Journal Volume 5, Issue 1, January 2015
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1 Journal of Regional Socio-Economic Issues, Volume 5, Issue 1, January 2015 Journal of Regional Socio-Economic Issues, Volume 5, Issue 1, January 2015 2 JOURNAL OF REGIONAL SOCIO- ECONOMIC ISSUES (JRSEI) Journal of Regional & Socio-Economic Issues (Print) ISSN 2049-1395 Journal of Regional & Socio-Economic Issues (Online) ISSN 2049-1409 Indexed by Copernicus Index, DOAJ (Director of Open Access Journal), EBSCO, Cabell’s Index The journal is catalogued in the following catalogues: ROAD: Directory of Open Access Scholarly Resources, OCLC WorldCat, EconBiz - ECONIS, CITEFACTOR, OpenAccess 3 Journal of Regional Socio-Economic Issues, Volume 5, Issue 1, January 2015 JOURNAL OF REGIONAL SOCIO-ECONOMIC ISSUES (JRSEI) ISSN No. 2049-1409 Aims of the Journal: Journal of Regional Socio-Economic Issues (JRSEI) is an international multidisciplinary refereed journal the purpose of which is to present papers manuscripts linked to all aspects of regional socio-economic and business and related issues. The views expressed in this journal are the personal views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of JRSEI journal. The journal invites contributions from both academic and industry scholars. Electronic submissions are highly encouraged (mail to: [email protected]). Chief-Editor Prof. Dr. George M. Korres: Professor University of the Aegean, School of Social Sciences, Department of Geography, [email protected] Editorial Board (alphabetical order) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zacharoula S. Andreopoulou, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Faculty of Forestry and Natural Environment, School of Agriculture, Forestry & Natural Environment, Email: [email protected] Assoc. Prof. Dr. Maria Athina Artavani, Department of Military Science, Hellenic Military Academy, Greece, [email protected] Prof. Dr. Elias G. Carayannis: Professor School of Business, George Washington University, USA, [email protected]; [email protected] Prof. Dr. Christos Frangos, Professor of Statistics and Business Methods, Technological Institute of Athens, [email protected] Prof. Dr. George Halkos, Professor Department of Economics, University of Thessaly, [email protected] Prof. Dr. Hanna Dudek: Professor Warsaw University of Life Sciences, [email protected] Prof. Dr. Richard Harris: Professor Durham University, [email protected] Assoc. Prof. Dr. George Gkantzias: Associate Professor in Cultural Management, New Technology University of the Aegean, [email protected] Ass. Prof. Dr. Marina-Selini Katsaiti, Assistant Professor Department of Economics & Finance, College of Business & Economics, United Arab Emirates University, UAE, [email protected] Prof. Dr. Christos Kitsos, Technological Institute of Athens, [email protected] Dr. Dr. Aikaterini Kokkinou, University of the Aegean, Department of Geography, Greece, [email protected] Prof. Dr. Elias A. Kourliouros, Professor Department of Geography, University of the Aegean, [email protected]; [email protected] Ass. Prof. Dr. Christos Ladias, Assistant Professor, Panteion University, Greece [email protected] Prof. Dr. Dimitrios Lagos, Professor Department of Business Administration, University of the Aegean, [email protected] Assoc. Prof. Dr. Charalambos Louca: Associate Professor & Head of Business Department, Director of Research Department, [email protected] Journal of Regional Socio-Economic Issues, Volume 5, Issue 1, January 2015 4 Prof. Dr. Emmanuel Marmaras: Professor Technical University of Crete, [email protected]; [email protected] Prof. Dr. Ioannis Th. Mazis, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Faculty of Turkish Studies and Modern Asian Studies, School of Economics and Political Sciences, [email protected]; [email protected]; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Maria Michailidis: Associate Professor & Dean, Department of Management & MIS, University of Nicosia, [email protected] Prof. Dr. Photis Nanopoulos, Former Director of Eurostat, [email protected] Dr. Pablo Ruiz-Nápoles, Faculty of Economics, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, [email protected] Assistant Professor Dr. Efstratios Papanis, Department of Sociology, University of the Aegean, [email protected] Prof. Dr. George Polychronopoulos, Professor and Dean School of Economics and Business, Technological Institute of Athens, [email protected] Prof. Dr. Kiran Prasad, Professor Sri Padmavati Mahila University [email protected]; [email protected]; Associate Professor Dr. Anastasia Stratigea, National Technical University of Athens, School of Rural and Surveying Engineering, Department of Geography and Regional Planning, [email protected] Prof. Paris Tsartas, Professor, University of the Aegean, [email protected] Prof. Dr. George O. Tsobanoglou, Prof. University of the Aegean, Department of Sociology, [email protected] Prof. Dr. George Zestos, Christopher Newport University, [email protected] 5 Journal of Regional Socio-Economic Issues, Volume 5, Issue 1, January 2015 Table of Contents Editorial Board 3 Table of Contents 5 Paper 1: The Process of Privatization and Employee Morale (by Maria P. 6 Michailidis and Stamatia Efstathiou) Paper 2: Who are the entrepreneurs that adopt sustainable tourism practices? 25 (by Sardianou, E., Kostakis I., Mitoula, R., Gkaragkani, V. Lalioti, E and E. Theodoropoulou) Paper 3: Financial Risk Assessment of Albanian SMEs with the help of 38 Financial Ratio ( A case study– SME-s in Gjirokasra region) (by Lorenc Koçiu, Romeo Mano and Armand Hysi) Paper 4: A Note in the Logistics, Transportation and Competitiveness (by 52 Dr. Dr. Aikaterini Kokkinou) Paper 5: Investing in Emotional Economics (by Vaibhav P. Birwatkar) 62 Book Review 78 Call for Papers 80 Instructions to Authors 81 Journal of Regional Socio-Economic Issues, Volume 5, Issue 1, January 2015 6 The Process of Privatization and Employee Morale Abstract: The current paper discusses findings from an exploratory study aimed at identifying an Organization’s imminent privatization impact on the employees’ morale. Qualitative and quantitative research was conducted. A sample of 253 employees voluntarily participated in e- survey, and 16 participants were interviewed. Variables such as: pride, job security, psychological well-being, motivation for work, effects on employees’ personal lives, resistance and absenteeism, were used. Overall, employee morale was shown to have deteriorated, based on the study’s variables (except for absenteeism rates). The results supported the hypothesis that as employees’ job- security is threatened with the imminent privatization, increased levels of anxiety, stress, insecurity, and consequently decreased levels of employee morale would be identified. This expected negative impact was identified to affect employees’ motivation towards work itself. Furthermore, the negative impact on their morale, showed to have an adverse influence on employees’ personal lives and on their plans for the future. Keywords: Employee morale, Privatization, Human aspect of change, Psychological well-being, Job Security, Motivation, Pride Maria P. Michailidis1 & Stamatia Efstathiou2 1 Dr. Maria P. Michailidis, Dean of the School of Business at the University of Nicosia, Cyprus and a member of the Department of Management and MIS. E-mail: [email protected] 2 Stamatia Efstathiou is a graduate from the Mediterrenean Institute of Management (MIM), with a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies.E-mail: [email protected] 7 Journal of Regional Socio-Economic Issues, Volume 5, Issue 1, January 2015 1. Introduction 1.1 Employee Morale It has been established that employee morale consists of their attitudes and emotions (Manning and Curtis, 1988) and, that in general according to the Business Dictionary, their global viewpoint of their work environment; is considered as directly related with productivity in an organisation. According to Manning and Curtis (1988, p. 3), morale is “the moral or mental condition of a person or group with respect to courage, discipline and willingness to endure hardship; a state of confidence, cheerfulness and enthusiasm, a positive attitude by an individual or group as shown by a willingness to perform tasks.” Furthermore, Manson (2000, p. 10), associates staff morale with the employees’ “level of psychological well-being”, supporting that the workplace plays a significant role on the psychological well-being of its employees. Yet, certain signs or symptoms, as Manning and Curtis (1988) , point out, such as high rate of turnover, high rates of absenteeism, a great number of grievances, lack of loyalty on the part of employees, poor work habits, loss of materials, tools and equipment, lack of pride and even resistance (strikes), indicate low employee morale. To measure staff morale, these symptoms need to be considered and evaluated. However, some symptoms can be observed or evaluated easier than others while some may not be available to the researcher for measuring and assessing, because of their highly confidential nature. Also, certain symptoms may well occur as a result of other external factors, hard to trace and likely to require longitudinal studies. Furthermore, Manning and Curtis (1988), also suggest that work affects almost every side of human life, including economic well-being, social personality and psychological health. Doing something of value in life is a strong motivation, frequently expressed in work. Work itself is an important “source of meaning and identity in our society”,