ETHICAL AND LEGAL ASPECTS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

Public Relations (PR), a significant component of the media industry, also represents a management function that helps establish and maintain beneficial connections between the organization and various stakeholders. The evolution of the public relations profession is commonly perceived as a qualitative shift from the unethical practices that dominated several decades since the 1920s to strategically and ethically conducted campaigns in contemporary business. However, when considering the practice of PR in the first decades of the 21st century, numerous concerns arise regarding ethical dilemmas, conflicts, and, consequently, the ethical decisionmaking process. The main objective of this paper is to offer an overview of ethics and its development in PR. The application of ethical principles based on utilitarian, deontological, situational and virtue approaches is discussed. This study also analyzes the most frequently encountered ethical problems in contemporary PR practice. Finally, the paper delves into some models of the ethical decision-making process and discusses the legal consequences of PR

Importance of presentation skills in contemporary business

Improving presentation skills has been a popular issue since ancient times, and today is becoming a necessity in many activities, especially in the context of management. In modern business, according to experts in this field, the ability to present ideas is considered an important feature of employees. Professional presentations, in fact, are a significant and common method of disseminating information. Presentation skills are a real challenge in the case of teachers, researchers and scientists, who are at the beginning of their professional careers. They sometimes cause great anxiety. This paper therefore discusses various aspects of presentation skills, relevant to business people as well as researchers and scientists. Useful guidelines to help researchers and scientists hone their skills. The central part of the paper deals with the analysis of factors that affect the quality of the presentation for different purposes. The author's view is that presentation skills, like other skills, can be learned and developed through practice

Evaluation of Process Orientation Dimensions in the Apparel Industry

The dimensions that influence the establishment of business process management (BPM) practices and the progression to higher levels of process maturity derive from exploring the dimensions of process orientation of organizations. Small and medium-sized clothing enterprises (SME’s) are characterized by various specifics that can affect the degree of process orientation adoption and the pace of transition from lower to higher levels of process maturity. According to these specifics, the acceptance of the process approach may be differently affected. For the purpose of adequate evaluation and prioritization of the most influential dimensions, a new integrated multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) model that combines classical and fuzzy theory was developed. First, the full consistency method (FUCOM) method was applied, followed by the fuzzy pivot pairwise relative criteria importance assessment (fuzzy PIPRECIA) method to obtain more accurate criteria values. Prioritization of the most influential BPM dimension contributes to highlighting the area of business that needs to be primarily strengthened by appropriate actions for successful establishment of BPM in apparel industry SMEs. Within this research, the prioritized dimension refers to human resource management in accordance with the specific aspects of business within the apparel industry.TU Berlin, Open-Access-Mittel – 202

Mesophilic leaching of copper sulphide sludge

Copper was precipitated using a sodium sulphide solution as the precipitation agent from an acid solution containing 17 g/l copper and 350 g/l sulphuric acid. The particle size of nearly 1 µm in the sulphide sludge sample was detected by optical microscopy. Based on chemical and X-ray diffraction analyses, covellite was detected as the major sulphide mineral. The batch bioleach amenability test was performed at 32 °C on the Tk31 mine mesophilic mixed culture using a residence time of 28 days. The dissolution of copper sulphide by direct catalytic leaching of the sulphides with bacteria attached to the particles was found to be worthy, although a small quantity of ferrous ions had to be added to raise the activity of the bacteria and the redox potential of the culture medium. Throughout the 22-day period of the bioleach test, copper recovery based on residue analysis indicated a copper extraction of 95 %, with copper concentration in the bioleach solution of 15 g/l. The slope of the straight line tangential to the exponential part of the extraction curve gave a copper solubilisation rate of 1.1 g/l per day. This suggests that a copper extraction of 95 % for the period of bioleach test of 13.6 days may be attained in a three-stage bioreactor system

Combined vitamin silage as supplement in the dairy cows feeding

Tokom četiri proizvodne godine (2011-2014), analizirani su reproduktivni pokazatelji iz 123 laktacije 46 umatičenih grla i to 79 laktacija od 30 krava holštajnske rase i 44 laktacija od 16 krava simentalske rase, na dva porodična gazdinstva. Krave su hranjene uz dodatak različitih količina vitaminskih silaža COMBO-VIT-SIL®. Silaže su na bazi šargarepe, tri vrste bundeve i cele biljke kukuruza, svežeg repinog rezanca ili klipa kukuruza. Prva proizvodna godina, 2011. godina, uzeta je kao kontrolna, jer tada nije korišćena vitaminska silaža u ishrani krava. Najveći sadržaj β-karotina utvrđen je u silaži šargarepe i muskatne bundeve: 391,65 mg/kg suve materije. Upotrebom vitaminskih silaža u našem ogledu, postignut je porast prosečnog prinosa mleka, na farmi holštajnske rase, za 1,101 kg , a na farmi simentalske rase za 29 kg, (p>0,05). Prosečan indeks VO smanjen je kod krava holštajnske rase od oko 3,38 doza, na 2,42±1,80 doza, a kod krava simentalske rase od 1,60±1,35 na 1,40±1,26 doza. Servis period je na farmi krava holštajnske rase bio značajno kraći uz silaže sa vitaminskom bundevom (p<0,01), u odnosu na kontrolnu grupu, a na farmi krava simentalske rase, uz dodatak silaže sa muskatnom bundevom, u odnosu na dodatak silaže sa šargarepom (p<0,05). Uz pomenuto, značajno je skraćen i normalizovan međutelidbeni interval, kod krava holštajnske rase od 427±74 dana, na 372±17 dana, a kod krava simentalske rase od 480±124 dana, na 364±38 dana.During four consecutive productive years (2011-2014) reproductive parameters of 123 lactations from 46 cows on two family farms were monitored and analyzed (79 lactations in 30 Holstein and 44 lactations in 16 cows of Simmental breed). Cows were fed with the addition of different amount of vitamin silages COMBO-VIT-SIL®. Silages were produced from, carrot, three different types of pumpkins, whole corn, sugar beet pulp or corn cob with grain. The #irst production year (2011) was taken as a control; animals were fed corn silage during that year. The highest amount of β-carotene was determined in the silage of carrot and Muscat pumpkin (391.65 mg/kg of DM). By the use of vitamin silages in our study average milk yield was higher for 1.101 kg in Holstein and for 29 kg (p>0.05). Average days until #irst arti#icial insemination was shorter for vitamin silages (p<0.01), as well as for silages with Muscat pumpkin ad as well as for the carrot silage (p<0.05). Average insemination index in Holstein supplemented with vitamin silage was lower (2.42±1.80 doses compared to the control 3.38); similarly it was lower in Simmental cows fed vitamin silages 1.40±1.26 versus 1.6±1.35 doses in control. Beside mentioned, intercalving interval was shortened in both Holstein (from 427±74 on 372±17 days) and Simmental cows (from 480±124 on 364±38 days)

Factors of success and motivation of rural entrepreneurship in Eastern Serbia

This study examines success factors and motivation of entrepreneurs in the rural areas of the Eastern Serbia. The survey of the eighty entrepreneurs in the two municipalities has been conducted on the Zaječar district territory, and it included 14 villages. The weak economy, the depopulation process and the lack of financial sources are identified as problems, while the hard work and the quality of the products (services) are crucial success factors. On the other hand, political involvement had the lowest significance as the success factor. The results also indicate that the strongest motivators of the researched entrepreneurs were to be one's own boss and to increase one's own income

American foreign policy at the crossroads: Between idealism and realism, informal and formal empire, unilateralism and multilateralism

This article compares and contrasts current U.S. "war on terrorism" and proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons (NBC’s) with the general U.S. foreign policy during the Cold-War and post-Cold War eras. The focus is primarily on a growing dilemma - "informal" or "formal" American empire - that rises from unprecedented asymmetry in military power between the United States and its closest followers. Also, this article analyzes the role of non-material elements of power (so-called soft power) and reviews recent views regarding the "unilateralism-multilateralism dichotomy" in American foreign policy. The author demonstrates that the "war on terrorism" and proliferation of NBC’s weapons show that U.S. status as the only super-power is not simply a matter of resource availability and relative power. Military muscle is an essential requirement, but it does not itself secure that position. This is especially true for the status of an empire either "informal" or "formal."

International water disputes and cooperative responses to water stress

International fresh water resources now occupy a prominent position in international affairs and are recognized as a legitimate concern of conflict studies. Numerous scholars, policy-makers, and activists alike have suggested broadening use of the security concept beyond its traditional geo-political and military forms to also consider environmental threats that seriously jeopardize human well-being. This article analyzes conceptual and theoretical arguments that have been made for the management of international environmental issues - such as, for instance, water disputes over international fresh water resources (rivers). Although the above assumptions about water conflict seem to be illuminating, there has been need of a more detailed explanation and understanding of cooperation over international rivers. However, the very conceptions of conflict and cooperation are ambiguous, and, not very convincingly handled in the literature. In contrast to conflict, cooperation - the main subject in this inquiry - receives less analytic attention, and, consequently, it is less understood as a concept. This study suggests a three-fold typology of cooperation: voluntary, induced, and imposed cooperation

Observation method in marketing research

In this paper, the key features of observation, as a specific research method that is used to research various social phenomena (including business and marketing), have been considered. The study focuses on the advantages and drawbacks of this method during its application. Also, an observation method is compared to the other methods to collect data, especially to survey which uses recognizable measurement instruments (questionnaire and interview, first of all). This analysis has shown that observation, if it is conducted in a systematic way, may be a more objective method than the survey

Open burning and open detonation of explosives. Prediction of pollutant emissions

The paper presents a complex analysis of the presence of various pollutants (CO2, CO, NO, NO2, CH4, TNMH, C6H6) in the vicinity of sites intended for open burning and open detonation of explosives. Previously obtained data (measured field data on a representative sample) regarding the emission factors of pollutants originating from different types of explosives have been used. To predict the atmospheric dispersion of reactive agents, the ADORA and ALOHA models were used. Comparative analysis was performed with computational and experimental data on the emission of detonation products using regression analysis of the obtained emission coefficients. The overall results show satisfactory values of correlation coefficients. The prediction power of used methods increased as follows: ADORA (the smallest error), ALOHA E/A (0.43) and ALOHA E/A 0.67