DEVELOPMENT OF FRANCHISING IN CROATIA OBSTACLES AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

Franchising is very popular growth model but despite the wide application of franchising in the developed countries of the world, its impact on the Croatian economy is still marginal. The purpose of this research is to identify the obstacles and challenges to a wider application of franchising in Croatia and generate policy recommendations for removing the identified obstacles. Obstacles and recommendations are identified on the basis of a conducted longitudinal qualitative research, the first phase of which was conducted in 2006, and second in 2014. The overall results of this research were presented in a form of PEST analysis and compared with the results of the 2006 research aiming to detect changes (improvements/ deterioration) in individual areas of the research political, economic, legal and technologic factors of influence on the development of franchising in Croatia. Based on the detected changes, conclusions and policy recommendations were identified.The obstacles can be divided in two categories: franchising specific barriers and general business related obstacles for doing business in Croatia. Without removing most of these obstacles, it is unrealistic to expect high growth of franchising activities in Croatia in near future

Business models of micro businesses: Empirical evidence from creative industries

Business model describes how a business identifies and creates value for customers and how it organizes itself to capture some of this value in a profitable manner. Previous studies of business models in creative industries have only recently identified the unresolved issues in this field of research. The main objective of this article is to analyse the structure and diversity of business models and to deduce how these components interact or change in the context of micro and small businesses in creative services such as advertising, architecture and design. The article uses a qualitative approach. Case studies and semi-structured, in-depth interviews with six owners/managers of micro businesses in Croatia provide rich data. Structural coding in data analysis has been performed manually. The qualitative analysis has indicative relevance for the assessment and comparison of business models, however, it provides insights into which components of business models seem to be consolidated and which seem to contribute to the diversity of business models in creative industries. The article contributes to the advancement of empirical evidence and conceptual constructs that might lead to more advanced methodological approaches and proposition of the core typologies or classifications of business models in creative industries. In addition, a more detailed mapping of different choices available in managing value creation, value capturing or value networking might be a valuable help for owners/managers who want to change or cross-fertilize their business models

ULOGA SREDNJEG STRUKOVNOG OBRAZOVANJA U RAZVOJU PODUZETNIČKIH KOMPETENCIJA UČENIKA

Entrepreneurship is defined as one of key lifelong competences and it represents ability to turn ideas into real projects. As such, it includes creativity, initiative, taking responsibility, taking risks, planning and managing projects. The development of entrepreneurial competences via formal education has become a priority for governments of a large number of European countries. Many EU documents emphasize the importance of investing into education that focuses on the development of entrepreneurial competences, as it directly affects students’ employment. However, this guideline represents a new challenge for the educational system – the need to change educational programs and organize them so that they influence the development of entrepreneurial competences, which enables students to become more employable and to cope with uncertainty, complexity and dynamics of the labor market. High unemployment rate of young people and challenges and demands of the labor market have led to a debate about the effectiveness and efficiency of educational programs at all levels. In this context, effectiveness and quality of vocational education and training (VET) are particularly important, since most vocational school students, after finishing secondary level, will not continue towards tertiary education, but will rather find themselves on the labor market. Therefore, vocational education should focus on the development of such skills (generic competences and vocational qualifications) that will correspond to the needs of the labor market, thus enabling easier and faster employment. The main purpose of this paper is to determine the extent to which vocational education contributes to development of students’ entrepreneurial competences. The data used in this paper comes from a survey that covered 1272 students from 15 secondary vocational schools in Osijek-Baranja County, one of the most underdeveloped regions in Croatia. The analysis of the results has shown that there is a positive correlation between extracurricular activities and entrepreneurial environment with the level of students’ entrepreneurial competences. No correlation between the formal educational program and the level of entrepreneurial competences has been found. The findings of this research may serve as the basis for the development of vocational education programs that would include and meet the labor market demands, thus increasing students’ employability.Poduzetništvo je definirano kao jedna od osam kompetencija cjeloživotnog obrazovanja, a održava sposobnost pojedinca da svoje ideje pretvori u stvarne projekte. Kao takvo, poduzetništvo predstavlja kreativnost, inovativnost, preuzimanje odgovornosti, preuzimanje rizika, planiranje i upravljanje projektima. Razvoj poduzetničkih kompetencija kroz formalno obrazovanje postaje jedno od strateških prioriteta za sve veći broj europskih zemalja. Mnogi europski dokumenti naglašavaju važnost ulaganja u obrazovni program koji će se fokusirati na razvoj poduzetničkih kompetencija, obzirom da upravo one direktno utječu na zapošljivost učenika i studenata. Međutim, to stavlja značajan izazov pred edukacijski sustav – potrebno je promijeniti edukacijske programe i usmjeriti ih prema razvoju poduzetničkih kompetencija koje će učenicima i studentima omogućiti da budu zapošljiviji i osnažiti ih za djelovanje u nesigurnim, kompleksnim i dinamičnim uvjetima na tržištu rada. Visoka nezaposlenost mladih ljudi kao i izazovi i potrebe tržišta rada sve češće dovode do rasprave o efikasnosti i kvaliteti obrazovnih programa na svim nivoima. U tom su kontekstu, efikasnost i kvaliteta strukovnog obrazovanja od posebnog značaja obzirom da se većina učenika, nakon završetka strukovnog srednjoškolskog obrazovanja, neće odlučiti za fakultet nego će se naći na tržištu rada. Zbog toga bi se, strukovno obrazovanje, trebalo fokusirati na razvoj onih vještina (opće i strukovne kvalifikacije) koje će odgovarati potrebama tržišta rada i omogućiti jednostavnije i brže zapošljavanje. Cilj ovoga rada je istražiti u kojoj su mjeri učenici strukovnih škola Osječko-baranjske županije po završetku srednjoškolskog obrazovanja pripremljeni za poduzetničko ponašanje. Ukupan uzorak ispitanika sastojao se je od 1272 učenika iz petnaest strukovnih srednjih škola Osječko-baranjske županije, jedne od najnerazvijenijih hrvatskih regija. Analiza rezultata pokazala je da postoji pozitivna korelacija između praktičnih izvannastavnih aktivnosti i okruženosti poduzetnicima s razinom razvijenosti poduzetničkih vještina kod studenata. Takva veza s obrazovnim sustavom nije utvrđena. Rezultati istraživanja mogu poslužiti kao temelj za razvoj strukovnog obrazovanja koji će u svoje programe implementirati potrebe tržišta rada i tako povećati zapošljivost mladih ljudi

The Concept of Entrepreneurship Education – The Case of International Centre for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Josip Juraj Strossmayer in Osijek

Poduzetničko obrazovanje je područje rastućega interesa na sveučilištima, poslovnim i javnim školama širom svijeta. Najvažnija uloga poduzetničkoga obrazovanja je razvijanje poduzetničkih vještina, ponašanja i osobina, koji će pojedincima osigurati snalaženje u uvjetima velike nesigurnosti i kompleksnosti uvjetovane pritiscima globalizacije na društvo, organizaciju i pojedinca. Unatoč tome, među teoretičarima ovog područja još uvijek ne postoji konsenzus oko koncepta poduzetničkoga obrazovanja, što dovodi do različitih shvaćanja o tome što bi trebao biti cilj poduzetničkoga obrazovanja, kako se organizira, kojim metodama i pedagogijom se služi te tko je kompetentan i tko treba sudjelovati u izvođenju programa. Pojava sve većeg broja poduzetničkih programa generirala je čitav niz važnih pitanja čiji odgovori omogućuju definiranje okosnice sadržaja, izvedbe i organizacijskog pozicioniranja poduzetničkoga obrazovanja. U ovom radu analizirani su razvoj i pozicioniranost poduzetničkih programa na Sveučilištu J. J. Strossmayera u Osijeku koji se razvijaju u okviru Međunarodnog centra za poduzetničke studije (ICES – International Centre for Entrepreneurial Studies).There is a growing interest at universities, business schools, and public schools all over the world in entrepreneurship education. The most important role of entrepreneurship education is developing entrepreneurial skills, behaviours and qualities that will help individuals cope with highly uncertain and complex environment caused by globalization pressures on the society, organizations and individuals. However, there is still no consensus among the scholars in this field about the concept of entrepreneurship education, which leads to different ideas about what the goal of entrepreneurship education should be, how to organise it, which teaching methods to use, and who is competent and who should participate in the implementation of the programme. Introduction of an increasing number of entrepreneurial programmes has generated a number of important questions which, once answered, will help define the content, and assist in the implementation and organisational positioning of entrepreneurship education within an organisation. This paper analyses the development and positioning of entrepreneurial programmes developed at the International Centre for Entrepreneurial Studies (ICES) of J. J. Strossmayer University in Osijek

IS THERE A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FINANCIAL LITERACY, CAPITAL STRUCTURE AND COMPETITIVENESS OF SMEs?

The importance of financial market development for the economic development and competitiveness of a country is reflected in capital towards those investments that have the highest returns, thus ensuring liquidity and efficient grouping of enterprises, that is, risk-taking. Efficient risk-taking is primarily reflected in the availability of a large number of sources of funding, which allow enterprises freedom when forming their capital structure. Enterprises that do not have a large number of sources of funding at their disposal have to resort to debt financing when forming their capital structure, which ultimately means excessive financial vulnerability. Financial vulnerability, especially in times of the financial crisis, when fluctuations in the cost of capital are very high, reduces investment, growth and employment in the long-term. Small and medium-sized enterprises in the Croatian underdeveloped financial market must resort to borrowing, as the most readily available source of funding. Analysing the process of decision-making about capital structure on a sample of 108 small and medium-sized enterprises, it was observed that enterprises whose capital structure is less dependent on debt achieve better financial results and growth. The process of making financial decisions in those companies is in the hands of owners and/or managers and consultants with knowledge about the advantages and disadvantages of individual sources of funding. Financial knowledge is one of the most important determinants of the capital structure that will enable the growth and development of the small and medium-sized enterprise sector, as well as greater competitiveness of enterprises, regardless of size, activity, industry and the form of ownership of these enterprises.T-test and Levene’s test of equality of variances were used to investigate the relationship between the profitability of enterprises and their financial literacy

The micro- and small enterprises in creative professional services: a business model perspective

Advertising, architecture and design are perceived as an important subset of the creative industries and as having an increasing role in innovations and competitiveness of economies. However, issues such as identifying the underlying business model (BM) of the micro- and small enterprises in these industries, the manner in which BMs evolve or the degree to which their evolution is innovative remains unresolved. In the context of creative professional services (CPSs), an analysis of the six case studies involving microenterprises indicates a heterogeneity in designing BMs. Talented professionals, sophisticated management of human resources and creativity processes as well as trustworthy partners are considered generic components of value creation, whereas personalized relationships with customers are a generic component of value delivery in advertising, architecture and design. In addition, the findings indicate that microenterprises in advertising, architecture and design have a capacity to differentiate themselves from the rest of the competition through creation of complex and radical changes in their BMs. Santrauka Reklama, architektūra ir dizainas suvokiami kaip svarbus kūrybinių industrijų pogrupis, kurio vaidmuo auga inovacijų ir ekonominio konkurencingumo srityse. Vis dėlto tokie klausimai, kaip šių industrijų mikro- ir mažųjų įmonių pagrindinio verslo modelio nustatymas, būdas, kuriuo plėtojamas verslo modelio ar laipsnis, ties kuriuo jų evoliucija yra inovatyvi, lieka neišspręsti. Kūrybos profesionalų paslaugų kontekste pateikta šešių atvejo studijų tyrimų analizė, apimanti mikroįmones, reiškia heterogeniškumą projektuojant verslo modelius. Talentingi profesionalai, iškreipta žmogiškųjų išteklių vadyba ir kūrybiškumo procesai, taip pat patikimi partneriai laikomi bendraisiais vertės kūrimo komponentais, o suasmeninti santykiai su vartotojais yra bendras vertės suteikimo komponentas reklamoje, architektūroje ir dizaine. Be to, tyrimas atskleidžia, kad reklamos, architektūros ir dizaino sričių mikroįmonės gali atsiskirti nuo likusios konkurencijos, darydamos sudėtingus ir radikalius jų verslo modelių pokyčius. Reikšminiai žodžiai: reklama, architektūra, verslo modelio pokyčiai, verslo modelio projektavimas, dizainas, vertės laimėjimas, vertės sukūrimas, vertės suteikimas, vertės siūlymas

From Ignoring to Leading Changes – What Role do Universities Play in Developing Countries? (Case of Croatia)

Koristeći model poduzetničkog sveučilišta, članak predstavlja glavne blokade (institucijska rigidnost sveučilišta, fragmentirana organizacija, nedostatak međusobnog povjerenja između poslovnog sektora i sveučilišta, nepostojanje stvarnih benchmarka, pravni okvir ne podržava otvaranje sveučilišta novim inicijativama) Triple Helix interakcijama u Hrvatskoj. Uspoređivanje identificiranih blokada s očekivanjima (višedimenzionalni kampus, suradnja s poslovnim sektorom i drugim stakeholderima u oblikovanju novih obrazovnih i istraživačkih programa) koje su izrazile ustanove visokog obrazovanja u razvijenim zemljama širom svijeta (EIU istraživanje iz 2008.) ukazuje na nove izazove za sveučilišta u zemljama u razvoju. Primjenom Triple Helix pristupa, koji nije ograničen na prostor unutar nacionalnih granica, već predstavlja priliku za međunarodno umrežavanje, ovi se izazovi mogu promatrati kao prilike, dok u suprotnom predstavljaju prijetnje. Na ljestvici ignoriranja, promatranja, sudjelovanja i vođenja pozitivnih promjena u svojem okruženju, u svrhu mjerenja vitalnosti Triple Helix interakcija, hrvatska se sveučilišta nalaze između pozicije ignoriranja i promatranja. Kako bi ih se pomaknulo prema vodećoj poziciji, neophodne su koordinirane i dosljedne politike kako bi se fokusiralo na uklanjanje identificiranih blokada. Sveučilišta trebaju preuzeti vodstvo u ovom procesu, jer u suprotnom gube vjerodostojnost kao poželjni partneri u razvijanju prostora za Triple Helix interakcije.Using the model of entrepreneurial university, the paper presents major blockages (university’s own institutional rigidity, fragmented organization, lack of mutual trust between the business sector and universities, no real benchmarks, legal framework not supportive of opening the university to new initiatives) in Triple Helix interactions in Croatia. Comparing identified blockages with expectations (multidimensional campus, cooperation with the business sector and other stakeholders in designing new educational and research programs) expressed by HEIs in developed countries around the world (2008 EIU survey) indicates new challenges for universities in developing countries. With Triple Helix approach, not confined within national borders, but as an international networking opportunity, these challenges can be seen as opportunities, otherwise they are threats. On the scale of ignoring, observing, participating and leading positive changes in its surroundings, for the purpose of measuring vitality of Triple Helix interactions, Croatian universities are located more between ignoring and observing position. To move them towards a leading position, coordinated and consistent policies are needed in order to focus on eliminating identified blockages. Universities should take the lead in this process; otherwise they are losing credibility as desired partners in developing space for Triple Helix interactions

TRIPLE HELIX EVALUATION: HOW TO TEST A NEW CONCEPT WITH OLD INDICATORS?

Koncept Triple Helix potiče aktere (sveučilište-vlada-gospodarstvo) na rad u otvorenom prostoru cirkulacije težnji, znanja i inovacija. Ovaj otvoreni prostor cirkulacije novost je (Dzisah & Etzkowitz, 2008.), koja zahtijeva duboko razumijevanje i njegovu internalizaciju kao osobnu i kolektivnu vrijednost gdje je suradnja izvor održivog uspjeha. Da bi se moglo procijeniti koliko Triple Helix kao novost u području društvene organizacije doprinosi sveopćem boljitku, potrebni su novi pokazatelji koji će biti konzistentni s ovim novim konceptualnim okvirom. U zadnjih 20 godina, Triple Helix se razvio u široko prihvaćen konceptualni okvir koji okuplja znanja, konsenzus i inovacije tri (ili četiri) glavna društvena aktera: sveučilište - vladu - gospodarstvo (i civilno društvo) i osigurava bolju kolijevku za društveni i ekonomski razvoj (Etzkowitz & Leydesdorff, 2000.). Ali pretvorba Triple Helix iz intuitivnog vodiča za kreatore politika i istraživače, u model društvene organizacije zahtijeva daljnji rad na identificiranju odnosa između glavnih aktera. Ovaj članak ispituje što postojeći indikatori mogu ponuditi Triple Helix konceptualnom okviru kako bi se testirali odnosi između glavnih aktera i identificirao najbolji mogući skup varijabli i pokazatelja za opisivanje tri glavna obilježja svakog aktera (stavovi, aktivnosti i težnje). Nije važno samo pronaći najbolje deskriptore ključnih obilježja glavnih aktera u Triple Helix konceptu, već i nanovo definirati način mjerenja očekivanih rezultata – što smatramo održivim uspjehom? Trebamo li se potruditi kako bi zamijenili BDP s pokazateljem blagostanja, indeksom sreće ili nečim trećim?Triple Helix concept encourages actors (university-government-industry) to work in an open space of circulation of aspirations, knowledge and innovation. This open space of circulation is a novelty (Dzisah&Etzkowitz, 2008), which requires deep understanding and internalizing as a personal and collective value where collaboration is a source of a sustainable success. To evaluate how much Triple Helix as a social organisation novelty is contributing to an overall prosperity, new indicators consistent with this new conceptual framework are needed. In last 20 years Triple Helix developed into a widely accepted conceptual framework which brings together knowledge, consensus and innovations of three (or four) major social actors: university - government - industry (and civil society) and provide better cradle for social and economic development (Etzkowitz&Leydesdorff, 2000). But the departure from Triple Helix as an intuitive guide for policy makers and researchers to a model of social organisation requires further work on identifying relations between major actors. This paper will carefully examine what existing rankings offer to the Triple Helix conceptual framework in order to test relations among major actors and to identify the best possible set of variables and indicators for describing three major attributes of each actor (attitudes, activities and aspirations). It is not only important to find the best fit of descriptors of crucial attributes of major actors in Triple Helix concept, but to challenge how to measure expected result – what we consider as a sustainable success? Should we make a major effort to replace GDP with wellbeing indicator, happiness index, or what

Starajoči se podjetniki in izzivi prenosa posla na Hrvaškem

Business transfer as a research topic awakened the interest of researchers in the past few decades. Business transfer is defined as a change of ownership of any firm to another person or legal entity assuring the continuous existence and commercial activity of the enterprise, and it encompasses different kinds of transfers both to family and non-family members. Ageing and consequently retirement are often mentioned as the reasons for entrepreneurs' exits from the companies and intention to initiate the business transfer process. A successful business transfer process is one of the key prerequisites for longterm sustainability of small and medium-sized enterprises. There is a significant number of ageing business owners in Croatia who will exit their companies in the coming years. Considering the number of these entrepreneurs and the influence their exits can have on company stakeholders and national economy in general, it is of great importance to better understand the factors that can influence the choice of their exit strategies. The aim of the paper is to provide an understanding of the dilemmas that the ageing entrepreneurs face when considering different exit modes. The data for the study was collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted with six ageing business owners. The analysis of the interviews enabled the identification of the challenges that ageing entrepreneurs face in the business transfer process: emotional attachment to the firm, strong preference for family succession and concerns about financial security after retirement. Some of these challenges are a result of the undeveloped business transfer ecosystem, strong tradition and cultural values that imply family succession as the only acceptable exit strategy for retiring company owners in Croatia