Uloga menadžment konzaltinga u procesu profesionalizacije menadžmenta malih i srednjih poduzeća

We are witnessing the constant changes in the business world, due to fierce competition, technological innovation and a variety of political, economic and social developments. These changes require effective and timely management of the company which will enable the changing environment and achieving the main long-term goals - to increase profits and the value of the business system. Although the growth of the consulting industry shows positive effects in all areas of business activities, there still lingers some skepticism versus consulting, especially in small and medium-sized enterprises that are largely using outdated management and business administration techniques where the entrepreneur/owner is at same time the manager who oversees all business processes in the company having, in most cases, no adequate knowledge, expertise and experience. The problem encountered is insufficiently effective professionalization of management in small and medium-sized enterprises in Croatia. Given that Croatia is dominated by small and medium-sized businesses, and that the accelerated globalization brings challenges which requires faster business model changes and flexible adaptation to the business environment, it is necessary to introduce changes in the education and behavior of entrepreneurs, enabling them to answer those requirements and expectations on more effective and professional manner. Entrepreneurs generally lack sufficient knowledge about management consulting, they are not aware about standards and processes in providing consulting services, which is one of causes of reluctance in purchasing and using of consulting services. The primary objective of the research was to determine whether there is a correlation between the use of consulting services and professionalization of management in small and medium enterprises. The second objective was to examine whether small and medium-sized enterprises that have used the consulting services faster and better have come from the entrepreneurial stage to a professional managerial lead, and how a use of consulting services affected the improvement of professional skills of managers. This paper presents the results of the research on the role and use of consulting services in the process of professionalization of management in small and medium-sized enterprises in Croatia.Problem kojim se bavi ovaj rad je nedovoljno učinkovita profesionalizacija managementa u malim i srednjim poduzećima u Hrvatskoj. S obzirom da u Hrvatskoj dominiraju mala i srednja poduzeća, te da ubrzana globalizacija donosi izazove koji zahtjevaju brže promjene poslovnog modela i fleksibilnu prilagodbu poslovnom okruženju, potrebno je uvesti promjene u obrazovanju i ponašanju poduzetnika, što će im omogućiti da na te zahtjeve i očekivanja odgovore na učinkovit i profesionalan način. Osnovni cilj istraživanja bio je utvrditi postoji li povezanost između korištenja konzultantskih usluga i profesionalizacije upravljanja u malim i srednjim poduzećima. Drugi cilj bio je ispitati da li su mali i srednji poduzetnici koji su koristili usluge savjetovanja brže i bolje prelaze iz poduzetničke faze u profesionalne menadžerske vode, i kako korištenje konzultantskih usluga utječe na poboljšanje profesionalnih vještina menadžera

Human Resource Management in the Countries of the Former Yugoslavia

Human Resource Management (HR/HRM) is closely connected to the social and economic environment in which a given organization or company operates. On this basis it may be interesting for foreign potential investors to understand both the differences and similarities in the application of HRM methods in a group of countries which had lived for a long period of time in a federation which had finally disintegrated. Such investors usually come from different environments and backgrounds and have previous experience in the application of specific forms of HRM practice. In this paper the authors try to present the development and changes in the theories and practice of Human Resource Management in most of the countries established on the territory of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia.human resource management; economic environment; practices change; former Yugoslavia.