Judit Simon

An old picture … or is it? The relations between business and political networks in Hungary

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address two questions: how do business and political (i.e. party politics and state) networks relate? What are the consequences of the relations between these two networks for the behaviour of the actors involved? Design/methodology/approach The research design consists of the historical approach based on relevant literature sources of the past, a relatively long period – from 1968, the beginning of the era of market socialism, until the first decade of the twenty-first century, by which time the market economy had been established for more than 20 years. The authors analyse the behaviour of economic and non-economic actors in Hungary based on cases and historical data, applying the IMP network approach. Findings Research findings demonstrate the long-term influence of the relation between business and bureaucratic networks on managerial and organizational network behaviour. The old and new pictures of the economic system are different, but the background to the pictures and the movement in the two pictures are quite similar. Research limitations/implications The historical illustrations and cases the authors have presented cannot be too widely generalized: the characteristics of the Hungarian mode of transition from market socialism to market economy impose important limitations on the generalizability of the findings. Practical implications The study offers lessons to policy makers: policy decisions can have long term, unanticipated impacts on non-target areas as well. Social implications The results confirm that the informal networks of socialism can replicate themselves and network structures can be repurposed in the system after the transition as well. Originality/value One contribution of the paper is related to the second network paradox: the cases illustrate non-business relationships with non-economic factors, particularly relations with bureaucracy. The other contribution is the description of how the transition from socialism to capitalism affected the networks that firms were embedded in before and after the transition.

Attitudes of Hungarian asthmatic and COPD patients affecting disease control: empirical research based on Health Belief Model

Introduction: Patient non-adherence to treatment is a major problem across most chronic diseases. In COPD and asthma treatments it is a complex issue because people need to make behavioral and lifestyle changes while taking medications. Poor adherence results in increased rates of morbidity and mortality, more frequent hospitalizations, and ultimately higher healthcare expenditures. Materials and methods: The objective of the study was to assess asthmatic and COPD patients attitudes toward adherence in Hungary. Health Belief Model was used to help explain reasons of non-adherence. The results of the study should provide additional support to understanding health-related behaviors and to developing health related programs enhancing adherence of asthmatic and COPD patients. 145 diagnosed COPD patients and 161 diagnosed asthmatic patients were involved in 6 pulmonary centers. The questions were designed to measure Health Belief Model dimensions A 1–5 point verbal Likert scale was used. As a second stage, the answers were compared with the registered patients personal health data available in pulmonary centers documentation. The data was analyzed using SPSS software. Results: More than 32% of patients are very interested in new asthma or COPD research results, but their main information source is physician. The trust toward the physician is very high. Patients accept treatments and rarely ask questions. Respondents are cooperative but sometimes fail to follow therapeutic recommendations. There is no willingness to join self-help groups or associations. Discussion: The paternalistic approach was generally accepted, moreover expected by the patients from the physicians. It is important to train patients, increase their self-efficacy, responsibility and involve them into self-management programs. Both physicians and patients should be trained how to communicate—this approach can lead to increased understanding and better adherence.

Hungarian tender buyers: Some results of an empirical research study

In this paper we present some results of our exploratory research about Hungarian tender buyers activity and culture. We try to formulate some questions for future research. Hungarian bidding habits and behavior are not yet deeply researched. The goal of this pilot study is to take a snapshot of the Hungarian tendering processes from the point of view of the seller-buyer interaction. Content analysis has been chosen as the methodological framework because of its potential for examining not well structured, symbolic, mainly behavioral or qualitative data. The most important findings drawn from analysing 515 Hungarian calls for tender published in May and June 1996 are as follows: • ⊎buyers use a tendering process mainly if it is obligatory by law; • ⊎vernmental and institutional buyers represent more than 75 percent of bids; • ⊎prequalification tenders have a law rate; • ⊎projects are the most frequented objects of bids