Countries which belong to the Danube Region differ significantly by living standards, economic development, and the problems they face, which makes entrepreneurship in the region even more interesting to research. However, due to this heterogeneity and diversity, it is a challenge to find the best way to conduct the research. There is no single methodology which can be used to get a sufficiently rich picture of the region that could help policy makers in Danube region countries to diminish differences among countries. The new Danube Region Entrepreneurship Observatory is currently investigating three domains of entrepreneurship in the Danube Region countries in further detail: first, entrepreneurship frameworks within which entrepreneurial activities are taking place, second, female entrepreneurship, and third, youth entrepreneurship. In doing so, this study uses numerous sources and various primary and secondary databases. The book «Danube Region Entrepreneurship Observatory: Entrepreneurship Ecosystem, Women and Youth Entrepreneurship» provides a clear and concise view of situations, possible solutions, and future trends of entrepreneurship for policy makers, researchers, and other stakeholders included in the entrepreneurship environment in countries from the Danube region. In addition, the book offers quality theoretical and practical bases for B.S., M.S., and PhD students in their study of entrepreneurship. The research results, described in the book, were disseminated using several different ways: the sample of the book was sent to over 40 addresses (researchers, academics, libraries, governmental bodies, policy makers, etc.), results were presented in a interview for the radio station, a press release was prepared and released etc.
F.02 Acquisition of new scientific knowledge
COBISS.SI-ID: 13264156In 2016 The Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Programme of the OECD has launched a new 3-year programme of work on inclusive entrepreneurship with DG Employment of the European Commission. This programme of works builds on past collaborations and will produce another Missing Entrepreneurs book, 3 policy briefs, a set of annual inclusive entrepreneurship policy assessment notes on each EU Member State, and a pilot version of an inclusive entrepreneurship self-assessment tool., The objective of the country policy assessment notes for Slovenia was to provide country-level analysis to the European Commission and OECD on key outstanding challenges for inclusive entrepreneurship policy and actions that could be developed to address these challenges by presenting a) problems faced by disadvantaged entrepreneurs; b) existing policies addressing the problem; and c) the gaps and weaknesses in the policies. The notes have been prepared in a structured manner, presenting data on entrepreneurship activity and self-employment rates and the barriers experienced by people in key social target groups (the unemployed, youth, women, seniors, and immigrants), assessing the appropriateness and quality of existing policy actions in this field relative to the scale and nature of needs, review the appropriateness of future policy plans and develop country-specific policy advice for addressing policy gaps and improving policy design. The effects of the project are reflected through the corrective actions of the various stakeholders, who are the custodians of providing appropriate frameworks and conditions for vulnerable social target groups, including their integration into entrepreneurial activity. The results of the project are regularly presented to the stakeholders of different responsibilities (ministries, employment services, NGOs, etc.), which co-create programs and projects for the inclusive entrepreneurship of these target groups.
D.06 Final report on a foreign/international project
COBISS.SI-ID: 13047836The Slovenian business demography was analyzed using the secondary data of the Agency for Public Legal Records and Services (AJPES). The AJPES database included 63,590 companies and 67,500 private entrepreneurs for 2014. The analysis of European entrepreneurship was carried out on the basis of data collected for 22, 347 million enterprises of structural business statistics of the non-financial sector of the EU-28 economy. In-depth analysis of the state of the Slovenian start-up ecosystem was carried out with primary data, with an online questionnaire, with which we surveyed 156 start-ups. We examined the situation and trends in the corporate sector and found similarities and differences in several aspects. On the basis of the results, we prepared recommendations for monetary and non-monetary economic policy measures aimed at promoting economic activity, competitiveness, job creation due to favorable and stimulating conditions for the operations of existing companies and the creation of new companies. Recommendations are particularly valuable, as companies that are focused on global markets with their innovative products and who in the early stages of their life-cycle generate most of their income with export and have a high potential for further growth, have contributed to their design.
C.02 Editorial board of a national monograph
COBISS.SI-ID: 85752833This paper examines the use of management tools among Slovenian and Croatian employees, with the main focus on linkages between the current use of management tools and patterns of its future use. The authors developed and tested a model for predicting the future use of management tools based on the current use of tools by employees in organizations, underlying assumptions of the theory of planned behavior and the information-perception-behavior link. Descriptive statistics suggest that there are differences in management tools use patterns among Slovenian and Croatian employees. Among the most used tools, employees in both countries significantly and differently use (especially) outsourcing, mission and vision statements, knowledge management, total quality management, and customer segmentation. Using structural equation modelling for testing the proposed relations in the developed model on samples of Slovenian and Croatian employees reveals that the current use of tools plays an important role in predicting the future use of tools in Slovenian organizations, while linkages for the Croatian sample are rather insignificant. More specifically, the current use of management tools has a positive influence on the future use of management tools, while the impact of the current percentage of satisfied users with management tools is very weak. Further, a comparison of results with international data reveals differences in the patterns of management tools use between former catching up countries (studied are two former transition economies) and economies with a longer tradition in the market economy. Based on the current state of management tools use, linkages between their current and future use, and patterns of tools use in high-developed economies, the authors speculate about the future pattern of management tools use in catching up countries based on experiences from high-developed market economies. Those assumptions represent a building block for boosting the use of management tools in organizations in catching up economies, and thus helping those organizations to reduce the gap between them and most developed organizations.
F.25 Development of new organisational structures and managerial solutions
COBISS.SI-ID: 11958556Original scientific paper published in a journal with very high impact factor JCR. The aim of this study was to understand how product ecodesign activities can be effectively introduced to stimulate step changes in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the construction and building sector, together with SMEs from related industrial sectors. Based on an interview study among 46 Slovenian SMEs, the general level of managers’ awareness of how their products impact the environment and how they understand the concept of product ecodesign to provide potential measures for ecodesign implementation was investigated. Not many resaerch has been carried out regarding ecodesign implementation in small and medium enterprises so far. Thus, obtained results are important for further systematic implementation of these practices in business decisions of the SMEs.
F.02 Acquisition of new scientific knowledge
COBISS.SI-ID: 12985372