Performance of state owned electric utilities : case of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia and Croatia

One of the biggest questions battling governments is performance of Electric Utilities, as they are one of the biggest resources and largest State Owned Enterprises. This issue became more important as electricity market has been liberalized and fully opened. Before market liberalization state owned Electric Utilities operated in monopoly market where competition was not possible. Therefore, due to market liberalisation existing companies have to be more competitive than before in order to grow and survive new competition from EU countries. Paper analyses performance of State Owned Electric Utilities from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia and Croatia. Measuring the success of the State Owned Electric Utilities is based on the analysis of financial statements for period from 2008 to 2012, using indicators of profitability. Electricity market in Slovenia and Croatia have been fully opened in analyzed period while electricity market in Bosnia has been closed. The results reveal that State Owned Electric Utilities operating in opened market have better performance and are more competitive than State Owned Electric Utilities which operate in closed market. The broad conclusion that emerges from the results is that market opening and new competition entering markets has pushed companies to improve their governance practices and performance in order to survive on the market.peer-reviewe

CREDIBILITY AND ENTERPRISE\u27S SUCCESS

V teoretičnem delu diplomskega seminarja smo najprej opredelili pojem verodostojnosti, strategijo verodostojnosti po Thommnu in njene sestavine. Vsako sestavino oziroma ravnanje verodostojnosti smo teoretično opisali. Sledi opredelitev pojma uspešnosti ter opredelitev računovodskih kazalnikov. Nato smo na kratko predstavili računovodske kazalnike za presojanje uspešnosti, ki smo jih uporabili v praktičnem delu diplomskega seminarja. V praktičnem delu diplomskega seminarja smo najprej predstavili podjetje v katerem smo preučevali verodostojnost in njen vpliv na dolgoročno uspešnost. Razvili smo lastno metodologijo za ocenjevanje verodostojnosti podjetja ter nato na podlagi intervjuja, ki smo ga izvedli v podjetju, naredili analizo verodostojnosti. Po analizi verodostojnosti smo naredili še analizo računovodskih kazalnikov, saj smo želeli izvedeti kako uspešno dano podjetje posluje. S pomočjo teh dveh analiz smo ugotovili, da je izbrano podjetje verodostojno in uspešno.Im theoretischen Teil der Diplomseminararbeit haben wir zuerst den Begriff der Glaubwürdigkeit, die Strategie der Glaubwürdigkeit nach Thommen und ihre Komponenten definiert. Jede Komponente beziehungsweise jedes Handeln der Glaubwürdigkeit haben wir theoretisch beschrieben. Es folgt die Bestimmung des Begriffes Erfolg und die Bestimmung der Buchführungskennzahlen. Anschließend haben wir kurz die Buchführungskennzahlen zur Prüfung des Erfolges vorgestellt, die wir im praktischen Teil der Diplomseminararbeit verwendet haben. Im praktischen Teil der Diplomseminararbeit haben wir zuerst das Unternehmen vorgestellt, in dem wir die Glaubwürdigkeit und ihre Wirkung auf den Langzeiterfolg untersuchten. Wir haben eine eigene Methodologie für die Beurteilung der Glaubwürdigkeit des Unternehmens entwickelt und dann, aufgrund eines im Unternehmen durchgeführten Interviews, eine Analyse der Glaubwürdigkeit hergestellt. Nach der Analyse der Glaubwürdigkeit haben wir noch die Analyse der Buchführungskennzahlen durchgeführt, denn wir wollten erfahren, wie erfolgreich das gegebene Unternehmen im Geschäftsverkehr steht. Mit Hilfe von diesen beiden Analysen haben wir herausgefunden, dass das gewählte Unternehmen glaubwürdig und erfolgreich ist

FACTORS OF SUCCESS IN ONLINE SHOPS: THE CASE OF ZOO MARKET REX

Internet je v današnjem času skupek ene najbolj rastočih tehnologij. Elektronski način komunikacije je vse bolj uporaben, hkrati že skoraj nuja ob tako natrpanih delavnikih v našem vsakdanu. Na internetu poteka cela skupina storitev, brez katerih si našega življenja preprosto ne moremo več predstavljati. Med te storitve lahko zagotovo uvrstimo tudi spletne trgovine, katere so zmeraj bolj priljubljene in posledično tudi številčnejše. Da bi lahko izstopali iz konkurence, je potrebno veliko več kot le ustvarjati vrednost za kupca. V magistrskem delu bomo poskušali določiti dejavnike, kateri so pomembni za uspešnost spletne trgovine. Za začetek bomo predstavili elektronsko poslovanje (v nadaljevanju e-poslovanje) na splošno s poudarkom na poslovnih modelih. Spoznali bomo prednosti in slabosti e-poslovanje, vrste e-poslovanje ter poslovne modele e-poslovanja. V tretjem poglavju se bomo podrobneje posvetili spletni trgovini, ki je tudi glavni predmet obravnave v magistrskem delu. Opredelili bomo vrste spletnih trgovin, določili njihov pomen v primerjavi s klasičnimi trgovinami in spoznali spletne uporabnike. Ker je glavni namen magistrskega dela raziskati dejavnike uspešnosti spletnih trgovin, se bomo v četrtem poglavju posvetili zgolj samo njim. Določili bomo najpogostejše dejavnike, ki vplivajo na uspešnost posamezne spletne trgovine, ter jih podrobneje spoznali. Vse dejavnike bomo v zadnjem poglavju prikazali in analizirali na konkretnem primeru podjetja Zoo Market Rex, Zlatko Hraš, s.p.. Magistrsko delo bomo zaključili s sklepom, kjer bomo dokazali pomembnost upoštevanja ključnih dejavnikov uspešnosti spletne trgovine.The Internet nowadays is one of the most emerging technologies. Electronic way of communication is increasingly useful and almost a necessity in in our busy everyday life. On the Internet there is lot of services, without which we simply cannot imagine our lives. One of those is an online store, which are becoming more and more popular, and as a result more numerous. In order to stand out from the competition, it takes a lot more than just creating value for the customer. In this master thesis we will try to identify the factors that are important to the success of online stores. To begin we introduce e-commerce in general, with a focus on business models. We will learn the pros and cons of e-commerce, the types of e-commerce and business models in e-commerce. In the third chapter we will focus on online store, which is the main subject of this master thesis. We will identify types of online stores, determine their importance in comparison with traditional shops and learn about web users. However, since the main purpose of the master\u27s thesis is exploring the success factors of online stores, we are going to devote a whole forth chapter to them. We will determine the most common factors that affect the performance of each online store and get to know them in detail. All factors will be demonstrated and analyzed in the last chapter, following an example of Zoo market Rex online store. Master thesis will be concluded with a chapter where we will demonstrate the importance of taking into account key factors for successful online store

Effects of mixing and complex interactions on the evolution of cooperation in the public goods game

Razumevanje razvoja sodelovanja med posamezniki, ki so v osnovi sebični, je eden najpomembnejših izzivov današnjega časa, ki vzbuja zanimanje raziskovalcev iz različnih področij. V ta namen znanstveniki integrirajo evolucijsko teorijo iger z naprednimi metodami s področja znanosti o omrežjih in metodami statistične fizike. V doktorski disertaciji smo s pomočjo takega interdisciplinarnega pristopa raziskali, kako različni tipi mobilnosti oziroma mešanj igralcev na različnih interakcijskih mrežah vplivajo na evolucijo in promocijo sodelovanja v igri javnih dobrin. V ta namen smo raziskovalno delo razdelili v štiri sklope. V prvem delu smo pokazali, da uvedba mešanja igralcev v igri javnih dobrin na regularnem omrežju omogoči prehod iz stanja sistema vpetega v prostorsko mrežo v stanje dobro mešane populacije, kjer struktura interakcijske mreže več nima bistvenega pomena na evolucijsko dinamiko. Izkaže se, da je v primeru mešanja najbližjih sosedov za to potrebna večja frekvenca mešanja kot pri mešanju naključnih igralcev. Nadalje smo pokazali, da oba načina mešanja zavirata evolucijski uspeh kooperatorjev. V nadaljevanju smo raziskavo razširili na področje kompleksnih omrežij, ki podajajo realnejši opis interakcij med posamezniki. V drugem delu doktorske disertacije smo tako igro javnih dobrin postavili na naključno omrežje, vpeto v hiperbolični prostor in v model vključili asortativno in disasortativno mešanje igralcev. Ugotovili smo, da oba tipa mešanja zavirata razvoj sodelovanja ne glede na arhitekturo omrežja, a je vpliv disasortativnega mešanja večji v primerjavi z asortativnim mešanjem. Naslednji tip interakcijske mreže, s katerim se še boljše opišemo realne interakcije, so večplastna soodvisna omrežja, ki smo jih v raziskave vključili v naših naslednjih dveh raziskavah. Soodvisnost med dvema omrežjema smo vpeljali s koristnostno funkcijo in pokazali, da lahko parameter pristranskosti učinkovito vpliva na raven sodelovanja. Pokazali smo, da asortativne medmrežne povezave med dvema skalno neodvisnima omrežjema spodbujajo kooperacijo v igri javnih dobrin v nekoliko večji meri kot naključne in disasortativne povezave. V zadnjem sklopu raziskav smo prišli do presenetljivih zaključkov. Rezultati mešanja na dvoplastnem soodvisnem omrežju, kjer posamezna plast predstavlja naključno omrežje, vpeto v hiperbolični prostor, kažejo, da lahko mešanje znotraj posamezne plasti omrežja, kjer je sodelovanje prvotno uspešno, močno oslabi evolucijsko uspešnost kooperatorjev na tej plasti, medtem ko jo za določene vrednosti normaliziranega sinergijskega faktorja spodbuja sodelovanje na drugi plasti omrežja. Rezultati doktorske disertacije predstavljajo pomemben prispevek k znanstvenemu raziskovanju na področju razumevanja razvoja in vzdrževanja sodelovanja, s poudarkom na uporabi evolucijske teorije iger, kompleksnih omrežij in mobilnosti igralcev.Understanding the evolution of cooperation among otherwise selfish individuals is one of the most significant challenges of our time, attracting researchers from various fields. To address this, scientists integrate evolutionary game theory with advanced methods from network science and statistical physics. In the doctoral dissertation, we utilize such an interdisciplinary framework to explore the impact of various player mobilities or mixtures on different interaction networks on the evolution and promotion of cooperation in a public goods game. For this purpose, our research was divided into four sections. In the first part, we showed that introducing mixing of players in public goods games on a regular network facilitates a transition from a system embedded in a spatial network to a state of a well-mixed population, where the structure of the interaction network no longer significantly affects the evolutionary dynamics. Notably, we find that for nearest-neighbor mixing, a higher mixing frequency is required compared to random mixing. Moreover, both types of mixing hinder the evolutionary success of cooperators. Subsequently, our focus shifts to complex networks, effectively capturing essential structural properties of real-world interactions. In the second part of the doctoral dissertation, we thus placed the public goods game on random geometric graphs embedded into hyperbolic spaces and incorporated assortative and disassortative mixing of players into the model. Results indicate that both types of mixing impair the evolution of cooperation regardless of the network architecture. Furthermore, disassortative mixing is more detrimental for cooperation compared with assortative mixing. The next type of interaction networks that closely approximate real interactions are multilayer interdependent networks, which we included in our next two studies. We introduced interdependence between two networks using a utility function and showed that the bias parameter effectively influences the level of cooperation. We demonstrated that assortative linking between two scale-free networks promote cooperation in public goods games with a relatively modest margin in comparison to random and disassortative matching between the two layers. In the last part of our research, we have drawn noteworthy and unexpected conclusions. The outcomes of mixing on a two-layer interdependent network, where each layer represents a random geometric graph in hyperbolic space, reveal that mixing on a network where cooperation is primary successful, impairs the evolutionary success of cooperators on the same network layer. However, for certain values of the normalized synergy factor, it promotes cooperation on the other network layer. The results of the doctoral dissertation constitute a substantial contribution to scientific research in understanding the evolution and maintenance of cooperation, emphasizing the utilization of evolutionary game theory, complex networks, and the mobility of players

THE IMPACT OF REORGANISATIONS ON STRESS OF SLOVENIAN ARMED FORCES MEMBERS

Živimo v obdobju globalizacije in tehnoloških napredkov, ki v organizacijah puščajo nujno potrebne organizacijske spremembe, le-te pa imajo vpliv na posamezne zaposlene. Življenje v gospodarski krizi in spremembe na delovnem mestu povzročajo stres, ki vpliva na počutje, zdravje in prav tako delo zaposlenih. S posebnimi programi in pripravami želijo pomagati zaposlenim, da bi čim lažje sprejeli spremembe. V magistrskem delu preučujemo vpliv reorganizacij na stres pripadnikov Slovenske vojske. V teoretičnem delu najprej opredelimo pojem organizacija, se osredotočimo na različne oblike profitnih in neprofitnih organizacij ter različne organizacijske strukture. Sledi pojasnitev postopka reorganizacije in ukrepi na ravni posameznikov, oddelkov in tudi podjetja, s katerimi zmanjšujemo odpor proti spremembam. Vse te spremembe prinašajo stres, zato smo ga na kratko opredelili, poiskali vire in vrste stresa na delovnem mestu. Pojasnili smo posledice stresa in predstavili različne tehnike in načine premagovanja stresa, tako na ravni posameznika kot na ravni organizacije. V magistrskem delu smo na kratko opisali Slovensko vojskonjen temeljni namen, poslanstvo, vrednote, kakšna je njena struktura in predvsem človeški viri v Slovenski vojski. V empiričnem delu preučujemo vpliv reorganizacij na vzorcu 115 pripadnikov Slovenske vojske iz različnih krajev in delovnih mest. Ugotovili smo, da je več kot polovica pripadnikov že bila udeležena v procesu reorganizacij vsaj 3-krat ali več in da jim le-te povzročajo stres. Najpogosteje jim stres povzročajo pogodbe za določen čas. Pozitivno mišljenje pa je način, s katerimi pripadniki najpogosteje premagujejo stres.We are living in an era of globalization and technological advances and that causes the necessary organizational changes in organizations. These changes have an impact on individual employees. Living in the economic crisis and workplace changes cause stress which affects the good mood, health and work of employees. With special programs and workshops they wish to help employees to accept changes as easy as possible. In this Master’s degree we study the impact of reorganizations to stress of the Slovenian Armed Forces. In the theoretical part we first define the concept of an organization, we focus on various forms of profit and non-profit organizations and different organizational structures. As the second it follows clarifying the proceedings of reorganizations and actions at the level of individuals, departments and companies to reduce the resistance on changes. All these changes bring stress, so we briefly identify it and we find sources and types of stress in the workplace. We explained the consequences of stress and present different techniques and ways of overcoming stress, both at the individual level and at the level of the organization. In this thesis we briefly describe the Slovenian army - what is its fundamental purpose, its mission, values, what is the structure and especially human resources in the Slovenian Army. In the empirical part we study the impact of reorganizations on a sample of 115 members of the Slovenian Armed Forces from different places and workplaces. We found that more than a half of members have already been involved in the reorganization process 3 times or more and that is what causes stress to them. Most often the stress is caused by fixed-term contracts and positive thinking is a way by which members frequently overcome stress

CUSTOMIZING MS DYNAMICS NAV SOLUTION WITH THE CLIENT/SERVER INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT

Diplomska naloga govori o prilagajanju poslovne rešitve Microsoft Dynamics NAV z njenim razvojnim okoljem C/SIDE. Microsoft Dynamics NAV je celovita informacijska rešitev, namenjena srednje velikim podjetjem. Rešitev je mogoče hitro vpeljati, prav tako je enostavna za nastavitev in uporabo. Podjetja se vedno bolj odločajo za uvedbo celovitih informacijskih rešitev, saj jim lahko prinese mnogo koristi in konkurenčnih prednosti. Rešitev Microsoft Dynamics NAV odstopa od ostalih predvsem s ključno prednostjo, to je prilagodljivost. Razvijalci lahko tako sistem oblikujejo glede na poslovne zahteve in želje uporabnikov. Ključnega pomena pri prilagajanju rešitve je razvojno okolje C/SIDE. C/SIDE vključuje vsa programska orodja, s katerimi prilagajamo rešitev Microsoft Dynamics NAV. C/SIDE združuje oblikovalnike tabel, obrazcev, poročil, podatkovnih vmesnikov, XMLportov, funkcijske kode in MenuSuite oziroma oblikovalnik podokna za navigiranje. C/SIDE vsebuje torej sedem tipov programskih objektov. Tabele se uporabljajo za shranjevanje podatkov, obrazci pa za dostop do podatkov v tabelah. Poročila so namenjena tiskanju podatkov in raznim obdelavam. Podatkovni vmesnik in XMLport uporabljamo za izvoz in uvoz podatkov. Funkcijska koda vsebuje funkcije, napisane v kodi C/AL, MenuSuite pa je objekt, ki vsebuje menije, prikazane v podoknu za navigiranje. Uporaba razvojnega okolja C/SIDE je pomembna za razvijalce rešitve Microsoft Dynamics NAV in za njene uporabnike. S prilagojeno rešitvijo zahtevam in željam uporabnikov je njihovo delo poenostavljeno in hitreje izpeljano.This paper is about customizing business solution Microsoft Dynamics NAV with the Client/Server Integrated Development Environment. Microsoft Dynamics NAV is ERP solution for middle-sized companies. The solution is easy and fast to implement and it is easy to use. More and more companies are choosing ERP solutions, because they can bring them many benefits and competitive advantages. Microsoft Dynamics NAV stands out from other ERP solutions by its adaptibility. Developers can customize this solution with nowadays business’ need and user’s wishes. A key factor at customizing Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution is C/SIDE. C/SIDE is a Client/Server Integrated Development Environment where we find different application tools. C/SIDE includes table, form, report, dataport, XMLport, codeunit and MenuSuite designers. In C/SIDE, there are seven types of application objects. Tables are used to store data. Forms are used to access the information that is stored in the tables. Reports are used to present information. Dataports and XMLports are used to import and export data. A codeunit contains functions written in C/AL code. And a MenuSuite object contains the set of menus that are displayed in the Navigation Pane. C/SIDE is important both for developers and users. User’s work is easier and done more quickly with customized solution

Creativity among gifted and non-gifted students

An overview of the literature on gifted students suggests that students can be gifted by showing intelligence and/or creative abilities. Whether teachers are able to recognize intelligent and/or creative students is a matter of being skilled and can have a tremendous impact on students’ course of education. In out study, we included students of Slovenian primary schools who were either recognized as gifted or non-gifted by their teachers. To find out what differences occur in the creativity levels of gifted and non-gifted students, their creativity levels were recorded using the LV1Test, measuring their artistic-creative and artistic-appreciative abilities. Data analysis reveals that the gifted students were more successful in gaining a higher average score on the test, as well as the majority of individual items in the test

THE POPULARITY OF ART EDUCATION IN THE FIFTH GRADE OF PRIMARY SCHOOL

V teoretičnem delu diplomskega dela smo predstavili splošne značilnosti likovne vzgoje v osnovni šoli, likovne tehnike in likovne materiale, učni načrt za likovno vzgojo, obseg likovne vzgoje ter organizacijo ure likovne vzgoje v osnovni šoli. Dotaknili smo se tudi vloge in pomena likovne vzgoje, dejavnikov likovne ustvarjalnosti, motivacije, načrtovanja pouka likovne vzgoje z vidika vzgojno-izobraževalnih ciljev, likovnega razvoja učencev v petem razredu ter vzgojno-izobraževalnih ciljev v petem razredu. Izvedli smo kvalitativno in kvantitativno raziskavo na podlagi anketnega vprašalnika, ki ga je sestavljalo 30 zaprtih vprašanj in so se nanašali na priljubljenost likovne vzgoje pri učencih petega razreda osnovne šole Podravske in Pomurske regije. Z raziskavo smo želeli preveriti priljubljenost likovne vzgoje pri petošolcih in na podlagi dobljenih rezultatov izboljšati manj priljubljena področja likovne vzgoje. V empiričnem delu diplomskega dela predstavljamo rezultate raziskave. Ugotovili smo, da je predmet likovna vzgoja pri učencih zelo priljubljen in da se pri izvajanju pouka njenega pomena ni zanemarjalo. Na drugi strani pa se kaže, da se pri izvajanju pouka pojavljajo pomanjkljivosti pri pokrivanju likovnih področij, pri organiziranju likovnih delavnic za učence in njihove starše ter prikazovanju likovnih reprodukcij. Menimo, da bo temu potrebno v prihodnosti posvetiti več pozornosti. Rezultati tudi kažejo na to, da sta likovni področji risanje in slikanje pri učencih najbolj priljubljeni, kar je verjetno pogojeno s tem, da sta ti dve likovni področji največkrat zastopani pri urah likovne vzgoje, iz česar lahko sklepamo, da učitelji ostalim likovnim področjem, kiparstvu, grafiki, prostorskemu oblikovanju, posvečajo premalo pozornosti. S premalo pozornosti in neupoštevanjem učnega načrta učitelji težje navdušijo učence tudi za ostala, prav tako zelo pomembna likovna področja.In the theoretical part of the diploma we discussed the basic characteristics of art education in primary schools, the use of art techniques and art materials, the syllabus and the scope of art education, as well as the organisational structure of the art lessons in primary schools. Our research has also focussed on the importance of art education, factors of artistic creativity, motivation, as well as the process of planning the art lessons, bearing in mind the educational goals, the student´s artistic development in the 5th grade and the educational goals of the 5th grade. Using a questionnaire we conducted a qualitative and quantitative research in which 30 closed-ended questions measured the popularity of art education among the fifth grade students of primary schools in the Drava-Mura region. The aim of the research was to analyse the popularity of art education among the fifth grade students and consequently, using the results obtained from the research, to improve the less popular art areas of art education. In the empirical part of the diploma we presented the scientific results of our research. We discovered that art education, as a subject, is exceptionally popular and the subject´s importance was never neglected. However, we identified some irregularities concerning the attention given to different art areas, organising art workshops for the students and parents, as well as exhibiting replicas. We believe this matter is going to require more attention in the future. The results demonstrate that drawing and painting are the most popular art activities among the students, which is probably due to the fact that these art areas are quantitatively most represented in art education. Based on this, we may conclude that the art teacher pays an insufficient amount of attention to such art areas as sculpturing, graphics and spatial structuring. As a result of insufficient attention and the disregard for the syllabus, the teachers are having more difficulties motivating the learners to be interested in different, also important, art areas

Networks behind the morphology and structural design of living systems

Technological advances in imaging techniques and biometric data acquisition have enabled us to apply methods of network science to study the morphology and structural design of organelles, organs, and tissues, as well as the coordinated interactions among them that yield a healthy physiology at the level of whole organisms. We here review research dedicated to these advances, in particular focusing on networks between cells, the topology of multicellular structures, neural interactions, fluid transportation networks, and anatomical networks. The percolation of blood vessels, structural connectivity within the brain, the porous structure of bones, and relations between different anatomical parts of the human body are just some of the examples that we explore in detail. We argue and show that the models, methods, and algorithms developed in the realm of network science are ushering in a new era of network-based inquiry into the morphology and structural design of living systems in the broadest possible terms. We also emphasize that the need and applicability of this research is likely to increase significantly in the years to come due to the rapid progress made in the development of bioartificial substitutes and tissue engineering

Unexpected paths to cooperation on tied hyperbolic networks

Hyperbolic networks have high clustering, short average path lengths, and community structure, which are all properties that are commonly associated with social networks. As such, these networks constitute the perfect playing ground for probing factors that may affect public cooperation in realistic scenarios. And although much is already known about the evolution of cooperation on networks, we here consider the public goods game on tied hyperbolic networks, such that payoffs in one network layer influence the payoffs in the other and vice versa. We also consider random, assortative, and disassortative mixing in the networks to account for varying connections between players over time. While our research confirms the overall positive impact of interdependent payoffs, we also find that mixing on the network where cooperation thrives may strongly promote the cooperation in the other network, while destroying it completely in the former. We show that this is related to the mapping of lower payoffs from one network to the other, where cooperators in one network benefit from the failure of cooperators in the other network. Namely, as soon as the multiplication factor for the public goods is high enough to nullify the negative effects of mixing and cooperators thus recover, the positive effect on cooperation in the other network vanishes. We determine optimal conditions for this phenomenon in terms of the frequency of mixing and the strength of ties between the payoffs on both networks, and we discuss the implications of our research for enhanced cooperation in coupled populations, in particular in the light of mutual success not always being desirable for cooperation to thrive