Zlatka Meško Štok

Occupational stress among slovene managers with respect to their participation in recreational sport activities

Occupational stress among slovene managers with respect to their participation in recreational sport activities Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the level of stress that managers experience at workplace, and to determine possible differences between the selected independent variables, including gender, age and participation in recreational sports, and the level of occupational stress experienced. Methods: We studied a sample of 85 managers from randomly selected Slovene companies. The data obtained were processed by the SPSS computer programme and analysed by the following statistical methods: descriptive statistics and frequency distribution for variables; t-test to examine the statistical signifcance of differences between the genders concerning the experience of stress symptoms; and ANOVA to examine statistical signifcance of differences between age groups and physical activity of groups in terms of stress symptoms. All our statistically significant conclusions were drawn at a 95% confidence interval. Results: The participants assessed their work-related stress as moderate. There were no statistically significant differences in their experiencing of occupational stress with respect to the selected socio-demographic variables, i.e. gender and age. However, the participating managers differed significantly in two variables, i.e. participation in recreational sports activities and experience of occupational stress. The lowest level of stress was experienced by managers practicing recreational sports at least three times a week, and the highest in those not engaged in any recreational sports activities. Conclusion: Managers who often experience stress need to adopt healthier, more physically active, lifestyles. Stres Na Delovnem Mestu Pri Slovenskih Managerjih Glede Na Udeležbo Pri Športnih Dejavnostih Namen: Ugotavljali smo stopnjo stresa, ki ga managerji doživljajo pri svojem delu, identificirali stresorje, ki delujejo na delovnem mestu managerja, ter ugotavljali morebitne razlike med izbranimi neodvisnimi spremenljivkami (spol, starost, udeležba pri športnih dejavnosti) in doživljanjem stresa pri managerjih, povezanega z delom. Metode: V raziskavo smo vključili 85 managerjev naključno izbranih slovenskih podjetij. Podatki so bili obdelani s pomočjo statističnega programom SPSS za Windows. Uporabljene so bile naslednje statistične metode obdelave podatkov: deskriptivna statistika ter frekvenčna porazdelitev za spremenljivke, t-test in enosmerna analiza variance za preverjanje statistične pomembnosti razlik med izbranimi neodvisnimi spremenljivkami in doživljanjem z delom povezanega stresa. Vse statistično značilne zaključke smo sprejemali pri 5-ostotnem tveganju. Rezultati: Managerji, udeleženi v raziskavo, v povprečju ocenjujejo svoje delo kot zmerno stresno. Prav tako je bilo ugotovljeno, da ne obstajajo statistično značilne razlike v doživljanju z delom povezanega stresa glede na izbrane socio-demografske spremenljivke - spol in starost. Statistično pomembne razlike se pojavljajo pri doživljanju z delom povezanega stresa ter udeležbo pri športnih dejavnostih. Najnižja stopnja stresa se pojavlja pri managerjih, ki se ukvarjajo s športno dejavnostjo najmanj trikrat tedensko, najvišja stopnja stresa pa se pojavlja pri tistih managerjih, ki se s športno dejavnostjo ne ukvarjajo. Zaključek: Pri managerjih, ki pogosto doživljajo stres, je potreben bistven premik k bolj zdravemu življenjskemu slogu, ki vključuje več gibanja.

The advantage of the EFQM excellence model in business management and leadership

Recently, more and more enterprises recognise the importance of the quality of products and services and business excellence. By gaining new markets and new customers in the world market, the enterprises meet numerous challenges, confrontations, new legislation and technology. Taking into account the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) excellence model, our research defines the endeavours of the enterprises that strive for better structure, behaviour and communication paths to reach the final customers, with emphasis on improved quality, higher competitiveness and customer satisfaction. In our research, we compare the enterprises holding a business excellence certificate with those that do not hold it. We establish that they differ in some characteristics of their management, which are defined by nine criteria. For years, several Slovene enterprises have been successfully selling their products to the industrially developed countries in Europe and to the USA. They are the first to develop and achieve high growth in their enterprises and, in turn, their own business excellence.

The process of leadership, innovation and decision making through the influence of values

Slovene enterprises involved in the process of ownership transformation represent an important management challenge to organisations and their management concepts. The enterprise business strategy considers various business resources, the existing enterprises culture and values, the changes in the distribution of work and informational structure. To achieve good results in enterprise management as well as good economic results, knowing the elements of organisational culture is of utmost importance. Values form an integral part of organisational culture and they influence the management of an enterprise. This study aims at establishing whether there are differences in the values held by managers or executives and those held by other employees; moreover, it aims at establishing whether there are differences in values among enterprises, considering their sphere of activity and their size. For the enterprise to be able to act innovatively and not to cling to its old habits and customs, it is necessary that all the workers in the enterprise and above all its management (top, middle and lower) act innovatively, using the knowledge and considering the values of the internal and external environment of the enterprise. We performed enquiries in 150 enterprises in the Republic of Slovenia in the central region of Slovenia. These inquiries showed that the values of managers and those of other employees represented a significant contribution to a successful transition.

Factors of Knowledge Management and the Impact of Employee Turnover in Activity and Performance in Scientific and Technological Parks in Slovenia

Technology parks provide infrastructure for the creation and development of knowledge-based organizations, which are associated with centers of technological excellence, mainly universities. This research addresses the question of management and skills acquisition in member organizations of technology parks in Slovenia. As means and lever for development organizations, we recognize the values and organizational culture, which cannot be achieved without employees who possess good knowledge. We associated knowledge management with employee turnover factor. The central purpose of this research is to focus on exploring the impact of movements in knowledge management on the turnover in organizations, which are members of technology parks. By using multivariate regression methods we confirmed that the required skills, knowledge acquisition and knowledge transfer channels, have a statistically significant effect on employee turnover in technology parks.

Gender differences in stress symptoms among Slovene managers

The aim of this study was to identify the symptoms of stress in the studied sample, and to establish gender differences in stress symptoms. First, we tried to find out if there are gender differences in the stress level at work, second if there are gender differences in terms of stress symptoms frequency, and finally, if there are gender differences in terms of the intensity of experiencing stress symptoms. In this study, 85 managers from Slovene companies of random choice participated. The results of the study have shown that there are gender differences in terms of all the above-mentioned factors, namely a statistically higher level of stress in women. In terms of stress symptoms occurrence, there are gender differences in some stress symptoms as well as in the intensity of experiencing stress symptoms.

Motor Abilities and Psychological Characteristics of Slovene Military Pilots

In our study, we aimed to determine which tests differentiate Slovene military pilots from control groups (general population, sports pilots, and soldiers), and produced a profile of a military pilot, which is an important factor for military pilot selection. Indeed the performance of a pilot also depends on a pilots motor abilities, his or her personality profile, and his or her stress coping style. We administered some motoric tests, some of the tests in the Complex Reactionmeter Drenovac series, the Big Five personality questionnaire, and a stress coping questionnaire called the Coping Responses Inventory. The analysis of variance was used to test research aims. SPSS 16.0 was used to analyze the data. The results show that the special characteristics of military pilots include better emotion control, a higher level of emotional stability, extrovertedness, and higher impulse control. Slovene military pilots use strategies focused on a problem, they cope with problem situations effectively, and they have shorter reaction times on the test of spatial coordination. The research findings can be used to determine specific criteria for high-quality military pilot selection and to provide directions for development in this field.

Analiza atributov in razsežnosti spletnih strani visoko kategoriziranih hotelov na Gorenjskem (Analysis of Attributes and Dimensions of Internet Sites Among Highly Categorized Hotels in Gorenjska Region)

V raziskavi, ki je predstavljena v referatu, smo želeli ugotoviti vlogo in znacilnosti e-poslovanja hotelov na Gorenjskem. V vzorec smo zajeli visoko kategorizirane hotele, v rangu od 3 do 5 zvezdic in analizirali vsebino spletnih strani. Pri tem smo bili pozorni na uporabo socialnih medijev in turisticno rezervacijskih spletnih platform. S pomocjo neparametrijskega Mann-Whitney U testa za neodvisne vzorce smo preverili hipotezo, ki pravi, da obstajajo statisticno znacilne razlike med hoteli s tremi in stirimi zvezdicami na Gorenjskem glede kakovosti informacij na njihovi spletni strani. Ugotovili smo, da se pojavljajo razlike pri informacijah: preverjanje razpoložljivosti sob, online rezervacija v realnem casu, zavarovan sistem spletnega placila, preverjane in odpoved rezervacije, rezervacijski pogoji, brezplacna rezervacijska telefonska stevilka, možnosti placila, zemljevid lokacije hotela, virtualna predstavitev hotela, kontaktne osebe, skype, transport (cestne povezave, železnice), prazniki, G in Mountainvacation.com v prid hotelom z visjo kategorijo.The aim of research presented in this paper is to determine the role and characteristics of e-business of hotels in Gorenjska region. The sample included highly categorized hotels ranges from 3 to 5 stars and analyses the content of web pages. The research is also considered the use of social media and tourism reservation online platforms. With non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test for independent samples hypothesis was tested, which state is that there are statistically significant differences between the three hotels and four-star hotel in Gorenjska region about the quality of information on their website.We have found that there are differences about the quality of information on website between three hotels and four-star hotel in Gorenjska region in following informations: rooms availability check, online booking in real time, secure online payment system, verification and cancellation of the reservation, the reservation conditions, free booking telephone number, payment options, hotel map location, the virtual representation of the hotel, contact person, skype, transport (road, railway), holidays, G and Mountain vacation to the benefit of the hotel to a higher category.