Manufacturing Management Practices in the Western Balkans

In this report, we investigate the quality of management practices in manufacturing plants in the Western Balkans. In particular, we focus on modern operations, quality of monitoring, target setting and talent management. Drawing on 385 survey responses from plant managers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia and Serbia, we find that management practices scores are similar in all four countries. Our results also show significant variation in management scores across industries and ownership types of the plants. Furthermore, the plants owned by foreign MNCs were found to be better run than domestic plants in all types of management practices in all four countries. Trying to answer the question which MNC HQ resources significantly affect the level of management practices in their subsidiary plants, we find that the average HQ country level of management practices is positively associated with the level of management practices in their subsidiary plants. This effect is even stronger when the HQ provides written procedures and trainings to subsidiary plants to help them implement the best practices from the HQ. Finally, based on the personal interviews with managers in 28 plants, we highlight external conditions that prevent the plants from improving their management practices

How Much Law Does the School System Need?

In its ideal form, the law is a guardian of the freedom and autonomy of the school system. On the other hand, the school system must, as part of its responsibility, establish a respectful and responsible attitude toward the rule of law. In Slovenia, practice deviates from such ideal to too great an extent. Excessive and inappropriate legal regulation reduces the freedom and autonomy of the school system. The consequences within this system are: partly ignored legal regulations, and the resulting ineffectiveness; excessive legal administration in schools; increased teachers’ opposition to the law; a lack of teachers’ motivation; and, as a consequence, worsened quality of the educational process. The law, however, is only a part of the problem. The latter has its roots mainly in a general disorientation of society with regard to its values. In order to establish the right measure and manner of the legal regulation of the school system, the moral and common sense basis of society must first be healed and strengthened

The Relationship Between Law and Politics

This article examines some basic characteristics of the relationship between national and international law and politics. The law functions in relation to politics in three basic aspects, namely as a goal, a means, or an obstacle. First, politics can define certain predominantly legal values or institutions as its goal. In this case the political understanding of these values or institutions becomes almost identical to an authentic legal understanding of the same values or institutions. Second, politics can comprehend the law merely as a means for the fulfillment of certain political interests. In this case politics is neutral in its attitude toward the law. Finally, politics can interpret law as an obstacle on the way toward the realization of certain political goals. In this situation either politics prevails over law, or vice versa. In the first case politics effectuates its solutions at the expense of the rule of law, while in the second case the autonomy of law is preserved through the decisions of the highest courts or by other actions taken by lawyers, intellectuals, associations, organizations, and the public in order to stop illicit acts of political actors. Law and politics create their own particular pictures of reality. Sometimes those pictures overlap, sometimes they differ. Yet, there is something that the law should never include in its sphere; namely, the differentiation of adversaries according to a purely political criterion. This leads to a strict separation between ours and yours , or, in its most radical expression, to a strict separation between friend and enemy. When the latter occurs, politics inevitably prevails over the law, and reduces or damages the autonomy of the rule of law

Gastric emptying in rats with gastroduodenal disease induced by N-methyl-N-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine and alcohol

The rate of gastric emptying was measured with a dye dilution technique in rats treated with N-methyl-N-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine and alcohol. Gastric emptying was compared in rats with gastroduodenal inflamatory diseases and gastroduodenal neoplasms, and in those without gastroduodenal disease. Gasttric emptying was found to be significantly increased following the intragastric injection of liquid meal in rats with gastroduodenal diseases as opposed to the control group of healthy rats. These findings suggest than an increased gastric emptying of liquids can be explained by abolition on the relaxation of the gastric wall in rats with gastroduodenal diseases

Morphological and Molecular Alterations in 1,2 Dimethylhydrazine and Azoxymethane Induced Colon Carcinogenesis in Rats

The dimethyhydrazine (DMH) or azoxymethane (AOM) model is a well-established, well-appreciated, and widely used model of experimental colon carcinogenesis. It has many morphological as well as molecular similarities to human sporadic colorectal cancer (CC), which are summarized and discussed in this paper. In addition, the paper combines present knowledge of morphological and molecular features in the multistep development of CC recognized in the DMH/AOM rat model. This understanding is necessary in order to accurately identify and interpret alterations that occur in the colonic mucosa when evaluating natural or pharmacological compounds in DMH/AOM rat colon carcinogenesis. The DMH/AOM model provides a wide range of options for investigating various initiating and environmental factors, the role of specific dietary and genetic factors, and therapeutic options in CC. The limitations of this model and suggested areas in which more research is required are also discussed

Vpliv spola na indukcijo debeločrevesnega karcinoma z 1,2-dimetilhidrazinom (DMH) pri podganah Wistar

Human colorectal carcinoma appears more frequently in males. The aim of our study was to evaluate the influence of gender on the induction of colorectal carcinoma by 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH) in Wistar rats. Sixty Wistar rats (30males, 30 females) were subjected to weekly subcutanous injections of DMH (20 mg/kg) for 15 weeks. After 25 weeks from the beginning of the experiment the animals were sacrificed and autopsied. All macroscopical lesions were evaluated histologicaly. Induction of colorectal tumors succeeded in 37% of males and 17% of females. There were 21 tumors of the large bowel found, of these 15 in males and 6 in females. Histologically, males had 11 adenomas, 2 signet-cell carcinomas and 2 adenocarcinomas, while females had 4 signet-cell carcinomas and 2 adenomas. We also found extracolonic tumors, mainly those of the small intestine and of the Zymbal glands. Wistar rats showed lower incidence of DMH-induced colorectal tumors in comparison with other strains ofrats. The gender-dependent difference in the incidence of colorectal tumors was found to be statistically marginally significant (p<0.08), whereas the difference in the incidence of all induced tumors between genders was significant (p<0.02). Males showed a greater incidence of coloreactal tumors and also a greater histological resemblance to human colorectal tumors than females. That is why we recommend Wistar males rather than females for research on colorectal tumors.Pri ljudeh je karcinom debelega črevesa pogostejši pri moških. Namen naše raziskave je oceniti vpliv spola na indukcijo debeločrevesnega karcinoma z 1,2-dimetilhidazinom (DMH) pri podganah Wistar. Uporabili smo 60 podgan seva Wistar (30 samcev, 30 samic), ki so jim 1-krat tedensko podkožno vbrizgali 20 mg DMH/kg telesne teže. Injicirali smo 15-krat. Po 25-ih tednih od začetka poskusa smo živali žrtvovali in jih obducirali. Vse makroskopske lezije smo histološko ovrednotili. Indukcija debeločrevesnih tumorjev je uspela pri 37% samcev in pri 17% samic. Našli smo 21 tumorjev debelega črevesa in danke: 15 tumorjev pri samcih in 6 pri samicah. Histološko smo pri samcih našli 11 adenokarcinomov, 2 pečatnocelična karcinoma in 2 adenoma, pri samicah pa 4 pečatnocelične karcinoma in 2 adenoma. Našli smo tudi tumorje izven debelega črevesa, predvsem tumorje tankega črevesa in Zymbalovih žlez. Podgane seva Wistar so v primerjavi z nekaterimi drugimi sevi podgan kazale manjšo pojavnost kolorektalnih tumorjev po indukciji z DMH. Razlika med spoloma v pojavnosti tumorjev v debelem črevesu in danki se je pokazala kot statistično majna (p < 0,08), statistično značilno razliko med spoloma pa smo ugotovili v pojavnosti vseh induciranih tumorjev (p < 0,02). Samci so kazali večjo incidenco kolorektalnih tumorjev, ki so bili tudi histološko bolj podobni tumorjem pri človeku. Zato priporočamo za raiskovalno delo na kolorektalnih tumorjeih Wistar samca