BENCHMARKING EVALUATION OF SME SUPPORT PROGRAM:CASE OF CONSULTING SUBSIDIARY GRANTS IN SLOVENIA AND FYROM

SMEs need external business support, in particular during the early development stage. Government agencies have developed a number of initiatives and voucher system is targeted at counselling combined with information and training. A pilot program started in two small regions and the program is scheduled to cover the whole territory, relying on the network of local enterprise centres. In 2006 the know-how for the system was transferred into Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. This paper presents the fundamental concept of the voucher system and the rules for a comprehensive approach, discusses the organizational structure and functions of different stakeholders. The assumptions for an effective system are analyzed and comments from evaluations are discussed. The potentials for further development of the system in FYROM on the basis of the know-how from Slovenia are assessed. An innovative outcome of the study is development of the framework for bench-marking based policy measure evaluation.Support to SMEs, policy measures, government, transition economy, market failure, counselling, consultants, local enterprise centre, small and medium-sized businesses, performance, voucher system, satisfaction level.

Pomen socialnega kapitala v etnični skupini: Primer albanskih podjetnikov v Sloveniji

As the economically most developed part of former Yugoslavia, Slovenia has traditionally been a host country for numerous immigrants of other nationalities. There has long been a presence of Albanian nationals and it appears that a new wave of immigration of Albanians to Slovenia has been happening since 1991. Slovenia has become an even more popular immigration destination since joining the EU in 2004. In this article, fourteen case studies of Albanian entrepreneurs are analyzed in order to give a picture of their somewhat unique way of running business activities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to address several research questions in a qualitative manner. Albanian immigrants do not come to Slovenia to seek their fortune. Through a dense network of family and friends, the processes of newcomers starting a business or finding employment seem to be very well planned ahead. Although serving the mainstream economy, Albanian entrepreneurs in Slovenia rely heavily on informal supportand also financing from their extended families and the entire Albanian community. They have traditionally worked in only a few types of business (pastry shops, fruits and vegetables, bakeries, construction).They form a particular part of the Slovenian economy, well-integrated but also self-sustainable in the face of new economic processes, with their traditional high level of reliance on their community, family and ethnic-based social capital.Kot ekonomsko najbolj razvit del nekdanje Jugoslavije je Slovenija tradicionalno privabljala številne priseljence drugih narodnosti. Čeprav so Albanci v Sloveniji že dolgo prisotni, se je novi val priseljencev začel pojavljati po letu 1991, Slovenija pa je za priseljevanje postala še bolj priljubljena po priključitvi EU leta 2004. Za opis zelo svojstvenega načina vodenja njihovih podjetij v članku predstavljamo 14 študij primerov albanskih podjetnikov. Kot orodje kvalitativne metodologije smo uporabili polstrukturirani intervju z več raziskovalnimi vprašanji. Albanski priseljenci v Slovenijo ne prihajajo nepripravljeni. Zagon novega podjetja ali zaposlitev posameznika se s pomočjo goste mreže prijateljev in sorodnikov načrtuje že dolgo pred njihovim prihodom. Čeprav poslujejo na celotnem trgu, se albanski podjetniki zanašajo predvsem na neformalno podporo in financiranje s strani razširjene družine in celotne albanske skupnosti. Tradicionalno so prisotni v zgolj nekaj dejavnostih (slaščičarne, stojnice s sadjem in z zelenjavo, pekarne, gradbeništvo) in predstavljajo poseben del slovenskega gospodarstva, ki je sicer vključeno vgospodarske tokove, a je v luči novih gospodarskih procesov s tradicionalno naslombo na svojo skupnost, družino in na etnično pripadnost temelječi socialni kapital, samovzdržno

Assessment of establishment and operations under market conditions for a public equity fund

The government of Slovenia established a publicly funded venture capital fund in order to provide start-up finance for small companies. The fund was meant to fill in the market gap in early-stage equity finance supply. The fund is co-financed from EU structural funds and has to comply with strict regulation regarding possibility of market distortion from such measure. The objective of the study is to give a straightforward answer whether the public fund will behave within the equity market conditions or will impose an unloyal competition to the existing privately financed funds. In accordance to this, an evaluation is given advising that the public fund should not be regarded as a state-aid measure

Proposal of a new research construct in female entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship has been a gender-defined phenomenon for several decades. It has been presented as a typically male domain which for its demanding performance requires typical male characteristics. In this paper, we follow the suggestions of researchers of female entrepreneurs and focus on the research of three groups of female entrepreneurs. We propose that female entrepreneurs in different life stages have distinguished forms of human and social capital, and we apply the factors of those capitals to be measured. We observe the influence of parents, maternity as a metaphor for family involvement and family responsibilities, friends, and the broader environment on social capital. We discussed female entrepreneurship using two functions - as emotional support and incentives and as an instrumental social capital that provides access to information, resources and business partners. We added previous entrepreneurial experience, the level of education attained, business knowledge acquired at school and specific training, industry experience, previous managerial experience to the human capital function. With our model, we introduced the theory of life expectancy of women into entrepreneurship theory, which brings us closer to understanding the external influences on entrepreneurial aspirations and motivations of women of different ages

Social capital and woman entrepreneurs: the characteristics of social capital among woman entrepreneurs across different life stages*

Ovo istraživanje bavi se društvenim kapitalom poduzetnica u različitim životnim razdobljima. Glavna je hipoteza da žene-poduzetnice prolaze kroz različite razine i oblike društvenog kapitala prelazeći iz jedne životne faze u drugu u svom profesionalnom ciklusu. Promatramo emocionalnu potporu i podršku okoline, te instrumentalni društveni kapital putem kojeg žena-poduzetnica dolazi do informacija, poslovnih partnera i drugih resursa bitnih za njezin poduzetnički proces. Anketa je poslana e-poštom uzorku ženskih tvrtki dobivenih uz pomoć algoritma u poslovnom registru. Konačno, za statističku analizu koja koristi Leveneov F-test za potvrdu jednakosti varijanci, prikupljeno je u potpunosti odgovorenih 340 upitnika, a potom slijedi Tukeyev post hoc test. Inače, Tamhaneov test ne pretpostavlja jednakost varijanci. Na temelju rezultata studije nismo mogli potvrditi da različita životna razdoblja koja uključuju majčinstvo, roditeljstvo, biti i supruga i kućanica, imaju različite utjecaje na ženu poduzetnicu. Također ne možemo podržati hipotezu da postoji razlika u važnosti društvenih mreža. Međutim, naše istraživanje potvrdilo je razliku u važnosti utjecaja roditelja i utjecaja prijatelja i poznanika na njihov poduzetnički put.This research examined women entrepreneurs’ social capital in their different life stages.The main hypothesis is that women would have different levels and forms of social capital as they move from one stage to another in their lives in a professional cycle. We observe emotional support and encouragement from the environment, and instrumental social capital, through which the entrepreneur accesses information, business partners, and other resources relevant to her entrepreneurial process. A survey was emailed to a sample of women’s businesses detected with the help of an algorithm in a business register. Finally, there were 340 fully answered questionnaires collected for the statistical analysis that utilized Levene’s F-test to confirm equality of variances, followed by Tukey’s post hoc test. Otherwise, Tamhane’s test does not assume equality of variances. Based on the study results, we could not confirm that motherhood, which includes parenting, being a wife, and being a housewife, has different impacts on women entrepreneurs in different life stages. We also cannot support the hypothesis that there is a difference in the importance of social networks. However, our research confirmed the difference in the importance of parental influence and the influence of friends and acquaintances on their entrepreneurial journey

Izkusnje uciteljev poslovne sole s studentom z motnjo avtisticnega spektra

Autism has become an increasingly relevant topic in the research of neuroscience with the objective of enabling people with this condition to become equal opportunity members of the society; this includes an exploration of the benefits of the public education system. However, the science and knowledge in this field have thus far been limited, and the results of scientific findings have been very rare. The objective of the study was to explore primarily the first experiences of higher education teachers dealing with a student with an autism spectrum disorder. The aim was to learn lessons and contribute to some new understanding of special and adapted pedagogical approaches. The methodology of the study is qualitative, using (i) a case study as an objective of the researchers, and (ii) in-depth interviews with the twelve teachers about their experience with (for them) the new demanding assignment to teach a student with an autism spectrum disorder. The case study is about three years of undergraduate studies of a student with autism spectrum disorder who, in the end, obtained a bachelor’s degree in the field of business. The findings reveal that teachers generally viewed the experience as very positive and found teaching to be a challenge. For success, cooperation with experts and parents is crucial, but the education institution (of which all are stakeholders) could and should have done more. However, taking into account that the challenge is new, this study may contribute to some further development. (DIPF/Orig.

Izobraževanje podjetnikov

V prispevku avtor predstav!ja nekatere podatke o stanju izobrazenosti in izobrazevanja v slovenskih malih in srednjih podjetjih ter ocenjnuje vpliv izobrazevanja na uspeh podjetnistva. Ugotavlja, daje kakovostne ponudbe podjetniskega izobrazevanja se vedno premalo, ceravno je prakticno v vseh raziskavah ugotovljeno, da visja stopnja izobrazenosti podjetnikov prispeva k njihovemu veejemu uspehu. Podjetniki se se ne zavedajo dovolj pomena izobrazenosti za doseganje poslovnih ci!jev in tako mnoga podrocja znanj in sposobnosti zanemarjajo. Avtor v sklepnem delu prispevka ugotav!ja, da bi se drzava morala lotiti nadajnjega razvoja podjetnistva nacrtno, tako da bi v solski sistem pripeljala poslovne (podjetniske) ucne vsebine kot del rednega programa in v proracunu namenila del sredstev za nacrtno spodbujanje izobrazevanja podjetnikov

Mehke veščine v visokošolskem izobraževanju

Although in its strategic documents the European Commission emphasizes the importance of soft skills for achieving the key goals of the Bologna process, it seems that soft skills have not found their way into higher education study programs yet. The reason for this is partly in a very traditionalistic stand of the European higher education environment, which gives priority to scientific groundings over practical applicability. This study addresses the question of key soft skills, which should be included in higher education study programs either as independent modules or integrated in the existing modules or else offered as extra curricular activities to students. Based on the empirical research, conducted by human resource experts in six countries, soft skills can be clustered into three groups: personal, social and methodological/contextual. In the concluding part of the paper the expected learning outcomes are defined in order to stimulate inclusion of soft skills into higher education study programs.Čeprav Evropska komisija v strateških dokumentih daje vse večji poudarek mehkim veščinam, ki naj bi bile ključne za doseganje ciljev bolonjskega procesa, se zdi, da te veščine še niso našle prave poti v visokošolske izobraževalne programe. Razlog je deloma v tradicionalistični usmeritvi visokošolskega prostora, ki daje prednost znanstvenim podlagam študijskih programov pred njihovo aplikativno vrednostjo. Študija se ukvarja z vprašanjem ključnih mehkih veščin, ki bi jih bilo smiselno povezati s študijskimi programi bodisi kot sestavni del študijskih programov (del modulov ali samostojni modul) bodisi kot zunajštudijskeoblike. Na podlagi raziskave, ki je bila opravljena med kadrovskimi strokovnjaki v šestih državah, je bil prepoznan relativni pomen posameznih mehkih veščin, ki so bile razvrščene v tri ključne skupine: osebne, socialne in metodološko/kontekstualne. V zaključnem delu študije so podani predvideni študijski cilji pri vključevanju mehkih veščin v visokošolske študijske programe