Business Ethics in Transition Countries – Cluster Analysis of Behavior and Attitudes

The aim of this article is to obtain a better understanding of people’s attitudes toward ethical issues. We explored four ethics issues: (1) attitude on ethical issues in general, (2) information manipulation, (3) environmental issues, and (4) law issues. This study examines variation in attitudes toward ethical issues based on data collected from questionnaire survey. The data set is composed of people who participated in the survey. Although firms were randomly selected to participate in the survey, it is not clear to what extent they apply to the population as a whole; this would be a useful further study. In order to study variation we used cluster analysis that revealed that people could be divided into three clusters, with distinctive demographic, economic and attitudinal traits for each cluster. Results could be useful both to policy makers at the government level, and to managers that are worried that low sensitivity toward ethical issues could influence firm’s performance.ethics, information manipulation, cluster analysis

Analiza faktora kredibiliteta unutar funkcije povjerenja

U akademskim krugovima razvija se nova paradigma menadžmenta sa povjerenjem kao temeljnom postavkom poslovanja u 21. stoljeću. Povjerenje je postalo žarište istraživanja kao mehanizam kontrole, alternativa autoritetu i odgovor oportunizmu jer specifični oblici dugoročne suradnje osiguravaju prednost koja se ne može realizirati na tržištu putem kratkoročne orijentacije i oportunističkog ponašanja. Proliferacija literature o ulozi povjerenja u suvremenim organizacijama ostavlja otvorenim pitanje kakva se psihička realnost krije iza pojma povjerenja, stoga je u teorijskom dijelu rada opisan fenomen povjerenja, dinamika i funkcija povjerenja kako bi se potom ekstenzivno analizirao kredibilitet unutar funkcije povjerenja. U empirijskom dijelu rada su analizirane interpersonalne relacije između razina menadžmenta s ciljem identificiranja faktora kredibiliteta unutar funkcije povjerenja. Analizirana je uloga i međuovisnost procijenjene sposobnosti, benevolencije i integriteta odnosno faktora kredibiliteta na ponašanje nižih razina menadžmenta. Istraživanje je provedeno u velikim hrvatskim poduzećima, a primijenjena je metoda modeliranja strukturne jednadžbe

STRATEŠKA ULOGA USLUŽNOG PONAŠANJA MENADŽERA ZA OSTVARIVANJE KORPORACIJSKOG GRAĐANSTVA

Corporate citizenship is defined as the establishment and management of company’s influence on the society in a way that benefits for the company and society are realized at the same time. De facto corporate citizenship represents responsibility for social action and action in the local community, which reflects on the reputation and business results in a long-term time perspective, thus providing an additional impetus for further activities. The fundamental postulate of stewardship theory is that managers always act in such a way to maximize the interests of a company and contemporary business environment is forcing management towards ethically responsible, innovative, but profitable businesses. Therefore, the strategic role of managerial stewardship behaviour is hypothesised as support for the realization of corporate citizenship. It is assumed that achieving a win-win situation for all stakeholders and aligning the interests of organization and society will be somewhat difficult in organizations where there is incongruity in stewardship behaviour between top management and lower level management, what is confirmed by the structural equation modelling in empirical research on large Croatian companies.Korporacijsko građanstvo definirano je kao uspostavljanje i upravljanje utjecajima korporacije na društvo i to tako da se istovremeno ostvaruju koristi za korporaciju i društvo. Korporacijsko građanstvo zapravo predstavlja odgovornost za društveno djelovanje i za djelovanje na lokalnu zajednicu, što se odražava na reputaciju i na poslovne rezultate korporacije u dugoročnoj vremenskoj perspektivi uz osiguravanje dodatnih poticaja za daljnja djelovanja. Osnovni postulat teorije uslužnosti jest da se menadžeri uvijek ponašaju tako da maksimiraju interese korporacije, a suvremeni uvjeti poslovanja orijentiraju menadžment prema etički odgovornom, inovativnom, ali i profitabilnom poslovanju. Stoga je postavljena hipoteza o strateškoj ulozi uslužnoga ponašanja menadžera za ostvarivanje korporacijskoga građanstva. Pretpostavlja se da će ostvarivanje win-win situacije za sve interesno-utjecajne skupine i povezivanje interesa korporacije i društva biti znatno otežano ako u korporaciji postoji razlika u stupnju uslužnoga ponašanja vrhovnoga i nižih razina menadžmenta, a to je potvrđeno metodom modeliranja strukturne jednadžbe u empirijskom istraživanju velikih hrvatskih poduzeća

STRATEGIC DIRECTION OF MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS IN HYPERCOMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT

The paper brings together current knowledge on multinational corporations\u27 strategic orientations displayed in hypercompetitive environment. Competitive dynamics is a phenomenon that is becoming more evident in many industries, even in those which were considered relatively stable until recently. There has been an alternation in the competitive conditions in various industries, visible through a sudden increase in competitive activity, greater variability in the profitability of the industry, as well as in noticeable changes in market shares. The main point of this paper is to highlight that even the largest and most successful MNCs experience different internationalization paths and paces. The complexity of MNCs regarding the multiple geographical markets and the dispersed activities within the firm often renders centralized management models ineffective and inefficient. The acknowledgement of the increased relevance of foreign subsidiaries and the observation that some subsidiaries take over strategic roles within the MNC led to a conceptualization of the MNC as a network in hypercompetitive environment

Važnost međukulturoloških barijera u organizacijskoj komunikaciji

In global, multinational or multicultural organizations, cross-cultural communication barriers can have a significant effect on the efficiency of organizational communication. Communication barriers can consequently lead to conflicts within organization, the creation of various power groups, misunderstandings with stakeholders and profit loss. The aim of this paper is to present how language differences, nonverbal misinterpretations, assumption of similarity, preconceptions and stereotypes, tendency to evaluate and high anxiety affect managers and employees in cross-cultural context. Developing intercultural competences is regarded as the solution to overcoming the abovementioned barriers, and the role of education, emotional intelligence and the development of reliable digital tools is emphasized.U globalnim, multinacionalnim ili multikulturalnim organizacijama, međukulturalne komunikacijske barijere mogu imati značajan učinak na učinkovitost organizacijske komunikacije. Komunikacijske barijere posljedično mogu dovesti do sukoba unutar organizacije, stvaranja različitih grupa moći, nesporazuma s dionicima i gubitka dobiti. Cilj ovog rada je prikazati kako razlike u jeziku odnosno verbalnoj komunikaciji, pogrešne interpretacije neverbalne komunikacije, pretpostavke sličnosti, predrasude i stereotipi, sklonost procjeni i visoka anksioznost utječu na menadžere i zaposlenike u međukulturalnom kontekstu. Razvijanje interkulturalnih kompetencija smatra se rješenjem za prevladavanje navedenih prepreka, a ističe se uloga obrazovanja, emocionalne inteligencije i razvoja pouzdanih digitalnih alata

Impact of crisis situations on development of business continuity management in Croatia

The study focused on the influences of different crises situations on development of business continuity management. Empirical study was conducted in Croatian companies via quantitative research. Hypothesized model for development of business continuity management was tested. Crisis situation was measured as a composite variable based on three elements: recovery time period, impact on corporate profits and amount of operations affected by the crisis. Correlation between crisis situations and development of business continuity management indicated that the increase of the risk of a crisis situation will increase the degree of development of business continuity management. Furthermore, strategic and operational risks influence more on development of business continuity management than natural disasters. Also, unintended risks influence the business continuity management development more than intentional risks. The second part of the research focused on the influence of likelihood of recurrence of the crisis situation on the development of business continuity management. The relationship between likelihood of crises recurrence and business continuity management development was not determined. The main contribution of the research lies in modelling business continuity management development related to different crises situations and likelihood of crises recurrence

Subsidiary contribution to the MNC – impact of strategic initiatives Najla Podruga

The purpose of this paper is to investigate subsidiary strategic initiatives in the light of dynamic headquarters-subsidiary relations. The study is based on cross-sectional questionnaire survey data from 105 subsidiary top managers in subsidiaries located in Europe, Asia, and the USA within the ICT industry. The assumption of similar behavior by subsidiaries in the same industry is a sufficient motive for concentration on single industry. Theoretical contribution is reflected in the testing of models in subsidiaries within single rapidly growing turbulent industry that is abundant with hyper-competition and competitive dynamics, and where strategic initiatives are fundamental for survival, and by modeling variables in a different way than previously explored. Furthermore, the additional contribution is reflected in the conceptual model of the interdependence of subsidiaries and MNC in the process of subsidiary strategic initiatives, and besides providing a new perspective in this area, provides a framework for future research. The obtained results show that subsidiary networking and autonomy have a significant impact on subsidiary strategic initiatives whereas top management support and subsidiary innovativeness have no impact on the same variable. The results show that subsidiary strategic initiatives have a significant impact on its contribution to the multinational corporation (MNC)

Analysis of cultural differences between Croatia, Brazil, Germany and Serbia

In the context of globalisation process and the growth of economical interdependence between countries, national culture is becoming more and more important. The article presents comparative analysis of national cultures. Empirical research was conducted during 2012 in Croatia, Brazil, Germany, Serbia and Spain while results for Spain were used for standardisation purposes. Estimated positions on the dimensions of national cultures (power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism/collectivism, masculinity/femininity and long versus short-term orientation) were done by using a narrow-sample strategy. The ranking of the countries from Hofstede’s original research was confirmed in all dimensions with the exception of uncertainty avoidance for Croatia and Brazil. The most significant change is the move from collectivism towards individualism in Brazil, Croatia and Serbia which confirms Hofstede’s assumption about a cultural change towards individualism as a consequence of global economic growth

Business Ethics in Transition Countries – Cluster Analysis of Behavior and Attitudes

The aim of this article is to obtain a better understanding of people’s attitudes toward ethical issues. We explored four ethics issues: (1) attitude on ethical issues in general, (2) information manipulation, (3) environmental issues, and (4) law issues. This study examines variation in attitudes toward ethical issues based on data collected from questionnaire survey. The data set is composed of people who participated in the survey. Although firms were randomly selected to participate in the survey, it is not clear to what extent they apply to the population as a whole; this would be a useful further study. In order to study variation we used cluster analysis that revealed that people could be divided into three clusters, with distinctive demographic, economic and attitudinal traits for each cluster. Results could be useful both to policy makers at the government level, and to managers that are worried that low sensitivity toward ethical issues could influence firm’s performance

MEĐUKULTUROLOŠKA ADAPTACIJA HRVATSKIH EKSPATRIJATA

This study attempts to distinguish psychological and sociocultural forms of adjustment during the process of cross-cultural transitions. It will show how culture shock is influenced by personality of Croatian expatriates, what the influential factors are and how is going socio- and psychocultural adjustment on the new culture. Results from empirical data indicate that there are clear differences between some of demographic factors and cross-cultural adaptation. Gender shows signifi cant difference in a relation to critical thinking which is a part of psychological adjustment. Education level shows differences among socio-cultural adaptation overall score, behavioral adaptation, openness and critical thinking. Monthly income has an impact on flexibility. Length of stay shows differences in a relation to emotional regulation and critical thinking. On the other hand cognitive adaptation correlates with critical thinking.Cilj istraživanja je identificirati psihološke i socio-kulturološke oblike prilagodbe u procesu među-kulturološke tranzicije. Utvrdit će se kako je kulturološki šok uvjetovan osobnošću hrvatskih ekspatrijata, koji su faktori utjecaja i kako se odvija proces socijalne i psihološke prilagodbe novog kulturi. Rezultati empirijskog istraživanja potvrđuju značajne razlike između demografskih obilježja i među-kulturološke adaptacije. Identificirane su razlike između muškaraca i žena za kritičko razmišljanje što predstavlja dio psihološke prilagodbe. Stupanj obrazovanja također utječe na ukupno socio-kulturološku adaptaciju, adaptaciju ponašanja, otvorenost i kritičko razmišljanje. Primanja su također povezana s fleksibilnošću. Vrijeme boravka je povezano s emocionalnom regulacijom i kritičkim razmišljanjem, a kognitivna adaptacija korelira s kritičnim razmišljanjem