Functions and tasks of program management in media companies

The paper analyzes the position, functions and tasks of program management in media companies. Given the fact that programming media offer, as part of strategic planning, is the most important element in attracting and retaining audiences and advertisers, program management occupies one of the most important positions in modern media companies, both commercial and public. Depending on the size and organizational structure of media company, the program management constitutes a separate business unit, which, in addition to the program director, also employs a range of media experts responsible for selecting and evaluating quality of media content, researching needs and habits of media audiences, evaluating the broadcast contents, and continuous monitoring of the work of competing companies

BOOK REVIEW

Essentials of Modern Management Slavica Mitrović, Boban Melović, The Principles of Modern Management, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Novi Sad, 2013, pp.535. ISBN: 978-86-7892-487-

Business and corporate elites in Serbia

This paper discusses the issue of new business and corporate elites in Serbian society as one of the neglected aspects of two-decades-long social and economic transition away from the eyes of the general public. These elites haven't reached their status through typical channels of social mobility, such as education and achievements in professional work. In the struggle for capital allocation most of the business elites took advantage of the accelerated privatization of public property which took place in a climate of illegal business. The political establishment was in favor of the new business tycoons since they themselves also took advantage of the moment to convert their political power into the economic one. By devaluing public enterprises, selling them for a pittance and deceiving small shareholders massively, new corporate owners eroded the social capital. The society was impoverished and instead of developing it followed the path of antimodernization and peripheralization of the economy. That was a clear case of obstructing the democratic development of society by its elites. The majority of the new economic elite have originated from those social layers of the socialist era who had already possessed significant resources, economic, organizational and cultural capital, as well as political power. It can be argued that it was a transition without transformation, i.e. a process of 'remaking' the old establishment into a new elite. However, since the mid-nineties, the business and corporate elites have been penetrated by a new generation of business people, generally not related to the previous establishment. They accept the rules of doing business in a responsible manner. On the other hand, the state has found enough strength to start sanctioning transitional financial frauds and fraudsters from the closed circles of the current financial (pseudo) elite

Students’ Views on Vaccination against COVID-19 Virus and Trust in Media Information about the Vaccine: The Case of Serbia

Mass immunization of the citizens of the Republic of Serbia began in January 2021. Information on the significance, manner, advantages and consequences of this process was intensively distributed through all communication channels, with the media playing a key role. According to the data of the official institutions for the public health of Serbia, by July 2021 the lowest percentage of vaccinated population was among those between the ages of 18 and 24—only 15% of this demographic had received the vaccine by this point. Given the low turnout of young people for vaccination, in this paper we investigated the general attitude of students in Serbia, as a special category of young people, towards the vaccine against the COVID-19 virus, as well as their attitude regarding information about vaccination in the media. Research was conducted on a sample of 345 students at the University of Novi Sad. The results of the research showed that 42% of students had not been vaccinated and did not plan to do so, 37.4% had received at least one dose of vaccine and 20.6% had not been vaccinated even though they planned to do so. Students who were vaccinated had more confidence in information provided through media channels than those who were not vaccinated. Therefore, it can be concluded that encouraging students to decide in favor of vaccination against the COVID-19 virus should come from the universities where they study as well as the media

Optimistic Belief in One’s Own Capableness as a Factor of Entrepreneurial Sustainability: The Assessments of Self-Efficacy from the Perspective of Serbian Entrepreneurs

The aim of this study is to explore how entrepreneurs assess their self-efficacy in relation to their amount of monthly income, years of entrepreneurial experience, and job satisfaction. Moreover, the relationship between entrepreneurs’ self-efficacy and the indicators of entrepreneurial skills was explored. A total of 335 entrepreneurs aged between 25 and 64, who were mostly men (70.1%), participated in the study. The participants answered 10 questions from the pilot version of the Checklist of the Indicators of entrepreneurial skills and General Self-Efficacy (GSE). The results have shown that the amount of monthly income and job satisfaction both have a significant effect on the entrepreneurs’ assessments regarding their self-efficacy. Moreover, the results have shown that two indicators of entrepreneurial skills singled out as significant predictors of self-efficacy. The indicator “I have a hard time dealing with stressful situations at work” has a negative relationship with the entrepreneurs’ assessments self-efficacy, while the predictor “I learn from wrong business moves” has a significant and positive relationship with entrepreneurs’ assessments of self-efficacy. The relationship between self-efficacy and stress management is discussed in the context of successful and sustainable entrepreneurship. It is concluded that the entrepreneurs’ assessments of self-efficacy are “stress sensitive”, whether the challenge is imposed or defined by the social surroundings, e.g., the amount of monthly income, or the entrepreneur’s personality, e.g., job satisfaction, risk management and self-confidence