Organizacija, volume / letnik 41, number / številka 4, July-August / julij-avgust 2008 Contents/Kazalo 4/2008 RESEARCH PAPERS 127 DARKO KOVAČ, ANDREJ BERTONCELJ 136 ALEŠ TANKOSIC, ANiTA TRNAVČEVIČ 144 ANDREJA LUTAR SKERBINJEK 153 UROŠ KLANŠEK, MIRKO PŠUNDER Organizational Mental Map and Conative Competences internet Marketing Communication and Schools: The Slovenian Case Study The Role of information for Recognising Business Opportunities Cost Optimal Project Scheduling SUPPLEMENT / DODATEK RAZPRAVE A181 PETER FRiEDL, ROBERTO BiLOSLAVO A191 ROLAND RUSJAN FiGELJ, ROBERTO BiLOSLAVO Analiza vpliva dejavnikov izbire metod spreminjanja na evolucijsko spreminjanje gradbenih podjetij v Sloveniji Vplivne skupine udeležencev v slovenski prehrambeni panogi PREDLOGI ZA PRAKSO A199 FRANc ZEMLJiČ, EVA JEREB Uvajanje novosti za doseganje boljše usposobljenosti zaposlenih na železnicah po direktivah Evropske unije in interesih lastnika RAZMIŠLJANJA A208 ANDREJ A. ČESEN "Projektni management" ali "projektno vodenje" POVZETKI A213 DONATORJI A215 125 Organizacija, Volume / letnik 41 Number I {tevilka 4, July-August I julij-avgust 2008 UREDNIK / EDITOR UREDNIŠKI ODBOR REVIJE / EDITORIAL BOARD Paula Swatman, University of South Australia, Australia Jože Zupančič, Univerza v Mariboru, Fakulteta za organizacijske vede Rado Bohinc, Univerza na Primorskem, Slovenija Brian Timney, The University of Western Ontario, USA Roger Blanpain, Catholic University of Leuve, Belgium Franc Čuš, Univerza v Mariboru, Slovenija Maurice Yolles, Liverpool John Moores University, United Kingdom SOUREDNIKA I CO-EDITORS Douglas Vogel, City University of Hong Kong Marko Ferjan, Univerza v Mariboru, Fakulteta za organizacijske vede Daniel C. Ganster, University of Arkansas, USA Gerhard-Wilhelm Weber, Middle East Technical University, Turkey Jože Gričar, Univerza v Mariboru, Slovenija Stanislaw Wricza, University of Gdansk, Poland Boštjan Gomišček, Univerza v Mariboru, Fakulteta za organizacijske vede Werner Jammernegg, Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, Austria Marius Alexander Janson, University of Missouri, USA Milton A. Jenkins, University of Baltimore, USA Stefan Klein, University of Muenster, Germany Miroljub Kljajic, Univerza v Mariboru, Slovenija Hermann Maurer, Technical University Graz, Austria Matjaž Mulej, Univerza v Mariboru, Slovenija Milan Pagon, Univerza v Mariboru, Slovenija Bj0rn Pappe, Technical University Aachen; Germany Dušan Petrač, NASA, USA Hans Puxbaum, Vienna University of Technology, Austria Vladislav Rajkovič, Univerza v Mariboru, Slovenija Henk G. Sol, Technical University Delft, The Netherlands Velimir Srica, University of Zagreb, Croatia 126 Organizacija, Volume 41 Research papers Number 4, July-August 2008 Organizational Mental Map and Conative Competences Darko Kovac1, Andrej Bertoncelj2 1Vocational College for Catering and Tourism Bled, Prešernova 32, 4260 Bled, Slovenia, darko.kovac@s5.net 2University of Primorska, Faculty of Management Koper, Cankarjeva 5, pp. 345, 6104, Koper, Slovenia, andrej.bertoncelj@fm-kp.si Emplo-ye-e-s with the-ir kno-wle-dge-, skills, be-ha-vio-r a-nd pe-rso-na-l tra-its impa-ct the- o-rga-niza-tio-na-l le-a-rning. The- co-nce-pt o-f o-rga--niza-tio-na-l me-nta-l ma-p a-nd co-na-tive- co-mpe-te-nce-s, a-s inbo-rn u-nde-rlying cha-ra-cte-ristic tha-t is influ-e-nce-d by e-mplo-ye-e-s be-ing invo-lve-d a-s we-ll a-s e-ndo-ge-no-u-s a-nd e-xo-ge-no-u-s fa-cto-rs, is pre-se-nte-d. Thre-e- Slo-ve-ne- sma-ll to- mid-size-d co-mpa-nie-s we-re- stu--die-d in re-spe-ct to- the- individu-a-l fa-cto-rs, e-spe-cia-lly co-na-tive- co-mpe-te-nce-s, o-f the-ir e-mplo-ye-e-s. The- stu-dy su-gge-sts tha-t co-na-tive-side- o-f mind a-nd thu-s co-na-tive- co-mpe-te-nce-s ca-n a-ctu-a-lly influ-e-nce- the- o-rga-niza-tio-na-l le-a-rning. Wha-t ma-tte-rs in co-nte-mpo-ra-ry ma-na-ge-me-nt pra-ctice- is ho-w hidde-n po-te-ntia-ls a-re- se-t fre-e- a-nd ho-w the-y intrinsica-lly mo-tiva-te- e-mplo-ye-e-s a-cco-rding to- the-ir pe-rso-na-l diffe-re-nce-s in ca-pa-bilitie-s. As co-na-tive- co-mpe-te-nce-s a-re- inbo-rn a-nd ca-n no-t be- le-a-rne-d bu-t o-nly e-nco-u-ra-ge-d, co-ntra-ry to- co-gnitive- co-mpe-te-nce-s, it is impo-rta-nt to- be-tte-r u-nde-rsta-nd e-mplo-ye-e-s' pe-rso-na-l tra-its. Key words: o-rga-niza-tio-na-l le-a-rning, SME, co-na-tio-n, co-na-tive- co-mpe-te-nce-s, o-rga-niza-tio-na-l me-nta-l ma-p 1 Introduction Learning has been coherent to human beings from the ancient times. It depends not only on the process of socialization, first in the family and then later on in school, at work and other forms of social encounters, but also on personal characteristics. Nowadays, is the organizational learning becoming one of the most important contemporary managerial concepts. Organizational capacity of learning is based on the combination of many factors. Besides exogenous factors, i.e. social, cultural and economic environment and endogenous factors, i.e. relationships within organization, also the individual factors, i.e. personal traits of employees have influence on the organizational capacity of learning, learning outcome and corporate performance. It is argued that this is even more important in post-transition economies, because they face, after market liberalization, many previously unknown challenges of increased competition and unprecedented changes in culture and social life. The purpose of this paper is to develop a better understanding of organizational learning and personal traits in post-transition economy of Slovenia. It is focused on the personality of employees within studied organizations rather than the concept of learning organization itself. The paper aims to answer the question whether all competences can be learned or some inborn competences already exist. Non-teachable attributes of employees, i.e. personal traits embedded in conative competences are investiga- ted and the model of conative competences which aims to explain the impact of individuals on the organizational learning capacity is introduced. The paper is structured as follows: first to establish the conceptual basis that guide the study and then it is tested empirically on a sample of companies. Finally, the results are discussed, pointing out the main limitations of the study and indicating possible future lines of research. 1.1 Objectives of the study The main objective of this study is to analyze employees' non-teachable personal traits in small and medium sized enterprises in the post-transition economy of Slovenia and their influence on organizational learning. Research question which is dealt in this study is influence of individual factors and in particular inborn personal traits on organizational learning hence we analyzed the existence and influence of individual factors and in particular inborn personal traits on organizational learning. Moreover, we study employees' skills, knowledge and behavior which are clustered in a model of competences. Thus the model of organization mental map was contrived. The proposed model of competences is based on tripartite dichotomy of mind: cognitive, behavioral and conative competences, all being a part of organizational mental map. The conative competences of all employees in the sample are measured with the Kolbe A™ Index and 127 Organizacija, Volume 41 Research papers Number 4, July-August 2008 results compared to their job-related self-expectations measured by Kolbe B™ Index. Hypothesis was set: H: conative competences as a part of organizational mental map vary in different organizations. 2 Organizational learning The concept of organizational learning is not new and the purpose of this article is not to clarify differences between the concept of organizational learning and related concepts of learning organization, knowledge management, and organizational knowledge. Reader is referred to Easterby-Smith and Lyles (2003) who provide a comprehensive and systematic mapping of the area and differentiate among the four terms. Organizational learning is engaged with the studies of learning processes of organizations, learning processes within and between organizations, hence the learning organization is considered as a form of organization - an entity. De Geus (1988) claims that the ability to learn faster than your competitors may be the only sustainable competitive advantage. The concept of single-loop and double-loop learning was introduced; single-loop learning happens when errors are corrected through a feedback loop, and double-loop learning is cognitive and means development of principles that may inform and determine future organizational behavior and lead to new ways of doing business hence it goes beyond the immediate solution (Argyris, 1977, 1992; Argyris and Schön, 1978). Sengezs (1992) concept of adaptive learning is cantered on evolutionary changes in response to developments in the business environment which are necessary for survival of organization. On the other hand, generative learning means building new competences or identifying and creating opportunities based on leveraging existing competences. Huber (1991) sees that as a combination of four processes: information acquisition, information distribution, information interpretation, and organizational memory. In experiential learning, the Kolb model (1984) is widely used. Concrete experience (receptive modality), reflective observation (perceptual modality), abstract conceptualization (cognitive modality) and active experimentation (behavior modality) are elements of Kolbzs learning cycle. Knowledge, behavior, and effective side are considered. In fact, learning is both organizational and individual, the former relying heavily on the latter (Kamoche, 1997). Learning arrangements that exist within the organization influence individual learning and they can accelerate or slow down the learning process. These arrangements for learning are called "organizational context" (Stonehouse and Pemberton, 1999) and should be considered in individual learning as well. Lam (2001: 213) decomposes the process of learning in organizations in: getting information, distribution of information, interpretation of information, and flowing of shared and interpreted information into organizational memory. Senge (1992) introduces the concept of mental model and personal mastery. When individuals consolidate their personal mental models into a systematic thinking by realigning personal beliefs, values and behaviors into shared representations of reality, then it becomes a public forum. It happens through dynamic and collective experimental learning. Individualistic orientation is slowly giving way to shared vision and team learning; however, intrinsic personal differences in capabilities and motivation make the difference. According to Lam (2001: 214) different individuals in the organization may be appealing to different types of knowledge acquisition. Most find new insights from past experience helpful in their search for fresh references. They may also engage in trial and error experimentation to locate the best possible way of handling new situations. Organizations have according to Hegberg (1981: 6) conscious systems and memories. Hegberg (1981) likens it to human beings, so he claims that organizations can change and develop their personalities, habits, beliefs, and ideologies over time. He claims that organizational memories preserve certain behaviors, mental maps, norms, and values. So, do individuals adapt or do they still bear some unchangeable personal traits and which are they? And if there are some inborn personal traits how stressful is for individuals to adapt? Is the behavior stored in organizational memory in contradiction to their own? 2.1 Conative competences Organizations strive for committed employees who identify themselves with organizational challenges and expect from them to have attitudes, personal traits and values which ensure commitment and identification. Without that commitment, much of the learning, especially at the group level, cannot take place (Ashton, 1998). Intuitively, the competence concept is closely connected to organizational learning. The competence concept was investigated by many authors (Ellstrom, 1997; Ulrich, 1998; Mansfield, 1999; Miller et al., 2001; Jacobs and Pons, 1993; Deakins and Freel, 1998, Christensen, 1998; Downes and Mui, 1998). Drejer (2000) perceives organizational core competences as a dynamic concept due to inherent disruptive changes which can be "competence-destroying" as well as company-destroying. Drejer (1996) further reasons the dynamics of core competences' changes in the product-market strategy. Drejer and Riis (1999, 2000) define the competence as consisting of four elements and their relations - technology, people, organizational structure and organizational culture. OECD (2000: 67) definition of competences focuses on functional approach which places complex demands at the forefront of the concept. According to this viewpoint, competences are structured around demands and tasks. However, defining types of competences in more detail would go beyond the purpose of this paper. The reader is referred to Draganidis and Mentzas (2006) for further information. 128 Organizacija, Volume 41 Focus of this paper are not functional competences, often linked with occupational standards, but personal competences. We use the division of competences into behavioral ("soft") competences and technical or functional ("hard") competences (Miller et al., 2001). It is claimed that hard competences combine skills and knowledge (cognitive side of the mind), and soft competences circumvent the behavioral aspect (affective side of the mind). We argue that conative competences help to explain better learning process in organization. Extracting conative competences from cognitive and behavioral ones explain not only "...source of actions in your deep inner nature, but also shows you how to build on those strengths" (Kolbe, 1997: 4). Kolbe 1997) claims that human beings have a conative style, or a preferred method of putting thought into action or interacting with the environment. It is separated from a person's intelligence or personality type. Conation as an emerging concept can help to clarify the competence model. Conation is close to the concept of volition, defined as the use of will, or the freedom to make choices about what to do (Kane, 1985). Some authors perceive conation as a proactive aspect of behavior (as opposed to reactive or habitual) which is the personal, intentional, deliberate, goal-oriented or striving component of motivation (Baumeister et al., 1998; Emmons, 1986) or as the tendency to take purposive action toward goals (Snow, Corno and Jackson, 1996). To summarize several definitions, conation could be defined as the volitional steering of action toward some goal. Number 4, July-August 2008 However, when explaining conation, the problem we face is that conation is difficult to separate from cognition, emotion and behaviour (Snow, 1989). Moreover when measuring cognition or emotion, conative components are often interweaved. For example, the Wechsler scales of intelligence include a conative component (Cooper, 1997; Gregory, 1998). The Goleman's construct of emotional intelligence includes both affective (e.g. empathy, optimism, managing emotions) and conative (e.g. setting goals, self-regulation) components (Goleman, 1995). On the other hand, some authors claim that conation has cognitive and affective, as well as volitional, components (Gollwitzer, 1990; Snow & Swanson, 1992). We claim that conative competences represent inborn, almost instinctive part and are as such most stable ones. On the other hand they can not be learned unlike cognitive and behavioral competences. Conative competences can only be fostered. Conative competences compose together with cognitive and behavioral competences the organizational mental map. Organizational mental map is a dynamic concept which represents all employees who are involved in the process of achieving corporate goals. It can change through time in accordance with employees' dismissals or by adding new employees. On the other hand, it depends on organizational learning process, codified knowledge (as explicit one) and tacit knowledge, intellectual property (patents, trade marks) and relational capital in the form of formal know-how and know-what (see Figure 1 ). Research papers Exogenous factors Figure 1: Impact of exogenous, endogenous and individual factors on organizational mental map 129 Organizacija, Volume 41 Research papers Number 4, July-August 2008 It depends on individual factors whether organizational learning process will be static or dynamic. Lam (2001) claims that there is sufficient empirical evidence supporting the assertion that retaining status quo is far more normal phenomenon for an organization than its engagement in change, given that there are sufficient historical, institutional and performance factors that encourage individual and organizational inertia. Propensity of organization to changes and prompt adaptation to speeding up changes in environment (exogenous factors) depends on mentioned individual factors, clustered in organization mental map. Individual factors influence endogenous factors as well. It is employees who will inspire systems and processes within organization. According to Kavcic and Tavcar (2008) long-term orientation of the organisation depends on the organisation culture, management philosophy, and long-tern and enduring choice of resources (capital, work, knowledge). Exogenous factors disrupt such state of equilibrium. They cause organizational stress (Dill, 1958; Hall and Mansfield, 1971) which influences individuals and they res- Table 1: Sample characteristics pond with adaptation to such organizational strain. External threats (Amburgey et al., 1990) are "logic of action" at the institutional, managerial, and technical levels (Bacharach et al., 1996) or basis for intensive negotiation for a new order. 3 Research In this section, research methodology, data of analyses and discussion are presented. 3.1 Research methodology For the purpose of this study, a sample of three randomly selected Slovene SME companies is used. Our sample consisted of 43 top and middle managers, out of that 20,9 % were female and 79,1 % male respondents. At the time of our study, 69,8% were over 30 years old, 44,2% had more than 10 years of work experience and 30,2% _Company 1_Company 2_Company 3_Total _No._No._No._No._ Sample size_28 100% 8 100% 7 100%_43 100% Prior education level Secondary/high school 22 78,6% 8 100% 0 0,0% 30 69,8% College/university_6 21,4% 0 0,0%_7 100,0%_13 30,2% Work experience 10 years or less 13 46,4% 5 62,5% 6 85,7% 24 55,8% Over 10 years_15 53,6% 3 37,5% 1 14,3%_19 44,2% Age 30 years or less 8 28,6% 4 50,0% 1 14,3% 13 30,2% Over 30 years_20 71,4% 4 50,0% 6 85,7%_30 69,8% Gender Female 4 14,3% 2 25,0% 3 42,9% 9 20,9% Male_24 85,7% 6 75,0% 4 57,1%_34 79,1% of them had college education. Sample is presented in Table 1. The companies in the sample were chosen in a random manner in different sectors of industry: ■ Company 1: Engineering and related technical consultancy. ■ Company 2: Cutting, shaping and finishing of ornamental and building stone. ■ Company 3: Legal, accounting and market research. Four of respondents were excluded from further analyses because their natural instinctive abilities could not be recognized. Implemented assessment tools were the Kolbe A™ Index as a measure of inborn personal traits clustered in conative competences and the Kolbe B™ Index as a measure for an individual's job-related self-expectations. Kolbe A™ Index is according to Kolbe (2003) reliable and valid tool in terms of test-retest. According to the Kolbe Corporation, there is no bias in gender, age, race, or national origin in Kolbe instrument results (for more details see Kolbe Corporation Statistical Handbook, 2003 and 2004). Kolbe suggests that human beings have a conative style or a preferred method of putting thought into action or interacting with the environment. It is our knack of get- 130 Organizacija, Volume 41 Research papers Number 4, July-August 2008 ting things done, achievement aspect of ability, the process through which we fulfill our goals (Kolbe, 1997). Kolbe identifies four Action modes™ or conative modes through which we act with different intensities and can be determined with the Kolbe A™ Index (conative reality): ■ FF - Fact Finder - instincts to probe, refine, and simplify, which is based on instinctive need to probe and relates to the way we gather information. ■ FT - Follow Thru - instincts to organize, reform, and adapt, which is based on instinctive need to pattern and deals with the way we organize information. ■ QS - Quick Star - instincts to improvise, revise, and stabilize, which is based on instinctive need to innovate and how we deal with unknowns. ■ IM - Implementer - instincts to construct, renovate, and envision, which is based on instinctive need to demonstrate and relates the way we seek tangible solutions. The degree of intensity each individual has in an action mode is defined on a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the most intense (Kolbe, 1997). Each mode has three zones of operation on a scale of 1 to 10 (Kolbe, 2004). In Preventive zone (1 to 3) one prevents problems, in Responsive zone (4 to 6) one acts in an accommodating way and in Initiative zone (7 to 10) one initiates solutions. The Kolbe A™ Index has become popular for different business applications, such as career development, interpersonal relationship management, personnel selection, team management, consulting, and training (Wongchai, 2003). Possible conflict can be studied by comparing Kolbe A™ Index results of different individuals with those individuals with different instincts that cross each other's progress by insisting on their own paths to problem solving. Kolbe claims that there would be stress between individuals working directly with one another if they have a difference of 4 or more in any mode (Kolbe, 1997). Strain on the job can be spotted if Kolbe A™ Index results are compared to Kolbe B™ Index results, which measures individuals job's self expectations. Strain occurs when an individual tries to live up to false self-expectations (Kolbe, 1997). Some authors claim that more research is needed to explore how Kolbe A Action Modes™ can be used to predict learners' attitudes and achievements. Wongchai (2003) based on limitations of her studies concluded that Kolbe A Action Modes™ did not predict how well did learners liked content formatted to match learning styles of mentionef four modes, nor how well learners remembered the content regardless of the format. Harper (1997) researched learning strategies of high school students with Kolbe™A Index. Her findings show correlation with learning strategies and Fact Finder and Follow Thru action mode. No findings were related to Quick Start and Implementor. 3.2 Data analyses Due to small sample we calculated median values for conative competences for Kolbe A™ Index results and Kolbe B™ Index results (Table 2) . Median value of Kolbe A™ Index results and Kolbe B™ Index results differs in particular companies. Table 2: Median values for conative competences for Kolbe A™ Index results and Kolbe B™ Index results FFa FTa QSa IMa FFb FTb QSb 1Mb Company 1 N Valid 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 Median 5 5 4,5 4 5 6,5 4,5 4,5 Company 2 N Valid 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 Median 7 5 6 4 5 6 6 3 Company 3 N Valid 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 Median 6 4 4 6 4 6 4 8 Because we wanted to calculated standard deviation mean values were calculated. Thus mean values for conative competences, and standard deviation for all four action modes, measured by the Kolbe A™ Index are presented in Table 3, and Table 4. In FF action mode, the employees in Company 3 exhibit the highest mean value (FF = 6,1). The highest mean value in FT mode have employees in Company 2 (FT = 5,2). Employees in Company 3 have the highest mean value in QS action mode (QS = 5,6) and the highest mean value in Company 2 in IM action mode (IM = 5,3). Standard deviation is the highest in Company 1 in all four Action modes™, except in IMa Action mode™ in Company 2, which could be attributed to industry, company is in. In other Action modes™ standard deviation is lowest in Company 2. In Table 5, the mean values for an individual's job-related self-expectations measured by Kolbe B™ Index are presented. Employees in Company 3 exhibit the highest mean value for an individual's job-related self-expectations in three action modes (FF = 5,0; FT = 6,6; QS = 5,7). In IM 131 Organizacija, Volume 41 Research papers Number 4, July-August 2008 Table 3: Mean values for conative competences 5,9 6,1 5.6 wT 5,2 5,1 4 5 5,1 5'3 ■ 3,9 FFa FTa QSa IMa ■ Company 1 □ Company 2 □ Company 3 Tab-le 4: Mean valu-es and standard devi-ati-on for conati-ve com-petences Company FFa FTa QSa IMa Company 1 Mean 5,44 5,24 4,52 5,08 Std. Deviation 1,60935 1,3626 1,68622 1,73013 Company 2 Mean 5,8571 4,7143 4,1429 5,2857 Std. Deviation 1,06904 0,95119 0,89974 1,88982 Company 3 Mean 6,1429 5,1429 5,5714 3,8571 Std. Deviation 1,06904 1,57359 1,71825 0,89974 Total Mean 5,641 5,1282 4,641 4,8974 Std. Deviation 1,44162 1,32147 1,61387 1,68265 Tab-le 5: Mean valu-es for an mdi-vi-du-al's job--related self-expectations 8 -i- 7 6,5 " ' 1 5 - 4,6 6,6 - —4- 5 4 6,3 hi 4 3 FFb FTa QSa |Ma ■ Company 1 □ Company 2 □ Company 3 action mode, the mean value for an individual's job-related self-expectations is the highest in Company 2 (IM = 6,3) Mean values for conative competences measured by Kolbe A™ Index and mean values for an individual's job- related self-expectations measured by Kolbe B™ Index are compared and the result shown in Table 3. For FF conative action mode are differences in mean value for conative competences and mean value for an in- 132 Organizacija, Volume 41 Research papers Number 4, July-August 2008 Table 6: Comparison of mean values between Kolbe A™ Index results, and Kolbe B™ Index results dividual's job-related self-expectations the highest in Company 2 (FF = 2,1). In FT conative action mode, the difference is the highest for employees in Company 3 (FT = -1,4). By comparing all four action modes it is observed that the difference is the lowest in all three companies in QS action mode. This action mode is most leveled, however employees in Company 2 exhibit highest difference (QS = - 0,4). And in IM conative action mode, the difference is the highest in Company 2 at (IM= -1,0). 3.3 Findings and discussion Beside cognitive (hard) and behavioral (soft) competences, conative competences have influence on learning organizations as well. However focus of this article were conative competences. With conative competences we touch innate, inborn part of competences. The hypothesis was confirmed. According to median and mean values of conative competences, measured by Kolbe A™ Index, conative competences as a part of organizational mental map vary in different organizations. Mean value for conative competences measured by Kolbe A™ Index reveals that employees in Company 3 have the highest inclination to gather, analyze, research and probe information (conative FFa action mode) .We attribute this to the industry characteristics (consultancy firm). Most leveled in all three companies is conative competence to plan and organize (conative FTa action mode). Instincts to improvise, revise, and stabilize, which is based on instinctive need to innovate (most commonly cited personal traits of entrepreneurs) is the highest in Company 3. Employees in Company 3 easily deal with unknowns (conative QSa action mode). Employees in Companies 1 and 2 have high mean result in their instincts to construct, renovate and envision (conative IMa action mode). Differences in mean values for conative competences measured by Kolbe A™ Index and mean values for an individuals' job-related self-expectations measured by Kolbe B™ Index reveal possible source of organizational strain in the process of organizational learning. Moreover, it reveals origin of inferior performance. Mean value for an individual's job-related self-expectations is lower than expected in all three companies; this difference is the highest in Company 2. It means that employees, before making any decisions, need more time to analyze, research and justify than according to their job requirements one would expect. This is very important for organizational learning process and it reveals impediment in learning process. All three companies have lower mean value for individual's job-related self-expectations than for inborn conative competences. It means that employees feel that they must stick to procedures and plan more than according to their natural, inborn inclination. Bottom line results reveal that employees in all three companies would like to take more time and analyze and research before they reach decisions. They would not stick to procedures as much as it is expected from them. In dealing with unknown, they suffer the least strain. The results of the study suggest that personal traits influence learning organizations regardless the model, i.e. double loop learning, adaptive learning or Kolb's model of experimental learning in the way that employees try to adapt to job's expectations. They can adapt cognitive and behavioral competences but conative competences can only be fostered. They can not be changed but would influence not only organizational learning process but also corporate performance in the end. However, the results of the study suggest that combination of conative competences can have different impact on individual companies. What matters in contemporary management practice is how hidden potentials are set free and how they intrinsically motivate employees according 133 Organizacija, Volume 41 Research papers Number 4, July-August 2008 to their personal differences in capabilities. Hence, in day to day operations individual personal traits should be carefully considered. 4 Conclusions and future research Sample is to small to extract general conclusions and the results of the study should be interpreted with caution.. It is still work in progress, and further longitudinal researches are needed. Omnipresent question of causality of variables of organizational learning influences results as well, thought in conative competences only with level of adoption, considering they are inborn part of personality. Interpretation of our analyses should take into account that only representatives of some sectors were analyzed and thus should be interpreted with care. Despite these limitations, the authors believe that the study helps to understand better organizational learning in general and provide insightful directions for advanced studies in this area. Moreover, it shows how conative side of mind and thus conative competences can actually influence the organizational learning. Individual responses to changes differ on the account of competences, especially conative ones. We argue that acquiring these competences is an on-going, lifelong learning process. Individual factors as component of organizational mental map are dynamic and are changing according to people being involved, as well as endogenous and exogenous factors. Cognitive competences can be learned, and behavioral competences can be acquired through process of professional socialization. Contrary to that, conative competences are inborn and can be only fostered. Further longitudinal research to measure the level of adapting on national level and address the issue of causality, especially in transition economies, is needed. Proposed model of organizational mental map and conative competences should be perceived as a continuation of interesting journey into organizational learning. Discussed issue should be studied with elevated care in Slovenia and in other transition economies due to its potential and as a possible way to catch up with more developed economies. References Amburgey, T.L., Kelly, D. & Barnett, W.P. (1990). Resetting the clock: the dynamics of organizational change and failure, Working Paper, Graduate School of Business, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison. Argyris, C. (1977). Double loop learning in organisations, Harvard Business Review, September-October: 115 - 125. Argyris, C. (1992). On Organisational Learning, Blackwell. Argyris, C. & Schön, D. (1978). 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Indi-vi-du-al di-fferen-ces i-n affecti-ve and conati-ve fu-ncti-ons, in: Berlinger, D.C. & Calfee, R.C. (eds.): Handbook of Educational Psychology, New York: Macmillan Reference Books: 243 - 310. Snow, R.E. & Swanson, J. (1992).Instructional psychology: Aptitude, adaptation, and assessment, Annu-al Revi-ew of Psychology, 43, 583-626 Stonehouse, G. H. & Pemberton, J. D. (1999). Learning and knowledge management, Participation and Empowerment, An Internati-onal Jou-rnal, 7(5): 313 - 344. Ulrich, D. (1998). Intellectual capital = competence X commitment, Sloan Managem-ent Revi-ew, 39: 15 - 30. Van Wiijk, R., Van Den Bosch, F. A. J.& Volberda, H.W. (2003). Knowledge and Networks, in Easterby-Smith, M. & Lyles, M. (eds): The Handbook of Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management, Blackwell Publishing, London. Wongchai, S. (2003). The ab-i-li-ty of the Kolb-e A Index acti-on m-odes to predi-ct learners' atti-tu-des and achi-evem-ents wi-thi-n a web--b-ased trai-ni-ng context, Ph. D. Dissertation, College Station, Texas. Darko Kovac, is Lectu-rer at Vocational College for Catering and Tou-rism Bled and fou-nder of CO&DA, d.o.o. Con-su-ltancy Company in Slovenia. He has pu-blished papers on strategic management and hu-man capital. His cu-rrent interest is focu-sed on hu-man capital measu-rement and international competition. Andrej Bertoncelj, is Assistant Professor at the University of Primorska, Faculty of Management Koper and Senior Research Associate at the University of Cambridge. He has published books and papers concerning strategic management, mergers and acquisitions, and human capital assessment. His current research interests include growth strategy, corporate development, mergers and acquisitions, and industrial economics. Organizacijski miselni vzorec in konativne kompetence Po-sa-me-zniki, njiho-va- zna-nja-, ve-š~ine-, o-bna-ša-nja- in na-ra-vne- da-no-sti vpliva-jo- na- o-rga-niza-cijsko- u-~e-nje-. Za- u-me-stite-v indi-vidu-a-lne-ga- nivo-ja- v o-rga-niza-cijsko- u-~e-nje- pre-dsta-vlja-mo- ko-nce-pt o-rga-niza-cijske-ga- mise-lne-ga- vzo-rca-, ki ga- ra-zu-me-mo- ko-t dina-mi~e-n ko-nce-pt, ki se- spre-minja- gle-de- na- vple-te-ne- lju-di in gle-de- na- e-ndo-ge-ne- in e-kso-ge-ne- fa-kto-rje-. Pre-dsta-vlja-mo- pri-me-r tre-h slo-ve-nskih ma-jhnih po-dje-tij s po-u-da-rko-m na- individu-a-lnih fa-kto-rjih, po-se-bno- pa- ko-na-tivnih ko-mpe-te-nca-h. Ko-na-tivne-ko-mpe-te-nce- pre-dsta-vlja-jo- tisti de-l o-rga-niza-cijske-ga- mise-lne-ga- vzo-rca-, ki se- ko-t priro-je-n de-l ~lo-ve-ko-ve- o-se-bno-sti ne- spre-minja-. Ko-na-tivne- ko-mpe-te-nce- sa-mo- vzpo-dbu-ja-mo-, ne- mo-re-mo- pa- se- jih priu-~iti, za-to- bi jih ko-t ta-ke- mo-ra-li tu-di u-po-šte-va-ti v o-rga-niza-cijske-m u-~e-nju-. Re-zu-lta-ti ra-ziska-ve- vo-dijo- k za-klju-~ku-, da- bo-do- o-se-bne- la-stno-sti za-po-sle-nih vpliva-le- na- o-rga-niza-cijsko- u-~e-nje-, je- pa- o-dprto- vpra-ša-nje- vzro-~no-sti. Ključne besede: o-rga-niza-cijsko- u-~e-nje-, ma-jhna- in sre-dnje- ve-lika- po-dje-tja-, ko-na-cija-, ko-na-tivne- co-mpe-te-nce-, o-rga-niza-cijski mise-lni vzo-re-c 135 Organizacija, Volume 41 Research papers Number 4, July-August 2008 Internet Marketing Communication and Schools: The Slovenian Case Study Ales Tankosic1, Anita Trnavcevic2 technical School Centre Nova Gorica, Cankarjeva 1G, SGGG Nova Gorica, Slovenia, ales.tankosic@tsc.si 2University of Primorska, Faculty of Management Koper, Cankarjeva S, 6GGG Koper, Slovenia, anita.trnavcevic@fm-kp.si Worldwide, some 1.32 billon people now use the Internet (Internet World Stats 2007). In the developed countries the Internet is also present in educational institutions; schools use the Internet as a means of communication with their customers. In Slovenia, however, research focusing on Internet marketing communication are rare in the field of education. This paper provides the theoretical framework and the results of the qualitative case study conducted at a school centre in Slovenia in 2005. Data were collected through group interviews and document analysis. The findings support the School Centre teachers' claim that the Internet does not enable personal contacts and the sensory collection of physical evidence, which are considered to be major disadvantages of Internet marketing communication. The teachers who consider Internet marketing communication to be an advantage stress the importance of virtuality which can function as a simulation of communication in the real world. Their adversaries, on the other hand, stress the importance of the physical world and warn us of the negative sides of virtuality. Key words: education, marketing, internet marketing, internet marketing communication 1 Introduction Globalisation and the intensification of competition, changes in demographics regarding birth rate, the comparisons of quality of educational systems and the 'adaptation' to the EU standards, the impact of information (communication) technology (ICT), and focus on customer satisfaction are some of the factors influencing the marketing strategies of schools in Slovenia and worldwide (Snoj 2007). A number of changes have occurred in Slovenian schools, such as a decrease in the birth rate and a related decrease in the number of students enrolled in kindergartens, primary and secondary schools; changes in school management and governance (i.e. changes in the structure of the school board), a greater autonomy that was devolved to schools and a 'call from the government' to make networking between schools more effective than they were in the past (Trnavcevic 2007). Moreover, the importance of information technology is being given even greater attention in our nation's schools. The Internet is a constituent part of information technology. It has changed the view of organisation management greatly and brought fundamental changes in this field (Zinkhan 2005; Weber 2007; Crovella and Krishnamurthy 2006). Internet World Stats (2007) claims the number of Internet users in Slovenia has increased by 296% between the years 2000 and 2007. The latest data concerning Slovenia show that 64% of its inhabitants are currently using the Internet (Internet World Stats 2007)1. A growing trend towards the Internet use can be seen in schools as well; for example in the school year 2007/08 The National Education Institute of the Republic of Slovenia (2007) is offering twenty seminars on the Internet. The seminars offer not only a basic knowledge of the Internet as a source of information, but also present it as a tool of marketing communication. Internet marketing communication is a constituent part of internet marketing, having a considerable number of advantages in comparison with other communication tools: cost efficacy, time and geographic dimensions, massiveness, interaction with users, speed, a high level of segmentation and personalization, and data measurement (Weber 2007; Hanson 2007; Kalyanam and McIntyre 2002). Due to these advantages Internet marketing communication has been introduced into schools. However, no research on its efficacy and attitudes of its users, employees in schools or other school 'customers', has not been conducted in the field of education in Slovenia as of this date. The purpose of our study was to explore the views, attitudes and perceptions that participants, teachers emplo- 1 In North America 71% of the population use the Internet, in Europe 43,4%, in Africa only 4.7% of the population use the Internet (Internet World Stats 2007). 136 Organizacija, Volume 41 Research papers Number 4, July-August 2008 yed in the selected School Centre, have regarding Internet marketing communication. The School Centre was chosen because it was the first among all other secondary schools to introduce a free system of e-management (e-markbook etc.) which is available for users on the Internet. The School Centre programmes focus on technical education, e. g. electronics, mechanical engineering, computer science, etc. The average age group of the students is between 15 and 18 years of age. The development and implementation of the website is entirely the product of the School Centre teachers. The population consisted of 112 school teachers, grouped into three schools. One might argue that multiple views should be included in the study in order to 'avoid' bias and 'singular perspective'. However, teachers who, according to Barnes (1993: 6) and Evans (1995: 16), represent internal providers who are an important group in the process of marketing communication between schools and customers. We argue that if teachers do not accept Internet marketing communication, there are few, if any possibilities that such communication will be successful in its initial stage. Teachers' commitment and understanding of the role of Internet marketing communication and their positive attitude towards this 'kind' of communication form the foundation for the development initiative from the school side. The presented research is a qualitative case study. Data was gathered by group semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis. For each school of the School Centre we conducted separate group interviews with six teachers. The research questions were derived from theoretical discussions and published research. The analysis was done by a content analysis method (Angrosino 2005; Esterby-Smith, Thorpe and Lowe 2005). Interviews were recorded and transcribed which enabled detailed text analysis. Data, in the form of the transcribed text, was then categorised. 2 Internet marketing communication - theoretical background Chaffey et. al. (2006: 6) define Internet marketing as »the application of the Internet and related digital technologies to achieve marketing objectives and support the modern marketing concept«. Strehovec (2003: 28) argues that the World Wide Web is a sociable, rather than technical creation intended for people to interact. Chaffey et. al. (2006: 34) state that the Internet enables interactive communication between marketers and customers, customers themselves and the competition. Users can learn more about products, or services by allowing them to interact with the Web site. It also provides for a greater accumulation of customer knowledge as it is customer-oriented concerning his or her needs and wants. Weber (2007: 120) argues that each phase of developing and positioning a product or service on the Internet can provide feedback information to the business from its best experts, that is its customers. Weber (2007: 122) also discusses the essence of this interaction; by offering feedback information, custo- mers can influence the company's decisions about certain products or services. A customer becomes a team worker, an external expert whose opinion is of crucial importance to the marketer. By promoting interaction through the use of chat, virtual communities, Web conferencing, etc., marketers can have direct access to customer feedback (Allen, Kania and Yaeckel 2001). Certainly this type of interaction and customer feedback is relevant for educational institutions as well. Nowadays, new programmes are being introduced into Slovenian schools; unfortunately, the opinion of their potential customers is not being considered adequately. The enrolment of students in new programmes is often disappointing. Up-to-date feedback information from customers is recommended, which could increase the efficiency and efficacy in planning and introducing innovative programmes. The Internet has been proven to be a most useful and effective tool in the field of service marketing (e. g. e-consulting, e-finance, e-education, etc.) and products which can be digitalized (e. g. books, specialized literature, software, music, games, photographs, etc.) and easily transferred, with lowest risk and without any additional costs, to the customers (Hansen 2007; Hart, Greenfield and Johnston 2005; Weber 2007). On the basis of data concerning Internet user's behaviour, the Internet allows for greater segmentation and personalization (Kalyanam and Mclntyre 2002; Hanson 2006). Weber (2007: 79) and Hanson (2006: 297) claim segmentation enables the creation of virtual communities that result from shared interests, relations and transactions. A virtual community is a collection of people whose online interactions are based upon shared enthusiasm for knowledge of a specific activity (Bakardjieva 2003; Solomon 2002). Such sites allow members to congregate online and exchange views on issues of common interest. From the point of view of marketers, virtual communities represent an exceptional source of information for greater knowledge of customer behaviour (Solomon 2002; Weber 2007; Hofacker 2001). Dreyfus (2001: 104) criticizes virtual communities by warning against anonymous chatterers from all over the world who do not take any risks at all. According to Strehovec (2003: 321), today's world tends to criticize the Internet; namely, the cyber-space experience is far more impoverished than the physical one since it excludes physical contact; hence cyberspace is a platonic environment of pure and ideal identities and processes where because of the lack of physical contact, passions and interests can be fatal. Dreyfus (2001: 55) criticizes cybernetic Platonism where the role of a body is absent, and accumulated information on the World Wide Web makes us think the world is a senseless collection of billions bits of data and a senseless environment defined by bodies, wishes, interests and intentions. The attraction of the World Wide Web is in its disappearing relevance. Consequently Dreyfus (2001: 79) argues that nothing is so trivial that could not be included, and nothing is of such irrelevance that could not be included. We agree that Dreyfus's reproaches are too 'static' 137 Organizacija, Volume 41 Research papers Number 4, July-August 2008 and impractical since Internet marketing communication does not necessarily imply the separation of body and mind. Dreyfus's opinion is opposed by Kotler and Keller's supposition (2006: 493) that even e-organizations use, besides the Internet, the so-called offline, traditional tools of marketing communication. Internet marketing communication cannot entirely replace other forms of marketing communication. On the contrary, the success and efficacy of Internet marketing communication depend on the appropriate integration and use of traditional marketing communication tools which inform the customers about the existence and location of the website on the Internet. Virtual space can certainly be understood as a place filled with ideal identities, but it is impossible to exclude the physical factor, that is an individual in the 'real' world from the virtual one. Owing to the advantages (gaining potential users), a specific educational organization can idealize its own identity with the help of the Internet. Irrespective of the level of virtuality, the process of communication between schools and its customers needs a physical point of view which can satisfy the need for physical evidence. Yet, it is questionable whether the idealizing of a proper identity is useful and reasonable. It is in the interest of schools to obtain new students who are able to fulfil the demands of a programme and finish their studies. However, financial and intellectual theft, as well as virtual violence, are some of the disadvantages of the Internet (Weber 2007). Although there is much hype and media attention to the privacy on the Internet, online users are skittish. Customers are concerned about the security and confidentiality of their personal information in the online environment (Svantesson 2007). The fragility of trust is in fact a characteristic of the virtual environment. Trust, which is hard to build, can be easily betrayed (Balkin and Noveck 2006; Skyrme 1998). The advantage of Internet marketing communication is its cost efficacy in the sense of gaining customers and observing their behaviour, developing relationships with customers and exhibiting a great deal of flexibility when paying attention to the customers' needs and wants (Weber 2007; Strauss, El-Ansary and Frost 2005). The characteristics mentioned above are a challenge for all schools in general and for the school that is the subject of this study. From 2005 on, the School Centre has been working on the project entitled MoFAS. The new system should enable schools to have greater autonomy and responsibility for the results of the education they offer their customers. It should stimulate greater economy and solutions to identified problems which will improve the quality of its programmes as well as reduce costs, and enable a faster reaction to the needs of the labour market and environment (MoFAS 2004). 2.1 Case study of the School Centre in Slovenia The School Centre where the study was conducted has its own website which serves as a means of communica- tion with its customers and the public. The Centre was the first among all other secondary schools to introduce a free system of e-management (e-markbook etc.) which is available for the users on the Internet. The development and implementation of the website is entirely the product of the School Centre teachers. It was developed and implemented in order to increase the 'rational use of resources' and to expand all possible ways of communication. The factors demanding rational communication between the school and its customers are the following: the introduction of new programmes, a cost efficacy demand, greater emphasis on 'satisfied customers', and the size of the Centre itself with 112 teachers. Moreover, there is polarization amongst the staff regarding opinions about the use of the Internet as a means of rational marketing communication. 3 Methodology The present research is a qualitative case study. Case studies strive to portray 'what it is like' to be in a particular situation, to portray the close-up reality and 'thick description of participants' lived experience of, thoughts about and feelings for, a situation (Stake 2005; Yin 2005; Merriam 2002). The purpose of the case study was to gain an insight into the teachers' perception about Internet marketing communication. For a research community, a case study optimizes understanding by pursuing scholarly research questions (Stake 2005). The research questions are derived from theoretical discussions and published research. The study was guided by the following research questions: ■ How do teachers perceive the Internet in comparison with other tools of marketing communication? ■ What do the teachers from the School Centre perceive as advantages and disadvantages of Internet marketing communication? A previous survey shows that 71% of the School Centre teachers consider impersonality to be the basic disadvantage of Internet marketing communication. Hence, we were particularly interested in the advantages or disadvantages the participants perceive in Internet marketing communication. ■ How do teachers make sense of their own activity, and efficacy within the process of Internet marketing communication in comparison with other tools of marketing communication? We were particularly interested in this question because of the results of a survey conducted in this school in 2005. ■ How would teachers/participants in the study improve the role of the Internet as a means of communication between the school and parents? Having analyzed the documents on the use of the forum as a communication tool, we found out that the forum was considered to be too simple of a means of communication as has been identified in some research (Allen, Kania and Yaeckel 2001). How, therefore, can then be intensified the use and role of the Internet be improved in schools? 138 Organizacija, Volume 41 Research papers Number 4, July-August 2008 Data were obtained by a group interview process. The results of a previous survey served as a basis for questions used in the group interviews (Tankosic 2005). The School Centre consists of three schools identified for the study as A, B and C. School A employs 41 teachers, school B 40, and school C 31 teachers. The School Centre website is the same for all three schools, thus all the schools are presently using the same technology for Internet marketing communication. For each school we conducted a separate group interview with six teachers. The participants were selected according to working groups that are the largest in number within the particular school. Another criterion was the diversity of fields of professions among employees in order to obtain as many different opinions as possible. Each school was represented by three teachers/participants with a technical science background and three teachers/participants with a social science background. All the participants were assigned false names in order to ensure an ethical standard - the anonymity required in qualitative studies (Christians 2005). To reduce the likelihood of misinterpretation various procedures were employed, two of the most common being redundancy of the data gathering and procedural challenges to explanations. For qualitative casework, these procedures generally are called triangulation (Stake 2005; Yin 2005). Triangulation has been generally considered a process of using multiple perceptions to clarify meaning, and verifying the repeatability of an observation or interpretation (Stake 2005). The case study was carried out using triangulation of data sources (data triangulation) (Yin 2005). The present case study has methodological, as well as content limitations. The former is represented by the generalization of the findings. Easterby-Smith, Thrope and Lowe (2005: 64) and Trnavcevic (2003: 8) discuss generalization through statistical probability and theoretical abstraction. They stress the importance and the size of the sample structure. The following study does not fulfil criteria for generalization through statistical probability beyond the case, which also is not the purpose of the paper. One of the authors formed his own general opinion about Internet marketing communication due to his participation in Internet marketing communication at the School Centre, which one could claim to be a biased position. As for contextual limitation, there are only a few references in Slovenian on Internet marketing communication and Internet marketing in general. Also, the amount of literature from other countries is insufficient in the field of Internet marketing communication in education. The authors (Chaffey et. al. 2006; Strauss, El-Ansary and Frost 2005) claim that the doctrine of Internet marketing communication is changing rapidly, which can be considered an obstacle from the point of view of analyzing the theoretical framework. 4 Findings Data was analyzed by employing a content analysis method (Easterby-Smith, Thorpe and Lowe 2005). In the process of analysis, data were categorized on the basis of the research questions asked of the participants. Findings are presented in the following sections. 4.1 The importance of the Internet in comparison with other tools of marketing communication The teachers perceive the Internet as a tool of marketing communication which does not enable personal contact and provide physical evidence2. According to Weber (2007: 32), Jarvenpaa and Leidner (1999: 3), these deficiencies have a great influence on the interactions, feelings, emotions and relationships among participants in the process of communication. Furthermore, the lack of physical evidence negatively influences the building of trust gained within relationships (Balkin and Noveck 2006). Trust is particularly important for services, which by their nature are highly intangible (e.g. educational institutions) because there is a need for a minimum level of customer trust before service delivery is initiated (Evans, Jamal & Foxall 2006). The School Centre teachers consider personal contacts and physical evidence extremely important. They even claim that the 'open-door day', compared to Internet marketing communication, is the most effective tool of marketing communication for the school. In our research the teachers had to rank twelve tools of marketing communication; the Internet is found in third place right after the 'open-door day'. As for the impersonality of the Internet, opinions differed significantly. Some teachers said it is an advantage in the sense of a relaxed interaction with other participants as well as allowing for a freedom of expression. This is certainly a good point, for Chaffey et. al (2006: 374) argue: »The customers' feedback information is of vital importance in analyzing efficacy and planning improvements.« At the same time the advantages function as the counterweight to Dreyfus's (2001: 55) criticism, through which the author reproaches the users of the virtual world with the lack of risk. In this case, it is exactly the characteristic of 'no risk' which enables the user of the Internet to gain authentic feedback information. The teachers argue there is a kind of a generation gap among Internet users. They believe the Internet will have a greater significance in the future. The main reason for that can be seen in the progress of technology development which will enable a higher level of interaction. Weber (2007: 208-214) as well as Haeckel (2001: 16) discuss the impact of technology development on the future 2 To reduce uncertainty, customers will look for evidence of quality. They will draw inferences about quality from the place, people, equipment, communication material, symbols, etc. (Kotler and Keller 2006). 139 Organizacija, Volume 41 Research papers Number 4, July-August 2008 and claim that the level of interaction is getting higher and higher due to technology, which involves a wider spectrum of senses. This is why in the future we can expect an increase in the interaction level. The teachers also mention the importance of the influence of other e-business (e-banking, e-shopping, e-administration) on Internet marketing communication in schools. Chaffey et. al. (2006: 35-43) as well as Strauss, El-Ansary and Frost (2005: 142) argue that the stress on Internet marketing communication is becoming greater and greater due to public relations within different forms of e-services (education, finance, administration, regions etc.) and its links enabling the formation of different communities of interests with global dimensions. Despite the facts, the teachers still stress the importance of personal contacts and physical evidence for building trust in the future. 4.2 Advantages and disadvantages of Internet marketing communication Personal contacts and physical evidence enable people to see with their own eyes and thus build trust. Internet marketing communication is a virtual tool, hence it provokes doubt. This is why people need confirmation in the real world. As Skyrme (1998: 32) argues: »In the virtual world, trust is fragile.« There are big differences among teachers concerning what is needed to build trust in the virtual world. An example of a high level of trust is given by a teacher claiming that he would not buy a car on the Internet without having tested it before. An example of a low level of trust is a teacher who does not trust letters of apology sent via e-mail; in fact, she prefers receiving them in a classical form. Despite the big differences concerning the level of trust, Sheehan (2001: 158) states both men and women mention doubt as well as trust as being problematic in a virtual environment. The virtual world is not the only environment which enables idealization of identities and cognitive processes, as states Dreyfus (2001: 55). The teachers see that it is possible to idealize in the physical environment as well. Namely, 'open-door days' make the School Centre 'shine' differently than in everyday life. This finding can be reasonably linked to critical remarks given by Kenway and Fitzclarence (1998: 665). The authors argue that when promoting, we expose and stress 'the sunny side of the subject' only. The same holds true for 'open-door days' at the School Centre. It is evident that technically-oriented3 teachers have a higher level of trust in the virtual world compared to socially-oriented4 ones, and a lesser need for physical evidence. Those teachers who have a positive view on Internet marketing communication perceive virtuality as a way of simulating marketing communication in the real world. Their opponents, on the other hand, stress the importance of the physical world and warn us of the negative sides of virtuality. 4.3 Teachers' activity and efficacy within the process of Internet marketing communication in comparison with other tools of marketing communication The teachers with a technical science background are more active in Internet marketing communication than they are on 'open-door days' which are considered to be the most effective tool at the School Centre. They take an active part in creating their own websites that contain teaching material as well as information on teachers and subjects. They communicate with the customers via their websites and e-mail. E-mail communications enables a high degree of personalization, and in order to personalize messages it is necessary to understand the attitudinal and behavioral characteristics of each e-mail audience (Cheung 2008; Chaffey et. al. 2006). Personalization has a significant influence on the intensity and duration of the marketer-customer relationship (brand-loyalty) (Weber 2007; Hanson 2006). The fact is important in the field of education as well. In the virtual world the competition is only a 'click' away. The potential customers are becoming present customers who usually develop a long-termed relationship with the school; hence it is of vital importance to maintain the contact between schools and their customers. To be effective, teachers are designing 'enriched', animated, interactive, and personalized messages for their customers. Personalization, however, is a sensitive area and is often intertwined with privacy issues. Irrespective of the facts regarding the use of e-mail, teachers must be careful that they don't cause resentment among customers who are already overloaded with 'junk e-mail'. Evans, Jamal & Foxall (2006: 303) also reveal a privacy 'paradox' in that some customers are somewhat cynical about 'relational' interaction and concerned about divulging personal information but are participants nevertheless. There might be a desire on the part of schools to develop relationships with customers but customers do not always want to reciprocate. It is likely that the cynicism is predicated upon a lack of trust resulting from business scams, unfulfilled promises and marketing hype. Teachers and school marketers walk a fine line between adding value for customers and being intrusive. To avoid irritating customers by sending unwanted marketing e-mail, teachers should ask customers for permission to e-mail marketing pitches. This approach, known as permission-based marketing, has become a standard model for e-mail marketing (Kotler and Armstrong 2008). 'Information privacy' refers to the extent to which individuals can control who holds their data, and what is done 3 Computer science engineers, electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, mathematicians, chemists, etc. 4 Linguists, psychologists, sociologists, historians, etc. 140 Organizacija, Volume 41 Research papers Number 4, July-August 2008 with those data. Many customers already believe that they have lost all control over how information about them is used (Evans, Jamal & Foxall 2006). An increase in teacher efficacy is conditioned by the level of trust in privacy or, in other words, identity protection that is expected and needed by the participants in Internet marketing communication before they start to communicate in a virtual way. Trust is relevant for all virtual communities as well since they hold great promise. Virtual communities rely on a 'Web of trust' in which viewers and advisers tend to be matched up over time with people whose opinions they have come to trust: »It mimics the way word-of-mouth works in the real world.« (Slomon 2002: 325). However, there is also great potential for abuse if members can't trust that other visitors are behaving ethically. Many community members are sensitive to interference from companies and react negatively when they suspect that another member may in fact be a shill of a marketer who only wants to influence evaluations of products/services on the site (Solomon 2002). Internet fraud, including identity theft and financial scams, has become a serious problem. The question of privacy is certainly of great importance since the results of several investigations (Balkin and Noveck 2006; Weber 2007; Bush et. al. 2000) place privacy in third place within categories regarding ethical issues in Internet marketing. The teachers with a social science background are more active managing marketing communication tools that require personal contact. This group consists of teachers who speak in favour of personal contacts and physical evidence. These same teachers do not show any interest in future collaboration with Internet marketing communication. Other teachers with a social science background, on the other hand, are interested in Internet marketing communication, but they lack knowledge about using technologies and Internet marketing communication itself. This group of teachers could improve their efficacy with education in the field of Internet technology and Internet marketing communication. Those teachers who are active within Internet marketing communication will increase their efficacy by improving the knowledge of tools that enable feedback information from customers. Crovella and Krishnamurthy (2006: 99-102) argue that the Internet offers feedback information on how much investment is 'waste' and what is 'waste'. The teachers promise to increase their own efficacy by identifying Internet marketing communication as a goal of the school and all its employees, not only a couple of avid individuals. 4.4 The Internet in the future Internet marketing communication is not integrated into the School Centre vision, neither is it an activity planned and managed by its principals. It concerns, in fact, a group of enthusiastic individuals of the School Centre. The teachers think Internet marketing communication should be integrated into the vision of the School Centre and should be managed by principals (head teachers). Teachers and parents should be familiar with the advantages and benefits of Internet marketing communication compared to other tools of marketing communication. A course on the basics of the Internet and Internet marketing communication should be offered. The website has to be reorganized; segmentation should be increased and its structure should be simplified. It should be easy to use, professional looking, attractive and useful. The teachers suggest the introduction of virtual con-sultations5 with the use of a web cam. It is evident that virtual consultations represent an important challenge. As for business communication, Eggert (2001: 10) states: »The experimental results suggest that physical presence is not decisive for a successful meeting or collaboration. A video conference is as useful to employ the favourable features of face-to-face communication as a 'real' conference.« With regard to virtual consultations, the teachers differ in opinion. Technically oriented teachers have a positive view of them. Their standpoint is that every school should direct changes, which has a positive influence on the school image. Drucker (2001: 76) claims that only the initiators of changes will survive in the period of fast structure changes. Let us mention Kotler and Fox (1995: 350) who say that marketing communication in education should support a better school image. Hence the introduction of virtual consultations at the School Centre is an excellent idea. Technically oriented teachers also stress the importance in integrating Internet marketing with other digital marketing technologies such as mobile phone marketing, podcasts and vodcasts. Of course we should consider the critiques given by the teachers with a social science background also. They argue that technology cannot and must not replace personal contacts. Trunk Sirca and Koren (2003: 201) warn us as well of oversimplification in e-managing. The authors provide examples of schools satisfied with e-markbooks, which reduced the number of parents coming to consultations by half. The case shows that teachers are not aware of the importance of communicating with parents in person, which cannot possibly be limited to informing parents on students' results only. A similar situation can happen with the introduction of virtual consultations. The forum of the School Centre has not been revived. It is clear it is not the goal of the School Centre. The statements collected from the respondents show that some teachers are even ignorant of its existence, which is, from the point of view of communication between the school and parents, a disadvantage. Weber (2007: 100-103) claims that forums and virtual communities are simple and effective tools of interaction and represent an Internet version 5 A means of communication between parents and teachers, virtual consultations are based upon ICT, e.g. video chat, net meeting, etc. 141 Organizacija, Volume 41 Research papers Number 4, July-August 2008 (viral marketing) of word-of-mouth marketing. Since customers pass the message along to others, viral marketing can be very inexpensive. Online marketing continues to offer both great promise and many challenges for the future. However, for the School Centre, Internet marketing will remain just one important approach to the marketplace that works alongside other approaches in a fully integrated marketing mix for building customer relationships, communicating school information, and delivering services more efficiently and effectively. 5 In conclusion The case study demonstrated the following: Firstly, the teachers perceive the Internet as a marketing communication tool that prevents customers from viewing physical evidence and having personal contacts, which, according to Weber (2007: 32), Jarvenpaa and Leidner (1999: 3) has an influence on interaction, feelings, emotions and relationships among all participants in the process of communication. Furthermore, the lack of physical evidence influences the amount of trust built within relationships. Personal contacts and physical evidence enable people to see with their own eyes and thus build trust. Internet marketing communication is a virtual tool, hence it provokes doubt. This is why people need confirmation in the real world. A dominant characteristic of the virtual world is the fragility of trust. Secondly, it is evident that the teachers with a technical science background have a higher level of trust in the virtual world compared to the teachers with a social science background, and therefore, a lesser need for physical evidence. Those teachers who have a positive view on Internet marketing communication perceive virtuality as a way of simulating marketing communication in the real world. Their adversaries, on the other hand, stress the importance of the physical world and warn us of the negative sides of virtuality. Thirdly, the teachers with a social science background are more active managing marketing communication tools that enable personal contact. This group consists of teachers who speak in favour of personal contacts and physical evidence. They do not show any interest in future collaboration with Internet marketing communication. Other teachers with a social science background, on the other hand, are interested in Internet marketing communication, but they lack knowledge about using appropriate technologies and Internet marketing communication itself. Fourthly, the increase of teachers' efficacy is conditioned by the level of trust in privacy or, in other words, identity protection that is expected and needed by the participants in Internet marketing communication before they start to communicate in a virtual way. The question on privacy is certainly of great importance since the results of research (Balkin and Noveck 2006; Weber 2007; Bush et. al. 2000) place privacy in third place within categories regarding ethical issues in Internet marketing. In Internet marketing privacy and customer permission have become the cornerstones of customer trust, and trust has become the cornerstone to a continuing relationship (Kotler and Armstrong 2008). Therefore, schools must become the custodians of customers trust and protect the privacy of their customers. The findings show that Internet marketing communication has disadvantages as well since it does not enable personal contact-and physical evidence, which are needed to build trust. Therefore we suggest further research on the ways of compensation for personal contact and physical evidence with the intention of gaining trust in virtual world. 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Trunk Širca, N. & Koren, A. (2003). E-poslovanje v izobraževanju. Management in e-izzivi: zbornik 3.strokovnega posveta Visoke šole za management v Kopru, Fakulteta za management, Koper. Weber, L. (2007). Marketing to the social web: how digital customer communities build your business, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York. Yin, R. K. (2005). Introducing the world of education: a case study reader, 2nd ed.: Sage Publications, Inc., London. Zaltman, G. (2003). How customers think: essential insights into the mind of the market. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Zinkhan, G. M. (2005). The marketplace, emerging technology and marketing theory, Marketing Theory, (5)1: 105-115. Aleš Tankosic is a Lecturer at the Nova Gorica Technical School Centre and a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Management Koper, University of Primorska, Slovenia. His research work focuses on marketing communication. Anita Trnavcevic is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Management Koper, University of Primorska, Slovenia. Her research work focuses on policy analyses in education, marketing in education and qualitative methodology. Marketinško komuniciranje na internetu v šolstvu: študija primera Internet je prisoten tudi v izobraževalnih organizacijah, saj šole internet uporabljajo med drugim kot komunikacijsko sredstvo med šolo in uporabniki. Ne glede na to, so v slovenskem prostoru raziskave s področja marketinške komunikacije na internetu na področju izobraževanja še zelo redke. Članek podaja teoretična izhodišča in ugotovitve kvalitativne študije primera izvedene na šolskem centru v Sloveniji. Podatki so bili zbrani s skupinskim intervjujem in analizo dokumentov. Ugotovitve kažejo, da učitelji Šolskega centra izpostavljajo slabost marketinške komunikacije na internetu, saj ta ne omogoča osebnih stikov in fizičnih dokazov. Učitelji, ki imajo pozitiven odnos do marketinške komunikacije na internetu, postavljajo v izhodišče virtualnost, znotraj katere iščejo 'rešitve' za čim učinkovitejšo simulacijo marketinške komunikacije v realnem svetu, medtem kot 'nasprotniki' marketinške komunikacije na internetu postavljajo v izhodišče fizični svet in opozarjajo na negativne strani virtualnosti. Ključne besede: izobraževanje, marketing, internetni marketing, marketinška komunikacija na internetu 143 Organizacija, Volume 41 Research papers Number 4, July-August 2008 The Role of Information for Recognising Business Opportunities Andreja Lutar Skerbinjek Univerza v Mariboru, Ekonomsko-poslovna fakulteta Maribor, Razlagova 14, 2000 Maribor, andreja.lutar@uni-mb.si Managers need a lot of knowledge and i-nformati-on to make deci-si-ons and recogni-ze busi-ness opportuni-ti-es. They can acqui-re thi-s knowledge and i-nformati-on i-n di-fferent ways. Accounti-ng i-nformati-on, parti-cularly i-nformati-on relati-ng to the credi-tworthi--ness of busi-ness partners and competi-tors, i-s i-mportant. Such i-nformati-on, whi-ch can contai-n non-accounti-ng i-nformati-on, i-s often deri-ved from annual reports. The fastest and cheapest way of accessi-ng i-nformati-on i-s vi-a the Internet. Because searching for i-nformati-on about di-fferent busi-nesses on thei-r Web si-tes can be ti-me consumi-ng, a qui-cker, more effi-ci-ent opti-on i-s to access thi-s i-nformati-on on databases that contai-n useful i-nformati-on relati-ng to the majori-ty of busi-nesses i-n the country. In thi-s paper, we di-scuss the i-mportance of knowledge and i-nformati-on for recogni-zi-ng busi-ness opportuni-ti-es. We also analyze the appropri-ateness of accounti-ng i-nformati-on avai-lable from fi-ve of the most wi-dely used databases concerni-ng Slovene and Croati-an busi-nesses, for esti-mati-ng the credi-tworthi-ness of busi-nesses. Key words: busi-ness opportuni-ti-es, knowledge, accounti-ng i-nformati-on, credi-tworthi-ness i-nformati-on, databases, busi-ness partners, competi-tors, annual reports, appropri-ate i-nformati-on, reporti-ng agenci-es. 1 Introduction It is very important for managers to recognize opportunities for managing a successful business. To support that, they need a lot of knowledge and information of any kind. A vital part of information is that relating to business partners and competitors with whom they already do business or intend doing business with. Accounting information contains a lot of information about businesses. We live in the 21st century, when living and working without computer support is unimaginable in many different fields. Likewise, in accounting, computers make our work easier and enable us to obtain information faster and more reliably. Using the Internet to access information at the office or at home is cost-effective and saves a lot of time (Lutar Skerbinjek, 2005:76). The annual reports of many businesses can be accessed on the Internet, usually on the company's own Web sites. However, not all businesses have their own Web sites. To obtain information concerning such businesses, and because it is very time-consuming to search the information about many businesses on their Web pages, it is useful to use databases which feature information relating to the majority of businesses that operate in a particular country. They are created and maintained by reporting agencies and credit reporting agencies, which obtain creditworthiness information as well. Usually, they create creditworthiness information on the basis of information obtained from annual reports for each business. They create it for many businesses, so they can compare them and make credit scores with which they rank businesses. In this paper we discuss the importance of knowledge and information for recognizing business opportunities, and do a comparable analysis of two databases created by reporting agencies on a national level. These follow the National Reporting Agency of former Yugoslavia, which is called Služba družbenega knjigovodstva. These are the databases of the Agency for Public Evidence and Statistics (Agencija za javnopravne evidence in statistiko (AJPES)) in Slovenia, and the Financial Agency, Fina (Finančna agencija Fina) in Croatia. Furthermore, we perform a comparable analysis of three databases created by other Credit Reporting Agencies. These are the GVIN database in Slovenia, the BonLine database in Croatia, and the database created by the international business company Creditreform, which operates in Slovenia, Croatia, and many other European countries. On the basis of the results of our comparative analysis, we made a critical evaluation of those databases, which we explained. We believe that such analysis has not been made, so it will be useful for Slovene and Croatian businesses and companies globally that are doing business with them to choose the database which would be most appropriate for obtaining creditworthiness information. 144 Organizacija, Volume 41 Research papers Number 4, July-August 2008 2 Need for knowledge and information Drucker and others describe advanced economies as »knowledge« economies because they are becoming progressively less dependent on materials and energy. As Business Week put it, »The traditional factors of production - capital and skilled labor - are no longer the main determinants of the power of an economy. Now economic potential is increasingly linked to the ability to control and manipulate information« (Fitzroy and Hulbert, 2005: 23). In order to make decisions (for either decision management or control), managers require information (Zimmerman, 2000: 652). We live in the information age, in which modern business organizations function in a vastly aletered environment. To prosper, these organizations must treat information as a valued resource. A steady stream of information is needed to enable firms to make sound planning decisions and to control their operations. Firms that use information effectively can take advantage of their opportunities and thus gain ground on their competitors (Wilkinson et al., 2000:4). Indeed, information may be the most important organizational resource (Bod-nar and Hopwood, 2001: 2). Information has economic value in that is enables decision making, so it contributes to the achievement of a business's goals. The information age classifies information as an important, even dominant, business resource. The normal operation of a business is not possible without information. However, in spite of the huge supply of data and information, they are still relativey rare resources, and are not always available to everyone, so we should use them sparingly (Knez Riedl, 2000a: 31). The information process of an organization is roughly equivalent to the nervous system of a human being. It permeates every part of the organization, as well as sensitive key areas of the environment. The better the information an organization gathers about its performance, its capabilities, and its environment, the better the organization will perform and the more effectively it will be able to change (Lawler et al., 2006: 119). Firms that gather, assimilate, and evaluate external and internal information most effectively gain competitive advantages over other firms. Recognizing the importance of having an effective management information system (MIS) will not be an option in the future; it will be a requirement. Information is the basis for understanding in a firm. In many industries, information is becoming the most important factor in differentiating successful firms from unsuccessful firms (David, 2005: 301). The wider availability of information will also accelerate the learning of competitors, so advantages gained through experience may be shorter-lived than hitherto. This will inevitably mean organizations will need to revisit and redefine the basis on which they are competing more frequently. In turn, this will put yet more information demands on the organization (Johnson et al., 2005: 458). Decision makers need information, and the more important the decision, the greater the need (Harrison and Horngren, 2001:5). Managers often have more complete information about the products or services they offer, while outsiders rely on information the manager is willing to share (Bergh et al., 2008:134). However, information acquisition is costly (Schnatterly et al., 2008: 219). An organization's capability for creating knowledge depends on the extent to which managers and other knowledge employees can combine and exchange information (Goll et al., 2007). Information is data with context. Knowledge is information with meaning. Wisdom is knowledge plus insight and sound judgement. When applied to any community, these concepts refer to the sum total experience and learning residing within an individual, group, enterprise, or nation. The new source of wealth is knowledge, not labor, land, or financial capital. It is the intangible, intellectual assets that must be managed (Leibold et al., 2002:14). Knowledge structures order an information environment in a way that enables subsequent interpretation and action; they are built on past experience, and represent organized knowledge about a given concept or type of stimulus (Kabanoff and Brown, 2008: 149). Meso and Smith (2000) understand knowledge management as the creation of sustainable advantage through continued organizational learning. According to Kerste and Muizer (2002), knowledge management is dealing with the structural supply of, and demand for, knowledge within an enterprise. This knowledge can be developed in an enterprise or obtained from external sources. Knowledge can be defined as the awareness, consciousness, or familiarity gained by experience or learning. However, in the context of organizations, it is not just individual knowledge that matters, but the knowledge of groups of people in the organization, or the organization as a whole. Organizational knowledge is the collective and shared experience accumulated through systems, routines, and activities of sharing across the organization (Johnson et al., 2005: 133). Training and development improve quality and make organizations more efficient; they also develop future talent and reduce staff turnover (Pardey, 2007:16). The evidence is that sharing knowledge and experience is essentially a social process that relies on 'communities of interest' developing and sharing information because they see it as mutually beneficial. This could happen through formal systems such as the Internet (and indeed does), but it is also facilitated by social contact and trust (Johnson et al., 2005: 134). The Internet is an extremely important new technology, and it is no surprise that it has received so much attention from enterpreneurs, executives, investors, and business observers. The Internet is an enabling technology - a powerful set of tools that can be used, wisely or unwisely, in almost any industry and as a part of almost any strategy (Leibold et al., 2002:79). Internet technology provides better opportunities for companies to establish distinctive strategic positionings than previous generations of information technology did (Leibold et al., 2002:80). The Internet is an excellent source of information about industries as well as individual companies (Wheelen and Hunger, 2004: 351). The Internet is supposed to be the great equalizer, allowing small and medium- 145 Organizacija, Volume 41 sized enterprises to compete on a more equal footing with larger firms (Murphy et al., 2007: 58). Information about competitors is also very important for assessing business opportunities as described in detail below. 3 Information about competition Recognizing business opportunities means gaining advantage over competitors. Typically, managers take too parochial a view as to the sources of competition, usually focusing their attention on direct competitive rivals. But Number 4, July-August 2008 there are many other factors in the environment which influence this competitiveness. A model of forces that drive industry competition, also known as Porter's five forces framework, is presented in Figure 1. Porter's model was originally developed as a way of assessing the attractiveness (profit potential) of different industries. As such it can help identify sources of competition in an industry or sector (Johnson et al., 2005: 78). In the face of increasing globalization, managers are forced to reevaluate their competitive options in a more holistic manner, and to consider expansion abroad as a legitimate strategic alternative (Wiersema and Bowen, 2008: 118). Research papers Potential entrants Relative power of unions, governments, etc. Threat of new entrants V Bargaining power of suppliers Industry competitors Bargaining power of „buyers Rivalry among existing firms Threat of substitute products or services Figure 1: Forces Driving Industry Competition. Source: Wheelen and Hunger, 2002:61. As shown in Figure 1, the nature of competitiveness in a given industry can be viewed as a composite of five presented forces (David, 2005: 94). They do not involve only competitors, but all other business partners, as well. Competitive advantage stems from a firm's ability to leverage its internal strengths to respond to external environ- mental opportunities while avoiding external threats and internal weaknesses. Thus, like a distinctive competence, a competitive advantage must be difficult to imitate to be sustainable. Unlike a distinctive competence, a competitive advantage must also enable a firm to outperform the firms to which it is compared (Mooney, 2007). The way to 146 Organizacija, Volume 41 Research papers Number 4, July-August 2008 beat low-cost competition that have the potential to become serious competitors is to identify and deal with them early, before they get a foothold in a market (Morehouse et al., 2008). So, for a business to gain competitive advantage, it must obtain information about all the business partners with which it has or intends to have business relationships. All of them could have a crucial influence on the financial success or failure of the business. So it is important to obtain as much information about competitors as possible. Common data sources can include (Reuvid, 2000: 9): ■ statutory accounts, returns, and filings ■ credit agency reports ■ trade of corporate directories ■ online databases, including the Internet - an increasingly useful source of information on both industries and potential partners ■ other publications, eg. trade magazines and newspapers ■ prospect lists, contacts, etc. of outside advisers. A wealth of strategic information is available to organizations from both the published and unpublished sources listed above. The Internet has made it easier for firms to gather, assimilate, and evaluate information. It offers consumers and businesses a broad range of services and information resources from all over the world. Interactive services offer users not only access to information worldwide but also the ability to communicate with the person or company that created the information. Historical barriers to personal and business success - time zones and diverse cultures - are being eliminated. The Internet has become as important to our society as television and newspapers (David, 2005: 96). A very important part of information for decision making is accounting information. Managers of businesses use accounting information to set goals, evaluate progress toward those goals, and to take corrective action, if necessary (Harrison, Horngren, 2001: 5). Accounting information is crucial in deciding whether to invest money, make a loan, go into business with a potential partner, or analyze the financial statements of potential business partners or their ability to meet scheduled payments or other obligations. So management needs accounting information for all businesses it is involved with (business partners, competitors, businesses to invest in etc.). Developments within the global economic environment require that finance professionals are not only adept at analyzing internal operations but that they are also exposed to, and thus experienced in, generating information relating to operations outside their own organisations (Chivaka, 2007:24). Basic accounting information about business can be found in financial statements of the business, which are included in the annual report. The objective of financial statements is to provide information about the financial position, performance, and changes in financial position (i.e. cash flow) of an entity that is useful to a wide range of users in making economic decisions. The financial statements show the results of the stewardship or accoun- tability of management for the resources shareholders entrust to them (Collier, 2006: 110). Financial statements, footnotes, and supplementary schedules constitute the company's financial report, and all significant information should be included in the financial report. Additionally, other relevant information, which can assist in understanding the financial report, is presented in narrative form. Examples of these types of items are management's discussion and analysis and the letter to stockholders (Schroe-der et al., 2005: 550). According to Company Law (Zakon o gospodarskih družbah ZGD-1, 2006) an annual report in Slovenia must contain a balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement, capital flow statement, supplements to the financial statements, and a business report. Small businesses that don't sell their shares on the organized capital market are excluded from these requirements Their annual report must contain a balance sheet and an income statement. Besides the annual report (balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement) other data such as data related to a branch, for example, are important for a better understanding of the business partner's other data (Cancer and Knez Riedl, 2005:147). This means that much external and internal data are needed. These data are components of creditworthiness information. 4 Creditworthiness information Creditworthiness is the ability of a business to exist and sustainably develop its business (Knez Riedl 2000b). Estimating creditworthiness, also known as corporate rating, is designed to give investors a relative indication of the ability of an issuer of a fixed-interest security to repay interest and capital on the security on time and in full. Ratings are intended to be comparable across different industries, groupings, and across issuers from different countries, although the underlying assessments vary from industry sector to sector. The rating process reflects a review of the key underlying strengths and weaknesses of the company being rated and is typically based on five years' past financial data, plus sector information, management forecasts, and discussion of future performance and strategic direction. The rating methodology for industrial companies may be divided into two broad areas: business risk and financial risk. Business risk is a qualitative risk, whereas financial risk is a quantitative risk. Rating on credit quality is looking into future ability to repay debt (Fight, 2001: 137-138). The most relevant quantitative and qualitative factors of creditworthiness should be taken into account to ensure high-quality decision making. The quantitative factors are presented mainly by financial ratios, based on annual statements. There are many different, and at the same time similar, financial ratio systems, with a limited number of selected ratios, which are fixed in their mutual interdependencies and hierarchy. They are divided into subgroups, depending on the depth of the analysis goals and the expectations and demands of decision makers (Cancer and Knez Riedl 2005). 147 Organizacija, Volume 41 Research papers Number 4, July-August 2008 To estimate quantitative factors of creditworthiness, eleven groups of ratios can be used (Knez Riedl, 2000:5658): ■ capacity ratios (number, structure, and changes of employees; efficiency of working time; technical capacity) ■ existing structure and changes of branch ratios (capacity, structure, and changes of production; capacity, structure, and changes of sale; capacity, structure, and changes of export and import) ■ ratios of products' and services' quality (rate of products with defects; number of reclamation; quality costs in operating revenue; number of suggestions for improvement of quality) ■ financing and investment ratios (value, structure, and changes of assets and liabilities; equity financing rate; debt financing rate; share capital rate; long-term financing rate; short-term financing rate; operating fixed assets rate; operating current assets rate; long-term assets rate; short-term assets rate; equipment to labor ratio; accumulated depreciation rate; equity to fixed assets ratio; equity to long-term assets ratio; long-term financing to long-term assets and normal inventories ratio; acid test ratio; quick ratio; current ratio) ■ turnover ratios (current assets turnover ratio; inventory turnover ratio; trade receivables turnover ratio) ■ revenue, expenses, and income ratios (value and structure of revenues, expenses, and income; changes on revenues; rate of revenues to employees) ■ efficiency ratios (quantitative capacity of production to employee; valued extent of production to employee; revenues to employee) ■ profitability ratios (net return on equity ratio; expanded return on assets ratio; net return on share capital ratio) ■ liquidity ratios (net cash flow rate; investment to net cash flow ratio; debt to net cash flow ratio; equity to net cash flow ratio; cash flow per share ratio) ■ ratios of investing in development and innovation activities (rate of research and development costs in revenues; rate of new products/services in business program; number of innovations to employees; innovations revenue in revenue rate; savings from innovations compared to expenses); and ■ environment ratios (containing materials in product; packaging to sales wage rate; rate of defective products to produced quantity; rate of recycled material in defective products; energy consumption; voter consmption; special emissions; environmental investments to all investments rate). Within quantitative analysis lately there has been more and more important cash flow analysis, assisted by properly designed ratios, as well as analysis of financial flexibility and long-term and short-term efficiency. This means there are more and more important reports for shorter periods than a year, even temporary short-term reports and not only audited annual reports. Besides classical financial ratios, series of ratios, calculated on the basis of up-to-date accounting standards and data on strategic accounting, can be found (Knez Riedl, 2006:26). Qualitative factors are descriptive and can be divided into five groups (Knez Riedl, 2000:59-62): ■ general characteristics (comprising legal form, ow-ners-hip, age, size, location, organizational structure, business relationships, information system) ■ business activity (standard industrial classification, business program, product and service quality, technology) ■ resources/potentials (e.g. employees, management, facilities, innovations and investment activity) ■ market orientation (buyers, suppliers, competitiors); and ■ other qualitative factors (e.g. business morale, organizational culture, reputation, strategies, environmental aw-areness). So, qualitative analysis takes into account many qualitative factors relating to the business and its environment (branch and direct business environment), market position, management, and accounting of the business. The risk and perspective of the branch is also taken into account. Also considered are the businesses' market position, competitors' ability, diversification of programs, ex-tent of selling, diversification of buyers and suppliers, cost position, and intangible assets. Management is important, especially in relation to managing a business, strategy, risks, and goals of the business (Knez Riedl, 2006:26). Furthermore, w-e have done a comparative analysis of five databases in Slovenia and Croatia w-hich offer credit-w-orthiness information. 5 Assessment of databases with creditworthiness information For the comparative analysis, w-e choose the five most w-idely used databases in Slovenia and Croatia. The first tw-o are databases on a national level: AJPES in Slovenia and Fina in Croatia. Businesses are obliged by law- to give these databases annual reports because they are based on official national reporting agencies. Furthermore, w-e choose tw-o databases that are w-idely used in those tw-o countries: GVIN in Slovenia and BoneLine in Croatia, as w-ell as Creditreform, an international database that is used in Slovenia and in Croatia. Information on these databases can be found on the Internet (AJPES, 2008; FINA, 2008; GVIN, 2008; BonLine, 2008; and Creditreform, 2008), and although their information could be considered comparable or equal, detailed research has show-n vital diferences among them. From the AJPES, FINA, and GVIN databases w-e can obtain w-hole annual reports. The BonLine and Cre-ditreform databases contain only some basic data from annual reports. Fina's database contains the most detailed information relating to financial statements for small and middle-sized businesses. The reason for this is that Croa-ta's businesses use international accounting standards and Slovenia uses our local standards, w-hich allow-s more 148 Organizacija, Volume 41 Research papers Number 4, July-August 2008 synthetic information in financial statements for smaller businesses. Only the AJPES database contains supplements to the financial statements. In Table 1 our assessment of the appropriateness of creditworthiness information for these five databases is shown. In our assessment we have estimated the number of calculated ratios in each group of ratios, which we note when defining creditworthiness information and ranking factors. We researched qualitative and quantitative factors Tabel Final assessment of appropriateness is calculated as an arithmetic proportion of values of included ratios into groups. We can conclude that only a small range of ratios is included in the creditworthiness rank of researched databases. There is no database which would include all ratios. And there is no group of ratios with all ratios involved in ranking. Ratios in all databases are mostly the same ones - those which could be calculated or obtained from annual reports of businesses or registration data. So the- separately, and each group of included ratios. For each group of ratios we made a rank from 0 to 5. Zero (0) means that the database does not consider any ratio from the estimated group, 1 means it considers 1% -25 % ratios, 2 means that it considers 26%-50% of ratios, 3 means that it considers 51%-75% of ratios, 4 means that it considers 76%-99% of ratios, and 5 means that it considers all ratios from the group. re is no database which would include capacity ratios, existing structure, and changes of branch ratios, ratios of products' and services' quality, ratios of investing in development and innovation, environment ratios, and other qualitative ratios. Liquidity ratio is only partly involved in the GVIN database; no other database involves it. Qualitative factors are limited to legal form, ownership, establishment, and founders. They only mention the business activity without specific data. Resources/potentials are limited to the number of employees, and some 1: Assessment of apropriateness of creditworthiness information AJPES FINA GVIN BonLine Creditreform Quantitative ratios: 1 capacity ratios 0 0 0 0 0 2 existings structure and changes of 0 0 0 0 0 branch ratios 3 ratios of products' and services' qua- 0 0 0 0 0 lity 2 1 2 1 1 4 financing and in- vestment ratios 0 3 2 1 3 5 turnover ratios 2 2 2 1 1 6 revenue, expenses, and income ratios 2 1 1 2 4 7 efficiency ratios 3 2 2 2 2 8 profitability ratios 0 0 1 0 0 9 liquidity ratios 0 0 0 0 0 10 ratios of investing in development and innovation 0 0 0 0 0 11 environment ratios Qualitative ratios: 12 general characteristics 3 2 3 3 3 13 business activity 1 1 1 1 1 14 resources/poten- 1 0 1 2 2 tials 0 0 0 2 3 15 market orientation 0 0 0 0 0 16 other qualitative factors Final assessment of appropria- 0,88 0,75 0,94 0,94 1,25 teness 149 Organizacija, Volume 41 Research papers Number 4, July-August 2008 databases involve a list of managers. Only the BonLine and Creditreform databases offered some information about more important buyers. Important suppliers are mentioned only in the Creditreform database. The reason for that is also the fact that data for obtaining such information is not included in the annual reports of businesses. Because all databases include pretty much the same ratios, only the Creditreform database includes some more qualitative ratios. We beieve, therefore, that the Cre-ditreform database is the most appropriate for estimating the creditworthiness of Slovene and Croatian businesses. The GVIN database is more appropriate for branch analysis, because it includes a comparison with four other businesses, the economy as a whole, and the branch in the country. No other database does this. In the GVIN database we can also find a comparison of the basic categories from annual reports and some ratios for the chosen business for the previous five years, and the same comparison for the branch to which the business belongs. In the balance sheet and income statement we can find calculations of similar ratios for the past two years. So we can conclude that the GVIN database is the most appropriate for branch analysis. But we must take into account the fact that this includes information only about Slovene branches. The information contained in all five databases is based on historical data, so it is very risky to predict the future operation of businesses. A ranking of the businesses could be found in all databases. The Creditreform database provides the most specific one, because the rank is set betwen 100 and 600, while the other databases have a much tighter range. Because Creditreform contains information concerning most businesses all over the world, in our opinion it is the most appropriate database among those we researched. 6 Needed changes of analysed databases to be more dependable Very important creditworthiness information which can not be found in any database is: ■ capacity, structure, and changes of production; ■ capacity, structure, and changes of sale; ■ value and structure of revenues, expenses, and income; ■ changes on revenues; ■ liquidity ratios, especially net cash flow rate; ■ ratios of investing in development and innovation activities, especially rate of new products/services in business program and savings from innovations compared to expenses; ■ ratios of products' and services' quality, especially rate of products with defects and number of suggestions for improvement of quality; ■ environment ratios; ■ resources/potentials, especially information about facilities, innovations and investment activity; ■ market orientation which include information about buyers, suppliers and competitiors; ■ information about reputation, strategies and environmental awareness. Each database should include the information listed above, which is essencial for assessment of businesses creditworthiness. For better information it should be created from short-term reports and audited annual reports. And planned information about next periods should be added. 7 Conclusion The success of a business is highly dependent on the recognition of business opportunities. Management and other employees need a lot of knowledge to support that recognition. Knowledge and information become the most important resources for any organization. Information about the competition is also crucial for business success. This includes accounting and nonaccoun-ting information, of which creditworthiness information plays a special role. Qualitative and quantitative factors are important for the purpose of ranking a business and estimating its creditworthiness. Databases which offer information about the creditworthiness of a business seldom include quantitative factors. Our research analyzed the AJPES, FINA, GVIN, BonLine, and Creditreform databases. Among them, Creditreform takes into account the most ratios from all groups and offers the widest rank, so their ranking is the best. Consequently, we believe it is the best database for estimating the creditworthiness of a business. In our view such a research has not been conducted for Slovenia and Croatia, so we believe it could be useful for all users of research databases. The GVIN database is the most appropriate for doing an analysis of a Slovene company, because it includes more comparisons among businesses and with branches and the economy as a whole. At the end of the paper we recommended which information should be added to analysed databases to make them more dependable. 8 Literature AJPES (2008), (online). Available on http://www.ajpes.si/ (19.2.2008). Bergh, D. D., Johnson, R. A. & Dewitt, R. L. (2008). 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Available from: http://proquest.umi. com/pqdweb?index=2&did=1440893591&SrchMode=3&si d=25&Fmt=3&clientld=70262&RQT=309&VName=PQD. Murphy, G. B., Celuch K. & Callaway, S. K. (2007). Small business Internet use and strategic flexibility. Jou-rnal of Sm-all Bu-si--ness Strategy, 18(1), 57-68). Pardey, D. (2007). Leadership in turbulent times, effective leadership during times of organizational change. Strategi-c HR Revi-ew 6(5): 16-19. Reuvid, J. (2000). Managi-ng Bu-si-ness Partnershi-ps. Kogan Page, Ltd., London. Schnatterly, K., Shaw, K. W. & Jennings, W. W. (2008). Information advantages of large institutional owners. Strategi-c Managem-ent Jou-rnal, 29(2): 219-227. Schroeder, R. G., Clark, M. W. & Cathey, J. M. (2005). Fi-nanci-al Accou-nti-ng Theory and Analysi-s; Tex-t readi-ngs and cases. Eighth edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken. Wheelen, T.L. & Hunger, J. D. (2004). Strategi-c Managem-ent and Bu-si-ness Poli-cy. Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River. Wiersema, M. F. & Bowen, H. P. (2008). Corporate diversification: the impact of foreign competition, industry globalization, and product diversification. Strategi-c Managem-ent Jou-rnal, 29(2): 115-132. Wilkinson, J. W., Cerullo, M. J., Raval, V. & Wong-on-Wing, B. (2000). Accou-nti-ng Inform-ati-on System-s: Essenti-al Concepts and Appli-cati-ons. Fourth edition. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York. Zakon o gospodarskih družbah (2006), (online). Available on: http://www.uradni-list.si/1/objava.jsp?urlid=200642&stevilk a=1799 (20.2.2008). Zimmerman, J. L. (2000). Accou-nti-ng for Deci-si-on Maki-ng and Control. Third edition. Irwin McGraw-Hill, Boston. Andreja Lutar Skerbinjek has been em-ployed at the Uni-versi-ty of Mari-bor, Faculty of Econom-i-cs and Busi-ness si-nce 1993, i-ni-ti-ally as an assi-stant, and si-nce 2003 as Assi--stant Professor i-n Accounti-ng. She has lectured on Basi-c Accounti-ng, Cost Accounti-ng, and Com-puter Support of Accounti-ng and Audi-ti-ng. She has the degree of Speci-ali-st for Audi-ti-ng of Annual Reports at the Faculty of Econom-i-cs, Uni-versi-ty of Ljubljana, and a m-aster's and doctoral degree of Busi-ness Sci-ence at the Faculty of Econom-i-cs and Busi--ness, Uni-versi-ty of Mari-bor. She w-as aw-arded her doctoral degree i-n 2002. In 1995, she got the Fulbri-ght Scholarshi-p for research w-ork and w-orked for fi-ve m-onths at the Graduate School of Busi-ness, Fordham- Uni-versi-ty, New-York. Her bi-bli-ography contai-ns 117 bi-bli-ographi-cal uni-ts. 151 Organizacija, Volume 41 Research papers Number 4, July-August 2008 Pomen informacij za prepoznavanje poslovnih priložnosti Za odločanje in prepoznavanje poslovnih priložnosti potrebujejo managerji veliko znanja in informacij. Pridobijo jih lahko na različne načine. Pomemben del informacij predstavljajo računovodske informacije med katerimi imajo poseben pomen bonitetne informacije o poslovnih partnerjih in konkurentih. Zajemajo informacije iz letnih poročil in mnoge druge informacije. Bonitetne informacije lahko vključujejo tudi neračunovodske informacije. Najhitrejši in najcenejši način pridobivanja informacij je preko interneta. Iskanje informacij o podjetjih iz posameznih spletnih strani vsakega izmed proučevanih podjetij je lahko zelo zamudno, zato lahko koristno uporabimo baze podatkov, ki vključujejo podatke o večini podjetij v določeni državi. Na internetu lahko najdemo veliko število takšnih baz podatkov. Nekatere izmed njih vsebujejo bolj uporabne, druge pa manj uporabne informacije. V prispevku proučujemo pomen znanja in informacij za prepoznavanje poslovnih priložnosti in primerjalno analiziramo primernost računovodskih informacij vsebovanih v petih najbolj uporabljanih bazah podatkov z informacijami o slovenskih in hrvaških podjetjih za oceno bonitete podjetij. Ključne besede: poslovne priložnosti, znanje, računovodske informacije, bonitetne informacije, baze podatkov, poslovni part- 152 Organizacija, Volume 41 Research papers Number 4, July-August 2008 Cost Optimal Project Scheduling Uroš Klanšek, Mirko Pšunder University of Maribor, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Smetanova 17, 2000 Maribor uros.klansek@um-mb.si, mirko.psunder@uni-iTib.si Thi-s paper presents the cost opti-mal project scheduli-ng. The opti-mi-zati-on was performed by the nonli-near programmi-ng approach, NLP. The nonli-near total project cost objecti-ve functi-on i-s subjected to the ri-gorous system of the acti-vi-ty precedence relati-onshi-p constrai-nts, the acti-vi-ty durati-on constrai-nts and the project durati-on constrai-nts. The set of acti-vi-ty precedence relati-onshi-p constrai-nts was defi-ned to compri-se Fi-ni-sh-to-Start, Start-to-Start, Start-to-Fi-ni-sh and Fi-ni-sh-to-Fi-ni-sh precedence relati-onshi-ps between acti-vi-ti-es. The acti-vi-ty durati-on constrai-nts determi-ne relati-onshi-ps between mi-ni-mum, maxi-mum and possi-ble durati-on of the project acti-vi-ti-es. The project durati-on constrai-nts defi-ne the maxi-mum feasi-ble project durati-on. A numeri-cal example i-s presented at the end of the paper i-n order to present the appli-cabi-li-ty of the proposed approach. Key words: project management, scheduli-ng, opti-mi-zati-on, nonli-near programmi-ng, NLP 1 Introduction Project scheduling is an important phase in the planning process of the project. While general project scheduling is performed before the submission of a tender, the executive project scheduling is performed before or during the realization of a project (Psunder and Rebolj, 1991). Each activity within project network is characterized by its precedence relations, duration and resource requirements. In this way, execution of each project activity in normal duration requires employment of certain resources. In cases when faster execution of an activity is required, the additional resources at extra cost must be utilized. Traditional methods for cost optimal project scheduling include either Critical path method (CPM) or program evaluation and review technique (PERT) combined with trial-and-error procedure. This way, the cost optimal project schedule is achieved in the time-consuming analysis of various alternatives for start times and durations of activities. To surmount the mentioned disadvantages, various different optimization methods have been proposed for the cost optimal project scheduling. Considering the exact mathematical programming methods, the cost optimal project scheduling has been handled mainly by different linear programming methods (e.g. Demeulemeester et al., 1998; Achuthan & Hardjawidjaja, 2001; Mohring et al., 2001; Vanhoucke et al., 2002;). In these studies, the nonlinear cost functions were approximated with piece-wise linear functions. The nonlinear programming methods have been also proposed to solve optimal project scheduling problems with continuous nonlinear cost functions. A survey of literature and nonlinear time/cost trade-off models in this field were presented by Deckro et al. (1995). However, in most of the published research works the cost optimal project scheduling was performed considering only the finish-to-start precedence relationships between project activities. This paper presents the cost optimal project scheduling performed by the nonlinear programming approach, NLP. The nonlinear total project cost objective function is subjected to the rigorous system of the activity precedence relationship constraints, the activity duration constraints and the project duration constraints. The set of activity precedence relationship constraints is defined to comprise Finish-to-Start, Start-to-Start, Start-to-Finish and Finish-to-Finish precedence relationships between activities. The activity duration constraints determine relationships between minimum, maximum and possible duration of the project activities. The project duration constraints define the maximum feasible project duration. A numerical example is presented at the end of the paper in order to present the applicability of the proposed approach. 2 NLP problem formulation The cost optimal project scheduling was performed by the nonlinear programming approach, NLP. The general NLP optimization problem may be formulated in the following form: Min z = f(x) subjected to: h(x) = 0 (NLP) g(x) £ 0 x e X = {x | x e Rn, xLO £ x £ xUP } 153 Research papers Number 4, July-August 2008 Organizacija, Volume 41 where x is a vector of the continuous variables, defined within the compact set X. Functions f(x), h(x) and g(x) are the (non)linear functions involved in the objective function z, the equality and inequality constraints, respectively. All the functions f(x), h(x) and g(x) must be continuous and differentiable. In the context of the project scheduling optimization problem, the continuous variables define schedule parameters such as activity durations, start times, direct costs, etc. Equality and inequality constraints and the bounds of the continuous variables represent a rigorous system of precedence relationship constraints, the activity duration constraints and the project duration constraints of the project scheduling optimization problem. 3 NLP model formulation Considering the general NLP formulation, the NLP model formulation for project scheduling optimization problem is more specific, particularly in terms of variables and constraints. This way, the proposed NLP model formulation consists of the objective function, the precedence relationship constraints, activity duration constraints and the project duration constraints. The optimal project scheduling may include various objectives worthy of consideration. The most frequently used objectives for the optimal project scheduling are: the minimum project completion time and the minimum total project cost. In this paper, the following total project cost objective function is defined for the optimal project scheduling: CT = £ Ct (.D,) + C0 + C1DP (1) iEl where objective variable CT represents the total project cost, set I comprises the project activities i, ieI, C(Di) denotes the activity direct cost-duration function, C0 is the initial project cost, C1 is the daily project cost and DP is the project duration. This way, the total project cost objective includes direct cost of all project activities, the initial project cost and the indirect daily expenditures. The total project cost objective function is subjected to the rigorous system of the activity precedence relationship constraints, the activity duration constraints and the project duration constraints. Each project activity i, ieI, is connected with its succeeding activities j, jeJ by fulfilling at least one of the following precedence relationship constraints: Finish-to-Start: St + D, + Lhj £ Sj (2) Start-to-Start: Si + Lhj £ Sj (3) Start-to-Finish: S, + Lj £ Sj + Dj (4) Finish-to-Finish: Si + D; + Lj £ Sj + Dj (5) where Si is the start time of activity, Di is the activity duration, L,j is the lag/lead time between activity i, ieI, and the succeeding activity j, jeJ. Duration of each activity defined within project network is constrained not to pass defined minimum and maximum possible activity duration: Di - Dmini £ 0 (6) Di - Dmaxi £ 0 (7) where Dmini and Dmaxi denote minimum and maximum possible duration of activity i, ieI. The project duration DP is determined as follows: DP = Sira + Dia - Sia (8) where Sia and Dia represent the start time and the duration of the last project activity iro, iroeI, and Sia denotes the start time of the first project activity ia, iaeI. Project must be completed before the predetermined date. This way, the project duration is constrained not to exceed a given maximum feasible project duration: Siro + Diro - Sia £ DPmax (9) where DPmax denotes the maximum feasible project duration. It should be noted that the start times of activities Si, the activity durations Di and the activity direct cost-duration functions C(D) are included into NLP model formulation as positive variables. 4 Modelling and solving the NLP optimization problem The developed NLP model formulation must be transformed into suitable modelling software. The spreadsheet-oriented optimizers, such as MS Excel Solver and What'sBest, are applicable tool for formulating small- and medium-sized models with reasonable number of parameters to be filled on a spreadsheet. On the other hand, the mathematical modelling languages, such as AMPL, GAMS, LINGO and MPL may be used for large, complex, one-of-a-kind optimization problems which may require many revisions to establish an accurate model. The modelling languages are especially applicable in cases where large number of functional constraints of the same type follow the same pattern. This way, the modelling language may simultaneously formulate all the constraints of the same type by simultaneously dealing with the variables of each type. Moreover, the modelling language hastens a number of model management tasks, such as accessing the 154 Organizacija, Volume 41 Research papers Number 4, July-August 2008 data, transforming the data into model parameters, modifying the model, and analyzing solutions from the model. After the optimization model formulation is transformed into modelling software, the defined optimization problem may be solved by the use of a suitable solver. A general NLP class of optimization problems can be solved by several commercially available NLP solvers, such as CONOPT, KNITRO, LANCELOT, MINOS, NPSOL, etc. 5 Numerical example In order to present the applicability of the proposed NLP approach, the paper presents an example of the cost optimal project scheduling. The considered example project consists of 14 non-splittable activities. The precedence relationships and the lag times between succeeding activities are presented in Table 1. The initial project cost of 5500,00 € and the daily project cost of 2000,00 € are defined in the input data. The minimum durations, the maximum durations and the direct cost-duration functions of example project activities are given in Table 2. Maximum project duration is set to be 17 working days. The objective of the optimization is to find a project schedule with optimal activity start times and durations so as to minimize total project cost, subjected to the activity precedence relationship constraints, the activity duration constraints and the project duration constraints. The proposed optimization NLP model formulation was applied. A high-level language GAMS (General Algebraic Modelling System) (Brooke et al., 1988) was used for modelling and for data inputs/outputs. CONOPT Table 1: Precedence relationships and the lag times between project activities Activity Succeeding activity Precedence relationship L 1 2 Finish-to-Start 0 2 3 Start-to-Start 2 4 Start-to-Start 2 3 5 Finish-to-Finish 3 4 6 Start-to-Finish 2 7 Finish-to-Finish 4 5 8 Finish-to-Start 0 6 9 Start-to-Start 1 7 13 Finish-to-Start 0 8 10 Finish-to-Finish 4 11 Finish-to-Finish 2 9 13 Finish-to-Start 2 10 12 Finish-to-Start 0 11 14 Finish-to-Start 0 12 14 Finish-to-Finish 1 13 14 Finish-to-Start 0 Table 2: Minimum duration, maximum duration and direct cost-duration functions of the project activities Activity Minimum duration (day) Maximum duration (day) Direct cost-duration function (€) 1 1 2 5500- 80Z>j - 40D2 2 1 3 4300-65D2-30D22 3 4 7 5300-75£>3 -35D32 4 1 4 3400-50£>4-25£>42 5 1 5 4400- 65DS -25D 2 6 2 6 4600-70D6 - 30D62 7 2 5 4400- 65D7 -25 D72 8 1 3 3100-40£>8-20D82 9 1 5 4400- 65D, - 25D,2 10 2 6 5100-75D10 - 30Dlo2 11 7 9 6700-100£>n-50 Dn2 12 1 2 2600-40D12-15 Dn2 13 4 8 6700-90£>13-40 Dj 14 2 5 3800-55D14-20 £>,/ D1 to D14 denote the durations of the project activities labelled 1 to 14 measured in days. 155 Organizacija, Volume 41 Research papers Number 4, July-August 2008 (Generalized reduced-gradient method) (Drud, 1994) was used for the optimization. Since the NLP denotes the continuous optimization technique, the optimization of the project schedule was performed in two successive steps. In the first step, the ordinary NLP optimization was performed to calculate the optimal continuous variables (e.g. start times, durations, etc.) inside their upper and lower bounds. In the second step, the calculation was repeated/checked for the fixed and rounded variables (from in the first stage obtained continuous values to their nearest upper discrete values). In this paper, a day was selected to be the discrete time unit for the example project schedule. The minimum total project obtained by the NLP optimization cost was found to be 88555,00 €. The gained opti- mal results include the optimal start times, durations and direct costs of the project activities. Table 3 summarizes the optimum results for the example project. The optimal project schedule is presented in Figure 1. The obtained cost optimal solution was determined by the activity precedence relationship constraints, the minimum activity duration constraints (activities 1, 3, 4, 8, 12 and 14, see Table 2 and Fig. 1.), the maximum activity duration constraints (activities 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, and 11, see Table 2 and Fig. 1.) and the project duration constraints. Since the calculated optimal duration of the 13th activity was equal to 7 days, the duration constraints on this activity were not decisive for the optimum solution in this case, see Table 2 and Fig. 1. Table 3: Optimal results Activity Start time (day) Duration (day) Direct cost (€) 1 1 1 5380,00 2 2 3 3835,00 3 4 4 4440,00 4 4 1 3325,00 5 6 5 3450,00 6 1 6 3100,00 7 4 5 3450,00 8 11 1 3040,00 9 2 5 3450,00 10 10 6 3570,00 11 5 9 1750,00 12 16 1 2545,00 13 9 7 4110,00 14 16 2 3610,00 Direct project cost (€): Indirect project cost (€): 49055,00 39500,00 Total project cost (€): 88555,00 Project scheduling with CPM and PERT methods considers only time dimension of the project activities. Accordingly, the minimization of the total project cost with traditionally used CPM and PERT methods must be performed in a time-consuming trial-and-error procedure of analysing different project schedule alternatives by varying the start times and the durations of the project activities. Moreover, doubt always exists as to whether or not the obtained project schedule is optimal. On the other hand, the presented example shows that the total cost optimization of the project schedule performed by the NLP approach is carried out in a single uniform calculating process, where the start times and durations of project activities are considered simultaneously in order to obtain the minimum total project cost. The obtained maximum values for durations of the project activities 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, and 11 demonstrate that the cost optimization of project schedules not necessarily minimize the project duration. In this way, the additional feature of the total project cost optimization represents the advantage of the proposed NLP approach to project scheduling over the traditionally used CPM and PERT methods. 6 Conclusion This paper presents the cost optimal project scheduling performed by the nonlinear programming approach, NLP. The nonlinear continuous total project cost objective function was subjected to the rigorous system of the activity precedence relationship constraints, the activity duration constraints and the project duration constraints. The set of activity precedence relationship constraints was defined to comprise Finish-to-Start, Start-to-Start, Start-to-Finish, and Finish-to-Finish precedence relationships between activities. The activity duration constraints were included to determine relationships between minimum, maximum and possible duration of the project activities. The project 156 Organizacija, Volume 41 Research papers Number 4, July-August 2008 Activities 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Working days Figure 1: Optimal project schedule duration constraints were defined to constrain the maximum feasible project duration. The NLP model formulation was developed and applied for the cost optimal project scheduling. The input data within proposed NLP optimization model include: the project network with determined preceding and succeeding activities, the precedence relationships and the lag/lead times between activities, the minimum and the maximum durations of the activities, the initial project cost, the daily project cost, and the direct cost-duration functions of the activities. Linear or nonlinear functions may be used for direct cost-duration relationships of the project activities. For specified input data, the proposed NLP optimization model yields the minimum total project cost. The gained optimal results also include the optimal start times, durations and direct costs of the project activities. On account of the additional feature of the total project cost optimization, the proposed NLP approach to the project scheduling surpasses traditionally used CPM and PERT methods. Furthermore, the contribution provided an alternative tool which enables the cost optimal project scheduling to be carried out fast and in a single uniform calculating process. Since the proposed optimization approach enables an insight into the interdependence between the project duration and the total project cost, the decision-maker can more effectively estimate the effect of the project deadline on a total project cost before the sub- mission of a tender. Finally, the project schedule can also be updated and compressed during the project execution in such a way to cause the minimum additional costs or to make maximum additional cost savings. 7 Literature Achuthan, N.R. & Hardjawidjaja, A. (2001). Project scheduling under time dependent costs - a branch and bound algorithm, Annals- of Operations- Research, 108: 55-74. Brooke, A., Kendrick, D. & Meeraus, A., (1988). GAMS - A Us-er's- Guide, Scientific Press, Redwood City. Deckro, R.F., Herbert, J.E., Verdini, W.A., Grimsrud, P.E. & Ven-kateshwar, S. (1995). Nonlinear time/cost trade-off models in project management, Computers- & Indus-trial Engineering, 28(2): 219-229. Demeulemeester, E., De Reyck, B., Foubert, B., Herroelen, W. & Vanhoucke, M., (1998). New computational results on the discrete time/cost trade-off problem in project networks, Journal of the Operational Res-earch Society, 49(11): 1153-1163. Drud, A.S. (1994). CONOPT - A Large-Scale GRG Code, ORSA Journal on Computing, 6(2): 207-216. Mohring, R.H., Schulz, A.S., Stork, F. & Uetz, M. (2001). On project scheduling with irregular starting time costs, Operations-Res-earch Letters-, 28(4): 149-154. 157 Organizacija, Volume 41 Research papers Number 4, July-August 2008 Psunder, M. & Rebolj, D. (1991). Prozesssynchrone kosten-und terminplanung von baupojekten, Wirtschaftsingenieur, 23(3): 22-25. Vanhoucke, M., Demeulemeester, E., Herroelen & W. (2002). Discrete time/cost trade-offs in project scheduling with time-switch constraints, Journal of the Operational Research Society, 53(7): 741-751. Sources AMPL. Available from: http://www.ampl.com/ (6.5.2008). CONOPT. Available from: http://www.conopt.com/ (6.5.2008). GAMS. Available from: http://www.gams.com/ (6.5.2008). KNITRO. Available from: http://www.ziena.com/ (6.5.2008). LANCELOT. Available from: http://www.numerical.rl.ac.uk/lan- celot/blurb.html (6.5.2008). LINGO. Available from: http://lindo.com/products/lingo/lingom. html (6.5.2008). MINOS. Available from: http://www.sbsi-sol-optimize.com/asp/ sol_product_minos.htm (6.5.2008). MPL. Available from: http://www.maximal-usa.com/mpl/ (6.5.2008). MS Excel Sover. Available from: http://office.microsoft.com/ en-us/excel/HP051983681033.aspx?pid=CH010004571033 (6.5.2008). NPSOL. Available from: http://www.sbsi-sol-optimize.com/asp/ sol_product_npsol.htm (6.5.2008). What'sBest. Available from: http://lindo.com/products/wb/wbm. html (6.5.2008). Appendix Notations Ci activity direct cost (variable) CT total project cost (objective variable) C0 initial project cost (constant) C1 daily project cost (constant) Di activity duration (variable) Dmaxi maximum duration of activity (constant) Dmini minimum duration of activity (constant) DP project duration (variable) DPmax maximum project duration (constant) I set of project activities J set of succeeding project activities bi lag/lead time between the preceding and the succeeding activity (constant) Rn n-dimensional space of real numbers Si start time of activity (variable) X compact set x vector of continuous variables z objective function Subscripts i project activity (index) j succeeding project activity (index) Superscripts LO lower bound UP upper bound Uros Klansek is Assistant Professor of the Construction Management at the University of Maribor, Faculty of Civil Engineering. His current research interest is mainly focused on the optimization methods and their applications in engineering. He has presented his research work at several national and international conferences. He is also a co-author of several scientific papers published in national and international journals. Mirko Psunder is Professor of the Construction Management and Construction Economics and the Chair of Operational Civil Engineering at the University of Maribor, Faculty of Civil Engineering. His current professional and research interest is primarily in construction management and economics. He has introduced his research work at several national and international conferences. He is also author or co-author of several textbooks and research papers published in national and international journals. Stroškovno optimalno planiranje projektov V članku je predstavljeno stroškovno optimalno planiranje projektov. Optimiranje je izvedeno s pristopom nelinearnega programiranja, NLP. Nelinearna namenska funkcija celotnih stroškov projekta je podvržena rigoroznemu sistemu pogojnih neenačb časovnih odvisnosti med aktivnostmi, trajanja aktivnosti in trajanja projekta. Množica pogojnih neenačb časovnih odvisnosti med aktivnostmi vključuje časovne povezave konec-začetek, začetek-začetek, začetek-konec in konec-konec. Pogojne nee-načbe trajanja aktivnosti določajo odnose med minimalnim, maksimalnim in možnim časom trajanja projektnih aktivnosti. Pogojne (ne)enačbe trajanja projekta omejijo maksimalni možni čas trajanja projekta. Za predstavitev uporabnosti predlaganega pristopa je na koncu članka prikazan računski primer. Ključne besede: projektni management, planiranje, optimizacija, nelinearno programiranje, NLP 158 Organizacija, letnik 41 Razprave številka 4, julij-avgust 2008 Analiza vpliva dejavnikov izbire metod spreminjanja na evolucijsko spreminjanje gradbenih podjetij v Sloveniji Peter Friedl1, Roberto Biloslavo2 1GRADIS skupina G, d.d. Ljubljana, Šmartinska 134 a, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija; peter.friedl@gradis-skupinag.si 2Univerza na Primorskem, Fakulteta za management Koper, Cankarjeva 5, 6000 Koper, Slovenija; roberto.biloslavo@fm-kp.si Temeljni namen raziskave je proučiti vpliv dejavnikov izbire metod spreminjanja na uspešnost evolucijskega načina spreminjanja podjetij v slovenski gradbeni panogi. Pri zasnovi in izvedbi empirične raziskave smo uporabili kombinacijo kvalitativnega in kvantitativnega pristopa k raziskovalnemu delu. Ugotovitve raziskave o značilnostih uporabe proučevanih dejavnikov izbire metod evolucijskega načina spreminjanja bodo managementu omogočile učinkovitejšo izbiro izmed množice razpoložljivih metod spreminjanja ter uspešnejšo uporabo le-teh. Posledično lahko pričakujemo, da se bo izboljšala poslovna uspešnost podjetij, kar bo omogočilo njihovo bolj enakovredno soočenje s tujimi konkurenti, ki je za poslovne subjekte gospodarstva v post-tranziciji ključnega pomena. Ključne besede: management spreminjanja organizacij, strateški management, Slovenija, gradbena panoga, dejavniki izbire metod spreminjanja. 1 Uvod Spreminjanje podjetja lahko izhaja iz spontanih, intuitivnih managerskih ukrepov, kar je mogoče v enostavnih in preglednih podjetjih ter stabilnih zunanjih okoljih (Češno-var, 2003, str. 1). V kompleksnejših zunanjih in notranjih okoljih podjetja pa je primernejši zavesten, načrtovan in formaliziran proces spreminjanja, ki temelji na predpisanih pravilih spreminjanja procesov, struktur in sistemov, kar lahko poimenujemo tudi metoda ali "pristop k spreminjanju" (Strebel, 1992; Champy, 1996; Nohria, 1996; Mintzberg, 1996; Grint, 1997; Rigby, 2001; Drucker, 1995). Svetovna literatura navaja tudi do 65 različnih pristopov k spreminjanju (Rigby, 2001, str. 1-3). Ob tem je velik pritisk na nastajanje novih pristopov, saj naj bi po Grintu (1997, str. 33) v zadnjih štiridesetih letih vsako leto nastal vsaj en nov pristop k spreminjanju. Po raziskavah svetovalne hiše Bain & Company (Rigby, 2001, str. 3-11), ki je leta 2000 zajela 451 svetovnih podjetij v Severni in Južni Ameriki, Evropi in Aziji, so proučevana podjetja uporabljala povprečno 10 različnih metod spreminjanja. Iz literature (Nohria, 1996; Rigby, 2001) s področja managementa spreminjanja podjetij pa je razvidno, da na izbor optimalne metode vplivajo številni in različni dejavniki, povezani z zunanjim in notranjim okoljem podjetja. Zal je malo metodološko primerno podprtih znanstvenih raziskav, ki bi vršnem managementu svetovale, katera metoda je v danih okoliščinah najprimernejša, kakšni so lahko pozitivni in negativni učinki posamezne metode, katere metode se dopolnjujejo in katere izključujejo, katera so potrebna izhodiščna znanja ter nenazadnje, kakšna je primernost posamezne metode v odvisnosti od obstoječe kulture in interesnih koalicij v notranjem in zunanjem okolju podjetja (Češnovar, 2003, str. 1; Rosenzweig, 2007). Pravilen izbor metode spreminjanja omogoča izboljšanje značilnosti podjetja in posledično večjo poslovno uspešnost, medtem ko napačni izbor metode lahko povzroči prekomerno porabo sredstev podjetja, zmanjšanje finančne uspešnosti poslovanja, poslabšanje delovne klime in v skrajnem primeru tudi propad podjetja. Po Mintzbergu (1996, str. 67) je management v vedno hitreje spreminjajočem se okolju dovzeten za najnovejša spoznanja iz teorije managementa in izbira tiste metode spreminjanja, ki mu ponujajo hitre in enostavne rešitve problemov. Kar 72 % anketiranih vršnih managerjev v raziskavi svetovalne hiše Bain & Company (Rigby, 2001, str. 3-11) meni, da je za poslovni uspeh treba uporabljati le najnovejše metode spreminjanja. V isti raziskavi kar 81 % managerjev trdi, da pristopi obljubljajo precej več, kot je dejanski učinek njihove uporabe (Rigby, 2001a). Poplava številnih metod spreminjanja, ki jih različni guruji managementa, svetovalne hiše in prodajalci informacijske tehnologije zaradi povečevanja svojega zaslužka priporočajo za rešitev skoraj vseh problemov podjetja, pa pri vršnem A 181 Organizacija, letnik 41 Razprave številka 4, julij-avgust 2008 managementu še dodatno vzbujajo nerealna pričakovanja (Češnovar, 2003, str. 2). Za vršni management je torej nadvse pomembno, da pozna temeljne zakonitosti uporabe metod spreminjanja, kar mu omogoča ločitev uporabnih metod za svoje podjetje od modnih muh, s čimer se lažje izogne uporabi neustreznih metod. Tezo potrjujejo ugotovitve raziskave Harvard Business School (Nohria, 1996, str. 216-217; Rigby, 2001) o uporabi pristopov k spreminjanju med 100 ameriškimi podjetji, kjer je bilo z doseženimi učinki nezadovoljnih kar 75 % anketiranih. 2 Management spreminjanja: primer gradbene panoge v Sloveniji Raziskovalni problem, ki ga obravnavamo v članku, je proučiti vpliv dejavnikov izbire metod spreminjanja na uspešnost evolucijskega načina spreminjanja organizacij. Temeljite spremembe zunanjega okolja, s katerimi so se soočila slovenska gradbena podjetja po letu 1991 (izguba nekdanjih jugoslovanskih trgov, soočenje z novimi investitorji na drugih trgih, spremenjene zahteve kupcev doma, vstop globalnih konkurentov na slovenski trg, prilagajanje poslovanja zahtevam EU, itd.), so podjetjem narekovale notranje prilagajanje v smislu tržne konkurenčnosti. Ker je bilo prilagajanje novim pogojem poslovanja v slovenskih podjetjih zaradi različnih vzrokov prepočasno in premalo intenzivno, je več podjetij na področju gradbeništva zašlo v težave, ki se kažejo kot občasne motnje v tekočem poslovanju ali celo v stečajih. Čeprav je od slovenske osamosvojitve minilo že več kot poldrugo desetletje, delež gradbenih podjetij v stečajnem postopku in podjetij, ki so v zaključnem računu izkazala izgubo, še vedno narašča. Povprečna zamuda pri plačevanju računov v podjetjih se ni izboljšala in je še vedno na ravni od 25 do 30 dni, delež zamujenih računov pa ostaja med 50 in 60 odstotki. Po povprečnem dnevnem znesku neporavnanih obveznosti (Ramovš et al., 2006, str. 19) se gradbeništvo med vsemi dejavnostmi nahaja na četrtem mestu, za predelovalnimi dejavnostmi, v katerih se nahaja tudi industrija gradbenega materiala. Vse navedeno nakazuje, da v slovenskem gradbeništvu obstaja velika verjetnost ene od oblik podjetniških kriz. Dolgoročno pozitivno poslovanje je mogoče uspešno rešiti in zagotoviti le v četrtini primerov, ko je kriza v podjetju že nastopila (Slatter, 1984, str. 19). Zato je smiselno krize preprečiti, še preden postanejo neobvladljive, k čemur lahko izdatno pripomore uporaba ustreznih metod spreminjanja podjetij. Podjetje se na spremembe okolja lahko odziva z (Ansoff, 1990, str. 327) evolucijskim prilagajanjem, ki vključuje prilagajanje podjetja spremembam v okolju, ali revolucijskim spreminjanjem usmeritev, ki terja velike in korenite spremembe dosedanjih usmeritev in načina dela (inovacijska in podjetniška odzivnost). Strebel (1992, str. 111-112) deli metode spreminjanja podjetij na manj tvegane - evolucijske, ker so odpori proti spremembam majhni, in bolj tvegane - revolucijske, kjer lahko pričakujemo večje odpore. Podobno so po Buchananu (1997, str. 466) evolucijski načini spreminjanja primerni, ko so potrebne majhne spremembe v podjetju, ko je na voljo še dovolj časa za prilagoditev spremembam in ko so jim ključni udeleženci še naklonjeni. Ker je bilo v tranzicijskem obdobju za slovensko gradbeno panogo značilno, da je prevladovala prenizka produktivnost in premajhna ustvarjena bruto dodana vrednost, slaba kvalifikacijska struktura zaposlenih, nepoznavanje tujih trgov, doseganje srednjih cenovnih razredov ter neustrezno zagotavljanje kakovosti vhodnih materialov, smo za proučevanje evolucijskega načina spreminjanja v gradbeni panogi (predvsem dejavnikov in metod evolucijskega načina spreminjanja organizacij) izbrali desetletno časovno obdobje od 1995 do 2005. 3 Namen in cilj raziskave Temeljni namen je s kombinacijo kvantitativne in kvalitativne raziskave proučiti vpliv dejavnikov (zaposleni, posredni ekonomski interesi, skladnost s strateškimi usmeritvami podjetja, neposredni ekonomski interesi, socialnoekonomski in politični interesi, težnje k načrtovani realizaciji, vršni management, popularnost metod spreminjanja, razpoložljivi parametri za uvedbo sprememb) izbire metod spreminjanja na uspešnost evolucijskega načina spreminjanja podjetij v slovenski gradbeni panogi, s ciljem vršnemu managementu zagotoviti informacije, ki jih potrebuje za optimalen izbor in uspešno uvedbo metod spreminj anja v podj etju. Veliko dejavnikov, ki vplivajo na uspešnost izvedbe načrtovanih sprememb, otežuje njihovo delovanje, zato je spreminjanje podjetja kompleksno in tvegano. Nabor dejavnikov izbire metod spreminjanja, ki ga bomo za potrebe raziskave razdelili v smiselne skupine, pomembno vpliva na izbor načina spreminjanja podjetja in uvajanja sprememb. Iz opredeljenega raziskovalnega problema je glavni cilj raziskave ugotoviti, ali je uporaba večjega nabora dejavnikov izbire metod spreminjanja pogojena z velikostjo podjetja in kako dejavniki izbire vplivajo na končni izbor metode spreminjanja. 4 Hipoteze Iz predstavljenega temeljnega problema proučevanja ter dosegljivih relevantnih teoretičnih in empiričnih ugotovitev smo za dosego ciljev kvantitativne raziskave oblikovali naslednje temeljne znanstvene hipoteze raziskave, in sicer: ■ Hipoteza 1: velikost podjetja vpliva na dejavnike izbire metod spreminjanja podjetja. ■ Hipoteza 2: velikost podjetja vpliva na število uporabljenih metod evolucijskega načina spreminjanja. ■ Hipoteza 3: dejavniki izbire metod spreminjanja vplivajo na izbiro posamezne metode. 5 Metodologija Za prepoznavanje vseh relevantnih dejavnikov izbire metod spreminjanja ter pridobivanje primarnih virov smo A182 Organizacija, letnik 41 Razprave številka 4, julij-avgust 2GGB v raziskavo vključilipolstrukturiran intervju z vzorcem štirih vršnih managerjev. Interpretacija podatkov, pridobljenih s pomočjo intervjujev (ugotavljanje problemskega stanja v panogi in podjetjih, zbiranje potrebnih nenapisanih podatkov itd.) bo osnova za oblikovanje anketnega vprašalnika, namenjenega osrednji kvantitativni raziskavi. Z vidika triangulacije je veljavnost predhodne kvalitativne raziskave zagotovljena z respondenti iz štirih različnih gradbenih podjetij. Kriteriji za izbiro vzorca so bili velikost proučevane populacije v raziskavi (22,5 % majhnih, 4G % srednjih in 37,5 % velikih podjetij) kot tudi dosežen ugled blagovne znamke podjetja v gradbeni panogi (Priznanje Republike Slovenije za poslovno odličnost, 2GG3), njegova finančna uspešnost ter doseženi certifikati serije SIST ISO 9GG1:2GGG (kakovost poslovanja) in SIST EN 14001:1997 (ravnanje z okoljem). Mere enakovrednosti (angl. Equivalence Reliability) kvantitativne raziskave smo zagotovili z metodo notranje konsistentnosti (angl. Internal Consistency Method). Napo-vedno veljavnost (angl. Predictive Validity) smo povečali oziroma zagotovili s predhodno opravljenimi polstrukturi-ranimi intervjuji. Anketni vprašalnik je vseboval dva sklopa zaprtih vprašanj s področja vplivov proučevanih metod spreminjanja na poslovanje podjetja. S pomočjo vprašalnika smo ugotavljali intenzivnost uporabe metod evolucijskega spreminjanja podjetij v slovenski gradbeni panogi in merili pogostost pojavljanja dejavnikov, ki vplivajo na izbiro posamezne metode spreminjanja v podjetju. S prvim sklopom vprašanj smo ugotavljali, ali je bila v obdobju 1995-2005 določena proučevana metoda spreminjanja oziroma njeni posamezni elementi uporabljena v podjetjih slovenske gradbene panoge. Struktura prvega sklopa je temeljila na ključnih karakteristikah posamezne evolucijske metode spreminjanja. Za preverjanje hipoteze 2 je bilo v anketnem vprašalniku uporabljeno prvo vprašanje v obliki dihotomne lestvice z dvema možnima odgovoroma (da, ne) za vsako proučevano metodo spreminjanja podjetij. Vprašanje je bilo sledeče: Katero izmed naslednjih metod spreminjanja podjetja ste uporabili v obdobju 1995-2005? Anketirancem so bile na razpolago naslednje metode: 1. Skrajševanje pretočnih časov. 2. Strateško načrtovanje. 3. Celovito ravnanje s kakovostjo (angl. Total Quality Management). 4. Snovanje vizije in poslanstva. 5. Zunanje izvajanje (angl. Outsorcing). ó. Primerjalno presojanje (angl. Benchmarking). 7. Vertikalna integracija. B. Oblikovanje ključnih konkurenčnih sposobnosti. 9. Merjenje nivoja zadovoljstva naročnikov. 10. Strategija rasti. 11. Reinženiring (angl. Business Process Reengineering). 12. Optimiranje stroškov po aktivnostih poslovnega procesa (ABC metoda). 13. Upravljanje odnosov s strankami (angl. Customer Relationship Management). 14. Upravljanje z znanjem (angl. Knowledge Management). 15. Strateško zavezništvo. 16. Sistem uravnoteženih kazalnikov (angl. Balance Sco-recard). Glavni namen drugega sklopa vprašanj je bil ugotoviti vzroke v notranjem in zunanjem okolju podjetja, ki so pomembno vplivali na izbor proučevanih metod spreminjanja. Strukturo tega sklopa smo zasnovali na osnovi izhodišč za diagnozo stanja v podjetjih pred spreminjanjem, opredeljenih konceptov odzivanja podjetja na spremembe okolja, vpliva kulture podjetja na njegovo spreminjanje ter zasnovanih meril izbiranja in uvajanja metod spreminjanja. Podatke za preverjanje hipotez 1 in 3 smo pridobili s pomočjo drugega vprašanja v anketnem vprašalniku: V kolikšni meri so na izbiro metode spreminjanja v Vašem podjetju vplivali naslednji dejavniki? Vprašalnik je ponudil naslednje možne dejavnike: 1. Intenzivnost sprememb v okolju. 2. Razpoložljiv čas za odziv podjetja na vplive okolja. 3. Nedoseganje postavljenih ciljev podjetja. 4. Razpoložljiva sredstva podjetja (finančna, človeška, materialna). 5. Znanje zaposlenih. 6. Pričakovani odpori k spremembam. 7. Skladnost s cilji podjetja. 8. Skladnost s strategijami, ki jih podjetje že izvaja. 9. Skladnost z metodami spreminjanja, ki jih podjetje že uporablja. 10. Kultura podjetja: vrednote, navade, običaji, vedenje, norme zaposlenih. 11. Kultura družbenega okolja: odnos do sprememb, pravica do dela, sprejemanje tveganja. 12. Interesi zaposlenih. 13. Interesi vršnega managementa. 14. Interesi sindikatov. 15. Interesi kupcev. 16. Interesi dobaviteljev. 17. Interesi lastnikov. 18. Interesi bank upnic. 19. Interesi države. 20. Interesi širše družbe. 21. Potreben čas za uvedbo spremembe v podjetju. 22. Potrebna sredstva za uvedbo spremembe v podjetju. 23. Spremembe v vršnem managementu podjetja. 24. Spremembe v odnosih moči znotraj poslovno-funkcij-skih enot podjetja. 25. Poznavanje metode spreminjanja s strani vršnega managementa podjetja. 26. Predhodne izkušnje vršnega managementa z uvajanjem sprememb. 27. Popularnost metode spreminjanja v podjetju. 28. Popularnost metode spreminjanja v panogi. 29. Priporočila strokovne javnosti. 30. Pričakovane koristi od uporabe metode spreminjanja za podjetje. V smislu jasnosti in razumljivosti vprašanj oziroma morebitnih podvajanj smo anketni vprašalnik pred pričet-kom raziskave pilotsko testirali s pomočjo kontrolne sku- A 1B3 Organizacija, letnik 41 Razprave številka 4, julij-avgust 2008 pine, ki jo je sestavljalo šest vršnih managerjev, vključenih v raziskavo. 5.1 Vzorčni okvir V registru Gospodarske zbornice Slovenije (2006) je bilo po kriteriju števila zaposlenih v gradbeništvu na dan 1. januarja 2005 (Ramovš et al., 2006, str. 46) po standardni klasifikaciji dejavnosti (SKD) iz panog 45.210 - Splošna gradbena dela in 45.230 - Gradnja cest, železniških prog, letališč in športnih objektov vpisano 85 podjetij z več kot 50 zaposlenimi. Od teh podjetij jih je imelo 5 oznako "v stečaju", zaradi česar so bila iz raziskave izločena. To pomeni, da je v raziskavo vključenih 80 podjetij, kar obenem predstavlja velikost proučevane populacije. Na osnovi povprečnega števila delavcev, čistega prihodka od prodaje ter velikosti aktive ob koncu poslovnega leta kriterij 55. člena Zakona o gospodarskih družbah (ZGD-1) razvršča gospodarske družbe na mikro, majhne, srednje in velike (Državni zbor Republike Slovenije, 2006, str. 4405). Upoštevaje kriterije 55. člena ZGD-1 sestavlja proučevano populacijo v raziskavi 18 majhnih1 (22,5 %), 32 srednje velikih (40,0 %) in 30 velikih podjetij (37,5 %). 5.2 Omejitve raziskave Za potrebe raziskovalnega dela smo izbrali gradbena podjetja z več kot 50 zaposlenimi, ki zagotavljajo enakomerno zastopanost gospodarskih družb po kriteriju velikosti 55. člena ZGD-1. Pri razlagi ugotovitev empirične raziskave je treba upoštevati, da je izvedena v panogi, ki se v proučevanem obdobju nahaja v krizi (Ramovš et al., 2006) in se uvršča med najmanj rentabilne panoge slovenskega gospodarstva nasploh. Zaradi omejitev raziskave na proučevanje uspešnosti evolucijskega načina spreminjanja podjetij, desetletno časovno obdobje ter slovensko gradbeno panogo, rezultatov ne gre interpretirati kot splošne zakonitosti uporabe metod spreminjanja. 5.3 Izvedba raziskave Med potekom anketiranja se je izkazalo, da je eno majhno podjetje šlo v likvidacijo (2005) in eno majhno v stečaj (2006), kar je pomenilo dve neustrezni enoti. Štiri podjetja so sodelovanje v raziskavi odklonila. V kvantitativni raziskavi je tako sodelovalo 78 gradbenih podjetij. Prejetih je bilo 74 veljavnih odgovorov oziroma dosežena 94,87 % odzivnost. Pri pregledu strukture realiziranega vzorca po velikosti gradbenih podjetij lahko ugotovimo, da je v raziskavi sodelovalo 15 majhnih podjetij (83,33 % odzivnost), 30 srednje velikih (93,75 % odzivnost) in 29 velikih podjetij (96,66 % odzivnost), kar pomeni, da je bila največja odzivnost dosežena med velikimi podjetji. 6 Ugotovitve raziskave 6.1 Metode evolucijskega načina spreminjanja Anketirana podjetja so v preučevanem obdobju (19952005) v povprečju uporabila nekaj manj kot 9 metod evolucijskega načina spreminjanja, kar predstavlja nekaj več kot polovico (54,90 %) vseh šestnajstih proučevanih metod v raziskavi. Rezultat se bistveno ne razlikuje glede na velikost podjetja, saj so velika in majhna podjetja uporabila v povprečju približno 9 metod, srednja pa nekaj več kot 8. V nadaljevanju so predstavljeni rezultati za vsako metodo spreminjanja posebej glede na velikost podjetja po kriteriju 55. člena ZGD-1. Največkrat uporabljena metoda spreminjanja je formalizirano strateško načrtovanje, ki jo je uporabilo 77,00 % vseh podjetij v raziskavi. Med velikimi podjetji je to metodo skupaj s snovanjem vizije in poslanstva uporabilo 86,20 % podjetij, med majhnimi pa štiri petine. Za slednje velja, da jih je enak delež uporabilo metodo optimiranje stroškov po aktivnostih poslovnega procesa ter metodo oblikovanje ključnih konkurenčnih sposobnosti. Za srednja podjetja to ni največkrat uporabljena metoda, saj jo je poleg snovanja vizije in poslanstva ter oblikovanja ključnih konkurenčnih sposobnosti uporabilo 66,70 % podjetij, za razliko od metode optimiranje stroškov po aktivnostih poslovnega procesa, ki jo je uporabilo 76,70 % podjetij. Omenimo naj še, da sta najmanjkrat uporabljeni metodi sistem uravnoteženjih kazalnikov in primerjalno presojanje, ki ju je uporabilo manj kot tretjina slovenskih gradbenih podjetij v raziskavi. 6.2 Dejavniki izbire metod spreminjanja Anketiranci so s pomočjo Likertove petstopenjske lestvice od 1 (popolnoma nepomembno) do 5 (zelo pomembno) ocenjevali pomembnost tridesetih dejavnikov, ki vplivajo na izbor metod evolucijskega spreminjanja gradbenih podjetij. Dejavniki so bili oblikovani na podlagi interpretacije podatkov, pridobljenih s pomočjo predhodno izvedenih polstrukturiranih intervjujev in kontrolne skupine šestih vršnih managerjev. 1 ZGD-1 navaja: majhna družba je družba, ki ni mikro družba in izpolnjuje vsaj dve od naslednjih meril: povprečno število delavcev v poslovnem letu ne presega 50, čisti prihodki od prodaje ne presegajo 7.300.000 EUR in vrednost aktive ne presega 3.650.000 EUR. Ker je 18 proučevanih podjetij od treh možnih meril izpolnilo obe drugi dve zakonsko opredeljeni merili: višino čistih prihodkov od prodaje ter vrednost aktive, so si v skladu z ZGD-1 pridobila status majhnih družb. Po drugi strani so ta podjetja presegla povprečno število delavcev 50, zato so bila avtomatično uvrščena v proučevano populacijo raziskave. Članek torej obravnava tudi majhna podjetja, ne le srednja in velika. A184 Organizacija, letnik 41 Razprave številka 4, julij-avgust 2008 V nadaljevanju so predstavljene povprečne vrednosti glede na velikost podjetij skladno s kriterijem 55. člena ZGD-1. Gradbena podjetja so dejavnike na splošno ocenila kot srednje pomembne - skupna povprečna ocena namreč znaša 3,32. Kljub temu je pomembnost dejavnikov ocenjena precej različno: interesi države so najmanj pomembni (2,31), najbolj pa interesi lastnikov (4,23), za katere velja, da njihova pomembnost narašča z velikostjo podjetja. Za srednja podjetja so poleg interesov lastnikov (4,20) najpomembnejši interesi vršnega managementa (4,27). Pri majhnih podjetjih po pomembnosti izstopa predvsem znanje zaposlenih (4,13), pomembni pa so še interesi lastnikov (3,87), razpoložljiva sredstva podjetja (3,73) ter kultura podjetja (3,67). V splošnem velja trditev, da pri izbiri metod spreminjanja tovrstne dejavnike najmanj upoštevajo majhna podjetja. Zaradi premajhnega števila enot, zbranih v vzorcu, statistična metoda analiza glavnih komponent (angl. Component Analysis) ni bila izvedljiva za sklop vseh tridesetih dejavnikov izbire metod spreminjanja skupaj, zato smo jih po vsebinskem ključu trditev razdelili na dve skupini. V nadaljevanju smo analizo glavnih komponent izvedli za vsako skupino posebej. Iz prve skupine se je izoblikovalo po šest, iz druge skupine pa po tri dimenzije, kar pomeni, da smo skupaj izoblikovali devet dimenzij dejavnikov izbire metod evolucijskega spreminjanja (glej tabelo 1). Vrednosti Cronbachovih koeficientov so sprejemljive (nad 0,60), razen pri dveh dimenzijah, sestavljenih zgolj iz po dveh trditev. Omenjenih dimenzij zaradi vsebinskih razlogov ne moremo združiti s katero od preostalih dimenzij. Najpomembnejšo vlogo (glej tabelo 2) pri izbiri najustreznejše metode igrajo neposredni ekonomski interesi Tabela 1: Mere enakovrednosti z metodo notranje konsistentnosti Dimenzije dejavnikov izbire metod spreminjanja gradbenih podjetij Cronbachov koeficient konsistentnosti lestvice (a)2 Število trditev Zaposleni 0,675 5 Posredni ekonomski interesi 0,696 4 Skladnost s strateškimi usmeritvami podjetja 0,732 3 Neposredni ekonomski interesi 0,678 4 Socialnoekonomski in politični interesi 0,559 2 Težnje k načrtovani realizaciji 0,755 2 Vršni management 0,757 5 Popularnost metod spreminjanja 0,671 3 Razpoložljivi parametri za uvedbo sprememb 0,514 2 Tabela 2: Povprečne vrednosti dimenzij dejavnikov izbire metod spreminjanja Dimenzije dejavnikov izbire metod spreminjanja gradbenih podjetij Velikost podjetij po ZGD-1 Skupaj Velika Srednja Majhna Zaposleni 3,2760 3,4270 3,3730 3,3570 Posredni ekonomski interesi 2,9655 3,1583 2,9667 3,0439 Skladnost s strateškimi usmeritvami podjetja 3,7356 3,4778 3,3778 3,5586 Neposredni ekonomski interesi 4,0345 3,9000 3,5333 3,8784 Socialnoekonomski in politični interesi 2,5517 2,3000 2,1000 2,3581 Težnje k načrtovani realizaciji 3,6207 3,6500 3,5667 3,6216 Vršni management 3,6138 3,5333 3,2133 3,5000 Popularnost metod spreminjanja 2,6667 2,8222 2,5556 2,7072 Razpoložljivi parametri za uvedbo sprememb 3,2414 3,5167 3,4333 3,3919 2 Kakovost merjenja v raziskavi smo ocenili s pomočjo kriterijev za ocenjevanje kakovosti merjenja (Ferligoj et al., 1995, str. 159) oziroma Cronbachovega koeficienta zanesljivosti a (vzorna kakovost: a > 0.80; zmerna kakovost: 0.60 < a < 0.80; slaba kakovost: a < 0.60 ali ni pod-atkov). A 185 Organizacija, letnik 41 Razprave številka 4, julij-avgust 2008 (3,88). Njihova pomembnost narašča z velikostjo podjetja. Naslednja po vrsti najpomembnejša je dimenzija, ki se nanaša na težnje k načrtovani realizaciji (3,62). Vse tri kategorije podjetij jo ocenjujejo zelo podobno. Sledita dimenziji skladnost s strateškimi usmeritvami podjetja (3,56) ter vršni management (3,50) - njuna pomembnost narašča z velikostjo podjetja. Pomembni sta še dimenziji razpoložljivi parametri za uvedbo sprememb in zaposleni, ocenjeni nad srednjo vrednostjo 3 (srednje pomembno). Dimenziji socialnoekonomski in politični interesi (2,36) ter popularnost metod spreminjanja (2,71) sta manj pomembni. 6.3 Vrednotenje rezultatov 6.3.1 Hipoteza 1 Hipotezo smo preverili s pomočjo analize variance, s katero primerjamo povprečne vrednosti pomembnosti dimenzij posameznih dejavnikov izbire metod spreminjanja glede na kriterij velikosti podjetja po 55. členu ZGD-1. Za uporabo te metode je treba upoštevati predpostavko enakosti varianc, kar pomeni, da Levenov F-preizkus homogenosti varianc (angl. Levene's Test for Equality of Variances) ne sme biti statistično značilen. Tabela 3: Analiza variance dejavnikov izbire metod spreminjanja podjetij glede na kriterij velikosti podjetja po 55. členu ZGD-1 Dimenzije dejavnikov izbire metod spreminjanja gradbenih podjetij df Povprečje kvadratov F3-preiz-kus a Zaposleni 2 0,170 0,442 0,645 Posredni ekonomski interesi 2 0,330 0,568 0,569 Skladnost s strateškimi usmeritvami podjetja 2 0,798 1,393 0,255 Neposredni ekonomski interesi 2 1,253 2,587 0,082 Socialnoekonomski in politični interesi 2 1,094 1,212 0,304 Težnje k načrtovani realizaciji 2 0,035 0,038 0,963 Vršni management 2 0,821 1,765 0,179 Popularnost metod spreminjanja 2 0,395 0,736 0,483 Razpoložljivi parametri za uvedbo sprememb 2 0,595 0,996 0,374 Tabela 4: Analiza variance dejavnikov glede na kriterij števila zaposlenih v podjetju Dimenzije dejavnikov izbire metod spreminjanja gradbenih podjetij df Povprečje kvadratov F-preiz-kus a Zaposleni 2 0,064 0,166 0,848 Posredni ekonomski interesi 2 0,739 1,297 0,280 Skladnost s strateškimi usmeritvami podjetja 2 0,564 0,973 0,383 Neposredni ekonomski interesi 2 0,393 0,772 0,466 Socialnoekonomski in politični interesi 2 3,467 4,149 0,020 Težnje k načrtovani realizaciji 2 0,180 0,197 0,822 Vršni management 2 0,796 1,710 0,188 Popularnost metod spreminjanja 2 0,224 0,414 0,663 Razpoložljivi parametri za uvedbo sprememb 2 0,524 0,906 0,409 3 Predpostavko o enakosti (homogenosti) varianc preizkušamo z Levenovim F-preizkusom. Izvedemo ga v dveh korakih, in sicer: (1) v vseh skupinah izračunamo vrednosti nove spremenljivke V, ki so enake absolutnim vrednostim odklonov vrednosti spremenljivke Y od ocene pripadajoče aritmetične sredine skupine; (2) izvedemo postopek analize variance: na podlagi vrednosti nove spremenljivke V izračunamo vrednost Levenovega preizkusa FL kot razmerja med oceno variance med skupinami in oceno variance znotraj skupin (Košmelj in Rovan, 2000). A186 Organizacija, letnik 41 Razprave številka 4, julij-avgust 2008 V kolikor ta predpostavka ne velja, je treba uporabiti neparametričen Tamhanov Post Hoc test (angl. Tamhane's T2 test). Izkazalo se je, da se povprečne vrednosti pomembnosti dimenzij dejavnikov statistično značilno ne razlikujejo glede na velikost podjetja (glej tabelo 3). Z velikostjo podjetja pomembnost dimenzije socialnoekonomski in politični interesi narašča (majhna 2,10; srednja 2,30; velika 2,55). Z vsebinskega vidika to pomeni, da imajo večja podjetja močnejše in bolje organizirane sindikate, a tudi večje davčne obveznosti. S političnim vplivom je država še vedno večinska lastnica kapitala v večjih podjetjih, v nasprotju z majhnimi in srednjimi podjetji, ki so že lastninjena. Na osnovi rezultatov hipoteze 1 ne moremo potrditi, prav tako ne v katerem koli njenem delu. Hipotezo 1 smo v nadaljevanju preverili tako, da smo z analizo variance skušali ugotoviti, ali se aritmetične sredine razlikujejo glede na človeški dejavnik - kriterij števila zaposlenih v podjetju (glej tabelo 4). Predhodno smo preverili še enakost (homogenost) varianc. Le pomembnost dimenzije dejavnikov socialnoekonomski in politični interesi statistično značilno povečuje z velikostjo podjetja (F = 4,15; a = 0,02), v tem primeru s poudarkom na človeškem faktorju. Povprečna vrednost te dimenzije v podjetjih s 50-75 zaposlenimi znaša 1,96, v podjetjih s 76-180 zaposlenimi 2,46 ter v podjetjih z več kot 180 zaposlenimi 2,69. Tudi upoštevaje ta kriterij hipoteze 1 ne moremo potrditi v celoti, lahko pa jo v delu, ki se nanaša na to dimenzijo. Rezultati testiranj hipoteze 1 so pokazali, da med dejavniki izbire metod spreminjanja na velikost podjetja vpliva le dimenzija socialnoekonomski in politični interesi, toda le po kriteriju števila zaposlenih, ne pa tudi po kriteriju 55. člena ZGD-1. Hipotezo 1 lahko torej potrdimo le delno. 6.3.2 Hipoteza 2 Rezultati so pokazali (glej tabelo 5), da najmanjše število podjetij uporablja 0-4 metode spreminjanja; teh je deset oziroma 13,50 % sodelujočih podjetij, od katerih eno sodi v skupino majhnih, šest v skupino srednjih in tri v skupino velikih. Največje število - sedemindvajset oziroma 36,50 % sodelujočih gradbenih podjetij uporablja 5-8 metod spreminjanja, od katerih sodi pet v skupino majhnih, dvanajst v skupino srednjih in deset v skupino velikih podjetij. Triindvajset oziroma 31,10 % sodelujočih podjetij uporablja 9-12 metod spreminjanja, od katerih sodi sedem podjetij v skupino majhnih, pet v skupino srednjih in enajst v skupino velikih podjetij. Štirinajst oziroma 18,90 % sodelujočih podjetij uporablja 13-16 metod spreminjanja, od katerih sodita dve v skupino majhnih, sedem v skupino srednjih in pet v skupino velikih. Samo eno od majhnih podjetij uporablja 0-4 proučevane metode in le dvoje majhnih gradbenih podjetij uporablja 13-16 metod spreminjanja podjetij. Pregled pridobljenih podatkov po skupinah podjetij je pokazal (glej tabelo 6), da od majhnih podjetij 6,60 % uporablja 0-4 metod spreminjanja, 33,30 % jih uporablja 5-8 metod spreminjanja, 46,60 % jih uporablja 9-12 in 13,30 % majhnih podjetij uporablja 13-16 metod. Od sodelujočih srednje velikih gradbenih podjetij jih 20,00 % uporablja 0-4 metode spreminjanja, 40,00 % jih uporablja 5-8 metod spreminjanja, 16,70 % jih uporablja 9-12 metod spreminjanja, medtem ko 13-16 metod spreminjanja uporablja 23,3 % srednjih podjetij. Velika podjetja v 10,30 % uporabljajo 0-4 metod spreminjanja, 5-8 metod spreminjanja jih uporablja 34,50 %, 13-16 metod spreminjanja jih uporablja 17,20 %, medtem ko jih največ, kar 37,90 % velikih podjetij, uporablja 9-12 metod spreminjanja). Iz pridobljenih podatkov pri preverjanju hipoteze 2 je s pomočjo opisne statistike razvidno, da velika podjetja po kriteriju 55. člena ZGD-1 - razen v tretji skupini metod (9-12), kjer so v večini (47,80 %) - ne uporabljajo večjega števila metod spreminjanja podjetij, zato postavljene hipoteze ne moremo potrditi. Na podlagi vrednosti Hi kvadrat statistike (angl. Chi-Square Tests), ki znaša 6,06, torej ne moremo potrditi povezanosti med številom uporabljenih Tabela 5: Upo-raba meto-d spreminjanja v- o-dvisno-sti glede na veliko-st po-djetja Število metod Uporabniki 0-4 metod Uporabniki 5-8 metod Uporabniki 9-12 metod Uporabniki 13-16 metod Uporabniki skupaj Velikost podjetja Število %" Število %" Število %" Število %a Število %" Majhna 1 10,00 5 18,50 7 30,40 2 14,30 15 20,30 Srednja 6 60,00 12 44,40 5 21,70 7 50,00 30 40,50 Velika 3 30,00 10 37,00 11 47,80 5 35,70 29 39,20 Skupaj 10 100,00 27 100,00 23 100,00 14 100,00 74 100,00 Skupaj % 13,50 36,50 31,10 18,90 100,00 a Delež sodelujočih podjetij v raziskavi. A 187 Organizacija, letnik 41 Razprave številka 4, julij-avgust 2008 Tabela 6: Struktura uporabljenih metod spreminjanja po skupinah podjetij Število metod Uporabniki 0-4 metod Uporabniki 5-8 metod Uporabniki 9-12 metod Uporabniki 13-16 metod Uporabniki skupaj Velikost podjetja Število %* Število %' Število %' Število %' Število %' Majhna 1 6,60 5 33,30 7 46,60 2 13,30 15 100,00 Srednja 6 20,00 12 40,00 5 16,70 7 23,30 30 100,00 Velika 3 10,30 10 34,50 11 37,90 5 17,20 29 100,00 Skupaj 10 27 23 14 74 a Delež uporabljenih metod spreminjanja po skupinah podjetij. metod in velikostjo podjetij, saj je tveganje več kot 5-odstotno (a = 0,42). Hipotezo 2 lahko potrdimo v delu, ki se nanaša na reinženiring. Med velikimi podjetji jih kar 58,30 % uporablja metodo reinženiringa, medtem ko ta delež med srednjimi podjetji znaša 33,30 %, med majhnimi pa le 8,30 %. Na tej podlagi lahko sklepamo, da uporaba te metode narašča z velikostjo podjetij. Rezultat Hi kvadrat statistike je pokazal vrednost 6, 28, kar pomeni relativno močno povezanost med uporabo metode reinženiringa in velikostjo podjetij, ob manj kot 5-odstotnem tveganju (dejansko 0,04). Obrazložitev za dobljene rezultate izhaja iz teoretičnih izhodišč. Ta narekujejo, da metoda reinženiringa ne pomeni le manjših sprememb, temveč korenito preoblikovanje obstoječega načina dela ali pogosto oblikovanje poslovnega procesa na popolnoma novih temeljih, s čimer se doseže znatno nižje stroške, višjo kakovost, boljši servis investitorja in hitrejšo odzivnost. Zanimiva je tudi ugotovitev, da se med tistimi podjetji, ki uporabljajo največ metod spreminjanja (13 do 16), nahaja kar polovica srednje velikih podjetij. To je posledica dejstva, da so srednje velika podjetja bolj fleksibilna in prilagodljiva od velikih in pogosto togih sistemov, ki so bolj rigidni in se na daljši (proučevani) rok tudi težje spreminjajo. Po drugi strani imajo za razliko od manjših srednje velika podjetja na voljo več sredstev (finančnih, človeških, materialnih). Majhna podjetja kljub vsemu ne zaostajajo mnogo. To obenem zavrača bojazen, da s svojo majhnostjo morda ne bi bila dovolj reprezentativna za proučevani vzorec oziroma z (ne)izpolnjenimi rubrikami v anketi nekoristna za empirično raziskavo. Pri preverjanju hipoteze 2 je bilo ugotovljeno, da majhna slovenska gradbena podjetja uporabljajo pretežno 9-12 metod spreminjanja (46,60 %), pri srednjih podjetjih prevladujejo uporabniki 5-8 metod spreminjanja (40,00 %), medtem ko pri velikih podjetjih približno enakomerno prevladuje uporaba 9-12 (37,90 %) in 5-8 (34,50 %) metod spreminjanja pod-jetij. Rezultati raziskave pri preverjanju hipoteze 2 se ujemajo z ugotovitvami raziskave ameriške svetovalne hiše Bain & Company, v kateri je leta 2000 sodelovalo 451 sve- tovnih podjetij. Raziskava je pokazala, da manjša podjetja zaradi nižje kompleksnosti poslovanja in manjšega obsega sredstev uporabljajo manjši nabor pristopov (Rigby, 2001, str. 11). V podjetjih, ki uporabljajo 0-4 metode spreminjanja, vršni management politike podjetja ne dokumentira. Načrtovanje in izvajanje obvladuje v glavi. Neformalni načini vodenja politike podjetja so možni v enostavnih in preglednih podjetjih ter enostavnih zunanjih okoljih (Ink-pen, 1995, str. 314-319). Povzamemo lahko, da hipoteze 2 o vplivu velikosti podjetja na število uporabljenih metod spreminjanja ne moremo z dovolj veliko gotovostjo potrditi. Vendarle pa se izkaže, da obstaja povezanost med velikostjo podjetja in uporabo metode reinženiringa. Delež uporabnikov te metode je namreč najvišji med velikimi, najnižji pa med majhnimi podjetji. 6.3.3 Hipoteza 3 Kljub dejstvu, da proučevane metode spreminjanja sodijo v globalni okvir evolucijskega načina spreminjanja, jih niti s statističnega niti z vsebinskega vidika ni bilo mogoče združiti v skupine. Pri dokazovanju hipoteze 3 smo sprva preverili Levenov F-test homogenosti varianc. Hipotezo smo testirali s pomočjo Studentovega t-preiz-kusa, ob upoštevanju predpostavke t. i. enakosti varianc (angl. Equal-Vari-ance-s assume-d). V kolikor tej predpostavki ni zadoščeno oziroma je Levenova F statistika statistično značilna, se za preizkus uporabi neparametrično izvedbo t-preizkusa, ki homogenosti varianc ne predpostavlja (angl. Equal- Vari-ance-s no-t assume-d). Zanimalo nas je, ali se povprečne vrednosti pomembnosti posameznih uvedenih dimenzij dejavnikov izbire metod spreminjanja statistično značilno razlikujejo glede na to, ali so podjetja uvedla določeno metodo spreminjanja ali ne. V kolikor je povprečna vrednost posameznega dejavnika višja pri podjetjih, ki so uvedla posamezno metodo spreminjanja, gre sklepati, da je ta dejavnik pomembno vplival na izbor metode. V hipotezi 3 smo predpostavili, da dejavniki izbire metod spreminjanja vplivajo na izbiro posamezne meto- A188 Organizacija, letnik 41 Razprave številka 4, julij-avgust 2008 de spreminjanja. Rezultati Studentovega t-testa so podali naslednje ugotovitve: ■ v primeru uvajanja metode 1 (skrajševanje pretočnih časov) obstajajo razlike med naslednjimi dejavniki: neposredni ekonomski interesi, težnje k načrtovani realizaciji in vršni management; ■ v primeru uvajanja metode 2 (strateško načrtovanje) se je kot pomembnejša dimenzija dejavnikov izbire metod izkazala le dimenzija neposredni ekonomski interesi; ■ pri uvajanju metode 3 (celovito ravnanje s kakovostjo) lahko izpostavimo dimenziji dejavnikov izbire metod spreminjanja vršni management in razpoložljivi parametri za uvedbo sprememb (t = 2,03; a = 0,05); ■ pri uvajanju metode 7 (vertikalna integracija) so se kot pomembnejše dimenzije dejavnikov izbire metod spreminjanja izkazale štiri, in sicer zaposleni, skladnost s strateškimi usmeritvami podjetja, neposredni ekonomski interesi in vršni management; ■ za uvajanje metode 9 (merjenje nivoja zadovoljstva investitorjev) je bila najpomembnejša dimenzija dejavnikov izbire metod spreminjanja socialnoekonomski in politični interesi - z vsebinskega stališča je jasno razvidno, da proučevana dimenzija smiselno sovpada s potrošniškimi interesi investitorjev in posledično z njihovim zadovoljstvom; ■ pri uvajanju metode 11 (reinženiring) sta se kot pomembnejši dimenziji dejavnikov izbire metod spreminjanja izkazali socialnoekonomski in politični interesi ter vršni management; ■ pri uvajanju metode 16 (sistem uravnoteženih kazalnikov) se je kot pomembnejša dimenzija dejavnikov izbire metod spreminjanja ponovno izkazala le ena: skladnost s strateškimi usmeritvami podjetja (t = 3,66; a = 0,00048). Za sedem metod spreminj anja lahko potrdimo pomembnost dejavnikov izbire, za ostalih devet pa ne. To pomeni, da hipotezo 3 lahko le delno potrdimo. 7 Razprava Metode spreminjanja so orodja za spreminjanje podjetja, kar je zahtevna in tvegana naloga, saj obsega obvladovanje veliko med seboj odvisnih dejavnikov. Anketirana podjetja so v proučevanem obdobju (1995-2005) empirične raziskave v povprečju uporabila 8,78 metod evolucijskega načina spreminjanja, kar predstavlja nekaj več kot polovico (54,90 %) vseh šestnajstih proučevanih metod v raziskavi. Rezultat se bistveno ne razlikuje glede na velikost podjetja, saj so velika podjetja uporabila v povprečju 9,21 metode, majhna 9,07 ter srednja 8,23 metode. Največkrat uporabljena metoda spreminjanja je formalizirano strateško načrtovanje, ki jo je uporabilo kar 77,00 % vseh podjetij v raziskavi. Najmanjkrat uporabljeni metodi sta sistem uravnoteženih kazalnikov in primerjalno presojanje, ki ju je uporabilo manj kot tretjina vseh slovenskih gradbenih podjetij v raziskavi. Vsak pristop spreminjanja je optimalen v drugačnih okoliščinah in na njegov izbor vplivajo mnogi dejavniki v zunanjem in notranjem okolju podjetja (Currid, 1994, str. 17). Omenjeno teoretično izhodišče je podlaga za izvedbo faktorske analize tridesetih dejavnikov izbire metod evolucijskega spreminjanja gradbenih podjetij. Pokazala je, da se dejavniki združujejo v devet dimenzij. Najpomembnejšo vlogo pri izbiri najustreznejše metode imajo neposredni ekonomski interesi (3,88), za katere velja, da njihova pomembnost narašča z velikostjo podjetja. Naslednja najpomembnejša je dimenzija, ki se nanaša na težnje k načrtovani realizaciji (3,62) in jo vse tri kategorije podjetij ocenjujejo zelo podobno. S hipotezo 1 smo predvideli, da velikost podjetja vpliva na dejavnike izbire metod spreminjanja podjetja. To domnevo smo preverili z analizo variance. V prvem delu smo za velikost podjetja izbrali kriterij obsega podjetja po 55. členu ZGD-1. Izkazalo se je, da velikost na nobeno od dimenzij dejavnikov ne vpliva. V tem delu je torej hipoteza 1 v celoti zavrnjena. V drugem delu smo za velikost podjetja izbrali število zaposlenih. V tem primeru se je izkazalo, da se skupine podjetij, razvrščene po omenjenem kriteriju, razlikujejo po pomembnosti dimenzije socialnoekonomski in politični interesi, saj pomembnost te dimenzije z velikostjo podjetja narašča. Vsebinska obrazložitev je enostavna: v podjetjih z večjim številom zaposlenih so namreč sindikati delavcev močnejši in pomembneje vplivajo na odločitve o spremembah. Hipoteza 2 predpostavlja, da velikost podjetja vpliva na število uporabljenih metod evolucijskega načina spreminjanja. Preverili smo jo s pomočjo Hi kvadrat statistike. Izkazalo se je, da je predpostavka napačna, saj je statistično tveganje za njeno potrditev preveliko. Analiza povezanosti uporabe posameznih metod z velikostjo podjetja je pokazala, da je delež uporabnikov metode reinženiringa najvišji med velikimi in najnižji med majhnimi podjetji. Na uporabo ostalih metod velikost podjetja ne vpliva. V hipotezi 3 smo predpostavili, da dejavniki izbire metod spreminjanja vplivajo na izbiro posamezne metode spreminjanja. Na podlagi rezultatov Studentovega t-testa lahko za sedem metod spreminjanja potrdimo pomembnost dejavnikov izbire, za ostalih devet pa ne. To pomeni, da hipotezo 3 lahko le delno potrdimo. 8 Sklep Testiranje hipotez je pokazalo, da velikost podjetja ne vpliva na nobeno od dimenzij dejavnikov izbire metod spreminjanja. Podrobnejša analiza povezanosti uporabe posameznih metod z velikostjo podjetja je pokazala, da je delež uporabnikov metode reinženiringa najvišji med velikimi in najnižji med majhnimi podjetji. Za sedem evolucijskih metod spreminjanja so rezultati raziskave potrdili pomembnost dejavnikov izbire, za ostalih devet pa ne. Optimalen izbor metode spreminjanja zahteva dobro poznavanje ključnih lastnosti posamezne metode, značilnosti notranjega in zunanjega okolja, vplivov metode na notranje okolje podjetja ter skladnosti metode s cilji podjetja in obstoječimi metodami spreminjanja. Zgolj z opti- A 189 Organizacija, letnik 41 Razprave številka 4, julij-avgust 2GG8 mizacijo obstoječih procesov (inkrementalne spremembe) in posnemanjem najboljših praks tujih konkurentov slovenska gradbena podjetja ne bodo nikoli konkurenčna tujemu trgu. Rezultati empirične raziskave, proučitev teoretičnih modelov za izbiranje metod spreminjanja in celovit prikaz značilnosti dejavnikov izbire metod spreminjanja podjetij slovenskemu vršnemu managementu zagotavljajo lažjo identifikacijo potencialno uporabnih metod spreminjanja. Podajajo možnost izbora optimalne metode, kreativno prilagoditev metode glede na specifičnost okolja ter uspešnejšo uvedbo in integracijo metode z obstoječimi metodami v podjetju. Zaradi omejitev raziskave na slovensko gradbeno panogo rezultatov ne gre interpretirati kot splošne zakonitosti uporabe metod spreminjanja. Posplošena prepričanja v specifični in občutljivi panogi, kot je gradbena, namreč ne veljajo. Iz tega sledi, da so nadaljnje raziskave o vplivu dejavnikov izbire metod spreminjanja na uspešnost evolucijskega načina spreminjanja nujne tudi v ostalih panogah slovenskega gospodarstva. 9 Literatura in viri Ansoff, I.H. (1990). Implanting Strategic Management, Prentice/ Hall International, Englewood Cliffs, New Yersey. Buchanan, D. & Huczynski, A. (1997). Organizational Behaviour, An Introductory Text, 3rd- Edition. Prentice Hall, London. Champy, J. & Nohria, N. (1996). Fast Forward, The Best Ideas on Managing Business Change, Harvard Business Review Book, Boston. Currid, C. & Company (1994). The Reengineering Toolkit, 15 Tools and Technologies for Reengineering Your Organisation, Prima Publishing, Rocklin. Češnovar, T. (2003). 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Košmelj, B. & Rovan, J. (2000), Statistično sklepanje, Univerza v Ljubljani, Ekonomska fakulteta, Ljubljana. Mintzberg, H. (1996). Musings on Management, Harvard Business Review, 74(4): 61-68. Nohria, N. & Berkley, J.D. (1996). Whatever Happened to the Take-Charge Manager, v Champy, J. & Nohria, N. (ur.), Fast Forward, The Best Ideas on Managing Business Change, Harvard- Business Review Book, Boston. O'Regan, N. & Ghobadian, A. (2GG4). The importance of capabilities for strategic direction and performance, Management Decision, 42: 292. Priznanje Republike Slovenije za poslovno odličnost, Zakon o priznanju RS za poslovno odličnost (ZPPO-UPB1), Ur. l. RS, št. 83/2GG3, dosegljivo na: http://zakonodaja.gov.si/rpsi/ r04/ predpis_ZAKO514.html (26.7.2GG6). Ramovš, J., Zemva, Š. & Gržinič, B. (2GG6). Poslovanje gradbeništva in IGM v letu 2005, Gospodarska zbornica Slovenije - Združenje za gradbeništvo in IGM, Ljubljana. Rigby, D. (2GG1). Management Tools 2001 - Global results, Bain & Company, Boston. Rigby, D. (2001a). Don't Get Hammered By Management Fads, Th-e Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, New York. Rosenzweig, P. (2007). The Halo Effect ... and the Eight Other Business Delusions That Deceive Managers, Free Press, New York. Slatter, S. (1984). Corporate Recovery, Successful Turnaround Strategies and their Implementation, Penguin, Harmonds-worth-. Strebel, P. (1992). Breakpoints, How Managers Exploit Radical Business Change, Harvard Business School Press, Boston. Peter Friedl je inženir gradbeništva, diplomirani organizator, specialist managementa in magister znanosti. Ob delu nadaljuje z doktorskim študijem managementa na Fakulteti za management Univerze na Primorskem. Po višješolski diplomi leta 1994 na Fakulteti za gradbeništvo in geodezijo Univerze v Ljubljani se je 8 let intenzivno ukvarjal s problematiko projektnega managementa na področju gradbene komerciale, s katerega ima številne reference. Od leta 2004 pa v novoustanovljenem gradbenem koncernu GRADIS skupina G, d.d. Ljubljana na delovnem mestu pomočnika člana uprave za trženje vodi izvedbo vseh razvojnih projektov na področju visokih gradenj, in sicer od njihove idejne zasnove pa do same pridobitve pravnomočnega gradbenega dovoljenja. Njegovo ožje področje raziskovalnega dela vključuje razvijanje oziroma vpeljavo konceptov managementa spreminjanja v specifiko in kompleksnost storitvenih dejavnosti gradbenih inženiring organizacij. Roberto Biloslavo je izredni profesor za področje managementa na Fakulteti za management Univerze na Primorskem. Njegovo raziskovalno delo je usmerjeno v področje strateškega managementa, managementa znanja in managementa ekspertnih organizacij. A190 Organizacija, letnik 41 Razprave številka 4, julij-avgust 2GG8 Vplivne skupine udeležencev v slovenski prehrambeni panogi Roland Rusjan Figelj1, Roberto Biloslavo2 1Ulica Ivana Sulica 14/a, 5290 Šempeter pri Gorici, rusjanfigeljroland@gmail.com 2Univerza na Primorskem, Fakulteta za management Koper, Cankarjeva 5, 6000 Koper Interesna teorija ima v managementu veliko privržencev, pa tudi številne kritike, zato ne preseneča, da ostaja odprtih še veliko raziskovalnih vprašanj, na katera poskušajo raziskovalci odgovoriti. V pričujočem prispevku poskušamo odgovoriti na vprašanje, kako managerji v slovenskih podjetjih zaznavajo pomen posameznih udeležencev. Ti udeleženci so lastniki, management, zaposleni, odjemalci, dobavitelji in država. V prispevku so najprej predstavljeni rezultati raziskave v okviru tričlanske ekspertne skupine, nato rezultati raziskave, opravljene med slovenskimi managerji srednje velikih in velikih podjetij v predelovalni dejavnosti, v zadnjem delu pa rezultati primerjalne analize med ekspertno skupino in slovenskimi managerji. Rezultati primerjalne analize kažejo presenetljivo usklajenost med ekspertno skupino in slovenskimi managerji glede pomena posameznih udeležencev. Ključne besede: strateški management, interesna teorija, vplivne skupine udeležencev, predelovalna dejavnost 1 Uvod Vse od dela Freemana (1984) z naslovom Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach ima t. i. interesna teorija organizacije osrednji položaj v proučevanju managemen-ta in organizacije. Interesno teorijo lahko povzamemo z nekaj naslednjimi definicijami: Organizacija je odprt hierarhični urejen družbeni sistem, ki ga ljudje oblikujejo zaradi lažjega uresničevanja lastnih interesov. Člani organizacije lastne interese dosegajo posredno preko doseganja trajnejših ciljev organizacije, organizacija pa jim v zameno zagotavlja nižje stroške iskanja, koordinacije in negotovosti, kot bi jih imeli, če bi na trgu nastopali kot posamezniki. Med organizacijo in njenimi člani se torej vzpostavi neko menjalno razmerje in kakovost tega razmerja vpliva na uspešnost doseganja ciljev organizacije. Organizacija pa ni vase zaprt sistem, izoliran od zunanjega okolja (Scott, 1987), ampak je z okoljem povezana in od okolja tako ali drugače odvisna (Pfeffer, 1994), zato so njeni cilji in uspešnost njihovega doseganja posredno ali neposredno odvisni tudi od kakovosti menjalnih razmerij med organizacijo ter posamezniki, skupinami in drugimi organizacijami v njenem okolju (ti so t. i. zunanji udeleženci organizacije). Na podlagi navedenega lahko zaključimo, da menjalna razmerja med organizacijo in njenimi člani ter med organizacijo in posamezniki, skupinami ter drugimi organizacijami v okolju temeljijo na interesih, ki izhajajo iz fizioloških in psihosocialnih potreb, želja in vrednot udeležencev. Organizacija torej opravičuje svoj obstoj in dokazuje svojo uspešnost z izpolnjevanjem interesov udeležencev (Tavčar, 2002: 3), pri čemer pa so si ti interesi velikokrat nasprotujoči. Management ima za razrešitev teh nasprotij nekaj različnih možnosti, kot so zadovoljitev vseh različnih interesov, oblikovanje kompromisa med različnimi interesi, časovna izmenjava med različnimi interesi ali oblikovanje nove ustvarjalne rešitve, ki v osnovi razreši vprašanje nasprotij interesov. Ker se zdi, da management še ne zmore oblikovati nove ustvarjalne rešitve, ker časovna izmenjava med različnimi interesi lahko dolgoročni politiki organizacije bolj škodi kot ne, in ker realno gledano ni mogoče enakovredno zadovoljiti vseh interesov, se zdi kompromis kljub njegovim omejitvam edina sprejemljiva možnost. Zato mora management opredeliti, katere interese katerih udeležencev bo prednostno zadovoljil in tako dosegel maksimalen možen pozitiven vpliv na delovanje organizacije. Seveda pri tem vrednote managerjev in njihovo razumevanje poslanstva organizacije pomembno vplivajo na način, kako managerji razvrstijo udeležence in njihove interese. V nadaljevanju našega prispevka bomo najprej predstavili nekatera teoretična izhodišča interesne teorije organizacije, nato pa rezultate raziskave o tem, kdo so najpomembnejši udeleženci organizacije po mnenju slovenskih managerjev v predelovalni dejavnosti in primerjali te rezultate z mnenjem ekspertne skupine. Na podlagi tako pridobljenih rezultatov bomo oblikovali zaključke in priporočila za prakso in nadaljnje raziskave. A 191 Organizacija, letnik 41 Razprave številka 4, julij-avgust 2008 2 Interesna teorija Na organizacijo lahko gledamo z različnih vidikov zato v strokovni literaturi zasledimo različne metafore o organizaciji, s katerimi avtorji poskušajo zajeti in opisati sicer nezdružljive poglede na organizacije kot take (Morgan, 1997; Bolman in Deal, 1997). V tem prispevku bomo izhajali iz interesne metafore o organizaciji, ki jo Morganova (1997) opisuje kot: » ... delovanje organizacij izhaja iz interesov ljudi v notranjem in zunanjih okoljih ter vpliva na interese sodelavcev in drugih posameznikov, skupin itn.; organizacije so torej dinamično ravnovesje interesov.« Da za uspešnost organizacije niso pomembni zgolj interesi lastnikov zasledimo v literaturi že leta 1976, ko sta Edmonds III in Hand (1976) izvedla raziskavo med ameriškimi podjetji na temo »Kateri so resnični dolgoročni cilji podjetij?« V tej raziskavi je bila sicer potrjena osnovna hipoteza, da je najpomembnejši cilj podjetja maksimiranje dobička. Poleg tega pa je veliko v raziskavi sodelujočih managerjev navedlo, da potrebujejo tudi kakovosten proizvod, da morajo biti dober delodajalec in drugo. Ideja o odgovornosti managementa do številnih udeležencev in ne samo do lastnikov je bila tako široko sprejeta, čeprav podrejena primarnemu cilju maksimiranja dobička. Zamisel o tem, da se morajo podjetja zavedati, da ne obstajajo zgolj zaradi zadovoljevanja interesov lastnikov in managementa, ampak tudi zaradi interesov drugih skupin udeležencev znotraj in izven podjetja, je danes precej bolj široko sprejeta. Kot pravi Handy (2007: 7): »Podjetja, ki se vidijo le kot stroji za pridelavo denarja in ne upoštevajo potreb družbe, bodo slabo končala.« Mintzberg (2007) se pridružuje kritiki tistih managerjev, ki se ne ozirajo na interese širšega števila udeležencev, ampak jih zanima le osebni dohodek in njihov družbeni status. Kot pravi, je t. i. vrednost za delničarje grozen pojav, ki nima mesta v resnično demokratični družbi. Takšnega mnenja je tudi Handy (2007: 9-10), ko pravi: »Podjetja morajo spoznati, da so zelo pomemben del družbe. Njihova naloga ni samo ustvarjanje dobička za delničarje. Ljudi morajo prepričati, da podjetje koristi družbi, to pa vpliva na njihove vrednote in cilje ter jih spreminja. Še vedno velja, da je treba trdo delati in ustvarjati denar, vendar morajo ljudi znotraj in zunaj podjetja prepričati, da to počnejo pošteno in častno - da ne onesnažujejo okolja, ne goljufajo svojih strank idr. Staromodni managerji se na to požvižgajo. Verjamejo, da je vseeno, kako pridejo do denarja, dokler jim to uspeva. Trudim se, da bi ljudi prepričal, da bo zanje slabo, če ne bodo upoštevali družbenega vidika.« Bistvo interesne teorije so različne skupine, ki so v razmerju z organizacijo (Thompson et al., 1991 v Mitchell, Agle in Wood, 1997), pri čemer je management, ki je edina skupina udeležencev, ki je v razmerju z vsemi ostalimi skupinami (Hill in Jones, 1992 v Mitchell, Agle in Wood, 1997), odgovoren za usklajevanje posameznih interesov udeležencev za doseganje uspešnosti in učinkovitosti organizacije. Podobno Clarkson (1994 v Clarke, 1998: 187) opredeljuje interesni pristop kot: »Podjetje je sistem udeležencev, delujočih v širšem družbenem sistemu, ki podjetju zagotavlja potrebno pravno in tržno infrastrukturo. Smo- ter podjetja je zato ustvarjanje vrednosti za udeležence s preoblikovanjem njihovega vložka v dobrine in storitve.« Scholes in Clutterbuck (1998: 227) pa navajata, da se v sodobnem poslovnem svetu povečuje kompleksnost povezav med udeleženci podjetja in moč nekaterih, še pred časom marginalnih skupin. Ob tem pa ne gre pozabiti, da ima interesna teorija tudi veliko kritikov. Interesni teoriji tako očitajo (npr. Argenti, 1997), da s postavljanjem različnih udeležencev v enak položaj managementu ne daje jasnih usmeritev, katerim smotrom naj ta sledi. Tudi po dobrih dveh desetletjih, odkar se je uradno oblikoval pojem interesne teorije, ostajajo odprta še številna vprašanja. Jones (1980 v Mitchell, Agle in Wood, 1997) je že pred časom postavil nekaj pragmatičnih vprašanj, na katera interesna teorija še vedno išče odgovor. Ta vprašanja so: »Kaj so te interesne skupine? Koliko skupin moramo zadovoljiti? Kateri njihovi interesi so najpomembnejši? Kako morajo biti njihovi interesi uravnoteženi? Koliko finančnih sredstev lahko nameni organizacija za zadovoljitev teh interesov?« V literaturi zasledimo različne odgovore na ta vprašanja. O tem, kaj so te skupine, meni Alkhafaji (1989 v Mitchell, Agle in Wood, 1997), da so to skupine, ki jim je organizacija odgovorna, medtem ko je Freemanova (1984 v Mitchell, Agle in Wood, 1997) klasična definicija: »Udeleženec v organizaciji je vsaka skupina ali posameznik, ki lahko vpliva ali na katerega vpliva uspešno doseganje ciljev organizacije.« Kralj (1999: 70), pa pravi, da: »Vsi posamezniki, skupine in organizacije, ki imajo svoje interese v delovanju podjetja in morejo nanj tudi pomembno vplivati, so udeleženci podjetja«. V splošnem zasledimo v literaturi različna mnenja o tem, kdo so najpomembnejši udeleženci. V zadnjih 15 letih smo se večkrat srečali s splošno znano izjavo, kot je: »Odjemalci pridejo vedno prvi na vrsto,« oziroma »kupec je kralj.« Prav na to izjavo je hotel odgovoriti Jackson (2001) z raziskavo o najvplivnejših udeležencih organizacije. V raziskavo je vključil sedem udeležencev organizacije, to so lastniki, managerji, zaposleni, odjemalci, tekmeci, lokalna skupnost in banke, ter poskušal ugotoviti, kdo so najpomembnejši. Z raziskavo je hotel predvsem izpodbiti izjavo, da so odjemalci vedno prvi. Rezultati raziskave so naslednji: na prvem mestu po pomembnosti udeležencev organizacije so managerji, na drugem mestu so zaposleni, na tretjem mestu so odjemalci, na četrtem mestu so tekmeci, na petem mestu je lokalna skupnost, na šestem mestu so lastniki in na zadnjem mestu so banke. Na podlagi te raziskave ne moremo potrditi znane izjave o odjemalcih. Enako mnenje srečamo tudi pri Brownu (1996), ki meni, da organizacija mora zadovoljiti interese zaposlenih pred interesi odjemalcev. Tudi Galbreath (2006) meni, da vsako podjetje mora gledati na zaposlene kot najpomembnejše udeležence. Da bi lahko potegnili ločnico med tistimi, ki imajo večji interes v zvezi s podjetjem, in tistimi, ki imajo manjšega, ter med tistimi, ki imajo več moči vplivanja, in tistimi, ki je imajo manj, se posamezni avtorji odločajo za delitev med aktivne in pasivne udeležence (Campbell, 1997: 447), drugi pa med primarne in sekundarne udeležence (Mitchell, Agle in Wood, 1997). Winn (2001) tako navaja, da so A192 Organizacija, letnik 41 Razprave številka 4, julij-avgust 2008 primarni udeleženci organizacije zaposleni, odj emalci, lastniki, lokalna skupnost, naravno okolje, dobavitelji, javne interesne skupine, mediji in država, pri tem pa opozarja, da je zelo tvegano posamezne skupine udeležencev obravnavati kot homogene skupine, ker se znotraj posamezne skupine med posamezniki prepletajo različni interesi. Po drugi strani različni avtorji, kot so Mitchell, Agle in Wood (1997), menijo, da se pomembnost udeležencev lahko s časom spreminja, da pa je sicer pomembnost udeležencev odvisna od njihove moči za uresničitev lastnih interesov, legitimnosti in nujnosti njihovih interesov. Udeleženec, ki ima vse tri lastnosti, je zelo pomemben udeleženec, tisti, ki ima dve lastnosti, je srednje pomemben, in tisti z eno lastnostjo je manj pomemben udeleženec organizacije. Tudi Biloslavo (2006: 19) se pridružuje mnenju, da so udeleženci po pomembnosti različni, in navaja, da: »vplivni udeleženci (tisti, ki imajo interes, moč in željo svoj interes uresničiti) lahko svoje interese spremenijo v vplive, ki bolj ali manj pomembno delujejo na organizacijo - odvisno od tega, koliko moči in zavzetosti imajo udeleženci za uresničitev svojih interesov. Ker so na splošno možnosti, da bi ljudje uresničili interese, omejene in ker obstajajo med ljudmi individualne razlike glede potreb in vrednot, ti pri uresničevanju lastnih interesov drug drugega omejujejo ali podpirajo (oblikujejo interesna razmerja) glede na trenutne okoliščine.« 3 Empirična raziskava 3.1 Cilji V naši raziskavi smo sledili štirim ciljem, in sicer: ■ na osnovi teorije opredeliti najpomembnejše (primarne) skupine udeležencev, ■ ugotoviti pomen posameznih skupin udeležencev podjetja po mnenju ekspertne skupine, ■ ugotoviti pomen posameznih skupin udeležencev podjetja po mnenju slovenskih managerjev, ■ primerjati rezultate o pomenu posameznih skupin udeležencev podjetja med ekspertno skupino in slovenskimi managerji. 3.2 Metodologija Na podlagi pregleda strokovne literature o interesni teoriji smo v našo raziskavo vključili šest najpomembnejših udeležencev organizacije. Izbrali smo tri udeležence iz notranjega okolja in tri udeležence iz zunanjega okolja. Iz notranjega okolja smo izbrali lastnike, management in zaposlene, iz zunanjega okolja pa odjemalce, dobavitelje in državo/lokalno skupnost. Za uresničitev drugega cilja smo uporabili AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) metodo ali metodo hierarhičnega analitičnega procesa. Avtor metode je ameriški matematik Thomas Saaty, namen metode pa je hierarhična razvrstitev posameznih skupin. Metoda1 sloni na parni medsebojni primerjavi odločitvenih spremenljivk z uporabo 9-stopenjske preferenčne lestvice, ki je najbližja simulacija človeškega odločanja pri primerjavi »predmetov«. Ocene v 9-stopenjski preferenčni lestvici so po pomenu razvrščene na naslednji način: 1 = dejavnika sta enakovredna, 3 = dejavnik je nekoliko bolj pomemben, 5 = dejavnik je bolj pomemben, 7 = dejavnik je mnogo bolj pomemben, 9 = dejavnik je neizmerno bolj pomemben. V okviru te metode smo v naši raziskavi uporabljali naslednje korake, kot jih navajata Biloslavo in Prevodnik (2006: 66-67): 1. Paroma primerjamo vse kriterije med seboj in jim tako določimo relativne preference glede na podano lestvico. 2. Relativne preference zapišemo v obliki obratno simetrične kvadratne matrike. 3. Izračunamo vsoto relativnih preferenc po posameznem stolpcu. 4. Vrednosti v tabeli normaliziramo tako, da jih delimo s posameznimi vsotami. 5. AHP vrednost za posamezno spremenljivko izračunamo kot aritmetično sredino po vrsticah. Kriterij oz. spremenljivka z najvišjo AHP vrednostjo je najpomembnejša za obravnavano zadevo. Za uresničitev tretjega cilja raziskave smo uporabili 7-stopenjsko Likertovo ordinalno lestvico z ocenami, ki so segale od 1 (se popolnoma ne strinjam) do 7 (se popolnoma strinjam). Managerji so za vsako posamezno skupino izmed petih2 opredeljenih skupin udeležencev presojali trditev: »Podjetja poskušajo med različnimi udeleženci primarno zadovoljiti interese X«. Anketne vprašalnike smo obdelali tako, da smo za posamezno skupino udeležencev sešteli vse ocene in nato vsoto delili s številom anketirancev (teh je bilo 44). Tako smo dobili povprečno vrednost, ki smo jo nato normalizirali tako, da smo povprečno oceno za skupino udeležencev delili s skupno vsoto vseh povprečnih ocen. 3.3 Vzorec Za izpeljavo raziskave smo potrebovali primarne podatke iz dveh vzorcev. Prvi vzorec je bil sestavljen iz ekspertne skupine, ki so jo sestavljali trije slovenski profesorji, in sicer en profesor s področja managementa, en profesor s področja marketinga in poslovne politike organizacije ter en profesor s področja računovodstva. S takšno sestavo ekspertne skupine smo dosegli strokovno različnost, kar 1 Podrobnejši opis AHP metode bi presegel okvir tega dela, zato vabimo bralca, ki ga ta metoda posebej zanima, da si prebere številna dela avtorja metode Thomasa Saatyja ali delo Forman, E.H. & Selly, M.A. (2001). Decision by Objectives: How to Convince Others that You are Righ- World Scientific Publishing, Singapore. 2 Ker smo predpostavili, da managerji ne morejo verodostojno presojati o pomembnosti lastnih interesov za organizacijo, jih v ta del raziskave nismo vključili kot vplivno skupino udeležencev. A 193 Organizacija, letnik 41 Razprave številka 4, julij-avgust 2008 pomeni, da smo zajeli tako vidik managementa, zaposlenih, odjemalcev, dobaviteljev kot tudi finančni vidik to je predvsem vidik lastnikov in države. Anketiranje (pošiljanje vprašalnika) je potekalo po elektronski pošti. Drugi vzorec je bil sestavljen iz managerjev srednje velikih in velikih podjetij s podpodročja predelovalnih dejavnosti DA 15, tj. proizvodnja hrane, pijač in krmil (Standardna klasifikacija dejavnosti) v Sloveniji v letu 2007. V tej dejavnosti je 49 takšnih podjetij, v raziskavi je sodelovalo 44 podjetij, kar pomeni 90 odstotno odzivnost. Anketiranje (pošiljanje vprašalnika) je potekalo po elektronski pošti, po navadni pošti in na podlagi osebnih obiskov. 3.4 Omejitve raziskave Raziskava ima nekaj omejitev, ki jih je treba pri tolmačenju rezultatov ustrezno upoštevati. Prva omejitev izhaja iz dejstva, da so v raziskavo vključeni zgolj managerji srednje velikih in velikih slovenskih podjetij iz predelovalne dejavnosti, torej posploševanje na druge panoge ni možno. Raziskava je po svoji vsebini statična in ne dinamična. Realno je pričakovati, da se pomen posameznih udeležencev spreminja ne samo glede na panogo, ampak tudi glede na neko časovno obdobje. Odgovora na to vprašanje raziskava ne nudi in interpretacija rezultatov je možna zgolj na sedanje časovno obdobje. Raziskava ne ločuje med posameznimi skupinami udeležencev oz. predpostavlja, da so te skupine homogene, kar je lahko vprašljivo, saj se posamezni akterji (tj. posamezniki, skupine in organizacije) znotraj ene skupine v določenih pogojih z vidika organizacije lahko med seboj bistveno razlikujejo. Vendar bi tak pristop k raziskavi onemogočil primerjavo med različnimi organizacijami, kar pa je v nasprotju s cilji te raziskave. 3.5 Rezultati 3.3.1 Rezultati ekspertne skupine Kot smo predhodno omenili, smo najprej izvedli raziskavo pri ekspertni skupini, kjer smo uporabili metodo AHP. Rezultati raziskave o pomenu posameznih skupin udeležencev podjetja po presoji ekspertne skupine so prikazani v sliki 1 in sliki 2. V sliki 1 so prikazani rezultati brez mana-gementa, ki smo ga izključili iz raziskave zaradi skladnosti posameznih skupin pri primerjanju z rezultati slovenskih managerjev. V sliki 2 so prikazani rezultati vseh šestih skupin udeležencev. Glede na to, da ekspertna skupina lahko verodostojno presoja o vseh šestih skupinah udeležencev, nas je zanimalo tudi, kakšen je pomen managementa v podjetju. Kot je razvidno iz slike, meni ekspertna skupina, da so najpomembnejši oziroma najvplivnejši udeleženci organizacije zaposleni in lastniki. Ekspertna skupina postavlja na prvo mestu zaposlene z AHP vrednostjo 0,279. Na drugem mestu so lastniki z AHP vrednostjo 0,2551. Nadalje ekspertna skupina postavlja na tretje mesto odjemalce z AHP vrednostjo 0,1839. Po presoji ekspertne skupine so najmanj vplivni udeleženci dobavitelji ter država/lokalna skupnost. Tako na predzadnje mesto postavljajo dobavitelje z AHP vrednostjo 0,1415 in kot najmanj vplivne udeležence postavlja ekspertna skupina na zadnje mesto državo/lokalno skupnost z AHP vrednostjo 0,1408. Kot vidimo iz slike, se vrstni red udeležencev po vključitvi managementa (mgmt ) v presojo ni bistveno spremenil, in sicer: med prvimi tremi najvplivnejšimi udeleženci ostajajo zaposleni, lastniki in odjemalci. Na prvih dveh mestih ostajajo zaposleni in lastniki, obe dve skupini imata enako AHP vrednost, tj. 0,2328. Na tretjem mestu ostajajo odjemalci, ki imajo nižjo vrednost za več kot 0,05 deleža, in sicer 0,1766. Prvi trije najvplivnejši udeleženci, ki so zaposleni, lastniki in odjemalci, imajo skupaj več kot 0,30 to i 0,25 i t 0,20 I I 0,10 ■o C 0,05 tu E D- 0,00 0,2790 0,1839 0,2551 0,1408 0,1415 odjemalci lastniki zaposleni drža\a dobavitelji posamezne skupine udeležencev Slika 1 Presojanje vplivnih udeležencev s strani ekspertne skupine A194 Organizacija, letnik 41 Razprave številka 4, julij-avgust 2008 Slika 2 Presojanje ekspertne skupine o vplivnih udeležencih vključno z managerji ai 0 c "O £ > a. 1 < i c (D >N ® frc. maison 'hiša'. Poglejmo, kaj pravi Hornby o obravnavanih pojmih. Na str. 778 ima beseda manage več pomenov. Od skupaj 7 se nam zdi zanimiv šesti, ko gre za pojem manage BUSINESS/ TEAM: to control or be in charge of a business, a team, an organization, etc: to manage a factory / bank / hotel / soccer team; to manage a department / project. Podobno je za besedo manager več pomenov. Od treh je zanimiv prvi: a person who is in charge of running a business, a shop / store or a similar organization or part of one: a bank / hotel manager; the sales / marketing / personnel manager; a meeting of area managers. Pri pojmu management so po oceni avtorja interesantni vsi trije pomeni. 1: the act of running and controlling a business or similar organization: a career in management; hotel / project management; a management training course. A 209 Organizacija, letnik 41 Razmišljanja številka 4, julij-avgust 2008 2: the people who run and control a business or similar organization: The management is / are considering closing the factory. The shop is now under new management. junior / middle / senior management; a management decision / job. 3: the act or skill of dealing with people or situations in a successful way: classroom management; time management; management of staff. Poglejmo si na str. 729 še pojma leader in leadership. Za prvi pojem so 4 možne razlage, od katerih se zdi smiselna prva. Leader (1): a person who leads a group of people, especially the head of the country, an organization, etc: a political / spiritual leader; the leader of the Conservative party; union leaders; He was not a natural leader. She is a born leader. Za pojem leadership so tri razlage. 1: the state or position of being a leader: a leadership contest; The party thrived under his leadership. 2: the ability to be a leader or the qualities a good leader should have: leadership qualities / skills; Strong leadership is needed to captain the team. 3: a group of leaders of a particular organization, etc: The party leadership is / are divided. Poglejmo, kaj pravi Lidija Šega (že citirana) o pojmih manage, manager, management, leader in leadership. Na str. 446 je manage: UPR upravljati, voditi, urejati in na isti strani še management z dvema razlagama. 1 UPR, ORG poslovodenje, upravljanje, vodenje, poslovodno odločanje, menedžment, menedžers-tvo. 2 vodni organ, vodstvo, uprava, vodilni / vodstveni kadri, vodilni uslužbenci / delavci; management, menedžment. Na str. 448 ima beseda manager tri interpretacije. 1 UPR, DEL poslovodja, upravnik, direktor. 2 organizator poslovanja, poslovni vodja, manager, menedžer. 3 vodja / direktor podružnice / poslovalnice. Na str. 412 je za nas ustrezna razlaga besede lead (I/2): UPR, ORG vodstvo, vodenje, vodilna vloga kot samostalnik in kot glagol (II/2): UPR, ORG voditi, biti v vodstvu. Na str. 413 je leader (1) vodja, vodilni in na isti strani še leadership (1): UPR, ORG vodstvo, vodenje in (2) sposobnost vodenja, voditeljska sposobnost. V SSKJ (že citiran) je na str. 480 pojem leader tudi lider (na str. 493 nas usmerja na leader) publ. voditelj, zlasti politični: leaderji afriških držav / leader delovne skupine. Na str. 520 sta pojma management in manager pojasnjena takole: management v kapitalistični ekonomiki vodenje podjetja: visoko razvit management; vodilni uslužbenci: vrhovni management; manager in menedžer (na str. 540 usmerja na manager) 1. v kapitalistični ekonomiki vodilni uslužbenec podjetja; direktor, ravnatelj: družbo upravljajo managerji; odločilna vloga managerjev 2. publ. voditelj, organizator zlasti v gospodarstvu: biti manager turistične agencije; dober, nesposoben manager / turistični manager. Slovenski pravopis (SP) se do obravnavanih pojmov opredeljuje tako, da opušča izvirno obliko zapisa v angleščini in dovoljuje le fonetično obliko, npr.: lider (namesto leader; še liderski), menedžer (namesto manager) in menedžment (namesto management). Na str. 621 tako najdemo pojem lider publ. voditelj, vodja; liderka publ. voditeljica, vodja; liderski publ. liderske sposobnosti voditeljske. Na str. 859 je pojem menedžer opisan takole: menedžer v podjetju direktor, poslovodni upravljavec; menedžer poslovalnice vodja; menedžer boksarja, pevke /poslovni zastopnik/; menedžerka in menedžerjev. Na isti strani je tudi pojem menedžment pojm. visoko razvit menedžment (vodenje, upravljanje); skup. vrhovni menedžment vodstvo, vodilni uslužbenci. Upoštevaje domnevo, da se sestavljalci slovenskega pravopisa niso poglabljali v strokovni (vsebinski) vidik izrazov (za kar najbrž niso bili poklicani), se zdi, da je iz navedenega za vsakdanjo prakso pomembno in zavezujoče, da uporabljamo obravnavane pojme v fonetičnem zapisu. Izvirnih izrazov v angleščini slovenski pravopis kratkomalo ne dovoljuje. Kljub zelo intimnemu prepričanju o nesprejemljivosti pravila "piši kao što govoriš" (po Vuku Karadži u) v slovenskem jeziku in ne glede na nekatera negativna mnenja o SP in njegovem idejnem tvorcu, se je pravilom v SP najbrž smiselno podrejati in jih sprejemati kot zavezujoče. 4. Primeri iz prakse Najprej bi želeli izpostaviti prevod "ICB - IPMA Competence Baseline, Version 3.0". Gre za temeljno delo o usposobljenosti s področja projektnega managementa, ki ga je izdalo mednarodno združenje za projektni management - IPMA oz. International Project Management Association. Prevod je delo teama prevajalcev - članov Slovenskega združenja za projektni management ZPM z naslovom "Struktura kompetenc projektnega managementa - SKPM". Prevajalci so se odločili, da dosledno uveljavljajo pojma "projektni management" in „projektni manager". V tiskanih medijih, kjer posebej izstopa časopis DELO, se dosledno uveljavljata pojma menedžer in menedžment skladno s Slovenskim pravopisom. Javnosti je relativno malo poznano, da obstaja „Standardna klasifikacija poklicev" (na kratko SKP, ki jo vodi Statistični urad Republike Slovenije, SURS). V Ur. listu RS, št. 16/2000, str. 2157 je bil tako objavljen nov poklic projektni(-a) mene-džer(-ka) s šifro 2419.09, področna skupina 241, naziv dejavnosti: 2419 - strokovnjaki(-nje) za poslovanje. Na Univerzi v Mariboru deluje na Ekonomsko-poslovni fakulteti Inštitut za projektni management (menedžment). Predstojnik tega inštituta je izdal knjigo Projektni management (menedžment). A 210 Organizacija, letnik 41 Razmišljanja številka 4, julij-avgust 2008 Aktualni predsednik slovenskega PMI Chapterja je lastnik in direktor (menedžer) družbe (podjetja) Inštitut za projektni management (menedžment) in informacijsko tehnologijo. Imamo Slovensko združenje za projektni management (menedžment), ki je včlanjeno v International Project Management Association - IPMA. V Sloveniji izhaja revija Manager (Menedžer), registrirano je tudi združenje Manager (Menedžer). Bolj kot zanimivost je treba omeniti sicer zelo puristične Nemce. Njihovo nacionalno združenje je Deutsche Geselschaft für Projektmanagement (s kratico GPM). Izdali so obsežno strokovno delo Projektmanagement Fachmann. Tudi avstrijsko združenje je zadržalo, podobno kot nemško, izvirno, rahlo prilagojeno dikcijo („k" namesto „c" v besedi „projekt") Projekt Management Austria Institut - PMA. Podobno so se odločili tudi v nemško govorečem delu Švice. V občasnih stikih z nekaterimi ljudmi, ki jim je obravnavana problematika blizu (npr.: Rudi Rozman, Janez Mayer, Bojan Erjavšek), so v neformalnih strokovnih razgovorih pojasnili, da po njihovem gledanju obstaja razlika med pojmoma management (menedžment) in vodenje, voditeljstvo (leadership, liderstvo) oz. temu ustrezno tudi med pojmoma manager (menedžer) in vodja (leader, lider). Menimo, da je vsem dobro znana preferenca Rudija Rozmana (glej tudi Miran Mihelčič) ravnanje, ravna-teljevanje, ravnatelj, ravnalec ipd. za pojme management (menedžment) in manager (menedžer). O tej tematiki obstaja tehten članek v reviji Organizacija (1996, št. 1). Osebno lahko štejemo Rozmanu v dobro, da študentom dovoljuje alternativno uporabo izvirnih angleških pojmov brez morebitnih neprijetnih posledic za njihov študijski uspeh, kar je sam v javnosti večkrat omenil. Na prvi strani novembrske številke mesečnika PM Network, Nov. 2007, Vol. 21, No. 11, pade v oči v podnaslovu tim. "cover story Project leaders repair and revamp urban infra- structure ....". Na notranjih straneh kazala je uporabljen pojem: "Cover story: Urban Sensibility, Project managers are making a high-profile push to repair and revamp ...." Kdo bi vedel, kaj in kako? So avtorji želeli poudariti razliko med pojmoma ali smemo morda domnevati, da gre za sinonim? Naj za konec predstavimo še primer "dobre prakse" iz časopisa DELO, 1. decembra 2007, str. 27, kjer poleg slike bujne blondinke v spodnjem perilu podjetje Lisca oglašuje zaposlitveno možnost za, citiram, "projektnega vodjo v marketingu (m/ž), ki bo zadolžen (op. pis.: v originalu, po mnenju lektorja je lepše "zavezan") predvsem za upravljanje (!) spletnih strani in direktni marketing. Iščemo dinamične mlajše osebe z izrazitim smislom za modo, visokošolsko izobrazbo, z dobrim računalniškim znanjem ter znanjem angleškega jezika." (konec citata) Je morda popolnoma naključno potrebno tudi strokovno znanje projektnega managementa (menedž-menta)? Morda kak certifikat CPM (po IPMA) ali PMP® (po PMI®)? Morda celo končan specialistični študij PM, ki je svoje čase potekal na Ekonomski fakulteti UL? Je to morda eden od primerov razvoja živega jezika, po katerem naj bi se stroka ravnala? 5. Predlogi Predlagamo, da glede na vse navedeno pri obravnavanih pojmih (1) zavezujoče upoštevamo Slovenski pravopis; (2) razlikujemo pojma vodenje (leadership, liderstvo) od manage-menta (menedžmenta); (3) razlikujemo pojma skupina in team (tim); (4) uporabljamo pojem projektni tim; (5) uporabljamo pojem projektni menedžment; (6) uporabljamo pojem projektni menedžer oz. projektna mene-džerka. V razmislek bi dali še različico, uporabno pri prevajanju našega standarda. PMI® PMBOK® vodnik posebej poudarja, da se standard nanaša na posamičen projekt. Na primer, na str. 35 je v naslovu "Standard projektnega vodenja za projekt" in še na str. 36 v besedilu razvidno, da gre za posamičen projekt (citat: "Pričujoči standard dokumentira informacije, ki so potrebne, da zaženemo, planiramo, izvedemo, spremljamo in kontroliramo ter končamo posamičen projekt."). Če bi torej to dejstvo želeli posebej poudariti, se odpira možnost za uporabo pojmov menedžment projekta, menedžer projekta oz. menedžerka projekta. Sklep S prispevkom ne želimo povzročati "revolucije" pri poimenovanju nekaterih pojmov s področja projektnega menedžmenta. Zagovornikov takšnih in drugačnih rešitev je veliko; edina zanesljiva trditev je, da so rešitve med seboj različne. Ugotavljamo, da je v slovenski strokovni javnosti, v uglednih strokovnih virih in v vsakodnevni praksi v zvezi z obravnavanimi pojmi izjemna neenotnost in neusklajenost, kar seveda škoduje stroki in medsebojnemu sporazumevanju. Zato smo z argumenti oblikovali predlog za morebitno konstruktivno razpravo in pozivamo vse prizadete k strpnemu dialogu. Ta neusklajenost je velika tudi zaradi tega, ker obravnavani pojmi niso značilni le za stroko projektnega menedžmenta, pač pa so v takšnem ali drugačnem pomenu vezani tudi na druga strokovna področja. Na določeno neenotnost kažejo, kljub svoji uglednosti, tudi citirani viri. Ti sicer ne ponujajo dokončne in enotne zavezujoče rešitve, se pa zdi, da - gledano v celoti - bolj podpirajo predlog avtorja, kot pa da ga zavračajo. Vsakodnevna praksa lahko citirane vire upošteva, lahko pa jih tudi ignorira. Na to, žal, ne moremo vplivati. Jezik je živa stvar in se nenehno spreminja. Tako se spreminja tudi strokovno izrazje. Če gre pri izrazju za tako temeljne pojme v stroki, kot jih obravnava to besedilo, pa vendarle menimo, da jih je na nek način treba poenotiti in v koraku s časom posodabljati. Če bo pričujoči prispevek spodbudil bralca k razmišljanju, A 211 Organizacija, letnik 41 morebiti celo k strinjanju ali pa h konstruktivnim predlogom, potem je njegov namen dosežen. Reference Časopis DELO (2007). Številka z dne 1. decemb-ra 2007, Ljub-ljana. Hornby, A. S. (2000). Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English, ó. izdaja, 4. ponatis, Oxford. International Project Management Association (2007). Struktura kompetenc projektnega managementa: SKPM: IPMA (ICB), različica 3.0, Slovensko združenje za projektni management, Ljubljana. IPMA International Project Management Association (200ó). ICB - IPMA Competence Baseline, Ver- Razmišljanja sion 3.0, International Project Management Association, Nijkerk, NL. Možina, S. et al. (1994). Management, Didacta, Radovljica. Project Management Institute (2004). A guide to the project management body of knowledge - PMBOK® guide, third edition, Newtown Square, PA, USA. Project Management Institute (2007). PMI Today, Novemb-er 2007, New-town Square, PA, USA. Project Management Institute (2007). PM Network, Nov. 2007, Vol. 21, No. 11. Project Management Institute (2008). Vodnik po znanju projektnega vodenja - PMBOK® vodnik, tretja izdaja, Moderna organizacija, Kranj. Rationalisierungs-Kuratorium der Deutschen Wirtschaft (RKW), Skupina avtorjev (1998). Projektmanagement Fachmann, 4. izdaja, RKW, Eschb-orn. številka 4, julij-avgust 2008 Rozman, R. (1996). Kako prevesti "management" v slovenščino: management, menedžment,upravljanje, poslovode-nje, vodenje, ravnanje? Organizacija, letnik 29 (1): 5 - 18. Slovenska akademija znanosti in umetnosti (1997). Slovar slovenskega knjižnega jezika (SSKJ), Državna založba Slovenije in SAZU, Ljubljana. Snoj, M. (1997). Slovenski etimološki slovar, Mladinska knjiga, Ljubljana. Šega, L. (1997). Veliki moderni poslovni angleško-slovenski slovar, Cankarjeva založba, Ljubljana. Toporišič, J. (2003). Slovenski pravopis, drugi natis, Slovenska akademija znanosti in umetnosti in Znanstvenoraziskovalni center SAZU, Inštitut za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša, Ljubljana. Uradni list RS, št. 16/24.2.2000, str. 2157, Ljubljana. A 212 Organizacija, Volume 41 Abstracts Number 4, July-August 2008 Darko Kovač, Andrej Bertoncelj Organizational Mental Map and Conative Competences Employees with their knowledge, skills, behavior and personal traits impact the organizational learning. The concept of organizational mental map and conative competences, as inborn underlying characteristic that is influenced by employees being involved as well as endogenous and exogenous factors, is presented. Three Slovene small to midsized companies were studied in respect to the individual factors, especially cona-tive competences, of their employees. The study suggests that conative side of mind and thus conative competences can actually influence the organizational learning. What matters in contemporary management practice is how hidden potentials are set free and how they intrinsically motivate employees according to their personal differences in capabilities. As conative competences are inborn and can not be learned but only encouraged, contrary to cognitive competences, it is important to better understand employees' personal traits. Key words: organizational learning, SME, conation, conative competences, organizational mental map Aleš Tankosič, Anita Trnavčevič Internet Marketing Communication and Schools: The Slovenian Case Study Worldwide, some 1.32 billon people now use the Internet (Internet World Stats 2007). In the developed countries the Internet is also present in educational institutions; schools use the Internet as a means of communication with their customers. In Slovenia, however, research focusing on Internet marketing communication are rare in the field of education. This paper provides the theoretical framework and the results of the qualitative case study conducted at a school centre in Slovenia in 2005. Data were collected through group interviews and document analysis. The findings sup- port the School Centre teachers' claim that the Internet does not enable personal contacts and the sensory collection of physical evidence, which are considered to be major disadvantages of Internet marketing communication. The teachers who consider Internet marketing communication to be an advantage stress the importance of virtuality which can function as a simulation of communication in the real world. Their adversaries, on the other hand, stress the importance of the physical world and warn us of the negative sides of virtuality. Key words: education, marketing, internet marketing, internet marketing communication Andreja Lutar Skerbinjek The Role of Information for Recognising Business Opportunities Managers need a lot of knowledge and information to make decisions and recognize business opportunities. They can acquire this knowledge and information in different ways. Accounting information, particularly information relating to the creditworthiness of business partners and competitors, is important. Such information, which can contain non-accounting information, is often derived from annual reports. The fastest and cheapest way of accessing information is via the Internet. Because searching for information about different businesses on their Web sites can be time consuming, a quicker, more efficient option is to access this information on databases that contain useful information relating to the majority of businesses in the country. In this paper, we discuss the importance of knowledge and information for recognizing business opportunities. We also analyze the appropriateness of accounting information available from five of the most widely used databases concerning Slovene and Croatian businesses, for estimating the creditworthiness of businesses. Key words: business opportunities, knowledge, accounting information, cre-ditworthiness information, databases, business partners, competitors, annual reports, appropriate information, reporting agencies. Uroš Klanšek, Mirko Pšunder Cost Optimal Project Scheduling This paper presents the cost optimal project scheduling. The optimization was performed by the nonlinear programming approach, NLP. The nonlinear total project cost objective function is subjected to the rigorous system of the activity precedence relationship constraints, the activity duration constraints and the project duration constraints. The set of activity precedence relationship constraints was defined to comprise Finish-to-Start, Start-to-Start, Start-to-Finish and Finish-to-Finish precedence relationships between activities. The activity duration constraints determine relationships between minimum, maximum and possible duration of the project activities. The project duration constraints define the maximum feasible project duration. A numerical example is presented at the end of the paper in order to present the applicability of the proposed approach. Key words: project management, scheduling, optimization, nonlinear programming, NLP Peter Friedl, Roberto Biloslavo An Analysis of the Influence Change Method Selection Factors Show on the Evolutionary Changes in Construction Companies in Slovenija The basic purpose of this research is to study the influence change method selection factors show on the effectiveness of evolutionary changes in construction companies in Slovenia. A combination of the qualitative and quantitative approaches to research work were applied in the course of conceptualisation and implementation of the empirical research. The findings established in the process of this research, about the nature of the application of the studied selec- A 213 Organizacija, Volume 41 Abstracts Number 4, July-August 2008 tion factors in methods of evolutionary changes implemented in business management, will enable a more effective selection from the vast pool of methods available for the implementation of changes and their more effective application. As a result, the business efficiency in companies can be expected to increase, while at the same time providing companies with more equal opportunities to compete on an international level, which is of crucial importance when it comes to corporate entities that operate in posttransition environments. Key words: company change management, strategic management, Slovenia, construction industry, change method selection factors. Roland Rusjan Figelj, Roberto Biloslavo Participants Groups of Influence in Slovenian Alimentary Branch The stakeholder theory has both many defenders and many opponents. It's so not surprising, that many questions are still waiting for the researchers, to be explained. In the present paper we are trying to give an answer, on how managers in Slovene companies perceive the significance of singular participants. These participants are the shareholders, the management, the employees, the customers, the suppliers and the state. A three members expert group research results are first reported, followed by research results among medium and large processing companies' managers in Slovenia, concluding in the last part, by a comparison analysis between the two researches results. The comparison analysis results attest surprising match between the experts' and managers' perceiving of singular participant's significance. Key words: strategic management, stakeholder theory, participants' influence groups, processing industry Franc Zemljič, Eva Jereb Implementation of Innovation and Better Qualifications for Railway Employees According to the European Union Directives and Owner Interests This contribution presents an obligatory transfer of European legislation issued by the European Parliament and Council for the transport and infrastructure sector, into the national legal orders and adjustment of national rules and standards. Therefore, employee knowledge has to be upgraded. In addition, employees should be professionally and linguistically qualified as stipulated in current national and European legislation. A study was carried out on the variations and differences in the methodology of qualifications through researching the qualification systems in European railways. The contribution, besides an elaborated model for employee qualification according to the European committee, also contains the restructuring of accompanying factors of qualification and the implementation of qualification innovations, which influence the quality of qualification so as to achieve a better qualification of railway employees. Key words: qualification of railways, European Union directives, qualification model, implementation of innovation, owner interests. A 214 Organizacija, letnik 41 Donatorji številka 4, julij-avgust 2008 Donatorji izgradnje stavbe UM Fakultete za organizacijske vede ADRIA AIRWAYS - Slovenski letalski prevoznik d.d. Kuzmičeva 7, 1000 LJUBLJANA ARBORETUM Volčji potok 3, 1235 RADOMLJE ALPETOUR REMONT d.d. Ljubljanska 22, 4000 KRANJ ATOTECH - Kemična tovarna Podnart d.d. Podnart 24, 4244 PODNART AVTOTEHNA d.d. Slovenska cesta 54, 1000 LJUBLJANA BIGRAD Kolodvorska 37d, 2310 SLOVENSKA BISTRICA BRDO - PROTOKOLARNI SERVIS Predoslje 39, 4000 KRANJ DEDALUS d.o.o. Dunajska 156, 1000 LJUBLJANA DELO - Časopisno in založniško podjetje d.d. Dunajska 5, 1509 LJUBLJANA DOMEL d.d. - Elektromotorji in gospodinjski aparati Otoki 21, 4228 ŽELEZNIKI DOMPLAN d.d. Bleiweisova cesta 14, 4000 KRANJ ELEKTRO GORENJSKA Javno podjetje za distribucijo električne energije, d.d. Bleiweisova cesta 6, 4000 KRANJ ELEKTROTEHNIŠKO PODJETJE d.d. Ulica Mirka Vadnova 11, 4000 KRANJ EL - VER, Elektroinstalacije Zvonko Verlič s.p. Streliška 150, 2000 MARIBOR ETIKETA Tiskarna d.d. Industrijska ulica 6, 4226 ŽIRI EXOTERM Kemična tovarna, d.d. Struževo 66, 4000 KRANJ FOTO TIVOLI d.o.o. Cankarjeva 7, 1000 LJUBLJANA GORENJSKA BANKA d.d. Bleiweisova 1, 4000 KRANJ GORENJSKA PREDILNICA d.d. Kidričeva cesta 75, 4220 ŠKOFJA LOKA GORENJSKI TISK d.d. Ul. Mirka Vadnova 6, 4000 KRANJ GRADBINEC GIP d.o.o. Nazorjeva 1, 4000 Kranj GRATEX d.o.o. Spodnja Rečica 81, 3270 LAŠKO HIT d.d. Nova Gorica - Hoteli igralnica turizem Delpinova 7a, 5000 NOVA GORICA HTG - Hoteli Turizem Gostinstvo d.d. Partizanska cesta 1, 6210 SEŽANA IBM Slovenija d.o.o. Trg Republike 3, 1000 LJUBLJANA IBI Kranj - Proizvodnja žakarskih tkanin d.d. Jelenčeva ulica 1, 4000 KRANJ ISA Anton Mernik s.p. - Izvajanje sanacij v gradbeništvu Kolodvorska ulica 35c, 2310 SLOVENSKA BISTRICA ISKRAEMECO, d.d. Savska Loka 4, 4000 KRANJ ISKRA - Iskra avtoelektrika d.d. Polje 15, 5290 ŠEMPETER PRI GORICI ISKRA - Industrija sestavnih delov d.d. Savska loka 4, 4000 KRANJ ISKRA INSTRUMENTI d.d. Otoče 5a, 4244 PODNART ISKRATEL - Telekomunikacijski sistemi d.o.o., Kranj Ljubljanska cesta 24/a, 4000 KRANJ ISKRA TRANSMISSION d.d. Stegne 11, 1000 LJUBLJANA Izredni študenti FOV JELOVICA d.d. Kidričeva 58, 4220 ŠKOFJA LOKA JEROVŠEK COMPUTERS, d.o.o. Breznikova 17, 1230 DOMŽALE KOGRAD GRADNJE d.o.o. Preradovičeva ul. 20, 2000 MARIBOR KOMUNALNO PODJETJE GORNJA RADGONA p.o. Trate 7, 9250 GORNJA RADGONA KOPIRNICA DEU s.p. Kidričeva 55a, 4000 KRANJ KOVINAR d.o.o. Vitanje Kovaška cesta 12, 3205 VELENJE KRKA, d.d., Novo mesto Šmarješka cesta 6, 8501 NOVO MESTO KRKA ZDRAVILIŠČA - Zdraviliške, turistične in gostinske storitve d.o.o. Germova ulica 4, 8501 NOVO MESTO LESNA Lesnoindustrijsko podjetje d.d. Pod gradom 2, 2380 SLOVENJ GRADEC A 215 Organizacija, letnik 41 Donatorji številka 4, julij-avgust 2008 LETNIK SAUBERMACHER d.o.o. Sp. Porčič 49, 2230 LENART V SLOVENSKIH GORICAH LINIJA - Rajko Flerin, s.p., Slikopleskar in črkoslikar Britof 284, 4000 KRANJ LJUBLJANSKE MLEKARNE d.d. Tolstojeva 63, 1000 LJUBLJANA LUKA KOPER d.d. Vojkovo nabrežje 38, 6000 KOPER MAGNETOMEDICINA d.o.o. Tržaška cesta 468, 1351 BREZOVICA PRI LJUBLJANI MARMOR HOTAVLJE d.d. Hotavlje 40, 4224 GORENJA VAS MAT d. o. o. Orlova 12 a, 1000 LJUBLJANA MEHANIZMI - Iskra Mehanizmi d.d. Lipnica Lipnica 8, 4245 KROPA MERCATOR - TRGOAVTO d.d. - Trgovina, servis Pristaniška 43/a, 6000 KOPER MERCATOR - PC GRADIŠČE d.d. Golijev trg 11, 8210 TREBNJE MERCATOR-OPTIMA - Inženiring d.o.o. Breg 14, 1000 LJUBLJANA MERKUR - Trgovina in storitve d.d. KRANJ Koroška cesta 1, 4000 KRANJ MESNA INDUSTRIJA PRIMORSKE d.d. Panovška 1, 5000 NOVA GORICA MICROSOFT d.o.o. Šmartinska cesta 140, 1000 LJUBLJANA MOBITEL d.d. Vilharjeva 23, 1537 LJUBLJANA OBČINA RADOVLJICA Gorenjska cesta 19, 4240 RADOVLJICA Opravljanje del z gradbeno mehanizacijo MARJAN RAZPOTNIK s.p. Krače 8, 1411 IZLAKE OPTIMA - Podjetje za inženiring in trgovino d.o.o. Ulica 15. maja 21, 6000 KOPER PALOMA SLADKOGORSKA - Tovarna papirja d.d. Sladki vrh 1, 2214 SLADKI VRH PIVOVARNA UNION d.d. Pivovarniška ulica 2, 1001 LJUBLJANA POSLOVNI SISTEM MERCATOR d.d. Dunajska cesta 107, 1000 LJUBLJANA POSLOVNI SISTEM - ŽITO LJUBLJANA d.d. Šmartinska cesta 154, 1000 LJUBLJANA POSLOVNO PRIREDITVENI CENTER -GORENJSKI SEJEM Kranj d.d. Stara cesta 25, 4000 KRANJ POŠTA SLOVENIJE d.o.o. Slomškov trg 10, 2000 MARIBOR RIMORJE d.d. Vipavska cesta 3, 5270 AJDOVŠČINA REGIONALNI CENTER ZA RAZVOJ d.o.o. Cesta zmage 35, 1410 ZAGORJE OB SAVI SATURNUS - AVTOOPREMA d.d. Letališka c. 17, 1001 LJUBLJANA SAVA - Gumarska in kemična industrija d.d. Škofjeloška 6, 4502 KRANJ SIEMENS d.o.o. Dunajska cesta 22, 1000 LJUBLJANA SLOBODNIK JOŽE Generalni častni konzul RS v Kanadi SLOVENIJALES PRODAJNI CENTRI Dunajska cesta 22, 1000 LJUBLJANA SLOVENSKE ŽELEZNICE d.d. Kolodvorska ulica 11, 1000 LJUBLJANA SVEA LESNA INDUSTRIJA d.d. Cesta 20. julij 23, 1410 ZAGORJE OB SAVI SUROVINA d.d. MARIBOR Pobreška cesta 20, 2000 MARIBOR TELEKOM SLOVENIJE d.d. Cigaletova 15, 1000 LJUBLJANA TERME MARIBOR Zdravstvo, turizem, rekreacija d.d. Ul. heroja Šlandra 10, 2000 MARIBOR TERMO d.d. - Industrija termičnih izolacij Trata 32, 4220 ŠKOFJA LOKA TERMOELEKTRARNA TOPLARNA Ljubljana d.o.o. Toplarniška 19, 1000 LJUBLJANA TOVARNA KLOBUKOV ŠEŠIR d.d. Kidričeva 57, 4220 ŠKOFJA LOKA TRIMO Inženiring in proizvodnja montažnih objektov d.d. Prijateljeva 12, 8210 TREBNJE UNITAS - Tovarna armatur d.d. Celovška cesta 224, 1107 LJUBLJANA USTANOVA SLOVENSKA ZNANSTVENA FUNDACIJA Štefanova 15, 1000 LJUBLJANA ZAVAROVALNICA TRIGLAV, d.d. Miklošičeva cesta 19, 1000 LJUBLJANA ZVEZA RAČUNOVODIJ, FINANČNIKOV IN REVIZORJEV SLOVENIJE Dunajska cesta 106, 1000 LJUBLJANA ŽIVILA KRANJ - Trgovina in gostinstvo d.d. Cesta na Okroglo 3, 4202 NAKLO ŽITO GORENJKA d.d. Rožna dolina 8, 4248 LESCE A 216 Organizacija, letnik 41 številka 4, julij-avgust 2GG8 A 217 Organizacija, letnik 41 {tevilka 4, julij-avgust 2008 UNIVERZA V MARIBORU - FAKULTETA ZA ORGANIZACIJSKE VEDE TQM ODLIČNOST 10% 1 -1 14% M 15% M |20%| 1 « 1 M 6 a /YY Janez Marolt Boštjan Gomišček Management kakovosti Založba Modema organizacija A218