The issue of the efficiency of food processing enterprises is ever-present because of the continuous process of improving the quality standards of raw materials, complying with the procedures in food production, introducing modern production technology, and, above all, due to the large number of actors who are competing for customers in the domestic and foreign food market. In the coming years, the Polish food processing sector will be facing significant challenges with the inevitable slow and gradual decrease in the cost advantages of raw material prices as well as ready-to-eat products. Manufacturing businesses, in the long run, will need to determine the efficiency, and hence the competitiveness of the Polish food processing sector. The aim of this paper was to review the domestic and foreign literature in terms of the classification and systematization of the concept of eco-efficiency and to find the most optimal set of eco-efficiency measures based on the research in chosen food processing enterprises in Poland. In the theoretical part of the study, methods of descriptive, comparative, deductive, and synthetic analysis were used. In the practical part of the study, appropriately selected qualitative methods, such as a questionnaire, were presented. The results of the analysis were based on the results of the authors’ own calculations, as well specific findings from business practice, both from inland and abroad.

This article explores outplacement models typical for understanding the roles of job insecurity and the subjective perception of opportunities to find a new job. This study aims to validate the following hypothesis: people who are covered by outplacement systems in a workplace usually feel that they have both a good opportunity to find a job and have low job insecurity. Outplacement was defined according to a matrix of job insecurity and the possibility of finding a job. This comparative study is the first one that investigates the differences in outplacement and was carried out taking into account job insecurity and job opportunities. The Job Opportunity Index was almost the same in Russia and Poland but the Job Insecurity Index in Poland was higher than in Russia. 51% of Russian bankers and 29% of Polish bankers indicated that they could count on outplacement services to help them. The hypothesis was not confirmed in Poland as it was in Russia. The hypothesis of this study is supported by empirical research carried out on a sample of 2324 bank employees in Poland and in the Russian Federation. Factor analysis, discriminant analysis, the Mann-Whitney test and the Wilks’ Lambda test were used.

This article aims to analyze the levels of collective trust in banks in Poland and Russia. These are post-socialist countries and emerging markets and yet there are large discrepancies in the mentality of the respective labour markets. The hypothesis is that collective trust in banks in Russia is lower than in Poland. This has to do with the high level of declarative trust proclaimed by the Russian employees. Moreover, trust is inversely proportional to the level of education. 1,920 bank employees were surveyed in Poland and 359 in Russia. Then the overall indexes of trust in banks and sub-indexes (loyalty; care; openness; dyadic trust; honesty/fairness; common values; appreciation; job security) were calculated.

The contemporary academic literature starts to recognize the importance of an individual in an organization, region, and national economy performance. Scholars try to explore the essence of interconnection between various forms of capital, institutional environment, and values. Hence, this article’s relevance is determined by the need to study the mechanisms of human capital and socio-economic achievements interrelation. Human capital originates from knowledge, skills, abilities, and others characteristics of a person. It is not limited by a single individual, since, on the unit level, it becomes a resource through association and complementarity. The obtained combinations of human capital are complex, and almost all of them are specific to a particular organization. Therefore, the authors argue that competitive advantage is achieved mainly through a unique combination of human capital resources. This article presents the key conceptual provisions of the polyparadigm research program of human capital phenomenon. The novelty of the article is determined, firstly, by a detailed description of human capital components, and secondly, by a proposal to implement the idea of interdisciplinary research. The authors have developed and tested a methodology that will allow for a comprehensive modular measurement of human capital, as well as for modeling and evaluating its impact on economic performance of micro-, meso-, and macro-entities in the context of economy digitalization. The analysis base includes philosophical approaches, system analysis, social theories, sociology (including mathematical sociology), psychology, and economics. Systematization and typologization of scientific sources makes it possible to form a wide range of models of multilevel human capital and its resources. Moreover, the authors propose to initiate an interdisciplinary discussion, aimed at increasing the openness and productivity of research in this field.

This article critically introduces the sociology of rural areas through rethinking and reinterpreting contemporary world contexts of rural sociology and factual representation of the Russian rural life, applying qualitative methods of analyzing in-depth interviews with Tyumen Region’s south residents. The authors employ theoretical and methodological approaches, mainly used in classical and modern academic literature on rural realities. The scientific approach of this article, alternative to the popular perspectives of political economy and sociology of postmodernism, is based on compounding the interactionist theory and social constructionism with economic sociology, and relies on the growing status of qualitative methods used not only in rural sociology, but also in social geography. The case studies on contemporary rural life problems provide the foundation for discussion and criticism. This article also presents the first results of 2020 field research within the framework of a project aimed at studying institutional factors and forms of Tyumen Region south rural areas development. The authors prove the importance of assessing current problems and functioning prospects of the two most important Russian countryside social institutions — the local (municipal) government and business/entrepreneurship, which are considered through the dominant scenarios of their interests’ interaction with reproduction, preservation, and sustainability of rural areas. The authors’ conclusions are drawn from theoretical and empirical results of generalization and conceptualization of rural life peculiarities, considered through the prism of sociological theories of the countryside and world contexts of this scientific field. This article focuses on illustrating rural areas adaptability and versatility to many external shocks, as well as on contributing to the discussion of the current challenges, problems and opportunities that are opening for rural sociology in the realities of modern Russian rural life. Recommendations, stemming from the current world agenda of rural sociology, propose a relatively new concept of rural politics, displaying the “placed-based” paradigm. The paradigm is to reduce the inequality and inefficiency in agricultural production by removing barriers and seeking opportunities in given locations (villages and small towns), especially those which lag behind more dynamic territories in key resources. In other words, these are the “territories of growth” (an increase in population density and yield, expansion or small reduction of farmland); “territories of stagnation” (a decrease in population density, farmland and yield); and “territories of contraction” (a decrease in population with a significant reduction in farmland and yield). However, even for these highly generalized socio-spatial characteristics, there is only approximate information that does not allow classifying the scenarios of rural regions reproduction. Spatial dimension indicates the diversity principle of economic change and development. Adaptation of programs to eliminate disadvantages and enhance strengths of territories is likely to help achieving a high return on investment in rural policy through grants, loans, subsidies, subventions (State Program 2020-2025). Placed-based policies should have the greatest impact on lagging regions, reducing regional inequalities, facilitating regional convergence of rural areas. The concept of “territories of growth — stagnation — contraction” is not yet verified by large studies. Theoretical grounding of placed-based policies, originates from economic concepts, broadening them with spatial, cultural, social and institutional dimensions. There is evidence that the placed-based strategy will advance lagging regions and boost the country’s economy. A social policy based on this concept can be a tool for rural areas development, ensuring the complementarity between efficiency and equity. The scientific novelty of this research lies in the development of a conceptual-categorical scheme that demonstrates the interaction of various branches of government, agricultural actors of different levels and entrepreneurs as a result of their interests coordination. The interaction is presented in a form of impact that macro-actors have on micro- and meso- subjects at the local level, which is very important for tracking the formal-informal ratio in rural residents’ lives.