ABSTRACT
This paper explores ways to save energy in households with energy prosumers who generate energy using photovoltaic panels and heat pumps. On the basis of a literature analysis, we formulated a research gap in the case of the energy behaviors of prosumers. This research is important due to the growing demand for energy and the transitions of countries toward renewable energy sources. The role of prosumers in the economy is growing as they ensure energy independence and cost savings. The main purpose of this research is to understand the energy behaviors of prosumers and to examine the differences in energy behaviors between users of photovoltaic systems and heat pumps. A sample of 326 Polish prosumer households was selected using the CAWI method in order to obtain empirical data. The results suggest that prosumers show advanced ecological behaviors, and more than half of the respondents implement pro-ecological behaviors in their homes. Being a prosumer is associated with energy independence, which leads to economic stability and less dependence on traditional energy sources. The results indicate that prosumers show a general inclination toward pro-ecological behavior. Thus, this study recommends promoting prosumers and encouraging the use of pro-ecological energy as a priority for the economy. This initiative will contribute to a reduction in energy consumption in various areas, thus raising ecological awareness and a sense of responsibility for the environment.
ABSTRACT
The paper presents the results of the research on the advantages and disadvantages of innovative e-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in higher education. In the first stage, an internet questionnaire was used for the study. The research was carried out in Poland on a sample of 621 students. The results allowed the researchers to determine variables that are important for the proper implementation of innovative e-learning, and the emergent perspectives for this form of education after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the most significant disadvantages, there was a lack of direct contact with colleagues, difficulties with teaching practical subjects, lack of direct contact with the teacher, and too much time spent in front of a computer/telephone or other mobile device. The most important correlations included the following: students satisfied with e-learning assess the advantages highly and the disadvantages lower;all the advantages of innovative e-learning are positively correlated with the student's assessment of the ease of acquiring content in e-learning, and negatively correlated with the student's assessment of the ease of acquiring content in traditional education;the easier the student assimilates innovative e-learning content, the higher the student's evaluation of the advantages of e-learning;students who perceive e-learning content as difficult to absorb have low motivation to learn remotely;the better the student knows information technology, the more highly the student evaluates the advantages of innovative e-learning;the better resources to participate in e-learning activities the student has, the higher the student's evaluation of the advantages of e-learning;the more often innovative e-learning solutions are used in a given university, the better the student assesses the advantages of e-learning.
ABSTRACT
The creative services sector plays an important and constantly growing role in the modern economy. This publication presents the results of extensive research on the functioning of the creative sector in Polish cities, conducted on a representative sample of 287 cities located throughout Poland. The sample was good in such a way as to maintain the structure by province. The survey included questions rated on a 5-point Likert scale. The aim of the research was to study the functioning of the creative sector in Polish cities and to determine whether the active involvement of public administration in its development has a positive impact on this sector. The research was carried out on the example of a medium-sized European country, which is Poland. The original contribution of the authors of the publication is to demonstrate, on a large research sample, the existence of a positive impact of the municipal office’s activities on the creative sector for example using special funds to boost creativity sector in the city, and to ascertain the existence of a linear relationship between the city size and the level of the creative sector functioning in it.
ABSTRACT
This article’s aim is to explain the impact of technology entrepreneurship phenomenon on waste management enterprise performance in the conditions of COVID-19 pandemic. The concept of technology entrepreneurship according to the configuration approach and the category of high-performance organization are the theoretical bases of empirical investigation. For the implementation of empirical research, Fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (FsQCA) was adopted. The research sample included a group of producers of Refused Derived Fuel (RDF) as a central part of the waste to energy industry located in Poland. The research results showed that the waste to energy sector is highly immune to pandemic threats. While during COVID-19, the basic economic parameters (i.e., sales, profitability and employment) of the entire industry in Poland clearly decreased, the same parameters in the case of the waste to energy industry remained at the same level. The research results allow the formulation of two high-performance models of technology entrepreneurship in the waste to energy industry under COVID-19 conditions. The first model is based on traditional technologies and hierarchical organizational structures, and the second is using innovative technologies and flexible structures. Both technology entrepreneurship models are determined by their emergence as complementary to implementation strategies and the opportunity-oriented allocation of resources within business model portfolios.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) pandemic has had a significant impact on the healthcare delivery system worldwide. Many pre-pandemic norms, standards, and methods of providing medical services in most medical facilities had to be changed and re-evaluated. Many of them will likely stay changed and will probably never be provided in the same way in post-pandemic reality. The COVID-19 crisis is still ongoing and some sources say that we should be prepared for a third wave of the pandemic. The scope of the analysis conducted in this publication is related to the healthcare sector, including services and Polish healthcare professionals’ work quality during the COVID-19 crisis. The research gap, the basis for conducting new research, is the lack of clarified results analysing the quality assurance of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is necessary to ask about healthcare professionals’ rate of personal protective equipment quality in Polish medical facilities. The result of cluster analysis will help us to know what the clusters for variables on quality assurance of protection measures for healthcare workers are. The research was carried out using a questionnaire survey on a sample of 21 medical personnel in Polish hospitals. The main findings of this publication are problems with information flow between staff and staff managers and determining appropriate zones. The quality of the personal protective equipment offered by medical facilities’ management and their availability is at an appropriate level. The publication aims to analyse the level of quality assurance of health care worker protection measures in the example of Silesian voivodeships in Poland during the COVID-19 pandemic.
ABSTRACT
This paper presents an analysis of the volume of steel production in Poland during the COVID-19 crisis in the first half of 2020 in comparison to the volume of steel production during the financial crisis initiated in the US during the period 2007–2008, whose effects, in the form of a large decrease in steel production, were seen in 2009 in Poland. A comparison is also made to periods of prosperity in 2004, 2007, and 2017 (when there was a good economic situation in the steel market in Poland). The selection of the time period—the first half of 2020—was based on the emergence of a new situation in the economy, which was lockdown. The aim of the analysis is to determine the impact of the COVID-19 situation on the steel market (volume of steel production) in Poland. The analysis performed could help entrepreneurs manage their companies during the COVID-19 crisis. This paper belongs to the category of research work. The statistical analysis was realized regarding steel production in Poland. Three periods were analyzed: The first half of 2020—the period termed the COVID-19 crisis;the year 2019—the year of a large decrease in steel production in Poland caused by the world financial crisis;and periods of prosperity in the steel market—the years 2004, 2007, and 2017 (periods before crises). The analysis shows that, in order to assess the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the functioning of enterprises or industries, it is necessary to analyze the situation and compare it with other situations in the past. Moreover, crisis management in the COVID-19 situation must be highly rationalized and real, and the various industrial sectors and companies forming them should adapt this process to their own situation. Results: On the basis of the statistical data, it was found that, in the short term (months), the production of steel during the COVID-19 crisis was a little higher than in the financial crisis of 2009 (excluding steel production in June 2020), and lower than during the boom in the steel market (the comparison to the periods when there was a boom in the Polish steel market was made to show the dynamics of decline).