Borut Milfelner

Innovative organisation approach to sustainable tourism development in rural areas

Purpose – To work out an innovative organisation model for tourism destinations in rural areas.Design/methodology/approach – By outlining the problematic of tourism development in rural areas and implementing the concept of network management and the systems theory, we developed an innovative approach to destination management for non‐urban areas.Findings – Network management means a new lesson for destination management. Our model has been conceived to systematically deal with different subsystems and both systemic and non‐systemic entities in a rural destination.Research limitations/implications – The focus is limited to destination management in rural areas only. Although several methods suit different types of destinations, some seem to be less adequate for rural areas. The model was intended to search an optimal organisational model only.Originality/value – The model introduces an original approach to the destination management and allows its application in a wide range of real situations. It can hel...

Can Marketing Resources Contribute to Company Performance

Can Marketing Resources Contribute to Company Performance? This study investigates the relationships between market orientation, innovation resources, reputational resources, customer related capabilities and distribution-based assets, as well as their impact on both market and financial performance. The results indicate that market orientation is indirectly related to a companys market and financial performance through the four other marketing resources. Reputational resources have a positive impact on loyalty, market share and sales volume, while the impact of innovation resources on the market share and sales volume is more indirect and through customer loyalty. While customer-related capabilities significantly impact customer loyalty, their impact on the market share and sales volume can not be confirmed. On the other hand, the distribution-based assets are only weakly related to loyalty, the market share and the sales volume. The general findings indicate that selected marketing resources impact financial performance indirectly through the creation of customer loyalty and directly through the market share and sales volume.

The use of institutional measures for business ethics implementation in family and non-family businesses: Does a family matter?

The case study research methodology in combination with quantitative methods was applied to explore the influence of a family on the emergence and presence of informal and formal institutional measures of business ethics implementation. For the empirical testing, we have selected Slovenia, one of the most developed European post socialist transition countries. Our research reveals that the role modeling is presented to a greater extent in family than in non-family businesses; this measure is the most popular measure of encouraging ethical behavior in family as well as in non-family businesses. The core value statement is presented to a greater extent in non-family than in family businesses, reflecting the less formal mode of family businesses functioning. Key words: Family, family enterprise, case study, informal and formal measures of business ethics implementation, ethical behavior, transition economies, Slovenia. INTRODUCTION At the most basic level, a family enterprise may be defined as an enterprise which is controlled by members of a family. However, family enterprises are not homo-genous. Empirical research has revealed that, among others, family enterprises vary, regarding the degree of family involvement in ownership and management (Astrachan et al., 2002; Aronoff and Ward, 2002; Sharma, 2004; Westhead and Cowling, 1998; Poutziouris et al., 1997; Duh et al., 2009). The family is an intimate room where the core values, culture, as well as ethical climate of the family, as well as of the broader environment is shaped (Duh and Belak, 2009). It is also where the first social relationships are formed, which differ from relationships with people outside the family circle. The process of family education and upbringing form the foundation for the focused expectations of every single family member upon which the trust and firmness of family relations are built (Bogod and Leach, 1999). The family system forms fundamental principles, core values,

Can innovation resources influence company performance: case of Slovenia

Innovation resources are among the resources critical for the creation of sustainable competitive advantage and therefore, for the growth and survival of companies. Authors explore partial dimensions of innovation resources and their relations with company performance from a sample of companies in Slovenia as a transforming socialist economy. The results of research show moderate positive correlation between these two variables.

Similarities and Differences of Health-promoting Leadership and Transformational Leadership

Abstract The concept of health-promoting leadership focuses on the interaction between the organization and the individual by identifying components able to positively influence employees’ working conditions. In the present study, the effects of health-promoting leadership and transformational leadership on the employees’ recovery–stress balance are investigated. In an online study, 212 Slovenian workers were asked about their perceptions of their direct supervisors and their work-related stress and recovery. The results showed that both leadership styles have a significant effect on employees’ recovery at the workplace, which mediated the relationship between leadership and work-related stress.

Moderating Effects between Job Insecurity and Intention to Quit in Samples of Slovene and Austrian Workers

Abstract Job insecurity is a serious stressor in the work environment, with negative work-related outcomes. The effects of job insecurity strongly depend on the country’s economic condition. The present study investigated the relationship among job insecurity, job satisfaction, and the intention to quit as well as possible mediating variables (resources/recovery and stress). The samples of 251 Slovene and 219 Austrian workers were analyzed. The data indicated that job insecurity is related to higher stress and intention to quit as well as to lower resources/recovery at the workplace. Stress is an important mediator in the relationship between resources/recovery and job satisfaction as well as intention to quit. These relationships were found in both samples.

Hotel image and guests satisfaction as a source of sustainable competitive advantage

In contemporary marketing research, there is a general consensus in marketing and management theory that intangible resources of the organisation can play crucial role in sustainable competitive advantage creation. In this paper, the relationships between four such intangible resources (hotel image, perceived quality, perceived value and hotel guest satisfaction) are empirically researched. Structural model of guest satisfaction was developed and tested on the sample of 1,020 tourists in Slovenia. Results suggest that the direct impact of perceived quality on guest satisfaction is quite weak. However, perceived quality as well as hotel image impact guest satisfaction indirectly through perceived value. The results indicate the importance of perceived value as mediating variable in service perception models which means that marketing practitioners and managers in the hotel industry should focus their efforts mainly on the perceived value of their offerings.

Integral aproach to enterprise culture as one of the enterprises key success factors

Abstract Enterprise culture is judged by many acknowledged scientists and researchers now as a major determinant of any enterprise’s success. The present article shows the research cognitions on the impact of enterprise culture to the success of the enterprises observed. It investigates the impact of customer and employee oriented enterprise culture on market and financial performance of the enterprise. Results suggest that enterprises, which are more customer (externally) oriented, show better market performance as well as better financial performance. The cognitions also show that more employee (internally) oriented enterprises, show positive impact to their market as well as to their financial performance.

Determinants of Subjective Emotional Well-Being and Self-Determination of Employees: Slovene Case

Abstract Work is a crucial part of human life. One should attain employees’ well-being (WB) to support organisational success. In the first phase, the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed to assess the dimensionality, reliability, and validity of the reflective latent constructs. In the second phase, structural equation modelling was performed to test the research hypotheses. By structural equation modelling we found that physical health (PH) statistically significant negatively affects subjective emotional well-being (SEWB). Positive PH and SEWB were negatively connected. Emotional intelligence (EI) has a statistically significant impact on SEWB. The last relationship in the model—between spiritual intelligence (SI) and self-determination (SD)—was negative, but statistically significant. Therefore, human resource management’s activities (HRM) must concentrate on optimal physical/mental health, emotional (EI) and spiritual (SI) intelligence. Employees’ good health supports their emotional WB. Their emotional balance, based on their EI, enhances their subjective emotional WB and SD. The employees ’SI affects their SD.

The importance of culture for enterprise dynamics: the role of type and strength of culture

Abstract Nowadays, enterprises can gain and sustain a competitive advantage in hypercompetitive environments for only a limited period of time. In order to be able to do that, enterprises must be dynamic. Even though – several authors suggest a positive association between organisational culture and the enterprise’s dynamic – we are still lacking the empirical support for such assertion. Therefore, we empirically tested the association between the type and strength of culture and the level of enterprises’ dynamics. Since organisational culture and the enterprises’ dynamics are both a complex phenomenon, we applied a case study approach combined with quantitative methods. The research indicates that the adhocracy culture type positively influences the level of enterprises’ dynamics. Regarding the strength of culture, our research results show that positive effects of strong culture exceed the eventual negative effects of such culture and positively influence the level of enterprises’ dynamics.