Examining determinants of entrepreneurial intentions in Slovenia: applying the theory of planned behaviour and an innovative cognitive style

The aim of this paper is to present research on determinants of entrepreneurial intentions through the framework of the theory of planned behaviour and an individual innovative cognitive style. By employing the theory of planned behaviour, the authors evaluate how personal attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control can affect one’s intentions to become an entrepreneur. Additionally, the innovative cognitive style is tested as a potentially significant determinant of entrepreneurial intentions. A questionnaire survey was done using the sample of 330 bachelor and master students in economics and business from Slovenia. Research propositions were tested using linear hierarchical regression modelling. The results suggest that personal attitudes towards entrepreneurship, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control are positively related to one’s entrepreneurial intentions. The innovative cognitive style has also been found to be significant in creating one’s intention to become an entrepreneur. The paper extends the current knowledge on entrepreneurial intentions by analysing the exclusive and mutual influence of different factors recognised by the theory of planned behaviour and the innovative cognitive style on entrepreneurial intentions, as well as providing useful insights into antecedents of entrepreneurial intentions in the Slovenian context

Data mining approach to internal fraud in a project-based organization

Data mining is an efficient methodology for uncovering and extracting information from large databases, which is widely used in different areas, e.g., customer relation management, financial fraud detection, healthcare management, and manufacturing. Data mining has been successfully used in various fraud detection and prevention areas, such as credit card fraud, taxation fraud, and fund transfer fraud. However, there are insufficient researches about the usage of data mining for fraud related to internal control. In order to increase awareness of data mining usefulness in internal control, we developed a case study in a project-based organization. We analyze the dataset about working-hour claims for projects, using two data mining techniques: chi-square automatic interaction detection (CHAID) decision tree and link analysis, in order to describe characteristics of fraudulent working-hour claims and to develop a model for automatic detection of potentially fraudulent ones. Results indicate that the following characteristics of the suspected working-hours claim were the most significant: sector of the customer, origin and level of expertise of the consultant, and cost of the consulting services. Our research contributes to the area of internal control supported by data mining, with the goal to prevent fraudulent working-hour claims in project-based organizations

Digital Transformation in European Union: North is leading, and South is lagging behind

The transformation of the economy into a digital environment has become a necessary step in recent years. The consequences of the COVID pandemic have accelerated the digital transformation and the growth of the digital economy. Intensive business engagement in the digital economy requires innovative digital solutions and online means of promotion and sale. European Union (EU) countries need to create the conditions for the gradual transformation. The paper analyses business readiness for the digital economy in EU countries. It aims to compare and assess the current situation of digital readiness based on the set of selected indicators. The analysis includes a multidimensional comparison of EU countries, classification based on cluster analysis, and ranking based on factor analysis results. Results show significant differences among EU countries. Newer member countries, mostly from South-Eastern Europe, are still lagging behind the EU average in e-Commerce activities, usage of social networks, and cloud computing. Furthermore, factor analysis has been conducted to determine underlining factors describing the overall digital readiness of EU countries and rank them accordingly. As well as in the cluster analysis, factor analysis revealed that Nordic EU member countries perform very well and show the highest digital readiness

Digital Transformation in European Union: North is leading, and South is lagging behind

The transformation of the economy into a digital environment has become a necessary step in recent years. The consequences of the COVID pandemic have accelerated the digital transformation and the growth of the digital economy. Intensive business engagement in the digital economy requires innovative digital solutions and online means of promotion and sale. European Union (EU) countries need to create the conditions for the gradual transformation. The paper analyses business readiness for the digital economy in EU countries. It aims to compare and assess the current situation of digital readiness based on the set of selected indicators. The analysis includes a multidimensional comparison of EU countries, classification based on cluster analysis, and ranking based on factor analysis results. Results show significant differences among EU countries. Newer member countries, mostly from South-Eastern Europe, are still lagging behind the EU average in e-Commerce activities, usage of social networks, and cloud computing. Furthermore, factor analysis has been conducted to determine underlining factors describing the overall digital readiness of EU countries and rank them accordingly. As well as in the cluster analysis, factor analysis revealed that Nordic EU member countries perform very well and show the highest digital readiness

Simulation Modelling Approach to Human Resources Management: Burnout Effect Case Study

Human resources management has become one of the most important leverages in organizations for gaining competitive advantage. However, human resources management is in many occasions prone to nonlinear feedbacks with delayed effect. Burnout effect is one of the problems that are especially often faced by the experts in learning society. Burnout effect occurs because modern society is a fast-moving, achievement-oriented, very competitive and lead to many stressful situations, which individuals cannot handle always. We propose usage of system dynamics methodology in exploration of burnout effect, and its usage in learning of consequences of burnout effect. Several experiments have been conducted and presented which indicate increase and collapse behaviour in case of burnout experience by the individual. Experiments with the model explore the presence of burnout effect in several different situations, with different pace of its manifestations

Gender perspective on entrepreneurial intentions and innovation cognitive style: cross-country study

A number of researchers indicate that although environmental and personal characteristics are important for developing entrepreneurial intentions, a better understanding would be gained if innovative cognitive style, as a moderating factor, would be introduced. According to theory, individuals with high innovative cognitive ability could also have higher entrepreneurial intentions. Persons that are more innovative, could have higher selfconfidence in starting a business, especially if they are not satisfied with their current jobs, or expect that they will not be satisfied as employees in organizations. In addition, in a number of studies it has been found that there are unresolved issues regarding gender and entrepreneurial intensions and gender and innovative cognitive style. Therefore, the goal of our paper is to explore gender perspective on entrepreneurial intentions and innovative cognitive style on the sample of students from Croatia, Slovenia, India, Hungary and Hong Kong. Logistic regression revealed that entrepreneurial intentions are determined by country of origin, gender,attitudes toward entrepreneurship (personal attraction, social norms, and perceived self-efficacy), and innovative cognitive style (willingness to try, being opinion leader and solving ambiguities and problems)

Using Data Mining to Improve Decision-Making: Case Study of A Recommendation System Development

This study aims to provide a practical perspective on how data mining techniques are used in the home appliance after-sales services. Study investigates on how can a recommendation system help a customer service company that plans to use data mining to improve decision making during its digital transformation process. In addition, study provides a detailed outline on the process for developing and analyzing platforms to improve data analytics for such companies

Key competences of information systems project managers

Project managers have a main role in all kinds of projects, and information systems (IS) projects are not an exception. In order to perform their activities well, project managers need to develop several complementary competences, including technical, contextual and behavioral competences. In literature we find important references on the project managers' general competences as, for instance, the ICB from IPMA. However, very little attention has been paid to the eventually distinctive features of IS project managers. In order to identify the most important competences of these project managers, we carried out a questionnaire-based survey. The results show that the top 12 competences are: communication; engagement and motivation; project requirements and objectives; leadership; reliability; results orientation; conflict and crisis; project orientation; teamwork; interested parties; resilience (emerging as a new competence); and ethics. Furthermore, results indicated that the project management bodies of knowledge are suitable to characterize the IS project manager's competences.- (undefined

Measuring the impact of board characteristics on the performance of Croatian insurance companies

With the intention to analyze the effects of different board characteristics on the insurance companies’ performance, this research article explores the impact of board gender diversity and size on the performance of the insurance companies in Croatia. It analyzes the impact of characteristics of both boards, the board of directors and the supervisory board on corporate performance. The analysis, conducted using dynamic panel model, covers all insurance companies in Croatia operating in the 2007–2013 period. The main findings suggest that gender diversity at the top positions is not critical for financial success. Specifically, it is established that women acting as presidents of supervisory board deteriorate insurer’s performance measured by return on assets (ROA). This is also the case when more women are present in the board of directors. Moreover, the findings of the model measuring performance by both ROA and return on equity demonstrate that financial performance of insurance companies is negatively influenced by the number of members of the board of directors. The article upgrades the existing research by providing new support for the effects of board structure on performance in insurance industry, with specific reference to effects of gender diversity. Moreover, this study extends the existing literature in this field by introducing two corporate governance mechanisms in the analysis, that is, both the board of directors and the supervisory board. Furthermore, it is, to the authors knowledge, the first attempt to describe the effects of diversity in terms of gender on performance in the insurance sector

An Empirical Review of the Internet Technology Application in Large Croatian Companies

The modern information-communication technologies, as the Internet and World Wide Web (WWW) facilitate new approaches to promote companies and improving sell their products and services. This paper presents an empirical review of the Internet application in the 100 large Croatian companies. The companies with the Internet access and the content of their Web sites were analysed. The aim of the survey was to find out the extent the Croatian firms have recognised the advantage of the Internet and electronic commerce and to point out the factors that can influence it.electronic commerce, e-mail, Internet, large Croatian companies, WWW