Managerial Decisions Research Articles

Development of a Decision Support System for University Administration: Integrating Business Process Management and Multidimensional Data Analysis

The paper provides an overview of decision support systems to demonstrate their role in supporting decision-making in university administration. Enhancing university performance and modernizing university administration must be top priorities for university leaders and decision-makers since quality is the foundation that supports innovation. Good decision-making is the first step towards efficiency and quality in the academic setting. The article’s main topic is developing IT solutions to support decision-making business processes of student admission. By utilizing models of university business processes and applying business intelligence principles, with the support of multidimensional data analysis, it can be effectively introduced and integrated. The study attempts to provide selection criteria for selecting a development environment for creating a support system focused on university management based on data from the student information system database and the author’s personal experience. The contributions include creating OLAP analytical models and a data warehouse model to support university managerial decisions.

Short-term stock indices as a tool for assessing and forecasting scientific and technological security

Objectives. Ensuring scientific and technological sovereignty, defined as one of the objectives of the Concept of Technological Development for the period until 2030, approved by the Order of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1315-r dated May 20, 2023, implies the use of effective mechanisms for managing the country’s economy. Under contemporary conditions, technology is a crucial element in the country’s economic development and a key component of scientific and technological security. Thus, the aim of the present work is to develop existing methods for analyzing economically significant information relating to the monitoring and diagnostics of scientific and technological security at the meso- and macrolevels.Methods. The developed method for scientific and technological security level monitoring and forecasting, which is based on the dynamics analysis of the values of corporate securities, includes economic and statistical analysis methods, machine learning and time series analysis tools.Results. The approach towards information processing and enhancement of analysis mechanisms in managerial decisions, which relies on diagnostic, analysis, and forecasting tools for socioeconomic system scientific and technological security, is based on information-processing, economic, and mathematical methods. The presented results constitute a developed method for the analysis of systemically important enterprises stock indices, supporting research and development to assess and predict scientific and technological security dynamics at meso- and macro levels of the economy. In order to verify the methodology, a numerical experiment was carried out using statistical data from systemically important companies.Conclusions. The developed methodology is aimed at improved managerial decision-making accuracy and speed when solving problems connected with scientific and technological security underpinning socioeconomic systems. The experimental results quantitatively confirm the significant contribution made by systemically important companies to Russian Federation’s scientific and technological security ensuring.

Robust design heuristics for product costing systems: a replication and extension using an ABC cost hierarchy

AbstractAccurately reported product costs are essential for many managerial decisions, such as product and resource planning, pricing, product mix decisions, and cost management. Balakrishnan et al. (Manag Sci 57(3):520–541, 2011) offered valuable managerial guidance on how costing system design heuristics affect the accuracy of reported product costs. This paper tests the internal and external validity of their numerical experiments and recommendations. Our replication results show that we are able to reproduce most of the findings, thereby confirming the results’ internal validity. To test external validity and assess the robustness of their findings, we modify a key model element by implementing a resource consumption pattern that follows a four-tier Activity-Based Costing (ABC) cost hierarchy, with which we repeat the numerical experiments. Although the design heuristics are mostly robust in this modified environment, the benefits of improving the costing system design are less straightforward and less linear. For instance, single plant-wide cost drivers outperform more information-demanding costing systems with few (2–4) cost pools. Consequently, given a four-tier ABC cost hierarchy, refining the costing system incrementally can reduce accuracy, leaving costing system designers stuck in the middle. Overall, our study supports Balakrishnan et al. (2011) results’ robustness but also identifies reasons why firms may still use simple costing systems.

Investigating the Relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Performance: A Case Study on Indian Manufacturing Companies

This study investigates the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate financial performance (CFP) in the context of Indian manufacturing firms. Using secondary data from 150 firms listed in the Nifty 500 index over six years (2014–2019), the study employs multivariate regression analysis to examine both accounting-based (ROA) and market-based (Tobin's Q) performance measures. The results reveal a significant positive association between CSR activities and CFP, highlighting that CSR initiatives enhance profitability and market valuation. Variance inflation factor and stationarity tests confirm the robustness of the models, with R-squared values indicating that independent variables explain 66–67% of the variation in financial performance. The findings underscore the strategic importance of CSR in improving economic outcomes and guiding managerial decisions. While limited to Indian manufacturing firms, the study provides a foundation for further research in cross-country and sectoral comparisons.

OM Forum—Asset-Level Perspectives on the Clean Energy Transition

Problem definition: The clean energy transition is an important component of the net zero transformation, which aims at averting potentially disastrous climate change related to excessive global warming by practically eliminating new global greenhouse gas emissions within 2050. The resulting move toward decarbonized energy systems is projected to encompass massive investments in assets that employ technologies with low environmental impact, some of which are innovative or yet unproven or even undeveloped, an area known as CleanTech. The typical analyses that are informing the dialogue on this process in practice provide insights into decarbonization paths at the technology level. In contrast, managers need to make decisions about assets. Methodology/results: Taking an asset-level view of the clean energy transition that complements its technology outlook, this essay provides a concise entry point into this topic based on both the practitioner literature and personal reflections, highlighting CleanTech innovations and related operational considerations in carbon capture, use, and storage; sustainable fuels; hydrogen; electricity; and concomitant government support activities. Managerial implications: Further, this work advocates for potential CleanTech research or teaching pursuits, especially ones aimed at directly supporting managerial decision making, for which it provides an example from the literature.

Leveraging RTLS to assess clinical space utilisation

Investment in physical space is a key strategic decision for healthcare managers. Understanding the current utilisation of clinical space is a significant input for this decision. Historically, direct observation or analysis of electronic health record (EHR) timestamps has been used to assess ambulatory space utilisation. Manual observation is prohibitively expensive, prospective and infeasible for large spaces. EHR data is limited to electronically captured workflows and to the quality of data capture. Two pilots explored the efficacy of real-time location systems (RTLS) to assess outpatient space utilisation to assist healthcare management professionals to make space allocation decisions. RTLS was shown to be viable, with accuracy that was not different from EHR-derived utilisation. RTLS had the following benefits: (a) more granular information, (b) data coverage in areas without EHR timestamps and (c) real-time assessment of utilisation. RTLS is an option for ambulatory care managers to understand the needed space for clinical operations.

Managerial decision making and AI: A decision canvas approach

Managerial decision making and AI: A decision canvas approach

Ethical perception and job satisfaction of software developers

Software development is a domain that impacts numerous facets of the world. Careers in software development offer attractive financial compensation. However, the nature of software development jobs often requires sacrifices that may reduce job satisfaction, particularly due to ethical implications in the workplace. This paper examines how ethical perception is related to the job satisfaction of software developers. Using unique data from a 2018 survey of software developers, this paper employs ordinal logistic regression to measure the relationships between job satisfaction and various aspects of ethical perception, while controlling for age, gender, race and ethnicity, country, education level, undergraduate major, employment status, and salary. Job satisfaction among software developers is found to be positively related to ethical perception. Developers who uphold ethical standards by considering the ethical implications of the code they write, declining to write unethical code, and whistleblowing express greater job satisfaction. This study contributes to the field of disciplinary-based Knowledge Management (KM) by offering insights into the relationship between ethical perception and job satisfaction for software developers. The results can be applied in managerial decisions to improve employee engagement, retention, and productivity.

Enhancing managerial decisions through strategic intelligence: The contribution of advanced information retrieval systems

This study explores the comparative impact of classic and advanced information retrieval sys- tems (IRS) on strategic intelligence and decision-making quality within organizations. Classic IRS, rooted in keyword-based searches and basic indexing, have supported decision-making by providing fast access to relevant data. However, their limitations in contextual depth, adaptabil- ity, and capacity to handle complex, unstructured information often restrict their effectiveness in today’s dynamic business environments. Advanced IRS, on the other hand, utilize techniques such as natural language processing, machine learning, and semantic analysis to deliver richer, contextually relevant insights. These systems enable a more comprehensive understanding of complex information landscapes, aligning with strategic goals and supporting proactive decision- making. The paper’s analysis highlights that while advanced IRS offer substantial advantages in data precision, strategic alignment, and responsiveness, they also entail higher costs and tech- nical requirements. The findings provide actionable insights for organizations in selecting and implementing the most suitable IRS to enhance decision quality, considering factors like orga- nizational goals, resources, and ethical considerations. This research contributes to the body of knowledge on strategic intelligence by examining the evolution of IRS and their implications for organizational success.

Investing in Tomorrow: How Indonesian Firms Allocate Free Cash Flow for Sustainability Development Strategy

Objective: This study is to investigates and prove the role of management ownership in the use of free cash flow to fund the social environment financing (Sustainability Accounting), and as the company's sustainability development strategic objectives. Theoretical Framework: Sustainability accounting has long been disputed in developing nations and certain industrial settings, and it remains among its most crucial issues in the business sector. Sustainability accounting is also used to assess or evaluate firm performance, provide accounting information, and make economic assessments relating to investment and managerial decisions, total asset expenditures, capital costs, or other strategic decisions for companies related to social responsibility, meaning that companies do not only prioritize profit but also deserves attention to the social-environmental factors of the communities in which they operate. This policy is aimed at preventing conflicts of interest between internal and external stakeholders of the organization, and can protect the company's reputation Method: The method utilizes pure-moderated regression model and using the purposive sampling method, data pooling is based on the company's ISX-listed financial statements on 2016-2020 period, and has an Environmental Performance Management index on Green-Gold PROPER. Results and Discussion: The results of the t-test showed a significance value of pure-moderating effect of managerial ownership to intervene free cash flow in sustainability accounting. This means that in order to overcome the socio-ecological accounting crisis, in addition to profit orientation, companies make sustainability responsibility one of the most important factors in their business operations. Research Implications: Management ownership plays a positive role and has a significant impact on sustainability accounting. Even if they hold a relatively small number of shares, they can influence the use of free cash flow for the benefit of sustainability accounting. Free cash flow is not only used to return profits to shareholders, but also to benefit social and environmental programs when companies make strategic decisions. This result in line with the legitimacy theory, which states that the existence and sustainability of corporate operations is confirmed by their conformity with the interests and expectations of the community. Originality/Value: This study contributes to clarifying why a company's sustainability can be verified through sustainable accounting. This research suggests that one essential aspect in resolving the socio-environmental accounting crisis was sustainability responsibility.

Digital Psychology: Introducing a Conceptual Impact Model and the Future of Work

AbstractThe present review is the first of its kind to form a conceptual discussion about a novel field, here referred to as digital psychology. The result is a conceptual impact model of digital psychology (in short: CIMDP) highlighting the bidirectional relationship between human psychology (consisting of affect, cognition, and behavior) and digital transformation (driven by datafication, algorithmization, and platformization). The findings of the CIMDP are applied to a relevant field in economy and business development, namely, to the digital future of work, which appears to be mediated by organizational behavior and governed by managerial decisions. The resulting model may be used to provide orientation in a new research domain and to guide future studies in psychology, cognitive science, digital transformation, human–computer interactions, organizational behavior, and business management.

THE HEALTH STATUS OF THE POPULATION BEYOND WORKING AGE IN THE TRANSBAIKAL TERRITORY

The aim of the research. To analyze morbidity rates by turnover, mortality of the population over the working age in the Trans-Baikal Territory.Materials and methods. The work analyzed morbidity rates by turnover, mortality among the population older than working age. The sources of information were collections of the Ministry of Health of the region and the Russian Federation, as well as data from official sources of Rosstat. The work calculates the indicators of the dynamic range. Graphical forecasting was performed for the indicators in the Microsoft Excel program with the construction of a trend line.Results. In 2022, the share of the population over the working age in the region was 20%. Thus, over a 10year period, the number of people in this age group increased by 11,4%. The primary morbidity rate in 2022 amounted to more than 57 thousand cases per 100 thousand population. The primary morbidity rate of the population over the working age in the region remained lower than similar indicators for the Far Eastern Federal District and the Russian Federation. The total incidence of the older generation in the region in 2022 amounted to about 220 thousand cases per 100 thousand population. The level of general morbidity in the region is lower than the same indicator in the Russian Federation. The mortality rate of the population over the working age in 2022 amounted to 43,7 cases per 100 thousand population. When comparing mortality rates in the region and the Russian Federation, higher rates were observed in the region throughout the analyzed period, on average by 8%.Conclusions. Morbidity rates in terms of turnover among the older generation in the Trans-Baikal Territory tend to increase over the analyzed period. At the same time, these indicators remain lower than those in the Far Eastern Federal District and the Russian Federation. The mortality rate of the population of this age group remains higher than in the Russian Federation. The analysis of the health status of the older generation in the region indicates the need for managerial decisions in the regional health system.

Toward an improved causal test of network effects: Does alliance network position enhance firm innovation?

AbstractResearch SummaryAssessing whether network position causes firm outcomes is difficult because networks result from firms' strategic choices. To address this issue, we develop a research design that separates self‐driven network change from other‐driven change. Because other‐driven change suppresses the focal firm's agency, outcomes resulting from it can be interpreted as causal—under verifiable assumptions. We apply this method to reassess whether alliance network position affects firm innovation. Using data from the biotechnology industry, we find that structural holes (but not closure) increase firm innovation when self‐driven network change is involved but not when other‐driven change is involved. This raises two possibilities: network effects spuriously capture unobservable firm characteristics or network theories must be updated to account for agency.Managerial SummaryWe examine a crucial question for managers making decisions about alliance networks: Does a firm's position in its alliance network drive innovation, or is it a reflection of the firm's inherent qualities? Our research explores this question by examining network changes outside a firm's control. We find that bridging disconnected partners (structural holes) enhances innovation, but only when firms actively create these positions and not when these positions result from others' actions. Our findings suggest that network position alone does not drive innovation. Acknowledging that network position, per se, is not advantageous provides nuanced insight to better guide managerial decisions.

A BALANCED MONITORING SYSTEM AS AN ELEMENT OF ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The article is dedicated to the study of a balanced monitoring system as an element of the enterprise management system. The purpose of the research is to analyze, systematize, and summarize the existing theoretical and methodological aspects of the implementation of a balanced monitoring system and to develop conceptual foundations for monitoring within the enterprise management system. The study examines in detail the role of monitoring as an essential tool in the enterprise management system, particularly in the agricultural sector. It has been determined that monitoring ensures comprehensive control and analysis of various aspects of activity, providing managers with timely and accurate information for making effective managerial decisions. The research demonstrates that promptly identifying deviations and risks allows enterprises to quickly respond to changes, adjust their actions, and minimize potential losses, which is especially important in a dynamic market environment. It is substantiated that monitoring allows enterprises to evaluate the effectiveness of their activities from different perspectives: financial, production, human resources, and environmental, contributing to the identification of strengths and weaknesses in operations and helping to determine priority areas for development. Arguments are provided regarding the importance of monitoring in strategic planning, as it provides the necessary information for forming long-term plans, considering current and projected changes in market conditions. It has been revealed that a balanced monitoring system, which takes into account not only financial but also non-financial indicators, helps to avoid a one-sided approach to enterprise management, facilitating more informed decision-making. The study on the effectiveness of using a balanced monitoring system demonstrated its positive impact on improving the competitiveness of enterprises, particularly through the optimization of resource use, improvement of product quality, and cost reduction. It is noted that monitoring plays a key role in ensuring environmental standards and social responsibility of agricultural enterprises, which is an important factor for maintaining market reputation and complying with international norms. The application of modern automated monitoring systems enables enterprises to quickly adapt to changes in the external environment, respond to demand fluctuations, and make necessary adjustments to their activities.

Оценка профессиональной педагогической подготовки в контексте принципа инклюзии в Беларуси

<p>The results of an empirical study of a comprehensive assessment of the professional training of future teachers of various specialties (preschool educators, primary school teachers, subject teachers, psychology teachers, social educators, speech pathologists) at higher education institutions in the Republic of Belarus are presented. The complexity of the assessment is ensured by the study of all components of professional teacher training (educational conditions, educational process, educational results) and the representativeness of the multi-subject groups of respondents (vice-rectors for academic affairs of institutions of higher education, teaching staff, graduate students and undergraduates). In order to obtain the research results, there were used author's checklists, 4 types of questionnaires correlated with the marker system (marker 1 – "educational conditions", marker 2 – "educational process", marker 3 – "educational results"), criteria, indicators. The study involved 8242 respondents, including the authority (10 vice-rectors for academic affairs), the teaching staff (1131 people), future teacher students of various specialties (7101 people). Mathematical and statistical data processing included the usee of Pearson's χ2 criterion (STATISTICA statistical package version 10.0). The study allowed us to see an important problem – "deficits" in the quality of university teaching staff training (especially its methodological component) that enables to solve problems of forming professional competencies in future teachers. The assessment of professional teacher training made it possible to determine the vectors of improvement of organizational and pedagogical conditions, content and methodological support of higher teacher-training education in the context of the implementation of the principle of inclusion, new methodological approaches to improving the quality of differentiated professional teacher training and to create a basis for making a number of managerial decisions.</p>

Market-level tenant default risk on residential REIT operational efficiency

ABSTRACT Selecting which geographical markets a REIT serves is an important managerial decision that is expected to significantly impact firm performance. This paper investigates whether holding properties in areas with greater incidence of evictions impacts REIT operational efficiency. Using a comprehensive database of eviction lawsuits in the United States in combination with a time-series of residential REIT portfolio holdings, we construct REIT-year eviction exposure scores to analyse whether more exposure to areas with high aggregate eviction rates is a risk factor affecting REIT efficiency. We posit that market-level tenant default risk captures a locational risk dimension that should be considered in REIT portfolio management. Our results show that REITs with more exposure to markets with high tenant default risk observe higher operational inefficiencies after controlling for relevant firm characteristics and local market factors. These results are robust to multiple model specifications that control for potential endogeneity and omitted variable biases. Our findings have significant implications for REIT managers and investors, suggesting that the choice of property locations should consider aggregate tenant default risk as a determinant factor in residential REIT performance.

Fear, extreme fear and U.S. stock market returns

This paper investigates the multiscale co-movement between the levels and changes in VIX and SKEW indices and the returns of the S&P 500 market indices at the aggregate and sector levels of data. By utilizing the wavelet localized multiple correlation (WLMC) method over the most recent time period (January 3, 2006 - October 26, 2023), we demonstrate that very short-term market participants, such as traders and speculators, are watchful about the combined information from the VIX and SKEW levels; while the changes in VIX and SKEW are more informative for stock returns in the medium- to long-term, which should concern the decisions of investors and portfolio managers. We also show that VIX in general exerts a more dominant influence on the S&P 500 Index returns than SKEW, but more for VIX changes than for VIX levels. The very short-run informativeness of VIX and SKEW for stock returns is markedly pronounced around the European debt crisis (2012) and the COVID-19 meltdown (2020). The stock sector analysis reveals that defensive sectors are sensitive to the SKEW index, whereas the cyclical sectors are predominantly related to the fluctuations in the VIX index. Overall, our findings provide useful new insights into the stock market sentiment and the resulting market participants’ behavior at the market microstructure level. As such, they may be of interest not only to traders and investors, but also to financial analysts and government policy-makers in their attempts to understand the multiscale relationship between monetary policy and the stock market.

Competition and coordination between traditional and internet hospitals

AbstractMotivated by the recent emergence and rapid growth of online healthcare platforms, this paper investigates its impacts on the healthcare ecosystem by taking into consideration of heterogeneous patients, homogeneous service providers and profit-driven hospitals. A game-theoretical model with a queueing framework is developed, and two healthcare systems are considered, including a monopolistic system with either an offline, traditional hospital, or an online, Internet hospital, and a duopolistic system with both kinds of hospitals. Our study finds that in both systems a large population of patients always increases the healthcare supply and demand and the hospital utilization, which leads to an improvement not only in the hospital profitability, but also in the welfare of both patients and service providers. When considering a monopolistic system only, our study suggests that the monopolistic Internet hospital outperforms its counterpart in hospital utilization only when the wait cost is not high (i.e., patients are less sensitive to wait time), especially when the wait cost is medium and the patient-provider ratio is small. When considering a duopolistic system, this study concludes that the decisions of patients, service providers, and hospital managers of both hospitals are interrelated, and that a large population of service providers increases its hospital’s supply, demand, and wage rate, while decreases its wait times. When comparing the two monopolistic with the duopolistic system, the latter outperforms and improves every entity’s utility (i.e., patients, hospital, and society) when there is abundance of service providers with more being allocated to the Internet hospital, whereas the monopolistic system dominates when the patient population is large, and more providers are allocated to the traditional hospital.

STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS OF POLITICAL COMMUNICATION IN THE CONTEXT OF MODERN SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

The article highlights the structural and functional features of political communication as a process of communicative interaction in the political sphere in the conditions of modern social development. It was determined that political communication is a communicative process of mutual exchange of political information and broadcasting of political discourse among political subjects, state administration bodies, civil society, aimed at achieving consensus in making political and managerial decisions, legitimizing power and maintaining the stability of the democratic political system through means mass communication, Internet social networks, informal contacts, etc. The leading functions of political communication in terms of its structural elements are distinguished: 1) subjects of political communication: citizens, state authorities and management, political parties, movements and associations, civil society institutions, associations and groups of users of social networks on the Internet etc; 2) feedback between the subjects of political communication, acting as a communicative interaction that takes on different forms of information exchange; 3) information message as a relevant political discourse; 4) channels and means of information transmission and two-way communication between subjects of political communication.

The effect of medical face masks on inhalation risk of bacterial bioaerosols in hospital waste decontamination station

There is insufficient research on bioaerosols in hospital waste decontamination stations. This study aimed to investigate the effect of three-layer and N95 masks in reducing the inhalation risk of bacterial bioaerosols in a waste decontamination station at a teaching hospital. Active sampling was conducted on five different days at three locations: the yard, resting room, and autoclave room in three different modes: without a mask, with a three-layer mask, and with an N95 mask. Bacterial bioaerosols passing through the masks were identified using biochemical tests and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The median concentration and interquartile range (IQR) of bacterial bioaerosols was 217.093 (230.174) colony-forming units per cubic meter (CFU/m3), which is higher than the recommended amount by Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). The resting room had high contamination levels, with a median (IQR) of 321.9 (793.529) CFU/m3 of bacterial bioaerosols. The maximum concentration of bioaerosols was also recorded in the same room (2443.282 CFU/m3). The concentration of bacterial bioaerosols differed significantly between using a three-layer or N95 mask and not using a mask (p-value < 0.001). The non-carcinogenic risk level was acceptable in all cases, except in the resting room without a mask (Hazard Quotient (HQ) = 2.07). The predominant bacteria were Gram-positive cocci (33.98%). Micrococci (three-layer mask = 51.28%, N95 mask = 50%) and Coagulase-negative Staphylococci (three-layer mask = 30.77%, N95 mask = 31.82%) were the most abundant bioaerosols passing through the masks. The results obtained are useful for managerial decisions in hospital waste decontamination stations to reduce exposure to bioaerosols and develop useful guidelines.