Adoption of Business Process Orientation Practices: Slovenian and Croatian Survey

Process orientation has been empirically linked to corporate performance. Several studies have shown that more process oriented companies perform better than less process oriented companies. Consequently, many researchers attempted to define what makes a company process oriented, which resulted in numerous frameworks and conceptualizations of process orientation. Based on concepts of business process orientation (BPO) the authors have developed and operationalised a concept of extended BPO to study its adoption in two countries, one EU member and one a candidate for EU membership (Slovenia and Croatia, respectively). Extensive field study has been carried out in these countries. The results of the analysis show that there are many statistically significant differences, namely companies in Slovenia have implemented process oriented practices to a higher degree than their counterparts in Croatia. The paper shows the main differences in BPO areas and practices.business process orientation, process orientation, maturity, empirical research, Croatia, Slovenia

The Use of Reference Models in Business Process Renovation

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are often used by companies to automate and enhance their business processes. The capabilities of ERP systems can be described by best-practice reference models. The purpose of the article is to demonstrate the business process renovation approach with the use of reference models. Although the use of reference models brings many positive effects for business, they are still rarely used in Slovenian small and medium-sized companies. The reasons for this may be found in the reference models themselves as well as in project implementation methodologies. In the article a reference model based on Microsoft Dynamics NAV is suggested. The reference model is designed using upgraded BPMN notation with additional business objects, which help to describe the models in more detail.ERP solution, reference model, businessprocess renovation, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, BPMN

Comunidad y sociedad en el nuevo siglo: las relaciones "comunitarias" en la web

En la actualidad, prácticamente a cualquier tipo de relaciones humanas se las etiqueta con el nombre de “comunidad” sin tener en cuenta la pertinencia o no de ese término ni a qué nos referimos concretamente cuando hablamos de comunidad. Por ello, en este trabajo abordaremos qué es la comunidad pero ligada con internet y las relaciones humanas que allí se forman. Procuraremos esclarecer ciertas dudas vinculadas con la comunidad virtual: ¿de qué hablamos cuando hablamos de comunidad? ¿Es adecuado hablar de una comunidad virtual? ¿Por qué no hablar de una sociedad virtual? ¿Qué características tienen las relaciones que se establecen en las comunidades cibernéticas? Para dar respuestas a estas preguntas, partiremos del concepto de comunidad brindado por la sociología clásica alemana, como por ejemplo Ferdinand Tönnies, y otros autores como Pablo de Marinis, Franco Fistetti y Nikolas Rose. De esta manera, nos aproximaremos al término comunidad (que desde hace más de un siglo parece tan inasible) vinculándolo con los diversos tipos de relaciones humanas que surgen en la web.Fil: Angulo, Ana Gabriela. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy; ArgentinaFil: Stemberger, Sandra Pamela. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Case of Severe Epstein-Barr Virus Encephalitis in a Child

Epstein-Barr virus usually causes mild and self-limiting infections in children and adolescents. Infectious mononucleosis is the most common clinical manifestation but neurologic complications, such as encephalitis, occur in up to 8% of patients

Teacher education and career cycle: Educational level and pathways effects in Serbia and Greece

Given the importance of teachers' work and effectiveness, the authors have chosen to study how the teachers' education determines their vocational behavior in terms of enthusiasm and growing and career frustration in Serbia and Greece. They examined the significance of education level and education pathway in mutual interaction and in interaction with intrinsic motivation of career choice. The study used survey methodology. The questionnaire was administered to a convenience sample of 213 secondary school teachers. The results indicate that career characteristics do not differ with respect to the level of formal education and the authors conclude that transit to the world of work can be made after the bachelor level, when the bachelor program includes adequate pedagogical preparation. The effect of education pathway interaction with intrinsic motivation was significant in the sample of Greek teachers. Teachers, who had undergone more thorough preparation for teaching, have developed their job attitudes independently from their career choice motivations. The lesser significance of initial motivation for teaching is interpreted as a possibility to compensate for lower levels of motivation by developing teaching competences, i.e. facilitating self-efficacy through teacher training. No evidence of teacher preparation effects was found in the Serbian sample, indicating that teachers educated according to the old system pathways cannot be expected to achieve different job attitude

Abiotrophia defectiva kao uzročnik endokarditisa u djeteta – prikaz bolesnika

We present a case of endocarditis due to Abiotrophia defectiva in a child, developed as a complication of a previously unrecognized patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). The patient was successfully treated with antimicrobial therapy and later underwent transcatheter closure of PDA. As the organism may not be isolated in routine culture media, and may present with atypical clinical symptoms, a high index of suspicion should be maintained in children with subacute symptoms even with no underlying heart disease. Even patients with early appropriate antibiotic therapy and rapid achievement of bacteriological clearance remain at high risk for embolic and immune-mediated complications and irreversible valvular damage. Our case highlights the importance of careful interpretation of serologic tests and the value of good physical examination (auscultation!) in order not to miss the diagnosis of congenital heart defects.U radu prikazujemo slučaj djeteta s endokarditisom čiji je uzročnik Abiotrophia defectiva, a koji je nastao kao komplikacija prethodno neprepoznatog otvorenog Botallovog duktusa. Dijete je uspješno liječeno antimikrobnim lijekovima nakon čega je provedeno i transkatetersko zatvaranje srčane greške. S obzirom na to da se ovaj uzročnik teško izolira na rutinskim bakterijskim podlogama i može uzrokovati atipične simptome, potreban je poseban oprez čak i u one djece koja nemaju podležeću srčanu bolest, ali se klinički prezentiraju sa subakutnim simptomima. Imunološke komplikacije, embolizacije i trajno oštećenje zalistaka često se javljaju čak i u onih bolesnika s pravovremeno započetim ispravnim antibiotskim liječenjem i kod kojih je brzo postignut terapijski učinak antibiotika. Također ističemo važnost pažljive interpretacije seroloških testova kao i kvalitetnog fizičkog pregleda (auskultacije!) zbog mogućnosti propuštanja dijagnoze prirođene, dotad neprepoznate, srčane greške

Voyages-palimpsestes : (Inter-) Textualités de l’ailleurs dans l’extrême contemporain

Entre chose vue et chose lue, la littérature de voyage, genre hybride, “frictionnel”, redéfinissant et brouillant sans cesse les limites entre documentation et fiction, entretient un rapport complexe avec l’intertextualité. À l’intertextualité niée, elle oppose traditionnellement une rhétorique hypertrophiée de l’évidence autoptique ; pourtant, le témoignage oculaire lui-même se révèle citationnel. Qu’en est-il des contradictions et “frictions” du genre à l’âge postmoderne, post-aventuresque et post-héroïque, où il n’est plus question de “découvrir” des “terres vierges” (etc.), mais de s’inscrire à son tour dans une cartographie interculturelle de divers ailleurs toujours déjà (inter-)textualisés ? Dans cette contribution, il s’agit d’analyser les formes et fonctions de l’intertextualité dans la littérature de voyage de l’extrême contemporain, à partir d’un corpus de textes de langue française consacrés, au cours des dernières années, à la Russie – objet de choix, à plus d’un titre, pour une réflexion sur les reconfigurations de “L’ailleurs par temps de mondialisation”