The solar photospheric abundance of carbon.Analysis of atomic carbon lines with the CO5BOLD solar model

The use of hydrodynamical simulations, the selection of atomic data, and the computation of deviations from local thermodynamical equilibrium for the analysis of the solar spectra have implied a downward revision of the solar metallicity. We are in the process of using the latest simulations computed with the CO5BOLD code to reassess the solar chemical composition. We determine the solar photospheric carbon abundance by using a radiation-hydrodynamical CO5BOLD model, and compute the departures from local thermodynamical equilibrium by using the Kiel code. We measure equivalent widths of atomic CI lines on high resolution, high signal-to-noise ratio solar atlases. Deviations from local thermodynamic equilibrium are computed in 1D with the Kiel code. Our recommended value for the solar carbon abundance, relies on 98 independent measurements of observed lines and is A(C)=8.50+-0.06, the quoted error is the sum of statistical and systematic error. Combined with our recent results for the solar oxygen and nitrogen abundances this implies a solar metallicity of Z=0.0154 and Z/X=0.0211. Our analysis implies a solar carbon abundance which is about 0.1 dex higher than what was found in previous analysis based on different 3D hydrodynamical computations. The difference is partly driven by our equivalent width measurements (we measure, on average, larger equivalent widths with respect to the other work based on a 3D model), in part it is likely due to the different properties of the hydrodynamical simulations and the spectrum synthesis code. The solar metallicity we obtain from the CO5BOLD analyses is in slightly better agreement with the constraints of helioseismology than the previous 3D abundance results. (Abridged)Comment: Astronomy and Astrophysics, accepte

Stainless steel plate girders subjected to shear buckling at normal and elevated temperatures

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10694-016-0602-6Numerical simulations have been widely applied, for the determination of the resistance of steel structural elements, when experimental analysis are not possible (due to cost or size limitations) or when parametric studies with high number of variables are needed. However, the numerical models must be properly validated with experimental tests in order to deliver reliable studies. With the purpose of studying the behaviour of stainless steel plate girders in fire situation, a total of 34 experimental tests from the literature have been numerically modelled. The tested girders had different configurations: rigid and non-rigid end posts, 2 and 4 panels, and transversal and longitudinal stiffeners were considered. Comparative analyses between those experimental and numerical results have been done. Good approximations to the experimental results at normal temperatures have been achieved with differences on average lower than 5%. Afterwards, the developed numerical model has been used to perform a sensitivity analysis on the influence of the initial geometric imperfections at both normal and elevated temperatures, considering different values for its maximum amplitudes, concluding that 10% of the web thickness is an appropriate value for the maximum amplitude of the geometric imperfections when modelling experimental tests. The effect of the residual stresses has also been analysed, being obtained differences lower than 2%. Finally, comparisons between the numerical results and the Eurocode 3 design procedures have been performed considering different uniform elevated temperatures.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT OF COLORS IN MARKETING

The Psychology of color is a scientific discipline that studies the different emotional states, behavior and mood in humans, caused by the color action. Color as a valuable tool and an integral part of marketing communication directly affects our subconscious and attracts or rejects us with its hidden meaning. It is therefore very important to choose the right color which achieves communication with the consumer. Since the market is flooded with various products full of marketing messages, it is essential to make our product distinguish from the crowd. Marketing experts affect consumer behavior with integrated marketing communication through various market research. Better position of a product in the market and increased profits, can be achieved by proper selection and combination of colors. The survey and statistical analysis of the data were conducted by using descriptive statistics

The impact of colour psychology on the cridens design

The energy of each tone of colour has an emotional and psychological effect on an individual which is used as a tool in informal communication. Therefore, when designing new and renovating existing logotypes, designers do not randomly choose colours, but try to convey a certain message with the aim of being recognised. The fact is that colours on a symbol (logo) affect the visual perception and recognisability of individual products, but also of institutions. The paper discusses briefly the history of colour psychology, which is followed by an explanation of the way human eye perceives colour and daltonism. Likewise, we briefly review the application of colour psychology in marketing. After that, the logo of the Cridens Company, part of the Mehun Dental Laboratory, will be presented and explained. Cridens is a company that is engaged in the creation of websites and promotional leaflets, but also comprises a counselling centre for patients of the dental laboratory. The Cridens logo has only two tones of colour, blue and grey, in almost equal proportions. It will be explained in more detail why the company has changed its name and how the newb logo has been designed

The Ghost Of Herzberg Motivational Theory: Motivators And Demotivators

Managers tend to sense, that many employees could do more. The question is: What can we do to influence them to contribute more than job description reguqires? Herzberg answer it, but his Two-Factor Theory has not received strong support in the literature. Accordingly, the basic objective of this scientific debate is to examine the relevance Herzberg motivation theory in terms of the new work economy. Scientific research methods applied in confirming the working hypothesis about the ghost of Herbzerg motivation theory based on scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, methods of descriptive statistics, method of mathematical modeling and method of mathematicalprogramming. The resulting findings suggest that any manager should not ignore its recommendations

Istraživanje veze između internog marketinga u hotelu i različitih dimenzija angažmana zaposlenika

Purpose – In the hotel industry, as in all services, the goal is to have satisfied employees who are engaged in their job. From a marketing perspective, one of the possible ways companies can achieve that is by adopting internal marketing practices. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to research the relationship between internal marketing and different dimensions of employee engagement (emotional, cognitive and physical) in the hotel industry. Design/Methodology/Approach – The data was collected through a paper-and-pencil questionnaire on a sample of 573 hotel employees in Croatia. Adapted scales from previous research were used for measuring research constructs using the back-translation technique. Conceptual model and hypotheses were tested with covariance based structural equation modelling. Findings and implications – The results show that internal marketing had a positive and statistically significant impact on emotional and cognitive engagement. Cognitive engagement, in turn, had a positive impact on emotional and physical engagement, while emotional engagement had a positive impact on physical engagement. Limitations – The use of self-evaluations could potentially cause social desirability bias. The study is limited only to Croatian hotels, which might vary from hotel industries in other parts of the world. Originality – This paper contributes to the development of internal marketing, as it identifies the relationship between internal marketing and different forms of employee engagement. Employee engagement is approached multidimensionally as consisting of emotional, cognitive and physical engagement. By distinguishing different engagement dimensions, the paper contributes to the theory of personal engagement with testing employee engagement concept in the hotel industry.Svrha - U hotelijerstvu, kao i u svim uslugama, cilj je imati zadovoljne zaposlenike koji su angažirani na svojim radnim mjestima. Kako bi se to postiglo, poduzeća implementiraju interni marketing. Stoga je svrha ovoga rada istražiti vezu između internog marketinga i različitih dimenzija angažmana zaposlenika (emocionalnog, kognitivnog i fizičkog) u hotelijerstvu. Metodološki pristup - Podatci su sakupljeni anketnim upitnikom na uzorku od 573 zaposlenika u hotelima u Hrvatskoj. Mjerni instrument sastoji se od prilagođenih ljestvica iz prošlih istraživanja, a koristio se povratni prijevod s engleskoga na hrvatski jezik. Konceptualni model i hipoteze testirani su metodom strukturnih jednadžbi koji se zasnivaju na kovarijantnim strukturama. Rezultati i implikacije – Rezultati upućuju na to da interni marketing ima pozitivan i statistički značajan utjecaj na emocionalni i kognitivni angažman zaposlenika u hotelijerstvu. Kognitivni angažman ima pozitivan utjecaj na emocionalni, ali i fizički angažman zaposlenika. Isto tako, emocionalni angažman ima pozitivan utjecaj na fizički angažman zaposlenika. Ograničenja - U radu su korištene ljestvice koje koriste samoprocjenu, što može imati za posljedicu da ispitanici daju društveno poželjne odgovore. Istraživanje se fokusira i samo na Hrvatsku, čije hotelijerstvo može imati neke specifičnosti u odnosu na druge države. Doprinos - Rad doprinosi razvoju praksi internoga marketinga i identificira veze između njega i različitih oblika angažmana zaposlenika. Angažman zaposlenika analizira se kao višedimenzionalan konstrukt koji se sastoji od emocionalnog, kognitivnog i fizičkog angažmana. Kroz razlikovanje njegovih različitih vrsta rad doprinosi teoriji osobnog angažmana kroz testiranje koncepta angažmana zaposlenika u hotelijerstvu

Perceived role of marketing activities in the context of transitional economy

The role and importance of various marketing activities within a company is a function of numerous internal and external factors, including those that are typical of transitional economies. These factors are integrated and shaped by managerial perceptions about their overall importance and suitability at a specific moment. Authors analyze opinions among managers of Lithuanian companies about the overall importance of the marketing function in their companies as well as about the importance of specific marketing activities. Special attention is paid to the specifics of managerial per ceptions and opinions during the period of economic uncertainty and recession. The research is based on a survey of 346 managers of primarily manufacturing and trading companies operating in Lithuania. The analysis showed a number of differences in the evaluation of the importance of marketing activities based on the characteristics of companies and their core strategic idea. The research revealed that the importance of pricing and communication activities is growing during a period of economic recession. It also confirmed the existence of a positive relationship between managerial evaluations of the importance of marketing activities and the growth of sales

Fashion marketing in textile and clothing industry

Marketing mode istražuje povezanost modnog dizajna i marketinga uključujući razvoj, promociju, prodajne i cjenovne aspekte u industriji mode. Uspješni marketinški menadžeri svjesni su da su ključni elementi marketinga mode prepoznavanje potrošačkih trendova, izgradnja jakih marki i stvaranje pozitivnog imidža proizvođača. Kako bi se projicirao budući razvoj marketinga u industriji tekstila i odjeće Republike Hrvatske, provedeno je izviđajno istraživanje putem osobnih intervjua sa stručnjacima koji samostalno upravljaju marketinškim odjelima ili, ukoliko ne postoje takvi odjeli, upravljaju poduzećima koja proizvode tekstil i/ili odjeću, te donose sve odluke vezane za provođenje marketinških aktivnosti. Istraživanje je pokazalo da se u hrvatskoj industriji tekstila i odjeće u nedovoljnoj mjeri primjenjuje marketing unatoč rastućoj važnosti upravljanja markama. Zbog nedovoljnih marketinških znanja i neodgovarajućeg upravljanja markama razvoj marke u industriji mode postaje jednim od kritičnih čimbenika u uspješnom poslovanju u industriji tekstila i odjeće.Fashion marketing explores connection between fashion design and marketing including development, promotion, sales and price aspects of fashion industry. Successful fashion marketing managers are aware that the most important fashion marketing elements are customer trend identification, building strong brands and creating positive image of the producers. This paper presents the findings of a research conducted for the purpose of identifying trends in marketing sector in textile and clothing industry in Croatia. The research was conducted through personal interviews with marketing and company managers in Croatia. The research identified that marketing is insufficiently implemented in Croatian textile and clothing industry, despite growing brand management importance. However, because of lack in marketing knowledge and bad brand management, development of fashion brand is the most critical factor in successful business activity in textile and clothing industry

The impact of marketing resources on corporate competitiveness

The objective of this paper is to analyze the association between marketing resources and corporate competitiveness. Empirical data were collected by a survey of 300 domestic organizations and the results were compared to the ones of a similar research conducted five years before. We have found that all the marketing resources investigated have a significant effect on marketing performance. Among them the most marketing-related resource dimension, called market management, excels regarding the strength of the association with competitiveness. Clusters of companies were formulated and analyzed. A small group of the companies investigated (12%) managed to advance in the development and possession of marketing resources whilst maintaining competitive product supply and price. The proportion of successful companies among them is highly significant

Marketing in contemporary world: situational vs. postmodern paradigm

Tema ovoga rada jest razumijevanje ponašanja potrošača i shvaćanje uloge utjecajnih čimbenika, što otvara mnoga pitanja koja se razjašnjavaju situacijskom i postmodernom paradigmom. Situacijska se paradigma temelji na konceptu impulzivne kupovine, pri čemu se kao glavna okosnica spomenute paradigme analiziraju situacijski čimbenici kao dominatni pokretači ponašanja potrošača čime se naglašava značajnost vanjskih čimbenika. S druge strane, isto tako se naglašava neizbježnost uključivanja postmoderne paradigme koja se temelji na hiperrealnosti, fragmentaciji tržišta, promijenjenim ulogama proizvodnje i potrošnje te decentriranju potrošača, a time se naglašava promjena uloge potrošača od “ribe u ribara“. Ova se temeljna promjena uloge potrošača obrađuje kroz postmodernu paradigmu koja se oslanja na kastomizaciju dopuštajući potrošaču oblikovanje marketinških elemenata i prilagodbu njegovim potrebama čime on postaje aktivan sudionik, odnosno proizvođač vlastitog iskustva. Uvažavajući ponašanje potrošača kao još uvijek jednu nepoznanicu marketinškog proučavanja, dolazi se do zaključka kako ono počiva na dvjema spomenutim paradigmama iako su iste u suprotnosti. Upravo ta suprotnost stvara temelje za integrirano razmatranje ovoga marketinškog područja ponašanja potrošača pri čemu jedno ne isključuje drugo, nego baš naprotiv nalaže prihvaćanje mnogostrukosti utjecaja koji se javljaju kao okosnica postmodernog doba, odnosno marketinga u suvremenom svijetu.This paper points to the need for understanding consumer behavior and a variety of factors that influence consumer behavior, which is explained through situational and postmodern paradigms. The situational paradigm is based on the concept of impulse buying and focuses on the situational factors as dominant consumer behavior motivators, underlining the importance of external factors. On the other hand, this paper also underlines the inevitable existence of the postmodern paradigm which has its roots in hyperreality, fragmentation, a change in the roles of production and consumption and consumer decentralization. It stresses the need for reconsidering various factor categories that model consumer behavior, instead of relying on any single category. Consumer behavior is analyzed through the postmodern paradigm that includes customization, allowing the consumer to shape marketing elements and adjust them to his needs so that he becomes an active participant and an experience producer. Considering consumer behavior as a little known marketing field leads to the conclusion that it rests on both these paradigms, even though they are contradictory. Such a contradiction lays the foundation for an integrated exploration of consumer behavior with no exclusion of either paradigm, one that will accept various influences forming the backbone of the postmodern era, and of marketing in the contemporary world