Decoding the Entrepreneurial Capacity: the Case of Entrepreneurial Alertness

Over the last few decades, entrepreneurial alertness has established its place as one of the central concepts in entrepreneurship research. It implies one’s ability to identify opportunities that are overlooked by others and as such plays an important role in the process of opportunity discovery and creation. Entrepreneurial alertness is theoretically set as a multidimensional construct that comprises of scanning and searching for new information, associating and connecting seemingly unrelated pieces of information and making evaluations and judgments about potential opportunities. The purpose of this study is to explore the notion of entrepreneurial alertness among the youth in order to identify its relationship with metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive experience, perception of self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intention. The aim is to provide suggestions and guidelines to scholars and educators about the ways entrepreneurial alertness can be developed and enhanced through teaching methods as well as specific activities offered to students during their university study

Predicting Bankruptcy of Shipbuilding Companies on the Basic of Financial Statement Data

Companies in their operation often face problems in meeting their financial obligations and are unable to settle their trade liabilities owed to creditors. As their liabilities exceed their assets, the bankruptcy is initiated. The relevance of bankruptcy prediction is a frequent topic of research by many authors. Shipbuilding in the Republic of Croatia was one of key industry sectors in light of a large number of workers, a high share in exports, and numerous sub-contractors who were directly or indirectly participating in production. Business operations of major Croatian shipbuilding companies have deteriorated in recent years. The objective of this paper is to examine if it is possible to predict company bankruptcy on the basis of data presented in shipbuilding companies’ financial statements by using mathematical methods and bankruptcy prediction models

Liquidity management in small and medium-sized construction enterprises during crisis - the case of Croatia

Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of liquidity management on the profitability of small and medium-sized Croatian enterprises during the economic crisis of 2008 and the crisis caused by COVID-19 and provide empirical evidence of the effects of liquidity management on profitability. Methodology: The collected data were analyzed using the methods of descriptive statistics, chain and base indices as well as Spearman’s correlation coefficient, while the normality of the distribution of the selected sample of small and medium-sized enterprises was examined with the Shapiro-Wilk W test. Results: According to the research results, the economic crisis in the period from 2008 to 2014 had more pronounced negative effects on liquidity management of the observed companies than the economic crisis in the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: The research results showed that liquidity management and achieving adequate profitability in times of crisis are very important for small and medium-sized construction companies because their total assets are dominated by short-term assets, while short-term liabilities are their dominant source of funding so better education in the field of finance is recommended in order to understand the use of their own and others sources of funding

Exploring business models of nonprofit organizations

Business models are usually used to describe how business entities sustain their competitive advantage, offer their customers better value and create good cooperation with their partners. While the literature is rich with best practice examples among for-profit business entities, nonprofit organizations (NPOs) are rarely observed and compared through the business model concept. Nonprofit organizations are mostly viewed as mission-driven organizations, which is why the business side is often rather neglected. The success of nonprofit organizations is usually measured by their impact in the community, which makes their activities dynamic and very much dependable on their business ecosystem. The goal of this paper is to identify specific characteristics of business models in the nonprofit sector, to evaluate how well nonprofit organizations communicate their value proposition to their customers, what distinguishes them from other nonprofits and what they are doing to develop a successful and sustainable organization. The empirical study covers 10 Croatian nonprofit organizations. The business model canvas is used to describe and compare their business models. The findings represent a good basis for understanding the performance of nonprofit organizations, and can serve as a framework for specific policies and programs aimed at development of nonprofit organizations

Effects of anoxia on 31P NMR spectra of Phycomyces blakesleeanus during development

The method of 31P NMR spectroscopy was used to investigate the effects of anoxia on Phycomyces blakesleea­nus mycelium during development. The greatest changes were recorded in the PPc, NADH, and α-ATP signals. Decrease of PPc signal intensity is due to chain length reduction and reduction in number of PPn molecules. Smaller decrease of β-ATP compared to α-ATP signal intensity can be attributed to maintenance of ATP concentration at the expense of PPn hydrolysis. Sensitivity to anoxia varies with the growth stage. It is greatest in 32-h and 44-h mycelium, in which PPn is used as an additional energy source, while the smallest effect was noted for 36-h fungi

Using loss aversion and framing to nudge students\u27 classroom performance

Behavioral economics suggests that people do not always decide rationally but are even predictably irrational. This gives rise to the concept of nudge, which creates an architecture of choices that encourages people to behave as they wish. Loss aversion is one of the best-known phenomena in behavioral economics and a central notion of the prospect theory. The main idea behind this phenomenon is that losses hurt more than gains feel good. The framing effect is a bias where people choose some options differently, depending on whether they are presented as a gain or a loss. In this quasi-experimental study, the authors examine the role of loss aversion and framing effects on students\u27 engagement and academic success. This study aims to test the hypothesis that students will have a stronger reaction to the reduction of awarded points, as opposed to an increase of awarded points, as they progress through the course. This will motivate them to work harder and achieve better academic success. The results show significant differences between the two groups in favor of the group being graded using the point reduction grading scheme. This suggests that the power of loss aversion can be exploited to increase students\u27 engagement and academic success. The existence of framing effect in this case has been demonstrated, which shows it might be possible to use the choice architecture to improve the student results

Business models of micro businesses: Empirical evidence from creative industries

Business model describes how a business identifies and creates value for customers and how it organizes itself to capture some of this value in a profitable manner. Previous studies of business models in creative industries have only recently identified the unresolved issues in this field of research. The main objective of this article is to analyse the structure and diversity of business models and to deduce how these components interact or change in the context of micro and small businesses in creative services such as advertising, architecture and design. The article uses a qualitative approach. Case studies and semi-structured, in-depth interviews with six owners/managers of micro businesses in Croatia provide rich data. Structural coding in data analysis has been performed manually. The qualitative analysis has indicative relevance for the assessment and comparison of business models, however, it provides insights into which components of business models seem to be consolidated and which seem to contribute to the diversity of business models in creative industries. The article contributes to the advancement of empirical evidence and conceptual constructs that might lead to more advanced methodological approaches and proposition of the core typologies or classifications of business models in creative industries. In addition, a more detailed mapping of different choices available in managing value creation, value capturing or value networking might be a valuable help for owners/managers who want to change or cross-fertilize their business models

Investigation of respiratory chain elements in fungus Phycomyces blakesleeanus: connecton with metabolism of phosphate compounds

U ovom radu je ispitivano postojanje i aktivnost alternativnih komponenata elektron transportnog lanca kod gljive Phycomyces blakesleeanus, sa akcentom na enzim alternativna oksidaza (AOX), kao i ponašanje respiratornog sistema u uslovima smanjene koncentracije kiseonika. Odgovor respiratornog sistema na ovaj stres je upoređen sa odgovorom druge komponente energetskog metabolizma, polifosfata (PPn), sa namerom da se utvrdi da li su, i na koji način, ova dva metabolička sistema povezana. Ispitivanjima izvedenim pomoću kiseonične elektrode tipa Klark je utvrđeno postojanje aktivnosti alternativnih elemenata respiratornog lanca kod P. blakesleeanus, a za zabeleženu aktivnost su odgovorni AOX, zatim enzim ili enzimski kompleks koji se indukuje u uslovima dugotrajne inhibicije Kompleksa III i nazvan je Kompleks IIIPAR, a vrlo je verovatno da postoji i spoljašnja alternativna NADH:dehidrogenaza (NDE). Utvrđeno je da se AOX sintetiše u citoplazmi nakon čega se enzim unosi u mitohondriju energetski zavisnim transportom. U uslovima smanjene koncentracije kiseonika kapacitet AOX se ne menja, ali učešće enzima u respiraciji značajno raste zbog inhibicije citohrom c oksidaze (COX) u ovim eksperimentalnim uslovima. Ovakav odgovor respiratornog sistema P. blakesleeanus se može pripisati potrebi za brzom odbranom od nastanka reaktivnih kiseoničnih vrsta (ROS) prilikom reoksigenacije koja dovodi do velikog porasta protoka elektrona kroz citohromski respiratorni put. 31P NMR spektroskopija je pokazala da u istim eksperimentalnim uslovima odnos intenziteta centralnog signala PPn i unutarćelijskog neorganskog fosfata (PPc/Pi), koji je dobar pokazatelj energetskog stanja ćelije, opada, ali iznenađujuće, dolazi do rasta nivoa ATP-a. Analiza glavnih komponenti (PCA), je pokazala snažnu negativnu korelaciju između ova dva parametra, ali i negativnu korelaciju između odnosa PPc/Pi i učešća alternativne u ukupnoj respiraciji. Osim toga, dodatak azida, snažnog inhibitora COX, nije dodatno smanjio odnos PPc/Pi u uzorcima micelijuma koji su bili izloženi tretmanu smanjene koncentracije kiseonika. Ovi rezultati ukazuju na povezanost ove dve komponente energetskog metabolizma, odnosno na mogućnost da se hidrolizom PPn nadoknadi manjak ATP-a u ćelijama izazvan inhibicijom citohromskog lanca...The existence and activity of the alternative components of electron transport chain in fungus Phycomyces blakesleeanus, especially alternative oxidase (AOX), as well as respiratory chain behavior in the conditions of oxygen deprivation, was investigated in this work. Response of respiratory system to these stress conditions was compared to response of another component of energy metabolism, polyphosphates (PPn), with the intention of determining whether, and in what way, are these two metabolic systems connected. Activity of the alternative elements of respiratory chain in P. blakesleeanus was recorded by means of Clark type oxygen electrode, and the elements responsible for this activity were AOX and an enzyme or enzymatic complex induced by long-term inhibition of Complex III which was named Complex IIIPAR. Also, there is a strong possibility of external alternative NADH:dehydrogenase (NDE) existence. It was established that synthesis of AOX takes place in the cytosol, and the enzyme is then imported into the mitochondrion by energy dependent transport. In the conditions of oxygen deprivation AOX capacity is not affected, but its engagement in total respiration increases significantly due to the cytochrome c oxidase (COX) inhibition. This type of respiratory chain response in P. blakesleeanus can be attributed to a need for fast defense from reactive oxygen species (ROS) formed during reoxygenation, which leads to the increase in electron flow through the cytochrome respiratory path. 31P NMR spectroscopy revealed that the intensity ratio of core PPn to intracellular inorganic phosphate signal (PPc/Pi), which is a good indicator of overall cellular energy metabolism, decreases in these experimental conditions, but surprisingly, ATP level raises. Principal component analysis (PCA), has shown strong negative correlation between these two parameters, and also between PPc/Pi ratio and participation of alternative in total respiration. Apart from that, addition of azide, a strong COX inhibitor, did not additionally decrease PPc/Pi ratio in mycelium samples exposed to oxygen deprivation. These results indicate that there is a connection between these two components of energy metabolism, i.e., there is a possibility that the decrease in cellular ATP content caused by cytochrome chain inhibition can be compensated by PPn hydrolysis..