Berislav Žmuk

Statistical Methods Use in Small Enterprises: Relation to Performance

Abstract Background: There are several factors that lead to an improved level of competitiveness and increased net income of enterprises. Previous studies have shown that an appropriate use of statistical methods has positive effects on the level of competitiveness and on enterprises’ net income in general. Objectives: This study analyses the statistical methods use in Croatian small enterprises. The goal of this research is to establish whether most Croatian small enterprises use statistical methods and whether the enterprises that use statistical methods on average have greater net income than the enterprises that do not use statistical methods. Methods/Approach: A web survey was conducted on the sample of 631 small enterprises in Croatia in 2012. In the analysis a complex survey design was taken into account. Results: The results have shown that in most Croatian small enterprises statistical methods are not used. The enterprises that use statistical methods on average have greater net income than the enterprises that do not use them. Conclusions: The results suggest that even though the use of statistical methods in small enterprises leads to higher net income, they are not used in the majority of Croatian small enterprises. If Croatian small enterprises want to succeed on the demanding European Union’s market they should consider using statistical methods in their business.

Capabilities of Statistical Residual-Based Control Charts in Short- and Long-Term Stock Trading

Abstract The aim of this paper is to introduce and develop additional statistical tools to support the decision-making process in stock trading. The prices of CROBEX10 index stocks on the Zagreb Stock Exchange were used in the paper. The conducted trading simulations, based on the residual-based control charts, led to an investor’s profit in 67.92% cases. In the short run, the residual-based cumulative sum (CUSUM) control chart led to the highest portfolio profits. In the long run, when average stock prices were used and 2-sigma control limits set, the residual-based exponential weighted moving average control chart had the highest portfolio profit. In all other cases in the long run, the CUSUM control chart appeared to be the best choice. The acknowledgment that the SPC methods can be successfully used in stock trading will, hopefully, increase their use in this field.

Exploratory study of insurance companies in selected post-transition countries: Non-hierarchical cluster analysis

This paper focuses on the analysis of business practice of insurance companies in selected post-transition European countries. Specifically, it covers Croatian, Slovenian, Hungarian and Polish insurance markets in the year 2014 comprising the total of 119 insurance companies. Employing the non-hierarchical cluster analysis by applying the k-means approach, insurance companies are segmented into seven groups using various variables such as ROE, the share of premium ceded to reinsurance, the number of years operating in the insurance market, leverage, gross premium written and the share of life insurance premium in the total premium. Furthermore, these seven clusters have been grouped according to the country of origin, ownership and the type of insurance companies. Results indicate that specific groups of insurance companies in these countries share common characteristics, which are not based solely on the country of origin and the type of insurance.

Intracluster Homogeneity Selection Problem in a Business Survey

Abstract Background: In the cluster sampling approach many parameters have influence on lowering the survey costs and one of the most important is the intracluster homogeneity. Objectives: The goal of the paper is to find the most optimal value of intracluster homogeneity in case when two or more questions or variables have a key role in the research. Methods/Approach: Five key variables have been selected from a business survey conducted in Croatia and results for the two-stage cluster sampling design approach were simulated. The calculated intracluster homogeneity values were compared among all the five observed questions and survey costs and precision levels were inspected. Results: In the new cluster sampling design, for the fixed precision level, the lowest survey costs would be achieved by using the intracluster homogeneity value which is the closest to the average intracluster homogeneity value among all the key questions. Similar results were obtained when survey costs were held fixed. Conclusions: If there is more than one key question in the survey, then the best solution would be to use an average intracluster homogeneity value. However, one should notice that in that case minimum survey costs would not be reached, but the precision levels would increase at all key questions.

Adoption and Benefits of Statistical Methods in Enterprises: Differences between Croatian Regions

Abstract This paper aims to address differences in the use of statistical methods by enterprises as one of the factors leading to the uneven level of economic development between different regions. For research purposes, a web survey was conducted on a sample of 667 Croatian enterprises in 2013. In order to better distinguish between Croatian regions, a complex sample survey design was used. The results show that the highest rates of statistical methods use among enterprises are in the Central and East region (36.96%). The conducted logistic regression analysis showed that the enterprises that use statistical methods have 63.5% greater odds of achieving positive net income than enterprises that do not. The research results point out the need for the adoption of statistical methods as a tool for achieving higher net income and for reducing economic dissimilarities between regions.

Selling Online by European Enterprises – Multivariate Analysis Approach

This paper aims to describe and analyse possible impacts on selling online by enterprises as the main variable under consideration in the study, in selected European countries using five selected independent variables that represent the information and communication technology (ICT) and the economic development level. Data for 31 European countries were analysed. The paper presents recent trends in European enterprises in using online selling as one of many Internet services. Three groups of countries according to the share of enterprises selling online were recognized. The complete picture about the achieved economic and ICT development level in the countries was obtained by conducted clustering where all six variables were included in the analysis. The main research hypothesis was that economic and ICT developments have a significant impact on the share of enterprises that sell online. The conducted factor analysis sorted five observed independent variables into two groups. The multiple linear regression analysis based on the factors showed that both groups have a statistically significant impact on the share of enterprises that sell online. This means that these two factors together have a crucial role in determining the ICT development level in European enterprises.

Quality of Life Indicators in Selected European Countries: Hierarchical Cluster Analysis Approach

Abstract The average expected duration of human life is rising because of different reasons. On the other hand, not only the duration, but the quality of life level is important, too. The higher the quality of life level, the citizens’ happiness and satisfaction levels are higher, which has positive impact on the development and operating of an economy. The goal of this paper is to identify groups of European countries, using statistical hierarchical cluster analysis, by using the quality of life indicators, and to recognise differences in quality of life levels. The quality of life is measured by using seven different indicators. The conducted statistical hierarchical cluster analysis is based on the Ward’s clustering method, and squared Euclidean distances. The results of conducted statistical hierarchical cluster analysis enabled recognizing of three different groups of European countries: old European Union member states, new European Union members, and non-European Union member states. The analysis has revealed that the old European Union member states seem to have in average higher quality of life level than the new European Union member states. Furthermore, the European Union member states have in average higher quality of live level than non-European Union members do. The results indicate that quality of life levels and economic development levels are connected.

Primjena statističkih metoda i poslovni rezultati poduzeća u Hrvatskoj: neiskorišteni potencijal

Statisticke metode namijenjene su pomaganju poduzecima u pracenju i poboljsanju postojecih poslovnih procesa te u donosenju poslovnih odluka. U radu se ispituje razina primjene statistickih metoda u poduzecima u Hrvatskoj te njihova veza s poslovnim rezultatima poduzeca. Provedeno web anketno istraživanje, u kojem je primijenjen složen dizajn uzorkovanja, pokazalo je da samo kod srednje velikih i velikih poduzeca vise od polovice poduzeca primjenjuje statisticke metode u svojem poslovanju. Utvrđeno je da postoji statisticki znacajna razlika u prosjecnoj vrijednosti ostvarene neto dobiti u 2016. godini između poduzeca koja primjenjuju statisticke metode i poduzeca koja ih ne primjenjuju. Ovisno o promatranoj stratifikaciji, pokazalo se da poduzeca koja primjenjuju statisticke metode imaju od 27, 6% do 31, 9% vecu sansu ostvarivanja pozitivne neto dobiti u odnosu na poduzeca koja ih ne primjenjuju. Međutim, ovaj zakljucak vrijedi samo kad se promatraju poduzeca u cjelini. Dodatne analize pokazale su da duljina i ucestalost primjene statistickih metoda nemaju statisticki znacajan utjecaj na vrijednost neto dobit poduzeca. Zbog toga bi trebalo pridodati vise pažnje samoj kvaliteti primjeni statistickih metoda i obrazovanju zaposlenih.

Statistical Analysis of the Development Indicators’ Impacts on E-Commerce of Individuals in Selected European Countries

Abstract The aim of this paper is to analyse the influence of the development level indicators on the e-commerce, i.e. on the online purchase by individuals, in selected European countries in 2013. In the analysis, the main variable under study and all the independent variables are included as standardised. Based on nine variables, the principal component analysis with varimax rotation was performed and the two extracted factors were used as the regressors in the multiple regression analysis. In the regression model both components, Factor 1, which includes seven variables, called Prosperity, Investing in Education and IT Infrastructure, and Awareness, and Factor 2, comprised of two variables, called IT Skills, are statistically significant at the significance level of 1%. Both factors show a positive correlation with the online purchase of individuals. Inclusion and analysis of distributions and impacts of even nine independent variables, which make up two distinct factors affecting the e-commerce, make a new contribution of this work.

Exploring impact of economic cost of violence on internationalization: Cluster analysis approach

Companies have to deal with many different challenges in their environment every day. In this article, focus is given to inspecting the impact of the economic costs of violence on 119 countries worldwide. In the analysis, the CAGE model, which consists of four complex domains: Cultural, Administrative, Geographic, and Economic differences, is used to group countries according to their development level and the level of violence costs. However, in the clustering analysis, except the CAGE variable, 10 additional variables describing development level and the economic costs of violence are used as well. According to the conducted nonhierarchical cluster analysis, in which a k-means approach was used, six groups of countries are recognized. Most countries can be found in the cluster of developing countries with low economic costs of violence. So, the results pointed out that, despite the low economic costs of violence, a large number of countries are still struggling with other key environmental challenges that prevent them from achieving their full economic development potential.