CAUSES AND MEASURES FOR PREVENTING FUTURE CRISIS IN EU

Authors summarized major causes of current financial crisis in EU on global and regional (European) level. On a global level these are credit rating agencies and compensations of CEO directors in financial sector. On regional level these are structural imbalance, increasing debts of EU countries, foreign trade imbalance among EU countries and loss of confidence in debt of EU countries. Measures for preventing future crises in EU according to the authors are improved debt management, application of Keynesian ideas for overcoming the crisis, reform of the criteria for entering the Eurozone, creation of a fiscal union, exit of the PIIGS countries from the Eurozone, taxation of the financial sector and creation of a banking union

UČINKOVITOST REGIONALNE ORGANIZACIJE SAVJETOVALIŠTA ZA ZAŠTITU PRAVA POTROŠAČA U REPUBLICI HRVATSKOJ

The paper analyses efficiency and sustainability of the recent regional organisation of the Advisory Centres for Consumer Protection in the Republic of Croatia in the context of justification of elimination thereof done by the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts. The paper includes a field research conducted among the active associations for consumer protection in the Republic of Croatia. The aim is to determine the capability of the past regional network of the consumer protection advisory centres to meet the needs of the most significant economic segment – the population of the Republic of Croatia, that is the consumers – natural persons, as the precondition for equal market competition with business entities. The paper offers an analysis of financial package of national, regional and local level of the system for consumer protection in the Republic of Croatia. The results show the inadequate efficiency and unsustainability of the recent system and offer alternative solutions in order to satisfy efficiently the needs of population of each Croatian region respectively and of the whole population of the Republic of Croatia.U radu se problematizira učinkovitost i održivost donedavne regionalne organizacije savjetovališta za zaštitu prava potrošača u Republici Hrvatskoj u kontekstu opravdanosti njenoga ukidanja od strane Ministarstva gospodarstva, poduzetništva i obrta. Rad uključuje i terensko istraživanje provedeno među aktivnim udrugama za zaštitu potrošača u Republici Hrvatskoj. Nastoji se odrediti sposobnost nekadašnje regionalne mreže savjetovališta za zaštitu prava potrošača u zadovoljavanju potreba najznačajnijega gospodarskoga segmenta − stanovništva Republike Hrvatske, odnosno potrošača – fizičkih osoba, kao preduvjeta za ravnopravnu tržišnu utakmicu s poslovnim subjektima. Analizira se financijska konstrukcija nacionalne, regionalne (područne) i lokalne razine sustava zaštite prava potrošača u Republici Hrvatskoj. Rezultati istraživanja upućuju na nedovoljnu učinkovitost i neodrživost donedavnog modela te se nude alternativna rješenja koja će na učinkovitiji način zadovoljiti potrebe stanovništva svake pojedine hrvatske regije, a time i cjelokupnog stanovništva Republike Hrvatske

PROCJENA FENOMENA “VELIKOG RAZDVAJANJA” NA PRIMJERU REPUBLIKE HRVATSKE U USPOREDBI S NJEMAČKOM I POLJSKOM

There are many papers in the economic literature that examine the link between real wages and labor productivity while each of them have different approaches and aspects of research. It is widely believed that in many countries wage growth has fallen massively behind productivity growth and has caused a productivity-wage gap popularly called “the great decoupling”. The paper deals with this important issue at the level of Croatia, Germany and Poland by analyzing trajectories and causality between compensations of employees and productivity per person employed. It is important and unique because it presents a new empirical approach that observes the productivity-wage gap between these countries on the individual state level. The research reveals interesting results about how the great decoupling in the observed countries is a myth according to the rate trends. However, there is causality between labor productivity and compensation of employees (and vice-versa) for Germany and Poland, but not for Croatia.U ekonomskoj literaturi mogu se pronaći mnogi radovi koji istražuju vezu između realnih nadnica i produktivnosti radne snage pri čemu autori koriste različite pristupe i aspekte istraživanja. Rasprostranjeno je mišljenje kako u mnogim zemljama rast nadnica značajno opada u odnosu na produktivnost radne snage što uzrokuje jaz produktivnosti i nadnica popularno nazvan „veliko razdvajanje“. Rad se bavi ovim važnim pitanjem istražujući „veliko razdvajanje“ na primjeru Republike Hrvatske, Njemačke i Poljske analizirajući kretanja i uzročnost kompenzacija zaposlenika i produktivnosti. Važno je i jedinstveno s obzirom da predstavlja novi empirijski pristup istraživanju problema razdvanjanja produktivnosti i nadnica na individualnim državnim razinama. Istraživanje donosi zanimljive rezultate koji ukazuju na to da je fenomen „velikog razdvajanja“ u promatranim zemljama mit što je očito iz kretanja stopa promatranih varijabli. Međutim, postoji uzročnost produktivnosti i kompenzacija zaposlenika (također obrnuta veza) na primjeru Njemačke i Poljske dok ona na primjeru Republike Hrvatske ne postoji

POSSIBILITIES AND CONSTRAINTS OF REGION BRANDING IN TOURISM – THE CASE OF DALMATIA

This paper presents the authors\u27 original model for branding the region as an umbrella brand in tourism, in line with the Gad\u27s 4 dimension branding. Dalmatia, as the Croatia\u27s region featuring most of natural and cultural-historical tourism attractions, has served as the model for the development and marketing management of the tourism system, with the aim of branding the region. According to the authors\u27 model, the region is an "umbrella brand" consisting of different but mutually interrelated tourism clusters. Each of them develops their "point-of-parity" that makes them part of the region and which is characteristic for the region, as well as the "point-of-difference", i.e. their own recognisable image within the tourism region, in accordance with the principles of sustainable development in tourism. Furthermore, the paper presents a comparative analysis of the tourism turnover between Dalmatia and Istria, kindred and nearby Croatian tourism region. Although it is geographically much smaller and featuring less natural and cultural-historic attributes, Istria has so far achieved better results in tourism than Dalmatia, due to a better structured marketing and management model, compared with Dalmatia which is fragmented by administrative boundaries. Finally, the authors have made a critical analysis of constraints that impede the development of similar marketing and management models in the tourism industry of Croatia and, it is assumed, in other post-transition countries

UDRUGE ZA ZAŠTITU PRAVA POTROŠAČA KAO POSREDNICI U RJEŠAVANJU KONFLIKTNIH KOMUNIKACIJSKIH SITUACIJA IZMEĐU PODUZEĆA ZA ZBRINJAVANJE OTPADA I KORISNIKA NJIHOVIH USLUGA

This paper deals with the most common conflict communication situations between waste management companies and the users of their services, while consumer protection associations have a mediating role in the peaceful resolution of the situation. The authors conducted a survey which included waste disposal companies and consumer protection associations. The aim of this paper is to find out if customer satisfaction with waste disposal has an effect on the efficiency of waste disposal. There are numerous conflict situations between companies and users of their services. The prerequisite for successful implementation of future waste management projects are satisfied customers while consumer associations play a significant role in the process. Research shows that waste management companies are aware of the importance of mediating roles which consumer protection associations have in resolving conflicts in terms of restoring consumer satisfaction. However, they still do not realize enough the importance of these associations in building their image as socially responsible companies. Research results show that there is considerable room for increasing mutual partnership between waste management companies and consumer protection associations.U radu se utvrđuju i analiziraju najčešće konfliktne komunikacijske situacije između poduzeća koja se bave zbrinjavanjem otpada i korisnika njihovih usluga te posrednička uloga udruga za zaštitu prava potrošača u razrješavanju tih situacija mirnim putem. Autori su proveli anketu, kojom su obuhvaćena poduzeća koja se bave zbrinjavanjem otpada i udruge za zaštitu prava potrošača. Ustvrđeni su najčešći potrošački problemi u području zbrinjavanja otpada. Na temelju stavova i iskustava korisnika usluga, autori zaključuju kako je gradnja pozitivnog imidža kao društveno odgovornih tvrtki, koje među ostalim uvažavaju prava potrošača, ključna za komunikaciju projekata gospodarenja otpadom. Istraživanje je pokazalo da su tvrtke koje se bave zbrinjavanjem otpada svjesne značaja posredničke uloge udruga za zaštitu prava potrošača pri rješavanju konfliktnih situacija s korisnicima njihovih usluga te da je rezultat takve situacije uglavnom povoljan i za tvrtku, u smislu vraćanja povjerenja potrošača. Međutim, ipak ne shvaćaju dovoljno važnost tih udruga za izgradnju njihova imidža društveno odgovorne tvrtke putem rješavanja problema potrošača. Rezultati istraživanja pokazuju da postoji znatan prostor za povećanje međusobnog partnerskog djelovanja između tvrtki koje se bave zbrinjavanjem otpada i udruga za zaštitu prava potrošača, ponajprije u području educiranja korisnika usluga tvrtki koje se bave zbrinjavanjem otpada

DIGITAL MARKETING AND BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS

The use of modern technologies affects all spheres of modern life. Social and economic life becomes impossible without fast, relevant, high-quality and timely information. More recent scientific discovers, as well, talk about new insights in the behavior of homo economicus, as individual who, it is revealed, in his decisions in economic behavior actually is not primarily motivated by utility, but the decision-making process including other mechanisms, except cognitive. However, even these cognitive processes occur in a specific way, such as using heuristics (shortcuts) in decision-making. Furthermore, "familiarity" of the product, emotions, risk assessment, etc., are relevant factors of the decision-making process in consumer behavior when deciding on a purchase. What new processes, new aspects and new challenges, these facts set on marketing? Is marketing, in these new circumstances, increasingly important in modern life? In which way marketing processes must innovate to keep up with new marketing age? And, finally, are we now days facing the era of the „new marketing esthetics” and the new marketing paradigm or is a modern digital marketing just a tool used on the platform of the classical marketing paradigm? These are issues that the authors, using a multidisciplinary approach, examine in their paper, with the aim of better understanding of (not only digital) marketing, but also of the new post-industrial era where marketing place a significant role in the lives of individuals, business organizations and other organized entities

Umbrella branding in tourism – model regions of Istria and Dalmatia

The purpose – The purpose of this paper is to support the thesis that a region represents a key functional and geographical entity which requires branding and development of marketing activities. Its geographical components are tourism clusters that should develop their own identity in cooperation with other clusters, within the region as their umbrella brand. Design – The special focus is given to reviewing the issue of defining boundaries of regions as tourism brands, i.e. discussing what exactly makes the essence, or the essential framework, of a region as a market brand in tourism. The paper also presents the model of geographical and marketing clusterisation of Istria and Dalmatia – the Croatia\u27s regions that are essential for the development of tourism in this country. Methodology – The methodology of the research includes the examples of good practice, analysis of the existing strategic documents of the region Istria and Dalmatia, workshop – creating an original model of region clusterisation in the case of Dalmatia by graduate students of management in the Department of Economics at the University of Zadar and author’s management experience in public management in tourism. Approach – There are particular interests within fragmented basic units of local government – towns and municipalities – aiming to "preserve" the identity of each separate geographical unit, even the smallest one, whereas the marketing trends in the dynamic international tourism market require exactly the opposite. Regions must be the unique spatial and socio-cultural entities featuring an adequate tourism identity which is built as an independent and inherent market brand. That fact is perceived in the light of the forthcoming accession of Croatia into the European Union (1st July 2013) and the exceptionally important process of redefining Croatia\u27s regional administrative-political boundaries, where an appropriate regionalisation is considered as one of the prerequisites for the "correct" and optimal social and economic development in the future. Findings – The problem of defining regional boundaries must be seen as one of the essential issues in defining the region\u27s geographical area as the basis for the development of economy. An appropriate definition of the tourism region as an umbrella brand and its sub-brands – tourism "products", i.e. clusters – presents the starting point for further definition of all management and marketing activities, both at the level of clusters, through individual activities, and at the level of the umbrella brand, through joint, i.e. networked management activities. The originality of this research – The originality of the model consists on the fact that it refers to a relatively wide region (within European context) featuring a rich of natural attractiveness and cultural-historical heritage, whose borders were often altered in the past, and which was, and still is, intersected with a number of administrative-political boundaries