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The paper presents the application of a non-parametric data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique for measuring the macroeconomic performance of the Balkan countries. In this context, for the period of 2006–2018, a dynamic DEA Window model was applied based on selected macroeconomic indicators as input and output variables. For a more comprehensive and objective analysis, the DEA Window analysis is complemented by a Malmquist productivity index that provides a more complete picture of the observed entities' performance and shows a trend of change from period to period. The results showed that in the observed period, Albania and to a large extent Montenegro, especially after the end of the global financial crisis, had the highest average efficiency, that is, they used the available resources effectively to increase the GDP growth rates. The EU Member States, Greece and Croatia, in particular, achieved the highest growth in overall productivity over the observed period, and this growth was largely due to a change in technical efficiency.

PurposeThe paper analyzes the relative technical efficiency of the transition economies of the Western Balkans in the period 2007–2021, in comparison with the former countries with a socialist state system, today members of the European Union (EU), based on selected macroeconomic indicators and panel data.Design/methodology/approachData envelopment analysis (DEA), i.e. its extension, DEA Window analysis, is applied. Total technical efficiency, as a prerequisite of economic efficiency, is decomposed into pure technical efficiency (PTE) and scale efficiency (SE). Bootstrapping method and Mann–Whitney U test were used to check the robustness of the obtained results, i.e. efficiency values.FindingsThe results show that in 2020, all observed countries recorded a significant drop in economic efficiency as a result of a general, disproportionate drop in the value of selected macroeconomic variables, which occurred due to the global economic crisis and the slowdown in economic activity caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This drop in efficiency was significantly greater in the former socialist states, now members of the European Union, which showed their greater sensitivity to global crises. None of the observed economies in the observed period was relatively efficient, that is, at the level of best practice, which occurred primarily as a consequence of the inefficiency of business conditions expressed in the economies of scale.Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitation of this study stems from the very nature of the concept of DEA efficiency, which is relative in nature. Also, the results and their interpretation are also significantly influenced by the choice of model variables, as shown by Lábaj et al. (2013), as well as a small number of decision-making units (DMUs). The mentioned limitations prevent unambiguous interpretation and generalization of the obtained results.Practical implicationsThe study may be of importance to economic policy makers in macroeconomic decision-making. The application of the DEA concept in measuring the technical efficiency of national economies is a useful tool in the analysis of macroeconomic performance and a benchmarking approach for positioning and achieving competitive advantage on the international market.Originality/valueSince research of this type is very limited, the results of this study make a theoretical and empirical contribution to the literature, creating a basis for future research and reexamination. The application of the DEA concept in measuring the technical efficiency of national economies is a useful tool in the analysis of macroeconomic performance and a benchmarking approach for positioning and achieving competitive advantage in the international market.

The paper studies the manipulative power of language in political discourse, more precisely, in political speech. According to the classification of Mišić Ilić and Radulović (2015), which is based on the combination of Austin (1962) and Searle’s (2001) theories, commissives and expressives were studied in a speech given by Aleksandar Vučić, held in Kosovska Mitrovica on September 9, 2018. The aim of the paper is to show the power of language to manipulate the listener, through the strategic use of these two speech acts, which would illustrate an ideological contrast: concealing the speaker’s flaws, as well as their personal responsibility and involvement, while emphasizing the positive aspects of everything the speaker stands for. Speech acts are classified according to their explicit and implicit forms. The results show that implicit forms are more dominant, and at the same time they illustrate how the speaker dissociates from directly taking responsibility for the actions he commits to. Explicit forms, on the other hand, can only be interpreted in the wider context of the utterance, in which the speaker commits to taking insufficiently concrete action.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is an analysis of the process of digital transformation of enterprises, by measuring the efficiency of the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in business in 29 European countries in the period from 2012 to 2020.Design/methodology/approachA Charnes, Cooper and Rhodes data envelopment analysis (CCR DEA, 1978) window model has been developed to measure the ICT efficiency of European countries. Several indicators of the use of information and communication technologies in enterprises are selected as the variables of the proposed models, which are available as such in the Eurostat database for European countries. Due to the sensitivity of the results obtained by applying the DEA method to measurement errors and output values, the robustness analysis of the obtained values of average efficiency is also performed, using the bootstrap method.FindingsThe obtained results show that the highest average technical efficiency of the use of ICT in companies by windows, in the observed period, is recorded in Belgium, while Denmark is in the second place. Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Latvia have the lowest average technical ICT efficiency per window. The analysis of the obtained results by years in the same period brings identical conclusions. Only Belgium has been ICT efficient many times. In general, for all observed countries, the movement of average ICT efficiency in the observed period shows a slightly growing trend, with the exception of a significantly decline in 2013. However, the fact is that the ICT efficiency of the observed countries in the past period is relatively low and for all countries it is 46.36%, with no country being 100% efficient and with eight countries whose average efficiency is below 50% of best practice.Research limitations/implicationsTo measure and evaluate the efficiency of ICT use in enterprises, four variables for efficiency assessment are identified, given the fact that only these data are available continuously for the observed period from 2012 to 2020 in the Eurostat database.Practical implicationsLow efficiency of using digital potential in business of the observed countries indicates the need for better understanding of the nature and goals of the digital business transformation process by employees and management, to create conditions for effective implementation and optimization of business digitalization.Originality/valueMeasurement of digital transformation is the subject of a very small number of studies and research, which mainly focus on measuring and assessing the impact of digital transformation on individual countries and perform a comparative analysis of technological development in those countries. Also, analyses are mainly based on identifying similarities and differences between countries or ranking countries according to adopted evaluation criteria using different digitization indices. A step forward in this research is the application of the DEA window method for measuring the relative efficiency of the use of ICT in enterprises, and the development of a model that can be extended if necessary with indicators for which data are available.

Although financial indicators are most often used to measure organizational efficiency, contemporary research suggests that more consideration should be given to non-material factors that can be enveloped by different non-parametric techniques. However, there is no method powerful enough to cover all the relevant aspects of the efficiency problem, i.e. each of them has its advantages and disadvantages. The paper discusses possible combined use of Balanced Scorecard (BSC) method and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) in the measurement of organizational efficiency, starting from the deficiencies of the single method use. The main goal of the research in the paper is to show that by combining these methods certain deficiencies in their independent application are eliminated, as well as to indicate the possibilities and limitations, advantages and disadvantages of their combined application. The paper explains that if BSC method is applied first, as a framework for defining goals and performance measures, and then four interactive DEA models are developed, in order to evaluate efficiency in each of the perspectives, relevant synergetic effects will be achieved. This work is licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Sve je vise organizacija koje prepoznaju znacaj drustvenih mreža i odlucuju da sa svojim ciljnim auditorijumom komuniciraju preko ovih kanala. U ovom radu govori se, pre svega, o primeni Facebook-a (kao najpopularnije drustvene mreže kod nas i u svetu) u poslovanju, o tome koje vrste sadržaja se najcesce koriste u cilju privlacenja, održavanja pažnje i ukljucivanja korisnika u komunikaciju, koja su to pravila ponasanja koja organizacije moraju da postuju kako bi uspesno poslovale i gradile svoj imidž na drustvenim mrežama, koliko su korisni sadržaji koji se postavljaju i u kojoj meri podrazumevaju angažovanje i ukljucivanje korisnika. Na kraju rada, ukratko je prikazan primer zvanicne Facebook stranice jedne visokoskolske ustanove iz Beograda, kao i nacin na koji ova obrazovna institucija komunicira sa svojim sadasnjim i potencijalnim korisnicima.