FACTORS AFFECTING MICRO AND SMALL ENTERPRISES’ ACCESS TO MICROFINANCE IN CROATIA

Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are recognized worldwide as crucial element of boosting economic growth, reducing unemployment and poverty. In order to achieve growth, develop new products, create new jobs, they need to get finance. However, they are facing financing constraints, and persistent limitations to access to finance remain to be a major obstacle for them. Thus, financial inclusion is important for economic welfare and sustainable economic development. This study aims to identify the determinants of access to micro loans for micro and small enterprises (MSEs) by considering entrepreneur characteristics, firm characteristics, and perceived business obstacles. Data set of 173 MSEs from Croatia – the region Dalmatia, is available for the purpose of investigating and comparing characteristics of those that are financed and those that are not financed by micro loans. Besides, the paper also presents the logistic regression model which identifies set of characteristics which have significant relation with the MSE tendency to be financed by micro loans

How Students as Consumers Learn Information about New Products

The importance of understanding how consumers gather and evaluate information about the new products is essential for providers. This paper considers the student population as consumers and attempt to determine where students as consumers learn information about new products and their attitudes toward different sources of information. Research was conducted at the Polytechnic in Sibenik and comprised students of all majors and years of study. Results indicated that students as consumers utilize a wide variety of information sources to learn about new products. Thus gender, as a major social category, age and other determinants of consumer behaviour were also considered. It concludes with some important marketing implications. This work is licensed under a&nbsp;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</p

CHARACTERISTIC OF PRIVATE ACCOMMODATION IN COUNTY OD ŠIBENIK-KNIN

Private accommodation represent dominant type of accommodation in tourist offer in Republic of Croatia as well as in County of Šibenik-Knin. In this paper rooms, apartments, studio apartments and holiday houses owned by physical entities are defined as private accommodation. This paper presents the results of a preliminary research conducted on private accommodation in County of Šibenik-Knin. Research was conducted in October 2020. in order to emphasis private accommodation as an important part of tourism offer and importance for the further research of this issue. Thus, the aim of this paper is to make insight into characteristic of providers of private accommodation as well as to identify motives for renting accommodation, to analyze quality of accommodation and satisfaction of providers of private accommodation considering local community and tourist board efforts

KAKO MLADI LJUDI PROVODE VRIJEME ONLINE?

Nowadays, children and young adults have embraced new information technologies in large numbers. These younger age groups use Internet for many of their daily activities and they do it more than any other age group. Information and communication technologies (ICT) affect people’s everyday lives in so many ways. Mobile phones, tablets, netbooks, laptops and computers are just some of the devices used frequently, often daily, by a large proportion of the population and particularly by young people. So, in this article we will address the issue of young adult\u27s (ages 18 - 25) dependence on gadgets, how do they spend their time online and what their preferences are. The objectives of this paper are: to examine the time spend by the young adults with their tech-devices, to analyze the purpose of following certain sites, to examine what tech-devices they are preferring. The research was conducted to evaluate and to compare the time spend by the young adults with their tech- devices between two countries, Romania and Croatia, in the period from 10 May to 15 May by online survey questionnaire on 136 students from Romania and Croatia.Mlađa populacija ljudi (djeca i adolescenti) danas su prigrlili nove informacijske tehnologije u velikom broju. Navedena populacija koristi Internet za svoje mnogobrojne dnevne aktivnosti te to rade više od svih drugih dobnih skupina. Informacijske i komunikacijske tehnologije utječu na živote ljudi na mnogo različitih načina. Mobiteli, tableti, netbook, prijenosna računala i sl. samo su neki od uređaja koje veliki dio populacije svakodnevno koristi, a pogotovo mladi ljudi. Stoga se ovaj rad bavi problematikom vezanom za mlade ljude (u dobnoj skupini od 18 do 25 godina) i njihovom povezanošću sa informacijskim i komunikacijskim tehnologijama, odnosno kako provode svoje vrijeme online te koje su im preferencije posebice u pogledu informacijskih uređaja koje koriste. Ciljevi rada su: istražiti koliko vremena provode na svojih uređajima, razloge zbog kojih prate određene stranice te koje tehnološke uređaje preferiraju. U tu svrhu provedeno je istraživanje kako bi se usporedile dvije skupine mladih ljudi, jednu skupinu čine mladi ljudi iz Rumunjske dok drugu skupinu čine mladi ljudi iz Hrvatske. Istraživanje je provedeno u period od 10. do 15. svibnja putem online anketnog upitnika na uzorku od 136 studenata

THE ROLE OF SMALL FAMILY TOURISM ENTERPRISES IN ACHIEVING A QUALITY DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM IN ŠIBENIK-KNIN COUNTY AS A TOURIST DESTINATION - review and research proposals

Entrepreneurship is considered to be the central force of economic development as it generates growth and services that lead to innovation and change. Tourism is now one of the largest industries with the fastest growth in which a high degree of entrepreneurship involvement is needed to diversify tourism offer of tourist destinations in accordance with the growing demand for new types of tourist needs. Due to the fact that small businesses are the ones that can respond quickly to new demands and new markets and are the source of many innovations, it is important to explore the role of small family tourist enterprises (SFTE) in the development of tourism in the Sibenik-Knin county (below The County)

DEVELOPMENT OF MARKETING MIX – EXAMPLE OF HOSTEL IN ŠIBENIK

Kontinuirane promjene i novi trendovi u turističkoj potražnji dovode do radikalnih promjena u procesu upravljanja destinacijama te zahtijevaju stalno unaprjeđenje proizvoda i usluga. U radu će se prikazati i razviti marketinški splet hostela “Studentski dom Šibenik” u destinaciji Šibenik koji izvan ljetne sezone radi kao studentski dom. Također na osnovi ankete koja je provedena među studentima s područja Šibenika, Splita i Zadra pokušati će se dobiti informacija na koji način mladi doživljavaju grad Šibenik kao turističku destinaciju te koji su to sadržaji privlačni mladima za dolazak u grad Šibenik. Na osnovu istraživanja formiran je i logo hostela “Happy”.Continuous changes and new trends in tourism demand lead to radical changes in the management of destinations and require continuous improvement of products and services. In this paper will be presented and developed marketing mix of hostel in Sibenik that off season serves as a dormitory. Also on the basis of a survey carried out among students from the area of Sibenik, Split and Zadar will try to get information on how young people experience the city of Sibenik as a tourist destination and that it features attractive to young people to come to the city of Sibenik. On the basis of research it is developed logo for hostel: “Happy”

FACTORS INFLUENCING ACCESS TO SOURCES OF FINANCING AND SUCCESSFULNESS OF MICRO AND SMALL ENTERPRISES : DOCTORAL THESIS

Pristup financijskim sredstvima jedna je od najvećih prepreka s kojom se suočavaju mikro i mala poduzeća (MMP), kako u svijetu, tako i u Republici Hrvatskoj. Dosadašnja istraživanja potvrđuju da je rast i razvoj MMP-ova snažno povezan s dostupnim financijskim sredstvima. Brojna istraživanja, koja se bave ovom problematikom, naglašavaju važnost daljnjih istraživanja o faktorima utjecaja na dostupnost financijskih sredstava MMP-ova te povezanosti između izvora financiranja i uspješnosti MMP-ova. U ovoj doktorskoj disertaciji analizirane su karakteristike poduzetnika, poduzeća i poslovne prepreke kao faktori utjecaja na pristup MMPova financijskim sredstvima te je ispitana povezanost između korištenih i ostvarenih izvora financiranja s obzirom na uspješnost MMP-ova. Empirijsko istraživanje je provedeno na uzorku od 173 MMP-a iz regije Dalmacija. Analizom je utvrđeno da financijska pismenost i veći stupanj obrazovanja poduzetnika, napisan poslovni/strateški plan, veća stopa rasta poduzeća, veće stope profitabilnosti te niža razina percepcije vanjskih poslovnih prepreka predstavljaju faktore utjecaja na pristup MMP-ova vanjskim izvorima financiranja. Također, utvrđeno je da postoji značajna razlika u uspješnosti MMP-ova (mjerene financijskim i nefinancijskim mjerama uspješnosti) s obzirom na korištene i ostvarene izvore financiranja. Istraživanje je pokazalo da MMP-ovi najviše koriste i preferiraju unutarnje izvore financiranja te da poduzeća koja nisu potraživala vanjske izvore financiranja u najmanjoj mjeri planiraju rast. Od vanjskih izvora najviše koriste leasing i kratkoročni poslovni kredit. Najvećim preprekama za dobivanje kredita identificirani su visina kamatne stope, visina traženog kolaterala, visoki zahtjevi u pogledu ocjene kreditne sposobnosti i dužina procesa odobravanja, dok su neispunjenje traženih kriterija i kompleksnost procedure odobravanja kredita utvrđeni kao najčešći razlozi odbijanja kredita. Najveći udio poduzetnika smatra da im posebni programi financiranja nisu potrebni dok zbog dužine procedure odobravanja i ostvarivanja sredstava te neupoznatosti s programima, poduzetnici ne apliciraju te programe. Poduzeća koja nisu ostvarila vanjske izvore financiranja ostvaruju lošije pokazatelje uspješnosti u odnosu na poduzeća koja su bila uspješna u njihovom ostvarivanju čime je potvrđeno da poduzeća, koja žele biti uspješna, trebaju nadvladati kreditna ograničenja.Access to finance represents one of the biggest obstacles that micro and small enterprises (MSEs) face, in the world as well as in the Republic of Croatia. Previous research confirmed that MSEs` growth and development are strongly related to available financial sources. Numerous studies that deal with this issue emphasize the importance of the factors influencing the availability of financial sources for MSEs for further research, as well as the relationship between sources of financing and MSEs performance. In this doctoral dissertation, the characteristics of entrepreneurs and enterprises, as well as the business obstacles were analyzed as factors influencing access to finance for MSEs. Furthermore, the relationship between used and realized sources of financing was examined with regard to the MSEs performance. Empirical research was conducted on a sample of 173 MSEs from the Dalmatia region. The analysis determined that factors influencing MSEs access to external sources of financing are: financial literacy and a higher level of education of entrepreneurs, a written business/strategic plan, a higher rate of company growth, higher rates of profitability and a lower level of perception of external business obstacles. Also, it is determined that there is a significant difference in the MSEs performance (measured by financial and non-financial performance measures) with regard to the used and realized sources of financing. The research confirmed that the majority of MSEs use and prefer internal sources of financing. However, income/employees growth is planned to the smallest extent by MSEs that did not apply external sources of financing. Furthermore, leasing and short-term business credits are the most common external source of financing for the majority of MSEs. The biggest obstacles for obtaining a loan were identified: the interest rate level, the amount of required collateral, high requirements regarding the credit rating and the length of the loan approval process. Besides that, as the most common reasons for loan rejection are failure to meet the required criteria and the complexity of the loan approval procedure. The largest share of entrepreneurs consider that they do not need special financing programs. In addition, the most common reasons for not applying for those programs refers to the length of the procedure for approving and obtaining funds as well as unfamiliarity with the programs. MSEs that did not obtain external sources of financing achieve lower performance indicators compared to MSEs that were successful in obtaining them. Therefore, in order for MSEs to be successful, they need to overcome credit constraints.The intention and research objectives as well as sources and data collection methods are described in the introduction. In line with the set research objectives, the structure of dissertation was developed, and is made of nine chapters: Introduction; Characteristics of micro, small and medium enterprises; Factors influencing the access to financial resources for MSEs; Financing micro and small enterprises; Business performance measures; Financial environment of MSEs in the Republic of Croatia; discussion and conclusion is followed by the results of the conducted empirical research

FACTORS INFLUENCING ACCESS TO SOURCES OF FINANCING AND SUCCESSFULNESS OF MICRO AND SMALL ENTERPRISES : DOCTORAL THESIS

Pristup financijskim sredstvima jedna je od najvećih prepreka s kojom se suočavaju mikro i mala poduzeća (MMP), kako u svijetu, tako i u Republici Hrvatskoj. Dosadašnja istraživanja potvrđuju da je rast i razvoj MMP-ova snažno povezan s dostupnim financijskim sredstvima. Brojna istraživanja, koja se bave ovom problematikom, naglašavaju važnost daljnjih istraživanja o faktorima utjecaja na dostupnost financijskih sredstava MMP-ova te povezanosti između izvora financiranja i uspješnosti MMP-ova. U ovoj doktorskoj disertaciji analizirane su karakteristike poduzetnika, poduzeća i poslovne prepreke kao faktori utjecaja na pristup MMPova financijskim sredstvima te je ispitana povezanost između korištenih i ostvarenih izvora financiranja s obzirom na uspješnost MMP-ova. Empirijsko istraživanje je provedeno na uzorku od 173 MMP-a iz regije Dalmacija. Analizom je utvrđeno da financijska pismenost i veći stupanj obrazovanja poduzetnika, napisan poslovni/strateški plan, veća stopa rasta poduzeća, veće stope profitabilnosti te niža razina percepcije vanjskih poslovnih prepreka predstavljaju faktore utjecaja na pristup MMP-ova vanjskim izvorima financiranja. Također, utvrđeno je da postoji značajna razlika u uspješnosti MMP-ova (mjerene financijskim i nefinancijskim mjerama uspješnosti) s obzirom na korištene i ostvarene izvore financiranja. Istraživanje je pokazalo da MMP-ovi najviše koriste i preferiraju unutarnje izvore financiranja te da poduzeća koja nisu potraživala vanjske izvore financiranja u najmanjoj mjeri planiraju rast. Od vanjskih izvora najviše koriste leasing i kratkoročni poslovni kredit. Najvećim preprekama za dobivanje kredita identificirani su visina kamatne stope, visina traženog kolaterala, visoki zahtjevi u pogledu ocjene kreditne sposobnosti i dužina procesa odobravanja, dok su neispunjenje traženih kriterija i kompleksnost procedure odobravanja kredita utvrđeni kao najčešći razlozi odbijanja kredita. Najveći udio poduzetnika smatra da im posebni programi financiranja nisu potrebni dok zbog dužine procedure odobravanja i ostvarivanja sredstava te neupoznatosti s programima, poduzetnici ne apliciraju te programe. Poduzeća koja nisu ostvarila vanjske izvore financiranja ostvaruju lošije pokazatelje uspješnosti u odnosu na poduzeća koja su bila uspješna u njihovom ostvarivanju čime je potvrđeno da poduzeća, koja žele biti uspješna, trebaju nadvladati kreditna ograničenja.Access to finance represents one of the biggest obstacles that micro and small enterprises (MSEs) face, in the world as well as in the Republic of Croatia. Previous research confirmed that MSEs` growth and development are strongly related to available financial sources. Numerous studies that deal with this issue emphasize the importance of the factors influencing the availability of financial sources for MSEs for further research, as well as the relationship between sources of financing and MSEs performance. In this doctoral dissertation, the characteristics of entrepreneurs and enterprises, as well as the business obstacles were analyzed as factors influencing access to finance for MSEs. Furthermore, the relationship between used and realized sources of financing was examined with regard to the MSEs performance. Empirical research was conducted on a sample of 173 MSEs from the Dalmatia region. The analysis determined that factors influencing MSEs access to external sources of financing are: financial literacy and a higher level of education of entrepreneurs, a written business/strategic plan, a higher rate of company growth, higher rates of profitability and a lower level of perception of external business obstacles. Also, it is determined that there is a significant difference in the MSEs performance (measured by financial and non-financial performance measures) with regard to the used and realized sources of financing. The research confirmed that the majority of MSEs use and prefer internal sources of financing. However, income/employees growth is planned to the smallest extent by MSEs that did not apply external sources of financing. Furthermore, leasing and short-term business credits are the most common external source of financing for the majority of MSEs. The biggest obstacles for obtaining a loan were identified: the interest rate level, the amount of required collateral, high requirements regarding the credit rating and the length of the loan approval process. Besides that, as the most common reasons for loan rejection are failure to meet the required criteria and the complexity of the loan approval procedure. The largest share of entrepreneurs consider that they do not need special financing programs. In addition, the most common reasons for not applying for those programs refers to the length of the procedure for approving and obtaining funds as well as unfamiliarity with the programs. MSEs that did not obtain external sources of financing achieve lower performance indicators compared to MSEs that were successful in obtaining them. Therefore, in order for MSEs to be successful, they need to overcome credit constraints.The intention and research objectives as well as sources and data collection methods are described in the introduction. In line with the set research objectives, the structure of dissertation was developed, and is made of nine chapters: Introduction; Characteristics of micro, small and medium enterprises; Factors influencing the access to financial resources for MSEs; Financing micro and small enterprises; Business performance measures; Financial environment of MSEs in the Republic of Croatia; discussion and conclusion is followed by the results of the conducted empirical research