Dusan Lesjak

Factors affecting evaluation of e‐business projects

Purpose – Despite rapid expansion of e‐business, the research on corresponding evaluation is relatively rare. This paper studies the factors that impact how companies evaluate their e‐business projects.Design/methodology/approach – Paper starts with conceptualization of factors that affect the usage of e‐business evaluation. The empirical part is based on representative telephone survey (n=755) among Slovenian companies in 2003. The causal model (LISREL) was applied on this data.Findings – Only about one tenth of the companies with sizeable e‐business projects employs some type of formal e‐business evaluation. One reason for that might be high satisfaction with e‐business. Among formal methods return on investments and cost benefit analysis dominate. However, once a company decides to apply evaluation approach it will use more methods, usually three or four. The attitudes towards e‐business are the most important factors affecting the implementation of e‐business evaluation methods. Surprisingly little di...

Characteristics and impacts of ICT investments: perceptions among managers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the characteristics and impacts of information‐communication technology (ICT) investments as perceived by ICT managers.Design/methodology/approach – The paper starts with an overview and a conceptualisation. The empirical part is based on a national RIS 2005 representative telephone survey (n=727) of companies in Slovenia. With respect to ICT developments the Republic of Slovenia, situated between Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia, is a typical (median) country of the European Union.Findings – The size of ICT investments strongly determined the perception of ICT investments, but it had surprisingly little impact on its structure (i.e. hardware, software, education …). Satisfaction with ICT investments was relatively low, particular in small companies. One reason for this was the suboptimal implementation, particularly the lack of accompanying measures (e.g. education, organisational changes). The ICT investments brought considerable changes for the interna...

Electronic learning in Slovenia

The presence or expansion of internet-based e-learning is one of the characteristics of the information society by which we can estimate the level of its development. We have witnessed many changes in Slovenia in the last decade and are interested in what is happening in the e-learning arena, especially as the internet is rather successfully penetrating Slovenian society.

The Labour Market, Graduate Competences and Study Programme Development: A Case Study.

Developments in higher education are taking place in the wider context of globalisation, the Lisbon strategy and within the framework of the Bologna Process. Designing and developing Bologna programmes by taking into account the needs of the economy is a tool for successful quality assurance in higher education and for close cooperation with the environment. Our contribution aims to present the process of first cycle study programme formation and is based on a case study. By studying three groups of stakeholders, involved in the renewal of the study programme (teachers, students and employers), competences were thoroughly researched. It was found that graduate competences included in the questionnaire are of utmost importance and that they do not differ substantially from the competences of graduates in business studies presented in similar research (e.g. The Tuning Project of the European Commission, and the work carried out by the EFMD – the European Foundation for Management Development).

Covert advertising as inadmissible presentation of information

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify and redefine the categories of covert advertising, to demonstrate the covert aspects of advertising in the press, to provide a high-quality comparison of three leading Slovenian newspapers and to prepare a model for future researchers. Design/methodology/approach – In this article, the authors defined, analyzed, and explored covert advertising. In the first part, the authors used descriptive approach and method of compilation. In the empirical part, the authors used content analysis to research texts of covert advertising; the authors used analytical approach. Data were analyzed with the help of the computer programme SPSS. Findings – The results of the research indicate that covert advertising appears on a daily basis in daily newspapers and these articles are visually more attractive to garner greater attention from readers and offer numerous visual presentations. Research limitations/implications – The first limitation is presenting a lack of literatur...

Improving Knowledge Management by Integrating Hei Process and Data Models

This paper asserts that in order to improve knowledge management, higher education institutions (HEIs) should integrate their process and data models in conjunction with the knowledge management perspective.

Lifelong learning as an answer to sociodemographic change: the case of Slovenia

Population ageing has important implications for demand in the field of education in Slovenia. We analyse the basic implications of an ageing society for the demand for the formal education of youth and for lifelong learning. Next, we research the system of recognition of nonformal and experiential learning, especially in higher education, and the potential role of Europass in such a system when trying to restore balance in the higher-education market. In the last section of the paper, we draw main conclusions about the developments in the field of education and the role of lifelong learning and Europass in it.

Slovenian SMEs and e-business

Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are socially and economically very important since they represent 99% of all enterprises in the EU and more than 96% of all enterprises in Slovenia. In this paper, the comparison of the e-business in Slovenian and in the EU countries is presented. More than infrastructure is needed to extend e-business among SMEs, which is the case among Slovenian SMEs. Even if the broadband access to the internet in Slovenia is not a problem anymore, B2B e-business is not common among Slovenian SMEs as it is in the EU countries. On the other hand, B2G and C2G services are more widely spread among Slovenian companies and even among individuals than in the EU countries.

Impact of the recent economic crisis on tertiary education funding – a comparative study

We examined how the recent global economic crisis and the necessary cuts in public expenditure affected the funding for tertiary education in European countries. We clustered the countries into two groups with respect to the severity of the impact of the global crisis on their economies. Then, we comparatively studied the changes in the funding of tertiary education during the recent economic crisis. We found that tertiary education was less exposed to austerity measures than the education sector as a whole and, in the group of countries that were more affected by the crisis, several countries decreased the share of public expenditure on tertiary education. We also found that, on average, countries with high pre-crisis public spending on tertiary education increased the share of GDP for tertiary education more than those with low pre-crisis spending. Overall, the results of our research show how the governments of different countries adjusted public funding for tertiary education during the economic crisis.

Improving ICT project planning and management for State Railway of Thailand

The study illustrates critical success factors, when planning and developing their Information and Communication Technology (ICT) projects, for State Railway of Thailand (SRT). These projects aim to raise SRT quality and service standards in conjunction of the