Impact of Influencers to the Selection of Certain Products and Services

Social networks such as Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, blog, and/or Twitter are already recognized as welcome starting points for influencers ready to start their business. "Influencer" refers to people with intensive activity on social networks, people with many followers but also candidates willing to pay for their influence and to promote some brands. This paper research goal is to determine to what extent the influencers on social networks affect the customers when selecting certain products and services. Within the theoretical background, it is elaborated as follows: (i) the relationship between “influencers” activities and the business sector, (ii) influencers’ domain of affecting the business, (iii) influencers ’mode of doing business, and (iv) the predictions related to “influencers” business model development. The empirical part provides descriptive statistics of the impactinduced within one social network (i.e. Instagram) on the demand for particular products, namely tourist destination. The practical contribution of the paper derives from analysing of one social network „influencing potential” toward a particular market segment, while the academic contribution presents new insights into dynamics between business and influencers as phenomena.  This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</p

AHP SUPPORT TO ESTIMATION OF THE INFORMATION SYSTEM (IS) SIGNIFICANCE TO THE BUSINESS PERFORMANCE, PARTICULARLY THE HOSPITALITY PERFORMANCE

Numerous resources and working practice indicate that information system consists of elements generally categorized as IT infrastructure, human IT resources and IT-enabled intangibles (Bharadwaj, 2000), which, to some extent, affect business performance. However, it has not been sufficiently explored which elements of the information system tend to impact it more and which less. Therefore, the main aim of the paper is to assess certain IS elements that influence business performance in general. It is supposed that the possibility of the assessment despite the complexity of IS elements and related decisions can be supported by using the AHP method. Additionally, the obtained results are compared with the results of one of the author’s previous studies based on the hospitality manager experience regarding the relationship between IS elements and hospitality performance

INNOVATION ACTIVITY IN THE HOTEL SECTOR – THE CASE OF CROATIA

Innovation is, alongside, skills, investment, enterprise and competition, a major driver of productivity in economy. In tourism also, it is believed that the competitiveness of enterprises to a great extent depends upon their innovation activity. Surprisingly, in tourism the research on innovation has so far received poor attention from scholars, especially in empirical research. This article aims at filling that gap. It will present results from an empirical study of innovation activity carried out during the spring/summer 2010 in the hotel sector in Croatia. Due to the problem of empirical measurement of innovation and the specific characteristics of hotel sector, the CIS IV questionnaire design was used and adapted for this purpose. CIS questionnaire has been criticized by scholars for its deficiencies in measuring innovation in services. Still, after an extensive literature and research review, it has been concluded that with the adaptations made, it is the best available tool for this purpose. The research preliminary results suggest that Croatian hotels can be portrayed as only moderately innovative and with different innovation activity according to innovation type and newness. Furthermore, parallels, where possible, are drawn to other similar research carried out in other countries (Spain and Austria) as to be able to benchmark the innovation activity of Croatian hotels. Based upon the empirical results, recommendations and guidelines for hotel practice as well as for activities of regulatory bodies are given

Are ICT Tools Recognized Enough as Management Support in Croatian Tourism?

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) have been implemented in tourism as a supporting tool for different related activities. The main research question the authors set as: Have different Croatian tourism subjects recognized the relevance of the new technical solutions and integrated it in their business models to support the management activities and related leadership trends? In the theoretical part the concept of tourism management based on leadership trends and supported by ICT solutions is elaborated. In the empirical part general level of few tourism stakeholders’ ICT usage is investigated. The research was conducted in spring 2016 and was based on 354 tourism stakeholder guests’ perceptions. The contribution is practical as well as theoretical. An overview of the main actual ICT solutions available to tourism sector presents a practical implication of this research while developing framework appropriate for assessing the ICT as tourism management support stands as academic contribution. This work is licensed under a&nbsp;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</p

ICTs in the hospitality industry: An importance-performance analysis among small family-owned hotels

This study delivers the importance-performance analysis of the information and communication technology (ICT) driven solutions among small and family-owned hotels (SFH) in Croatia. The analysis reflects the opinions of owners of 21 SFH, all of which are members of the National Association of Family and Small Hotels (OMH). The findings demonstrated the existence of a significant gap between the perception of the importance of specific innovations and actual hotel performances. In most cases, hotel performances are rated significantly lower than the perceived importance of particular innovation, which indicate that resources should be better and more wisely allocated. In some cases, hotels do not recognise the benefits of ICTs used or are not satisfied with the results. The primary constraint for higher integration of the ICTs within this sample is the lack of financial resources. The study reveals the importance-performance gaps within the perception of technological innovations in the SFHs, elaborates on potential constraints for more substantial reliance on ICTs and discusses the possible implications. Finally, the study provides recommendations for future research

Multi-Criteria Decision Making Application in the Education Context

Business schools are confronted with a challenge of developing students to be managers, focused on productivity and adding value at the work process. 21st century education should aid student population substantially in thinking beyond profitability and self-interest and lead their strategical thinking process towards sustainable development. Our aim is to help the teaching staff in business education by providing them the tools to understand their students’ decision-making process and preferences. The goal of the study is to investigate if modern technologies support responsible decision making of students. A quantitative study was carried. The tool used was Super Decisions Software. Our results show that technology, even though a potentially useful tool in the responsible decision-making process needs integration into the appropriate business models. The sample of students’ behaviours in decision-making process can also be identified as responsible. This work is licensed under a&nbsp;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</p

Perceived trends in viewing the future by Croatian and Slovenian business students: Implications for managerial education

This paper presents appreciative inquiry (AI) methodology in the context of management education. Therefore, we propose that AI, which focuses on positive aspects of doing business, needs to be implemented into management education of future managers in Slovenia and Croatia and we provide empirical evidence of thinking patterns of business students studying at the University of Ljubljana and the University of Split. For comparison, we investigated the previous experiences and future expectations of business students in Croatia and Slovenia. Empirical part is composed of two parts: qualitatively based AI and a quantitative study, based on statistical methods. Results show a positive outlook of business students in both countries

Slovene Management Education In The Changed World Through Appreciative Inquiry

Paper presents the study of appreciative inquiry (AI) methodology in the context of management education. Current perception of managers in Slovenia about economic situation is negative which may have a significant impact on investment and positive outlook of future business. Therefore, we propose that AI which focuses on positive aspects of doing business needs to be investigated and implemented into management education of future managers and we provide empirical evidence of thinking patterns of three generations of students at the Faculty of Economics University of Ljubljana. AI means researching what gives success to human systems when they function at their best. It represents discovery process of optimum identity and a way to the best possible future. Positive core of existing situation is chosen as the focus of AI process. AI is researching into stories that give energy for further action. Purpose of this paper is to offer an alternative approach to tackling challenges, based on analyzing the causes of previous successes. Further, we aim to offer the scientific community a new methodology that solves real business, relational or individual challenges. In the Winter semester during study years 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2014/15 we invited our students to be in a state of inquiry about themselves, their life and their work. We asked them: What is the best future you can imagine? In a longitudinal study we have gathered 171 AI pair interviews documentations. Students’ AI data was analyzed in three thematic segments: 1) favorite quotes; 2) preservation of past and present into the future and 3) vision of the future. Analysis of all three generations’ AI interviews revealed emphasis in their favorite quotes on the “people” component and the need of the students to understand life and make sense of gained knowledge and experiences. They also stress the need to think about contemporary issues and gain practical experiences. Students would most like to preserve in the future their work ethics, dedication to hard work, creativity, family members around them, experiences and knowledge gained. Their visions are focused on balancing successful international careers and family lives. New ways of communication represent an important consideration for the students. They expressed their wish to be driven by intrinsic motivation and being respected in their profession. Theoretical advantages of our paper are in elaborating on AI in management education. Practical implications are in helping students to clarify their strategic goals and visions through introspection and qualitative methodology. Professors can implement and adjust the AI questionnaire based on their own developmental objectives and also based on the needs of their students. Contribution of our paper is in the field of management education and AI field. Keywords: appreciative inquiry, management education, student developmen

Managing group work in the classroom: An international study on perceived benefits and risks based on students’ cultural background and gender

Working in groups has become an essential part of success of every organization operating in global economy. Therefore, the business sector has created an imperative for higher education institutions (HEIs) to modify study programs and prepare students to be effective team players. However, while group work has been highly encouraged among university students, their opinions on this practice remain rather neglected. In addition, the role of culture and gender in students’ perceptions of group work has received little attention. The purpose of this study is to examine how university students perceive group work in terms of its benefits and risks and whether their national culture and gender moderates these perceptions. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed to meet the research goal. Data were collected among Spanish, Croatian and international students from two European universities: University of Valencia in Spain and University of Split in Croatia. Results suggest that, although students seem to recognize the benefits of group work, they also perceive a considerable number of risks, especially Croatian students. This might be the reason why they don’t seem to prefer group work over individual work, despite their cultural background and gender

Perception of Social Innovation among Management Students

The goal of our paper is to develop and present a novel methodology of social innovation among management students. In our paper we present the understanding of the management students’ perceptions about social innovation which represents the first stage of developing and adjusting social innovation methodology to management education curriculum at a business school. Social innovation methodology is researched and implemented. We gained results in two research phases; in 2014 and 2015. Altogether, we present the results of social innovation methodology by analyzing the questionnaire results of 239 students. Social innovation achieves a systematic change for the benefit of people and planet by using specially adjusted methods for an identified social challenge. Social innovation methodology and its usage in management education setting proved to be an under-researched and highly useful didactic tool to empower students about global and local management issues. This work is licensed under a&nbsp;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</p