Background. Cultural values are important aspects of the self of consumers. As businesses have become more and more global, the cultural differences among consumers play an important role in the development of effective marketing and branding strategies. This is because the cross-cultural phenomenon occurs as a result of the diverse cultural components that exist among consumers and it is a significant factor that influences buying behaviour in consumer markets.

Research aims. The main objective of this study is to analyse the cultural orientation (cultural dimensions) of consumers in the Czech Republic and Ghana with reference to the different age groups and sex.

Methodology. The convenience sampling method was used to select respondents for the study. A total of 1253 respondents were selected from the Czech Republic and Ghana. There were 460 respondents from the Czech Republic and 793 respondents from Ghana. Data analysis was performed with inferential statistics.

Key findings. The study revealed that with regard to the first hypothesis there were no significant differences between three of the dependent variables and sex in the Czech Republic. The p-value for the analysis on power distance was 0.161, collectivism and individualism was 0.110, and long term orientation was 0.493. There were significant differences between sex and two of the dependent variables (masculinity and femininity and uncertainty avoidance). The p-value of the test of masculinity and femininity and sex was 0.000, whiles that of uncertainty avoidance and sex was 0.007. However, in Ghana, the results showed that there is no significant difference between sex and the cultural orientation of the respondents. The p-value recorded for all the five questions that access the cultural dimensions among consumers in Ghana were more than the significant level of 0.05. Concerning the second hypothesis, it was revealed that in the Czech Republic there was a statistical significance between the ages of the respondents and the cultural dimensions. The p-value of all the five cultural dimensions was less than the significant level of 0.05. In Ghana, there was no statistical significance between the ages of the respondents and the cultural dimensions of collectivism and individualism (p-value 0.230) and masculinity and femininity (p-value 0.728). However, there was statistical significance between the age of the respondents and 3 of the cultural dimensions, namely power distance (p-value 0.011), uncertainty avoidance (p-value 0.000), and long term orientation (p-value 0.000).

Conclusions. The study concludes that the cultural dimensions should be used as pre-predictors to determine how consumers differ or converge in their behaviour in different countries. This is how culture can serve the purpose in defining consumer behaviour and enable managers develop strategies for specific markets.

Background. Changes taking place in the environment of contemporary enterprises cause that, undeniably, an increasing role in achieving success is played by running a business activity in a way which is environmentally friendly. Nowadays, more and more enterprises in their activities realise the idea of sustainable development, (in common with organisational culture), assuming the activity for the benefit of the protection and the improvement of the surrounding natural environment with simultaneous realisation of social and economic goals.

Research aims. The main research aim is to present the influence of ecological awareness in common with organisational culture on the growth effectiveness and prestige of a studied company.

Methodology. The key part of the paper consists of a case study of Henkel in Poland, as an example of an ecologically responsible organisation. The paper also includes a scientific literature review.

Key findings. In accordance with the assumptions, the ecological awareness brought about fame and recognition to the company for the pro-ecological activity, as well as many awards. Additionally, Henkel transformed its offices into environmentally-friendly offices. The main results show that being “eco” brings profits. The article is an introduction to further study of the given problem and it makes comparisons with other environmentally conscious companies.

Background. Implementation and development of the management concept called lean management can be influenced by the culture of an organisation that is mostly determined by the national culture of its representatives. That is why it is important for successful lean management implementation to understand different cultural conditions and how compatible they are with the lean management culture (cf.: Jakonis, 2011, 2012; Parkes, 2014).

Research aims. The aims of the research, which results have been presented in the article, were: the organisational culture and the cultural conditioning of lean management on the example of a case study in Great Britain.

Methodology. The retrospective case study was carried out in 2014 in Great Britain. The main sources of data were: a semi-structured interview (an interview with a standardised list of requested information) and a narrative interview carried out with a long-time company employee, as well as the company’s documents. Additional sources of data were: unstructured conversations with the former respondent’s co-workers and participant observations carried out in trade and service organisations during my professional and voluntary work.

Key findings. On the basis of the research, the characteristics of researched organisational culture, as being different from the lean management culture according to the level of basic cultural assumptions were presented. Although, shaping lean culture should be a part of lean management implementation, the more an organisational culture differs from lean management culture, the more difficult it could be in my opinion to implement a lean management system (cf.: Jakonis, 2011, 2012; Parkes, 2014).

At the same time, there were elements of lean culture in the researched culture, as a result of secondary socialisation, which can indicate that it is not only desirable, but also possible to create a lean management culture (at least to some degree) while implementing the lean management system into the organisation, even in conditions of different culture. It is debatable to what degree we can change the culture, how to effectively sustain that change and if we possibly have to deal with other factors as well, different from the presented characteristics, but also important from the perspective of lean management implementation.

Background. There has been a growing number of studies focusing on the issue of trust in inter-organisational networks. However, there are few publications which focus on the possibility of using trust as a coordination mechanism in inter-organisational networks.

Research aims. The main purpose of the paper is to construct and present a framework for analysing the mechanism of trust and credibility in inter-organisational networks.

Methodology. A critical literature review method was adopted in this paper. The method constitutes a process, a set of cognitive behaviours, as well as the product of this process.

Key findings. In the results from this paper, the different dimensions of trust were analysed. Relations in inter-organisational networks go beyond trust and credibility. Trust may be one of the resources which enables the process of cooperation to start. However, credibility is only one of the reasons that cooperation works within inter-organisational networks.

Background. The proper functioning of man in different areas of their life depends largely on their personal resources. This equipment becomes especially important in the case of high environmental requirements (e.g. in an organisation), which may lead to negative psychological phenomena such as job burnout.

Research aims. The aim of this paper is to analyse the impact of personal resources (the sense of life meaning and the optimism level of an employee) on the level of job burnout.

Methodology. The group of 119 Polish high-level managers in two large international production companies were included in the research. Three questionnaires: diagnosing the sense of meaning of life, optimism, and job burnout were used. The regression analysis has shown that both optimism of managers and the sense of meaning of life have a significant impact on the level of job burnout. However, this impact is differentiated.

Key findings. The research shows that optimism and sense of life presence protects against job burnout, but the search for meaning of life is positively related to burnout. In this context, employees and organisations should be advised to strengthen the optimism level and the presence of life meaning.

Background. Lean management is nowadays one of the most dominating management concepts within the industrial and service environment, providing compelling business benefits to many companies. At the same time, its potential application in the non-governmental organisations, has not been extensively researched, yet. Filling this gap may significantly improve the operational performance of many NGOs.

Research aims. The goal of this paper is to verify applicability of the 5-step lean management process in the NGO environment and identify potential barriers, which may impede this process.

Methodology. The method used in the research is a single-case study of a lean thinking implementation project within the Wrocław Food Bank. During this project, the Bank went through the full 5-step lean management process, which consists of value identification, value stream mapping, creation of flow, establishing pull, and seeking perfection. Participation in the project enabled the author to gather qualitative and quantitative data, which was used to the answer research question and achieve the research objective.

Key findings. The research shows that application of the 5-step lean management process in NGO environment is possible, however physical implementation of its guidelines can be strongly impeded due to multiple constraints, which non-governmental organisations are facing. The main lean implementation barriers include lack of traditional customer-supplier relationship, project-based activity, complicated operational rules and regulations, and limited budget. Successful lean implementation requires, therefore, strong leadership commitment, which would drive transformation efforts and remove these obstacles.

Background. Ambush marketing in sport events has been widely commented among both scientists and practitioners. Nowadays, companies use more and more sophisticated ambush marketing methods in their promotional campaigns in order to gain recognition.

Research aims. The aim of this paper is to create an innovative classification of ambush marketing methods, based on the case study of the 2012 UEFA European Championship and to evaluate the effectiveness of these methods based on the results of a brand recognition survey carried out on a representative sample of the Polish population.

Methodology. In order to identify and provide an innovative classification of ambush marketing methods, monitoring of media coverage (press, Internet, broadcasts) was carried out between April and August 2012.

Key findings. The authors developed a classification of ambush marketing methods based on associations used in promotional campaigns by companies. These associations were divided into two categories: ones that involve various communication means and others that involve various images. The study may contribute to a better understanding of the phenomenon and to design more efficient methods to counter the occurrence of ambush marketing in mega sport events.