The Impact of the Internet of Things to Value Added in Knowledge‐Intensive Organizations

This chapter has focused on the importance and influence of Industry 4.0 and consequently the Internet connected technologies’ creation of the value added for knowledge‐intensive organizations and society. The chapter considers the development of knowledge management through different periods; it has focused on its importance during the use of social media and the rise of the Internet of Things. The goal of this chapter is to achieve a better understanding of the impact of knowledge management processes to the value of knowledge that is established by the extent of knowledge sharing within the organization and with suppliers and customers (knowledge sharing outside the organization)

National Development Generates National Identities

The purpose of the article is to test the relationship between national identities and modernisation. We test the hypotheses that not all forms of identity are equally compatible with modernisation as measured by Human Development Index. The less developed societies are characterised by strong ascribed national identities based on birth, territory and religion, but also by strong voluntarist identities based on civic features selected and/or achieved by an individual. While the former decreases with further modernisation, the latter may either decrease or remain at high levels and coexist with instrumental supranational identifications, typical for the most developed countries. The results, which are also confirmed by multilevel regression models, thus demonstrate that increasing modernisation in terms of development contributes to the shifts from classical, especially ascribed, identities towards instrumental identifications. These findings are particularly relevant in the turbulent times increasingly dominated by the hardly predictable effects of the recent mass migrations

Prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder, symptomatology and coping strategies among slovene medical emergency professionals

Studija proučava učestalost stresnih događaja i posttraumatskog stresnog poremećaja (PTSP) kod profesionalaca u hitnim medicinskim službama, tj. u traumatizirajućem okruženju. Rezultati pokazuju da 7 % ove populacije pati od svih oblika pojavnosti PTSP-a, a više od trećine od nekih simptoma PTSP-a. Nadalje, studija pokazuje da simptomi PTSP-a variraju s obzirom na duljinu staža, razinu obrazovanja, radno mjesto i spol, dok se učestalost ozbiljnog PTSP-a ne razlikuje mnogo s obzirom na pojedine skupine. Većina subjekata ne dobiva nikakvu psihološku potporu iako izražavaju potrebu za takvom potporom. Rezultati ukazuju na potrebu dobro organiziranog i dostupnog programa za utvrđivanje PTSP-a, te za psihosocijalnu i psihoterapijsku pomoć profesionalnim djelatnicima u hitnim medicinskim službama.The study analyses the prevalence of stress events and Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among Slovene medical emergency professionals working in a traumatogenic environment. Results showed that 7% of this population suffers from a complete clinical feature of PTSD and over one third experiences some of the PTSD symptoms. The study indicated that symptoms of PTSD differ according to the length of working period, educational level, job position and gender while incidence of severe PTSD does not differ among the groups. The majority of the responders do not get professional mental health support even though they express a need for it. Results support the need of a well-organized and attainable professional program for PTSD screening, psychosocial and psychotherapeutic support for medical emergency professionals

Outsourcing Logistics Activities: Evidence from Slovenia

The purpose of this research is to investigate how logistics outsourcing performs activities that have been traditionally carried out within the outsourcer’s company. The study examines the characteristics of logistics and transport services, which are important in cooperation with service providers. Two groups were formed according to the average values of the characteristics of logistics activities. ‘Cost, quality and response’ are important for the first group, while ‘logistics, environment and the ability to adapt to client processes’ are important for the second group. The results of the survey carried out in Slovenian enterprises show that both groups are primarily interested in express freight and shipment services, the difference lying in the understanding of logistics, mutual trust and brand recognition. The findings will be useful both in business practice and for managers, providing them with a better understanding of the performance of logistics outsourcing

Challenges and Limitations of Pandemic Information Systems: A Literature Review

In this article, we investigate the role of information systems (IS) during the COVID-19 pandemic. By focusing on the limitations, challenges, and failures that IS faced as a consequence of swift and sometimes unsupported actions by organizations and governments, the aim of our study is to learn from these practices. IS and information technologies (IT), in general, played a pivotal role in mitigating the effects and consequences of the pandemic. Yet, rapid changes in their implementation amid crisis frequently led to unexpected or unwanted consequences. These triggered a deluge of heated debates in scientific literature. Combining cooccurrence analysis with narrative synthesis, we examine the recent research findings on IS/IT pandemic solutions. We identify a range of problems that can be traced to hasty introduction of new solutions. They often bring into question the actual benefits of introducing them and sometimes even raise serious questions about data safety and privacy. We show that common keywords and themes from this literature can be classified into five clusters and two groups. This classification reveals the effects of the pandemic on health, business, education, science, and technology, some of which are surprising

B.P.M. in transition economies: joint empirical experience of Slovenia and Serbia

Business process management (B.P.M.) is empirically linked to the performance of organisations. Different studies in the business process field have shown that an organisation can benefit from B.P.M. through better financial and nonfinancial performance, which can drive it to competitive advantage. B.P.M. is also a concept which leads to better organised systems and can help companies in transition economies to perform better. The purpose of this paper is to compare B.P.M. practice in Slovenia and Serbia in order to formulate recommendations for companies in transition economies. The survey was carried out in 115 representatives of Slovene companies and 91 Serbian companies in the year 2014. The conclusions and recommendation for B.P.M. implementation in transition economies were drawn upon similarities in B.P.M. practice between Serbian and Slovenian companies. In addition, the differences in B.P.M. practice were analysed in order to identify the ways one country can learn from the experience of the other. The results from Slovenia and Serbia from 2014 are interesting for both countries from the perspective of how B.P.M. practice could be further developed in Slovenia and Serbia. The findings have significant managerial implications, as they will help managers to better understand the key factors for successful B.P.M. implementation transitional countries companies

OBLIKOVANJE STRATEGIJA OUTSOURCINGA: SLUČAJ SLOVENIJE

The purpose of this research is to provide an understanding of the influence of outsourcing decision processes on the design of development policy, especially in terms of organisations’ operations optimisation. The subject of this article is outsourcing, which is considered to be an important component of development policy of organisations. By including external service providers in its business activities, the organisation obtains the resources, knowledge and, most importantly, the competitive advantage. This research provides an empirical analysis from a survey of 266 representatives of Slovene organizations. More specifically it examines the characteristics of the market of logistics services and IT solutions and by analysing statistical data finds sector promising growth. The results of the research provide a considerable number of possibilities for judgement and guidelines which can help the organisations to ease the assessment of their own medium-term strategies and objectives set. Having included the external service providers into the processes, i.e. the activities, organisation’s core competencies become more comprehensive and, at the same time, strengthen their programmes. Outsourcers can fi ll the gaps in the development policy, especially the ones, which an organisation is not capable to fi ll by itself due to the lack of needed resources. The decision about outsourcing should not affect a company’s core competencies, deemed as a basis for long-term competitiveness and business performance.Svrha je ovog istraživanja pružiti razumijevanje utjecaja outsourcing procesa na projektiranje razvojne politike, osobito u pogledu optimizacije poslovanja organizacija. Tema ovog članka je outsourcing, koji se smatra bitnom komponentom razvojne politike organizacija. Uključivanjem vanjskih pružatelja usluga u svoje poslovne aktivnosti, organizacija dobiva resurse, znanja i, što je najvažnije, konkurentsku prednost. Ovo istraživanje pruža empirijsku analizu putem upitnika provedenog među 266 predstavnika slovenskih organizacija. Točnije, ispituju se karakteristike tržišta logističkih usluga i IT rješenja i analizirajući statističke podatke pronalazi sektor s obećavajućim rastom. Rezultati istraživanja daju znatan broj mogućnosti za prosudbe i smjernice koje mogu pomoći organizacijama olakšati procjenu vlastitih srednjoročnih strategija i ciljeva. Nakon što su uključeni vanjski pružatelji usluga u procese, odnosno aktivnosti, ključne kompetencije organizacije postaju sveobuhvatne i, u isto vrijeme, osnažuju svoje programe. Korisnici outsourcinga mogu popuniti praznine u razvojnoj politici, osobito onih organizacija koje to nisu u stanju ispuniti same, zbog nedostatka potrebnih resursa. Odluka o outsourcingu, koja se smatra temeljem za dugoročnu konkurentnost i uspješnost poslovanja, ne bi trebala utjecati na ključne kompetencije nekog poduzeća

Advancing Consumer Behavior: The Role of Artificial Intelligence Technologies and Knowledge Sharing

The increasing use of digital technologies has significantly reshaped marketing and consumer behavior (CB) as online communities and cutting-edge innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI) disrupt and advance consumer attitudes on specific products and services. As such, online communities that are supported by AI technologies creating new knowledge from consumer interactions through platforms like social media as consumers share experiences on specific products or services. Since AI is designed to “learn” and improve with data generated from digital technologies linked to consumer interactions, AI relies on consumer knowledge-sharing (KS) activities to replicate new knowledge for product and service improvement. However, given the knowledge gap in this area, this article applies the fsQCA technique to data generated from 291 participants to develop CB metaframework predicted on the concepts of AI, CB, and KS. Our results suggest that AI advances consumer attitudes and behaviors when knowledge is acquired while online communities promote curiosity and engage consumers to learn by sharing experiences about specific products or services. Furthermore, understanding the causality between AI, CB, and KS concepts offers critical decision-making insights to marketing experts across the industry

Fake news on Social Media: the Impact on Society

Fake news (FN) on social media (SM) rose to prominence in 2016 during the United States of America presidential election, leading people to question science, true news (TN), and societal norms. FN is increasingly affecting societal values, changing opinions on critical issues and topics as well as redefining facts, truths, and beliefs. To understand the degree to which FN has changed society and the meaning of FN, this study proposes a novel conceptual framework derived from the literature on FN, SM, and societal acceptance theory. The conceptual framework is developed into a meta-framework that analyzes survey data from 356 respondents. This study explored fuzzy set-theoretic comparative analysis; the outcomes of this research suggest that societies are split on differentiating TN from FN. The results also show splits in societal values. Overall, this study provides a new perspective on how FN on SM is disintegrating societies and replacing TN with FN

Fake news on Social Media: the Impact on Society

Fake news (FN) on social media (SM) rose to prominence in 2016 during the United States of America presidential election, leading people to question science, true news (TN), and societal norms. FN is increasingly affecting societal values, changing opinions on critical issues and topics as well as redefining facts, truths, and beliefs. To understand the degree to which FN has changed society and the meaning of FN, this study proposes a novel conceptual framework derived from the literature on FN, SM, and societal acceptance theory. The conceptual framework is developed into a meta-framework that analyzes survey data from 356 respondents. This study explored fuzzy set-theoretic comparative analysis; the outcomes of this research suggest that societies are split on differentiating TN from FN. The results also show splits in societal values. Overall, this study provides a new perspective on how FN on SM is disintegrating societies and replacing TN with FN