Ivana Mijatovic

Factors affecting student engagement in HEIs - it is all about good teaching

ABSTRACT The passive role of students in their learning and education and the absence of student engagement in higher education institutions (HEIs) are quite common in many higher education institutions in developing countries. The main objective of the research presented in this paper is to explore the influential factors on student engagement in HEIs in the situational frame where student engagement and active learning and teaching do not have a long tradition. To answer our research questions, we conducted a survey with 279 undergraduate students from four universities in Libya. Our findings show that the availability and active usage of the university’s ICTs resources, the university’s reputation and teachers’ activating influence on students most efficiently predict student engagement in HEIs. The role of teachers and their competencies to use active learning techniques are perceived to be very influential in promoting student engagement.

Key CSR Initiatives in Serbia: A New Concept with New Challenges

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a business concept emerged in corporate and NGO sector in Serbia in 2000s, when the transition towards the market economy started. First, CSR was introduced by large multinational companies that started their operations in Serbia and transferred the good practice from global level to local level. Soon after, the academic community started to research the topic, while NGOs initiated advocacy campaigns and started to build the cross-sectoral partnerships to promote the CSR concept. The first public policy document related to CSR was the “National Sustainable Development Strategy” adopted by the Serbian Government in 2008, followed by the “National CSR Promotion and Development Strategy 2010-2015”. The main objectives of this chapter are to present the initiatives used by: the government to promote CSR, such as the public policies and legal framework, and NGOs, corporate entities and other institutions in Serbia, such as campaigns, CSR awards, certification and reporting. In order to answer research questions, the authors analyzed survey results related to the CSR practice of the 17 large companies, members of Business leaders forum in 2014, the amount and type of their community, marketplace and environment investments, as well as their priorities regarding the social issues and social groups to address. Finally, to illustrate the expectations and perception of CSR from the perspective of the Serbian citizens, the authors presented and discussed the results of the public opinion survey related to CSR in Serbia.

Corporate Social Responsibility in Serbia: Between Corporate Philanthropy and Standards

The main objectives of this paper are to present some aspects of political, socio-economic and historical development of CSR, initiatives that promoted CSR and the practice of CSR by businesses in Serbia. Corporate philanthropy has a long and continuous tradition in Serbia. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, until the Second World War, many citizens, business people and traders, shared their wealth with wider community. After the Second World War in socialism, social responsibility was initiated by the government, ideologically defended by concern for interests of workers and was focused internally and externally. Social responsibility in areas of employees relation as well as women equality has root in past, but social responsibility in areas of customer protection, environment and ethical business became in lime light much later in Serbia. However, CSR in Serbia is still more about financial and non financial philanthropy and charity and is primarily considered external to a business. Awareness of CSR concepts differ from company to company. Even in the group of the CSR—conscious companies, CSR is much more recognized as a term, than an integrated practice in everyday business. Integration of the CSR into the core business activities, business strategy and long-term planning is a prerequisite for sustaining corporate responsibility in Serbian and transitional societies.

Development of Co-Operation-Based Company Standards: The Case of Innovative Practice in Public Service Companies

“I don’t like standards” — we have heard this statement from all kinds of managers — experienced or beginners, domestic or multinationals, from large or small companies, production or service oriented. Much of the negative attitude that managers have towards standardization is based on their experience with ISO 9001 and the organizational work standardization and the problems with “over routined” documented quality management systems. The negative attitudes towards standards are predominantly based on the lack of understanding about how much freedom an organization has in order to find its own successful way to fulfill ISO 9001 requirements and the forced implementation of ISO 9001. The research related to ISO 9001 and other standardized implementations of management systems show that the benefits are predicated on efforts well beyond the minimum requirements of the standards (Gotzamani, 2005) and encompass other approaches, initiatives, and tools (Mijatovic and Stokic, 2010). On the other side, innovation and standardization are often considered as mutually exclusive for corporate management because the remaining space for innovative work is reduced along with the progress in work standardization — many cases confirm that they are complementary to each other (Kondo, 2000).