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Purpose Increasing use of information and communication technology (ICT) in education has, along with other consequences, shifted the context from teacher-centric to student-centric. These changes pose fresh challenges to the prevalent education systems all over the world, which already have fallen short of the expectations. The purpose of this study is to show that e-learning is not only about ICT following a holistic approach to learning which embeds systemic approach and learning loops but also about students and teacher’s actions in ICT-enabled learning environment. This study investigates the importance of engagement of students and teachers in blended learning with a focus on factors which affect this engagement. Design/methodology/approach Based on systems theory and socio-technological approach to e-learning, the paper documents an experiment which was carried out in a higher education institution. Postgraduate students of one course were divided into two groups. Instructor of the first group was not required to engage with the online content and had to deliver his course in a traditional face-to-face format. Instructor of the second group continuously spent time on the learning management system (LMS), developing more content, participating in online discussions and responding to students. LMS tracked the online activity of both the instructors, and semi-structured interviews of students were conducted. Findings Based on behaviour of 152 students of a postgraduate programme, students’ time spent online is directly proportional to the instructor’s online time, promptness of instructor’s response to online activities queries of students increased student engagement, the students’ engagement increases if the online content is related to the syllabus but engagement is not the same as the face-to-face lectures in the class. Research limitations/implications The research was conducted in India and is based on the behaviour of instructors and students in India. It was focussed on engagement issues of blended learning, while other issues of blended learning have not been in the focus of the research. Practical implications The research is important for the practice of higher education, and the result of the study can be taken into consideration while developing online courses for students enrolled in higher education. Social implications If higher education institutions take a strategic decision to use ICT in e-learning, engagements of participants and factors affecting engagement are crucial for the better quality of education. In such a way, blended learning fulfils requirements of a holistic approach to learning. Originality/value Despite the fact that e-learning as a way to deliver academic content has been extensively researched, there are not many studies focussed on engagement issues in blended learning, and even fewer studies have been conducted in an experimental way which allow in-depth research.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant lockdown has caused massive economic disruption, leading businesses to make a rapid transition and take a new approach to business strategy. Therefore, the aim of the paper is to examine if there are statistically significant gender differences in work satisfaction, work engagement, and work efficiency among employees who work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, the paper aims to identify the importance of individual dimensions of work satisfaction, work engagement, and work efficiency, and gender differences perspective. The research is based on a survey of 785 employees in Slovenian companies. The factor analysis and the t-test for two independent samples were used to test the research hypotheses. Findings: The results show significant gender differences in work satisfaction, work engagement, and work efficiency among employees who work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper provides change management insights and recommendations to assist companies in minimizing the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their employees.

This paper uses the technology acceptance model (TAM) framework for the research of economic and geography students’ attitudes towards interdisciplinary knowledge. Based on the SmartPLS Structural equation modelling SEM variance-based method, research results were gained through analysis of survey data of economic and geography students. They participated in the Spationomy project in the period of 2017–2019. Online questionnaires were fulfilled before and after students’ participation in the project and their future behavioural intention to use interdisciplinary knowledge was analysed. Based on the research, we can confirm that the Spationomy project has achieved its purpose, as both groups of students (economic and geography students) have acquired interdisciplinary knowledge and students intend to use it also in the future. Therefore, we can argue that the students included in the project in practice gained recognition of systems thinking about the importance of mutual interdisciplinary cooperation towards achieving synergies. The results also show that TAM can be successfully implemented to analyse how students of economics and geography accept the use of interdisciplinary knowledge in the learning process, which is an important implication for management and education as well as from the theoretical implications viewpoint. While effective analysis using TAM has been used successfully and relatively frequently in economics and business field, we have not found relevant examples of its implementation in the broader field of geography. However, the acceptance of geographic information system (GIS) or other information technologies/information software (IT/IS) tool-based approaches of analysis in the geography field may be of most importance. Therefore, also, this represents an important implication for the research area.

To improve the efficiency and effectiveness of ERP solutions use, understanding of critical success factors of ERP solutions assimilation in organizations is crucial. The technology acceptance model (TAM) proposed by Davis (1989) has been the most widely used model for researching user acceptance and usage of IT/IS. The purpose of this paper is to extend the original TAM with groups of external factors which impact actual ERP system use. First, we focus on ERP system use in companies’ maturity phase. Second, we expose and examine three groups of external factors which influence ERP usage. The model was empirically tested using data collected from a survey of ERP users in 44 organizations. Survey data have been collected from ERP users who have been exposed to an ERP system which has operated for more than one year. The proposed research model was analyzed using the PLS approach.

Growing importance of sustainable development, corporate social responsibility and business ethics requires various types of contemporary organisations innovation. This research assesses the problem related to business policy innovation (BPI), which represents organisational governance determination. The main purpose of the paper is to qualitatively and quantitatively present a new, requisitely holistic strategic model of the soft factors influencing BPI, which interdependently incorporates changes in organisational values, culture and business ethics, as well as stakeholders’ interests reconciliation, thus determine soft possibilities for more sustainable business policy, management and practice. While the relevance of these factors for business policy is in the literature widely recognized, there is a small amount of empirical research on their influence on BPI. To mitigate this research gap, advanced structural equation modelling (SEM) based partial least squares (PLS) method was used for analysing data of 734 organisations in Slovenia, the EU state. The research results show that researched soft factors organisational values, culture and stakeholders’ interests reconciliation statistically confirmed influence BPI. Thus, these recognitions can be used as the basis for strategic managerial decision making towards social responsibility and sustainability of an organisation. Reasons why it has not been statistically confirmed that business ethics influence BPI needs to be investigated in future research.

This research arises from the importance of integration of knowledge of economics/business and spatial sciences for graduates who must think and act in interdisciplinary contexts.The systematic literature review revealed thatthis interdisciplinary field is richly present in original scientific research, and is undoubtedly topical and worthy of research efforts. Themain objective of this paper is toanalyse important factors that contribute to the attitudes of students towards interdisciplinary knowledge, and factors that shape their intentions to use and integrate this knowledge in the future. The conceptual model formed was tested using structural equation modeling (SEM). Research results confirm the importance of integration of economics/business and spatial sciences knowledge, for graduates. As presented in the paper, results of thestudyhave important implications for higher education institutions, reforming and updating their study programs, as well as for educators in the field of spatial sciences and economic/business sciences, in research and in education.

The adoption of Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems by organizations is crucial in today’s competitive globalized marketplace. The experience with ERP systems in numerous organizations over the last decade indicates that a successful implementation of ERP systems does not necessarily lead to a successful ERP usage. This paper addresses the scientific problem of differences in ERP acceptance and utilization in different cultural environments. The research question was whether and to what extend users’ extensive and explorative use of the ERP system differs in regions with different cultural backgrounds. Namely, organizations benefit from ERP systems only to the extent to which the users accept and utilize them. But the use of ERP systems at an advanced level is closely connected with the employees’ acceptance of these systems. To improve the efficiency and effectiveness of ERP systems in their maturity stage of use, when the employees already accepted ERP system, organizations need to understand the factors that impact user satisfaction and thus influence their extended use of the ERP system. Because of the socio-economic importance of India and the European Union (EU), we conducted a comparative research study into the similarities and differences of their use of ERP systems. From a theoretical point of view, the paper extends the original technology acceptance model (TAM), where two additional factors (work compatibility and extended use) were added. Additional external factors which can influence the users’ acceptance of ERP systems have been included into research, too. The main objective of this study is to find the key determinants that have an impact on user satisfaction and on the extended use in different cultural environments (i.e. the EU and India). We analysed and compared the data of 293 ERP users from 44 organizations in the EU and 577 ERP users from 13 organizations in India. Even though the use of ERP systems in India and the EU is at the same advanced level, there are differences which are connected to organizational cultures, presumed resulting from cultural differences of researched regions. Research data show some differences in the impacts on extended TAM model factors and some differences regarding the impacts of external factors researched.