and techniques based on desk research and data from secondary sources, including strategic document analysis and content analysis, were used. The findings indicate that investments in the development of environmental infrastructure and human, technical and financial capacity must be strengthened to reach an adequate participation of Education 4.0 in the post-Covid Industry 4.0.
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In times of social and/or economic crises, the most vulnerable members of the society face more significant difficulties than the rest of the population. Comprehensive and strategic measures are needed to reduce social exclusion and marginalisation. Mainstreaming and promoting social entrepreneurship is important for the development of an inclusive economy. The social impact is configured by investing the revenues generated in supporting vulnerable groups on the 'margins' of socio-economic processes to engage in economic activity and create opportunities for professional and social integration. Long-term value added from economic activities leads to cost reduction and the reduction of the effects of inequalities and poverty.
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The entrance of artificial intelligence in our lives is expected to lead to the disappearance of many professions. Even though the digital transformation will probably create many other jobs, training and education will have key role for the development of skills that would avoid the long-term unemployment. New perspectives for products and services appear including in sectors like green and circular economy, sustainability agriculture, healthcare. Artificial intelligence could help for the optimization of supply chains, improvement of the machine maintenance, increase in productivity, improvement of the quality of service and energy saving. The application of artificial intelligence in the public sector could reduce costs and offer new possibilities for the public transport, education, energy management, recycling and waste management. It could contribute for better healthcare, safer vehicles, personalized and cheaper products. The work places could become safer with the use of robots and the development of new industries will create new work places.
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Europe's digital future and securing it with a Digital Europe package is linked to the aspiration of digital technologies to be of exceptional benefit to society and the economy. In the conditions of ever-expanding digitalization, a number of question marks appear. One of them is whether demographic security will be preserved as an element of national security and what are the parameters for the application of artificial intelligence in tandem with human potential.
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The human factor is the main value-creating resource of an army. The presentation aims to highlight the overall influence of the demographic decline in recent years on the process of generating military structures. By analysing the approach to policies adopted to ensure national security and defence, the causal links between demographic indicators and the evolution of economic development, the trend in population size and the characteristics of age generations, the article highlights the creation of a new perspective on attracting human capital to the military profession. Focusing on the study of the evolution of demographic indicators, trends and forecasts, it also reveals the creation of premises in the development of the employer brand of the military institution on the labour market. With more than 12 years of experience in the field of human resources management in the Romanian Army up to their strategic level, both in the field of recruiting personnel for the military profession and in the field of personnel management, I have observed different behaviours of individuals depending on their origin, professional training, financial motivation, age generations, behaviours that I believe are directly influenced by the evolution of demographic indicators on society in general. The article concludes that it needs to be developed in detail in order to draw up guidelines for promoting the military profession, recruiting human resources and building a predictable and stable military personnel management system.
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This article focused on offering a preliminary view on the most important areas in which gender equality perspective, one of the sustainable development goals, can contribute to the sustainability of human resources in the military organization and the possible effects. First, the article investigated, through a literature review approach, the conceptual dimensions of defense human resource sustainability, proposing a conceptual model which could be applied by military decision-makers to enhance the efficiency of human resource management and to contribute to the sustainability of military organization, in the context of sustainable development. Second, the article explored relevant documents, to identify the military approach to gendered issues, revealing some commonalities with the subsequent targets of the sustainable development goals and highlighting the emergence of a new military capability, represented by women’s empowerment. Finally, the proposed sustainability model and the military gender equality perspective represented a framework for identifying the contribution gender equality perspective could have to the sustainability of defense human resources. In this respect, recent statistics and the analysis of some specific on-line content offered valuable information on the practical benefits of the gender equality perspective. To conclude, this study highlights the need that the military human resource management adapt its policies, to ensure a positive contribution of the gender perspective to the permanent and functional availability of its human resource.
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This paper presents the possibilities for analysis and prevention of the challenge of burnout in modern organizations; as dynamic and complex systems that should adequately respond to changing environmental conditions. The various definitions and interpretations of the phenomenon in the work environment are considered. The interconnection between professional burnout and work from distance in an electronic environment also stands out.
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The purpose of the chapter is to present the micro-foundations of making economic and business decisions, taking into account the latest achievements of psychology and neurosciences. The chapter consists of five parts. The first one discusses the dualistic concepts of brain functioning presented in the psychological and economic literature. The second part is devoted to the importance of affect and cognition in decision-making processes. The third part presents the possibilities of using the achievements of neuroscience in research on the management of organizations. The fourth part is devoted to describing heuristics and evolutionary cognitive tendencies. In turn, in the fifth part, the processes of reciprocity and trust, which are significant in decision-making, are presented. The chapter was created on the basis of critical literature studies, as well as many years of the author’s own managerial experience and observations. Attention was drawn to terminological differences between the concepts propagated in the economic literature and the latest studies on management.
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The purpose of the study is to show the relationship between culture and economics as well as the interpenetration of these two fields and the resulting implications for the management of the cultural sphere. The paper is based on in-depth literature studies. Special attention is paid, on the one hand, to the role of culture in socioeconomic development and its relationship with economics, and, on the other hand, to changes in the cultural sphere taking place under the influence of the development of market, economic thought and new management concepts that are applicable in the area of culture. The context of the development of new technologies and the concept of technological determinism are also considered, as the behaviour of culture participants is strongly affected by algorithms and information bubbles within which culture participants function.
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Good governance is a key factor for national, regional and local development, which many countries aim to achieve and maintain. In a context of changing international equilibrium, transnational crisis and further integration, European democracies require innovative solutions for developing their institutional capacities and resilience. The 11 case studies incorporated in this volume showcase a broad range of national experiences with good governance and resilience in challenging times. Given the wide spread and coverage of various European experiences, the lessons to be learned and good practices to be shared cannot rely on a single, unique framework, as it cannot capture the overall diversity of contextual elements and relevant parameters of good governance and resilience. Therefore, the volume aims at showcasing positive examples that drive the capacity of organizations to manage unexpected circumstances and drawing a series of lessons to be learnt, in a comparative and transnational approach.
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The purpose of the report is to provide an overview and analysis of the current legislation in the field of the supplementary insurance for unemployment and/or professional qualification. We have focused on the more important aspects of the organization and management of this type of insurance having analyzed the legislation of the voluntary form under which it could only exist at the current stage. We have also tried to find the possible reasons for the dead point in which this activity has been frozen having in mind the lack of companies able to practically organize the development of the voluntary unemployment insurance model.
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The focus of this report is to uncover and trace Chile’s experience in building and refining a fully funded unemployment insurance model. The review provided an insight into the architecture of the unemployment insurance system based on individual savings accounts and how it is harmonized with the unemployment solidarity fund. Emphasis has been added on the organizational structure and changes that have taken place over the years in order the insurance model to be improved.
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