Tomislav Baković

Radical innovation culture in Croatian manufacturing industry

Purpose - Radical innovations are considered as a main source of competitive advantage for both small and medium enterprises and small economies such as Croatia. Although from a theoretical point of view a clear distinction between incremental and radical innovations exists there is much less investigation into differences in organizational culture that foster these types of innovations. The aim of this paper is to investigate the radical innovation culture in the Croatian manufacturing industry. Design/methodology/approach - Key prerequisites for creating radical innovation culture are selected and then analyzed by using multiple regression analysis. Elements of radical innovation culture analyzed were: autonomy, cannibalization, pro activeness and risk taking. Findings - When it comes to generating radical product innovations or creating appropriate culture the current state in Croatian manufacturing industry is far from satisfactory. Some recommendations for improving the current state with suggestions for further research are discusses in the final part of the paper. Originality/value - Originality of the paper comes mainly from three key aspects. First of all the paper identifies key components of radical innovation culture specific to manufacturing industry. Second, in this process special attention is given to specifics of a small country like Croatia. Third, the paper offers clear guidance to management on ways of stimulating radical innovation culture.

Exploring drivers of student satisfaction and dissatisfaction: an assessment of impact-asymmetry and impact-range

The purpose of this study is to explore the key drivers of student satisfaction in a Croatian higher education (HE) setting. In particular, this study seeks to identify lecturer and course characteristics with either diminishing or increasing returns in student satisfaction. This study uses data collected during the official student satisfaction assessment at the Faculty of Economics and Business, Zagreb in the academic year 2011/2012. Overall, 23,804 fully completed questionnaires collected at the end of the winter and the summer term form the data of this study. Impact-asymmetry analysis (IAA) was used to detect and quantify nonlinear effects in the formation of student satisfaction. IAA helps to approximate the potentials of individual teaching and lecturer attributes to further enhance overall student satisfaction. Impact range and average performance of teaching and lecturer characteristics were further calculated and mapped into a matrix to detect key areas that need to be improved in future quality initiatives. This study provides detailed and interesting insight into the formation of overall student satisfaction relevant for all those concerned with quality issues in HE. The results reveal the most influential teaching and lecturer characteristics and several characteristics with diminishing and increasing returns in overall student satisfaction.

An extended framework for analysing higher education performance

The purpose of this study is to follow the call by Duque [(2014). A framework for analyzing higher education performance: Students’ satisfaction, perceived learning outcomes, and dropout intention. Total Quality Management and Business Excellence, 25(1–2), 1–21] to further develop her framework for analysing higher education performance which integrates service marketing approaches with the theories of student involvement and retention. More specifically, the framework examines relationships between students’ perceptions and their satisfaction, outcomes, and behavioural intentions. The data for this study were collected from 1454 students from 93 higher education institutions in Croatia. Hypothesised relationships were empirically tested using variance-based structural equation modelling. The results of this study make an important contribution to previous research by extending previous frameworks for analysing higher education performance. Moreover, the results provide interesting insight into the relationship between student satisfaction, outcomes, and behavioural intentions, which are relevant to both higher education researchers and managers.