Polona Tominc

Growth ambitions and succession solutions in family businesses

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to establish whether succession problems in family businesses contribute to more modest growth aspirations compared to family businesses where succession solutions are gained. It aims to focus especially on transition countries, where studies on this topic are very rare.Design/methodology/approach – The main data source for the study was a telephone survey of 350 small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in Slovenia. To obtain population estimates, 95 percent confidence intervals were calculated. To test the differences in the case of two independent samples, the t‐test and χ2‐test were used. The general criterion for accepting the hypothesis that differences exist was the statistical signification at the 5 percent level (p< 0.05; two‐tailed).Findings – The research shows that a high proportion of family enterprises in Slovenia are going to face the problem of succession in the near future. Research results also suggest that anticipation of an increase in the number o...

The impact and significance of ISO 14001 certification on the adoption of new technologies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess whether environmental management systems (EMS) according to ISO 14001 requirements have contributed to the implementation and adoption of new technologies and to the issues related to technology performance in industrial enterprises.Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on the questionnaire survey conducted on a sample of ISO 14001 certified Slovene manufacturing companies.Findings – The results revealed that ISO 14001 certified manufacturing companies still mostly used the combination of partly adopted and partly modified technologies in order to reduce environmental impacts. ISO 14001 was considered as a very useful tool for the promotion of technological modernisation. It was shown also that ISO 14001 standard can play a significant role as a support tool for the acceleration of technological innovation activities regardless of the origin of the technology.Research limitations/implications – The research surveyed only industrial ISO 14001 c...

The determinants of internet financial reporting in Slovenia

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to establish the level of internet financial reporting (IFR) of Slovenian companies, including the contents as well as the presentations of online financial information. The second objective was to explore the opinions of users towards newer methods of online financial reporting. Design/methodology/approach – IFR was evaluated on the basis of the IFR index composed of 32 contents-related and 18 presentations-related elements. By means of regression analysis, the authors have established the intensity and direction of impact of six factors on the IFR index: size, profitability, the companys legal form, ownership concentration, age and sector. Findings – During the first research phase, the authors established that 110 (52.64 per cent) of large companies disclose its financial information on its web site. Factors which impact the IFR are as follows: company size, ownership concentration, legal form and sector of operation. Larger companies, companies with a lower owne...

Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth

In this chapter we explored country competitiveness and entrepreneurship as drivers of economic growth. The research was carried out on a sample of Central and Eastern European (CEE) member states of the European Union (EU). The analysis shows that economic growth as measured by GDP per capita growth rates, and global competitiveness of a country as measured by the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competitiveness Index scores’ growth rates, are positively related to each other. The comparative analysis also reveals that efficiency-driven and certain transition CEE EU Member States have made the highest progress at various competitiveness pillars, which is reflected in their economic growth. The opposite has been found for two innovation-driven CEE EU Member States. When testing the hypothesis on the relationship between the average growth of quality of early-stage entrepreneurship indices and average growth of GDP per capita, no significant relationship was found. This finding is in accordance with the general thesis that entrepreneurial activity supports economic growth only as part of a favourable broader business environment. The research results constitute a preliminary analytical framework for policymakers and managers in the analysed countries.

Users’ Perceptions on Internet Financial Reporting

Abstract Background and Purpose: The objective of this research was to explore the perceptions of the users regarding Internet financial reporting practices in Slovenia. With this research, we wanted to determine what the perceptions of the users are regarding the reliability, credibility, usefulness and sufficiency of online accounting information and how their expectations regarding the content of accounting information differ from the actual situation. Design/ Methodology/ Approach: This research has two parts: in the first part, we summarised the actual situation regarding publishing of internet financial reporting on a sample of large companies in Slovenia (n=110) while, in the second part, we conducted a survey with which we assessed the expectations of users as regards of accounting information (n=127). We then compared users’ expectations with the actual situation, analysed by evaluation of 110 websites of Slovene companies. Results: In the research we found that 52.6% of companies publish their accounting information on their websites and that on average 40.2% of users actually make use of this information We found that users have evaluated all four of characteristics: reliability, credibility, usefulness and sufficiency above average, whereby they evaluated usefulness with the highest grade and sufficiency with the lowest. Conclusion: The results of this research can offer companies a feedback on users’ expectations, particularly in cases where these expectations are greater than the actual situation. We have determined that users generally want information that indicates the financial status of a company (such as the Rating Report and data on the company’s liquidity), as these information are currently expected by users but available information do not meet their need in full.

Effect of Rurality and Human Capital Resources in the Entrepreneurial Opportunity Identification Process / Vpliv ruralnega okolja in človeškega kapitala v procesu zaznavanja podjetniških priložnosti

Abstract In this paper, that is a country study of Slovenia, we tried to determine why individuals in rural residential areas are less likely to recognize entrepreneurial opportunities. Our results show that the increase in resources in human capital, consisting of education, skills, knowledge, and experiences in entrepreneurship, has a significant and positive effect on opportunity identification. For policy creators, our results suggest that policies focused on entrepreneurial education- especially education that would enable the acquisition of real-life entrepreneurial experiences and skills-are useful, especially in rural areas. Izvleček V prispevku, v katerem je predstavljena študija na primeru Slovenije, smo želeli odgovoriti na vprašanje, zakaj posamezniki iz ruralnih okolij v svojem okolju manj pogosto razpoznavajo poslovne priložnosti. Naši podatki kažejo, da ima povečanje virov človeškega kapitala, sestavljenega iz izobrazbe, znanja, izkušenj in sposobnosti za podjetništvo, pomemben in pozitiven vpliv na identificiranje poslovnih priložnosti. Za oblikovalce ukrepov ekonomske politike so naši rezultati pomembni, saj nakazujejo, da so politike, usmerjene v podjetniško izobraževanje (predvsem tisto, ki vključuje pridobivanje izkušenj in veščin v realnem podjetniškem okolju), koristne, in to predvsem na ruralnih območjih.

Relationships among Store Image and Store Loyalty in Slovenia

Abstract Image has become one of the most important factors of stores’ survival and development. In this paper, a model of relationships among the multidimensional variables of store image, positive affect, satisfaction with the store, trust and commitment to the store is formed and tested with a sample of 209 customers in three stores in the Pomurje region of Slovenia. The important conclusion of the research is that several interrelations among store image, positive affect, satisfaction, trust and store commitment exist. The results also show significant gender differences in perceptions of store image. These results provide several important insights for managing supermarkets in the Slovenian market and are also important for future research.

Impact of support of teacher and compatibility with needs of study on usefulness of SPSS by students

An expanded Technology Acceptance Model of SPSS acceptance is proposed.Increasing perceived usefulness of statistics will increase usefulness of SPSS.Support of teacher significantly contributes to the easier use of SPSS.Increasing compatibility with the study needs will increase intention to use SPSS.Differences between undergraduates and postgraduates were identified. The aim of this study is to expand the TAM (Technology Acceptance Model) in the research of different aspects of acceptance of software packages used for statistical analysis (SPSS), by including three factors: perceived support from the teacher, perceived compatibility with the academic needs of students of economics and business and perceived usefulness of statistics. The study shows that (i) the perceived usefulness of statistics plays an important role in perceiving the usefulness of SPSS and the ease of its use; (ii) support of teacher significantly contributes to the easier use of SPSS; (iii) that perceived compatibility with the academic needs of students positively impacts the perceived usefulness of SPSS and the intention to use it in the future, and (iv) higher the perceived ease of use of SPSS, higher on average its perceived usefulness. We also found that there are almost no significant differences between the conceptual model for undergraduate and postgraduate students. However we found that there are statistically significant differences between undergraduate and postgraduate students regarding perception of the usefulness of SPSS and usefulness of statistics.

Relationships among Components of Insurance Companies and Services’ Quality

Abstract Background and Purpose: An increasing number of insurance companies and the intensity of competition in this field require research on customer perceptions of the components of insurance services and insurance company. The objective of this study was to examine the conceptual model and to study the relationships between customer perceptions of the innovation, reputation, adequacy of premium, and adequacy of information about the coverage of insurance services. Design/Methodology/Approach: The research model was tested with structural equation modelling (SEM) with a sample of 200 Slovenian users of insurance services. Results: The results indicated that higher perceived innovation of insurance company was associated with higher perceived reputation of insurance company. In addition, higher perceived reputation of insurance company was associated with higher perceived adequacy of information about the coverage and the premium for insurance services. The study also found that higher perceived adequacy of premium was associated with higher perceived adequacy of information about the coverage of insurance services. Conclusion: The original contribution of this article is also the highlighting of relationship between perceived reputation of insurance company, perceived adequacy of information about the insurance premium and perceived adequacy of information about the coverage of insurance services.

Gender differences in the usage of resources in the entrepreneurial opportunity identification process in Slovenia and Croatia

While entrepreneurship research is usually focused on early-stage or established entrepreneurship, in this article we are taking a step back to earlier stages in the entrepreneurial process and focus on the opportunity identification and resources that might support it. The article provides a clearer insight into the extent of resources possessed by adults in Slovenia and Croatia, into gender differences in the opportunity identification process and the usage of resources within this process. Our research shows that women possess on average lower levels of resources, which explain their lower opportunity identification prevalence. Results show that the increase in resources, especially in the area of human capital consisting of skills, knowledge and experiences for entrepreneurship, has a significant and positive effect on opportunity identification among women.