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The adoption of market orientation practices at the Higher Education Institutions is a rising trend, since the challenges of changing the global higher education environment raise a growing issue for meeting the needs of the global market. Developing an appropriate strategy to cope with all of the requirements of the global education market changes and competitive pressures is especially challenging for University Business Schools in transition countries. The paper is based upon an identification of a variety of theoretical perspectives about the global education market, its trends and influences on those schools in the aspects of market orientation. Conceptual framework analysis was used to characterise the market orientation of Business Schools as an opportunity for the strategic business model of University Business Schools in transition countries. Key factors and indicators for understanding their environment were identified, structured and categorised within a theoretical framework. These factors reflect the evolving context of reformation of the existing business model of University Business Schools in transition countries in a comprehensive way, since the framework outlines the complexity of their adaptation, considering the linkages and dependencies of all the crucial global external in internal environment trends and aspects. The authors suggest that, in order to align their business model more adequately to the global market needs and develop a sustainable competitive position, University Business Schools from transition countries have to follow the market orientation principles, taking into account also the limitations and challenges from a wider social and institutional environment. © 2018, Technical University of Liberec. All rights reserved.

The main purpose of this paper is to examine how employeesʼ personal ethics, expressed through their personal values and attitudes toward social and environmental issues, are associated with the ethics of organizations in public administration. The authors introduce their own theoretical model that examines the relations between employeesʼ personal ethics - expressed through employeesʼ personal values and attitudes toward natural and social environments - and the ethics of public administration. The reported study examined these relations and tested a proposed model based on the answers of 212 employees from public administration organizations in Slovenia. Employeesʼ attitudes toward natural and social environments and the ethics of their organizations were measured using a questionnaire designed to measure aspects of ethics whereas personal values were measured using the Schwartz value survey. The results demonstrated that employeesʼ self-enhancing values significantly influence their attitudes toward the natural environment. Employeesʼ self-transcendence and self-enhancement values significantly influence their attitudes toward the social environment and the ethics of organizations. In addition, research results about the mediation effect of employeesʼ attitudes toward natural and social environments on the association between the employeesʼ personal values and their perception of the ethics of public administration organizations reveals that employeesʼ social attitudes have a significant impact on the ethics of public administration while the impact of self-transcending and self-enhancing values becomes insignificant. Based on results of testing our model we can conclude that the employeeʼs attitudes toward to the social environment represent a significantly more powerful predictor of ethics in public administration organizations than the employeesʼ personal values. These results present a solid basis for further theoretical and practical advancement of public administration ethics.

The primary role of marketing within the competitive advantage is innovation. The customer value-based differentiation strategies will drive the companyʼs market research efforts, its selection of target markets, its product development processes, its market communications programs, and its delivery processes. These processes require many specific capabilities that enable the firm to carry out activities necessary to move its products or services through the value chain. We must explore the role of distinctive marketing capabilities in competitive strategy of the company. As sources of competitive advantage, companies try to create their product or service differentiation by developing higher product or service quality, by using their knowledge to solving marketing problems, by communicating with their customers, and by satisfying customerʼs needs. We also would like to confirm that superior customer service lead to companyʼs innovation. The paper closes with the implications of the findings and highlights promising future research avenues.

The main goal of our research is to analyze and display causes of a bullwhip effect formation within a supply chain, as well as to provide the appropriate solutions to limit the occurrence of the bullwhip effect by using the proper information flow and partners´ cooperation within the supply chain. The bullwhip effect is one of the most important issues in the supply chain management and it is present in many companies. It preserves a character of invisibility because there are lots of causes for its formation and they are usually difficult to discern. The bullwhip effect is a phenomenon of an increase in the order variability within a supply chain. The higher we are within the supply chain, the higher is the order variability. The company encountered with the whip effect can successfully reduce its impact by improving the information flow, as well as improving partners´ cooperation within the supply chain. In this way the company can limit its negative repercussions and increase the profit. The article focuses on the overview of the bullwhip effect within a distribution chain, from its causes to suggestions and measures how to ease its negative repercussions on the organisation. Part of the causes could be found in the market demand variability and in the lack of communication about the actual marked demand within the supply chain. The rest of the causes are related to obstacles that emerge among different partners within the supply chain (role of culture). A qualitative analysis is applied on the basis of the selected cognitions from the supply chain management. The quantitative analysis is based on the theoretical research of the effective flow of information among the participants and its contribution to the reduction of the bullwhip impact. The article discusses two research questions: 1) The correct information flow within the supply chain and the improvement of the communication among partners can lead to the bullwhip effect reduction, and 2) A reduction of the bullwhip influence can lead to the increase of cooperation among partners. The results of the analysis can be used for further research.

The main purpose of this paper is to examine the utilization of management practices in catching-up and well-developed economies. Within that framework, the paper examines the utilization of management practices in Slovenian and Croatian organizations, as both are considered the representatives of catching-up economies from Central and East Europe (CEE), while also comparing the utilization of management practices in the two selected economies to the global use of management practices. Evidences about management practices utilization reveal that in well-developed economies in the forefront are management practices aiming to support customer relationship management, strength customer relations and customer satisfaction, while in Slovenia and Croatia prevail practices that are oriented toward optimization of the business and its processes. Based on the research results and the situation in organizations, a possible future pattern of management practice utilization in organizations operating in catching up economies is outlined, with the aim to reduce the developmental lag and increase competitiveness of those organizations. The paper also provides several practical implications for future utilization of management practices in catching-up economies. The sample of catching up-countries includes 155 responses from employees in Slovenian organizations and 185 from Croatian ones. Data for samples from well-developed economies are obtained from a global survey of management practices. Temeljni cilj ovog rada je analiza korištenja menadžerskih praksi u visoko razvijenim i gospodarstvima u razvoju. Koristeći ovakav pristup, u radu se utvrđuje primjena menadžerskih praksi u slovenskim i hrvatskim organizacijama, s obzirom da se Hrvatska i Slovenija mogu smatrati reprezentativnim primjerima gospodarstava u razvoju iz područja središnje i istočne Europe. Navedene se prakse, također, uspoređuju s globalnom uporabom menadžerskih praksi. Empirijski rezultati ukazuju da su, u razvijenim gospodarstvima, u fokusu menadžerske prakse koje podupiru upravljanje i jačanje odnosa s kupcima te zadovoljstvo kupaca, dok u Hrvatskoj i Sloveniji prevladavaju prakse, orijentirane optimizaciji poslovanja i poslovnih procesa. Na temelju empirijskih rezultata i procjene situacije u istraživanim organizacijama, predviđaju se moguće buduće korištenje menadžerskih praksi u gospodarstvima u razvoju, s ciljem smanjivanja razvojnog jaza i povećanja konkurentnosti. U radu se ukazuje i na praktične implikacije budućeg korištenja menadžerskih praksi u gospodarstvima u razvoju. Uzorak iz gospodarstava u razvoju uključuje odgovore zaposlenika 155 slovenskih i 185 hrvatskih poduzeća. Podaci iz uzorka visoko raspoloživih gospodarstava su dobiveni iz globalne ankete menadžerskih praksi.

In this paper, we focus on the importance and influence of employees’ values as an essential element of organizational culture in the acquisition of knowledge. Based on empirical research, we studied the influence of employees’ values in Slovenian organizations on the acquisition of knowledge, enabling us to identify the core values that exert the greatest effect on the acquisition of knowledge. The results of the analysis confirmed the positive impact of employees’ values on the acquisition of knowledge. We found that the more employees are dedicated to personal development and the more they feel connected and loyal to the organization, the more they are inclined to the development and acquisition of knowledge. V prispevku se osredotočamo na raziskovanje pomena in vpliva vrednot zaposlenih kot bistvene sestavine organizacijske kulture na pridobivanje znanja. Na podlagi empirične raziskave smo proučevali vpliv vrednot zaposlenih na pridobivanje znanja v slovenskih organizacijah in ugotavljali, katere so ključne vrednote, ki najbolj vplivajo na pridobivanje znanja. Rezultati analize so potrdili pozitiven vpliv vrednot zaposlenih na pridobivanje znanja. Ugotavljamo, da so zaposleni bolj naklonjeni razvoju in pridobivanju znanja, če se bolj posvečajo osebnemu razvoju ter če čutijo večjo pripadnost organizaciji in močnejšo povezanost z njo.

Business logistics in Europe as well as worldwide is developing extensively both in practical and in scientific area. Increasing global trade and declining percentage of logistics costs in GDP indicates that logistics business is performing more efficiently than ever before. Logistics practice is again reflected on 15th international scientific conference Business Logistics in Modern Management 2015 which was held at the Faculty of Economics of Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek. Inspired by ever changing market and contemporary logistics and supply chain management problems, Conference continues with tradition of scientific and professional papers that contribute to business logistics theory and practice in all main logistics research areas. This year’s publication presents 21 papers and 44 authors from 9 countries (Germany, Austria, Russia, Poland, Slovenia, Nigeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Croatia). Traditionally, retailing logistics plays primary role in considerations of this Conference. First section starts with analysis of contemporary retail trade as a driver of supply chains, and continues with significance of retail internationalization development in multichannel environment. Authors are also emphasizing interesting topic of emerging RFID technology in retail studied from younger consumers' point of view. This thematic section ends with discussion about scope and significance of concentration in retail trade. Second thematic block is raising challenges in procurement and distribution channels. First article is considering procurement from business conduct approach, while second suggests appropriate procurement algorithms using harmonization method. Next article in this section gives an overview of Eco-food production, distribution channels and market perspectives in Croatia. A European experience in innovative solutions for a «last mile» delivery, with special emphasize on necessity to introduce innovative types of delivery vehicles is next topic, and this section ends with review of distribution channels of major construction materials. Transport and warehouse as main logistics components are topic of third thematic section. First paper examines the conditionality of logistics performances of transport corridor with cost and non-cost factors related to transport corridor where the port is located. Next article is evaluating methods to optimize the handling of reusable containers for parts supply at the manufacturer, and provides a determination for safety stocks of these containers. Two articles regarding warehouse issues provide review of evaluation problem and assessment method of warehouse process efficiency, and present the introduction of variable pay schemes in warehouse logistics leading to productivity improvement. Next article discuss about significance of the intermodal transport route through the port of Rijeka for sustainable transport by highlighting the significance of the introduction of new seaborne truck traffic services from the Southeast Europe countries to the North Adriatic Italian port terminals for the reduction of vehicles gas emissions and sustainable development. Transportation is in focus of last article in this section as well – implication of food standard and food safety supply chain for the final products transportation are considered through case study of Croatian chocolate producer. Last section presents development perspectives of supply chain and logistics. First article is talking about dimensions for supply chain integration - by applying process modelling and simulation methods, authors managed to represent characteristic features of supply chain operation at each integration level for all identified factors in article. Croatian competitiveness in the European logistics space is presented in second article of this section where authors argues that improving Logistics Performance Indicator to acceptable levels would significantly improve trade expansion, ability to attract foreign direct investments, and economic growth of Croatia. One more interesting idea comes with an article about “smart-box”, a business concept towards the physical internet that will enable private persons to ship their private parcels or luggage through designed intelligent containers (so-called “smart boxes”) and technologies for the branch-wide transport-related information flow. Next article provides policy framework for business concepts and models of urban/city logistics of developing economy in which author analyses the effect of traffic congestion, noise pollution and other negative externalities on city/urban logistics. A contemporary development of information technology infrastructure for optimizing logistics operations in segment of cold chain is next article’s topic. Finally, last paper presents goals and benefits of university/industry partnership projects in the field of logistics.

The existence and development of humankind depends a lot upon a co-ordinatet operation of all areas and levels of human activity. However, in either theory or practice we found no model of operation, which would offer a harmonized and target oriented development. A possible solution is offered by sustainable development, which tries to the define and carry out common goals of human kind with a holistic harmonization of humans activities at all levels of their living and behaviour. Companies belong to central institutions of the modern society and assentially co-create the sustainability of society. Companies endeavour (e.g. by simulation and planning) to prepare models of their goals and ways concerning their internal and external environment. On the basis of systems approach, we can define companies as business systems, which can best survive in a log-run on the basis of sustainable development. This business system's effort can also be supported by the application of the ancipatory systems thinking which can improve its planning methods, if it is holistic, understood as a future oriented mental activity made of its methodological approach, techniques, and modes of work. Its characteristics have a direct impact of holism of the definition of goals, on the orientation of operation, and hence achievement of the business system's results. Postojanje i razvoj ljudske vrste uvelike ovise o koordiniranom djelovanju svih područja i razina ljudske djelatnosti. Međutim, u teoriji i praksi ne postoji model djelovanja koji bi opisao harmoničan razvoj usmjeren prema ciljevima. Moguće rješenje nudi model održivog razvoja, koji pokušava definirati i provesti opće ciljeve čitavog čovječanstva i povezati ih s harmoničnom provedbom ljudskih aktivnosti na svim razinama življenja i ponašanja ljudi. Poduzeća pripadaju ključnim institucijama koje sudjeluju u stvaranju održivosti društva. One, primjerice, uz pomoć metoda simulacije i planiranja, pokušavaju pripremiti modele svojih ciljeva i načina funkcioniranja, koji se odnose na vanjsko i unutarnje okruženje. Na temelju sistemskog pristupa, poduzeće se definira kao poslovni sustav, koji, u dugoročnom smislu, najbolje preživljava na temelju održivog razvoja. Ovakve napore poslovnog sustava može podržavati i primjena promišljanja na temelju anticipatornih sustava, koji mogu poboljšati metode planiranja, ukoliko se ono shvati kao holistička i intelektualna djelatnost, usmjerena prema budućnosti, ali i cjelina metodološkog pristupa, tehnika i načina rada. Karakteristike planiranja izravno utječu na stupanj u kome se može govoriti o holističkim ciljevima, te poslovnom usmjerenju, a samim tim i na razinu rezultata poslovnog sustava.

As the world economy is slowly recovering from years of crisis, business logistics continues to strengthen its position as the key rationalization and developing business function - both at the level of one economic entity and in the context of the entire supply chain who now know no boundaries. Continuing the respectable tradition, 14th International Scientific Conference Business Logistics in Modern Management once again explores the scientific and technical challenges within the different areas of logistics and supply chain management. Of particular importance is the fact that this year the Conference has highly emphasized international character due to scientific and professional contributions achieved through 17 papers and 33 authors from 10 countries (Germany, Austria, Poland, Turkey, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Serbia, Hungary, Bosnia and Hercegovina and Croatia). Certain papers in this publication are the continuation of the ERASMUS collaboration and other projects between scientists from the Faculty of Economics in Osijek and scientists from institutions of higher education in Pforzheim, Celje, Szeged, Poznan and Subotica. In accordance with the growing importance of logistics in retailing, the largest number of papers is in the first thematic block with the same name. The section starts with a paper which is seeking for optimal strategy of stocking of retail outlets. It continues with discussion about space and technology developments and efficiency in retail trade, folowed by paper on logistical challenges and potentials in multi-channel food retailing & distribution. Furthermore, authors discuss issues of retail ready packaging in food manufacturing industry, new scopes of retail internationalization, logistic distribution centers as business success factor, and modern developments in distributive trade. Second thematic block is devoted to supply chain management from information and comunication technology view and to supply chain security issue. Authors present interesting joint maturity model of business inteligence driven supply chain, followed by paper about changes of supply chain management in the information technology industry and its relation to sustainable development, and by paper that emphasize charachteristics of supply chain management in the global electronic market. Here are also papers on influence of authorized economic operators on supply chain security, and on packaging quality assurance in supply chain. Last section, called logistics in theory and practice, starts with a comparative literature analysis of definitions for logistics that aims to provide general definition of logistics, as well as definition of logistics subcategories. Next paper talks about firms' logistics capabilities for increasing international competitiveness. Besides, there are two case study papers concerning efficiency of cargo tram for city logistics compared to road freight transportation in Istanbul ; and new distribution channels in historical city cores in the Adriatic region. We conclude whole publication with analysis of logistics education at Cracow University of Economics. Finally, we would like to thank the Faculty of Economics in Osijekas the organizer, and to the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports, who have both supported the maintenance of this Conference. Likewise, we would like to offer a sincere thanks to international reviewing committee for their contribution in improving the scientific quality of this publication.

This paper provides current Schwartz Values Survey (SVS) data from samples of business managers and professionals across 50 societies that are culturally and socio-economically diverse. We report the society scores for SVS values dimensions for both individual-level and societal-level analyses. At the individuallevel, we report on the ten circumplex values sub-dimensions and two sets of values dimensions (collectivism and individualism ; openness to change, conservation, self-enhancement, and selftranscendence). At the societal -level, we report on the values dimensions of embeddedness, hierarchy, mastery, affective autonomy, intellectual autonomy, egalitarianism, and harmony. For each society, we report the Cronbach’s _ statistics for each values dimension scale to assess their internal consistency (reliability) as well as report interrater agreement analyses to assess the acceptability of using aggregated individual level values scores to represent country values. We also examined whether societal development level is related to systematic variation in the measurement and importance of values. Thus, the contributions of our evaluation of the SVS values dimensions are two-fold. First, we identify the SVS dimensions that have cross-culturally internally reliable structures and within-society agreement for business professionals. Second, we report the society cultural values scores developed from 21st century data that can be used as macro-level predictors in multi-level and single-level international business research.

Due to high level of uncertainty, entrepreneuship is generally considered as risky endeavuor. This paper explores the factors impacting entrepreneurial behaviour in order to identify new educational opportunities for its development. The paper explores perceived feasibility and desirability for students in more than 7 countries. The role of gender tested against desirability and feasibility were confirmed with statistically significant results. In addition the requirements for developing this skillset are also studied. A survey instrument was developed and data was collected from 3597 students.