Factors of Risk Reduction in Agile and Lean Enabled Governance of IT Project Portfolios

The subject of this paper is project portfolio governance and its improvement based on agile and framework which improves the management of project portfolio processes’ execution and reduces the risks of portfolio components’ implementation. The existing project portfolio models and governance processes use traditional principles, regulation, planning, and control methods, which require enhancement to ensure the portfolio management processes are followed in successful project implementation. The agile and lean project portfolio governance is a relative new domain for which the awareness and practical results related to influence on governance processes, risks, and quality are missing. The contribution is foremost methodological in introduction of agile and lean portfolio governance methods and processes, followed by the agile and lean governance framework, and conclusively in revealing the factors of risk reduction in the agile and lean enabled project portfolio governance with the emphasis on implementation risks reduction

Agile method for Roma centered e-learning

U ovom doktorskom radu istraženo je na koji se način alternativnim agilnim pristupom, konkretno scrum metodom, mogu identificirati poteškoće učenika romske nacionalne manjine u cilju prilagodbe, nadzora i transparentnosti nastavnog procesa e-učenja usmjerenog manjinama. Temeljno je ljudsko pravo obrazovanje, ali ono općenito nije postignuto kod nacionalnih manjina u svijetu. Danas klasične metode nisu dovoljno fleksibilne i brze u kreiranju obrazovnog procesa prilagođenog specifičnostima manjina. Istraživanje se temelji na redizajnu postojeće scrum agilne metode za oblikovanje e-učenja usmjereno Romima Rezultati provedenog istraživanja pokazali su da agilna metoda e-učenja usmjerena Romima pozitivno utječe na učinkovitost obrazovanja te smanjuje razlike u uspješnosti obrazovanja između većinske populacije i Roma. Utvrđeno je da agilna metoda e-učenja usmjerena Romima umanjuje razlike u socijalnoj distanci među učenicima.The basic human rights have been established by the international legislative whose basis is the International Charter of Rights, within which, namely in the General Declaration on Human Rights, education is proclaimed to be the basic right of every human being. Education is guaranteed to everyone in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia and in line with the Constitutional Act on the Rights of National Minorities (The Government of the ROC, 2002.) and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (The Government of the ROC, 2008.) and the right is exercised and developed as well by the national minorities members within the major population. In the Republic of Croatia, the Roma national minority lives in relatively hard and poor conditions and they have problems with employment. Moreover, the majority of the Roma feel the negative attitudes coming from the major society as well as a direct consequence of it – a wide range discrimination. The research into education and the integration of various minorities into the life of the community done up to now show that similar problems do exist in other countries as well. Presently, for many a reason, the classic e-learning design methods are neither flexible enough nor fast enough whereas the newer methods, despite iterativity, collaborativeness, efficiency and manageability, are not agile enough for special cases. It is obvious that the process of learning/educating as a whole should be adjusted to the needs and abilities of the minorities. The traditional methods follow the previously defined curricula, whereas the alternative agile approach – namely, by means of the most utilized scrum method – provides for an iterative and approximate assessment of e-learning, the approximate performance plan, risks and strategies for the purpose of implementing the planned didactic objective. The agile method should lead to the objective as soon as possible (using the minimum of other resources) with the keyrole played by teachers who are willing to work in teams in the new culture of learning and teaching aimed at creativity and innovations. The use and deployment of the IC technology is the most important factor for the successful teaching and educating processes. Regarding a series of unknown factors when educating the Roma minority students via e learning, by means of the scrum agile method the difficulties faced by the Roma students are identified for the purpose of adjusting, monitoring and transparency of the e-learning teaching process. This kind of “self-organizing” empirical process leads to utilizing the agile method within the special problem domain – the electronic teaching of national minorities. Adjusting the teaching process through agile methods increases the efficiency of the teaching process and e-learning and the level of communication and cooperation in students, i.e. the level of understanding their needs. The instructional design of the kind offers educational contents of a better quality and the consequent better knowledge acquisition. The efforts of the students are directed to discussion groups (e-mail, chat, forum), i.e. to social networks with the objective of amending the contents proposed by LMS. The adjusting of the educational contents while taking into consideration the abilities limitations within the Roma national minority population and while prefering their individual learning style, the previously acquired knowledge and personal motivation contribute to a cooperative surroundings for implementing the IC technology. The motivation and partaking on the part of the students in creating the content and the empirical guidance aimed at enhancing the educational contents provided by teachers should provide for preserving the cultural and traditional features of national minorities. The conceptual framework of the agile methods provides for a dynamic, spontaneous and an intuitive ambiance that in turn provides for a flexible deployment and use of the adjusted techniques in shaping the multimedia contents. The problems faced at online courses by some national minorities (the Roma one in this case) depending on the peculiarities of a particular group of students, the language barrier of the minority members, the technology at disposal, the culture and tradition of minorities, the learning style (previously acquired knowledge), the social interaction, the approach to knowledge and the current surroundings, all of which influence the future education process, are possible to be resolved by using the agile methods regardless of educational diversities. It was a challenge then to use the agile method for the specific needs of national minorities at designing e-learning, which presents a scientific and social value although it has not been researched scientifically and has not been resolved in a systematic way up to now. Some e learning processes are adjusted to a certain population of students that feature various XIV previously acquired knowledge and the processes use a wide IC technologic range (multimedia, social networks, web pages, online knowledge assessment testing, web 2.0 tools, m-learning etc.). The agile procedures and the immediate partaking of the Roma national minority students in the creation of contents may influence positively the efficiency of education and reducing the difference in successfulness of education between the major population and the Roma minority while, at the same time, diminishing as well the feeling of the social distance/discrimination in the Roma national minority

Agile method for Roma centered e-learning

U ovom doktorskom radu istraženo je na koji se način alternativnim agilnim pristupom, konkretno scrum metodom, mogu identificirati poteškoće učenika romske nacionalne manjine u cilju prilagodbe, nadzora i transparentnosti nastavnog procesa e-učenja usmjerenog manjinama. Temeljno je ljudsko pravo obrazovanje, ali ono općenito nije postignuto kod nacionalnih manjina u svijetu. Danas klasične metode nisu dovoljno fleksibilne i brze u kreiranju obrazovnog procesa prilagođenog specifičnostima manjina. Istraživanje se temelji na redizajnu postojeće scrum agilne metode za oblikovanje e-učenja usmjereno Romima Rezultati provedenog istraživanja pokazali su da agilna metoda e-učenja usmjerena Romima pozitivno utječe na učinkovitost obrazovanja te smanjuje razlike u uspješnosti obrazovanja između većinske populacije i Roma. Utvrđeno je da agilna metoda e-učenja usmjerena Romima umanjuje razlike u socijalnoj distanci među učenicima.The basic human rights have been established by the international legislative whose basis is the International Charter of Rights, within which, namely in the General Declaration on Human Rights, education is proclaimed to be the basic right of every human being. Education is guaranteed to everyone in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia and in line with the Constitutional Act on the Rights of National Minorities (The Government of the ROC, 2002.) and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (The Government of the ROC, 2008.) and the right is exercised and developed as well by the national minorities members within the major population. In the Republic of Croatia, the Roma national minority lives in relatively hard and poor conditions and they have problems with employment. Moreover, the majority of the Roma feel the negative attitudes coming from the major society as well as a direct consequence of it – a wide range discrimination. The research into education and the integration of various minorities into the life of the community done up to now show that similar problems do exist in other countries as well. Presently, for many a reason, the classic e-learning design methods are neither flexible enough nor fast enough whereas the newer methods, despite iterativity, collaborativeness, efficiency and manageability, are not agile enough for special cases. It is obvious that the process of learning/educating as a whole should be adjusted to the needs and abilities of the minorities. The traditional methods follow the previously defined curricula, whereas the alternative agile approach – namely, by means of the most utilized scrum method – provides for an iterative and approximate assessment of e-learning, the approximate performance plan, risks and strategies for the purpose of implementing the planned didactic objective. The agile method should lead to the objective as soon as possible (using the minimum of other resources) with the keyrole played by teachers who are willing to work in teams in the new culture of learning and teaching aimed at creativity and innovations. The use and deployment of the IC technology is the most important factor for the successful teaching and educating processes. Regarding a series of unknown factors when educating the Roma minority students via e learning, by means of the scrum agile method the difficulties faced by the Roma students are identified for the purpose of adjusting, monitoring and transparency of the e-learning teaching process. This kind of “self-organizing” empirical process leads to utilizing the agile method within the special problem domain – the electronic teaching of national minorities. Adjusting the teaching process through agile methods increases the efficiency of the teaching process and e-learning and the level of communication and cooperation in students, i.e. the level of understanding their needs. The instructional design of the kind offers educational contents of a better quality and the consequent better knowledge acquisition. The efforts of the students are directed to discussion groups (e-mail, chat, forum), i.e. to social networks with the objective of amending the contents proposed by LMS. The adjusting of the educational contents while taking into consideration the abilities limitations within the Roma national minority population and while prefering their individual learning style, the previously acquired knowledge and personal motivation contribute to a cooperative surroundings for implementing the IC technology. The motivation and partaking on the part of the students in creating the content and the empirical guidance aimed at enhancing the educational contents provided by teachers should provide for preserving the cultural and traditional features of national minorities. The conceptual framework of the agile methods provides for a dynamic, spontaneous and an intuitive ambiance that in turn provides for a flexible deployment and use of the adjusted techniques in shaping the multimedia contents. The problems faced at online courses by some national minorities (the Roma one in this case) depending on the peculiarities of a particular group of students, the language barrier of the minority members, the technology at disposal, the culture and tradition of minorities, the learning style (previously acquired knowledge), the social interaction, the approach to knowledge and the current surroundings, all of which influence the future education process, are possible to be resolved by using the agile methods regardless of educational diversities. It was a challenge then to use the agile method for the specific needs of national minorities at designing e-learning, which presents a scientific and social value although it has not been researched scientifically and has not been resolved in a systematic way up to now. Some e learning processes are adjusted to a certain population of students that feature various XIV previously acquired knowledge and the processes use a wide IC technologic range (multimedia, social networks, web pages, online knowledge assessment testing, web 2.0 tools, m-learning etc.). The agile procedures and the immediate partaking of the Roma national minority students in the creation of contents may influence positively the efficiency of education and reducing the difference in successfulness of education between the major population and the Roma minority while, at the same time, diminishing as well the feeling of the social distance/discrimination in the Roma national minority

Agile method for Roma centered e-learning

U ovom doktorskom radu istraženo je na koji se način alternativnim agilnim pristupom, konkretno scrum metodom, mogu identificirati poteškoće učenika romske nacionalne manjine u cilju prilagodbe, nadzora i transparentnosti nastavnog procesa e-učenja usmjerenog manjinama. Temeljno je ljudsko pravo obrazovanje, ali ono općenito nije postignuto kod nacionalnih manjina u svijetu. Danas klasične metode nisu dovoljno fleksibilne i brze u kreiranju obrazovnog procesa prilagođenog specifičnostima manjina. Istraživanje se temelji na redizajnu postojeće scrum agilne metode za oblikovanje e-učenja usmjereno Romima Rezultati provedenog istraživanja pokazali su da agilna metoda e-učenja usmjerena Romima pozitivno utječe na učinkovitost obrazovanja te smanjuje razlike u uspješnosti obrazovanja između većinske populacije i Roma. Utvrđeno je da agilna metoda e-učenja usmjerena Romima umanjuje razlike u socijalnoj distanci među učenicima.The basic human rights have been established by the international legislative whose basis is the International Charter of Rights, within which, namely in the General Declaration on Human Rights, education is proclaimed to be the basic right of every human being. Education is guaranteed to everyone in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia and in line with the Constitutional Act on the Rights of National Minorities (The Government of the ROC, 2002.) and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (The Government of the ROC, 2008.) and the right is exercised and developed as well by the national minorities members within the major population. In the Republic of Croatia, the Roma national minority lives in relatively hard and poor conditions and they have problems with employment. Moreover, the majority of the Roma feel the negative attitudes coming from the major society as well as a direct consequence of it – a wide range discrimination. The research into education and the integration of various minorities into the life of the community done up to now show that similar problems do exist in other countries as well. Presently, for many a reason, the classic e-learning design methods are neither flexible enough nor fast enough whereas the newer methods, despite iterativity, collaborativeness, efficiency and manageability, are not agile enough for special cases. It is obvious that the process of learning/educating as a whole should be adjusted to the needs and abilities of the minorities. The traditional methods follow the previously defined curricula, whereas the alternative agile approach – namely, by means of the most utilized scrum method – provides for an iterative and approximate assessment of e-learning, the approximate performance plan, risks and strategies for the purpose of implementing the planned didactic objective. The agile method should lead to the objective as soon as possible (using the minimum of other resources) with the keyrole played by teachers who are willing to work in teams in the new culture of learning and teaching aimed at creativity and innovations. The use and deployment of the IC technology is the most important factor for the successful teaching and educating processes. Regarding a series of unknown factors when educating the Roma minority students via e learning, by means of the scrum agile method the difficulties faced by the Roma students are identified for the purpose of adjusting, monitoring and transparency of the e-learning teaching process. This kind of “self-organizing” empirical process leads to utilizing the agile method within the special problem domain – the electronic teaching of national minorities. Adjusting the teaching process through agile methods increases the efficiency of the teaching process and e-learning and the level of communication and cooperation in students, i.e. the level of understanding their needs. The instructional design of the kind offers educational contents of a better quality and the consequent better knowledge acquisition. The efforts of the students are directed to discussion groups (e-mail, chat, forum), i.e. to social networks with the objective of amending the contents proposed by LMS. The adjusting of the educational contents while taking into consideration the abilities limitations within the Roma national minority population and while prefering their individual learning style, the previously acquired knowledge and personal motivation contribute to a cooperative surroundings for implementing the IC technology. The motivation and partaking on the part of the students in creating the content and the empirical guidance aimed at enhancing the educational contents provided by teachers should provide for preserving the cultural and traditional features of national minorities. The conceptual framework of the agile methods provides for a dynamic, spontaneous and an intuitive ambiance that in turn provides for a flexible deployment and use of the adjusted techniques in shaping the multimedia contents. The problems faced at online courses by some national minorities (the Roma one in this case) depending on the peculiarities of a particular group of students, the language barrier of the minority members, the technology at disposal, the culture and tradition of minorities, the learning style (previously acquired knowledge), the social interaction, the approach to knowledge and the current surroundings, all of which influence the future education process, are possible to be resolved by using the agile methods regardless of educational diversities. It was a challenge then to use the agile method for the specific needs of national minorities at designing e-learning, which presents a scientific and social value although it has not been researched scientifically and has not been resolved in a systematic way up to now. Some e learning processes are adjusted to a certain population of students that feature various XIV previously acquired knowledge and the processes use a wide IC technologic range (multimedia, social networks, web pages, online knowledge assessment testing, web 2.0 tools, m-learning etc.). The agile procedures and the immediate partaking of the Roma national minority students in the creation of contents may influence positively the efficiency of education and reducing the difference in successfulness of education between the major population and the Roma minority while, at the same time, diminishing as well the feeling of the social distance/discrimination in the Roma national minority

O ciclo de vida do uso da shadow it no contexto da governança de TI

As pessoas têm adotado, cada vez mais, soluções tecnológicas não fornecidas pelo departamento de Tecnologia da Informação (TI) da organização, para realizar tarefas de trabalho. Essa utilização de tecnologias não autorizadas ou desconhecidas pelo TI é chamado da Shadow IT (SIT), que é um fenômeno que pode ser considerado emergente e está trazendo uma série de desafios para a gestão, além de riscos para a segurança organizacional. Estudos ressaltam a necessidade de se conhecer os tipos de inicialização, transições potenciais, descontinuidade e outras transições do ciclo de vida do uso da SIT. Esta pesquisa trata-se de uma dissertação de mestrado que teve por objetivo analisar o ciclo de vida do uso da SIT no contexto de governança de TI e foi estruturada em dois artigos. O primeiro é uma revisão sistemática de literatura que buscou trazer à luz o que já se conhece sobre os antecedentes e consequentes do uso da SIT nas organizações e apresentar um modelo que represente o seu ciclo de vida. Foram avaliados, de forma quantitativa e qualitativa, 114 artigos dos principais journals e conferências da área de SI. Os resultados demonstraram que os principais antecedentes do uso da SIT são a experiência do usuário, a utilidade percebida e os fatores sociais; e os consequentes são a continuidade e a descontinuidade de uso. O segundo artigo teve como intuito avaliar o modelo proposto por meio de uma survey, para validá-lo de forma quantitativa e medir as relações e os impactos entre dos comportamentais de adoção, o uso da SIT e a continuidade e descontinuidade de uso, moderados pela governança de TI. Os construtos medidos foram: experiência do usuário, utilidade percebida, imitação, risco percebido, neutralização, o uso da SIT, a continuidade e descontinuidade de uso e a governança de TI. Foram obtidas 321 respostas de usuários da SIT, atuantes, predominantemente, no setor financeiro e de TI. Entre os principais resultados foi possível verificar que a experiência do usuário, a utilidade percebida e a imitação afetam positivamente o uso da SIT; e se confirmou a moderação da neutralização nas relações entre os construtos utilidade percebida e imitação. Por fim, constatou-se o efeito positivo do uso da SIT na continuidade de sua utilização, sendo essa relação moderada pela governança de TI.People have increasingly adopted technological solutions not provided by the organization's IT department to conduct work tasks. This use of unauthorized or unknown technologies by the IT department IT is called Shadow IT (SIT). This phenomenon can be considered emerging and is bringing a series of challenges to management and risks to organizational security. Previous studies highlight the need to understand the types of startups, potential transitions, discontinuities, and other transitions in the SIT life cycle. This dissertation aims to analyze the life cycle of SIT usage in the context of IT governance. The research is structured in two articles. The first is a systematic literature review that aimed to bring to light what is already known about the antecedents and consequences of the SIT usage in organizations and to present a model that represents its life cycle. 114 articles from the main IS journals and conferences were evaluated quantitatively and qualitatively. The results showed that the main antecedents of SIT use are user experience, perceived usefulness and social factors. The consequences are continuity and discontinuity of use. The second article sought to analyze the proposed model through a survey in order to validate it quantitatively and measure the relationship between the behavioral factors of adoption, the use of SIT and the continuity and discontinuity of use, moderated by the IT governance. The measured constructs were user experience, perceived usefulness, imitation, perceived risk, neutralization, SIT usage, continuity and discontinuity of use and IT governance. A total of 321 responses were obtained from SIT users, acting in the financial and IT sectors. Among the main results, it was possible to verify that the user experience, perceived usefulness and imitation positively affect the use of SIT. The moderation of neutralization in the relationships between perceived usefulness and imitation constructs with the use of SIT was also confirmed. Finally, the positive effect of using SIT on continuity of use was verified, with this relationship being moderated by IT governance

Wind characteristics in the present and future climate obtained from regional climate models' simulations over broader Adriatic region

Jadran je područje kompleksne orografije stoga predstavlja izazov za realistično simuliranje polja vjetra regionalnim klimatskim modelima (RCM-ima). Analizirani RCM-i uključuju modele CORDEX inicijative s prostornim korakom od 0.11° i 0.44° te model ETH instituta u Zürichu s prostornim korakom od 0.11° i 0.02°. Simulirani prizemni vjetar usporedio se s prizemnim vjetrom standardne mreže kopnenih meteoroloških postaja, s podacima dobivenih pomoću QuikSCAT satelita te s podacima ERA-Interim reanalize za šire područje Jadrana. U svrhu evaluacije koristilo se nekoliko osnovnih (pristranost, standardna devijacija, itd.), izvedenih (mjere uspješnosti) i naprednih (EOF analiza i spektralna analiza) statističkih metoda. Ova analiza je rezultirala procjenom ograničenja u simuliranju tipičnih vjetrovnih režima današnjom generacijom RCM-a. Uspješnijima su se pokazale simulacije s manjim prostornim korakom mreže, osobito u obalnom području i kod ekstremnih brzina vjetra. Klimatske promjene u prizemnom vjetru odredile su se usporedbom polja strujanja u sadašnjoj i budućoj klimi iz CORDEX simulacija s prostornim korakom od 0.11°. Analizirao se utjecaj izbora RCM-a, rubnih uvjeta i scenarija koncentracije stakleničkih plinova (RCP4.5 i RCP8.5), a rasap među simulacijama je mjera vjerojatnosti određenih promjena. Polje strujanja analiziralo se u smislu promjena u raspodjeli brzina vjetra i u smjeru vjetra duž Jadrana. Dan je fokus na smjerove vjetra koji odgovaraju buri i jugu. Analiza je pokazala da se buduće promjene intenziviraju odabirom jačeg (RCP8.5) scenarija i približavanjem kraju 21. stoljeća. Buduće su promjene često istog reda veličine kao i interkvartilni raspon među simulacijama, međutim postoje naznake da će se broj događaja bure smanjiti duž Jadrana, ali će srednja brzina porasti u sjevernom Jadranu krajem stoljeća. Za jugo je pokazano da broj događaja u srednjem Jadranu raste, a srednja brzina vjetra opada. Buduće promjene u buri i jugu povezane su s promjenama u strujanju nad Jadranom koristeći podatke o polju tlaka svedenog na srednju morsku razinu te geopotencijalne visine 500 hPa plohe. Razvijen je novi algoritam za određivanje tipova vremena na sinoptičkoj skali nad širim jadranskim područjem. Pokazano je da se broj ciklona nad Jadranom, osobito zimi, smanjuje te su one uglavnom zamjenjene anticiklonalnim strujanjem.Extended abstract in the thesi

Pengaruh kepimpinan strategik dan kesediaan perubahan organisasi terhadap amalan penambahbaikan kualiti berterusan di sekolah agama

Malaysia Education Blueprint (PPPM, 2013-2025) was launched as a commitment to improving the quality of the education system hence to uphold the quality of education at all levels. However, blending approach to continuous improvement strategy occurs at slow pace and requires serious attention on the aspects of strategic leadership and readiness to implement change. This study was aimed to identify the influence of strategic leadership and organizational change readiness on continuous quality improvement practices in religious schools. In addition, the influence of organizational change readiness variables as mediator in the relationship between strategic leadership and continuous quality improvement practices was also examined. The cross-sectional survey method was applied in the data collection process. The instruments used consists of three parts namely Strategic Leadership Questionnaire, Organizational Readiness for Implementing Change and Continuous Quality Improvement Climate. A total of 478 respondents involving teacher leaders from secondary religious school in Kelantan took part in this study. Quantitative data were analyzed by statistical analysis of t-test, Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA), correlation and multiple regression analysis using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). The findings indicated that strategic leadership and organizational change readiness affects the practice of continuous quality improvement in religious schools. The findings also revealed that organizational change readiness functioned as a mediator in the relationship between strategic leadership and continuous quality improvement practices. In conclusion, this study indicated that high level of strategic leadership and organizational change readiness impact the continuous quality improvement practices towards improving the quality of education. Accordingly, approaches to strategic leadership practices, organizational change readiness and continuous quality improvement practices warrant due attention by the stakeholders in every stage of educational managemen

Povećanje učinkovitosti proizvodnih poduzeća udruživanjem u klaster

Zbog globalizacijskih procesa, sve otvorenije i povezanije svjetske ekonomije, konkurentnost je postala imperativ opstanka razvoja svih zemalja svijeta. Klasteri su prepoznati kao ključni činitelji podizanja konkurentnosti pojedinih proizvođača, lokalnih zajednica, te cjelokupnog nacionalnog gospodarstva. Konkurentnost pojedinih, posebice malih poduzetnika i tvrtki biti će veća ukoliko umjesto izoliranih industrija postoje udruženja, mreže i klasteri koji obuhvaćaju sposobne lokalne dobavljače, proizvođače, znanstvene institucije i vladine organizacije u pojedinim regijama. Poduzetništvo u malim, srednjim i velikim poduzećima predstavlja generator razvoja i zapošljavanja u svim nacionalnim ekonomijama suvremenog svijeta. Međutim, ekonomski status poduzeća u današnjim uvjetima procesa globalizacije postaje sve složeniji, konkurencija je sve veća, a potrošači sve zahtjevniji. U cilju opstanka na tržištu i jačanja gospodarskog značenja potrebito je povećati učinkovitost poduzeća, podići razinu tehničko – tehnološke opremljenosti, kadrovske stručnosti, menadžerske sposobnosti. Proces klasterizacije predstavlja dobar put za povećanje učinkovitosti hrvatskih malih i srednjih poduzeća. Klaster se definira kao koncentracija međusobno povezanih tvrtki, specijaliziranih dobavljača i pružatelja usluga, tvrtki iz srodnih djelatnosti, institucija (fakulteta, agencija, trgovačkih udruženja) koja na području djelatnosti međusobno surađuju i konkuriraju, te omogućuje tvrtkama da postanu učinkovitije i inovativnije, nego što mogu biti kada posluju samostalno. Sve više se unutar zemalja članica EU javljaju politike klastera. Europska komisija posebnu pažnju polaže podrškama razvoja klastera. Potpomaganje razvoja klastera omogućuje povećanje konkurentnosti i inovacija, a članice klastera su bolje pripremljene za suočavanje s pritiscima međunarodne konkurencije, zahvaljujući procesu zajedničkog učenja i suparništva koje pospješuje brzinu procesa i inovaciju proizvoda. Upravljanje klasterima treba stvoriti kritičnu masu informacija, znanja, vještina i tehnologije kako bi se omogućilo tvrtkama da sagledaju nove organizacijske modele i njihove poslovne mogućnosti. Neprekidno treba povećavati produktivnost kroz zajedničko komuniciranje i informacijske veze, povećavati inovativnost kroz zajednička istraživanja i razvoj, povećavati otvorenost kako bi se omogućilo novim članovima klastera da donesu novo znanje, resurse, tehnologiju i iskustvo. U radu je predstavljen klaster prometnih sredstava. Prvi dio bazira se na teoretskim osnovama klastera kao i pojašnjenju značenja klastera za poslovne subjekte. U drugom dijelu sprovedena je analiza postojećih gospodarskih prilika i utjecajnih faktora važnih za klastere. Definirana je organizacijska struktura kao i formiranje klastera temeljenog na postojećim tvrtkama unutar Hrvatske iz proizvodnje željezničkih vozila. Dani su primjeri uspješnih europskih klastera, čije se djelatnosti dotiću s proizvodnjom prometnih sredstava, te konkurentski proizvođači istih. U radu se nalazi i analiza isplativosti osnivanja klastera, te svi efekti koji bi se postigli njegovim osnivanjem. bog globalizacijskih procesa, sve otvorenije i povezanije svjetske ekonomije, konkurentnost i otvorenost kako bi se omogućilo novim članovima klastera da donesu novo znanje, resurse, tehnologiju i iskustvo. U radu je predstavljen klaster prometnih sredstava. Prvi dio bazira se na teoretskim osnovama klastera kao i pojašnjenju značenja klastera za poslovne subjekte. U drugom dijelu sprovedena je analiza postojećih gospodarskih prilika i utjecajnih faktora važnih za klastere. Definirana je organizacijska struktura kao i formiranje klastera temeljenog na postojećim tvrtkama unutar Hrvatske iz proizvodnje željezničkih vozila. Dani su primjeri uspješnih europskih klastera, čije se djelatnosti dotiču s proizvodnjom prometnih sredstava, te konkurentski proizvođači istih. U radu se nalazi i analiza isplativosti osnivanja klastera, te svi efekti koji bi se postigli njegovim osnivanjem

Curricular approach to professional elementary music education design

Teorijsko-analitički dio doktorske disertacije donosi prikaz profesionalnoga osnovnog glazbenog obrazovanja te njegovu analizu iz kurikulumske perspektive. Analiza je uključila pregled ključnih kurikulumskih pojmova i teorija sagledanih iz konteksta glazbenoga obrazovanja, usporedbu hrvatskoga glazbenoobrazovnog sustava s inozemnim sustavima te poseban osvrt na stjecanje kompetencije profesionalnoga glazbenika i u tom okviru, usvajanje glazbenoga jezika. Analiza je rezultirala prepoznavanjem dominirajućih kurikulumskih pristupa prisutnih u hrvatskom glazbenoobrazovnom prostoru, identificiranjem znanja i vještina koje se stječu profesionalnim glazbenim obrazovanjem i naposljetku, definiranjem višestruke uloge i svrhe osnovne glazbene škole u cjelokupnom obrazovanju pojedinca. Empirijsko se istraživanje sastojalo od tri dijela. U prvom su dijelu, temeljem unaprijed postavljenih kriterija, analizirani aktualni planovi i programi osnovnih i srednjih glazbenih škola u Hrvatskoj. U drugom dijelu istraživanja ispitani su stavovi učitelja/nastavnika glazbenih škola i studenata glazbe o ključnim obilježjima glazbenoobrazovnoga sustava na osnovnoškolskoj razini. U trećem je dijelu ostvaren kvazieksperimentalni postupak s dvije usporedne skupine učenika prvoga razreda osnovne glazbene škole, s ciljem usporedbe različitih metoda učenja glazbenoga jezika (relativne i apsolutne metode). Eksperimentalno istraživanje je trajalo dvije godine, a dvije su se različite metode usporedile u pogledu procesa i rezultata poučavanja i učenja. Analiza nastavnih planova i programa u prvom dijelu istraživanja dala je uvid u postojeći kurikulumski pristup glazbenome obrazovanju koji se odražava u dokumentima,a ogleda se u filozofiji zatvorenoga i preskriptivnoga kurikuluma orijentiranog prema nastavnim sadržajima. Usporedbom programa svih umjetničkih predmeta na osnovnoškolskoj i srednjoškolskoj razini, dobiveni su podatci o strukturi i ekstenzitetu programa (načinu i detaljnosti izlaganja sadržaja) i metodologiji njihove izrade. Podatcima drugoga dijela empirijskoga istraživanja dobivene su relevantne informacije o stavovima učitelja/nastavnika glazbenih škola i studenata glazbe o idejnim, sadržajnim i organizacijskim aspektima glazbenoobrazovnoga sustava u Hrvatskoj na osnovnoškolskoj razini (uvjeti upisa, status, satnica i povezanost predmeta, opterećenje učenika i stečene kompetencije po završetku osnovne glazbene škole). Dobiveni su rezultati pokazali da ne postoji statistički značajna razlika između stavova ispitanika s obzirom na spol odnosno da postoji statistički značajna razlika s obzirom na profesionalni status ispitanika. Rezultatima trećega dijela istraživanja nije potvrđena statistički značajna razlika u rezultatima između dvije usporedne skupine učenika-ispitanika. Slijedom toga, može se zaključiti kako različite metode intonacije (relativna i apsolutna metoda) jednako doprinose ostvarenju odgojno-obrazovnih ishoda i to po pitanju svih relevantnih glazbeno-kognitivnih operacija, kao što su usvajanje glazbenih/slušnih pojmova i učenje glazbenih obrazaca, zapis glazbenoga diktata, tumačenje notnoga teksta, stvaranje asocijacija između zvuka, imena i notnih simbola, pjevanje s lista i razumijevanje glazbenoteorijskih činjenica. Rezultati svih etapa istraživanja uvelike su proširili spoznaje o kurikulumskom pristupu profesionalnom glazbenom obrazovanju u Hrvatskoj i mogu se nadalje primijeniti, kako u znanstvenim istraživanjima glazbenoobrazovnoga sustava, tako i u glazbenopedagoškoj praksi.The world of education has been overwhelmed with curriculum literature for several decades – numerous books, monographs, professional and scientific journals have been published. Over time, the curriculum approach has expanded from America to European countries where traditionally a different philosophy of education has prevailed. After many years of educational policy endeavors, curriculum aproach appeared as an idea in Croatian educational system. The principles of curriculum were steadily implemented in the teaching and learning process of all school subjects, including music in general education, at primary and secondary level (elementary school, gymnasium and certain vocational schools). During the curricular reform process, in the first decade of the 21st century, the goals and objectives of teaching and learning music have been redefined. Teaching contents were updated and emphasis was placed on aesthetic education of students. In addition to learning music in general education, Croatia has a longlasting tradition of professional – formal and institutional – music education system, that is being realized in music schools as specialized institutions. Musical activities at the national, regional and even local level were considerably developed at the beginning of the 19th century, and thereafter, there was a need for the establishment of music schools that would systematically and continuously prepare musicians, conductors and artistic leaders of Croatian orchestras, choirs and folklore associations. At the beginning of the 21st century, the number of music schools in Croatia is constantly increasing, so nowadays we have almost ninety schools as independent music education institutions. Certain institutions have only primary school programs, while others offer programs in the entire educational continuum. Some of the music schools at secondary level provide comprehensive education with musical and general (other) subjects/contents. Formal (professional) music education in Croatia is available to a large number of participants, which can be concluded by the following data: (1) there is at least one music school in each Croatian county; (2) music education is mainly funded from the state budget; 3) despite the implementation of entrance exams, it is relatively easy to enroll in music school. However, the system of music education in Croatia has not been systematically analyzed so far, which can be stated for the system as a whole and also its segments. It is necessary to thoroughly analyze the current theory and practice of teaching and learning music in the context of formal, institutional and professional music education system, by detecting the existing advantages and disadvantages, highlighting the necessary organizational and content changes, and achieving a national consensus about the purpose of music schools in Croatian educational system. Current problems can be summarized in several key points: 1. Vocal, instrumental and music theory pedagogy, as subdisciplines of formal music education, did not reach the scientific status in Croatia; 2. The institutional music education in Croatia has not been the subject of systematic analysis; 3. Existing syllabi for music school subjects reflect upon closed (traditional) curriculum philosophy and focus solely on the training of professional musicians as products (curriculum ideology oriented towards social efficiency); 4. There is no consensus, or a single strategy, about the use of ear training (solfége) system in Croatia, that would be uniformly applied in all music schools at the national level. There are numerous dilemmas and doubts regarding this field, due to the lack of empirically verified results in practice. Previous research has been carried out from the perspective of the psychology of music and/or neurocognitive science. What is missing is the curriculum approach to the problem of learning the language (and structure) of music, where the effectiveness of different ear training systems would be compared by the pre-established criteria (curriculum standards). If we clearly define our goals as input, and measure the learning outcomes (results) as output, it will lead us toward answering a question asked long time ago: Is there a need for a national consensus about using a single ear training system? – or – Will the choice of optimal system remain arbitrary, in accordance with the principles of open curriculum philosophy? The absence of curriculum approach to the formal music education system in Croatia, and the observed shortcomings and inconsistencies of current theory and practice, have both resulted in the need of identifying, analyzing and researching all of the curricular reform processes, namely: situation analysis and needs assessment related to the analysis of current conditions, highlighting problems, defining priorities and projecting of desired future for music education in Croatia; curriculum design, development and experimental implementation in ear training classes; curriculum evaluation by observing the process of teaching and learning, and testing the learning outcomes (results). Consequently, the research design has the following structure: a) Situation analysis and needs assessment are encompassed by analyzing the existing curricula (the first part of the research), and examining the attitudes of music school teachers and music academy students toward a formal music education in Croatia (the second part of the research). The participants defined the key features of the music education system at the elementary level, identified problems within the system and offered suggestions for its improvement; b) Curriculum design, development, implementation and evaluation are encompassed by a two-group experimental design which is realized in ear training classes at beginner level (the third part of the research). Conducting an experiment, we observed the teaching and learning process of ear training, using two different systems: relative (movable do) and absolute (fixed do). According to the test results, we compared the effectiveness of these systems, while equal emphasis was placed on the teaching and learning process, and the learning outcomes. Theoretical framework of this paper presents the system of professional music education at elementary level, and its analysis from a curricular perspective. Such an analysis was made by interpreting curriculum key concepts, theories and ideologies in the context of music education. We compared music education in Croatia and other European countries, and we also reviewed current music schools curricula. Our comprehensive analysis resulted in the definition of the role and the purpose of elementary music schools in music learning continuum, and the identification of prevailing curriculum philosophies, types and levels. The National curriculum framework for music education should represent the fundamental framework for professional teaching and learning music in Croatia, which is taking place in music schools as independent educational institutions, and also in some other educational contexts (e. g. music departments in general schools). Construction of that kind of a framework requires joint meetings of a large number of music education experts. Consequently, we did not offer a complete prototype of curriculum framework in this paper, but we proposed the structure of the curriculum and we also provided some guidelines for its implementation. Within the National curriculum framework for music education, it is necessary to define: ­ the purpose, the values, and the aims, goals and principles of formal music education; ­ the structure of the curriculum, encompassing core curriculum, differentiated curricula, and music school curricula; ­ the organization of teaching and learning process; ­ musical (and other artistic) programs and contents; ­ national standards for music education; ­ learning outcomes for every educational level. The final draft of the National curriculum framework for music education in Croatia should be the result of a consensus on: - compulsory and optional school subjects and learning contents; - the ratio between music theory and music performance activities; - number of instructional days/hours and school year requirements; - structure of student groups and different forms of teaching and learning music; - materials and sources for teaching and learning (including ICT); - ways of student/curriculum evaluation and quality control. The National curriculum framework for music education should be aligned with other relevant educational policy documents, although the framework itself, upon its publication, may affect their redefinition and modification. In addition to fostering the existing tradition of music education in Croatia, the international standards, requirements and guidelines for music education should be respected, as well as important international declarations and conventions, relevant (and recent) research dana, and examples of good practice. Empirical research consisted of three parts. In the first part of the research, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of Croatian music education curricula. In the second part of the research, we gathered data through a questionnaire. Music school teachers and music academy students, as participants, shared their views and attitudes toward some of the key features of the music education system in Croatia at the elementary school level. In the third part of the research, we conducted a quasi-experimental procedure with two parallel groups of first-grade elementary music school students. The aim of the research was to compare the educational effects of different ear training systems (relative/movable and absolute/fixed system). We analyzed and compared the impact of different systems on the teaching and learning process, as well as the learning outcomes. Data from the first part of empirical research indicated that formal music-schoolcurricula in Croatia is based on principles of closed and prescriptive curriculum, and therefore, needs to be rewritten. Data from the second part of the research have provided relevant information about teachers and students attitudes, related to conceptual, contextual and organizational aspects of the music education system in Croatia at elementary level, such as: enrollment conditions, learning schedule, organization of teaching and learning process, status of some subjects, correlation between subjects, student achievement, etc. The research results show that there is no statistically significant difference between the attitudes of the participants with regard to gender, whereas there is a statistically significant difference with respect to the following groups: (1) teachers of music theory disciplines, (2) teachers of various music instruments and singing, (3) music academy students. The results of the third part of the research indicate that there is no statistically significant difference in the results between the two groups of elementary music school students, which makes it possible to conclude that the different ear training systems (relative or absolute) equally contribute to the achievement of educational outcomes in the following categories: music dictation, sight-singing, learning musical patterns and concepts, reading and understanding musical (standard) notation, creating associations between sounds, syllables and notation symbols, music theory knowledge and correlation with music performance. The empirical research had some limitations – the questionnaire did not cover all relevant subgroups of the participants, and the (quasi)experimental procedure took place in almost ideal conditions, that can be very difficult to achieve in real educational settings. However, the results of the research have greatly contributed to the cognizance of all the aspects of elementary music education, regarding the system as a whole (first part of the research), and learning music as a special language (second part of the research). The results will be applicable in further research (scientific contribution) as well as in the educational process (practical contribution)