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The phenomenon of tourism has been the subject of various studies by many scientists and experts from all fields of scientific study, especially economics. Tourism is undergoing a profound change as a result of the dynamic socio-economic development of many countries where it represents an important link in the economic chain of a particular country. In this paper tourism is researched in the context of the media using the example of the Republic of Croatia. The aim of this paper is to research articles on tourism on the pages of the most widely read Croatian news websites in order to gain insight into the media representation of tourism in Croatia, its neighboring countries, Europe and the world from the point of view of Croatian national news websites. The paper is based on articles on tourism that were published in July and August on the following news websites: Index.hr, 24sata.hr and jutarnji.hr, which are the most popular news websites in the Republic of Croatia according to Alexa.com. The research period of the paper is from 1 July to 31 August 2019 as the greatest tourist movements in Croatia are recorded during those months. The research results showed that the Index.hr news website published the most articles on tourism ; that the geographic focus of articles was mainly on Croatia ; that tourism offer was the most well represented topic and that, taking into account the entire body of research, negative views and opinions with respect to the researched subject predominated.

The main goals of the paper are: to present the development of consumer protection in Croatia ; to identify institutional framework for the protection of the Croatian consumers ; and to investigate the level of satisfaction of Croatian consumers with the current protection of their basic rights. The research is based on secondary (desk) and primary (field) research. Within the framework of secondary research, the relevant domestic and foreign literature with the topic of consumers’ protection was used. Within the framework of primary research, the study on the sample of 207 students of the Faculty of Economics & Business in Zagreb was conducted. Statistical data analysis was done using SPSS 13.0., univariate analysis and a chi-square test (with the cross-tabulation). Although Croatian consumer protection authorities pay more attention to the education of consumers there are still many consumers that are not well informed and not interested about their consumer protection. Thus, more actions with the educational purpose should continue among Croatian consumers with more active enrolment of the Croatian Government. This research is conducted among students of the Faculty of the Economics and Business and it does not represent the attitude of all Croatian students. Therefore, future study should be conducted on the representative sample of Croatian students. The findings of the paper could be useful to Croatian consumer protection authorities and practitioners which deal with the investigated area, due to the fact that they suggest further more effective actions in the area of consumer protection.

Purpose: The main purpose of the paper is to explore three aspects of corporate social responsibility in the Croatian retail industry: responsibility to the community, employee rights and working conditions and environmental protection. Moreover, the goals of the paper are: to present an overview of the CSR issues being addressed within the Croatian retailing, to give an outline of the structure of the Croatian retailing and to investigate the level of the commitment of Croatian retailers to CSR. Design/methodology/approach: The research is based on secondary (desk) and primary (field) research. Within the framework of secondary research, the relevant domestic and foreign literature with the topic of corporate social responsibility was used. Within the framework of primary research, the study on the sample of 60 retailing managers was conducted. Statistical data analysis was done using SPSS 13.0. Findings: The findings reveal that the process of retailing internationalization and media coverage increased efforts of retail companies operating on the Croatian market to demonstrate socially responsible behaviours. The results indicate that retailers are concerned about all investigated aspects of corporate social responsibility: responsibility to the community, employee rights and working conditions and environmental protection. Research limitations/implications: CSR in the retailing has received little attention from Croatian academics. This study was based on a small sample retail companies. Therefore, future studies are required to ensure representativeness. Originality/value: The provides an review of the CSR issues being reported by some of the Croatian retailer and as such it could be useful to Croatian academics and practitioners which deal with the investigated area.

Croatian local governments are entitled to ensure the freshwater distribution systems in their local communities. Most frequently, utility companies are awarded the task to provide the actual freshwater distribution service and they operate as local monopolists. On the other hand, local governments are also entitled to actively participate in the consumer protection system. As consumers are in an unfavorable position in the freshwater distribution market, the problem of conflict of interest rises for local governments. This paper aims to find out if local governments indeed can protect consumers’ rights in the utility services sector. Design/methodology/approach. The research is based on secondary data (desk) research. Within the framework of secondary research, the relevant domestic and foreign literature with the topic of consumer rights protection and the local governments’ dual role in freshwater distribution and consumer protection was studied. Data on actual prices in Croatian cities were gathered from on-line published pricelists, and analyzed. Findings imply that utility companies locally enjoy the monopoly positions on the freshwater distribution markets. As utility companies are usually founded, owned and controlled by local governments and local governments are at the same time responsible for consumer rights protection, their dual role is confirmed. Concluding remarks in this paper could be useful to consumers to strengthen their market power and to local and state governments to amend existing regulations in favor of the purpose of their existence, their citizens.

Purpose: The main purpose of the paper is: to examine differences in environmental performance among companies of different ownership-type in Croatia, to determine main obstacles in achieving better environmental performance, and to explore influence of environmentally friendly products/services to certain company’ characteristics. Design/methodology/approach: Within the secondary research, the relevant literature about environmental performance of companies of different ownership type was consulted. Within the primary research, the study was conducted at the sample of 350 Croatian companies and 63 questionnaires were received. Statistical data analysis was done using SPSS 13.0. Findings: There are no differences among companies of different ownership types in the majority of environmental dimensions. Statistically significant differences can be established in only two dimensions: product/services features and device/equipment features regarding prescribed environmental protection standards. The highest obstacles in achieving better environmental impact are: the lack of new clean technologies, company’s orientation to other goals, and high purchasing costs of clean technologies. Among all companies, the highest is influence of environmentally friendly products/services on image. Research limitations/implications: There are not many studies that examine connection between company ownership and environmental performance. Therefore, future studies are required to broaden knowledge in this area. Originality/value: The paper shows comparison of environmental performance among companies of different ownership-type in Croatia, the main obstacles in achieving better environmental protection and influence of environmentally friendly products on certain company’ characteristics. Hence, it could be useful to Croatian academics and practitioners that manage environmental performance.

Employee innovativeness has become a major human resource challenge within the global and highly competitive business environment. Recent studies have confirmed organizational climate and job characteristics as critical antecedents and a driving force for innovative work behavior (IWB). Although we know that the micro-innovation process is a multi-stage process we still lack a more clear understanding of the phase-specific antecedents of IWB. Therefore, the aim of the paper is to investigate and determine specific relationships between knowledge job characteristics, organizational climate and different employee IWB stages. A cross- sectional field research was conducted on the sample of 111 knowledge workers from six telecommunication companies in Croatia. Our research findings indicate that employees’ knowledge job characteristics in general are positively related to each phase of their IWB while perceived organizational climate seems to be relevant only for idea promotion. Nevertheless, the role and importance of particular job characteristics clearly differ along the innovation process. The present study provided industry-specific empirical insights about the current level of IWB of knowledge workers, as well as comparable results that can offers better understanding of job-level innovations.