Changing Market Environment Research Articles

An Ensembling Architecture Incorporating Machine Learning Models and Genetic Algorithm Optimization for Forex Trading

Algorithmic trading has become the standard in the financial market. Traditionally, most algorithms have relied on rule-based expert systems which are a set of complex if/then rules that need to be updated manually to changing market conditions. Machine learning (ML) is the natural next step in algorithmic trading because it can directly learn market patterns and behaviors from historical trading data and factor this into trading decisions. In this paper, a complete end-to-end system is proposed for automated low-frequency quantitative trading in the foreign exchange (Forex) markets. The system utilizes several State of the Art (SOTA) machine learning strategies that are combined under an ensemble model to derive the market signal for trading. Genetic Algorithm (GA) is used to optimize the strategies for maximizing profits. The system also includes a money management strategy to mitigate risk and a back-testing framework to evaluate system performance. The models were trained on EUR–USD pair Forex data from Jan 2006 to Dec 2019, and subsequently evaluated on unseen samples from Jan 2020 to Dec 2020. The system performance is promising under ideal conditions. The ensemble model achieved about 10% nett P&L with −0.7% drawdown level based on 2020 trading data. Further work is required to calibrate trading costs & execution slippage in real market conditions. It is concluded that with the increased market volatility due to the global pandemic, the momentum behind machine learning algorithms that can adapt to a changing market environment will become even stronger.

Ambidexterity in a Rapidly Changing Environment of China: Top Management Team Decision Making and Sustained Performance

The market requires Internet companies to achieve unit ambidexterity to adapt to a rapidly changing market environment. Studies have discussed the background, behavior, and performance of corporate ambidexterity but have not focused on formulating ambidextrous decisions by the top management team. We implemented inductive multiple case studies by utilizing five Chinese Internet companies as subjects. Results show that if the senior managers consider the contingency between business and environment from the perspective of the entire industry to achieve goals, resource allocation, and co-evolution, and effectively coordinate the internal conflict of the decision-making process, then the company could attain sustained performance. The newly constructed theoretical framework emphasizes the role of contingency and strategy behavior, rather than deterministically interpreting the outcome based on the personal judgment of senior managers and the embeddedness of units.

Capturing Emerging Business Opportunities through Entrepreneurial Orientation and Innovation Behavior: The Moderating Role of Leader-Member Exchange

In the changing market environment due to the fourth industrial revolution, entrepreneurial orientation and innovation can accelerate the company’s sustainable growth, and performance improvement through the mutual relationship between leaders and members is essential. This study investigated the effect of the innovation behavior of entrepreneurial orientation on job performance by focusing on the conditional indirect effect of leader-member exchange (LMX) in the mediated relationship. To this end, research data were collected from 324 employees from different SMEs in South Korea. Based on the results, entrepreneurial orientation had a positive effect on innovation behavior and job performance. In addition, it was found that innovation behavior had a positive effect on job performance and partially mediated the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and job performance. LMX showed a conditional indirect effect in the mediated model and moderated the relationship between risk-taking and job performance. The results have significant implications for SMEs pursuing entrepreneurial orientation, which was discussed. This study has significant implications in that high performance can be achieved by realizing the importance of employees’ innovation behavior and LMX within the company for sustainable management.

Research on Innovative Thinking of Ceramic Art Design Based on Artificial Intelligence

Ceramic product design is a method for creating the most functional, practical, and aesthetically pleasing product system out of ceramic materials. It is a conceptual, behavioral, and realization creative process. Design is a creative process, and designers’ use of creative thinking is what gives them their power. Ceramic design, as a sort of design, cannot survive without creative thinking in the face of a continually changing market environment and market demands. The unique design of ceramic products is not only a critical component in its qualitative leap but also a requirement for ceramic products to achieve a competitive edge in sales. Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is now extensively employed in many industries, and designing ceramic products using AI technology as support is a new development route for the ceramic industry. This study explores the application of AI in the development of creative thinking in ceramic design, to provide theoretical support for related process optimization. Using AI, designers who play a key role in the development of ceramic product design can properly comprehend material characteristics, fully exploit technological boundaries, and recognize that technology can considerably encourage ceramic product design innovation.

Computational analysis of the behavior of stochastic volatility models with financial applications

Volatility estimation is an important issue in certain aspects of the financial community, such as risk management and asset pricing. It is known that stock returns often exhibit volatility clustering and the tails of the distributions of these series are fatter than the normal distribution. As a response to the need of these issues, the high unconditional volatility of assets encourages the users to predict their price in an ever changing market environment. Our main focus in this paper is to study the behavior of returns and volatility dynamics of some general stochastic economic models. First, we apply the local polynomial kernel smoothing method based on nonparametric regression to estimate the mean and the variance of the returns. We then implement and develop an empirical likelihood procedure in terms of conditional variance on daily log returns for inference on the nonparametric stochastic volatility as well as to construct a confidence interval for the volatility function. It appears that the proposed algorithm is applicable to some popular financial models and represents a good fit for the behavior observed in the stock and cryptocurrency markets. Some numerical results in connection to real data on the S&P 500 index and highly volatile Bitcoin dataset are also illustrated.

Analysis of Motivation Factors: Dependance on Personal and Professional Characteristics of Employees

Abstract Organizations invest in different types of resources, which enable them to achieve and maintain their market position and remain competitive. With global competition and changing market environment, one of the key resources, which considerably contributes to improvement of organizations’ competitive posture, are human resources, i.e. employees. The subject of research presented in this paper are factors of employees’ motivation. The aim of the research is to determine the impact of certain factors on employee motivation, based on the importance that different motivation factors have, depending on certain personal and professional characteristics of employees. Based on the results of the survey, the most important factors of motivation are financial factors, specifically the “salary” and “financial rewards”, as well as “job security” as non-financial factor. The variance of repeated measurements showed that there is statistically significant influence of financial motivation factors on employee motivation. However, the results of the analysis of the variance indicate that it is necessary to find the appropriate combination of financial and non-financial motivators, having in mind different characteristics and needs of employees, in order for the employee motivation system to show the expected results.

Creativity in the South Korean Workplace: Procedural Justice, Abusive Supervision, and Competence.

Innovation is now a feature of daily life. In a rapidly changing market environment and amid fierce competition, organizations pursue survival and growth through innovation, and the key driver of innovation is the creativity of employees. Because the value of creativity has been emphasized, many organizations are looking for effective ways to encourage employees to be creative at work. From a resource perspective, creativity at work can be viewed as a high-intensity job demand, and organizations should encourage it by providing and managing employee resources. This study is an attempt to empirically investigate how competence and abusive supervision affect the relationship between procedural justice and creativity from the conservation of resources perspective. Findings from two-wave time-lagged survey data from 377 South Korean employees indicate that procedural justice increases creativity through the mediation of competence. Furthermore, abusive supervision has a negative moderating effect on the relationship between procedural justice and competence. The findings show that competence moderates the relationship between procedural justice and creativity and that the lower the level of abusive supervision, the greater the effect of procedural justice on competence and creativity.

ЕФЕКТИВНЕ ЛІДЕРСТВО ЯК УПРАВЛІНСЬКИЙ ЧИННИК ЗАБЕЗПЕЧЕННЯ КОНКУРЕНТОСПРОМОЖНОСТІ ПІДПРИЄМСТВА У СУЧАСНОМУ РИНКОВОМУ СЕРЕДОВИЩІ

The article is devoted to the search for ways to ensure the competitiveness of the enterprise due to effective leadership, which allows to ensure the competitive advantages of the enterprise in the conditions of constant changes in the modern market environment. Leadership is considered as the highest level of evolutionary development of management in the field of professional activity. Such definitions as leadership, managerial leadership, and effective leadership have been researched and substantiated. It is proven that leadership is an objective triune system: leader – followers – changes that have occurred. A managerial leader is an individual who harmoniously combines leadership and managerial qualities. A manager-leader receives his power from those employees who understand and recognize the importance and value of the leader in the team and inherit it. Therefore, an effective leader must be able to create teams among followers, strengthen relationships in available to the team and manage them for the best possible result. It was determined that the qualities of an effective leader are activity, formulating a goal, priority-setting, time management, conflict-management, effective communication, organizational development and personal development skills. Thus, in the process of managing competitiveness, effective leadership substantiates the "leader – follower – change" system and is an important factor in the success of the enterprise in both the short term and the long term. The relationship between effective leadership (qualities of an effective leader) and priority areas of enterprise competitiveness management, taking into account prospective changes in the market environment, is proven. It was found that the highest level of this interaction is connected with new strategic thinking, the formation of an intellectual economy and innovative principles of resource provision of all production processes.

МАРКЕТИНГОВА СИСТЕМА УПРАВЛІННЯ КОНКУРЕНТОСПРОМОЖНІСТЮ БІЗНЕСУ: ДИЗАЙН ПІДПРИЄМНИЦЬКИХ СТРУКТУР, УРАХУВАННЯ МАКРОЕКОНОМІЧНИХ ТА ГЛОБАЛЬНИХ ПРОБЛЕМ СУЧАСНОСТІ

The research focuses on the important interdisciplinary issue of the agile marketing management systems implementations under the design stage of the entrepreneurship structures. Today the entrepreneurship ecosystem is under massive impact of global and macroeconomic challenges, actualized by different instances of global problems and behavioral factors. The competitiveness of the entrepreneurship structures depends upon the agile marketing systems of market data processing. The task is to show the great role of global changes and local response of the target audience behavior. During the process of the decision-making, the entrepreneurship structures are analyzing the statistical data to ensure that the decision is correct, or wrong. There are different sources of marketing data to manage competitiveness in international business environment. More available and accessible data is the statistic – obtained during the sales, processing, manufacturing, etc. also, if the market is new for the business, we can analyze macroeconomic, branch or local statistics to create the strategy or approve the decisions for the entrepreneurship design. Another possibility, which does not replace but complements the existing data sources, is the behavioral data from the services like Google analytics, Google trends, Google ads, other behavioral data sources, available online. The Agile-marketing concept let the marketing manager use combined data sources in the decision-making process. Agility in the decision-making and data processing is the key to the competitiveness building during the entrepreneur structures design process. The macroeconomic and global challenges, provoked by the global problems of today are important – among them, ecology problems, education problem, hunger, global partnership building, etc. These problems are important for the social responsible marketing systems, gaining popularity all over the world. Also, competitiveness depends upon the agility in the marketingmix of the entrepreneur structures – the speed of response and decision-making in the changing or undefined environment. During the market research, the results may show that the strategy is correct, but some elements of marketing-mix are misused – in this circumstances the marketing-mix must be changed immediately. This is the agile marketing management systems main task in the changing market environment.

РОЛЬ ЕКОНОМІЧНОЇ БЕЗПЕКИ У СТРАТЕГІЧНОМУ УПРАВЛІННІ ПРОМИСЛОВИМ ПІДПРИЄМСТВОМ

In modern conditions, the system of economic security of the enterprise should be one of the main elements of strategic management of an industrial enterprise. In view of this, the management of industrial enterprises needs to take care of information-analytical, innovative and strategic support of the appropriate level of their economic security not only in the current period, but also in the following ones. Carrying out a balanced sound policy in the field of economic security of an industrial enterprise is an extremely important task at the present stage of protection of Ukrainian economic interests. Therefore, the article revealed the basic theoretical and methodological foundations of economic security management of an industrial enterprise. The place, role and tasks of economic security in the enterprise management system have been shown. According to the authors, the main purpose of the economic security management system of the enterprise is to prevent crisis situations and minimize the impact of negative factors on the enterprise. The essence and significance of the principles on which the system of economic security management of industrial enterprises should be based were given. Studies of domestic and foreign scientists show that it is more important for the company not to avoid the threat at all, but the ability to anticipate it in a timely and accurate manner in order to take the necessary measures. This applies to both companies in crisis and successful ones. Therefore, it is necessary to create a management system of economic security with continuous diagnosis of the environment and the place of the enterprise in it, because the method of making management decisions based on intuition alone can not ensure the most efficient operation of economic entities. The authors have been conducted a study of existing methods for diagnosing threats and comprehensive assessment of the level of economic security of the enterprise in the enterprise management system. The use of diagnostic methods will allow industrial enterprises to function and develop more efficiently in a changing market environment. A method of diagnosing economic security by a method that allows to take into account all deviations (positive and negative) was proposed. At the same time, the positive dynamics of changes in the overall coefficient of diagnosing economic security is growth.

A Private Blockchain Platform to Manage Data Exchange Between Supply Chain Partners

In a complex and changing market environment, enterprises recognize the benefit of collaborating with their suppliers and B2B customers to minimize risks and increase the agility and efficiency of the overall supply chain. To ensure this collaboration, they are asked to share real-time data related to their activities (stock, capacity, etc.) and to collaborate with their partners to optimize operation management, to reduce costs and reach optimal service level. Therefore, they require robust and reliable IT platforms allowing partners to exchange sensitive information and guarantee transparency but also security. That explains the increasing interest among supply chain practitioners and academicians toward the blockchain technology thanks to what it promises in terms of security, transparency and automation. In this paper, we present initial steps of a study aiming to develop, test and deploy a supply chain collaboration platform using the blockchain technology. The purpose of our study is to present answers to many unsolved questions related to the ability of the blockchain technology to manage real scale supply chain data and maintain the promised advantages.

Financial Ratio and Efficiency Analysis as a Competitive Advantage of Wine Manufacturing Firms. The Case of Greece

In the Greek economy, the wine industry is one of the most important sectors, not just for the domestic beverage market, but also for the development and promotion of Greek traditional products abroad. The wine sector has been recognized as one of the most significant economic activities in many countries, both in terms of employment and revenue. Financial analysis is crucial to understanding the economic condition of wine production companies and ensuring the sustainability of the industry. Financial ratio analysis provides insights into the factors that determine economic utility, which is increasing profitability, reducing risk, and providing liquidity to economic entities. The main purpose of the paper is to examine and analyze the financial situation of companies active in the wine industry. This will evaluate how well they adapt to the changing market environment. By analyzing the financial profile of the companies, an effort was made to identify the problems that they faced as well as analyzed their efficiency. Cluster analysis would be conducted in order to determine their level of competition. According to the results, large companies were able to pay their current liabilities, fixed costs, interest, dividends, as well as better handle any current losses. The large companies have a high level of solvency and display rapid circulation of their stocks. Small and medium-sized businesses had difficulties meeting their current obligations as well as dealing with potential losses. Indicators measuring the efficiency of the utilization of assets in large and medium-sized enterprises were relatively stable, but a significant over-investment of capital relative to sales could lead to obligations not being met in the future. The debt to assets ratio of large companies was higher than that of medium and small companies, which must be addressed by increasing the firms’ liquidity to avoid debt service problems.

ЭКОСИСТЕМА КАК МЕХАНИЗМ УСТОЙЧИВОГО РАЗВИТИЯ ПРОМЫШЛЕННОСТИ

The article is devoted to the analysis of the ecosystem as an innovative business model. The use of modern business models is for many enterprises a driver for increasing competitiveness in a rapidly changing market environment, increasing market share and profits. The lack of an unambiguous, comprehensive definition of the concept of a business ecosystem and its unique principles that make it possible to identify this business model from others predetermined the purpose of this study. The purpose of the study is to identify and systematize the principles of functioning of business ecosystems that ensure the effectiveness of the use of current and projected ecosystems at domestic enterprises, including industrial ones. During the study, such economic definitions as system and ecosystem, business system and business model were analyzed. This made it possible to single out the universal and specific principles of the operation of business ecosystems as a whole, to form a system of principles for the functioning of a business ecosystem in industry to ensure the economic sustainability of industrial enterprises that are part of the ecosystem and increase the competitiveness of the industrial sector of the economy.

Mapping the Supply of Colour Tones of Wood and Furniture Products in Slovakian Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

The purpose of the surface treatment of wood products is not only to protect them, but also to make them attractive in relation to the visual aspect through their colour modification. It is therefore important that manufacturers of wood and furniture products pay particular attention to the supply of colour tones of wood. According to colours, wood is divided into groups: red woods (oak, cherry, pine, alder, etc.), brown woods (elm, ash, walnut, etc.), pale woods (hornbeam, spruce, fir, etc.) and green woods (acacia, etc.). The main objective of this paper is to identify the supply of colour tones of wood and furniture products of Slovak micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. An empirical survey was used to map the researched issue in the form of a questionnaire. The results show that Slovak micro, small and medium-sized woodworking and furniture enterprises prefer the quality of wood raw material to its price. At the same time, they mostly manufacture products made of solid wood. Where it is necessary to modify the colour of the wood, enterprises use a process of staining, which enhances the natural colour and grain of the wood. On the other hand, due to the lack of investment capital, they cannot use hydrothermal treatment of wood steaming, which is considered a modern way of modifying the colour tone of the wood. It is essential that Slovak micro, small and medium-sized woodworking and furniture enterprises constantly adapt their production supply in the changing market environment, where they must respond immediately to current trends. In this way, they can sustain and increase their turnover, which will help them overcome the current crisis.

A methodology to assess the level of flexible management technology development at industrial enterprises

Subject. This article discusses the issues related to the transformation of industrial enterprises in the transition to a digital economy. Objectives. The article aims to study the problem of development of flexible management technologies at industrial enterprises of Russia. Methods. For the study, we used statistical and systems analyses, grouping, and the method of expert assessment. Results. The article presents an original methodology for assessing the level of development of flexible management technologies at industrial enterprises. Conclusions. The developed methodology can help industrial enterprises function effectively for a long period of time in a changing market environment.

Marketing geographical indication products in the digital age: a holistic perspective

PurposeThis paper analyses the impact of digitalization in the marketing of geographic indication (GI) products. Specifically, the objective is to provide a systemic and comprehensive view of marketing issues and challenges arising from evolving digitalization in the agriculture sector.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employed an explorative cognitive mapping technique on a sample of key informants among Italian companies and a consortium of registered food, spirits and wine products.FindingsThis study describes the key concepts dominant in the discourse of informants concerning digitalization and its influence on the GI market. Three clusters and two loops were also identified to explain the relationship among key concepts, which stress changes regarding the relationship with the consumer, product experience and innovation, and the integration between physical and virtual space.Research limitations/implicationsThis is the first attempt to apply cognitive maps to GIs. However, the study does have limitations: it was conducted on a small number of producers and was restricted to only Italy. Another limitation is that interviews were conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic.Practical implicationsThe results suggest important practical implications that stress the need for learning and increased digital competences for the efficient embedding of digital technologies in all business areas, increase product value and innovation, and the need for governance in support of digital transformation.Originality/valueThis work creates the new and valuable literature on food marketing and, specifically, on a changing market environment resulting from digitalization, by providing a holistic overview of digitalization in reference to the marketing of GIs.

Grain pricing in Ukraine: A case study of malted barley

The agrarian market participants operate in a changing market environment. Their activities are characterized by a high level of risk, in particular, price risk, which determines the likelihood of failure in achieving the planned results. The purpose of the paper is to analyze the dynamics of prices for malted barley and determine the main factors influencing the price of malted barley in the agricultural market of Ukraine. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study is the scientific works of domestic and foreign authors on the problems of pricing management. Methods of data analysis, synthesis, and generalization of results are used. As a result, one can notice a high level of price fluctuations, significant price fluctuations during the year, absence of a uniform inversely proportional effect between the volume of barley production and its purchasing prices, and presence of disparity between the selling price of barley and the production costs of grain producers. The key factors that determine the price of malted barley include market saturation, grain quality, production expenditures, conditions on the market of barley fodder, contractual relations (which are sufficiently standardized but do not protect agricultural producers from risks), public policy through regulation market. The study outlined recommendations regarding the need to improve the legal regulation of relations and the development of a system to ensure the functioning of the grain market, effective cost management, introduction of innovative agrotechnologies, and financial hedging instruments.

Research on the Risk and Supervision System of Cross-Border e-Commerce Payment in China

Cross-border e-commerce payment business is a key link of cross-border e-commerce, which involves the exchange rate changes between different currencies in different countries, whether it is universal, and whether huitong exchange and other related business issues. From the perspective of the current international market environment changes, although China's cross-border e-commerce business is in a period of rapid rise, it is also affected by the complex international environment. E-commerce payment faces the risks of transaction authenticity recognition, cross-border payment transaction credit, and online payment security, which is not conducive to the steady development of China's cross-border e-commerce trade. In view of this, in view of the current risks facing cross-border e-commerce payment business in China, we propose the corresponding prevention mechanism and improve the supervision system, which are conducive to the steady progress of cross-border e-commerce trade.

The Impact of Strategic Vigilance on Entrepreneurship – Field Study at the Baghdad Company for Soft Drinks

This research aims to highlight on the impact of strategic vigilance in entrepreneurship. In the present time, the vigilance has importance due to the developments and changes in marketing, competition, economic and political environment that surround companies. Baghdad Soft Drinks Company has been selected as a community for the study. A questionnaire was used as a tool to collect data which was distributed to a sample of managers and public officials in the company (n = 30) and extracted the results of the research using the statistical program SPSS. The results showed that there was a significant correlation and effect between the two research variables (strategic vigilance and entrepreneurship). One of the most important recommendations is the need to avoid risk, through conducting feasibility studies for risky projects before implementing, encourage their members to implement them, take responsibility and take advantage of mistakes that can enhance entrepreneurship.

Optimal Liquidation Behaviour Analysis for Stochastic Linear and Nonlinear Systems of Self-Exciting Model with Decay

When the market environment changes, we extend the self-exciting price impact model and further analysis of investors’ liquidation behaviour. It is assumed that the model is accompanied by an exponential decay factor when the temporary impact and its coefficient are linear and nonlinear. Using the optimal control method, we obtain that the optimal liquidation behaviours satisfy the second-order nonlinear ODEs with variable coefficients in the case of linear and nonlinear temporary impact. Next, we solve the ODEs and get the form of the investors’ optimal liquidation behaviour in four cases. Furthermore, we prove the decreasing properties of the optimal liquidation behaviour under the linear temporary impact. Through numerical simulation, we further explain the influence of the changed parameters ρ , a , b , x , and α on the investors’ liquidation strategy X t in twelve scenarios. Some interesting properties have been found.