Polona Šprajc

Reasons for Plagiarism in Higher Education

Abstract Background and Purpose: The survey was performed to determine the reasons that lead students to possibly commit plagiarism during their studies. By doing so, we wanted to determine the main reason for the appearance of plagiarism and how, within this main reasons, various indicators of plagiarism are judged and, finally, how demographic data and student motivation for study are associated with the reasons for plagiarism. Design/Methodology/Approach: A paper-and-pencil survey was carried out among 17 faculties of the University of Maribor in Slovenia. A sample of 139 students 85 males and 54 females participated in this study, ages ranged from 19 to 36 years. The questionnaire contained 95 closed questions referring to: (i) general data, (ii) education, (iii) social status, (iv) awareness of plagiarism, and (v) reasons for plagiarism. Parametric and nonparametric statistical tests were performed depending on distributions of the answers. Results: The results reveal that information and communication technology is largely responsible for the plagiarism with two reasons highlighted: ease of copying and ease of access to materials and new technologies. We also found some differences between low and high motivated students. Different average values of the answers considering motivation for study were confirmed for academic skills, teaching factors and other reasons for plagiarism, where the average for lower motivated students is significantly different (higher) than the average for higher motivated students. At the end we could find no direct relationship between the average time spent on the Internet and plagiarism. Conclusion: The transmission of knowledge is the basic mission of faculties. This mission is based on moral beliefs about the harmfulness of its abuse, and plagiarism is exactly such abuse. Regardless of the students past at this point professors are those who could greatly contribute to the right set of skills to keep students off plagiarising.

Students’ Perception of HR Competencies

Abstract Background and purpose: Human resource professionalism receives considerable attention in terms of the competence of individual. In this article, we want to bridge the existing competencies of students and the perceived competencies that they assume will be developed and obtained during their studies. The purpose of our paper is a) to present competencies in general, b) to determine the meaning of the development of competencies in the field of higher education, and c) to present the role of competencies in human resource management. The aim of this paper is to examine the human resource competencies among students, and their judgments regarding the competencies they have already received during their studies. Methodology: The questionnaire was distributed to full-time students of the Faculty of Organizational Science, University of Maribor, in such a way that both genders, both undergraduate and graduate studies, and all years of study were represented. We have measured students’ opinions concerning their current and future perceptions about professional competencies in the HR field. Results: Based on the self-assessment of fifteen HR competencies, we used hierarchical clustering performed with Wards method and standardized variables and got two clusters. A t-test was used according to low or high levels of students’ current competencies. The positive association between satisfaction with study programme and students opinion on development of competencies during their studies was confirmed with one-tailed Pearson correlation coefficient. Conclusion: The majority of students believe that they possess significant HR competencies. They have expressed a need for further education and training in that field. The students have assessed that the study programme allows them to acquire and develop the competencies for a successful task performance of the HR professional.

Factors influencing plagiarism in higher education: A comparison of German and Slovene students

Over the past decades, plagiarism has been classified as a multi-layer phenomenon of dishonesty that occurs in higher education. A number of research papers have identified a host of factors such as gender, socialisation, efficiency gain, motivation for study, methodological uncertainties or easy access to electronic information via the Internet and new technologies, as reasons driving plagiarism. The paper at hand examines whether such factors are still effective and if there are any differences between German and Slovene students’ factors influencing plagiarism. A quantitative paper-and-pencil survey was carried out in Germany and Slovenia in 2017/2018 academic year, with a sample of 485 students from higher education institutions. The major findings of this research reveal that easy access to information-communication technologies and the Web is the main reason driving plagiarism. In that regard, there are no significant differences between German and Slovene students in terms of personal factors such as gender, motivation for study, and socialisation. In this sense, digitalisation and the Web outrank national borders.

Measuring the Concentration of Insurance sector – the Case of Southeastern European Countries

Abstract Background and purpose: The goal of the paper is to determine the level of concentration in the insurance sector in the following eight countries of South and Eastern Europe: Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Bulgaria and Albania in the period from 2007 to 2012. Design/Methodology/Approach: In this context, the analysed indicators of concentration were the market share of the four leading financial institutions (CR4), the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), the coefficient of entropy (E), the coefficient of relative entropy (RE) and Gini coefficient (G). Results: The study showed that the insurance sectors in the analysed countries are highly concentrated on average (according to CR4 indicator), medium concentrated (according to HHI) with high levels of inequality of distribution of market shares between individual participants (in terms of G coefficient), and in the zone of relative uniformity and equality of business entities (according to RE coefficient). The research results point out that the existence of different levels of correlation between the analysed indicators of concentration in the insurance sector, which confirms the conclusion that, in order to obtain relevant and quality conclusions about the level of concentration, it is necessary to review and analyse several indicators of concentration integrally. Conclusion: In all observed indicators of concentration in relation with the density level GDP pc move in the zone of very low value, which on the one hand points to the fact that the analysed countries at a relatively similar level of development have significantly different levels of concentration, but also on the fact that some countries although at different levels of development, have similar levels of concentration.

Strategic Aspect of Knowledge Management

Abstract Background and Purpose: This paper analyses the strategic aspects of knowledge management in organizations in Serbia, from the theoretical and empirical point of view. In its theoretical part, the paper analyzes the latest literature in the fields of knowledge management, relations between communications strategyes and knowledge management, generations of knowledge management and organizational culture. Design/Methodology/Approach: In its empirical part, the paper deals with determining the level of knowledge management in Serbian organizations through diffrent generations of knowledge management, as well as the problem with explicit and tacit knowledge management. The hypotheses were tested using data colleted from organizatons in Serbia via questionnaire, which consisted of 50 questions to examine five key factors in knowledge management. Results: The results showed that out of 41 indicators, only eight are rated positively. Results of t-test indicate significant distinctions within factors affecting the quality of knowledge management, as well as differences in quality of explicit and tacit knowledge management, therefore they confirmed both hypotheses. Conclusion: The knowledge management projects in organizations in Serbia are initiated, as well as that belonging to the first generation of knowledge management can be defined.

Homecare Service Providers as an Organizational Form of Support for the Elderly: Establishment and Planning of Optimal Capacity

Abstract Background and Purpose: Different studies have highlighted health care allocation problems in Slovenia that indicate the increased need for homecare services for the elderly. It was also found that Slovenian municipalities differ dramatically in the availability of elder care services. A number of older people with diverse unmet needs for care remains. Therefore, the need for the establishment of an additional type of formal homecare services for the elderly exists. Design/Methodology/Approach: Although many positive effects of home elder care against institutional care are stressed in the literature, the results of many studies performed in recent years have indicated that accessibility of homecare for elderly in Slovenia remains scarce, and it is not equally accessible throughout the country. To mitigate this problem, a new organizational form called “elder homecare service provider” is indicated. The aim of the provider is to offer a variety of different services for the elderly (e.g. homemaking, social networking, transfer services, basic life needs, basic health services, etc.). The establishment of such an organization needs to be designed carefuly, while the unique characteristics and specific needs of the target population must be addressed to optimize desired outcomes. Results: The aim of the paper is to provide fundamental guidelines for the establishment of elder homecare service provider. All essential characteristics of such an organization are defined. To ensure an appropriate level of service quality, the primarly focus is oriented towards the planning of personnel team capacity. For this purpose, the service provider was described using the stochastic queueing model, which enables service capacity optimization considering different performance measures. The usefulness of the model was illustrated with a numerical example, which has shown that the results obtained provide valuable information for decision support. Conclusion: The establishment of a homecare service provider network would have many positive effects on society in general. The quality of the everyday life of the elderly is expected to be improved considerably, particularly in the rural areas where a lack of institutional care support is reported. Guidelines proposed in the paper together with the quantitave model for planning of its optimal capacity provide useful information, which are especially relevant in the preliminary phase of the establishment of service providers.

Introduction of a Lesson: A Guarantee of Motivation? The Significance of the Lesson Introduction for Learners’ Activation Level in Business and Economics Teaching at German Vocational Colleges

Konferenca o razvoju organizacijskih znanosti je konferenca z najdaljso tradicijo na Univerzi v Mariboru in vsako leto poveže studente, raziskovalce, gospodarstvenike in predstavnike javne uprave, ki delujejo na podrocju organizacije in managementa. Tema letosnje, že 36. mednarodne konference o razvoju organizacijskih znanosti, je Odgovorna organizacija in se nanasa na sirino organizacije v njenem notranjem in zunanjem okolju. Odgovornost do zaposlenih, poslanstva, strategije, procesov, tehnologije, razvoja so samo nekatera izmed podrocij, ki jim mora organizacija slediti. Identiteta organizacije se izkazuje z njenim vsestransko odgovornim ravnanjem in kaže vrednost navzven pri kupcih ali uporabnikih storitev. V casu, ki ga živimo, smo vpeti v preplet tehnoloskega in socialnega napredka, ki nenazadnje rezultira v posamezniku in družbi nasploh. Ravnanje organizacije se ravno tako ne veže samo na delovanje v lokalnem okolju temvec zaradi globalnih razsežnosti ucinkuje tudi v mednarodnih dimenzijah. S temo konference želimo odpreti polje vprasanj in poiskati odgovore, ki bodo doprinesli k napredku organizacijskih ved. Materialni vplivi, komuniciranje, znanje in postenje ter nenazadnje ideal odgovornega ravnanja lahko kot pomembni dejavniki obvladujejo pogosto nemirne situacije v in izven okolja nasih organizacij. Ker smo casovno in prostorsko vpeti v vzorce, ki mnogokrat ne sledijo vec nasim preteklim izkusnjam, je nasa želja, da s srecanjem na konferenci stopimo v korak s casom in prepoznamo dobre prakse, izoblikujemo nove metode in se seznanimo z aktualnimi trendi, ki jih organizacije vsakodnevno živijo.Konferenca o razvoju organizacijskih znanosti je konferenca z najdaljso tradicijo na Univerzi v Mariboru in vsako leto poveže studente, raziskovalce, gospodarstvenike in predstavnike javne uprave, ki delujejo na podrocju organizacije in managementa. Tema letosnje, že 36. mednarodne konference o razvoju organizacijskih znanosti, je Odgovorna organizacija in se nanasa na sirino organizacije v njenem notranjem in zunanjem okolju. Odgovornost do zaposlenih, poslanstva, strategije, procesov, tehnologije, razvoja so samo nekatera izmed podrocij, ki jim mora organizacija slediti. Identiteta organizacije se izkazuje z njenim vsestransko odgovornim ravnanjem in kaže vrednost navzven pri kupcih ali uporabnikih storitev. V casu, ki ga živimo, smo vpeti v preplet tehnoloskega in socialnega napredka, ki nenazadnje rezultira v posamezniku in družbi nasploh. Ravnanje organizacije se ravno tako ne veže samo na delovanje v lokalnem okolju temvec zaradi globalnih razsežnosti ucinkuje tudi v mednarodnih dimenzijah. S temo konference želimo odpreti polje vprasanj in poiskati odgovore, ki bodo doprinesli k napredku organizacijskih ved. Materialni vplivi, komuniciranje, znanje in postenje ter nenazadnje ideal odgovornega ravnanja lahko kot pomembni dejavniki obvladujejo pogosto nemirne situacije v in izven okolja nasih organizacij. Ker smo casovno in prostorsko vpeti v vzorce, ki mnogokrat ne sledijo vec nasim preteklim izkusnjam, je nasa želja, da s srecanjem na konferenci stopimo v korak s casom in prepoznamo dobre prakse, izoblikujemo nove metode in se seznanimo z aktualnimi trendi, ki jih organizacije vsakodnevno živijo.