Jurica Pavičić

Customer Knowledge Management: Toward Social CRM

Customers are often cited as one of the most important ‘assets’ of contemporary organizations. However, value of both customer relationships and the knowledge ‘extracted’ from them are often limited to the information technology (IT) domain, as the issue of implementing customer relationship management (CRM) software packages. In addition to a more embedded view of CRM, the ‘social’ trends relevant for customer relationships, , exemplified in the use of social networking tools and other ‘social software’ (such as Wiki-based pages, fora, chat pages, etc.) on the Internet, are identified and analyzed. It is argued that the ‘social CRM’ could be improved by taking into account the already existing theoretical and practical tenets of the virtual community model, as developed by contemporary sociology and communication sciences

Comparative Perception(s) of Consumer Goods Packaging: Croatian Consumers' Perspective

For centuries, packaging communicates and is capable of attracting consumer’s attention. In the B2C market it usually communicates images influencing consumer perception, appeal to the consumer’s emotions, and generate desire for some specific product. Therefore, packaging could be considered as promotional tool, especially within the retail industry environment. However, to understand how packaging communicates and influences consumers it is necessary to emphasize the way how consumers perceive packaging in general. The “communicational” dimensions of packaging are factors that could affect consumers and influence their purchasing behaviour. While some of the communicational dimensions of packaging (e.g. design, size, colour, and carried information) attracted modest attention among academic researchers, there is a relative lack of studies dealing with the packaging material. It is the purpose of this paper to provide a limited insight/overview to generic consumer’s perception of packaging material by combining the findings from the current seminal research studies and primary research used in this paper. Focus groups findings indicate that consumers are merely aware of different packaging material and their characteristics. Consumers are expressing needs for safe packaging, yet the importance of convenience seems to be the most important and they are prepared for some trade-offs in order to maintain usage convenience. It is indicative that preferences of particular packaging material over another are moderated by certain factors (e.g. age, place of consumption, occasion, and product category). Due to sample and research methodology limitations the findings are limited regarding their generic value. However, the indications given can be considered as valuable guidelines necessary for further research in the field.

Performance of nonprofit organizations: Empirical contrasts between privately and publicly funded Croatian humanitarian organizations

In this paper we contrast different aspects of non-profit organizations’ performance from the perspective of their funding sources. Based on previous empirical results indicating that sources of funding influence fundraising performance, we extend the existing research to the analysis of overall non-profit organizational performance. We use the social constructivist approach to non-profit performance to discuss contrasts between privately and publicly funded humanitarian organizations in Croatia. Some differences in growth- and development-oriented measures of non-profit performance for these groups are identified and discussed in the context of future regional research.

The market information system and state support for the market of agricultural products in Croatia

Most of transitional (former socialist) countries still suffer from underdeveloped market mechanisms. In order to provide support for development of modern market mechanisms for the market of agricultural products, government experts within the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry designed institutional information support – Market Information System in Agriculture of the Republic of Croatia – TISUP. This system is organised in order to prevent one of the most important market failures – insufficient and delayed dissemination of information that is crucial for the normal functioning of the market. The paper explores the functioning of the whole system and provides a general conceptional framework for understanding both market information systems and markets of agricultural products in Croatia and some other relevant countries/regions.

Intentions and Perceptions of the Entrepreneurial Career Among Croatian Students: Initial Results of a Longitudinal Empirical Study

In this paper, authors analyze the entrepreneurial intentions of the student population at the University of Split, Croatia and relate them to students’ general perceptions of entrepreneurship and its social role/desirability. As the longitudinal data have been collected during the recession in the Croatian economy, this study provides initial empirical results, related to general trends of economic and social treatment of entrepreneurship in South East Europe, in the specific context of a prolonged economic downturn. The empirical findings demonstrate that the perceived desirability of entrepreneurship, as related to students’ primary reference groups (family, friends, peers), influences their entrepreneurial intent. The other factors, which proved as empirically significant in determining the students’ entrepreneurial intent, include the perception of self-efficacy, as well as relevant knowledge and skills. The desirability of an entrepreneurial career in the wider society is not empirically relevant for the surveyed students. The obtained empirical results are discussed from the aspect of improving entrepreneurial education, as well as public policies, related to youth unemployment and the development of entrepreneurial culture among the population of young people in South East Europe.

Community capacity, sense of community and social capital: The sociological and economic dimensions in Croatia and Serbia

In this paper, we analyze the concepts of community capacity, the psychological sense of community and social capital. They are examined in terms of their contribution to the social capital, both theoretically, as well as empirically. Results of a comprehensive empirical study, conducted in local communities in the Republic of Croatia and Republic of Serbia, are reported and discussed. Those results demonstrate that, in South-East Europe, community capacity can be linked to the collective action, as well as to the development of social capital in local communities.

School Principals, Environments and Stakeholders: The Blessings and Heresies of Market Organization

In this chapter, the authors emphasize the need for schools and their principals to focus on the needs of their students and other relevant stakeholder groups. This orientation also implies flexibility in the management of educational systems, instead of the bureaucratic accountability currently prevailing in the South-East European education. Schools and their principals are advised to recognize the nature of market orientation and apply the ambidextrous integration of strategies that are both market-driven (implying adaptation to the educational environment) and market-driving (implying active exploration of the target market, influencing the market structures and managing relevant stakeholder relationships).

School Effectiveness and Educational Management: Editorial

This chapter provides a brief overview of the entire Palgrave Macmillan volume dedicated to school-effectiveness and educational-management research, focused on South-Eastern European research and its public-policy agenda.

School Effectiveness and Educational Management: Toward a New Research and Public-Policy Agenda

Alfirevic, Burusic, Pavicic and Relja draw on the theoretical discussions provided in the previous chapters of the Palgrave Macmillan volume dedicated to school-effectiveness and educational-management research. They identify the weaknesses of the existing knowledge base and identify the challenges for future research and the public-policy agenda in South-East Europe and beyond.

Perceptions on Student-Centered Approaches in Transitional Economies: A Case of Client-Based Group Learning in Croatia

Historically, teaching in universities in Croatia has been heavily based on lectures and students have been taught to memorize the material with less emphasis on encouraging student creativity and independent thinking. Most recently however, new student-centered approaches have begun to be implemented in the country. In this study we evaluate how students in Croatia react to one of these approaches to see if their reactions vary from the reactions of students in the United States where student-centered approaches are more common.