Management Strategies to Survive in a Competitive Environment

In this study, it is examined that how to improve hospital performance was examined. In this context, because of the literature review, 12 different Balanced Scorecards Performance Indicators are selected, which may be effective for developing strategies. DEMATEL method used for determining more important indicators. According to the results, rate of patient complaints, staff satisfaction rate, patient’s satisfaction percentage are the most important indicators. However, the rate of patient complaints and staff satisfaction rate rank the first and the second, while the cause degree of them are effect and cause, respectively. Thus, managers need to pay more consideration and developing strategies to increase staff satisfaction, so it will be possible to reduce the percentage of patient complaints, second important criteria. Consequently, increasing to staff satisfaction rate can help the improving total performance.

This chapter aims to develop a holistic view of the blockchain business model framework with the role of dynamic capability. The study conceptualizes a dynamic capability framework with blockchain properties and business model understanding. The traditional approach to a business model with new technological improvements is the lack of defining the necessary business values that are captured and created from the digital environment. Specifically, blockchain technology generates additional properties that can even disrupt digital business processes. Therefore, it is necessary to build a new business model framework other than digitalization for blockchain technology to disclose disruptive values for guidance on business strategy. The study explains the detailed properties of the blockchain and classical business model and its logic. Later, a dynamic capability framework is combined with these views to establish a new business model for blockchain. This framework is the beginning for businesses that invest in blockchain to understand holistically how to extract the disruptive values out of blockchain technology and applications. Therefore, the study contributes to the businesses that invest in blockchain technology to realize the new benefits by changing traditional processes and distinctive capability which they will gain with the blockchain technology.

In this study, it is aimed to develop strategies to increase the performance of nuclear energy companies. In this context, criteria based on a balanced scorecard have been determined. In order to determine which criteria are more important for nuclear energy companies, an analysis was carried out with the fuzzy DEMATEL approach. According to the results of the analysis, it has been determined that technological development issues are of vital importance for these companies. Similarly, customer satisfaction and cost analysis are other important criteria. On the other hand, the importance weight of qualified personnel is lower than the others. It is understood that nuclear energy companies should follow technological developments effectively. Otherwise, there is a risk of losing significant competitive advantages in this sector. Continuous changes occur in technological applications for nuclear energy generation. The most striking of these applications is that thorium is preferred instead of uranium in the energy production process. In this way, the risk of explosion of the nuclear power plant is eliminated. In addition, radioactive waste generated as a result of nuclear power generation is significantly reduced. It is inevitable to use this technology in nuclear energy production in the future. Therefore, it will be very difficult for nuclear energy companies that do not have this technology to survive in the market.

This chapter focuses on the importance of intellectual capital (IC) as a driving force of the value creation process for firms and investigates the development of IC literature. Although considerable progress has been made in the last few decades, there are still important shortfalls. There is not a convenient measure to determine the IC efficiency while scholars have a consensus on the definition of IC. This difficulty arises due to the invisibility of IC and the inability to measure it exactly. Many measures have been suggested in time and the following studies have criticized these measures. The most widely used Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC) measure and its modifications are introduced briefly in this chapter. The importance of IC in a knowledge-based business environment requires more empirical studies and robust measures to explain the differences across industries and countries. Reporting systems should be also improved to achieve the information for more convenient measures. Recent studies emphasize the importance of integrated reporting (IR), which comprises both tangible and intangible assets.

Strategic decision-making has become a matter of primary importance in management. The uncertainty nature of the competitive environment has increased the difficulty of decision-making process for leaders in business. Information technologies are changing rapidly, and new situations arise. As a result, finding the best option for decision makers is very difficult. Since the decision-making process expresses a result, it is seen as a unique event, and for this, it may sometimes mislead parties. However, when the leader expresses the decision, it seems like one process. For this reason, it is important to study this process. Energy demands of countries are changing rapidly in parallel with development, industrialization, urbanization, the spread of technology, prosperity, and population growth. Energy, which is an indispensable resource for sustaining the economic developments of the countries and ensuring the modern living standards, should be supplied in a continuous, safe, and low-cost manner. Because energy has an important place in production activities, it is one of the most important factors that determine the international competitiveness of countries. The limited energy resources in the world and the increasing energy demand increases the importance of the energy policies of the countries. Within the scope of the research, strategic decision-making processes, importance and features of the energy sector, strategic management, and application examples in the energy sector are examined.

Since the COVID-19 epidemic outbreak, which occurred in December 2019 and resulted in profound changes and transformations in our lives, was declared to be a pandemic, our country has also faced numerous restrictions in a large number of areas. The differences that have emerged in all spheres of our lives also reveal themselves in the field of education and training. The gates to a brand-new digitization-focused era have opened for both instructors and students. Individuals who spend their time during the pandemic period at home are involved in the distance learning process and experience the education field on the digital world. At this juncture, education and training institutions have preferred implementing various applications. One of these most preferred applications is Teams, which is tailored for security-based teamwork and collaboration, providing audio- and video-based chat and communication opportunities. In this study, one of the quantitative research methods, the survey method, was used. Due to the pandemic, the survey was conducted over the Internet, via e-mail, and social media channels. The study population consisted of 519 students studying at Istanbul Medipol University Faculty of Communication. Due to the size of the population and the pandemic, students were selected through convenience sampling method. The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between the current satisfaction levels of the participants with using the app “Microsoft Teams” and the solution proposals to enhance the current level of satisfaction. Various hypotheses were tested within the scope of the study. Differences were particularly observed between the departments in which the students study and the medium they used most frequently to log into the Microsoft Teams application and the subheadings (customization, convenience of use, and possibility to select) that lead to student satisfaction. Differences were found between the departments that are particularly prone to online training and other departments that prefer online training (computers) to a lesser extent. Similarly, differences were also observed between users who use the Microsoft Teams app on a desktop or laptop computer and participants who logged into the application using a smartphone or tablet.

This study analyzes how to improve and build high technology export strategies for high tech companies in Turkey. In this framework, oil prices and the real effective exchange rate are selected because Turkey’s export companies hugely depend on imported inputs, and oil prices are essential imported products. Besides, the real effective exchange affects the cost of the imported inputs and shows countries’ comparative advantages in foreign trade. Within this context, comprehensive different theoretical frameworks and literature reviews are presented to lead the companies’ correct way. Subsequently, an investigation is performed with Vector Autoregressive Analysis (VAR) on data covering 2016-Q1 and 2018-Q3. According to results, the real effective exchange rates and oil prices have an essential impact on the high-tech companies’ performance. Regarding the relationship between the real effective exchange rate and the high-tech exports, the J curve condition is valid. Besides, an increase in oil prices leads to expanding the high-tech exports in Turkey from the first month to the third month because the oil-exported countries are imperative partners for the Turkish export companies. Furthermore, the effects become reversed since an increase in oil prices leads to production costs. Regarding the results, the energy diversification policies, less dependent imported inputs, and expanding the market will contribute to developing the high-tech exports in Turkey.

Technology entrepreneurship plays a dominant role in the economy and development of the country, especially in this period of increasing competition and globalization. Related developments contribute significantly to the country’s welfare and development level traditional commercial and craft habits have been transformed through technological advances. Developing countries attach importance to strong technology-based sectors to sustain growth and create employment for young people. For this reason, country ministers determine technology entrepreneurship as the primary target and strategy. Turkey, with 754 billion dollars, is the world’s 19th largest economy by GDP. Currently, the state of technological entrepreneurship in Turkey comprises 60% of the country’s economy (as created by the private sector) and will be examined within our study. In addition, whether this entrepreneurship has access to sufficient financial resources and the changes and innovations made in this field within other countries will also be compared.

The present work is related to the administration of the exchange risks in an industrial microenterprise of Sinaloa, and its objective is to contrast the effect obtained on the decision-making process by managing the exchange risks inherent in the businesses that buy imported raw materials in order to be able to produce their goods that they commercialize. For this reason, it is based on literature review contained in scientific articles, books, and theses where evidence was found that it is possible to reduce risk through the use of derivative instruments such as European futures and options contracts. The methodology is qualitative with the case study. The results indicate that it is possible. The results indicate that it is possible to manage the exchange risk using derivative products in the microenterprise studied.

The interrelationships among the macroeconomic variables have been amply examined in the available literature; however, there exists a gap when it comes to the impact of technological shock coupled with other macroeconomic variables such as real exchange rate, Inflation, Broad Money, Research and Development, and Net Foreign Inflows on economic growth. The study examines how these macroeconomic variables are interlinked in the long run and how they behave in the short-run dynamic adjustment processes. A panel of ten highly competitive economies over 1996–2017 has been analyzed in a dynamic framework using the VECM. The results show that the six macroeconomic indicators maintain a long-run relation and GDP growth rate and inflation rate are caused by the other five variables in the panel. In the short run, the GDP growth rate is influenced by all the five remaining variables. The results indicate significant insights for identifying the possible causes of the appearances of ups and downs in the business cycle. Hence, it is recommended that the control and management of these macro indicators should be the priority agendas of the countries considered in the dynamic panel study.

The unemployment problem became more significant, especially after COVID-19 pandemics. This situation affected both developing and developed countries in a negative manner. Hence, the policies implemented by the states to prevent unemployment were also carefully considered during this process. Within this scope, various suggestions of ILO and OECD institutions have been made regarding these strategies. This study aims to identify the significant strategies countries should develop to reduce unemployment. For this purpose, 10 basic strategies offered by OECD to reduce the unemployment problem are considered. Moreover, an evaluation has been carried out by considering fuzzy DEMATEL methodology. The findings demonstrate that ensuring adequate income protection is the most appropriate criterion to minimize the unemployment problem in the COVID-19 process. During the pandemic period, economic rescue packages were announced by many governments and institutions. Despite all this support, millions of people lost their jobs in this process. Considering the analysis results obtained in this study, it would be appropriate for governments to focus primarily on the unemployed. In this framework, the implementation of strategies that will prevent citizens from being unemployed will contribute to the solution of this problem. Despite all these efforts, there may still be people losing their jobs in this process. Therefore, income-generating policies should be implemented especially for these people. For this purpose, the duration of unemployment benefits may be extended. In this way, it will be easier to combat the unemployment problem caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The time cost of money is the most important issue in the financial sector. Reducing this cost is one of the most significant goals of the real sector, economy, and public. In terms of bank capitalists, maximizing profitability and increasing the value of the bank company is the primary goal. In this sense, factors affecting profitability are important. While banks are developing innovative strategies, it is vital to determine which ones have a direct impact on profitability. The study focused on the variables affecting the profitability of bank deposits in Turkey. For this purpose, 17 commercial banks operating in Turkey are evaluated. In this study, the panel regression analysis method was used. Thanks to the analysis results to be obtained, innovative strategies have been determined in order to increase the profitability of the banks. The findings indicate that Turkish banks are mainly subject to interest rate risks. For this purpose, loans with flexible interest rates can be an appropriate innovative strategy for these banks. With the help of this implementation, banks can get the opportunity to increase interest income when there is an increase in the interest rate.

Internet, digital and social media has changed the roles in advertising. Social media has enabled customers via negative or positive electronic word-of-mouth comments may affect other customers. Digital and social media marketing used in various sectors can be cheaper, viral, easy for circulation and affect relationships between customers and the company via interaction. This study aims to define digital marketing and social media marketing, advantages for the customers and the marketers along with the potential risks for the customers and marketers. As a result of the literature review of the keywords, it is found that for the customers’ data privacy is an important risk as the private data of the users collected by the social media platforms might be used improperly, and for the marketers, the negative electronic word-of-mouth about the product or services might have negative outcomes for the company.

With the development of technology, the changes experienced in consumers’ expectations have directed especially marketing world to new searches. Starting to take place in the literature and featuring the digital marketing because of that the traditional marketing approach for companies is not able to adequately meet the needs of our age, SAVE marketing mix consists of solution (S), access (A), value (V) and education (E) elements. The starting point of this new mix is customer focus, which is now at the forefront. It is an approach that creates value for the customer, tries to find quick solutions to possible problems of the customer by communicating with them constantly, provides convenience to the customer regarding access to the product, and that can educate its employees by raising awareness on these issues. The aim of this study is to examine the SAVE marketing approach, which is one of the marketing dynamics being changed along with the process created by the digital transformation in the world. Surely, it is possible that various changes or additions would also be experienced in this marketing mix over time. However, it is an undeniable fact that the sense of marketing of the future will be shaped by carrying SAVE marketing mix.

Responding to consumer expectations financially due to continually changing needs has become an increasingly important problem. The financial problem affects city marketing, which has become a branch of marketing science. Cities provide Finance from central governments, but they also must generate resources to develop and grow. Each city has an original side and a potential source that can reveal it. It has existing resources that the city can develop. However, some cities cannot use their resources due to the lack of financial innovation and cannot develop. This study aims to research the contribution of financial innovation with urban marketing and to contribute academically to cities facing financial problems. Therefore, the information on city marketing, innovation, and Finance has been analyzed from the literature and data obtained under two main concepts: need and importance of financial innovation in the scope of city marketing. This study will attract and inform academicians and city managers and contribute to city marketing.

The COVID-19 pandemic took the entire world by surprise. Governments and companies hastily implemented measures to protect public health as well as the countries’ economies. Many companies had to close their offices and shut down their factories. Most white-collar employees had to start working from home and online communication tools became key components of their lives. While governments and companies were adapting to the new normal, sickness-resilient digital employees, the software robots, became more apparent. Robot Process Automation (RPA) introduced the ultra-performing and fast-learning software robots into our lives. These robots can work 24/7 in many areas, assisting human employees and helping customers. This chapter discusses different applications of RPA robots around the world and in Turkey during the COVID-19 pandemic. RPA became the new disruptive technology that offered innovation to the business world. It found application areas during COVID-19 in various sectors such as health care, education, and public sectors. Governments and companies got help from the RPA robots to track patients, optimize supply chain processes, assist students and teachers in online classes and respond to the increased demand in online shopping.

The aim of this study is to determine the strategies for financing space-based solar energy investments. Similar studies in the literature on the subject are examined. As a result, it has been determined that space-based solar energy is very important in increasing the economic and social welfare of countries. It was emphasized that investment should be made in space-based solar energy. In this framework, first of all, technical and political issues that arise in the space-based solar energy system should be regulated. Then, necessary financing support should be provided to investors. For the system in question, the government should provide investors with the necessary incentives. Thus, the demand for space-based solar energy systems will be increased. In addition to these strategies, it is important for banks to give low-interest loans to investors. In this way, the short-term funding needs of investors are met. Supports of the leasing companies to provide financing to investors will contribute to increasing these projects.

The aim of this study is to determine the main reasons for institutionalism and change process in educational organizations by benefiting from the literature through a case study. In this scope, the language school of a private university that is currently undergoing an institutionalization process has been examined as a case study. In the case study, face-to-face interviews with three-level management and instructors have been conducted to get primary data. As a result of the study, external factors such as the increase in student enrollment within the university and the demand of the language skills increasing in the world have pushed the university to undergo this process. On the other hand, the high standards of the university to operate in international platforms have resulted in structural, academic, and administrative changes in the language school. During the process, it is seen that the only resistance exists in midlevel management; however, not against the system, but against the management style. This study is significant as being the pioneer analysis in educational organizations. It contributes to the literature as it is valuable as benchmark for other educational organizations, which plan to institutionalize. The study can be improved with further researches after the process in the language school is finalized.

The present pandemic through the outbreak of the Novel COVID-19 in the late December 2019 has claimed lacs of lives and affected crores of people worldwide till date. The human civilization in general and the scientists are helpless in managing and controlling its spread and fatality. The moves of different countries’ leaders and lack of unanimity among the scientists, all over the world and accordingly the moves, statements of the World Health Organization (WHO) are sometimes seemed indecisive and fragile. Hence, there is the need for choosing between vaccination and allowing for herd immunity development to combat the microorganism. Under the backdrop, the present study aims to focus on three objectives—pricing and availability of the vaccines, preferences and capabilities of the common people and the governments in accepting the vaccines and the ultimate choice between vaccination and herd immunity. Taking eight highly affected countries from the world into consideration the study has tried to establish the cost of vaccination management vis-à-vis the cost of pension to the old population in relation to availability, pricing, and distribution of the vaccines. It arrives at the conclusion that there will be high prices of the vaccines due to the concentration of a few companies in the pharmaceutical industry and low capability of a large section of population. Additionally, vaccination attempts will not be economically feasible if it is clubbed with pension expenditure. Therefore, it recommends sustainable uses of energy to have long-term solutions to fight against all sorts of viruses and bacteria.

In this study, the main purpose is to capture people and companies’ attention upon wind energy issue. For this target, both onshore and offshore wind plant criteria and related risk issues are studied. In this framework, firstly a wide theoretical review is presented on onshore and offshore wind energy. Afterward, the pros and cons of onshore and offshore wind energy were discussed. At this point, these features are viewed from the perspective of developing countries. According to the study’s results, it is identified that although onshore wind energy plants have a comparative advantage in terms of cost, when considering efficiency offshore wind energy is one step ahead. In this context, it is determined that investors can encounter many problems when investing in onshore or offshore wind energy projects. Therefore, it is suggested that to invest in onshore wind energy plants, the country’s legal system and public awareness must be improved. In addition to this, for invest in offshore wind energy plants, it is proposed that countries should invest in training labor force and technology in order to minimize possible costs.

In today’s business world, organizational structures have become more complex with the effect of global, social, economic, and technological developments, and with the increasing need for division of labor and labor, all employees in organizations need to establish close relationships with each other and continue their activities in harmony. In this context, organizational communication has become a vital phenomenon for organizations to achieve organizational goals successfully. Leadership is considered the most important organizational variable for the effective management of the organizational communication process. The role and importance of leadership and leaders in the effective organizational communication process is an undeniable fact. Leaders play important roles in the effective management of organizational communication with their identity as a good communicator as well as many of their characteristics. In this study, it is aimed to examine the relationship between organizational communication and leadership and to reveal the interaction areas according to the basic dimensions of both concepts. First, the conceptual framework for organizational communication and leadership is presented in the study, and then the relational context is explained. Within the framework of the findings and evaluations revealed in the study, it is understood that leadership variables, which play a key role in the effective management of organizational communication and organizational communication, are complementary to each other, and the successful continuation of the communication process in organizations can be achieved through leader activity interaction.

This study aims to evaluate the effects of health investments in the country on the decisions of foreign investors are examined. Within this framework, it has been examined whether foreign investments will increase if health investments are increased. In this context, E7 countries are included in the study. On the other hand, Kao and Pedroni panel cointegration analyzes are used in the analysis process of the study. The findings indicate that there is a two-way relationship between health expenditures and FDI. In this context, increasing health investments contribute to the increase of foreign investments in the country. In addition, states give more importance to health investments when foreign investments increase. Hence, it is recommended that countries should pay attention to health expenditures. In this context, the state should primarily invest in the health sector. Moreover, the state should also support private sector investors. It would be appropriate to take some measures regarding this issue. For example, a tax advantage can be provided to private sector investors who want to invest in healthcare. In addition, these investors can also be offered low-interest loans. This matter will provide a serious cost advantage to investors. In this way, it will be possible to increase health investments in the country. Hence, countries will be able to reach their social and economic development goals more easily.

Since early 2020, by considering the widespread consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the initial measures taken to ensure the flow of working life has been the closure of workplaces and the implementation of remote work. In fact, remote work, which has not been accepted as a strategic managerial practice although it has been discussed for many years, has thus become the center of attention in working life. This study, in which a theoretical research method was adopted, aims to examine this rapid implementation of remote work as a strategy in response to COVID-19 in terms of work-life balance. In this framework, first, remote work, and work-life balance were explained, respectively. Afterward, remote work implemented in Turkey as a response to COVID-19 was detailed by emphasizing work-life balance. The study concludes that remote work, which has become one of the main strategic managerial practices of organizations during COVID-19, maybe an opportunity to contribute to the establishment of work-life balance within the legal and practical procedures and principles to be developed.

Nuclear energy investments are important for the economic and social development of countries. Countries can produce their own energy with this energy type. This contributes to the independence of countries both politically and economically. A country that can produce its own energy is not politically dependent on another country. In addition, thanks to nuclear power, countries will not have to import energy. In this way, the current account deficit problem of the countries will be reduced. As this will reduce the economic fragility of the country, it will enable countries to reach their sustainable development goals. However, there are some problems with nuclear energy investments. One of the most important issues in this process is the need for qualified personnel. Nuclear energy investments are projects that involve very comprehensive and detailed engineering processes. Therefore, there is a need for personnel qualified to be able to master these processes. Otherwise, the process in these facilities will not be managed effectively and efficiency in energy generation will decrease. On the other hand, any problem that may occur in these facilities cannot be effectively intervened, and this may lead to huge damages. In this context, the importance that nuclear energy companies should give to the training of their personnel was emphasized in this study and strategy recommendations were made for these companies.

This research investigates the relationship between Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and export operated by low-, medium low-, and medium high-tech firms in Turkey. For this purpose, a hidden cointegration approach developed by Hatemi and Iraoundaoust Hidden cointegration is conducted on data covering the period between 2006:Q1 and 2018:Q3. According to Hatemi and Irandoust (Asymmetric interaction between government spending and terms of trade volatility. Journal of Economic Studies 39(3):368–378, 2012), hidden cointegration, there is no long-run relationship between the cumulative positive shocks of Low Tech Export (LTX) and cumulative positive shocks of FDI; the same existence is obtained for the cumulative negative shock between the variables. The outcomes identify that LTX and FDI respond to shocks differently in Turkey. Moreover, the same results were found for Medium Low-Tech Export (MLTE) and FDI. In another saying, a positive and negative shock in MLTX does not proceed with positive and negative shocks in FDI. Nonetheless, a long-run relationship between Medium High-Tech Export (MHTE) and FDI concerning both the positive and negative cumulative shocks is also found. A positive shock in MHTX is associated with the influence of positive in FDI. Furthermore, a negative shock in MHTX is also linked to the impacts of negative in FDI. Thus, it is recommended that Companies and governments manage cooperatively with foreign investors, sustain and create locational advantages, and implement policies that lower costs because low and medium low-tech export plays a ruling role in export performance.

In this study, performance evaluation and efficiency, which are measurement techniques in business life, are discussed and research has been done on their effects on work life. Namely, the study tries to find out whether performance evaluation and efficiency have an impact on working life. In the study, importance of performance evaluation and productivity are explained benefiting from the most recent studies in the literature and a face-to-face survey is applied. The data collected with the survey have been analyzed and interpreted with the help of SPSS program. Findings of the survey suggest that work life has been greatly influenced by performance evaluation and efficiency at workplace.

The advancements in the marketplace and reactions of market actors are the key factors in the history of marketing research and decision-making. The various changes in the market environment play a crucial role in understanding and reacting to different marketing situations. From this perspective, the new data sources, contexts, and methodologies have been instrumental in understanding cases in the market environment and marketing-related concepts. Examining the marketplace and understanding the market cannot be sufficient for proactive marketing management, since the new marketplace requires a sophisticated approach evaluating the market actors and acting regarding the changing market variables. As the popularity of social media platforms and data-based technologies increase in the marketplace, the amount of produced data, the variety of data contexts, and the need to use new data-based methodologies increase. The “new” marketplace uses many social media and digital platforms daily and produces a large volume of data in different formats surrounding the customers and businesses in the marketplace. Digital platforms have begun to offer innovative data formats for internet users to express themselves as ephemeral media or multimedia formats, and these data formats as contexts require different data-based methodologies for understanding. The study seeks to examine the current data-based methodologies concept for marketing decision-making and marketing research. For this purpose, the study employs a review approach to evaluate the data-based methodologies for marketing research and decision-making context. The study evaluates the topic in three sub-sections: the big data, emerging data contexts and data-based methodologies. The comprehensive approach included in the study will contribute to a better understanding of current data-based methodologies and how can they be used for marketing decision-making.