STREAM CONTENTS

As an important part of information system, accounting is an inevitable source of information for business decision making. The importance of accounting system is recognized by different users. It is the most regulated information system within the entity. It offers wide variety of information; planned and realised, detail and summarized, etc. On the other hand, internal controls and different types of auditing increase confidence in accounting information. Internal control systems express managements' effort in the improvement of business operation. Since International financial reporting standards are principle oriented standards, gathering knowledge about different techniques and methods that arise from their application can be an interesting field of research.

The aim of this stream is to remark that internal controls, the application of accounting standards, and different types of auditing can influence financial information disclosed in principle financial statements. Since the accounting standards have been a subject to change, it is important to investigate their impact on information. Furthermore, research results on auditing methodology, standards, reports, etc. and can enhance knowledge in the profession that is of great priority to the users of accounting information.

Topics of interest in this stream are:

•  Accounting information systems as the source of business oriented knowledge
•  Spreading knowledge of International financial reporting standards and specifics in national general accepted accounting principles
•  ''New'' EU accounting directive – Let's find out what happened after the implementation period
•  Internal controls, auditing (internal, external, governmental) – new perspectives
•  Analysis of financial statements and business decision making process

A business model is understood to be the logic for “creating, delivering and capturing value” (Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2010, p. 14) and the logic that connects the architecture of organizational and financial structures of a business with the realization of economic value (Chesbrough and Rosenbloom, 2002). The term “Industry 4.0”, has become a widely used synonym for the rise of a new digital industrial technology and cyber physical systems that enable many innovative functionalities through their networking and their access to the cyber world, thus changing the way we live, think, and relate each other. In this context, new business models, work processes and business operations development that are currently unimaginable will arise. These changes will also influence the society, and the entire structure of the world economy. Industry 4.0 demands more than just a technology-based approach: a thorough rethinking of companies’ value chain and value proposition is required, since established business models may no longer guarantee successful performance.

This stream aims at deepening the understanding of Industry 4.0 and its challenges and opportunities for the emerging business models. It invites both, theoretical and empirical papers, that contribute to business model innovations in the context of Industry 4.0. Contributions may focus on topics such as:

Contributions may for example focus on topics such as:

• business models for innovation and smart growth in Industry 4.0;
• peculiarities of business models in the context of Industry 4.0: how organizations approach business model innovation in the course of Industry 4.0 i.e., which processes, structures, and tools they use to take advantage of the opportunity;
• challenges and best practices for businesses in Industry 4.0;
• potential value of innovative technology as an important purpose of business models;
• business model addressed as process of reshaping and creating new opportunities to deliver value;
• the emergence of new “business model dimensions” and “business model elements” in the context of Industry 4.0;
• how organizations address the challenge of systematically developing new business models in the age of Industry 4.0, and what these business models will look like

Competitiveness is a pervasive construct in Business Management research. The core of the definition is about the capability of the firm to compete successfully. Being as vague as it seems, we can say that we know what it is not but we unknown what it is. Or we can say that we know what it is ex-post when we see the firm’s bottom line at the end of the year.

Among the variety of factors affecting the firm’s competitiveness, theories and scholars have usually put the focus following the swings of the pendulum. Industrial Organization  (IO) scholars claim that the industry features shape and restrict the variety of strategies available at hand of the firm. Advocates of resource- and knowledge-based views of the firm (RBV, KBV) state that it is up to the firm’s managers achieving and sustaining a competitive edge by combining certain resources and capabilities that meet the VRIN-O principle (these elements must be Valuable, Rare, difficult to Imitate and Non-substitutable while the Organization must be in a position to appropriate the rents derived). Rather than opposed, they should be considered as complementary perspectives that help scholars and practitioners understand how the firm can develop and sustain its competitive advantage

This call for research aims at considering these additional levels of research and to open new research avenues in the field of strategy and competitiveness, with a particular focus on SMEs and the intangibles sources of competitive advantage. The issue of competitiveness should be central in the papers. The social dimension and interactions among parties in cooperation agreements, the manager’s cognition in shaping the firm’s strategic choices are very welcome. The indicative rather than exhaustive topics to be considered in this track are as follows:

• Psychological and sociological foundations and approaches to shared value, strategy and competitiveness. Knowledge-based arguments are welcome.
• The role of emotions and affective decisions on strategy and competitiveness in global competition contexts.
• The role of managerial cognition and social interactions in shaping the form, breadth and scope of collaboration among SMEs.
• The role of managerial cognition in managing intangible-based or knowledge-based sources of competitive advantages among SMEs.
• The role of cognitive psychological and sociological approaches to decisions made in forms of collaboration, international business, strategy or building sources of shared competitive advantage in global industries.
• Integrative analysis of the diversity of levels
• How valuable and strategic knowledge is handle in organizations depending upon the managers’ cognitive style or the managers’ characteristics (risk aversion, entrepreneurial orientation…).
• Psychological and sociological arguments from the ambidexterity approach: whether and how exploitation-seekers or exploration-seekers are different in their cognition and interpretation of valuable knowledge in order to shape the firm’s competitive advantage.
• Any other issue that provide arguments and promote the academic discussion of whether and how the managerial cognitive style has an impact on managing key intangible resources.

The core focus should be SMEs although research on other types of organizations is welcome if authors include an extension of their findings to the case of SMEs. Theoretical and empirical are welcome. Theoretical papers should clearly state which theoretical approach authors propose to follow and should be strongly based on extant literature. We seek scholarly sound, new provocative arguments and new insights in order to continue the academic conversations on the relevance of knowledge in the today’s and tomorrow’s competition.

Retail industry is an important part of each national economy (in some European countries even 25% of all active companies are operating in this industry). The retail industry is the most sensitive to changes in consumer behaviour. It is the industry that firstly responds to both positive and negative trends in the environment. Therefore, retailers are constantly under pressure to assess consumer satisfaction and to adjust to customer needs rapidly. The recession and the rapid technological innovation puts even greater challenges in front of contemporary retailers because consumers are more and more sensitive to prices, on one hand, and they are excessively informed, on the other hand. So it gets harder and harder to maintain competitive advantage in satisfaction of their needs. The aim of this stream is to address the necessity for constant innovation and rapid knowledge creation cycles in companies in retail industry which enables fast and efficient satisfaction of consumer needs.

Topics of interest in this stream are:

• contemporary trends in consumers’ behaviour in retail purchasing process and their impact on innovation cycles in retailing companies
• methods and models of evaluation of consumer needs with and their incorporation in retail information systems
• knowledge resources and their role in efficiency improvement in retailing companies
• knowledge management systems and business intelligence applications in retail value creation process
• justification of investments in information technology in retail
• impact of innovations on retail productivity and efficiency
• systems of formal or continuous education in retail management and marketing
• Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) practices in various product categories in retail
• Alternative retail formats as an answer to changed customer need

We welcome short papers related to PhD thesis being done about TAKE.

Relevance of HRD Theories to Practice; Transfer of Training; Corporate Social Responsibility and HRD; National HRD Research, Theory, and Practice; Values and Ethics in HRD; Quality of Work Life; HRD’s Role in Community Development; HRD’s Role in Social Development; HRD’s Role in Economic Development; Information & Communication Technology and HRD; Workplace Learning; Social Networks in HRD; Innovative Practices of HRD; Performance and Career Development; Gender/Diversity and HRD; Global/Cross-Cultural HRD; Emerging Issues in HRD; HRD’s Role in Mergers and Acquisitions; Evaluation of HRD Activities; Relationship between HRD and HRM; Preparation of Expatriates for International Assignments.

Gamification is deployed in various contexts and is therefore an open and multifaceted concept with multiple applications (Langendahl, Cook and Mark-Herbert, 2016). The role of gamification – which may be defined as the use of game elements in non-game context – is expected to increase over the next years within a variety areas of application, such as learning and assessment, scientific and market research, promotion or business operations, etc. Its potential is related to, among others, the rise of new needs with the entering the labor market by the Y generation. The common purpose of gamification is to enhance one’s motivation (eg. students, employees, job candidates) and engagement in certain activities. Gamification is also an effective tool to help in problem solving which is also used as a support in research. Considering gaming as a research area it is important to distinguish between the process and the experience of gamification (Kari et al., 2016), in particular so called true game experience and its outcomes, methodological framework as well as implementation and evaluation of a models.

Although there is much theoretical support for the benefits of digital games in learning and education, there is mixed empirical support (McClarty et al., 2012). While the use of simulations and digital games in scientific research and business applications have become increasingly popular in recent years there is a need for further modeling and analyzing the empirical results of these applications. The use of gamification can help the company gain market advantage and increase of effectiveness of organizations. Thus there is bride room to investigate and discuss the roles of digital games as tutor, tool, and tutee for education as well as the effectiveness and potentials of gamification in scientific and business context.
This stream aims at deepening a contemporary understanding of gamification with a focus on (higher) education in particular and the role of gamification as a tool in scientific and market research, marketing, and business activity. It is focused also on identification and assessment of the opportunities and challenges of gamification. It invites both, theoretical and empirical papers, that contribute to this research area.

Contributions may for example focus on topics such as:

• Theory and research of the gamification - the structure, mechanisms and social context (including the influence on the psychology and behaviour of the player).
• Game-based learning in education – the process and the experience, theory and research perspective.
• Gamification as a tool in the modern education – applications, goals, outcomes, innovation, challenges.
• Scientific and market research with the use of digital and video games – applications, effectiveness, future research perspectives.
• The use of gamification within organizations activities: employees motivating (in particular generation Y), improving sales and recruitment processes, online marketing, social campaigns, etc.
• The potential of gamification in applications for marketing strategies, as a modern form of promotion and business activities.
• Game theory applications in business simulation games.

Due to the growing internationalization of enterprises activity along with their expansion to the international markets and ease of transfer among countries, more and more employees seek career development opportunities on the international labor market. IHRM therefore, faces multiple challenges of the modern labor market: managing people in diversified workplace, age management, GEN X,Y,Z management, expatriation management.

International migrations and their multi-sphere socio-economic consequences are today one of the key determinants of human resources in a global dimension.

This stream aims at sharing and exchanging research results as well as theoretical or conceptual papers about the new challenges faced HRM, both internationally and locally, including international corporations as well as public intuitions ad SMEs.

Topics relevant for submissions include, but are not limited to the following:

• The human resource’ competencies of the future (skills, traits, knowledge)
• Diversity management
• Age management
• Generation X,Y,Z at the workplace
• HRM in SMEs
• HRM in public sector
• Migration and global mobility flows
• Expatriation management
• Self-initiated expatriation
• European Social Fund.

Massive technological progress in communication technology supports new forms of organizations and shift boundaries of innovation teams and networks. For entrepreneurs, this creates new opportunities to develop new products and services based on Intellectual Capital (IC) and knowledge.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

• What are the Intellectual Capital drivers for the innovation process?
• How can we communicate about IC internally with peers and externally to markets and partners?
• How could we leverage IC as strategic assets to compete in the knowledge economy?
• Which methods and instruments are suitable to specifically support entrepreneurs in managing IC?
• How can organizations systematically develop critical IC/knowledge for the innovation process?
• How can organizations measure the contribution of IC/knowledge in the different stages of the innovation process?
• In the context of open innovation how to find a good trade off between knowledge sharing and knowledge protection?
• Which cases provide IC-related challenges or good practices of to learn from innovative entrepreneurs?

Value creation is increasingly based on leveraging intangibles, but firms lack knowledge and skills on identifying, measuring and managing their intellectual capital. Also the existing academic literature on knowledge-based value creation seems to have concentrated on either IC stocks of firms or their management mechanisms (cf. Kianto et al. 2013). To produce a more complete picture of the tenets of organizational performance in the knowledge economy, this track examines both issues: IC stocks and knowledge management practices.

The topics of papers could be e.g.

• What are the key elements of the companies IC in particular national and regional contexts?
• What are the key mechanisms used to manage IC, i.e. KM practices, in particular national and organizational context
• What are best practices in the management of IC?
• How do IC and its management impact various aspects of value creation, e.g. innovation, financial performance, customer value?
• How can innovation related and/or value inducing IC be identified and measured?
• How do different business environments and firm-specific contingencies impact the relationship between IC and value creation?
• How can IC be measured in different context

Knowledge became in the last decades a strategic resource for business and managing knowledge constitutes a challenge for practitioners as well as for researchers in the field. Knowledge Management is a new field of research and although there are many international journals and conferences dedicated to this phenomenon it still needs efforts and creativity to discover the laws which govern its complexity and dynamics. This conference aims at being a forum of sharing our new ideas and research results about knowledge and knowledge management.

The following are suggested area of interest for this stream without any limitations in complementing them with new topics:

• Knowledge metaphors and new approaches to knowledge nature understanding.
• Knowledge dynamics in organizations and its influence upon decision making.
• Knowledge creation and knowledge acquisition.
• Knowledge sharing and communities of practice. Intra-organizational and inter-organizational knowledge sharing.
• Knowledge loss and knowledge retention. Intergenerational knowledge transfer.
• Knowledge and organizational learning. Knowledge and organizational entropy.
• Knowledge strategies in turbulent business environments and crazy times.
• Information management and knowledge management. Learning from big data and crowdsourcing

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) drive today's economy. They account for more than 90 % of enterprises worldwide (Khalique et al. 2015). In the European Union, these companies employ 67 % of the body of workers and earn 58 % of value added, thus, they are of remarkable social and economic importance to our economy (European Commission, 2016). SMEs show specific characteristics that distinguish them from large enterprises. They do not only differ in terms of structures, strategies, and managerial practices; they also feature different knowledge (management) practices (Greiner, 1998; Cohen and Kaimenakis, 2007). Most often, no formal knowledge management (KM) is in place and business depends particularly on the tacit knowledge of the entrepreneurs and employees (Durst & Edvardsson, 2012).

Despite the importance and distinctiveness of small businesses, KM research has paid little attention to it (Serenko, 2013). Massaro et al (2016, p. 277) call “scholars to increase efforts to find new, relevant, research avenues by focusing on what makes SMEs a specific and unique research context rather than replicating concepts derived from larger organisations".

This new conference stream provides the opportunity to bring together current research on the prospects and challenges associated with the SMEs' knowledge practices. It gathers current research addressing the characteristics of SMEs in terms of knowledge management and neighbouring fields such as organizational learning, intellectual capital, strategic management, philosophy (epistemology), human resources, and other research areas.

We invite scholars, practitioners, and policy-makers to contribute to the scientific dialogue. We welcome all types of papers, both conceptual and empirical, using diverse methods to provide new insights into KM practice in SMEs.

Topics relevant for submissions include, but are not limited to the following:

• Defining characteristics of SMEs from a knowledge and learning perspective (compared to large enterprises)
• Organizational learning and unlearning
• Research on (non-)knowledge intensive SMEs
• Factors affecting KM practices (critical success factors)
• (Alternative) concepts of knowledge (epistemologies)
• KM in micro-enterprises
• Comparative research in respect to organisational contexts, economic branches, and countries
• KM tools, instruments, and strategies to foster creation, development, and sharing of (tacit) knowledge
• The role of entrepreneurs in KM practice
• The role of information technology in KM practice
• The impact of knowledge processes on performance

Join this conference stream to reminisce the realities and plan the future states of our knowledge-based global economy at the beginning of the 21^st century, through the prism of the colorful national cultures. Share your county’s present truth and future goals in terms of the relationship between theorizing and applying research in the everyday knowledge economy. Is it a question of managing, facilitating, adapting, or acclimating to the knowledge-based economic conditions in your county? Can we talk about common ground between HRD (Human Resource Development), knowledge management, and cultivation of the intellectual capital wherever you come from or where you live? Let us get specific and concentrate on problem-solving and case-analyzing various examples of competitiveness, innovation, and entrepreneurship in your national economy. Can we talk about the simple state of happiness and contentment in our contemporary knowledge-based jobs? Is 21^st century’s knowledge motivating or engaging? Is there any curious difference between the public, non-profit, and corporate sector realities in our countries – OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) members and BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) representatives? Do we still have cross-cultural differences (considering Hofstede’s 6 cultural or Triandis’ 4 individualism dimensions) or does the knowledge economy unite us more and more?

In this stream we look for contributions from managers and practitioners in the various fields on the knowledge economy which relate to the difference between the theory and the practice. We welcome also discussions about practice or about the nonexistence or unawareness about knowledge. We hope to succeed having companies and organizations representing the knowledge economy in this track.

In this stream we look for contributions on the application of policies, and the difference between theories and applications within those policies. Governance is an important topic and experiences may relate to sectors has political science, education, health, social security, etc.

Papers in the stream are invited (but not limited) to address the following questions:

1. Individual KM:

- Overwhelmed by knowledge – how can/should we cope with increasing availability of knowledge, growing demand for a widening range of knowledge, and apparently accelerating evolution of knowledge?

- What are challenges of today and tomorrow to logistics practitioners and supply chain managers in individual knowledge acquisition, application, sharing?

2. KM to support experience-based learning:

- How might companies cope with a potential loss of experience in project-based professions caused by recent and future demographic development? Does KM help?

- What are promising approaches or best practices in maintaining company experience despite of retiring experts? How knowledge and experience might be directly or indirectly transferred from well-experiences experts to well-trained young professionals?

3. The role of KM in Industry 4.0 / cyber-physical systems:

- What will be the role of persons after the 4th industrial revolution aiming for directly and automatically connecting products, production facilities and partners in the supply chain?

- Which role KM will (or will have to) play in industrial systems of the future – enabler, supporter, book-keeper/reporter?

4. Logistics and supply chain KM in cases:
(practical experiences and there theoretical background)

- What are successful (or even unsuccessful) KM implementations in logistics companies/organizations and/or supply chains?

- What are best practices to be shared, what are problems or challenges to be aware of?

- Are there sectoral or national studies on the role of knowledge in logistics services and companies or alongside supply chains/networks?

We will be also glad to provide a platform for discussing your specific needs for KM in logistics and your specific problems in implementing KM in a logistics/supply chain background.

This stream provides the opportunity to bring both conceptual and empirical contributions.

The following are suggested area of interest for this stream without any limitations in complementing them with new topics:

• The teaching and Learning Paradigms
• Education, Globalisation and Knowledge Economy
• The Theory and Practice of Online Learning
• The Use of Technology in University Teaching and Learning
• Lifelong Learning and the Knowledge Economy
• The Practical Aprroach to Teaching and Learning
• Technology and Knowledge Economy
• Innovation Management Learning in the Knowledge Economy