The Impact of Marketing Capabilities on Growth of Better Innovation
Bruno Završnik, Damjana Jerman
The Relevance of the Sources of Competitive Advantage of a Firm Based on the Knowledge-based School
Tomaž Čater
The Problem of Whistleblowing
Matej Lahovnik
Employmeng Agency
Andrej Raspor, Nevenka Nevenka Volk Rožič
E-learning Service Provision – Market Structure in Slovenia
Tanja Arh, Matjaž Kovačič, Borka Jerman-Blažič
Internal Communications in Organizations
Damijan Mumel, Andreja Buneto, Tina Virt
Editorial
Editorial 6/2006
Marko Ferjan
The Impact of Marketing Capabilities on Growth of Better Innovation
Bruno Završnik
Ekonomsko – poslovna fakulteta, Razlagova 20, 2000 Maribor
Damjana Jerman
Intereuropa d.d., Vojkovo nabrežje 32, 6000 Koper
Abstract
Background/Purpose: The paper presents results of the influence of marketing capabilities on the company’s innovation. The research has encompassed the analysis of sources of marketing capabilities (in the areas of marketing communications, market research, appropriate sales force and new product development can lead to higher innovation. 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 customer’s needs which also lead to better company’s innovation. Key words: innovation, marketing capability, marketing mix, marketing activity
The Relevance of the Sources of Competitive Advantage of a Firm Based on the Knowledge-based School
Tomaž Čater
Univerza v Ljubljani, Ekonomska fakulteta, Kardeljeva ploščad 17, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenij
Abstract
Background/Purpose: In the paper we discuss the knowledge- based school as one of four approaches to explaining the development of competitive advantage on a firm level. The research based on the sample of 225 Slovenian firms reveals that the firms see the most relevant sources of their competitive advantage in structural capital, tacit knowledge and in imperfect imitability of knowledge. The more relevant knowledge a firm possesses and the better its management is, the greater firm performance and competitiveness is, which means our empirical support of the knowledge-based school on the sources of a firm’s competitive advantage is quite unequivocal. Among the studied sources of competitive advantage performing knowledge management tasks and imperfect imitability of knowledge seem to be the most relevant factors of firm performance and competitiveness. Key words: firm, knowledge, competitive advantage, performance, empirical research
Univerza v Ljubljani, Ekonomska fakulteta, Kardeljeva ploščad 17, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija
Abstract
Background/Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to highlight the problem of whistleblowing in the organisations.Whistleblowers are insiders who go public in their criticism of business practices of the organisation. This form of occupational suicide is thus available for interpretation as either heroic or pathological. Many contradictions are at work in how such episodes are produced, how they are encoded and distributed by media institutions and how they are interpreted by publics. In practice we are faced with internal as well as with the external whistleblowing. We argue that individuals go public more often if there is no intraorganisation mechanism to enable internal whistleblowing. Key words: organisation, conflict, loyalty, social responsibility
Background/Purpose: In Slovenia employment agencies are a relatively new institution, since it has been in existence since 1998. At the moment there are 69 agencies serving as agents procuring employment for emplo yees. The institution is the result of the search for balance in the area of the Employment and Industrial Relations Theory, i.e. to enable organisations to adapt as easily as possible to the situation on the global markets and to preserve the security of employment for the employees, the stability of the economic and the social situation, as well as the conditions for the employees’ professional and personal development. In their contribution the two authors present the results of a research on the basis of which in comparison to Italy, Austria and Germany Slovenia has a disadvantagous relation as far as taxes are concerned, since the companies are bound to pay the VAT on the full amount and not only on the agency’s commission. Due to this fact for those companies which are not able to realize the input VAT the service price increases by up to 30% (the commission, the VAT). The authors suggest a modification of the tax law so that following the example of the above-mentioned countries the VAT should only be charged on the commission or the government shall return it through the input VAT. Key words: flexibility, employment agency, concessionary agent
E-learning Service Provision – Market Structure in Slovenia
Tanja Arh
Institut “Jožef Stefan”, Laboratorij za odprte sisteme in mreže, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija
Matjaž Kovačič
Institut “Jožef Stefan”, Laboratorij za odprte sisteme in mreže, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija
Borka Jerman-Blažič
Institut “Jožef Stefan”, Laboratorij za odprte sisteme in mreže, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija
Abstract
Background/Purpose: Following the fact that human resource development has been recognized as one of the most important elements for further development of modern societies, the current demands for the development and acquisition of new knowledge, competences and skills has been constantly increasing. On the market, the number of providers offering different forms of e-learning has reaches a huge range of services, either limited to based e-courses with or without communication or tutoring to a wide range of possibilities offering the acquisition of formal education and training. In the article special attention is given to the results of research dealing with the e-learning market structure in Slovenia with the intention of gaining the widest possible range of information about the status of the elearning service provision on the Slovenian market.The findings of the research give the solid background information about the existing structure of e-programmes and courses offer on the Slovenian market, giving an appropriate and efficient basis for further research in this field. Key words: e-learning, e-learning providers, market structure, e-content, e-courses
Background/Purpose: Internal communications is one of the most important activities in organizations. Without internal communications in fact, none of organizations could exist. Despite this, as a research field it is neglected. In the paper authors explore use of instruments of internal communications in entrepreneurships in Slovenia.The research includes a sample of 50 companies with 5 to 50 employees and 50 companies with over 50 employees.The main goal was to analyze twenty instruments of internal communications and fourteen goals of internal communications. The three specific goals were (a) which instruments of internal communications use in analyzed companies, (b) how frequent use particular instrument of internal communications in analyzed companies and (c) how important is particular goal of internal communications in analyzed companies. The differences between two groups of analyzed companies appear in all three fields of research. Key words: internal communications, tools of internal communications, goals of internal communications.
