Knowledge Management as an Integral Component of the SMEs’ Organizational Development in the Republic of Macedonia

The strong progress and development of the information technology, especially the availability and massive use of the Internet, has led to that the 90-ies of the last century to be remembered as a period of quiet and spontaneous transition towards the new postindustrial age in which the soft values of the organizations defined in the terms organizational learning, knowledge management, intellectual capital, organizational intelligence etc., transformed the knowledge into a key resource for sustainable growth and innovative development of each company.Therefore, it is rightly pointed out that the central task of the modern managers is to learn how to manage the business knowledge, i.e., to understand the principles of knowledge networking and its effective use through the technological, human and business networks. This directs towards creation of appropriate strategies, including the strategy for development of the organizational knowledge as a planned and deliberated managing process in the new technology – productive and economic context.Although the inertia makes many organizations in the country to still act traditionally, the reality shows them the dysfunction and unsustainability of such way of operating. Emphasis on the so called “sharers of knowledge communities” which increasingly pose themselves as a real business context, should lead also in our country to a shift of the focus of interest towards the knowledge, the communities and relationships. This should be preceded by a period of change and development of awareness for the importance of the interpersonal dependence as an aspect of the appropriate organizational culture, which in many researches emerges as a central variable of the change.In this context, the processes of re-cultivation is necessary to lead toward values such as: free flow of knowledge, readiness for initiating, accepting, creating, sharing, etc., as a basis of the new culture of organizational learning and knowledge management.The basic assumption of this paper is to emphasize the importance of the knowledge for the SMEs i.e. their awareness of its place and role as a fundamental resource in the circumstances of modern business. Therefore, a simple methodological procedure is used - a survey conducted on a sample of 201 organizations from the SME sector in the cities of Skopje, Bitola, Ohrid, Prilep, Kumanovo, Kavadarci, Resen, Krushevo and Demir Hisar. Indicative results have been obtained that point to valid conclusions. Keywords: knowledge management, change, organizational developmen

DINAMICS OF THE TEAM WORK IN THE SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES AS FUNCTIONAL BASIS OF THEIR PERMANENT DEVELOPMENT

The teams represent a bridge between the individual inventiveness and the\ud collective creativity. The synergy is partnership among the participants who share a\ud common goal that can be achieved only by joint action of all actors.\ud Each system must learn in order to survive, to develop and to adapt to the new\ud challenges that are permanently coming. The management of changes arises as a necessity,\ud because it gives direction, reduces the impact of the change, minimizes the losses, sets\ud standards for improvement of the organizational goals, and enables coordination of the\ud effort.\ud Of course, the intensification of the teamwork, perhaps at most, contributes to the\ud revitalization of those parts of the organization that necessarily require change. The\ud teamwork represents a solid basis for shift and achieving effective and efficient change.\ud Therefore, the businesses in the Republic of Macedonia should learn to think and work\ud creatively, not at the level of individuals, but at the level of teams and at the whole\ud organization.\ud The paper represents an intersection of the scanned situation in terms of the type,\ud nature, functionality of teamwork among a number of businesses from the SME sector in\ud the Republic of Macedonia, compared with the results for the same variables obtained in\ud public sector organizations operating in their environment.\ud The research hypothesis is simple and says: “The exposure to changes in the private\ud enterprises generates increased need for productive team work which is different in scope,\ud nature and content from the team work in the public sector”.\ud Key words: development, small and medium enterprises, team work

ОРГАНИЗАЦИСКАТА КУЛТУРА НА ПРОМЕНИ ВО ФУНКЦИЈА НА\ud ПОДОБРУВАЊЕ НА ОРГАНИЗАЦИСКАТА КОНКУРЕНТНОСТ

Веќе од поодамна, својата конкурентност, голем дел од организациите во светот ја градат –\ud во дел, ако не и целосно, преку организациските политики поврзани со менаџирањето на т.н.\ud ,,меки“ делови на организацијата. Моделите кои ја разработуваат структурата на вредноста на\ud организацијата сосема јасно го конкретизираат сето тоа. Понатаму, исто така, теоријата јасно ги\ud дефинира организациската клима – култура и лидерството, како ,,двете страни на ист медал“.\ud Моделите и концептите и во однос на овие прашања се многубројни и постојат. Па затоа, оттука, би\ud си го поставиле прашањето за оправданоста и смислата на уште еден истражувачки труд во оваа\ud област?!\ud Ние, неговата актуелност и оправданост ја црпиме имајќи ги во вид последните наши\ud истражувања спроведени во земјава, а кои се поврзани со предметните поими за кои зборуваме\ud (лидерство, индивидуални вредности, ставовите, иновативноста), и кои недвосмислено укажуваат\ud дека не постојат битни промени во свеста на оние кои во Р.Македонија, или поточно во еден нејзин\ud географски дел, менаџираат и стопанисуваат и веројатно и самите секојдневно размислуваат за\ud ,,зголемување на конкурентската предност,, на својата компанија.\ud Значи, во трудот ќе се изнесат дел од релевантните и доволно податливи информации од\ud скорешни истражувања, кои ќе послужат како рамка за интерпретација на директните мерења на\ud важната варијабла на промените и развојот на секоја организација, препозната во ,,ставот кон\ud промените,, утврден кај повеќе од 150 лидери од приватни и јавни организации, институции и\ud фирми од Југозападна Македонија.\ud Клучни зборови: Организациска култура на промени, лидерство, конкурентност.\ud \ud For a long time, large part of the organizations worldwide build their competitiveness - in part, if\ud not entirely, through the organizational policies related with managing of the so called „soft“ parts of the\ud organization. The models which elaborate the value structure of the organization clearly specify all this.\ud Moreover, also are modeled the processes of interactive creation of value, which emphasize the direct\ud interdependence, again with others „soft“ elements, but now out of the organizational structure – with the\ud clients.\ud Furthermore, also the theory clearly defines the organizational climate - culture and leadership as\ud „both sides of the same medal“. Models and concepts regarding these issues are numerous and exist. \ud Hence, can be raised the question of the justification and the meaning of another research effort in this\ud area?!\ud We emphasize its actuallity and justification taking into account our recent research conducted in\ud our country, which are related with subject terms which we are speaking for (leadership, personal values,\ud attitudes, innovation), which clearly indicate that there are not significant changes in the awareness of\ud those in Macedonia, or rather in one of its geographic area, manage and operate and probably think on\ud daily basis about „increasing the competitive advantage“ of their companies.\ud Thus, this paper will present some of the relevant and sufficiently available information from\ud recent research, which will serve as a framework for interpretation of the direct measurements of the\ud important variable of changes and development of each organization, recognized in „the attitude towards\ud the changes“, verified in more than 150 leaders (executives, managers, supervisors) from private and\ud public organizations, institutions and companies from Southwestern Macedonia.\ud Key words: competitiveness, leadership, organizational culture of changes

Diagnosis of the Potential for Successful Implementation of a Knowledge Management System in a University Unit member

This paper presents an overview of the recorded state in terms of the capacity for introducing of an informatics system for knowledge management of an academic institution – the Faculty of Administration and Information Systems Management (FAISM), unit of the University of Bitola “St. KlimentOhridski”. It examines: the attitudes on knowledge and learning, the personal detectors on logistics - support to the system and the attitudes toward the working group - the organization, of all 40 employees, as well as the achievement motive of 112 active students at FAISM. The results indicated that the FAISM’ readiness for change in direction of increased sharing and use of the knowledge possessed is moderate, with limited awareness among the staff that the clear professional requirements, rules and standards previously set, are prerequisites for successful implementation and application of this system

Determination of Fire Resistance of Eccentrically Loaded Reinforced Concrete Columns Using Fuzzy Neural Networks

Artificial neural networks, in interaction with fuzzy logic, genetic algorithms, and fuzzy neural networks, represent an example of a modern interdisciplinary field, especially when it comes to solving certain types of engineering problems that could not be solved using traditional modeling methods and statistical methods. They represent a modern trend in practical developments within the prognostic modeling field and, with acceptable limitations, enjoy a generally recognized perspective for application in construction. Results obtained from numerical analysis, which includes analysis of the behavior of reinforced concrete elements and linear structures exposed to actions of standard fire, were used for the development of a prognostic model with the application of fuzzy neural networks. As fire resistance directly affects the functionality and safety of structures, the significance which new methods and computational tools have on enabling quick, easy, and simple prognosis of the same is quite clear. This paper will consider the application of fuzzy neural networks by creating prognostic models for determining fire resistance of eccentrically loaded reinforced concrete columns