A multi-criteria approach to bid selection in public procurement

Business forms such as the goods and services sales to state-owned enterprises, due to its secure billing, are extremely attractive for private businesses and as such are susceptible to possible misuse. When there is the possibility of corruption, regardless of whether it takes place, not only the protection of the procurers' rights must be discussed, but also the protection of all parties involved in public procurement processes. The aim of this paper is to give a possible multi-criteria methodology for selecting the optimal of the submitted bids within the public procurement tender. According to the Public Procurement Law in Serbia, the procurement contracting authority is required to define the criteria for the winning tender with valued weights. The contribution of this paper lies within the new methodology which enables procurator to use transparent, unique and, by Public Procurement Law, correct way of choosing the best one from bids submitted within public procurement tender

Hospitality - Operating in accordance with the principles of good practice and hazard analysis and critical control points

Sektor ugostiteljstva predstavlja značajno mesto kada je u pitanju pojava bolesti prenosivih hranom u svetu. Restorani u okviru ugostiteljstva predstavljaju poslednja liniju odbrane hrane pre nego što ona dođe do potrošača. Ugostiteljski objekti koji pružaju usluge hrane i pića, su u obavezi da uspostave sistem za osiguranje bezbednosti hrane u skladu sa principima dobre proizvođačke i higijenske prakse i analize opasnosti i kritičnih kontrolnih tačaka (HACCP). Međutim, specifičnosti ugostiteljstva često predstavljaju barijere za uspešnu implementaciju HACCP sistema. U velikoj meri, na uspešnu primenu sistema upravljanja bezbednošću hrane, može uticati menadžment ugostiteljskih objekata. Pravilno rukovođenje ljudskim resursima, odnosno menadžment ljudskih resursa, mogao bi imati najvažniju ulogu u prevenciji bolesti prenosivih hranom u ugostiteljstvu. Dodatno, veoma je važno na pravilan način, sagledati čitav proizvodni proces i njegove specifičnosti što treba da rezultira primenom odgovarajućih kontrolnih mera kojim će se potencijalne opasnosti eliminisati ili svesti na prihvatljiv nivo. Bezbednost hrane je imperativ kada je u pitanju zdravlje potrošača, pa i efektivnost HACCP sistema, “alata” za postizanje bezbedne hrane, zavisi, između ostalog i od toga koliko je određeni subjekat u poslovanju sa hranom uspeo da prevaziđe sve barijere koje nosi specifičnost ugostiteljskog poslovanja da motiviše svoje zaposlene.A hospitality sector is an important place when it comes to the occurrence of foodborne diseases in the world. Restaurants within hospitality represent the last line of defense of food before it reaches the consumer. Hospitality facilities are obliged to establish a system for ensuring food safety in accordance with the principles of good manufacturing and hygiene practice and hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP). However, the specifics of the hospitality sector often represent barriers to the successful implementation of the HACCP system. To a large extent, the successful implementation of the food safety management system can be influenced by the management of hospitality facilities. Proper management of human resources could play the most important role in the prevention of foodborne diseases in the hospitality industry. In addition, it is especially important to carefully consider the entire production process and its specifics, which should result in the application of appropriate control measures that will eliminate potential hazards or reduce them to an acceptable level. Food safety is imperative when it comes to consumer health, but also the effectiveness of the HACCP system will depend on how much a certain entity in the food business has managed to overcome all barriers that carry the specifics of the hospitality business and also motivate its employees

Bioeconomy-based food industry of Serbia: The role of intellectual capital

The aim of this exploratory study was to determine most useful indicators of intellectual capital in Serbian food industry. The study investigated managers' perceptions of indicator usefulness and practical application. They were top and middle managers from 18 food organizations, committed to the bioeconomy. The survey items were divided into human, structural, and relational capital. A closed-ended questionnaire was used to collect data, later analysed by SPSS 21 statistical software. The results have demonstrated that all indicators were seen as very important, with relational capital being the most useful of all

Some management challenges for food companies in the Republic of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina

This paper aims to explore controlling, one of the key management functions, and autonomy at work, a determinant of employee control. Another purpose of this research is to examine the differences in autonomy or, more precisely, to find out to what degree autonomy among non-managers may affect creativity, innovation and business performance of an organization. The research was performed in food companies in the Republic of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The data collected via a questionnaire were analysed by the SPSS statistical software. Five-level Likert scale was used to rate the responses. The main findings show that employees in food companies in Serbia perceive a higher level of autonomy than their counterparts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that the level of autonomy varies among different departments, the highest being in marketing and sales

Could homocysteine represent a negative acute phase reactant in canine infections-a pilot study?

Homocysteine (Hcy) was investigated as the biomarker of cardiac, renal, and gastrointestinal disorders in dogs. Data about low Hcy concentrations in the systemic inflammatory response syndrome raised a hypothesis that Hcy in dogs could be a negative acute-phase reactant. This survey compared Hcy concentrations, serum amyloid A (SAA), and the routine laboratory parameters between healthy (HD, N=6) and dogs with inflammation of different extent: mild (dirofilariosis (DIR), N=31), moderate (babesiosis (BAB), N=12), and severe (pyometra (PYO), N=8). The BAB and PYO groups had lower Hcy er than HD. Also, the levels in the PYO group were below those in the DIRO group. SAA had the inverse pattern. Across the groups, Hcy and SAA levels correlated negatively (ρ = -0.502, P<0.001). Hcy and SAA correlated with the erythrocyte count, hematocrit, hemoglobin and mean cellular hemoglobin concentrations, and neutrophil count, with correlations being positive for Hcy and negative for SAA. Among all dogs, hemoglobin was the only independent predictor of Hcy concentration. Hcy levels in canine infections, decreased as acute-phase reaction (APR) intensified. Also, they were related with the hematology changes accompanying the APR. Further studies will establish the clinical potential of these alterations

Measuring stakeholders’ attitudes toward sustainable development of conference and congress tourism: Serbia case study

Purpose – Scientific publications regarding business tourism, especially those which incorporate elements of sustainable development, still remain scarce in the existing literature. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to examine attitudes of local tourist organizations, travel agencies, catering establishments, chambers of commerce and other relevant stakeholders towards the sustainable development of conference and congress tourism (CCT) in Vojvodina, Serbia. Methodology – In order to investigate the attitudes of stakeholders (n=174), the adapted sustainable tourism attitude scale (SUS-TAS) was used in this paper. Moreover, the responses of the directors (managers) of local tourism organizations to several open-ended questions, which make an integral part of the survey, are also presented. Findings – The research instrument proved to be reliable. Based on other applied analyses (t-test and ANOVA), the existence of numerous statistically significant differences in the responses in relation to gender, job position, sector of work, age and education were identified. Implications – Apart from theoretical contribution, this paper reveals what aspects of CCT are in stakeholders’ main focus and what seems to be out of their radar. This should help defining necessary actions for further improvements of CCT. Lastly, study limitations and future research guidelines are discussed

THE IMPACT OF ECONOMIC CRISIS AND NON-ECONOMIC FACTORS ON THE TOURISM INDUSTRY IN ZLATIBOR

Tourism has recorded a favorable development trend in the previous decades. Despite the fact that it was occassionaly exposed to adverse effects of the crises caused by numerous economic and non-economic factors, tourism has managed to recover significantly faster and record a higher growth rate compared to the entire world economy. This paper analyses the effects of the economic crisis and other non-economic factors on tourist movements in Serbia during the period 2007-2014, with special emphasis on Zlatibor as a popular tourism destination. The aim of this paper is to show that the aforementioned crisis had a major impact on the movements of domestic and foreign tourists in Serbia and Zlatibor during the analyzed period. Based on the available data, research was conducted and the results showed that the economic factors primarily led to the reduction in the number of tourists in Serbia, while the economic crisis had more impact on domestic travel than on the movements of foreign tourists in our country

Opportunities to revitalise rural tourism through the operation of agrarian cooperatives

Agrarian cooperatives are still in a period of transition. Practice shows that it is necessary to reconsider the business activities performed in the sector. Under the 2015 Cooperatives Act, rural tourism was recognised as a business activity, but the legal move has had no practical implications. In order to identify opportunities for the revitalisation of rural tourism, a study has been carried out based on interviews with the general managers of agrarian cooperatives. Their views have been analysed to gauge their awareness of the effects of rural tourism on rural areas arising from the operation of cooperatives, and the potential of human resources to implement the consequent organisational changes. In addition, the potential of agrarian cooperatives has been explored in the context of external surroundings. The results of the research have shown that the general managers view positively the revitalisation of rural tourism as part of the operation of the cooperatives, and that they are aware of the favourable impacts of tourism on rural areas, but that incompetence of the staff in the cooperatives has been a main obstacle to such a development

Toward improved PVDF-BaTiO3 composite dielectrics: mechanical activation of the filler versus filler content

Barium titanate (BT) perovskite particles were surface modified by means of mechanical treatment and used as inorganic component in polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) based composites. The changes in electrical properties of the composite films with increasing in filler content were followed by dielectric spectroscopy, breakdown strength and D-E measurements. A comparison of the properties of the composites prepared with untreated and mechanically activated particles revealed that there is a significant difference in their performances at low filler concentrations (<20 wt%). Introduction of the surface modified ceramic particles into PVDF matrix led to an increase of the dielectric constant without affecting significantly the electrical breakdown strength. In contrast, when as received BT particles were used a filler, both dielectric constants and breakdown strengths of the composite films were lower than the corresponding values observed for the pure PVDF. At higher concentrations, however, the influence of pre-treatment of the filler on the effective electrical properties becomes less significant. The obtained results were discussed in terms of the pronounced crystallization of polar β and γ crystal phases of PVDF in the presence of surface modified BT fillers, which is confirmed by Raman spectroscopy