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Organizacija, Volume 52 Issue 1, February 2019
In Memoriam
DOI: 10.2478/orga-2019-0001 
In recent weeks, three of our esteemed colleagues, scien-
tists, and teachers have passed away. It was with great sad-
ness that we received the news that we had lost respected 
professors and researchers in the international and domes-
tic environment in the field of organization and manage-
ment.
Associate Professor Metod Černetič, has graduated from 
the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ljubljana with a 
major in sociology. He earned his master’s degree in 1984 
at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Lju-
bljana. In 1998, he successfully defended his doctoral dis-
sertation titled “Heuristic approach in planning postgradu-
ate studies of personnel development in RD – with a focus 
on Slovenia” at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences of 
the University of Maribor.
As an associate lecturer in organizational sociology, he 
started to teach in 1972 at the College of Organizational 
Sciences. In 1975, he became full-time employee and was 
first a college lecturer at the newly established Faculty of 
Organizational Science, later a college professor, senior 
lecturer, assistant professor in the field of organization and 
education in personnel management, and, finally, in the ti-
tle of associate professor for organization and education in 
personnel management.
In 1994–1996, Prof. Černetič attended further ad-
vanced scientific studies in the framework of the Tempus 
programme, at national and international scientific and 
professional congresses, conferences, symposia, and panel 
discussions as a researcher as well as a participant in dif-
ferent research projects.
His scientific activity was as versatile as comprehen-
sive – from organizational management (above all, the 
sociological aspects of organizational relationships), con-
temporary forms and approaches in organizing enterprises 
and other institutional forms (management of non-profit 
organizations), human resource and entrepreneurship de-
velopment, development of postgraduate studies (young 
researchers), to the economics of education and research. 
He has worked on many research projects and programmes 
in the fields of the development of higher education, the 
development of postgraduate study, and the theory of or-
ganization and management.
Prof. Metod Černetič was actively participating in 
work of Slovenian Sociological Association and Soci-
ety for Evaluation and Organizational Development. He 
was a holder of the Organizational Chair, president of the 
programme and organizational committee of the alumni 
meetings, member of the expert group for School of Man-
agement curricula preparation, and lecturer. Engaged by 
Slovenian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he was 
lecturing managers and directors. He was a member of 
many educational and research centres and institutions.
His pedagogical, professional, and research approach 
has left an essential imprint on the development of the 
Faculty of Organizational Sciences at the University of 
Maribor. Prof. Metod Černetič will remain in fond remem-
brance.
Dane Melavc, Professor Emeritus at the University of 
Maribor, Faculty of Economics and Business, was born on 
July 17, 1932, in Mozirje, Slovenia. After completing his 
undergraduate studies in 1956 at the University of Ljublja-
na, Faculty of Economics, he continued his study at the 
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Economics and received 
his master’s degree in 1972 and his doctoral degree in 
1974. The title of his thesis was “Transformation of ac-
counting in its incorporation into the business information 
system of the company”.
In 1957, he started his professional career in the 
Nazarje Forestry in accounting, finance, and management. 
From 1967 to 1972, he worked as an independent consul-
tant at the Development Center in Celje.
During his employment in the industry, he started ped-
agogical work in higher education. In 1970, he became As-
sociate Lecturer of Cost Accounting and Accounting at the 
Faculty of Economics and Business (EPF), University of 
Maribor. In 1972, he joined the same faculty as a college 
professor of bookkeeping. After completing doctoral stud-
ies, he was elected Assistant Professor for Accounting, and 
in 1975, Associate Professor. He was elected full professor 
of Accounting and Economics in 1980.
In addition to teaching and research, Prof Melavc 
worked on the development and the establishment of other 
fields, important for the progress of the faculty. From 1978 
to 1989, he was the editor-in-chief of the magazine ‘Our 
Economy’ (Naše gospodarstvo). From 1973 to 1976, he 
was the head of the Institute of Finance and Banking at 
the EPF. In 1977, he became vice-dean, and from 1979 to 
1983, dean of the EPF. The accomplishments of his work 
undoubtedly contributed to the trust of the academic com-
munity, and in 1983-1987, he was able to confirm his work 
as rector of the University of Maribor. From 1986 to 1987, 
he was president of the Presidency of Yugoslav universi-
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Organizacija, Volume 52 Issue 1, February 2019
ties. He also left a significant mark in the Slovenian higher 
education area by acting as president of the Higher Educa-
tion Council (his last appointment ended in 2002). 
In December 1992, he retired after completing four 
decades of working life. In 1994, he was awarded the ti-
tle of Professor Emeritus at the University of Maribor and 
received the title Honorary Senator in 2000.
A comprehensive bibliography demonstrates the 
achievements of his fundamental research. Throughout 
his career, he published 35 books (23 in co-authorship), 
and 233 journal articles and conference papers. More than 
30 articles were written on the basis of invitations from 
Slovenia and abroad. He presented his work at numerous 
conferences in a range of countries.
Prof Melavc published several textbooks for under-
graduate, graduate, and postgraduate studies and for sup-
plementary education. His publications cover a wide range 
of topics, from organizing accounting for the needs of 
various related organizations, through the significance of 
contemporary methods of cost and managerial accounting, 
to the integration of accounting and non-financial informa-
tion, to mention only a few. 
In addition to teaching at his home university, he lec-
tured at the Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria 
and Hochschule für Ökonomie Bruno Leuschner in Ber-
lin and at other several faculties in Slovenia, including the 
Faculty of Organizational Sciences in Kranj.
His publications significantly impacted the develop-
ment of the accounting profession in Slovenia and in for-
mer Yugoslavia. 
Among his monographs, we must highlight the book 
‘Introduction to the Theory and Technique of Accounting’, 
which represented, according to reviewers Prof. Ivan Turk 
and Prof. Radmila Nikolajević, ‘a novelty in the literature 
on the foundations of accounting in the Slovenian lan-
guage’. This initial work subsequently underwent many 
revisions and supplemented editions, including editions 
in co-authorship with Prof. Ivan Turk. The first edition of 
his fundamental book in the area of managerial econom-
ics was published in 1977 and was followed by several 
revised and updated editions. The last edition, entitled 
‘How to Manage’, was published in 2000. Several books 
on controlling and auditing and management and account-
ing followed, some of them in co-authorship. In 2016, he 
published the textbook of Accounting Basics, in co-author-
ship with his colleagues from the Accounting and Auditing 
Chair at the EPF.
Prof. Melavc’s main research achievements can be 
summarized as follows:
• developing modern accounting as a whole of analyti-
cal and synthetic financial statements,
• developing management-managerial economics with 
a special emphasis on cost theory (the original definition of 
the causes of the creation of a limited fixed cost),
• linked treatment of productivity, economy, profitabil-
ity, and monetary indicators,
• related treatment of accounting and modern informat-
ics, and
• addressing the issues of higher education, in particu-
lar, the development of an appropriate information system.
Prof Dane Melavc transferred his knowledge and ex-
perience to the students as a committed pedagogue, and 
many will remember him as an excellent mentor. He su-
pervised nine PhDs, many master and specialist theses, 
and numerous student assignments. Throughout his career, 
he was in contact with organizational practice by partici-
pating in numerous projects and consultations for various 
types of organizations, dealing with the organization of 
their accounting and with other areas of accounting and 
economics. 
For his long-standing work in the field of accounting, 
Prof. Dane Melavc received many awards, such as the 
Gold Badge of the Federation of Accountants and Finan-
cial Workers of Slovenia. The Slovenian Association of 
Economists awarded him the status of the Expert for lead-
ership and management areas, and the Ministry of Finance 
issued him the status of Certified Auditor.
Finally, we must emphasize that the work of the es-
teemed Prof. Dane Melavc was always permeated with 
honesty and a positive attitude, with refinement, and above 
all with a respectful attitude towards everyone and with his 
willingness to help. All of us who had the honour to work 
with Prof Melavc will remember him with great respect 
– as a teacher, mentor and co-worker, and primarily as an 
upright man.
Prof. Jure Kovač was born in Celje on July 27, 1959. He 
studied organization, sociology and economy. In 1985, 
he joined the Faculty of Organizational Sciences as a re-
searcher and was engaged in research projects ‘Robotiza-
tion in the Republic Slovenia’ and ‘Integration of Informa-
tion Technology into the Slovenian Machine-Processing 
Industry’.
Between 1986 and 1988, he was an independent con-
sultant working for the Chamber of Commerce, engaged 
in the organization and implementation of the education 
of industry managers in the Republic of Slovenia, in par-
ticular in the transfer of managerial knowledge into the 
business practice of economic entities. In the next few 
years, he was the head of the Department of Organization, 
responsible for the implementation of strategic manage-
ment into the company Konus. Between 1991 and 1993, 
he was the general manager of the company Aero Celje. 
Between 1993 and 1995, he worked as a young researcher 
at the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University 
of Maribor, participating in several research projects. In 
1995, he received a PhD at the same faculty with the dis-
sertation ‘Implementing a Company’s Strategy by Project 
Mode’. In the same year, he joined the team of the Faculty 
of Organizational Sciences at the University of Maribor.
Throughout his academic career, he was teaching 
courses related to organization and management to un-
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Organizacija, Volume 52 Issue 1, February 2019
dergraduate and postgraduate and doctoral studies. At the 
Faculty, among other things, he was the Head of the Chair 
for Organization and Management, in one of the past man-
dates, he was the Vice-Dean for Development. For a long 
time, he was a member of the Senate of the University of 
Maribor or Senator of the Faculty of Organizational Sci-
ence. He managed the accreditation project for the joint 
study programme with the Faculty of Health Sciences at 
the University of Maribor.
He was a member of numerous scientific and profes-
sional associations, foundations and editorial boards both 
at home and abroad, and a member of many programme 
and organizing committees of the international and nation-
al conferences.
Through applied research, training and education of 
managers, Prof Jure Kovač gained understanding of the 
problems in practice, studied them and – in cooperation 
with the professionals from industry – proposed solutions 
that were implemented in various environments. Investi-
gating cases from practice and relating them to the theory 
resulted in outstanding publications which significantly 
contributed to the theoretical and practical knowledge in 
the field of organization and management. As it is evident 
from his bibliography, he researched, in particular, the 
connection of strategies, projects, networks, and leader-
ship related to the trust and values of the organization and 
its coordinated change in the direction of development. 
Among other subjects, he investigated transition processes 
in former Eastern European countries, new forms of orga-
nization and change management models, the importance 
and role of trust in an organization, strategic management 
and implementation of the company’s strategy through 
project management. Numerous international and domes-
tic awards and recognitions that he has received confirm 
his research success.
Around 1990, at the beginning of the economic and 
political transition, he was the initiator of the first compre-
hensive book on management in the Slovenian language. 
The book was published in the co-authorship of three au-
thors and for years served as a basic textbook in the field 
of management. In terms of content, it was comparable to 
US textbooks of that time. In 2012, he co-authored a new, 
more comprehensive work ‘Sodobne teorije organizacije 
‘(Contemporary Theories of Organization), which built 
on the foundations of a modern organizational theory that 
separates the organizations from communities and views 
managerial functions from a different aspect. His last 
book, co-authored by two experts in health care, entitled 
‘Management in health organizations’, will be published 
this spring.
Prof Kovač was a founding member and member of 
the Executive Board of the society Slovenian Academy 
of Management. He became editor and later a member of 
the editorial board of the magazine ‘Izzivi managementa’ 
(Management Challenges), published by the same acad-
emy. He was a member of the Editorial Boards of the in-
ternational journals ‘Dynamic Relationships Management 
Journal’ and ‘Journal of East European Management Stud-
ies’. In particular, he was a very active member of the Ed-
itorial Board of the journal ‘Organizacija’, always ready 
to help the editors with his broad overview of the research 
and practice in the area of organization and management, 
and with his sound judgement of the relevance of texts 
submitted for publication. Editors of ‘Organizacija’ highly 
appreciate his advice and his contribution to the develop-
ment and quality of the journal. His sudden farewell, at the 
peak of his teaching, research and advisory work, is a great 
loss for the journal.
Prof Jure Kovač shared his knowledge and scientific 
openness with an excellent pedagogical approach, which 
he unselfishly transferred to his colleagues and students. 
He was a respected teacher, researcher, mentor, co-worker, 
and a professor who was able to listen to everyone who 
turned to him and help with his ideas and solutions.
We will remember him as an excellent researcher, 
teacher, adviser, and colleague with a serious character, 
and still with somewhat hidden serenity and humour, 
which he was always able to express in his own way. All 
of us who have known him and have had the opportunity to 
work with him will keep him in our lasting memory.
Polona Šprajc, Majda Kokotec Novak, Bojana 
Korošec, Iztok Podbregar