Barriers in multicultural business communication : an empirical study of Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina

Companies that work in multicultural environments face several challenges in their everyday business life. In this article we focus on the communication aspect of working in multicultural business environments. We test the hypothesis that companies that work in multicultural environments are subject to communication barriers due to different cultural backgrounds of people that engage in these types of communication. We test the hypothesis through a case study of two companies, one from Bosnia and Herzegovina and one from Slovenia, that engage in mutual multicultural communication. Through an in-depth interview with the project manager who takes part in this communication every day and a survey with the employees, we identify and analyse the communication barriers that the employees perceive as relevant to their business processes. We overcome these barriers through the application of the fruitful intercultural business communication model. The main contribution of this work lies in demonstrating the applicability of this model to practical cases and the demonstration of the fact that cultural barriers can exist and inhibit successful business even in environments in close sociocultural and geographic proximity

KORISNIČKO PRIHVAĆANJE DIGITALIZACIJE HOTELSKIH RESTORANA: PRIMJENA MODELA PROŠIRENOG PRIHVAĆANJA TEHNOLOGIJE

The technology acceptance model and its extensions have been the leading theoretical paradigm in explaining users’ acceptance of smart technologies, including in the hospitality and tourism industry. This study applied a modified technology acceptance model to customer acceptance of a novel digital wine menu application in hotel restaurants in Croatia and Serbia. The results of a self-report survey of 406 respondents analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling indicated that the perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment explained a substantial proportion of the variance in customers’ behavioural intention to return to the restaurant and/or spread positive word-of-mouth, as well as perceived service quality. The perceived risks of using the technology had a negligible impact on the two outcomes of interest. The results confirm and extend previous research on customers’ technology acceptance in the hospitality sector. The managerial implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.Model prihvaćanja tehnologije i njegovo proširenje vodeći je teorijski obrazac u istraživanju korisničkog usvajanja pametnih tehnologija općenito pa tako i u ugostiteljstvu i turizmu. U istraživanju je korišten prilagođeni model korisničkog prihvaćanja tehnologije na prihvaćenost novog koncepta digitalne vinske karte i jelovnika u hotelskim restoranima u Hrvatskoj i Srbiji. Rezultati 406 samoispunjujućih upitnika dobiveni su metodom modeliranja strukturnih jednadžbi. Analiza rezultata pokazala je da subjektivni dojam o lakoći korištenja i korisnosti te osobni užitak objašnjava znatna odstupanja u namjeri ponašanja korisnika o povratku u restoran i/ili širenju pozitivne usmene predaje kao i doživljene kvalitete usluge. Dojam rizika povezanog s korištenjem tehnologije imao je zanemariv utjecaj na dva rezultata u fokusu ovog istraživanja koji potvrđuju i proširuju prethodna istraživanja o korisničkom prihvaćanju tehnologije u ugostiteljskom sektoru. Analiziraju se implikacije ovih rezultata za menadžere te se predlažu smjernice za buduća istraživanja

Vpliv šole in okolja na odnos odraslih srednješolcev do podjetništva

The article explores Slovene adult high-school students’ attitudes towards entrepreneurship. For the purpose of the study, two thousands students were surveyed, with samples taken from business-oriented high schools. The sample represents more than one quarter of the whole population. An additional 1150 students were included from schools which have no business or entrepreneurship courses in their curricula. The primary scientific goal of the research study was identification of sociological and psychological factors influencing students’ attitudes towards entrepreneurship. The main research instrument was a questionnaire, investigating attitudes, opinions, characteristics, interests and other factors influencing entrepreneurial behaviour. The key finding of the study is that almost half of the population has expressed an interest in pursuing the entrepreneurial career. The recommendations deriving from the study are intended primarily for high-school curricula planners and people designing programs in support of entrepreneurship.Članek proučuje odnos do podjetništva med slovenskimi odraslimi srednješolci. V ta namen je bilo anketiranih dva tisoč dijakov četrtih letnikov ekonomskih gimnazij in srednjih šol ekonomske usmeritve oziroma več kot četrtina tega dela populacije. Poleg njih smo v raziskavo zajeli še 1.150 dijakov na 25 drugih šolah, kjer v predmetnikih ni poslovnih predmetov ali podjetništva. Med znanstvenimi cilji je predvsem ugotavljanje vplivov socialnih in psiholoških dejavnikov na odnos dijakov do podjetništva. Glavni raziskovalni inštrument je bila pisna anketa, ki je vsebovala lestvice stališč, ocene lastnosti, interesov in drugih dejavnikov, ki vplivajo na podjetniško obnašanje, ter sociodemografska vprašanja. Ključna ugotovitev raziskave je, da se je skoraj polovica dijakov opredelila za to, da jih zanima podjetniška kariera. Priporočila, ki izhajajo iz ugotovitev, so predvsem namenjena snovalcem učnih programov v srednjih šolah in načrtovalcem programov spodbujanja podjetništva

Global wealth disparities drive adherence to COVID-safe pathways in head and neck cancer surgery

Peer reviewe

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

MODUS OPERANDI OF SLOVENIAN RADIO BROADCASTERS IN TRANSMISSION OF THEIR PROGRAMME CONTENTS IN THE PERIOD FROM 2004 TO 2014

Accelerated trends of digitalisation and media convergence contribute to an increasingly important role of radio in modern society. In the last decade, we have seen in the field of radio broadcasting in the Republic of Slovenia an overwhelming expansion of radio broadcasters who acquired the radio broadcasting licences. The topic of this paper are issued radio broadcasting licences and granted statuses of station of special importance within radio broadcasting activity. Based on our own research of secondary data obtained from the documentation of co-regulators in the field of broadcasting for the period from 2004 to 2014, we attempted to identify the modus operandi of radio broadcasters in their everyday practice after acquiring the licences and statuses. Findings of our research indicate that the radio broadcasters over the period considered have often changed programme-related requirements and limitations resulting from their licences and the Mass Media Act, while broadcasting and distributing programming contents. In comparison with the modification of licences, they did not transfer the broadcasting right to another legal entity so frequently. It has been also established that the regulator in ten cases temporarily had revoked the broadcasting licences or decided to withdraw the statuses, because the irregularities were detected during expert supervision. The authors set out proposals for the improvement of the situation in the subject field, based on the obtained results. They consider that it could be a challenge for all broadcasting stakeholders, who however have to tackle the elimination of the multi-annual delay of the harmonisation of the broadcasting sector with the standards of European Union. According to the results of the present study, the stakeholders cannot be satisfied with the situation in Slovenian media landscape and with its development nowadays

THE IMPACT OF ECONOMIC CRISIS ON STABILITY AND QUALITY OF INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP

In this article, we developed a model based on the insight into different theories and empirical studies about inpact of economic crisis on intimate relationship. With the economic crisis, the behaviour of individual in a relationship also changed. Increased stress is one of the reactions of individual to the crisis, and this directly or indirectly influences his or her intimate relationship. That impact is manifested as a factor of the decrease of stability and quality of such relationship. As a starting point, we took the fact that the individual in developed western societies is adapted to the mainstream of so-called consumer society, which discourages him or her to strive for the intimate relationship, and the purpose of such relationship is the preservation of family. On the contrary, this encourages individual's selfish principle to satisfy his or her comfort and convenience. We were mainly interested in the individual's reaction to this phenomenon. Based on these findings, we developed the “intimate relationship stress model” (IRSM), which could be used in further empirical studies and psychotherapy practices

Vplivi transformacije v industrijo 4.0 v proizvodnem sektorju: primer ZDA

Background and purpose: The transformation to Industry 4.0 increases the number of robots installed within indus­tries, which brings great shifts in industrial ecosystems. For this reason, our research goal was to analyze the key performance indicators to investigate the economic and social sustainability of the changes in production. Methodology: The combination of official (World Bank, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) and publicly available (Federal Reserve Economic Data, Industrial Federation of Robotics) data was used for statistical data processing, including comparison, correlation, cross-correlation and vector autoregression analysis, to present the past develop­ments and also to predict future trends within the U.S. manufacturing sector. Results: In contrast to robust industry robotization observed in the 2008–2018 period, the share of manufacturing output and employment declined. Nonetheless, the vector autoregression model forecast shows, that the U.S. manu­facturing sector has arrived at a turning point, after which robotization can increase employment and labor productivi­ty of workers, while also stimulating further growth of their education levels. Conclusion: The transition to Industry 4.0 has a major impact on increasing demands for new knowledge and skills for increased productivity. Accordingly, forecasted growths of analyzed manufacturing indicators suggest that negative impacts of robotization in the recent past were only temporary, due to the entrance to the Industry 4.0 era. Nonetheless, additional policies to support sustainable industry development are required. Keywords: Industry transformation, Robotization, Industrial output, Labor productivity, Employment, Education level, Industry 4.0, Industry 5.0Ozadje in namen: S transformacijo v industrijo 4.0 se v industriji povečuje število nameščenih robotov, kar prinaša velike premike v industrijskih ekosistemih. Zato je bil naš raziskovalni cilj analizirati ključne kazalnike uspešnosti, da bi raziskali ekonomsko in socialno vzdržnost teh sprememb v proizvodnji. Zasnova / metodologija / pristop: Kombinacija uradnih (World Bank, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) in javno dostopnih (Federal Reserve Economic Data, Industrial Federation of Robotics) podatkov je bila uporabljena za stati­stično obdelavo podatkov, vključujoč primerjavo, korelacijo, navzkrižno korelacijo in analizo vektorske avtoregresije, da bi predstavili pretekli razvoj in tudi napovedali prihodnje trende v ameriškem proizvodnem sektorju. Rezultati: V nasprotju z močno robotizacijo v obdobju 2008–2018 se je delež proizvodnje in zaposlitve v proizvod­nem sektorju v tem obdobju zmanjšal glede na celotno industrijo. Kljub temu napoved modela vektorske avtoregre­sije kaže, da je ameriški proizvodni sektor prišel do prelomne točke, po kateri lahko robotizacija poveča zaposlenost in produktivnost delavcev, hkrati pa spodbuja nadaljnjo rast njihove izobrazbene ravni. Zaključek: Prehod na industrijo 4.0 močno vpliva na vse večje potrebe po novih znanjih in veščinah za večjo pro­duktivnost. V skladu s tem napovedane rasti analiziranih proizvodnih kazalnikov kažejo, da so bili negativni vplivi robotizacije v nedavni preteklosti le začasni zaradi vstopa v industrijo 4.0. Kljub temu pa so potrebne dodatne politike za podporo trajnostnemu razvoju industrije. Ključne besede: Transformacija industrije, Robotizacija, Industrijska proizvodnja, Produktivnost dela, Zaposlitev, Stopnja izobrazbe, Industrija 4.0, Industrija 5.

ORGANIZATIONAL VALUES AND MORAL VIRTUES OF ENTREPRENEUR: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF SLOVENIAN ENTREPRENEURS

This article examines the self-reflexion of Slovenian entrepreneurs to their own business activity, with a focus on their core values and virtues, which would consequently affect the performance, growth and development of entrepreneurship in Slovenia. The article starts with a theoretical understanding of organizational values and moral virtues of entrepreneurs and review of the recent empirical studies as the basis on which it is possible to achieve the explanation of the attitude of Slovenian entrepreneurs towards entrepreneurship. We have conducted our own empirical quantitative study on the representative sample of Slovenian entrepreneurs (n =114). Using the obtained results, we tried to verify the six hypotheses. We were particularly interested in those hypotheses that presuppose the entrepreneur who highly appreciates and respects the values and virtues of an ethical businesspearson in practice, will be more economically successful. Based on the results of our research we indicated that the Slovenian entrepreneurs are largely aware of the relevant organizational values and moral virtues, although this is not always obvious in their actions in everyday business practices. The article concludes with an interpretation of the results and discussion of the prospects and challenges for further exploration of the topics covered