4 10 3494 https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/31db9f585f972325947970a94669bac0.pdf 6d5a898526ab0d02474ba6f19e2cc772 PDF Text Text Implementation of TQM in Local Government Using Quality Management System in Accordance with ISO 9001 and CAF Self-Assessment Model Mirza Čelik Faculty of Administration University of Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina Dževad Šašić Faculty of Administration University of Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina dzevad.sasic@gmail.com Abstract: Quality of township management is highly related to society, and it reflects the local government situation. The paper presents the idea of improving the quality of service in local government through the application of TQM. This paper presents two approaches that are commonly used in recent years and moved closer to these organizations that the concept of TQM which uses a quality management system based on ISO standards 9000 and model self-assessment CAF. This paper describes the interactions between these approaches and their possible joint application with a view to the implementation of TQM system in local government. Within this approach public sector organizations should be interested in improving the quality of their services through the implementation of TQM. The process is a long-term and complex one, where the client is its key element. Thus, it should be understood by the whole staff (both the management and the inferiors) that a well served citizen is the core of the procedure and he/she should always be assisted and have even his most complicated problems solved in the institution he/she turns to. When implementing the principles of TQM, significant changes regarding the management and administration should occur in organizations. The methods that are helpful in the course of the implementation of TQM rules are the management quality systems based on the ISO 9001 quality standards and the CAF self-assessment model, which aim at perfecting the organization operations in order to meet the clients’ needs and introduce the necessary improvements. The public sector organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina (e.g. state or self-government offices) have started applying a certified Quality Management System(QMS) in compliance with the ISO 9001 standards already since 2001 (following the reform of the self-government administration). Recently – due to the implementation of the CAF model in the state administration offices (in BiH since October 2006) – a significant increase of interest on the part of the public sector units in the improvement of service quality by means of this model of selfassessment can be noticed. The completion of several programs that implemented this method enabled the application of the model in several hundred offices. Quality management systems and the EFQM model (CAF is the EFQM model adjusted to public sector) are necessary not only to companies but also to public sector organizations. They are based on similar principles and they aim at the improvement of services offered. Despite certain differences, it seems that they can complement one another and be used simultaneously in an organization. Key words: Public administration, quality management system, model self-assessment, ISO standard, TQM 263 �Service quality in public administration versus TQM The concept of Total Quality Management (TQM) consists in the integration of the company’s objectives with the ones of its customers. In this approach it is crucial that the operations involve the whole organization (a system approach), the whole staff is engaged in the quality issues with the leading role of the managing staff, a process approach of management is applied as well as continuous process of improvement, various quality management techniques and other supporting methods that aim at achieving the strategic, long-term success of the company. The success is due to an increasing satisfaction level of customers and results in several benefits to all the members of the organization and society. If their work is to be efficient, the employees must be highly motivated and well behaved, be ready to work in a team and to improve their qualifications. Furthermore, the managing staff should act as leaders, plan relevant tasks and then create the right atmosphere to carry them out. That is in line with the Oakland’s approach, who says that TQM has the following strategic objectives: customer oriented quality strategy, understanding of the fault prevention processes, people treated as subjects, their motivation, team problem solving and quality assurance in compliance with the ISO 9000 standards; they all guarantee the customers’ demands will be met (Oakland, 1992). Thus, TQM is a vision that can be achieved by means of long-term planning, by carrying out and implementing annual quality plans that will gradually result in making the vision come true, that will lead to the situation where the definition of TQM becomes a reality (J. Dahlgaard, K. Kristesen, G. Kanji, 2001). The use of such approach in the public sector organizations results in several benefits for the whole organization members (the achievement of the strategic, long-term success) and the members of the society (the increase of customer satisfaction). It should be stressed that the concept of TQM is also associated with Deming’s 12 principles, and a similar approach was presented by such forerunners of management as Crossby (in his 14 stages of quality improvement) and Juran (in his 10 steps to TQM). For many years public administration has been treated in a completely different way than private sector and it has not been applying the methods of management and ways of increasing the organizational effectiveness and efficiency as well as high standards of customer service that have been used in private business. It seems that particularly public sector organizations should devote a lot of time to introduce suitable management methods that would improve the efficiency of their operations and the level of their services. However, it is the monopolistic character of the services offered by public administration units that they have no incentives (these appear on commercial markets) to improve the quality of the service. Thus, it is not the issue of the public service quality level or its improvement but the problem of creating relevant incentives; in other words it is the problem of creating a situation where public institutions themselves will be interested in improving the quality of their services. 264 �Public administration, when offering services that are in a way monopolistic in nature, has the duty to do it properly and with commitment so that the demands of citizens, who cannot take advantage of a competitive organization, should be met. When considering the issue of improving the service quality in public administration, one should look more closely at the notion of the quality of such type of services. The definition that is in force now and is included in the EN ISO 9001:2009 standard states that “quality determines the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfill the requirements”. If so, the quality of services could be defined as a degree to which a particular service meets the needs and expectations of customers, and the fact if the condition has been fulfilled (or not) is evaluated every time and individually only by a customer. However, if the definition is to answer the question of the quality of a particular service, a broader look will be indispensible that considers such detailed aspects as the customer’s needs and expectations. A need is a feeling of unfulfillment that forces an individual to undertake actions to meet it. Customer’s expectations are simply his/her requirements that may be perceived as the clearly defined ones (e.g. completion of a case, short time of waiting) or the unspecified ones (e.g. polite service). Both requirements are equally important, however, the fulfillment of unspecified requirements, which are difficult to define in a clear way, is much more complicated. Thus, the quality of services rendered by administration can be defined as follows: “quality is the value that contributes to the improvement of the quality of our life and culture, and it is the degree of the fulfillment of common and individual needs”(Lazibat, 2012). The implementation of the TQM concept in public administration involves a complete change in the ways of behavior, set of values and attitudes. The quality of service depends on people, their motivation, culture and readiness to work in a team, etc. The concept takes into consideration not only all the most important factors that decide about the success of a project (leadership, commitment, customer satisfaction, processes, relations with partners, staff motivation, their qualification, resources) but also the objectives of the organization and all the operations related to management. The implementation of the CAF model in public administration The CAF method was created by the IPSG, Innovative Public Services Group. It functions within the EUPAN , an informal European Public Administration Network, whereas CAF RC (CAF Resource Centre) is the body responsible for the implementation of CAF, which was set up within the EIPA (European Institute of Public Administration) in Maastricht. The Institute cooperates with a network of national correspondents and is supported by EFQM European Fundation for Quality Management) and the Speyer University in Germany. 265 �The CAF self-assessment model (EIPA, 2017) is the Excellence Model of EFQM assigned to public institutions, which is a practical tool that makes self-assessment possible, helps understand shortcomings and find solutions. It consists of nine criteria that define the organization’s area of operations, how it approaches the tasks, what results it achieves in its relations with customers/citizens and society, including the key results of the operations. The evaluation of the criteria is based on opinion research and internal indexes. The main objective of the CAF model is to assist the understanding process of quality management and to improve the hitherto condition of management. More precisely, it aims at the introduction and consolidation of the principles of the complex quality management in public administration, the facilitation of self-assessment of public sector organizations in order to make diagnoses and undertake suitable operations, the construction of a bridge that connects various models applied in quality management and at the facilitation of mutual learning between public sector organizations (EIPA, 2012). The CAF method constitutes one of the best tools of collecting the information about an organization and of monitoring it on its way to quality management. The process consists of three phases and ten stages: Phase I – The start of the CAF process (Stage 1. Organizing and planning the process; Stage 2. Communicating the launch of the process in the office), Phase II - Self-assessment process (Stage 3. Setting a self-assessment group; Stage 4. Training of the group; Stage 5. Undertaking the self-assessment; Stage 6. Reporting the results), Phase III – Improvement plan / prioritization (Stage 7. Drafting an improvement plan; Stage 8. Communicating the improvement plan; Stage 9. Implementing the plan; Stage 10. Planning the next self-assessment). The implementation of the quality management system in compliance with the ISO 9001 standard in public administration The ISO 9000 Quality Management Standards are not technical standards and they do not describe in a direct way the parameters that a product or service should meet but they describe certain principles that ensure adequate quality. That is why they can be used in all type of organizations, public administration including. However, one should not forget the specific nature of the institutions where the system will be implemented. The specific features result from the following facts (Baković, T., Lazibat, T, 2004): the lack of competitors, thus the lack of motivation to increase the efficiency and reduce the costs, the effects of operations are immeasurable and do not bring income, it is difficult to determine their effectiveness, however they are socially important and must be carried out, 266 �financial resources depend on the condition of public finance and not on the quality of management and services rendered, the services are ordered by the state and they cannot be commercialized, long-term planning is disturbed by rotation and actions on the part of politicians. At present the group of the ISO 9000 standards consists of four basis standards: ISO 9000:2005 Quality management systems - Fundamentals and vocabulary (in Bosnia and Herzegovina - EN ISO 9000: 2006 ), ISO 9001:2008 Quality management systems - Requirements (in Bosnia and Herzegovina -EN ISO 9001: 2009), ISO 9004:2010 Quality management systems - Guidelines for performance improvements (EN ISO 9004:2010), ISO 19011:2002 Guidelines on Quality and/or Environmental Management Systems Auditing (in Bosnia and Herzegovina -EN ISO 19011:2003) and other standards, technical specifications and reports that support basic standards, which include guidelines concerning specific issues within the framework of the quality management system. These standards – as it has been mentioned before – have become one of the most common documents certifying high standard of services rendered by public administration, the offices of self-government administration in particular. At present many institutions and customers are convinced about several benefits gained as a result of the implementation of the systems. They are based on the eight principles of quality management: customer-orientation, commitment, leadership, process approach, system approach, continuous improvement, factbased decision making, mutually beneficial contacts with partners. The process of implementing QMS in an organization is not divided into stages very recisely, there are several approaches in this case and the literature on the subject is extensive ( Kuhlmann, 2010). However, it is possible to distinguish some characteristic stages of the implementation process: Making decision on implementing QMS. Setting up a timetable/ plan of action. Conducting a review of the organization Training senior management. 267 �Appointing a QMS manager and working groups. Preparing system documents. Appointing internal auditors and training the staff. Internal audits. Final audit and applying for certification. Obtaining the certificate from a certifying unit. Following all the indispensible operations in the implementation stages, in the course of the two last ones that aim at the verification and confirmation whether the organization meets the requirements defined by the standards (a certifying audit), the external auditor examines the whole range of the organization operations from the point of view of their compliance with the standards and issues a certificate confirming correct implementation of the QMS. The implementation of QMS that complies with the ISO 9001 standard in public sector institutions may contribute to the change and improvement of their work organization, and – first of all – it may result in the improvement of the service. It may also constitute an instrument that changes the structure and methods of their functioning and lead to the change of the public administration image. Implementing TQM concept in public sector organizations – a model approach The implementation of the TQM concept in organizations is a long –term process that requires a substantial amount of various resources. There is no precisely determined methodology of implementing the process. However, some recommendations can be found in the literature that should be followed by organizations striving to TQM (as in the Oakland’s model mentioned before). The term “striving” seems to be and adequate one as it is difficult to state explicitly (due to the lack of uniform implementation principles) whether the TQM system has been implemented. First of all, the implementation of TQM in a company starts with the acceptance of the right attitude – that of leadership and involvement – on the part of the Board and the managing staff of particular departments. At this stage, which might be called the initiation stage, it is the duty of the managing staff to coordinate the operations, to define clearly the tasks and, which is perhaps the most vital element, to convince the employees to this concept of management. The staff will only then be committed to the pro-quality operations if they are adequately motivated by their superiors, and this is possible through a wide training programme offered to the managing staff and the employees. 268 �The next step is the review of the existing systems, i.e. the diagnosis of the system, and then the adjustment of processes, which means planning and adjusting them in a way that the TQM objectives can be achieved. Then a plan of the improvement of processes appears and the reorganization of the whole system occurs that aim at meeting the (internal or/and external) customer’s requirements. This can be achieved either by radical changes (reengineering) or by continuous improvement of the organization (kaizen). At this stage it is highly significant to motivate the staff to be active and involved. This is the stage when both of the presented methods (CAF and QMS in compliance with the ISO 9001 standard) may be useful, which is presented in fig.1. It often happens that in the course of the QMS implementation the employees gain new knowledge and increase their qualifications, the processes are formalized and the standard of their quality is specified, which can support a quicker and more efficient evolution of the organization towards QM. An efficient and modern organization structure based on effective communication is the basis of TQM and it is created at the stage of process integration and company restructuring. The CAF and QMS implementation process in the public sector organizations is not an easy one. In the course of implementing either a quality management system based on the ISO 9001 standards or the CAF model, being the elements of TQM, significant changes must occur within the organizations as regards the approach and perception of their objectives, which shows in suitable management and administration. The customer-oriented approach must be supported by adequate culture, communication and commitment because only then the transformation will be permanent and efficient and will aim at meeting the citizens’ needs and expectations. Thus, it must result in a general improvement of the services rendered by these institutions and a measurable increase of the customer satisfaction level (Đorđević, 2007). There are five stages as regards the condition of an organization and they refer to the whole process related to the concepts of continuous improvement and the acceptance of the customer-oriented approach. They form a process of improving service quality and a successful completion of each one will result in the implementation of TQM in the organization. In the course of each stage the organizations will face various problems. Thus, it is crucial to identify them, to find the causes and then to remove them so that the process proceeds smoothly and eventually is beneficial. The stages may refer to the implementation of every method that increases the service quality, no matter whether it is CAF or QMS. The stages are the following: awareness, preparation, carrying out the self-assessment process, 269 �planning (preparation of the improvement plan), implementing the plan of action and continuous improvement. In this model, in the course of the process of service quality improvement, the organizations should consider fundamental questions concerning the awareness of their targets and the will to reach them. It is of vital importance that the public sector organization should have an adequate degree of awareness in order to go through the subsequent stages of the model. The following stages determine the diagnosis of the system and the plan of action. When the organizations ask the question how to meet these targets, the answer may come from the methods of CAF or QMS in compliance with the ISO 9001 standard. The concept of TQM can be put into practice by means of both methods (fig.1) Every organization must adapt the basic principles of quality management, which in a way constitute the basis of their further actions. It is worth noting that they are compatible as they are based on the same assumptions that customer comes first. Since there are no uniform TQM implementation stages, it seems that both methods can be helpful when building the system. The CAF method achieves this through self-assessments and improvements, while QMS through formalization of the management system based on documents, and both these elements are indispensible when implementing TQM. The presented model (fig.1) shows all the possible approach configurations when implementing TQM (with both methods) and proves that it is not necessary to choose between the two. 270 �Figure 1 TQM implementation model with the use of the CAF and QMS in compliance with the ISO 9001 TQM Involvement Customerorientation Leadership C C U S T O M E R U S T O M E R Fact-based decision making Mutually beneficial partnerships Continuous improvement System approach Process approach Source: Author’s research As figure 1 shows, the theses of the methods are complementary. So far the public administration has been using the methods rather separately In this case two implementation options of the methods are possible: in the case when GMS is functioning, the customer’s requirements and relations between processes have been defined and a formalized system exists, the CAF model may serve as a method supporting the improvement of the existing system (see fig.2); in the case when the CAF model has been implemented, the self-assessment has been carried out and the implementation of the improvement projects has started, 271 �the QMS that formalizes the whole system and has a significant impact on the whole organization can be implemented as one of the projects (compare fig.3). Figure 2. QMS with the CAF method implemented as the element facilitating the process of continuous improvement C U S T O M E R C U S T O M E R Source: Author’s research . Figure 3. CAF method with QMS implemented as one of the improvements C ISO 9001 U S T ISO 27001 O M ISO 14001 E R PN-N 18001 ISO 9004 TQM Improvement projects – described and implemented Source: Author’s research 272 �Conclusion The process of the service quality improvement in public organizations is a fact. Although hundreds of such organizations have implemented either the quality management systems in compliance with the ISO 9001 standard or the CAF self-assessment model, they have a long way towards the TQM concept. As it was presented, the TQM concept may be put into practice through both methods (CAF, QMS); it is important that they can co-exist and complement and there is no need to make choices. However, in order to implement both method properly and to reach TQM, it is crucial that the public sector organization has a certain degree of awareness as regards its targets and willingness to meet them. Only then both these methods may be helpful. References Baković, T., Lazibat, T., Model for measuring the quality of services, Proceedings of the 6th Symposium on the quality of the Croatian Society of Quality Managers: "The quality of European integration ", Zadar, 2004., pp. 203-209 Colesca, S., Dobrin, C., Popa, I. (2016). Total Quality Management and Organizational Change in Public Organizations. Administratie si management public. Bucharest. Đorđević D., (2007). Upravljanje kvalitetom, Univerzitetska knjiga, Beograd, pp. 45 Gašparík, M. (2010). “Increasing the effectiveness of organization by implementation of EFQM model.“ Edition STU Bratislava, pp. 45-60 Hakes, C. (2007) “The EFQM Excellence Model to Assess Organizational Performance: A Management Guide. Zaltbommel: Van Haren Publishing. Oakland, J.S. (1989), Total Quality Management. A practical approach, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), 22-35 Oakland, J.S. (1992). Total Quality Management, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 75-92. Porter, L. J., Tanner, S. J. (2004). “Assessing Business Excellence: A Guide to Business Excellence and Self-assessment.” Burlington: Butterworth-Heinemann. Tonči L. (2007). Managament quality system, Faculty of Economics Zagreb Vukšić, B., Kovačić, A. (2004). Upravljanje poslovnim procesima, Zagreb: Sinergija. Internet: European Institute of Public Administration, www.caf.eipa.eu, (18.May.2017.) Excellence Model – EFQM 2010, http://www.efqm.org/en/ (5 May 2017) 273 �The Role of Public Relations in the Humanitarian Diplomacy amidst Natural Disasters in Developing Countries: The Case Study of Red Cross of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and 2014 Southeast Europe Floods Haris Magrdžija31 International Burch University Bosnia and Herzegovina haris.magrdzija@gmil.com Nedim Čelebić International Burch University Bosnia and Herzegovina nedim.celebic@ibu.edu.ba Abstract: The concept of humanitarian diplomacy is receiving increasing attention internationally, and this concept is popularized especially by the International Red Cross Movement. International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) defined humanitarian diplomacy as a persuasion of decision makers and opinion leaders to act, at all times, in the best interests of vulnerable people, and with full respect for fundamental humanitarian principles. Humanitarian diplomacy, according to IFRC, includes advocacy, negotiation, communication, formal agreements, and other measures. The focus of this paper is on public relations as a promotion tool within marketing communication mix, and its role in accomplishment of humanitarian diplomacy objectives. In particular, this case study is about a response of Red Cross of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to 2014 Southeast Europe Floods that caused many problems and enhanced vulnerabilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The purpose of this interdisciplinary study is to conceptualize the role of public relations within humanitarian diplomacy through in-depth qualitative research. Keywords: Public Relations, Promotion, Marketing, Humanitarian Diplomacy, Natural Disaster, Developing Country, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Red Cross Introduction 1 Disclaimer Haris Magrdžija is member of Youth Coordination Committee of the Red Cross Society of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and delegate to Assembly of the Red Cross of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The opinions expressed and the analysis outlined in this research article do not necessarily reflect the views of the Red Cross of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but remain solely the interpretations and conclusions of the author. The author also assumes the entire responsibility for the interpretation and eventual misinterpretation of the contributions from senior officers of the Red Cross of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina interviewed within the specific framework of this research article. 274 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Extent The size or duration of the resource. 3654 Title A name given to the resource Implementation of TQM in Local Government Using Quality Management System in Accordance with ISO 9001 and CAF Self-Assessment Model (doi: 10.14706/icesos1717) Author Author Celik, Mirza Sasic, Dzevad Abstract A summary of the resource. Abstract: Quality of township management is highly related to society, and it reflects the local government situation. The paper presents the idea of improving the quality of service in local government through the application of TQM. This paper presents two approaches that are commonly used in recent years and moved closer to these organizations that the concept of TQM which uses a quality management system based on ISO standards 9000 and model self-assessment CAF. This paper describes the interactions between these approaches and their possible joint application with a view to the implementation of TQM system in local government. Within this approach public sector organizations should be interested in improving the quality of their services through the implementation of TQM. The process is a long-term and complex one, where the client is its key element. Thus, it should be understood by the whole staff (both the management and the inferiors) that a well served citizen is the core of the procedure and he/she should always be assisted and have even his most complicated problems solved in the institution he/she turns to. When implementing the principles of TQM, significant changes regarding the management and administration should occur in organizations. The methods that are helpful in the course of the implementation of TQM rules are the management quality systems based on the ISO 9001 quality standards and the CAF self-assessment model, which aim at perfecting the organization operations in order to meet the clients’ needs and introduce the necessary improvements. The public sector organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina (e.g. state or self-government offices) have started applying a certified Quality Management System(QMS) in compliance with the ISO 9001 standards already since 2001 (following the reform of the self-government administration). Recently – due to the implementation of the CAF model in the state administration offices (in BiH since October 2006) – a significant increase of interest on the part of the public sector units in the improvement of service quality by means of this model of selfassessment can be noticed. The completion of several programs that implemented this method enabled the application of the model in several hundred offices. Quality management systems and the EFQM model (CAF is the EFQM model adjusted to public sector) are necessary not only to companies but also to public sector organizations. They are based on similar principles and they aim at the improvement of services offered. Despite certain differences, it seems that they can complement one another and be used simultaneously in an organization. Key words: Public administration, quality management system, model self-assessment, ISO standard, TQM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017 Keywords Keywords. Conference or Workshop Item PeerReviewed H Social Sciences (General) https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/f75cbf00e10c75a04688eb57dbcd9107.pdf 113f3a11f3985e700bfbf4f5da81f738 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Extent The size or duration of the resource. 3664 Title A name given to the resource Tourism demand, oil price fluctuation, exchange rate and economic growth: Evidence from ARDL model and Rolling window Granger causality for Tunisia Author Author DHAOUI, Abderrazak Sekrafi, Habib Ghandri, Mohamed Abstract A summary of the resource. Abstract : The paper examines the relationship between tourism demand and its macroeconomic determinants (GDP, oil price, exchange rate) with an aim to test the dynamic interdependence between them in the case of Tunisia. Using yearly data from 1971 to 2014, the output of the ARDL model and the more recent Bootstrap rolling window Granger causality tests show important results with great economic implications for researchers, regulators, investors, … The results substantiate, especially, the following causal relationships, i.e. i) tourism-demand induces substantial increase in both economic growth and oil price, ii) economic growth led tourism demand, iii) increase in oil price affects negatively the tourism demand, iv) tourism demand and exchange rate are not significantly associated. Keywords: Tourism demand, GDP, Oil price, ARDL, Bootstrap Rolling window. JEL classification: O40, L83, P1. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available International Burch University Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017 Keywords Keywords. Article PeerReviewed H Social Sciences (General) https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/2561429c62eaee2dad389f5ace4242e1.pdf d08b42bad88d96a04af80fec5c572584 PDF Text Text The Youth's Perception of Migration in Bosnia and Herzegovina M. Sait Dinc Department of Management International Burch University Bosnia and Herzegovina m.sait.dinc@ibu.edu.ba Kanita Jahic Department of Management International Burch University Bosnia and Herzegovina kanita.jahic@stu.ibu.edu.ba Sejla Kocan Department of Management International Burch University Bosnia and Herzegovina sejla.kocan@stu.ibu.edu.ba Abstract: Migration, in a simple definition, is the movement of people from one country to another. One of the major problems in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is youth migration. Young people from BiH mostly migrate to European countries. Factors which have an influence on the youth migration and relationship between demographic differences, as well as the tendency of the youth to emigrate have attracted a great curiosity. The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of the youth about determinants of migration as well as the relationship between demographic variables and immigration tendency. Using the survey method, 207 responses were collected from the youth in BiH. Descriptive analysis, one-sample, and independent sample t-test were constructed to analyze data. The results have showed that the perceptions of the youth about job opportunities in BiH and approach of officials towards young people are negative. However, study results show that younger group of young people with less education have a greater tendency to emigrate. Keywords: migration, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the youth Introduction Migration can simply be defined as the movement of people from one country to another. Of the two types of migration, emigration represents the departure of people from one country in order to reside in the other. Brain drain is more specific term used in relation to emigration. It is 216 �defined as “a significant emigration of educated or talented individuals.”27 In other words, it is “the migration of highly educated labor force from developing to developed countries” (Stankovic, Angelova, Janeska, & Stankovic, 2013, p. 1). Brain drain usually relates to graduate students, who face problems when they search for employment after completing their studies (Cymanow, Florek-Paszkowska, 2014). In recent years, when transportation has become more available and advancements of certain countries are highly apparent as opposed to others, brain drain has become an agenda. People tend to leave their countries because of pull or push factors. Those factors can be of several sorts, such as social, political, economic, industrial, or cultural factors (Thet, 2014). However, emigration of youth may pose an even bigger problem. Young people are looking for opportunities, and in case that they cannot find them in their home countries, they are usually not willing to sacrifice their own well-being due to patriotism. In Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), youth brain drain has become one of the major problems. In 2013, it was reported that around 150.000 young people have left the country since the end of the war in 1995, and about 10.000 decide to leave it every year28. BiH is “the fifth worst country in the world in terms of brain drain,”29 according to the World Economic Forum. Young people are usually unwilling to accept the fact that they have to deal with some basic issues of this country, such as corruption, unemployment, low wages, poor economy, etc., and instead choose to build their lives elsewhere. There are many factors which contribute to emigration of youth. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the perception of young people living in BiH about basic determinants of migration. The purpose of this research is to examine the perceptions of youth about migration in BiH. It specifically focuses on the youth reasoning of the brain drain and its determinants. Moreover, it tries to determine whether there are any differences in youth’s perceptions according to demographic factors. Literature Review In recent years, with a huge increase in technological improvements and its reflection on transportation, migration and related terms have been an agenda of the world. Migration is the movement of people from one country to another. International migration is the movement of people across international boundaries, which has great economic, social, and cultural implications in both origin and destination countries (Docquier et al., 2006). Another term used 27 Obtained from Investopedia: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/brain_drain.asp (Aug 13, 2016) Obtained from Balkan Insight: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/young-people-leave-serbia-bosnia-themost (Aug 7, 2016) 29 Obtained from Balkan Insight: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/mass-depopulation-threatensbosnia-s-future (Aug 7, 2016) 28 217 �to refer to the international transfer of resources in the form of human capital and which has the aforementioned implications particularly in origin countries is called brain drain (Stankovic et al., 2013). Group of people which has been influenced by migration is undoubtedly young generation. Migration of youth has long even occurred as a part of a collective family strategy in search of educational and internship opportunities (UNFPA 2006). Although there are many studies conducted with regard to the migration, those which have focused on youth migration are still limited. Nevetheless, Juárez et al. (2013) analyzed youth migration and its consequences for the various other transitions to adulthood, including reproductive outcomes, educational, employment, and marital outcomes, as well as specific strategies underlying migration and its consequences. In another research, Cymanow and Florek-Paszkowska (2014) analyze a potential scale of internal and external migrations, assess the importance of factors determining the selection of migration destination, and the importance of elements affecting the nature of the undertaken jobs, taking into account payroll expectations of potential migrants in Poland. Research Questions According to the literature above, following research questions can be posited: Research question 1: In overall, do the youth perceive youth migration to be positive in BiH? Research question 2: How do the youth evaluate the determinants of the youth migration? Research question 3: Are there any differences in youth’ perceptions according to age, gender, education, marriage, and their parents’ company ownership and income? Research Method Survey Instrument A two-page questionnaire with three parts was used to collect data. The first part of the questionnaire included several questions about general characteristics of the youth and their tendency to migrate. To put it succinctly, this part included demographic questions such as age, gender, education, company ownership of parents, and overall perceptions of young people about migration. In the second part, four questions were asked with regard to the perceptions of the youth participants about migration of young people from BiH. The third part included 16 questions that dealt with the youth's perceptions about the determinants of migration and its destination. The questions in the second and third parts were adapted from Cymanow and Florek-Paszkowska (2014)'s study and were measured using 5-point Likert scale (5 = strongly agree; 1 = strongly disagree). The questionnaire was initially prepared in English and then translated into the Bosnian language. The translation of the questionnaire was done by experts who are fluent in both languages and their respective cultures. A pilot study of the questionnaire was done with 20 young participants studying at a private university. The purpose of pilot testing 218 �was to evaluate the validity of the survey. The questions which were not understood clearly were reevaluated and finalized for data collection. Data Collection The study used online and printed questionnaire survey to collect data. In order to enable a better generalization of research results, the study targeted young people in two large cities in BiH: Sarajevo, the capital city and Tuzla. A total of 200 questionnaires were distributed to students from a public and private high school as well as a public and private university in Sarajevo and Tuzla. A formal research approval was obtained from the administration of each examined schools and universities. The purpose of the study was initially explained to potential participants in order to encourage students’ voluntary participation, and to guarantee the anonymity of participants. The questionnaires were distributed to students who agreed to participate in the research. The overall number of the completed printed version of surveys which could be used was 108. With 99 online completed surveys, 207 questionnaires which could be used for this study were collected in total. Data Analysis Demographic information and overall perceptions of young people about migration were analyzed through frequency and descriptive statistics. Perceptions of the youth participants about migration of young people from BiH and questions about the youth's perceptions with regard to the determinants of migration and its destination were analyzed with one sample t-test. In one sample t-test, means were compared with the mid-point of the scale that is 3. Finally, differences in youth’ perceptions according to sample demographic characteristics such as age, gender, education, marriage, and company ownership of their parents and income were analyzed with an independent sample t-tests. Results Sample Characteristics A summary of the sample characteristics is presented in Table 1. The majority of the sample (60.4 %) were females in 18-21 age group with completed high school education. The majority's family (78.3 %) did not own a company. The predominant amount of the young respondents’ family (62.3 %) were planning to leave the country in the future. 219 �Research Question One In research question one, the study purpose was to measure the youth’s overall perception about migration of young people in BiH. The result of the sample t-test where the scale’s mid-point (3) was taken as the test value, demonstrated that the youth do not agree with the statements that “this country provides enough opportunities for youth employment” (M = 1.83, SD = .94, t = 17.8, p =.001) and “opinions of young people are respected in this country“ (M = 1.88, SD = .79, t = -20.3, p =.001). Nevertheless, they agree with the statement that “if I was more respected and given opportunities for job, I would stay in my country“ (M = 3.91, SD = 1.26, t = 10.3, p =.001). Results are summarized in Table 2. As demonstrated in the table, respondents are not positive about approach of BiH towards the youth which shows a positive attitude towards their migration. Table 1 Sample Characteristics Variable Number Valid Percent Under 18 years 36 17.4 18-21 years 94 45.4 21-23 years 50 24.2 Over 23 years 27 13.0 Male 82 39.6 Female 125 60.4 Yes 12 5.8 No 195 94.2 High school 119 57.5 Bachelor degree 75 36.2 Master 13 6.3 Yes 45 21.7 No 162 78.3 Planning to leave the country Yes 129 62.3 No 78 37.7 Average Income 0-540 USD 47 22.7 540-810 USD 62 30.0 810-1081 USD 34 16.4 Over 1081 USD 64 30.9 Married living together 177 85.5 Age Gender Marital status Education level Company Parents status Demographics 220 �Married living separately 6 2.9 Divorced 6 2.9 Single parent 16 7.7 Other 2 1.0 Research Question Two In the second research question, the purpose was to measure evaluations of young people about the determinants of the youth migration. Consistency of the items was analyzed by using reliability analysis, and Cronbach’s alpha values are indicated in Table 2. All the reliability coefficients are above the accepted level (.70). The results are summarized in Table 3. As presented in the table, “difficulties with finding a job in the home country” (M = 4.23, p = .001) was determinant with the highest rate. Better employment terms in the emigrated country was also rated as the second most highly rated determinant (M = 4.20, p = .001). It was followed by the possibility of earning a higher remuneration in the emigrated country (M = 4.11, p = .001). Regarding determinants of the youth migration destination, respondents rated “earnings” in the emigrated country the highest (M = 4.20, p = .001). It was followed by “getting a job easily” in emigrated country (M = 4.18, p = .001). Table 2 One sample t-test for perceptions of youth about migration of youth (Test value =3) N Mean SD t-value p-value This country provides enough opportunities for youth employment. 207 1.83 0.94 -17.84 .000 Opinions of young people are respected in this country. 207 1.88 0.79 -20.30 .000 Youth employment is more important than elder people employment in this country. 207 2.89 1.31 -1.21 .224 If I was more respected and given opportunities for job, I would stay in my country. 207 3.91 1.26 10.33 .000 NOTE: Cronbach’s alpha value for the four items is .40 Research Question Three In the third research question, the purpose was to compare the youth’s perceptions in terms of their age, gender, education, marriage, and company ownership of their parents and income. Demographic variables are recoded into two groups in order to simplify the analysis. The results 221 �are summarized in Table 4. As demonstrated in the table, no significant differences occur between different demographic groups of participants. Table 3 One sample t-test for determinants of migration (Test value =3) N Mean SD t-value p-value Possibility of earning a higher remuneration than in the home country 207 4.11 0.97 16.54 .000 Difficulties with finding a job in the home country 207 4.23 0.91 19.58 .000 Guaranteed employment abroad 207 3.98 0.97 14.54 .000 Employment terms better than in the home country 207 4.20 0.86 20.18 .000 Acquiring professional experience 207 4.00 1.02 14.08 .000 Improving qualifications 207 3.97 0.97 14.30 .000 Possibility of learning a foreign language 207 3.95 1.11 12.34 .000 Willingness to experience another country 207 3.29 1.31 3.19 .002 Distance of the migration destination from the home country 207 2.63 1.24 -4.26 .000 Earnings 207 4.20 0.91 18.93 .000 Getting a job with ease 207 4.18 0.85 19.85 .000 Family presence 207 3.42 1.11 5.46 .000 Presence of friends 207 3.07 1.15 0.85 .399 Historic events 207 2.23 1.03 -10.75 .000 Attitude toward your citizenship 207 3.02 1.18 0.24 .814 Threat of terrorist attacks 207 2.95 1.32 -0.52 .600 Determinant of migration Determinant of migration destination NOTE: Cronbach’s alpha values for the eight items about determinants of migration and the eight items about determinants of migration destination are .80 and .75 respectively. Discussion This study attempted to examine the perceptions of youth about migration in BiH. More specifically, it focused on the youth perception of the migration, its determinants, and differences in their perceptions according to demographic factors. The study results demonstrate that the perceptions of the youth about job opportunities and approach of officials toward young people in BiH are not positive. Moreover, the results show that difficulties in finding a job in BiH, better employment terms, and earning a higher remuneration possibility in emigrated countries are several important determinants that motivate the youth to go abroad. 222 �Table 4 Independent samples t-test for sample demographics Variable Age Average income Education level Gender Marital status Company Demographics N Mean SD 18-21 years 130 1.35 0.48 21 and older 77 1.42 0.50 0-810 USD 109 1.37 0.49 810 USD or higher 98 1.38 0.49 high school 119 1.35 0.48 higher education 88 1.41 0.49 male 82 1.39 0.49 female 125 1.37 0.48 yes 12 1.42 0.51 no 195 1.37 0.49 yes 45 1.44 0.50 no 162 1.36 0.48 t-value p-value -0.88 0.38 -0.13 0.90 -0.82 0.41 0.32 0.75 0.29 0.77 1.06 0.29 One of the findings which attracts attention in the study is negative perception of the youth about employment opportunities for the youth provided by BiH. The higher mean values on difficulties in finding a job in home country and better employment terms in emigrated countries also support that finding. This result is mostly related to the study context. After the ethnic and political tensions of the 1990s, the Dayton agreement which made BiH a federation including three ethnic communities namely Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs was signed in 1996. Devastated factories and companies have been repaired, and new private and public institutions have been founded. The majority of large scale businesses in the country are mainly international (Dinc and Duman, 2012). Despite all these improvements, BiH's development is very slow and it is still in a transition period. General perception for the reason of this slow improvement is the central government with a rotating, tripartite presidency and its heavy bureaucracy (Dinc and Huric, 2016). Therefore, people, especially the youth in BiH, has a prejudice and do not see their future in this country. However, high unemployment rate which is 44.86% in BiH30 is another factor that motivate the youth to immigrate to developed countries. 30 Obtained from the website http://www.tradingeconomics.com/bosnia-and-herzegovina/unemployment- rate 223 �Conclusion and Limitations The purpose of this study was to analyze perceptions of youth about migration, in particular, determinants of migration and differences in their perceptions in terms of demographic factors. The results showed that since the youth do not trust in employment opportunities in BiH, they have tendency to pursue finding a job in developed countries. These findings of the study suggest that government of BiH should focus more on the employment facilities for the youth. It can also put some regulations to decrease a heavy bureaucracy for foreign and local investors in order for them to do more investments and offer more job opportunities to the youth. There are several limitations in this study. Firstly, the results found in this research come from a limited sample. Surveys with higher sample size may give some different results. Therefore, future studies should be conducted in other cities of BiH. Secondly, self-reported issue may be another limitation of this study. Finally, the insufficient literature and methodology can be constraints of the study. Future studies should add some other variables and utilize some other statistical methods to find the relationship among variables. References Cymanow, P., & Florek-Paszkowska, A. (2014). Migration potential of college graduates from rural areas. Ekonomia i Prawo. Economics and Law, 13(1), 163-174. Dinc, M. S. and Duman, T. (2012). Employees' Perception of Marketing Ethics in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Research on Ethics and Social Responsibility, Business Research Unit, ISCTEIUL, Lisbon, 33-47. Dinc, M. S., & Huric, A. (2016). The impacts of ethical climate types on nurses’ behaviors in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Nursing ethics, 0969733016638143. Docquier, F., Ozden, C., Adams jr, R. H., Taylor, J. E., Mattoo, A., Martinez, C. A., ... & Mora, J. (2006). International migration, remittances, and the brain drain (No. 33988, p. 1). The World Bank. Juárez, F., LeGrand, T., Lloyd, C. B., Singh, S., & Hertrich, V. (2013). Youth migration and transitions to adulthood in developing countries. Stankovic, M., Angelova, B., Janeska, V., & Stankovic, B. (2013, February). Brain Drain as Brain Gain in Southeast Europe: Challenges Ahead. In ICIE2013-International Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship: ICIE 2013 (p. 109). Academic Conferences Limited. Thet, K. K. (2014). Pull and Push Factors of Migration: A Case Study in the Urban Area of Monywa Township, Myanmar. News from the World of Statistics. UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund). 2006. Moving young. Youth supplement to the UNFPA state of world population 2006. New York, NY: UNFPA. 224 �An Analysis of the Factors Determining the Working Capital Requirement for Non-Financial Companies Seyda Kadayifci International Burch University Bosnia and Herzegovina seydakadayifci@gmail.com Ali Coskun International Burch University Bosnia and Herzegovina alicoskun@hotmail.com The main purpose of this study is to investigate the factors determining the working capital requirement of firms. Companies require working capital to improve the capacity, expand the business volume, reduce the risk of failing to meet their financial obligations, and become profitable and efficient. An inadequacy of the working capital causes interruptions in the business operations. This study investigates the determining factors of the working capital requirements of non-financial companies. The research analysis was done on publicly traded firms, and the data was collected from BIST-100 in Turkey for the years between 2011 and 2016. In this study, working capital requirement was used as the dependent variable. Factors such as profitability, leverage, growth, firm size, age and industry were tested as determining factors. PLS-SEM technique is employed in the research. Results reveal that two explanatory variables- company's leverage, and profitability- are significant factors that determine the companies’ working capital requirements for the period under study. Key words: Working Capital Requirement, Profitability, Leverage, Growth, Size, Age, Industry Introduction Managing the financial needs and operations of any business is very important to the management of the company, as it has an effect on both the company's profits and liquid assets. The literature on business finance focuses on three key areas. These are capital budgeting, capital structure, and working capital management. Capital budgeting and capital structure concerns long-term investment and financing decisions. Working capital management can be expressed as the short-term investments of firms and the selection and management of financial strategies in these investment decisions. If there is not enough working capital to fulfill the obligations of a company, it may cause financial insolvency, legal problems, and liquidation of assets (Hawley, 2015). For this reason, it is very important for all enterprises to have sufficient management of their working capital. 225 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Extent The size or duration of the resource. 3658 Title A name given to the resource The Youth's Perception of Migration in Bosnia and Herzegovina (doi: 10.14706/icesos1721) Author Author DINÇ, Muhammet Sait Jahic, Kanita Kocan, Sejla Abstract A summary of the resource. Abstract: Migration, in a simple definition, is the movement of people from one country to another. One of the major problems in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is youth migration. Young people from BiH mostly migrate to European countries. Factors which have an influence on the youth migration and relationship between demographic differences, as well as the tendency of the youth to emigrate have attracted a great curiosity. The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of the youth about determinants of migration as well as the relationship between demographic variables and immigration tendency. Using the survey method, 207 responses were collected from the youth in BiH. Descriptive analysis, one-sample, and independent sample t-test were constructed to analyze data. The results have showed that the perceptions of the youth about job opportunities in BiH and approach of officials towards young people are negative. However, study results show that younger group of young people with less education have a greater tendency to emigrate. Keywords: migration, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the youth Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017 Keywords Keywords. Conference or Workshop Item PeerReviewed H Social Sciences (General) https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/4a68968d17edb884b43ce9aafd1d2535.pdf 4e36186019ec5b13487100802b376404 PDF Text Text SMEs, the Backbone of the Albanian Economy Suada Dajçi Epoka University Albania Amela Dalipaj Epoka University Albania Abstract: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a fundamental role in the economic growth of a country. This report’s purpose is to determine and prove the great significance they have in Albanian economy, and what measures are needed to be taken in order to stimulate the establishment of new SMEs and assuring a long term sustainability of the existed ones in the market. In this paper is being analyzed the impact that SMEs have in GDP, employment, innovation, and investment. The data used in this report is gathered from INSTAT; Albanian Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Entrepreneurship; Eurostat; and European Commission. According to this data, even though Albania has made improvements in the business sector, there is still much to be done related to SME development such as: the improvement of business climate, further simplification of legislation, implementation of favorable financial assistance schemes, and easily providing low interest loans. Keywords: economic growth, GDP, employment, innovation, investment, turnover Introduction Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have a different definition in various countries around the world because of the number that states decide as a ceiling in staff headcount and either turnover or balance sheet total. The definition made by European Commission defines SMEs as enterprises with less than 250 employees, a turnover less or equal to 50 million euros, and either a balance sheet that does not exceeds 43 million euros3. In order to bring the SME definition closer to EU standards, Albania amended the law no. 8957 in October 17th of 2002. In the article 4 of this law is stated that: Micro, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) include those entities which employ fewer than 80 people and have an annual turnover that does not exceed 80 million ALL1. Later on 29-10-2008 it further changed with the new law no. 10183. Now the definition states that: “Micro, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) includes those entities which employ fewer than 250 people and have an annual turnover that does not exceed 250 million Albanian Lek. Small enterprises are those entities which employ less than 50 persons and have an annual turnover that does not exceed 50 million Albanian Lek. Micro enterprises are entities which employ less than 10 persons and have an annual turnover that does not exceed 10 102 �million Albanian Lek.” (Kruja, 2013) To avoid confusion we need to clarify that this definition is only for individual firms, and these ceilings do not apply to firms that are part of a large group. SMEs have a very important role in the economic growth of their country. The significance they have varies in different economies. This report’s purpose is to determine and prove the great significance they have in Albanian economy, and what measures are needed to be taken in order to stimulate the establishment of new SMEs and assuring a long term sustainability of the existed ones in the market. “The only way to reduce poverty in a sustainable way is to promote economic growth, through wealth and employment creation. In developing countries, SMEs are the major source of income, a breeding ground for entrepreneurs and a provider of employment7” (UNIDO Report, 2003). We can measure the real importance of the SMEs in Albanian economy by analyzing the impact that SMEs have in GDP, employment, innovation, and state budget. Most of the data used in this report are gathered from the Albanian Institute of Statistics (INSTAT), Albanian Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Entrepreneurship, Eurostat, EBRD BEEPS survey, European Commission, European Investment Bank, and SBA Fact Sheet. The significance that SMEs have in Albania in reducing poverty through employment, the role they have in state budget, the impact in GDP, and the percentage of investments made on SMEs are shown in Table 1, Table 2, and Table 3. The importance of SMEs in reducing poverty As it is shown in Table 1, SMEs are the main engine that can reduce poverty in Albania, because they provide 79.9% of the total employment, while the European Union average is around 67 %. This means that SMEs are the main job providers in Albania, considering the great number of people that get self employed by creating their own businesses, and at the same time creating job vacancies. While the number of unemployed people is reduced, meanwhile the number of people living in poverty line will be reduced. “[We] find that small firms have the largest shares of job creation but large firms have the largest share of job losses4” (M. Ayyagari, A.Demirguc-Kunt, V. Maksimovic, 2011, p. 12).The reason why small and medium sized firms have the greatest share of job creation is because the velocity of the creation of new firms is greater than their speed towards failure, that’s why the number of net job creation by SMEs is high as shown in Figure 1. But the number of net job creation by SMEs can be greater if less of these enterprises failed. Failure mostly comes from the lack of finance, because obtaining external financing requires a long bureaucratic administrative aspect of the lending procedures, and in the case of bank loans it is requested a collateral in a form of property or bank deposit with high interest rates, so for SMEs external financing might be unaffordable, time wasting, and no profit is generated from it. A solution to this problem might be implementation of favorable financial assistance schemes as loan guarantee funds and micro credits. 103 �Table 1 shows that the number of persons employed in SMEs in Albania has been increasing since 2008, while in European Union has been having sustainability with the tendency to decline that can better be noticed in 2012. Figure 2 Business Demography; Birth rates of enterprises %, Source: Knomea (2016) The role of SMEs in state budget SMEs in Albania constitute 99.8% of all enterprises, they provide almost 68 % of the total value added, which has dropped by 3% from 2012, due to the poor performance of small firms which experienced a 13 % drop in value added. SME employment grew by 15 % during 2012-14. Moreover SMEs generate more than 3/4 of the State’s turnover. This is why government must support SMEs with different policies as being the main contributors in the state budget. The fluctuations of the value added of SMEs curves in Albania and in EU are shown in Figure 2. 104 �Table 5 SMEs basic Figures, Source: 2016 SBA Fact Sheet Figure 2: Number of persons employed in SMES (index: 2012=100) Source: European Commission Figure 3: Value added of SMEs (index: 2012=100) Source: European Commission 105 �SMEs impact on GDP Table 2, 3 and 4 on the other hand shows the right number of: enterprises, people employed, turnover, and investments in all industries, in good producers and in service producers respectively. We drag the following statistics from Table 2: Nine from ten enterprises engaged less than 5 employed. Enterprises with 250+ employed, even though constitute only 0.1 % of enterprises, engaged 18.7 % of employed, realized 33.5 % of investment, 22.4 % of turnover and 33.7 % of value added. Most of enterprises in Albania are services producers as it is shown in Figure 3. Further on in Figure 4 and Figure 5 are shown the percentages of enterprises according to the number of employees. According to Albanian Ministry of Economy the contribution of SMEs on GDP since 2008 is 73%. As a result, it can be said that the SMEs play an important role in the economy of the country. GDP is the main indicator to evaluate the economic growth of a country, which means that in order to have economic growth a government needs to stimulate with different policies, reforms, and measures the increase of SMEs production. The best way is by favorizing SMEs exports. If we take a look to Table 2 and Table 3 on investment column we will notice that although SMEs cover most of employment, GDP, value added, still investments are not shared equally. Table 6: Basic indicators and their structure by size class of enterprises Source: INSTAT (2015) 106 �Table 7: Enterprises, employed, turnover, investments of goods producers by size class of enterprise Source: INSTAT (2014) Table 8: Enterprises, employed, turnover, investments of service producers by size class of enterprise Source: INSTAT 2014 Producers of Services groups by their number of employees. Producers of goods 13% Group by the number of employed 5-9 5% Group by the number of employed 1-4 91% Producers of services 87% Figure 4: Companies in Albania according to their activities, Source: INSTAT 2014 Diğer 4% Group by the number of employed 1049 3% Group by the number of employed 50⁺ 1% Figure 5: Producers of Services groups by their number of employees. Source: INSTAT 2014 107 �Figure 6: Producers of Goods groups by their number of employees Producers of Goods groups by the number of their number of employees. Group by the number of employed 5-9 10% Group by the number of employed 1-4 71% Group by the number of employed 10-49 15% Diğer 19% Group by the number of employed 50⁺ 4% Source: INSTAT 2014 Innovation and SMEs “Technological progress is not translated into economic benefits and jobs by governments, countries, or sectors, but by innovative firms. Innovative firms are not superior algorithms to maximize production functions, but efficient learning organizations that seize technological and market opportunities creatively in order to expand production frontiers5” (OECD , 1996). In Albania, in the previous years, used to be organized a business plan competition for innovative start-ups, with the main purpose of attracting young people with entrepreneurial skills. In 2014, the Albanian Investment Development Agency (AIDA) has provided public grants to SMEs through the 'Competitiveness Fund 2013-2015' and the newly established 'Innovation Fund 2015-2017", aiming to improve the quality of exported products as well as to diversify and increase the exports by subsidizing the SMEs2. In 2015, AIDA implemented the ‘Enhancement of institutional capacities for research and innovation’ to further support the development of research and higher education systems. The Albanian government has focused on improving the quality of the Vocational Education and Training (VET), aiming to establish linkages of the VET with the labor market, increasing employment for women, youth and vulnerable groups. Moreover it has adopted and implemented the ‘Effective implementation of Digital Agenda Strategy’, which introduced a range of instruments to support SMEs using ICT and innovative technologies. Within the last years more organizations are coming up which actively support innovative startups and existing SMEs such as ProTIK ICT Resource Center. It was established in 2012 to catalyze the development of the ICT sector in Albania and has developed an accelerator program for startups. ProTIK aims to become the Albanian ICT hub. Albania needs to work more on setting stronger links between technology, science, higher education and businesses because it is essential in improving human capital. Promotion of entrepreneurship at all levels of education, support of start-up businesses, improvement of 108 �investment climate conditions are also some of the measures that need to be taken. SMEs are flexible in market changing conditions, they are very widespread in all economic activities as they represent 99.8% of all enterprises, and furthermore they run in perfect competition. These make SMEs the perfect tool to spread innovation, try new technologies approaches while they compete one another, all characteristics which result in economic growth. Innovation is very important even for firms, because innovation means differentiation that is accompanied with more incomes, employing more workers, demanding for high level skills, paying higher wages, and offering more stable prospects for the workforce and as the economy functions as a chain one thing will follow another and this will bring economic growth to the firm. Conclusion SMEs play a vital role in our economy; they are the generators of employment, main indicators in GDP, and economic growth promoters. SMEs employ 81% of the employed persons, and meanwhile they make up 99.9% of all registered business entities. SMEs in Albania are mostly spread in the service producers’ economic activity this because service producers sector has 87% of enterprises in the market. The contribution of SMEs on GDP since 2008 is 73%. They are very widespread in all economic activities, they have the ability to respond quickly to market changes, and furthermore they run in perfect competition, all these make SMEs the perfect tool to promote economic growth through innovation. But even though Albania has made improvements in the business sector, there is still much to be done related to SME development. The new fiscal package that was pass by the Government cause of growing public debt increased the corporate income tax for large and medium companies but reduced the tax burden for small enterprises, which is positive. Some measures that the Government of Albania should undertake in order to promote SMEs in Albania are as follow: the improvement of business climate, further simplification of legislation to open a SME, implementation of favorable financial assistance schemes as loan guarantee funds and micro credits, easily providing low interest loans, or improving access to finance through developing the venture capital market and alternative sources of finance, and setting stronger links between technology, science, higher education and businesses because is essential in improving human capital. They could also consider the promotion of entrepreneurship at all levels of education; they can put more emphasis on the introduction of incubators, clusters and technological parks, enhanced public support to increase their exports, and creating fast-track and specific bankruptcy procedures for SMEs, especially in view of the issue of the non-performing loans.. If we take care for the development of the SMEs Albania will experience economic prosperity. Bibliography AIDA. (2015, December 02). Aida Funds. Retrieved from Albanian Investment Development Agency: http://aida.gov.al/pages/aidas-funds Business and Financing Consulting. ( August 2016). Assessment of financing needs of SMEs in the Western Balkans countries. European Investment Bank. 109 �On Small and Medium Enterprises, Law no.8957, article 4 (Consitution of the Republic of Albania,Commercial Law October 17, 2002). Commission, E. (n.d.). Entrepreuneurship and SMEs. Retrieved from European Commission. European Commision. (2016). 2016 SBA Fact Sheet Albania. European Commision. European Commission. (2015, December 02). Entrepreuneurship and SMEs. Retrieved January 03, 2016, from European Commission: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/business-friendlyenvironment/sme-definition/index_en.htm Instat. (2015). Statistics on small and medium enterprises, 2015. Tirana: Instat. INSTAT. (2017). RESULTS OF STRUCTURAL SURVEY OF ECONOMIC ENTERPRISES. Tirana: INSTAT. Knomea. (2016, October 11). Candidate countries and potential candidates: business demography. Retrieved October 20, 2016, from Knomea: https://knoema.com/cpc_insbs/candidate-countriesand-potential-candidates-business-demography?regionId=AL Kruja, A. D. (2013). The Contribution of SMEs to the Economic Growth (Case of Albania). Editura Universitara Danubius . M. Ayyagari, A.Demirguc-Kunt, V. Maksimovic. (2011). Small vs. Young Firms across the World Contribution to Employment, Job Creation, and Growth. World Bank. OECD . (1996). Technology, Productivity and Job Creation. Paris.: The Washington Workshop. PBM. (2011). The Importance of SMEs in Albanian Economy and the Role of Government and Financial Institutions in their Development. In Enhancing SMEs Development in Albania: A Study on Macro-Financial Soundness Indicators (pp. 65-67.). Tirana: Klean Publisher. UNIDO. (2003). WSIS Report. 110 �Impact of Agricultural Policies on Rural Development and Increase of Competitiveness of Agriculture of Bosnia and Herzegovina with a Special Emphasis on Achievement of Reform Goals Sanja Kavaz Hukic Bosnia and Herzegovina sanja_kavaz@bih.net.ba Abstarct: For the Balkan countries, the agricultural sector and rural development are of great importance, primarily because they are ensuring food security of the population, and then, also, because they have effects on employment, the creation of total gross value as well as on the foreign trade. Having in mind open processes of joining the European Union in these countries, with a special focus on Bosnia and Herzegovina, the implementation of the EU policies and practices will represent both a challenge and an opportunity for the development of the state and the improvement of its position in the single European market. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country with a distinct rural character, with over 50% of the rural population, where every third household acquires some kind of income from agriculture, and which is currently facing a number of problems when rural development is concerned (from insufficient investments, uncompetitive production, inefficient administration, abandonment of rural areas, failure to use EU funds, etc.). Nevertheless, with adequate policies and dynamic approach to the agricultural sector, and strategy for increasing competitiveness and attracting investment, the potential of Bosnia and Herzegovina's agriculture could be used and exploited, and the country could go towards progress and success. Therefore, this paper explores and analyzes the European Union's common policies, as well as the ways and means of their implementation in the Balkan region countries, especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Then, the paper points the importance and necessity of investing in rural development (infrastructure, mechanization, marketing, agro-environmental measures, etc.), and provides guidelines on how to modernize and reconstruct the agricultural sector, in order to increase the country's competitiveness and reduce the long-standing trade deficit in this area, and, at last, how to effectively approach to the European Union with harmonization of legislation and the use of development plan. The agricultural sector and the overall modernization of rural communities, with a clear vision, and with increasing employment, economic growth and competitiveness, can become the cornerstone of the development of Bosnia and Herzegovina and a key factor of its inclusion in the European and the world trends. Keywords: EU common agricultural policy, agriculture, rural development, competitiveness. JEL Classification: Q17, Q18, O13, 018 Introduction The Common Agricultural Policy (further: CAP) is one of the oldest polices of the European Union (further: EU) and represents set of measures and programs for subsidizing agriculture in the European Union. It was created in 1962, so the application of common agricultural policy 111 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Extent The size or duration of the resource. 3662 Title A name given to the resource SMEs, the Backbone of the Albanian Economy (doi: 10.14706/icesos1725) Author Author Dajci, Suada Dalipaj, Amela Abstract A summary of the resource. Abstract: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a fundamental role in the economic growth of a country. This report’s purpose is to determine and prove the great significance they have in Albanian economy, and what measures are needed to be taken in order to stimulate the establishment of new SMEs and assuring a long term sustainability of the existed ones in the market. In this paper is being analyzed the impact that SMEs have in GDP, employment, innovation, and investment. The data used in this report is gathered from INSTAT; Albanian Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Entrepreneurship; Eurostat; and European Commission. According to this data, even though Albania has made improvements in the business sector, there is still much to be done related to SME development such as: the improvement of business climate, further simplification of legislation, implementation of favorable financial assistance schemes, and easily providing low interest loans. Keywords: economic growth, GDP, employment, innovation, investment, turnover Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017 Keywords Keywords. Conference or Workshop Item PeerReviewed H Social Sciences (General) https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/2a51560d7b7d3fd4d267565b42201314.pdf 3279fe689dfbbff139ac026b6e098cc6 PDF Text Text     Journal of Economic and Social Studies Determinants of International Tourism Flows to the Republic of Croatia: An SUR Analysis of Panel Data from 1993-2015. Joel I. Deichmann Bentley University Massachusetts, USA jdeichmann@bentley.edu Danyang Liu Bentley University Massachusetts, USA liu_dany@bentley.edu Abstract:   This paper examines origin-effects of tourist flows into Croatia from 1993-2015, a time period that features several important events: the fragmentation of Yugoslavia, the European recession, and Croatia’s accession to the European Union. Applying the seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) approach to a large panel data set with the number of annual arrivals from each origin country as the dependent variable, we identify and analyze the determinants of tourism flows to Croatia. A series of augmented gravity model specifications reveals that inflows can be explained by geographic proximity, GDP per capita, origin country population, and openness. The role of the real exchange rate variable is inconclusive, and in fact problematic for years 1993-95 when hyperinflation plagued the region in the wake of Yugoslavia’s dissolution. The results confirm the validity of the models, both for the subset of origin countries and for the subset of non-origin countries for which otherwise complete data are available. Given the importance of tourism to Croatia’s national accounts position, implications for tourism policy are discussed, as are suggestions for future research. Volume 7 | Issue 1 | Keywords:  Tourism OriginEffects, Gravity Model, Croatia JEL Classification: C33, O52, Z3 Article History Submitted: 21 November, 2016 Resubmitted: 27 March 2017 Accepted: 29 May 2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.14706/JECO SS17711 5 �Joel I. Deichmann, Danyang Liu   Introduction International tourism is a mainstay of Croatia’s economy, currently representing 12.5% of the country’s GDP (WTTC, 2015). Such a heavy reliance on this single industry leaves the country susceptible during times of recession in other European Union economies, which collectively comprise about three quarters of Croatia’s tourism exports (Škuflić and Štoković, 2011; WTTC, 2015). Given the importance of tourism revenues for Croatia’s balance of payments, it is essential that policymakers understand the drivers of demand for international tourism and hospitality (Baldigara, 2013; Tica and Kožić, 2015). This paper assesses origineffects of tourist flows into Croatia from 1993-2015, a time period during which several events have impacted Croatia, the Balkan region, and the broader European Union. These include the aftermath of Croatia’s independence from Yugoslavia, regional political instability throughout the 1990s, the European recession (from 2007 onward), and Croatia’s 2013 accession to the European Union. Tourism is hailed as one of the world’s most important economic sectors, with the value of international tourism ranking as the third largest category of exports after fuels and chemicals (UNWTOa, 2016; 2). Officially, the World Tourism Organization defines tourism as “the activity of visitors taking a trip to a main destination outside their usual environment for less than a year, for leisure, business or other personal purpose other than to be employed by a resident entity in the place visited.” As such, the industry is expansive, and global international tourism alone resulted in receipts of $1.5 trillion in 2015 (UNWTOa, 2016). For some small countries like Croatia, the industry is even more important as an economic sector and as a means of obtaining foreign revenue that ultimately raises GDP (Pavlic, Svilokos, and Tolic, 2015). Thanks in large part to deliberate and successful policy efforts, Croatia ranks thirty-third globally in the World Economic Forum’s (2015) Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index. Croatia’s Ministry of Tourism (2013) provides a thorough analysis of the industry from a policy perspective, and sets forth goals to be targeted for the year 2020, including a toptwenty competitiveness ranking. A cursory examination of Figure 1 yields the observation that several events have impacted the otherwise steady acceleration of international arrivals to Croatia. See, for example, the falloffs in arrivals approximating 1995, 1999, and additional general languishing from 2007-2010. In an effort to capture the most important facilitators of tourism during this time period, the present research requires the assembly and 6 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Determinants of International Tourism Flows to the Republic of Croatia: An SUR Analysis of Panel Data from 1993-2015.     assessment of a large data set from sources including the World Bank and Croatia’s Ministry of Tourism. Figure 1: International Arrivals from Leading Origins (in thousands) Data Source: Ministry of Tourism (2016) This project employs regression modeling of a panel set of new data through 2015 to advance the existing body of research on international tourism in Croatia. In so doing, it builds upon an array of variables identified by other scholars. For example, Mervar and Payne (2007) note that during the first decade after Croatia’s independence, tourism was highly elastic with respect to income fluctuations of origin countries, and that political conflict in the region impacted the industry severely, although at that time they found no evidence of a significant role for exchange rates and transportation costs. As another example, Škuflić and Štoković (2011) discover that income, marketing, quantity, price, and age of hotels are significant drivers for explaining the length of stay nights. It is plausible that the scene depicted in Figure 1 can be explained in part by the differential effects of the European recession (note the increase in German and Austrian arrivals, and decline in those from Italy). Based upon overnights, Galičić (2015, 93) points out that overall, Croatia’s tourism sector was protected from the recession, unlike other industries. This may be attributable to the wealthier characteristics of northern European tourists who tend to travel to Croatia, combined with worse economic conditions in other southern European destinations such as Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain. Volume 7 | Issue 1 | 7 �Joel I. Deichmann, Danyang Liu   The present paper examines variables such as these by employing data beginning in 1993, during Yugoslavia’s war of dissolution, and extending through the global economic crisis as called for by Panagiotou (2010), and Croatia’s 2013 accession to the European Union. The results should enlighten scholars and policymakers and enable them to better prepare for and respond to such events in the future. These findings will also have considerable relevance for other tourism-dependent countries. It is quite straightforward to conceptualize this research approach in terms of the gravity model, borrowed from Newton’s Law of Gravity, and pioneered in economics by Tinbergen (1962). Since then, the approach has been widely used to explain flows of migrants (Lewer and Van den Berg, 2008), trade (Ok, 2010), and foreign direct investment (Deichmann, 2013), as well as international tourism (Khadaroo and Seetanah, 2008; Eryiğit, Kotil, and Eryiğit, 2010; Keum, 2010), setting the groundwork for the present research. The basic gravity model can be presented as follows: Arrivalsij= α (MiMj/Dij) Where: Arrivals= number of international tourists from each country (in thousands) α = constant M = mass (GDP or population) D = resistance (geographical or cultural distance) Quite simply, with trans-national interactions being defined as “tourist arrivals,” ceteris paribus, we would expect more interaction between large countries and less between smaller ones. Similarly, countries that are near to each other (either geographically or culturally) would be more likely to experience greater flows of tourists than those that are farther away. In order to contribute to a more robust understanding of contemporary demand issues by stakeholders, the simple model above can be augmented with other variables that have emerged in the scholarly literature, including income at origin (Eilat and Einav, 2005), visa-requirements (Cole and Hall, 2005), transportation costs (Mervar and Payne, 2007), and exchange rates (Tica and Kožić, 2015), all of which have been shown to play a role in explaining “origin-effects”, or flows of tourists from different origins. 8 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Determinants of International Tourism Flows to the Republic of Croatia: An SUR Analysis of Panel Data from 1993-2015.     Literature Review A large literature focuses upon the international tourism industry in Croatia, highlighting the national economic importance of the industry as well as the necessity of effective forecasting models (Baldigara, 2013; Tica and Kožić, 2015). Research on the topic is expansive due to the commanding and increasing presence of Croatia’s tourism industry, especially in coastal areas (Ballinger, 2003). The portion of literature that relates to the war’s crippling results of physical destruction and hyperinflation is descriptive (Currie, Skare, and Loncar, 2004; Schőnfelder 2005, Ateljevic and Čorak, 2006), but nevertheless provides an essential backdrop for more recent scholarship on international tourism. Radnić and Ivandić (1999) embrace Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as a starting point to explain the deterioration of overnights and total beds used by foreign tourists during the war years of 1990-1995, focusing specifically on human safety needs as being fundamentally more important than those of self-actualization. The authors employ a combination of quantitative and qualitative data from Croatia’s Institute for Tourism to provide an excellent summary of the impacts of conflict, and a very slow recovery in Croatia, comparing a lagging perceived value for money vis-à-vis other destinations in Italy, Spain, and Greece; one that was comparable to Turkey at the time of data collection (1997). They conclude with a series of insightful principles highlighting the need to understand crisis and its impacts on tourism, among other considerations that might inform future crisis-management measures. Similarly, Hall (2002) calls for brand development and re-imaging throughout former Yugoslavia as a means of helping the region’s post-war tourism industry recover. He compares and addresses issues in several countries in the region, and identifies examples of national tourism “straplines” for marketing purposes. In the case of Croatia, the strapline he identifies is “small country for a great holiday” (p. 327). In order for Croatia to both bring back tourists from traditional markets and attract high-income-generating groups, Hall argues that marketing programs should differentiate Croatia as “not Balkan”, and reassure tourists that its attractions’ traditional quality and value have been restored to pre-war levels. McKercher and Lew (2003) identify what they designate as an Effective Tourism Exclusion Zone (ETEZ) based upon telephone survey of 952 Hong Kong residents conducted in the year 2000. They argue that this type of zone exists for every tourist market, although it varies according to the nature and size of the voids that exist near the source market. ETEZs might be oceans, unpopulated areas, or product voids. For example, Switzerland has many competing land neighbors, while New Zealand’s Volume 7 | Issue 1 | 9 �Joel I. Deichmann, Danyang Liu   nearest destination is between 2000 and 3000km away, representing the latter country’s expansive ETEZ. Currie et al. (2004) examine the effects of Yugoslavia’s war of dissolution that took place from 1991-1995 paying special attention to international tourism. They underscore the country’s dependence upon tourism with official state statistics showing 5.4% annual growth in arrivals, with a 19.1% yearly acceleration of spending. The authors use ordinary least squares regression to compare models of the Croatian economy during the war with two peaceful time periods: 1960-1990 and 1996-2000. Their model estimates a cumulative economic loss of $5.139 billion in tourism revenues during the war (approximately five percent of national revenue), and they note that tourism actually started to increase toward the end of the war, drawing on earlier work by Weaver (2000) that suggests that conflict can eventually have a positive impact on international arrivals as battle sites are transformed into attractions. Subsequently, the body of literature on “dark tourism” has been extensively and critically reviewed by Stone (2013). Eilat and Einav (2004) employ a three-dimensional panel data set to survey the determinants of international tourism. They examine flows between all pairs of countries in the years 1985 and 1998. Defining their dependent variable as flows relative to population of the origin country, they find evidence that political risk is a major inhibitor of tourism, while exchange rates are important especially for tourism to developed countries, which exhibit exchange rate elasticity of approximately one. Schőnfelder (2005) focuses more theoretically and broadly on the war’s economic impacts related to run-away inflation, arguing that “the most obvious economic victim of the war was tourism” (page 10). The Croatian dinar was introduced in December 1991, and experienced monthly inflation rates between 21.5% and 31.2% for more than a year. In response, in 1994 the dinar was replaced by the kuna, which was redenominated with the removal of three zeros. Among the comprehensive historical overviews of the industry is a descriptive chapter by Ateljevic and Čorak (2006) that highlights the evolution of tourism in the region. The authors trace tourism’s growth over the past century, during which, as part of Yugoslavia, the Adriatic coast represented a tourist magnet of continental magnitude. Yugoslavia was particularly accessible to travelers because visas were not required for visitors from Western or Eastern Europe. The authors focus upon the social, cultural, and psychological conditions of tourism in the country, which they argue tend to be overshadowed in the regional transition literature by political and 10 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Determinants of International Tourism Flows to the Republic of Croatia: An SUR Analysis of Panel Data from 1993-2015.     economic considerations. As part of this discussion, the chapter highlights the endurance of gender division in tourism occupations over time. Jordan (2006) examines the impact of EU Enlargement on tourism in Central Europe, including Croatia. His assertion that 2004 is merely a symbolic date for the gradual integration of much of Central Europe can be extended to Croatia in 2013, when the new republic formally joined the EU. Effectively, the expansion of the EU is a gradual socio-economic process that has occurred over the past quarter century, and one that will continue to unfold as time passes. The author maps and explains tourist flows between the Central European states for 1910, 1937, and 2003, then highlights the major types of tourism that characterize the region. He concludes by speculating on the outlook for the industry in Central Europe, arguing that it depends largely upon improvement in accommodations, infrastructure, and marketing, particularly with regard to negative images of the political and security environment of competing countries. The legacy of war is a consideration particularly relevant to Croatia and its Balkan neighbors. Colonial ties are explored as a facilitator of tourism flows by McKercher and Decosta (2007). The authors note that lingering effects of colonization can remain strong, especially in the case of French and Dutch tourists. Colonial legacies appear even more important where multiple colonizers had been present, for example in Namibia, where South Africa, Germany, and the UK remain the most important origins of tourists. Moreover, they find evidence that an absence of colonial ties represents an equally strong inhibitor to travel. Although this study is largely descriptive, the authors conduct some rudimentary correlations, and discover that the ties they identify tend to deteriorate with time after destinations become independent. Moreover, markets that are large and diversified tend to rely less on their colonial ties. Building upon McKercher and Lew’s (2003) work on distance decay and ETEZs, the impact of distance on tourism movements is further examined by McKercher, Chan, and Lam (2008). Reporting on 2002 data from 41 source markets to 146 destinations, they find that a classic decay curve is most typical for origin markets, whereby demand peaks at adjacent land neighbors, and declines rapidly as distance to destinations increases. They acknowledge that other variables such as pairwise relationship characteristics might also be at work. The authors note that 80% of all international tourism takes place within 1000km of the origin, whereas negligible tourism takes place between extremely distant countries. Volume 7 | Issue 1 | 11 �Joel I. Deichmann, Danyang Liu   Khadaroo and Seetanah (2008) examine bilateral tourism flows between 28 countries from 1990-2000 using a GMM panel analysis, arguing that transportation infrastructure is a significant determinant of international tourism that is sensitive to other characteristics of origins and destinations. The authors measure several aspects of infrastructure, including roads, ports, airports, and distance itself in a global gravity model. In conclusion, based on their findings, Khadaroo and Seetanah (2008) make the case that governments should refrain from spending cuts that lead to the neglect of infrastructure. Moreover, countries should take advantage of developmental loans and private investment alike to improve accessibility that will lead to greater tourism flows. Keum (2008) argues that economists have come to value the gravity model not just as an empirical tool but also as a theoretical one. Using a panel data set with tourist flows to Korea, he confirms the gravity model’s robustness when applied to international tourism as a form of trade, citing an array of mainstream international trade theories. Highlighting evidence of the importance of geographical distance and GDP measures, he concludes that the gravity model is “indispensable for analyzing the flows of spatial interactions” (2008, 545). Eryiğit et al. (2010) specify an eight-factor model for explaining the number of tourists to Turkey from the time period 1995-2005. Their expanded gravity model reveals that the most important explanatory variables for Turkey include geographic distance and tourism climate index. In addition, the authors report that GDP per capita, population of the origin country, earthquakes, adjacency, and the September 11th attacks have impacted the magnitude of inflows. Notably, they find no evidence that safety concerns surrounding the nearby Iraq War deterred tourists away from Turkey. Baldigara (2013) compares five time-series forecasting methods to determine their relative accuracy for predicting international tourism demand in Croatia. Her investigation is based upon the number of tourist nights from five European countries between 2009 and 2012. She concludes that although all of the methods are useful, her double moving average (3x3) method is superior because it yields the smallest mean absolute percentage error. She concludes by calling for additional quantitative analysis of determinants of Croatia’s tourism demand. Employing an expansive list of variables, Tica and Kožić (2015) evaluate drivers of inbound tourism demand in Croatia. The authors find that Polish real GDP and Czech wages are the most important determinants of international tourism overnight stays, and that their impact is realized in a lead time of one year. Some evidence is 12 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Determinants of International Tourism Flows to the Republic of Croatia: An SUR Analysis of Panel Data from 1993-2015.     also found that favorable exchange rates attract tourists to stay longer at a destination. Finally, Pavlic et al. (2015) examine the impact of tourism on GDP using a set of mainstream variables, including the independent variable of international arrivals in an interesting twist. They also confirm the importance of an economy’s openness (imports plus exports) and real effective exchange rate as drivers of Croatian GDP from 1996-2013. Although their dependent variable is different from the present study, this work by Pavlic et al. (2015) is relevant here because of its examination of causality between variables and the resulting evidence underscoring the role of tourism in the host economy. Table 1: Summary of Variables in the Literature for Explaining Tourism Flows Variable Author(s) Valence Sign Population of origin Eryiğit et al. (2010) + Income at origin Eilat and Einav (2005), Mervar and + Payne (2007), Keum (2008), Khaderoo and Seetanah (2008), Škuflić and Štoković (2011), Tica and Kožić (2015) Historical Rule McKercher and DeCosta (2007) + Geographical distance McKercher and Lew (2003), Eilat and Einav (2005), Keum (2008), McKercher, Chan, and Lam (2008), Eryiğit et al. (2010) Transportation Khaderoo and Seetanah (2008) + infrastructure European Union Coles and Hall (2005) + membership Political Instability or Hall (2002), Currie et al. (2004), Terrorism Schőnfelder (2005), Mervar and Payne (2007), Eryiğit et al. (2010) Price index or exchange rates Eryiğit et al. (2010), Tica and Kožić + of origin to destination (2015) Visa Requirements McKercher, Chan, and Lam (2008), Deichmann and Frempong (2016) Taken together, these mainstream variables can provide an elaborate explanation of tourism flows. It is important to remember that these and other variables can have differential impact over time. During the twenty-three years under investigation here, the region has been impacted by war (Hall, 2002), economic recession (Panagiotou, 2010), and most recently the European Union accession process (Coles and Hall, 2005). In the present study, due to data constraints and in an effort to Volume 7 | Issue 1 | 13 �Joel I. Deichmann, Danyang Liu   specify a parsimonious explanation of tourism flows, it is prudent to limit the number of variables included in the models. Data and Methodology This section discusses our data set, imputation technique, and methodology. Following supplications from Eilat and Einav (2004), we seek rigorous results by using a large and carefully constructed panel data set. Our data cover 142 countries spanning the years 1993-2015, with a one year lag for the response variable and employing a missing value treatment as explained below. We analyze the results with the approach of seemingly unrelated regression (SUR). The data set has been constructed and employed to assess the impact of an array of origin country determinants collected from an extensive literature review. The variables include population (POP), gross national product per capita (GDPC), geographic proximity to Zagreb in kilometers (DIST), real exchange rates (EXR), and a binary variable for whether an origin is visa-free (OPEN) i . Because the relationship between the independent variables and the response variable is nonlinear, a logarithmic transformation is applied to the dependent variable to correct skewness in its distribution. Population (POP), income (GDPC), and geographical distance (DIST) are scaled in order to standardize their weights in the models. The variables are assembled in an enhanced gravity framework as follows: ln(Tourists)= α + β1POPi + β2GDPCi - β2DISTij- β4EXRi + β5 OPENij With the following notations: α = constant for fitting the equation β1- β5 = coefficients for each independent variable explained above The dependent variable “Tourists” is defined here as the number of tourist arrivals (in thousands) from each origin country each year between 1993 and 2015, reported by Croatia’s Ministry of Tourism (2016). As a global authority on the industry, the World Tourism Organization (“UNWTO”) defines tourism as “the activities of persons traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year” (UNWTO 2016b). Although the dependent variable of tourist arrivals tends to dominate the mainstream literature reviewed above, it is true that the intensity of tourism flows can alternatively be measured using overnight stays (Radnić and Ivandić (1999), Škuflić and Štoković (2011), 14 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Determinants of International Tourism Flows to the Republic of Croatia: An SUR Analysis of Panel Data from 1993-2015.     Galičić (2015), and Tica and Kožić (2015). In the present gravity approach, arrivals represent the preferred measure because we seek to answer to the question “why did you go to Croatia?” rather than “why did you stay as long as you did?” Moreover, it is possible to work with a more complete dataset for arrivals than for overnight stays; even with arrival data, entries for some origins and years could only be acquired through direct correspondence with Croatia’s Ministry of Tourism. The rationale for the specific timeframe examined here is to perform an analysis that is as thorough as possible, covering inflows of tourists throughout the entire history of the Republic of Croatia. The dataset includes arrivals by most modes of transportation. According to the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (2016) in 2014, the approximate breakdown is road (64.5 million), air (2.84 million), sea (1.33 million), rail (392 thousand) and river (33 thousand). It should be acknowledged that some “arrivals”, especially at surface border crossings, were made by individuals such as regular commuters who are not formally counted as tourists according to the UNWTO’s (2016b) aforementioned definition. The sample under investigation includes 142 country observations. There are 62 countries with complete data for the independent variables that are origins of tourists to Croatia. In addition, 80 additional countries with independent variable data that are otherwise complete had no reported visitors to Croatia. Admittedly, the fact that many countries with missing data throughout the years in question tend to be poor and/or unstable (Afghanistan and Iraq, for example) can introduce a bias into the models. Notwithstanding this concession, models will be generated using both sets of data (“origins only” and “full data”) in order to capture insights that are as complete as possible. In other words, while we are interested in factors explaining what attracts tourists from each origin to Croatia, we are also concerned with originspecific factors that inhibit tourism. The independent variables used here relate to the origin countries alone, and most of them are available from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators. As pointed out by Eilat and Einav (2004), exchange rates are an excellent proxy for tourism prices, distances capture transportation costs, and income is considered a plausible enabler because tourism is a luxury good rather than a necessity. Other variables found elsewhere in the literature (such as transportation connectivity as per Khaderoo and Seetanah [2008]) are excluded from the analysis in order to reduce redundancies and or prevent data problemsii. Volume 7 | Issue 1 | 15 �Joel I. Deichmann, Danyang Liu   Table 2: List of Variables Selected for the Models Variable Unit of Measure Expected Valence Tourists Number of arrivals (dependent) (thousands) POP GDPC DIST EXR OPEN Population (persons) Gross Domestic Product per Capita (in 2005 US$) Air distance between capitals (km) Real exchange rate index (2010= 100) Visa-free? (1= yes 0=no) Data Source(s) + + Ministry of Tourism (2016), Croatian Bureau of Statistics (2016) World Bank (2016) World Bank (2016) - www.worldatlas.com + World Bank (2016), European Union (2016). www.justlanded.com + The data set required considerable cleaning, and several observations are complicated by changing borders during the time period under consideration. For example, the country that had been Yugoslavia at the beginning of the time period under investigation has gradually devolved into seven distinct political entities: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Kosovo. These and other events introduce a great deal of complexity into the construction of a useful database, and dealing with the issues will itself require examining work by other scholars. Countries converted to the Euro at different dates, so it was useful to consult the European Commission’s web site for specific conversion rates (European Union, 2016). There were considerable missing values for both EXR and GDPC in 1992 and 1993, and this resulted in the omission of several country observations. Missing data treatment is particularly necessary for the years of the Yugoslav civil war (through 1995). The empty cells are missing at random (MAR), and the pattern is monotone (vis-à-vis arbitrary). Specifically, missing cell values for GDP and exchange rate are consistent for certain countries during the years 1993, 1994, and in some cases 1995. Based on this condition, it is appropriate to use multiple imputation where only a few values are missing. Some exchange rates in the Balkan region- including those of Croatia itself- remained extremely unstable through 1995. The research plan is therefore to run alternate models comparing the complete time period with the period beginning in 1995, when currencies generally regained stability. In all, the data set includes 22 years, with 62 countries as tourist origins, and another 80 with complete data but without touristsiii. 16 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Determinants of International Tourism Flows to the Republic of Croatia: An SUR Analysis of Panel Data from 1993-2015.     The Lagrange multiplier (LM) test, developed by Breusch and Pagan (1980) should be used before applying a panel regression model (Keum, 2008). Using the LM test, this data set shows a high level of cross-sectional dependence as indicated by a pvalue of <2.2e-16. As a result, the present methodology employs seemingly unrelated regression (“SUR”). This approach was pioneered by Zellner (1962) for data that are characterized by cross-sectional dependence, and it is used widely in econometric modeling (Egger and Pfaffermayr, 2001). In the present panel data set the number of years under consideration (“T”= 23) is significantly larger than the number of variables (5), and therefore SUR is an appropriate method. The models are run using the R languageiv. Our analysis covers five models as follows: Model 1: all years since 1993, only those countries with tourists traveling to Croatia. Model 2: 1996-2015 only those countries with tourists traveling to Croatia. Model 3: all years since 1993, all countries with independent variable availability. Model 4: 1996-2015, all countries with independent variable availability. Model 5: all years since 1993, all countries with independent variables except EXR. Models 1 and 2 consider only those countries listed as origins (n=62). These models could have a bias because they leave out the countries from which few tourists originate. As a result, we run Models 3 and 4 for all countries with complete data (n= 107). In an effort to assess the impact of missing values for EXR during the period 1993- 1995, we remove these years in Models 2 and 4. Model 5 includes all years but without the exchange rate, the variable that turns out to be the least effective in explaining arrivals. Analysis and Results In this section we discuss the results of the models and compare them to one another, as well as previous findings. Five models are specified in order to make the best use of our large database using seemingly unrelated regression (SUR). The results are summarized in Table 3, with R2 values ranging from .346-.565. In each case, the conventional gravity variables of population and distance are significant, with the expected valence signs. The results confirm that the larger the population of the origin country is, the greater its tourist flows to Croatia. Conversely, the farther an origin country is from Croatia, the fewer the number of arrivals from that origin. The gravity variables confirm and extend previous findings by Eryiğit et al. (2010) on the importance of population size and the role of geographical distance as highlighted by McKercher and Lew (2003), Eilat and Einav (2005), Keum (2008), Eryiğit et al. (2010). Volume 7 | Issue 1 | 17 �Joel I. Deichmann, Danyang Liu   Table 3: Results from the Five Models Intercept scale (POP) scale (GDPC) scale (DIST) scale (EXR) OPEN R2 DF Model 1 Only Origins 1993-2015 2.59843*** .53768*** .26178* Model 2 Only Origins 1996-2015 2.85299*** .58473*** .10129 Model 3 Full Data 1993-2015 1.046e+00*** 5.8914e+01*** 7.1928e+01*** Model 4 Full Data, 1996-2015 1.086e+00*** 6.327e-01*** 6.935e-01*** Model 5 Full w/o EXR 1993-2015 1.04581*** .58917*** .71942*** -1.45916*** -.07320** 5.94032*** .346 1420 -1.40637*** -.14795* 6.15694*** .336 1234 -1.6616e+00*** -2.7936e-08 4.7300e+00 .552 3237 -1.71e+00*** -7.35883e-05 4.97e+00*** .565 2814 -1.66155*** 4.73067*** .552 3238 Significance levels: ***=.001, **=.01, *=.05 Table 3 summarizes the results of all five models. The goal of the changing model specifications is to improve the R2 values through increasingly parsimonious specifications. Moreover, as discussed earlier, the fact that the “non-participant” countries are omitted from Models 1 and 2 subjects the results not only to a sampling bias, but also relatively low R2 indicators. Because the significance results are similar across most models, it makes sense to discuss each variable generally rather than model-by-model. Geographical distance, a standard gravity variable, is significant (p=.001) in each generated model, moreover with the expected negative valence sign, reinforcing the notion of distance representing a barrier to spatial interaction. This outcome is in agreement with findings by McKercher and Lew (2003), Eilat and Einav (2005), McKercher, Chan, and Lam (2008), and Eryiğit et al. (2010). The observation that geographic distance inhibits tourism as a form of spatial interaction confirms Keum’s (2008) assertion that the gravity model characterizes a robust approach in tourism studies. As an explanatory variable, geographical distance is arguably superior to transportation costs, which Mervar and Payne (2007) argue to be less than significant determinants in Croatia. Origin country population size, another conventional gravity variable, is positive and significant at the .001 level in all five models, supporting previous findings on this standard gravity variable (Tinbergen, 1962; Eryiğit et al., 2010; Ok, 2010). Intuitively, larger populations are more likely to interact more than smaller ones. Many of the world’s largest populations (China, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, and Bangladesh) do not rank among the leaders of tourists to Croatia. However, the relatively large European countries such as Germany, Italy, France, and the UK, as well as other large countries such as the USA and Russia that are relatively important 18 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Determinants of International Tourism Flows to the Republic of Croatia: An SUR Analysis of Panel Data from 1993-2015.     sources of inflows, undoubtedly impact the regression line favorably. The performance of geographical distance and population together provides abundant evidence that the gravity approach is applicable here, even though it is more commonly invoked as framework for understanding trade (Tinbergen, 1962) or foreign direct investment (Deichmann, 2013). Openness (or lack of visa requirements) is a third significant variable in Models 1, 2, 4 and 5 (p=.001) that has a positive impact on tourism flows to Croatia. Research elsewhere has also unveiled the importance of a liberal visa regime toward origins in facilitating tourism from those countries (McKercher, Chan, and Lam, 2008; Deichmann and Frempong, 2016). One explanation for the lack of significance in Model 3 is that this time period included the years of war within the Balkans, and Model 3 features all 122 countries in the full dataset. In other words, a lack of visa requirements during the war years was not enough to make tourists forget about the dangers of that conflict. In this study, GDP is divided by population in order to capture the relative wealth of travelers from origin countries. This income level, measured by GDP per capita, is an indication of the ability to afford luxury goods such as international travel. It is therefore unsurprising that the variable appears as a positive and significant determinant in three of the five models. Notably, the variable is only significant at the .05 level in Model 1, which examines only origin countries (not the full data set) from 1993-95, and in Model 2 it lacks significance during the time period starting in 1996. This means that income is less of a determinant for the countries that do provide tourists, especially since Yugoslavia’s war of dissolution ended and conditions returned to normal. This distinction also underscores the importance of using the full data set to support conclusions. A cursory examination of the dataset yields the observation that many of the countries that do not supply tourists to Croatia tend to be lower income (as measured by per capita GDP). This lack of personal resources is evidently a deterrent to travel, an activity that Eilat and Einay (2005) rightly consider to be a luxury good. The importance of income mimics results of earlier research by Khaderoo and Seetanah (2008), Škuflić and Štoković (2011), and Tica and Kožic (2015). The effect of the exchange rate variable is inconclusive based upon evidence found here. Although unexpected, this finding is in harmony with earlier work by Mervar and Payne (2007). In search of a plausible explanation, this result leads to the following observation with regard to real exchange rates (EXR): tourism to Croatia has increased dramatically over the time period under investigation, while the strength of origin currencies has remained stable or increased only moderately. This Volume 7 | Issue 1 | 19 �Joel I. Deichmann, Danyang Liu   absence of a statistically significant relationship does not dismiss observations by Eryiğit et al. (2010) in the context of Turkey, and in Croatia by Tica and Kožic (2015), that exchange rates can be influential at specific times and in certain contexts. However, given the methodology applied here and the strength of other variables, their importance is impossible to confirm. When we use the full data set of 142 countries, the R2 improves dramatically, with or without EXR. Model 5 is generated as in an effort to obtain a parsimonious explanation of tourism flows to Croatia without the problematic variable of EXR. We are aware from previous research (Currie et al., 2004; Schőnfelder, 2005; Ateljevic and Čorak, 2006) that hyperinflation during the war clearly distorted the impact of exchange rates. We also note that Eryiğit et al. (2010) removed Belgium and Bulgaria from their 1994-2005 origins analysis due to “chaotic” exchange rate movements. In the present case of Croatia, we believe that the impact of this variable requires further consideration. Conclusions The findings of this research on origins of international tourist flows to Croatia are based upon an unprecedented depth and breadth of study. The data base features 16,330 cells, including 142 countries over 23 years, assembled to scrutinize the role of five independent variables. In an SUR application of the gravity model, we find that international tourism is facilitated by geographic proximity and origin country population size, as well as visa openness and income level of the origin country. Our examination of exchange rates is inconclusive. The findings can be useful for scholars and policymakers alike. Scholars may wish to extend this broad-based research into more specific directions such as exchange rates, or replicate the study in other contexts. Policy makers may wish to reconsider a heavy dependency upon this single sometimes-volatile industry. They may also want to consider introducing more liberal visa regimes toward targeted tourist markets, and safeguard against the dubious role of exchange rates as a determinant of holidays in Croatia. Recognizing the factors that govern flows by origin countries should help stakeholders forecast demand based upon changes in other variables. Moreover, the results reported here are certainly relevant for other countries that are similarly tourism-dependent. The limitations of this study should be also acknowledged. First, the necessity to omit countries with incomplete or problematic data introduces a bias because the excluded observations tend to be poor and/or unstable countries. Arguably, length of stay (rather than tourist arrivals) represents another valid way to capture the appeal of Croatia to tourists. In the present study, however, length of stay data would 20 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Determinants of International Tourism Flows to the Republic of Croatia: An SUR Analysis of Panel Data from 1993-2015.     prevent construction of a data set as large as the one used here because reported values for that variable are less complete. In addition, the inclusion of Croatia within multi-destination trips would be worthwhile to investigate, but as acknowledged by Eilat and Einav (2005), such complexity would be impossible to track with this sort of quantitative approach. The study plan set out to capture the role of EU membership in tourism flows, but because Croatia joined the EU only in 2013, and unrestricted cross-border movement is not yet permitted, this question remains unanswered. Arguably, the visa requirement variable does capture the role of free movement, but it is not parallel to EU membership. Finally, the direction of causality between transportation infrastructure and tourism remains to be fully understood, and despite infrastructure’s existence in the literature (Khaderoo and Seetanah, 2008), we were unable to interrogate it here due to lack of arrival data by origin that are also specific to each mode of transportation. Many of these questions could be better addressed with a qualitative approach to complement the present findings, perhaps by surveying travelers across origin countries about the rationale underlying their complete travel programs and how Croatia fits into the picture in as a destination. Notwithstanding the contributions enumerated above, the conclusion of this research points to several additional questions. Most of these items can be addressed only as new data become available, following supplications by Baldigara and Mamula (2012), and Galičić (2015). First, this study could be replicated with sub-samples based on the purpose of visit. The World Bank offers such data at http://wdi.worldbank.org/table/6.14, but at the time of writing these are not available for the time period and multitude of countries examined in the present research. It would also be worthwhile to focus upon the impact of cultural linkages between Croatia and its neighbors (as historical provinces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Yugoslavia, etc.). This research would certainly benefit from a more regionally-focused approach with greater historical depth. A better understanding of the impact of Croatia’s 2013 EU accession will also be possible to glean in the nottoo-distant future, given the near-certainty of the country entering the Schengen zone after the year 2018 v . In the near future, it will also be possible to reflect critically upon the Ministry of Tourism’s (2013) Development Strategy for 2020, and whether Croatia was successful at achieving its goal of a top 20 global ranking. Finally, lest this paper end on the negative note of its finite scope and work that remains to be done, it is worth reiterating the contributions presented herein. This analysis of international tourism origin effects is unprecedented in the combination of time duration under investigation and the large number of 142 countries included, and the extensive degrees of freedom underscore the validity of the Volume 7 | Issue 1 | 21 �Joel I. Deichmann, Danyang Liu   findings. The result is a comprehensive model based upon the past two-plus decades, revealing that the origins of tourism in Croatia are governed by traditional gravity variables of distance and population, as well as Croatia’s generally liberal visa regime and income in origin countries. According to the results generated in this paper, the role of exchange rate fluctuations varies with each model specification, but falls short of statistical significance in the context of Croatia. References Ateljevic, I., and Čorak, S. (2006). Croatia in the New Europe: Culture Versus Conformity. In Hall, Derek. Melanie Smith, and Barbara Marciszweska. Tourism in the New Europe: The Challenges and Opportunities of EU Enlargement. Wallingford: CABI, 288-301. Baldigara, T. (2013). Forecasting Tourism Demand in Croatia: a Comparison of Different Extrapolative Methods. Journal of Business Administration Research. 2 (1), 84-92. Baldigara, T., and Mamula, M. (2012). Tourism Statistics in Croatia: Present Status and Future Challenges. Procedia- Social and Behavioral Sciences. 44, 53-61. Ballinger, P. (2003). Selling Croatia or Selling Out Croatia? Tourism, Privatization, and Coastal Development Issues in a “New” Democracy. National Council for Eurasian and East European Research. Unpublished report available at: https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/nceeer/2003-817-01f-Ballinger.pdf. Accessed 6 June 2016. Bechev, D. (2012). The Periphery of the Periphery: The Western Balkans and the Euro Crisis. European Council on Foreign Relations Paper. http://ecfr.eu/page//ECFR60_WESTERN_BALKANS_BRIEF_AW.pdf, accessed 13 November 2015. Breusch, S. and Pagan, A. (1980). The Lagrange Multiplier Test and Its Applications to Model Specification in Econometrics. Review of Economic Studies. 7(1), 239-253. Coles, T., and Hall, D. (2005). Tourism and European Union enlargement: Plus ça Change? International Journal of Tourism Research. 7, 51-61. Croatian Bureau of Statistics. (2016). http://www.dzs.hr/Eng/Publication/subjects.htm. Statistical Yearbook of Croatia. 2015. Tourism Reports. 22 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Determinants of International Tourism Flows to the Republic of Croatia: An SUR Analysis of Panel Data from 1993-2015.     Croissant, Y. and Millo, G. (2008). Panel Data Econometrics in R: The plm Package. Journal of Statistical Software. 27 (2), 1-48. https://www.jstatsoft.org/article/view/v027i02. Accessed 12 August 2016. Currie, D., Skare, M., and Loncar, J. (2004). The Impact of War on Tourism: the Case of Croatia. Unpublished article presented at the Conference on Tourism Economics. Palma de Mallorca, Spain. 28-29 May. Cviić, C. and Sanfey, P. (2010). In Search of the Balkan Recovery: The Political and Economic Reemergence of South-Eastern Europe. New York: Columbia University Press. Deichmann, J. I. (2013). Origins of Foreign Direct Investment in Croatia: Application of an Expanded Gravity Model. Chapter 1 in Karasavvoglou, A. and Persefoni Polychronidou (eds.) Balkan and Eastern European Countries in the Midst of the Global Economic Crisis. Heidelberg: Springer, 3-21. Deichmann, J. I., and Frempong, F. (2016). International Tourism in Ghana: A Survey Analysis of Traveller Motivations and Perceptions. Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Management. 29, 176-183. DOI 10.1016/j.jhtm.2016.08.002. Egger, P., and Pfaffermayr, M. (2004). Distance, Trade, and FDI: A HausmanTaylor SUR Approach. Journal of Applied Econometrics. 19 (2), 227-246. Eilat, Y., and Einav, L. (2004). Determinants of International Tourism: a ThreeDimensional Panel Data Analysis. Applied Economics. 36, 1315-1327. European Union. (2016). European Commission: Converting to the Euro. http://ec.ouropa.eu/economy_finance/euro/adoption/conversion/index_en.html. Accessed 10 July 2016. Eryiğit, M., Kotil, E., & Eryiğit, R. (2010). Factors affecting international tourism flows to Turkey: a gravity model approach. Tourism Economics, 16(3), 585-595. Galičić, V. (2015). Tourism in Croatia: Truths and Misconceptions. Infomatol. 48 (1-2), 78-94. Hall, D. (2002). Brand Development, Tourism and National Identity: The ReImaging of Former Yugoslavia. Brand Management. 9 (4), 323-334. Volume 7 | Issue 1 | 23 �Joel I. Deichmann, Danyang Liu   Jordan, P., (2006). Tourism and EU Enlargement: A Central European Perspective. In Hall, Derek, Melanie Smith, and Barbara Marciszewska (eds): Tourism in the New Europe: The Challenges and Opportunities of EU Enlargement. Oxfordshire: CABI, 65-80. Keum, K. (2010). Tourism Flows and Trade Theory: a Panel Data Analysis with the Gravity Model. Annals of Regional Science. 44. 541-557. Khaderoo, J., and Seetanah, B. (2008). The role of transport infrastructure in international tourism development: a gravity model approach. Tourism Management. 29, 831-840. Lewer, J,, and Van den Berg, H. (2008). A gravity model of immigration. Economics Letters. 99 (1), 164-167. McKercher, B., and Lew, A. (2003). Distance Decay and the Impact of Effective Tourism Exclusion Zones on International Travel Flows. Journal of Travel Research. 42. 159-165. McKercher, B., and Chan, A. and Lam, C. (2008). The Impact of Distance on International Travel Movements. Journal of Travel Research. 47, 208-224. McKercher, B, and Decosta, P. (2007). Research Report: the Lingering Effects of Colonialism on Tourism Movements. Tourism Economics. 13 (3) 453-474. Mervar, A., and Payne, J. E., (2007). An Analysis of Foreign Tourism Demand for Croatian Destinations: Long-Run Elasticity Estimates. EIZ Working Paper 0701. Available at: http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=106590. Accessed 20 December 2015. Ministry of Tourism. (2013). Tourism Development Strategy for the Republic of Croatia until 2020. Available at: http://www.mint.hr/UserDocsImages/Tourism_development_strategy_2020.pdf. Accessed 6 June 2016. Ministry of Tourism. (2016). Statistics and Data. Available at: http://www.mint.hr/default.aspx?id=363. Accessed 10 May 2016. Ok, S. T. (2010). What Determines Intra-EU Trade? The Gravity Model Revisited. International Research Journal of Finance and Economics. 39. 244-250. . 24 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Determinants of International Tourism Flows to the Republic of Croatia: An SUR Analysis of Panel Data from 1993-2015.     Panagiotou, R. (2010). Effects of the Global Economic Crisis on South-East Europe. Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies 12 (2), 187-194. Pavlic, I., Svilokos, T. and Tolic, M. S. (2015). Tourism, Real Effective Exchange Rate and Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence for Croatia. International Journal of Tourism Research. 17, 282-291. DOI: 10.1002/jtr.1986 Radnić, A., and Ivandić, N. (1999). War and Tourism in Croatia- Consequences and the Road to Recovery. Turizam. 47 (1), 43-54. Rupnik, J. (ed.) (2011). The Western Balkans and the EU: ‘The Hour of Europe’. European Union Institute for Security Studies. Chaillot Papers. June. Available at http://www.iss.europa.eu/publications/detail/article/the-western-balkans-and-the-euthe-hour-of-europe/ Accessed 10 December 2015. Schőnfelder, B. (2005). The Impact of the War 1991-1995 on the Croatian Economy – A Contribution to the Analysis of War Economies. Freiberg Working Papers #14. Available at http://tu-freiberg.de/sites/default/files/media/fakultaet-63307/fileadmin/Arbeitspapiere/2005/schoenfelder_14_2005.pdf. Accessed 20 June 2016. Škuflić, L. and Štoković, I. (2011). Demand Function for Croatian Tourist Product: A Panel Data Approach. Modern Economy 2 (1): 48-52. Statista. (2016). http://www.statista.com/statistics/412794/euro-to-u-s-dollarannual-average-exchange-rate/. Accessed 15 June 2016. Stone, P. (2013). Dark Tourism Scholarship: A Critical Review. International Journal of Culture, Tourism, and Hospitality Research. 3 (7), 307-318. Tica, J., and Kožič, I. (2015). Forecasting Croatian Inbound Tourism Demand. Economic Research- Ekonomska Istraživanja. 28 (1), 1046-1062. Tinbergen, J. (1962). Shaping the World Economy: Suggestions for an International Economic Policy. New York: Twentieth Century Fund. UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organization) (2016a). World Tourism Highlights 2016. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/pdf/10.18111/9789284418145 Accessed 15 August 2016. Volume 7 | Issue 1 | 25 �Joel I. Deichmann, Danyang Liu   UNWTO. (2016b). Concepts, Definitions, and Classifications for Tourism Statistics. Technical Manual No. 1 (English version) http://www.eunwto.org/doi/pdf/10.18111/ 9789284401031. Accessed 1 September 2016. Weaver, D. B. (2000). The Exploratory War-distorted Destination Life Cycle. International Journal of Tourism Research. 2(3), 151-161. World Economic Forum. (2015). Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report. Index Results. Available at: http://reports.weforum.org/travel-and-tourismcompetitiveness-report-2015/. Accessed 22 June 2016. WTTC (World Travel and Tourism Council). (2015). Economic Impact 2015: Croatia. https://www.wttc.org/media/files/reports/economic%20impact%20research/countri es%202015/croatia2015.pdf. Accessed 28 December. Zellner, A. (1962). An Efficient Method of Estimating Seemingly Unrelated Regressions, and Tests for Aggregation Bias. Journal of the American Statistical Association. 57. 348-368.                                                                                                                         i Although it was anticipated that variables for proximity to Croatia (DIST) and visa requirements (OPEN) would be overly similar, the simple correlation of .025 allays any concerns. ii Direct flights to Croatia are intuitively an enabler of inbound tourism flows, but the direction of causality is spurious (i.e., do people travel because direct flights exists, or are flights scheduled in order to meet travel demand?). In addition, long distance travelers normally connect in another (non-Croatian) European city. Overall, during 2013-14, less than five percent of passenger border crossings to Croatia were by plane (Croatian Bureau of Statistics 2016, 43). iii In order to complete the data set, several cell entries were imputed, and this was particularly challenging in the case of the exchange rate variable (EXR). Euro exchange rates were first available in the year 1999, three years before the currency emerged in physical form. Prior to 2002, exchange rates were based upon individual currencies and their fixed conversion rates to the euro. Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain joined the euro zone in 1999, followed by Greece (2001), Slovenia (2007), Cyprus and Malta (2008), Slovakia (2009), Estonia (2011), Latvia (2014), and Lithuania (2015). Additionally, Montenegro used the German mark (DM) from 1996 until 2002, and then adopted the euro. Similarly although not a Eurozone member, Kosovo adopted the euro in 2002, abandoning Serbia’s dinar. Figures for Montenegro and Kosovo were obtained for years 1992-95 by imputation using the Serbian dinar. Belarus and Ukraine used the Russian ruble until 1997. Russia redenominated its ruble in 1997. Liechtenstein 26 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Determinants of International Tourism Flows to the Republic of Croatia: An SUR Analysis of Panel Data from 1993-2015.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             used to use the Swiss Franc. For further explanation of how missing values were calculated, please contact the authors. iv The R language is a well-established environment for statistical computing, and is widely used among statisticians and data miners for developing statistical software and data analysis. R has been publicly available for over 20 years, and most of its developers are senior academics with expertise in statistical computing. v http://www.schengenvisainfo.com/croatia-could-join-schengen-area-after-2018/ Volume 7 | Issue 1 | 27 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Extent The size or duration of the resource. 3663 Title A name given to the resource Determinants of International Tourism Flows to the Republic of Croatia: An SUR Analysis of Panel Data from 1993-2015 Author Author Deichman, Joel Danyang, Liu Abstract A summary of the resource. Abstract: This paper examines origin-effects of tourist flows into Croatia from 1993-2015, a time period that features several important events: the fragmentation of Yugoslavia, the European recession, and Croatia’s accession to the European Union. Applying the seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) approach to a large panel data set with the number of annual arrivals from each origin country as the dependent variable, we identify and analyze the determinants of tourism flows to Croatia. A series of augmented gravity model specifications reveals that inflows can be explained by geographic proximity, GDP per capita, origin country population, and openness. The role of the real exchange rate variable is inconclusive, and in fact problematic for years 1993-95 when hyperinflation plagued the region in the wake of Yugoslavia’s dissolution. The results confirm the validity of the models, both for the subset of origin countries and for the subset of non-origin countries for which otherwise complete data are available. Given the importance of tourism to Croatia’s national accounts position, implications for tourism policy are discussed, as are suggestions for future research. Keywords: Tourism Origin-Effects, Gravity Model, Croatia JEL Classification: C33, O52, Z3 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available International Burch University Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017 Keywords Keywords. Article PeerReviewed H Social Sciences (General) https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/b517074fc67bb3020f8948a813d7d94c.pdf abd5717455636ebe05b7f587f92f5d4c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Extent The size or duration of the resource. 3669 Title A name given to the resource Studije o betonu 2015-2016 Author Author Džidić, Sanin Okugić, Husein Bajramović, Emir Abstract A summary of the resource. Pred Vama se nalazi knjiga “Studije o betonu 2015-2016”. U sebi sadrži tri studije iz oblasti betona i betonskih konstrukcija iz naznačenog perioda. Namjera je da ovo bude samo prva knjiga iz serije studija o betonu i betonskim konstrukcijama, koje predstavljaju istraživanja koja se trenutno rade ili će se raditi u vremenu ispred nas iz ove naučne oblasti. Prva studija nosi naslov „Šta je to beton, pojam, vrste, historija, prednosti i nedostaci i klasifikacija prema evropskim standardima“. Od koristi je prvenstveno studentima građevinskih i arhitektonskih fakulteta u objašnjavanju osnovnih pojmova iz oblasti betona, tehnologije betona i betonskih konstrukcija. Dozvolite da naglasimo, da praktično u našoj izdavačkoj praksi ne postoji ovako sveobuhvatno predstavljena historija betona i betonskih konstrukcija, kao što je to slučaj u ovoj studiji. Takođe su u studiji date najnovije evropske klasifikacije betona shodno najnovijem Evropskom standardu EN 206:2013, koji je preuzet i u Bosni i Hercegovini kao BAS EN 206:2014, pa u tom smislu je studija od koristi i inženjerima u praksi, koji uglavnom nisu upoznati sa najnovijim evropskim klasifikacijama betona, posebno što praktično vrlo malo materijala ima iz ove oblasti na jezicima naroda u Bosni Hercegovini. U studiji se daje i pregled najnovijih eveopskih standarda koji tretiraju beton kao materijal i projektovanje betonskih i drugih nosivih konstrukcija sa naznačenim međuzavisnostima između ovih standarda. Druga studija u ovoj knjizi je „Optimalizacija projektnih rješenja prednapregnutih betonskih montažnih hala sa aspekta upotrebljivosti i trajnosti“. Naime, pitanja upotrebljivosti i trajnosti betonskih konstrukcija općenito se i praktično proračunski razmatraju u istoj ravni sa graničnim stanjem nosivosti tek sa pojavom eurokodova, odnosno Eurokoda 2, koji tretira projektovanje betonskih konstrukcija. Analiza prezentirana u ovoj studiji je dovela do validnih zaključaka kada su u pitanju glavni prednapregnuti vezači montažnih betonskih hala. Izbor adekvatnih glavnih nosača, pitanja njihove upotrebljivosti i trajnosti sa proračunskim postupcima su sveobuhvatno tretirani u ovoj studiji. Studija će naći svoju čitalačku publiku kod inženjera projektanata prednapregnutih konstrukcija, inženjera zaposlenih u industriji prefabriciranih montažnih elemenata i studenata na predmetima iz oblasti betonskih prednapregnutih konstrukcija i montažnih konstrukcija Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available International Burch University Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017 Keywords Keywords. Book PeerReviewed L Education (General) https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/ba17c788b2c620bec538038042760b32.pdf c749efd14559006233de037b80a8b5f6 PDF Text Text Effective Team Communication Role in Project Implementation Success Ionela Gavrilă-Paven ”1 Decembrie 1918” University of Alba Iulia, Faculty of Economic Sciences Romania ionelapaven@yahoo.com Mălina Cordoș ”1 Decembrie 1918” University of Alba Iulia, Faculty of Economic Sciences Romania malina_cordos@yahoo.com Abstract: In project implementation communication efficiency is very important and also difficult to measure. The research team tried to analyze the communication process at the level of project teams, underlining issues related to the communication between team members and communication team and the other departments/organization/representatives. Communication efficiency in project implementation depends strongly on the communication between team members and on the method used, but also it has to be considered the importance of communication at group level. Key words: team communication, project implementation Introduction Communication represents the starting point in any activity, so efforts should be made for the communication to take place under optimum conditions, to avoid interference that may arise, and the teams working communication is to be effective and to facilitate achievement goals. The team is a small group which is the basic unit of any organization in which activities and interpersonal relationships generated by the organization are initiated and conducted or a subjective fact which can be studied from the outside. According to M. Serif (1969) team is defined as "a social unit consisting of a number of individuals who find each other in the role and status relationships established over a period of time and has a set of values or rules governing mutual behavior, at least in matters concerning the team". A very important aspect that should be noted is that inside the small groups such as teams, relations are "face to face". The binder of the group is the interrelations - specifically their density - and common goal, 63 �resulting in collective cohesion. In short, the group is not a phenomenon purely additive, an aggregate of persons only in physical proximity relationships. This could be the beginning of formation of a group that already means a minimal organization, differentiation of roles in relation to the activity (A. Neculau, 1974). Within the common goals appear helpful goals, segmentation, resulting in an overall alignment and harmonization. Amid functional relations arising from common activities - develop relations of influence and mutual attraction, which is not a simple continuation of the first, but neither are formed independently of them. Psychosocial group reality manifests its pressure and influence on members, reward and penalty system works perimeter formal or informal group that selects or repress individual behaviors. As a result the element of the consensus appears. Mutual relationships are established, based on both emotional as well as functional. The Group offers the satisfaction of achieving goals and validation by consensus of attitudes and values. A 2012 report by PwC shows that organizations with effective and efficient communication methods are more likely to stay within scope, meet quality standards and deliver intended business benefits8. True communication is rare—much of which comes down to a fundamental difficulty in communicating with the appropriate clarity and detail. Research metodology This study was conducted by a team of researchers from the Department of Economics and Business Administration from the Faculty of Economic Sciences, from "1 Decembrie1918" University of Alba Iulia supported by the Agency for Regional Development. Aim of the study was to identify communication problems faced teams from the organizations implementing EU-funded projects. In this sense was developed a questionnaire aimed at communication issues within the team, relationships with colleagues and line manager, means of communication within the team, as well as issues related to the atmosphere created within the team. For the questionnaire the research team requested the assistance of the Agency for Regional Development. We asked for the support of this institution because it was used a database made up of representatives of various organizations that have implemented or implemented in the moment when the survey was done, some EU-funded projects. Moreover, with the assistance of the Agency for Regional Development, the questionnaire was uploaded on the institution’s website and when someone access the site will be able to participate in this study. The study was carried out between 2012-2016, during which the questionnaire was posted on the homepage of the Agency for Regional Development so that all those who access the site were 8 Insights and Trends: Current Portfolio, Programme, and Project Management Practices, PwC, 2012 64 �able to complete the questionnaire. During this period, namely the early and mid-term, they were sent emails which was presented the study and link to it can be completed. The questionnaire was accessed by 269 people, of which actually responded to questions 76 and 10 incomplete questionnaires remained. The response rate was 31.97%. Within these teams mainly male members were identified, in proportion of 57.9%, the average age was 37 years (the youngest team member is 22 years old and the oldest 58 years old). The questionnaire was completed by persons who are experienced in management, 39.4% has between 1 and 5 years experience and 36.4% between 5 to 10 years experience. To the study chose to participate in general people who have experience in management (86.4% of all respondents) and that shows that aspects of communication within the team is very important and is one of the most important you taken into consideration when setting up teams. This is doubled by the fact that 95.6% of respondents have higher education (30.9% are college graduates, 50.0% have master's degree and 14.7% have doctorate degrees). Preliminary conclusions of the study The economic reality of our country, which is reflected in the Central Region where THE the questionnaire of the study was conducted, points out that SMEs prevail, situation which shows that at the organizational level prevails communication within a small group. Thus, 55.3% of respondents are working in groups up to 10 persons, 15.8% operate in groups consisting of 10 to 20 people and 22.4% working in groups with over 20 people. Regarding the composition of the teams, 50.0% of respondents said that in the strctureof the teams they operate in, females prevail, in 32.0% allocation of members is fair, and 17.3% operate in teams in the frame of which prevails male members. During these team members is diverse in age ratio of 76.0%, while only 24.0% of respondents operate in teams where members have the same age. In the team, 56.2% of the respondents estimated,in 42.5%, the regularly use of verbal and written communication. In over 47% of cases, the atmosphere within the team is good ; in 25% of cases, the atmospere is very good, and in 24.3% of cases, quite pleasant. Only 65 �1.3% of respondents felt that the atmosphere within the teams that are deployed or operate in is unpleasant, highlighting the close relationship that forms between team members and that the affinity of the people who are chosen to work the same team is very important for the manager who form the team. This is the foundation of relations taking place within these teams, which are cooperative relations, in proportion of 87.5%. Such relationships which create a friendly atmosphere within the team and its manager are indicated by 70.4% of respondents. The team is characterized by the degree of cohesion, which is the overall result of internal relations and of the common success, the effect of mutual understanding, the good understanting of the goals, of the group rules by members, namely the viability of the group, performance on tasks and satisfaction of members. In this regard, 56.3% of respondents believe that their work is positively influenced by peers and 35.2% believe that they are not influenced in any activity. The average length of discussion during a day's work for respondents in a proportion of 45.2% is between 30 and 60 minutes, and in the case of 23.3%of the respondents, between 10 and 30 minutes. This time is used in a proportion of 57.7% to chat with other team members and in proportion of 23.9% to communicate with members from collaborating departments. Analyzing interaction with senior line managers, we observed based on the responses, that 83.1% of direct interactions occur spontaneously, due to concrete situations that arise in everyday work of the team or organization, and 16.9% had a planned character. In the reports of communication with superiors, 81.1% of respondents felt that their contribution in the communication processes is over 50%. In assessing the effectiveness of the processes of communication with superiors, 73.6% of the respondents believe that the effectiveness is high. In strengthening relations with team members, 68.9% of respondents spend their spare time with colleagues, and 65.8% of them consider it very important to communicate with colleagues regarding the individual and team objectives. 66 �A particularly important role in ensuring the efficiency of communication within the team have the means and methods of communication used. Among these, over 74% of respondents felt they management systems projects are very important, over 59% of respondents consider as important agendas and working documents prepared by the teams and over 75% attaches great importance to the GANTT chart or planning activities and integrating them in the initial planning and resources needed to implement project activities and over 83% of respondents considered vitally important the board of priorities, in order to ensure an efficient management of projects. Regarding use of modern methods of communication within the team over 95% of respondents attaches great importance to group electronic communication and transmission of working documents, over 80% give significant importance specialized sites that can be updated by the team members, but also offers the possibility of obtaining udated information on project activities, over 55% of respondents attaches great importance and possibility of carrying out online conferences as needed (particularly useful for projects to be implemented several locations scattered throughout the country. Technical means most often used for the communication within the team are the mobile phones (38.4%) and electronic mail (57.5%). Among the comments made on this question: „within the team are used all type of means of communication, depending on the situation and the time required for obtaining the answers, some media are effective only if people have virtual communication skills, the most effective and expeditious means of communication are mail and mobile phones”. As part of the communication barriers that meet the current work teams, there are language, environmental, concept barriersor barriers arising from positions of the interlocutors. Within these, over 44% of respondents felt that the most common barriers to effective communication are the concept, namely those relating to suspicions, assumptions or conclusions of the interlocutor, over 31% of respondents felt that barriers to interlocutors positions are important because they relate to erroneous perceptions on the subject of the 67 �communication to the communication situation, and over 22% believe that there are language barriers on misconceptions, difficulties of speech or confused ideas. In terms of satisfaction of respondents on the efficiency of communication within the organization operating it appreciates at a rate of over 81% that they were satisfied about the awareness of the results achieved within the team, over 87 % are satisfied with the opportunity to express their ideas within the team which includes over 76% are satisfied with the opportunity to express ideas to management senior, over 81% of respondents said they were satisfied with the possibility of transmitting ideas to the departments collaborating and over 62% of respondents said they were satisfied with the awareness of the organization's management. The teamusually is a group of small, less numerous by its composition. Employees in permanent communication, its members are in direct line of communication, face to face, which facilitates mutual knowledge, appearance affective relationships, rules and group processes. All these issues directly influence the efficiency and the productivity of the team. Final conclusions Communication is an important issue in the context of a team. Even though the "word" is essential, there are some barriers, such as competition between the members of the team or some conflictual situations Communication involvement seems to be the key to ensure the efficiency of the working team, this meaning that giving a certain time every day to team communication with the direct manager ensures a better implication towards team objectives. Using some specialized communication instruments we can ensure a better planning and a very good support for organizing activities References Neculau, A., Introducere în dinamica grupurilor, Iaşi, 1974 Chelcea, S., Psihologie socială, Iași, 2001 Opran (coord.), C., Stan, S., Năstasă, S., Abaza, B., Managementul proiectelor, Editura Comunicare.ro, Bucureşti, 2002 Look, D., Project Management (sixt edition), A Gover, University Press, Cambridge, Great Britain, 1996 Balogh, M., Negrea, N., Managementul proiectelor europene, Ed. Accent, Cluj – Napoca, 2005 Weiss, J., Wysocki, R., 5 Phase project management, Addison Wesley – Publishing Company, 1994 ***Insights and Trends: Current Portfolio, Programme, and Project Management Practices, PwC, 2012 68 �***Ghid de bune practici în management de proiecte, 2015, Material elaborat in cadrul proiectului: „Dezvoltarea capacității de planificare strategică la nivelul autorităților administrației publice locale ale orașelor din România”, cofinanţat prin Fondul Social European, Programul Operaţional Dezvoltarea Capacităţii Administrative2007-2013 Project Management Institute, A GUIDE TO THE PROJECT. MANAGEMENT BODY OF KNOWLEDGE (PMBOK® Guide), Fourth Edition, USA; 2008 69 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Extent The size or duration of the resource. 3649 Title A name given to the resource Effective Team Communication Role in Project Implementation Success (doi: 10.14706/icesos1712) Author Author Gavrilă-Paven, Ionela Cordoș, Mălina Abstract A summary of the resource. Abstract: In project implementation communication efficiency is very important and also difficult to measure. The research team tried to analyze the communication process at the level of project teams, underlining issues related to the communication between team members and communication team and the other departments/organization/representatives. Communication efficiency in project implementation depends strongly on the communication between team members and on the method used, but also it has to be considered the importance of communication at group level. Key words: team communication, project implementation Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017 Keywords Keywords. Conference or Workshop Item PeerReviewed H Social Sciences (General) https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/9dfcb49251890b4b2e57b897d00a7e60.pdf a438dcfb296868fae45d1b992d86a476 PDF Text Text How Marketing Made One of the Unhealthiest Beverages a Top Demanded One the Power of Great Marketing Rea Gegaj Epoka University Tirana, Albania Sara Dedej Epoka University Tirana, Albania Speranca Reka Epoka University Tirana, Albania Abstract: Marketing has taken a leading role regarding the success of any business because nowadays with the opportunity to improve product/service quality - through technology development and information availability- any organization can achieve desired results in terms of what they have to offer. This leaves more room for functions like marketing to be fully applied in accordance to organizational goals. Therefore this paper aims to explain how powerful marketing can be through the example of the giant Coca-Cola Company, which has been producing and selling unhealthy products since 1886 and yet leads the beverage industry to this day. The paper also analyses some facts and data that help better understand how because of strong marketing strategies and worldwide brand recognition people will even buy and massively consume these kinds of harmful products. Key words: marketing, organization, Coca-Cola, unhealthy, buy, consume. Why is Coca-Cola considered an unhealthy product? In a can of cola there are 10 teaspoons of added sugar, while World Health Organization recommends using no more than 6 teaspoons of added sugar on a daily basis. This means drinking only a can per day takes you above these guidelines. This kind of amount of sugar is surely associated with other health conditions such as obesity and especially diabetes if you consume 1-2 cans per day. On 2015 Medical News Today reported that 184,000 global deaths each year are caused by large amounts of sugary drink consumption. 79 �Coca-Cola has a very high sugar content that should immediately make us vomit when it enters our body but the phosphoric acid this beverage contains dulls the sweetness, allowing us to keep the drink down. According to British pharmacist NirajNaik a 330 ml can of cola can cause these damages to our body in only one hour: -Increased blood sugar level (first 20 minutes) -Burst of insulin -The liver turns the big amount of sugar into body fat -Increased blood pressure and dilation of pupils because of the caffeine cola contains (40 minutes) -Adenosine receptors get blocked from caffeine shot, preventing fatigue -The production of dopamine ( a neurotransmitter that helps control the pleasure and reward centers of the brain) increases -The increased level of dopamine stimulates these centers making us crave for more (just like heroin does). This means it has addictive ingredients which can make the consumer addicted just like other illegal drugs and this is a very serious problem regarding this products quality. Coca cola has even been scrutinized by the environment and human rights department for inducing bad and unhealthy food products. What makes Coca-Cola a top demanded product? As mentioned in the abstract marketing plays a very big influential role regarding the customer’s positive stand towards a product or the whole company itself. Coca-Cola owners and managers seem to have understood the importance of good marketing since 3.1% of all beverages consumed around the world are their products. The company has a responsible marketing policy which is based on principles like Choice ( a large range of beverages to support consumer’s diets and lifestyles) ; Honesty ( ensure transparency in all marketing activities) and so on. Brand recognition is a powerful aspect that cola completely owns. According to Business Insider 94% of the world’s population recognizes the red and white logo. Apple and Microsoft combined spend less money on advertising than Coca-Cola. They serve on a daily average to 1.9 billion people all around the world. To achieve the results mentioned above as a company Coca-Cola has brilliantly used strong marketing strategies (some of which will be explained in the next paragraphs) through which it has become as successful as it is today. First thing that makes cola so irresistible is the unique, market-tested formula. John Pemberton the creator of Coca-Cola first wanted to develop a version of the cocoa wines but the prohibition laws that forced producers to produce non-alcoholic beverages at that time obliged him to 80 �remove the alcohol from the formula. He then sent his test sodas to a pharmacy for people to try and from the feedback he received created a recipe that was unique and tailored to customer’s tastes. There have been minor adjustments through time but the recipe has largely remained unchanged. Because of this the company didn’t spend time trying to tailor the taste to regional markets throughout the world and since its creation cola has been one of the most preferred beverages by many people. Second thing that makes coke so familiar and preferred is its logo. has used the same logo for 100 years and it has become a part of anyone’s life without doubt. Another “trick” the company used was keeping the consumer price fixed for 70 years (1886-1959). With this kind of approach cola scaled across the US and throughout the world. From 1887-1920 Cola gave away 10% of all products in order to build brand awareness. It also provided posters, calendars, decorations etc. for costumers. Coke was as much a drink as it was a consumable brand, an idea consumers could feel good about identifying with. Promotion and ways to reach the customers Still a part of marketing campaigns and brand awareness are top line promotions and below the line promotions. Top line promotions include: promotional activities intended towards mass consumers using mass media; TV ads; design of banners; sponsorship initiatives like the world cup etc. On the other hand below the line promotion include: promotion schemes and publicity materials; sales promotion etc. Other methods used: creating Santa Claus; association with McDonalds; endorsing through top celebrities; building high brand visibility; packaging in an attractive and economical way. The advertisements are national. A big success was the vending machine ‘Happiness machine around the world’. Once associated with a positive atmosphere every intended idea can easily get to people’s emotions and that’s what Coca-Cola does. New advertisements or even new marketing campaigns begin at specific periods like summer time or Christmas. These large networks of interaction with customers is very beneficial to the company because any feedback is immediately received and through all these costing marketing means cola makes sure most of the feedback remains positive. They reach the people in a unique way that even if you are not a consumer you might become one. I believe this achieved good relationship with the costumers is based on the company’s mission and vision. Mission – “Our Roadmap starts with our mission, which is enduring. It declares our purpose as a company and serves as the standard against which we weigh our actions and decisions. 81 �   To refresh the world. To inspire moments of optimism and happiness. To create value and make a difference.” Vision– “Our vision serves as the framework for our Roadmap and guides every aspect of our business by describing what we need to accomplish in order to continue achieving sustainable, quality growth. Conclusion Based on everything that has been discussed above it is apparent that marketing’s power is without doubt a key factor of success in business no matter how healthy or unhealthy what you are promoting might be. According to Peter Drucker the purpose of a business is to create a customer and the two main functions of a business are innovation and marketing. Therefore seen from a business perspective Coca-Cola is on the right track and will probably control most of the market shares of beverage industry for the upcoming years. However, we must not neglect the importance of the health issues mentioned above because at some point they might become a key factor in the bankruptcy and fall of this giant. References Contributor, &Swaim, R. W. (2016). BPM, Lean Six Sigma & continuous process improvement. Retrieved February 9, 2017, from http://www.processexcellencenetwork.com/innovation/columns/peter-drucker-on-sales-andmarketing N. (2014, February 25). Healthy drinks. Retrieved February 9, 2017, from http://www.healthydrinks.net/6-harmful-effects-of-drinking-coca-cola-coke-or-pepsi/ Company, T. C.-C. (2013, January 31). Who we are. Retrieved February 9, 2017, from http://www.coca-colacompany.com/careers/who-we-are-infographic Whiteman, H. (2015, August 15). How coca-cola affects your body when you drink it. . Retrieved from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/297600.php Bhasin, K. (2011, June 9). 15 facts about coca-cola that will blow your mind. Retrieved February 9, 2017, from Business Insider, http://www.businessinsider.com/facts-about-cocacola-2011-6#coca-cola-spends-more-money-on-advertising-than-microsoft-and-applecombined-11 Moye, J., & Staff, J. (2013, October 29). Label-less coca-cola cans tackle prejudice during Ramadan. Retrieved February 9, 2017, from https://www.cocacolacompany.com/stories/marketing-to-millennials-5-ways-coca-cola-is-embracingcreativity-and-innovation 82 �Bhasin, H., Isaac, hassan, bisma, &gendy, ibrahim. (2016, December 2). Marketing strategy of brands. Retrieved February 9, 2017, from STRATEGIC MARKETING, http://www.marketing91.com/marketing-strategy-of-coca-cola/ Staff, J. (2015, May 1). Related stories. Retrieved February 9, 2017, from http://www.cocacola.co.uk/about-us/responsible-marketing Company, T. C.-C. (2016). Coca-cola global: Soft drinks& beverage products. 83 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Extent The size or duration of the resource. 3656 Title A name given to the resource How Marketing Made One of the Unhealthiest Beverages a Top Demanded One the Power of Great Marketing (doi: 10.14706/icesos1719) Author Author Gegaj, Rea Dedej, Sara Reka, Speranca Abstract A summary of the resource. Abstract: Marketing has taken a leading role regarding the success of any business because nowadays with the opportunity to improve product/service quality - through technology development and information availability- any organization can achieve desired results in terms of what they have to offer. This leaves more room for functions like marketing to be fully applied in accordance to organizational goals. Therefore this paper aims to explain how powerful marketing can be through the example of the giant Coca-Cola Company, which has been producing and selling unhealthy products since 1886 and yet leads the beverage industry to this day. The paper also analyses some facts and data that help better understand how because of strong marketing strategies and worldwide brand recognition people will even buy and massively consume these kinds of harmful products. Key words: marketing, organization, Coca-Cola, unhealthy, buy, consume. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017 Keywords Keywords. Conference or Workshop Item PeerReviewed H Social Sciences (General) https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/bc337c83e6e845e63c414e628db4c646.pdf e8d576ead16ac7bedbce74aac350f819 PDF Text Text Human Intervention in the Case of Syria Modern World War Rea Gegaj Epoka University Tirana, Albania Sara Dedej Epoka University Tirana, Albania Speranca Reka Epoka University Tirana, Albania Abstract: The world is having a crisis on international relations because of the Civil War in Syria, which soon enough turned into a Modern World War (MWW). This conflict complexes the whole world and questions the life of limitless innocent people. Drawing the conflict visually, this paper attempts to explain the use of humanitarian intervention in the case of Syria and surveys the main influential countries included in the war and their reasons for doing so. This review explains the exact event - of 15 students killed by the government - that led to the Civil War and precisely how its size became getting bigger day by day. Besides doing research and explaining the reasons of the conflict, it also focuses on possible and realistic solutions to end the war and support the Syrian refugees, on which the whole burden of the war falls. The review incorporates various methods including data collection and their analysis. Keywords: Civil War in Syria, Modern World War, conflict, international relations, explaining, support, solution. Introduction I have chosen humanitarian intervention as a controversial topic in the light of globalization, growing international cooperation and interdependence amongst states. I argue that, if justified, humanitarian intervention is a moral obligation that falls upon all able international actors, including individual states as well as intergovernmental or supranational organizations. Initially, I will introduce the topic of humanitarian intervention by giving a broad definition and further analyzing it according to the philosopher Michael Walzer. I will, then, compare the analysis and the intervention guidelines with the real life situation in Syria from 2011 to today, arguing that intervention is not only justifiable, but also necessary. I want to underscore that I believe humanitarian intervention is justified or required only in specific cases and based on certain norms and I will further elaborate them accordingly. 74 �Definition of Humanitarian Intervention According to Two Different Philosophers Adam Roberts defines humanitarian intervention as follows: “Coercive action by one or more states involving the use of armed force in another state without the consent of its authorities, and with the purpose of preventing of widespread suffering or death among the inhabitants”. On the other hand, Michael Walzer discusses humanitarian intervention in four regards. Firstly, he does so by examining the nature of its occasions. Secondly, he discusses the preferred agents of interference, further explaining the ways in which intervention should be applied. Lastly how and when a humanitarian intervention should end. (1)Walzer clearly defines the cases in which humanitarian intervention is permissible and required. He says that the occasions in which humanitarian intervention is required should be extreme and at a large scale. Only cases such as genocide, extreme brutality and oppression targeted towards a large population can justify an international response. It has to be clear that it does not seem possible or practical to wait for a local response (Rashid, 2012). (2) When dealing with the question: “Who should be the actor interfering?” Walzer states that interference should come from any actor that has the appropriate means to carry out the humanitarian aid. Simply put: “Who can, should!”Considering the immediacy of the situation, Walzer firmly believes that unilateral action, most commonly coming from neighboring countries, but not only, is the most effective(Walzer, 2002). (3)Proceeding to the means of pursuing a humanitarian intervention, Walzer says that the use of force is necessary. Controversially to the popular opinion that the use of force should come only after exhausting all other possible ways, and as a last resort, he argues that in such occasions of slaughters the end never comes. (4)Answering the question of when should the intervention end is trickier than one would expect. Extending stay too much may start looking like an occupation. The intervening state can prove their pure humanitarian motives by moving in and out as quickly as possible. Therefore, the intervening forces, to avoid the risk of resembling an occupation, should retreat as soon as the danger has ceased to exist. Comparison and Analysis of the Intervention Guidelines with the Real Life Situation in Syria Syria War Frameworks In less than four years the war in Syria escalated to the dire situation we have today. I argue that intervention is not only required, but also that it should have already happened. The war in Syria started in March 2011 in a city in southern Syria, where children were arrested and tortured for anti-government propaganda. This act sparked anti-government demonstrations that later developed into an army against Assad called the “Free Syrian Army”. The rebels planned to 75 �overthrow the oppressive government but were ineffective; however, their numbers and supporters grew as the country moved towards civil war. Arguably, civil war would not be a fair justification for intervention as it remains an internal issue, but as President al-Assad’s regime grew more oppressive, other external forces came into play later during the same year. There are many factors that attributed to the start of this civil war, including economic hardship that came from the drought of 2007-2010, to the ongoing religious conflicts between Sunni Muslims and Alawites. However, it was the harsh response of president al-Assad to the initially peaceful protests that actually escalated the situation and divided the country. Adding to the conflict and taking advantage of the chaotic situation, the self-proclaimed Islamic State or the group better known as ISIS, started invading Syria around 2012. Claiming to follow the religion of Islam, they respond with brutal violence against anyone who doesn’t obey. But many Muslims claim that their religion has nothing to do with hatred and violence. Since early 2014, IS has grown quickly attracting recruiter from all over the world using the Internet and social media. They have managed to conquer the majority of Syria and neighboring Iraq, thus leading the region as their own state and punishing anyone who doesn’t obey to them. Crisscrossing of Foreign Actors Another significant factor to consider is the crisscrossing of foreign intervention and support. The national split has also affected the international split amongst different actors, such as the majority of Shia Iran and Iraq, Lebanon-based Hezbollah, and Sunni-majority states including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and others. An international actor is the US, which since 2014 has been bomb-attacking the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, ISIL, also known as ISIS. About a year later, on September 2015, Russia targeted a bombing campaign towards rebel groups in Syria supported by western states and groups referred to as terrorists, such as ISIL. Russia has also allocated military advisors to support Assad’s defenses. Numerous Arab States, and Turkey, have supplied rebel groups in Syria with weapons. But the cause of the critical situations there is caused by the armed forces coming from outside Syria or that has nothing to do with the initiation of the conflict. For example, ISIL –having only territorial aims- is responsible for approximately 27,000 to 30,000 recruiters from around the world that have joined the fight (Group, reserved, Site, & Media, 2013). Lebanese members of Hezbollah are supporting Assad, as are Iranian and Afghan fighters. Whereas the US, even if it has claimed to oppose Assad’s regime, has hesitated to become an active participant of the conflict. Even when Assad’s government allegedly threw chemical weapons targeting Syria in 2013, former president of the US, Barack Obama, stated that in case of bombing, the US would rapidly intervene. However, in October 2015, the US dropped out of the most debatable Syrian training program stating that the training of only 60 fighters cost them $500m. As President Assad is receiving support from Russia, and the rebel groups are receiving support from Saudi Arabia and the US, each for different agendas, the war has inadvertently grown to a larger scale (Zorthian, 2015). In 2013, there was usage of chemical weapons possibly by the 76 �government during the attack of a rebel base in Damascus. This specific attack ended up killing about 300 Syrians, the majority of which were confirmed to be simply civilians. I would like to argue that at this point in history humanitarian intervention was necessary and undoubtedly justified. The usage of chemical weapons has been considered inhumane even towards militia, let alone towards standing civilians. It is clear that the situation has escalated beyond what would be considered an internal issue, and it is in fact affecting the entire international community. I believe that at this point it would have been the most effective time to intervene by any UN state that could. The lack of intervention from the UN was justified by the international arena by bringing up Russia’s unwillingness to act due to Putin’s ties with President Assad. However, the US together with Saudi Arabia, tried a mild intervention in 2013. The peacekeeping attempts failed as neither terrorist groups nor the government stopped the violence, as it was expected. The attacks went on for the two years to come and the situation is still unresolved. Possible Solutions The population has been and still is an imminent danger from its own government and from outside attacks, such as the Islamic State. The response should have come in 2013 from willing states in this way: Firstly, a diplomatic effort is needed to secure the removal of President Assad and help the reestablishment of a newly elected government that better represents the diversity of Syria. This would have only been possible with troops on Syrian ground that directly attacked the oppressive government and not only served as peacekeepers. Secondly, there would be need of a coordinated humanitarian response from the international community in providing aid for the civilians to rebuild their lives and safely return to their home country. Thirdly, even though ISIS would still be a considerable danger, with a stronger new government and military aid from neighboring countries, it would be possible to minimize said danger or even abolish it completely (depending on the level of cooperation amongst states). As the danger would have been minimized, the UN would restart their programmer of nonmilitary aid in order to restore the infrastructure of the country and help with the aftermath of war. Conclusion I believe that I have fully explained how humanitarian intervention is justified in the case of Syria, and furthermore, is of immediate necessity. So far, the consequences of this war have been terrible, and it still remains in our hands to help ending it. The Syrian government and ISIS are definitely the oppressors and there is more than one state which is able to help. I believe 77 �against holding sovereignty as the main priority, and instead support maintaining international peace and security when deciding that intervention is of absolute international importance. References Group, T. S., reserved, A. rights, Site, & Media, G. (2013). Foreign fighters in Syria, Iraq have doubled since Anti-ISIL intervention. Retrieved January 18, 2017, from http://soufangroup.com/tsg-report-quoted-on-al-jazeera-america-foreign-fighters-in-syriairaq-have-doubled-since-anti-isil-intervention/ Jazeera, A. (2016). Syria’s civil war explained. Retrieved January 18, 2017, from http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/05/syria-civil-war-explained-160505084119966.htm Rashid, A. K. (2012, March 13). Is humanitarian intervention ever morally justified? Retrieved January 18, 2017, from http://www.e-ir.info/2012/03/13/is-humanitarian-intervention-evermorally-justified/ Simma, B. (1999). NATO, the UN and the use of force: Legal Aspects. European Journal of International Law, 10(1), 1-22. Taylor, P., Curtis, D. (2008). The United Nations.In Baylis, J, Smith, S. & Owens, P. (Eds), Globalization of World Politics.Oxford University Press. Vincent, R. J. (1974). Non-intervention and International Order. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 7. Walzer, M. (2002). The Argument about Humanitarian Intervention. Dissent, Winter, 2937. Zorthian, J. (2015, October 7). Who’s fighting who in Syria. Retrieved January 18, 2017, from http://time.com/4059856/syria-civil-war-explainer/ 78 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Extent The size or duration of the resource. 3657 Title A name given to the resource Human Intervention in the Case of Syria (doi:10.14706/icesos1720) Author Author Gegaj, Rea Dedej, Sara Reka, Speranca Abstract A summary of the resource. Abstract: The world is having a crisis on international relations because of the Civil War in Syria, which soon enough turned into a Modern World War (MWW). This conflict complexes the whole world and questions the life of limitless innocent people. Drawing the conflict visually, this paper attempts to explain the use of humanitarian intervention in the case of Syria and surveys the main influential countries included in the war and their reasons for doing so. This review explains the exact event - of 15 students killed by the government - that led to the Civil War and precisely how its size became getting bigger day by day. Besides doing research and explaining the reasons of the conflict, it also focuses on possible and realistic solutions to end the war and support the Syrian refugees, on which the whole burden of the war falls. The review incorporates various methods including data collection and their analysis. Keywords: Civil War in Syria, Modern World War, conflict, international relations, explaining, support, solution. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017 Keywords Keywords. Conference or Workshop Item PeerReviewed H Social Sciences (General) https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/3676db198cd7c6f6abcc2e8ddf6945a0.pdf c8d4d7ea4b97723907371e6b047a9b1c PDF Text Text Ethical Climate, Job Satisfaction, and Affective Commitment relationship in the Shoes Manufacturing Sector Mehmet Gencoglu International Burch University Department of Management Bosnia and Herzegovina M. Sait Dinc International Burch University Department of Management Bosnia and Herzegovina Abstract: Recent studies have demonstrated that retaining qualified employees is crucial for organizations. As labor-intensive sector, shoes manufacturing sector is highly dependent on qualified employees. Based on the literature in this field, affective commitment of employees to their organizations has a significant importance for retaining them. The main purpose of this study is to examine ethical climate, job satisfaction, and affective commitment relationship in the shoes manufacturing sector. A survey with four sections is conducted in 10 companies and 3 cities in Turkey with 161 respondents in overall. Descriptive and Pearson correlation analyses were made. The study results showed that statistically significant relationships exist among ethical climate, job satisfaction, and affective commitment. In specific, Law and Code type of ethical climate has a crucial statistically significant relationship with affective commitment. Keywords: Ethical Climate, Job Satisfaction, Affective Commitment, Shoes Manufacturing Sector, Turkey Introduction Business ethics has been a relatively new area of research in terms of investigation of its consequences on employee behavior and eventually on business itself. Specifically, ethical climate has been a concept which is directly related to employee attitudes and behaviors. Ethical climate is a shared perception among the employees with regard to the meaning of ethical behavior in the organization and it is important in shaping employee behaviors (Victor and Cullen, 1988). Employees who have learned how to behave in an ethical way in such an atmosphere are likely to be more satisfied with their jobs and more committed to their organization (Dinc and Aydemir, 2014). However, ethical climate and its consequences could significantly differ among different countries and different sectors. 192 �Shoes manufacturing is a highly labor-intensive sector due to its nature. Therefore, employees are crucial part of this business. Most of the processes need skillful workers who are very hard to replace. Thus, retaining employees is very important for the organizations in this sector. The purpose of this study is to examine ethical climate and job satisfaction as variables which affect commitment of employees in shoes manufacturing sector. Despite the fact that numerous studies have explored the relationship among these variables, it is apparent that those studies have been conducted mostly in developed countries, whereas research regarding developing countries is limited. As one of the developing countries, Turkey has a very dynamic and growing economy. Along with the economy, number of studies have been increasing in number as well. However, in the business ethics field studies are still very limited. Specifically, in manufacturing industry, the literature is very scarce. Therefore, shoes manufacturing sector in Turkey as a research context is intentionally chosen in this study. Although the official numbers show that there are around 65,000 employees working in 6,800 companies in shoes manufacturing sector in Turkey, the actual numbers are dramatically higher than the official ones, due to a very high level of the off-the-record production. It is estimated that there are approximately 300,000 employees currently working in the sector in unregistered companies. All these numbers show that the main issue of large shoes manufacturing companies is difficulty to retain talented employees. The purpose of this study is to explore relationship between job satisfaction and affective commitment of employees and ethical climate of shoes manufacturing companies in Turkey. This relationship is illustrated in Figure 1 as a proposed model of the study. Figure 1 Proposed Model 193 �Literature Review Ethical Climate Ethical Climate is a type of work climate. It has been studied since 1950s. Ethical climate is “a perceptual lens through which workers diagnose and assess situations” (Cullen, Parboteeah, Victor, 2003). Essentially, it represents the perception of employees of what is right or wrong in responding to an ethical dilemma. Several studies claim that ethical climate affects decisions and behaviors within the organization (Victor and Cullen, 1988, 1990). Moreover, it shapes ethical understanding and behavior of employees. According to Victor and Cullen (1988), there are 5 types of ethical climate, such as Instrumental, Caring, Independence, Rules, Law and Code. In an organization which has a caring climate, employees have a concern for others and care for each other’s well-being. In an independent climate, employees act according to their own personal moral beliefs. Law and Code climate refers to the climate in which employees adhere to the codes and regulations of their profession or another authority. In this type of climate, employees should make decisions based on some external system such as law or professional codes of conduct. If the employees’ behaviors comply with the accepted rules of conduct determined by the organization, then that organization has a Rules climate. The Instrumental climate is the least favorable type which suggests individuals’ self-interest within the organization (Victor and Cullen 1987, 1988). Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction is an employee’s self-assessment about his/her job or job situation. It is defined by Locke (1976) as “a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one's job or job experiences.” On the other hand, it is also defined as the emotional status which originated from the selfassessment of the employee and that stimulates the job performance and achievements of the employee. Job satisfaction entails the general behavior of the employee against his/her current job, that is to say, an employee who has high satisfaction levels behaves positively while an employee who has low satisfaction levels has a negative behavior. There are three fundamental relationships which affect job satisfaction. Namely, employee-organization relationship, employee-manager relationship, and employee-colleague relationship. Organizational commitment is one of the most studied concepts with Job Satisfaction. Several studies exhibited that Job Satisfaction is significantly related to employees’ organizational commitment (Mathieu and Zajac,1990; Testa, 2001; Tett and Meyer, 1993). 194 �Affective Commitment Affective commitment is a type of organizational commitment (Meyer and Allen, 1991) which represents the tendency of a worker to stay with a company. This tendency is based on an emotional attachment. The importance of organizational commitment is generated from its relationship with employee turnover, absenteeism, and tardiness (Çakır, 2001; Seymen, 2008). Many studies have showed that employees who are most committed to their organization are least likely to quit their job (Meyer and Allen, 1991). According to previous studies there are three types of organizational commitment, such as affective commitment, continuous commitment, and normative commitment. Organizational commitment has several consequences, such as not quitting the job, productive behavior, and welfare of the employee in terms of physical health, psychological health, etc. Personal qualifications, job’s characteristics, job experiences, and structural attributes can be a source of affective commitment. (Meyer and Allen, 1997). According to the review of the literature presented in the previous part, following hypotheses can be posited: Hypothesis 1: “Caring”, “independent,” and “law and code,” as EC types, have a significant positive relationship with overall JS. Hypothesis 2: “Instrumental” as the EC type has a significant negative relationship with overall JS. Hypothesis 3: “Caring,” “independent,” “law and code,” as EC types, have a significant positive relationship with AC. Hypothesis 4: “Instrumental” as the EC type, has a significant negative relationship with AC. Hypothesis 5: Overall JS has a significant positive relationship with AC. Methodology Sampling, Procedures, and Measurement In order to have a better coverage, the questionnaires were delivered to several companies in Istanbul, Gaziantep, and Izmir. Questionnaires were send via email to the owners or general managers of the companies. Recipients were familiarized with the purpose of the study and the importance of the anonymity of the respondents. They were asked to conduct the survey on a 195 �voluntary basis and under a confidentiality which would not leave employees with an impression that their jobs are at stake. The questionnaire consisted of 3 pages and 4 sections. First section was about Ethical climate and it consisted of 14 questions. Second section referred to Affective commitment with 6 questions. Job satisfaction was the topic of third section and had 3 questions. Lastly, demographic questions were asked at the fourth section including gender, age, education level, tenure in the company and total tenure, managerial position, and the dimension of the company. Ethical climate questions were 14 items developed by Huang et al., but originally adapted from Victor and Cullen. Meyer and Allen’s (1997) Job satisfaction was measured by 3-item scale of Fu and Deshpande (2013), whereas 6-item scale was used for measuring Affective commitment. After collecting surveys, data were analyzed through SPSS. Exploratory factor analyses were used to find the initial structure of the scales. The relationship between all types of ethical climate in the literature, affective commitment, and employee’s job satisfaction were examined through Pearson Correlation analysis. Descriptive statistics were also conducted to show detailed information about the sample of this study. Table 1 Sample Characteristics Variable Gender Age Organization Dimension Job Experience (Company) Job Experience (Total) Demographics Number Valid Percent Male 136 91.3 Female 13 8.7 less than 20 14 9.3 20-25 27 17.9 26-30 13 8.6 31-35 37 24.5 36-40 32 21.2 More than 40 28 18.5 10-50 113 70.6 51-100 18 11.3 More than 500 29 18.1 Under 5 years 91 59.9 5-10 years 27 17.8 10-15 years 15 9.9 Over 15 years 19 12.5 Under 5 years 30 19.74 196 �Education Level 5-10 years 42 27.63 10-15 years 31 20.39 Over 15 years 48 31.58 Illiterate 11 7.3 Primary-Secondary 88 58.7 High school 38 25.3 Community College 2 1.3 Undergraduate 10 6.7 Graduate or more 1 0.7 Results Initial Results After a two-step process of factor analysis, four items from ethical climate scale, and three items from affective commitment scale were extracted due to weak loadings and overloading. Descriptive statistics and Correlations for the variables are presented in the Table 2. Table 2 Descriptive statistics and Correlations for the variables Variables Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5 (1) Law and Code 3,98 1,079 1 (2) Instrumental 2,68 1,115 -0,152 1 (3) Independent 3,28 1,344 0,130 0,154 1 (4) Caring 4,11 1,083 .431** -0,062 0,142 1 (5) Affective 3,83 1,058 .527** 0,020 .187* .352** 1 (6) Job Satisfaction 3,76 1,012 .421** -0,006 .211** .335** .525** 6 1 *P< 0.05; **P <0.01 Discussion and Conclusion Law and Code type of climate has a significant positive relationship with affective commitment and job satisfaction. The reason for such finding may be because of the present conditions of the country and the sector. Due to the unofficial production in bad conditions, employees might feel more satisfied and feel more committed to the organization which obeys the laws and codes. 197 �Independent type of climate has also a significant positive relationship with affective commitment and job satisfaction. This result is parallel with the findings presented in the literature (Tsai and Huang, 2008). Caring type of climate has a significant positive relationship with affective commitment and job satisfaction. This result complies with the findings of the literature (Tsai and Huang, 2008; Dinc and Huric, 2016). Caring climate is expected to be higher than law and code climate. However, it seems that finding a better company, which obeys laws and codes and offers better physical conditions is more important for employees in shoes manufacturing sector. They may still find caring climates in unofficial companies, nevertheless, insurance, regular payment, and safety cannot be found in this kind of companies, which represents one of the greater problems in Turkey. Job satisfaction has a significant positive relationship with affective commitment. This result is similar to the findings of the literature (Allen and Meyer, 1990). An employee who is satisfied with his/her job shows more affective commitment to his/her organization. Unlike the literature, this study did not find any relationship between instrumental ethical type of climate and job satisfaction or affective commitment. The reason for such finding may be because of the absence of this kind of ethical type of climate in the shoes manufacturing sector in Turkey. The mean value of instrumental ethical climate questions is only 2.68 which implies that employees do not feel any instrumental climate in their organization. Therefore, any relationship could not be found. This might be the case due to several reasons:  Shoes manufacturing requires team-work, therefore, after working for some time in this sector, employees might have developed unselfish behaviors.  According to the culture of the country, people perceive selfish behaviors negatively. In overall, this study suggests that shoes manufacturing sector can increase retaining employee rate and decrease turnover through supplying law and code, caring, and independent ethical types of climate within the organizations. Sector companies can enjoy affective commitment and satisfaction of the employees by supplying them with insurance, regular payment, and by ensuring their safety. Limitations This study may have some limitations. Number of respondents may have been increased and data may have been gathered from more companies from several other cities which might have more diverse cultural backgrounds. 198 �Recommendations for Future Studies Although the literature suggests that affective commitment is the most favorable type of Organizational Commitment, other types such as Continuous Commitment, Normative Commitment can be included in the future studies. Also, more variables can be included in the research, such as Leadership and Cultural dimensions. Furthermore, same study can be conducted in different countries that employ millions of shoes manufacturing personnel, such as China, India, etc. References Allen, N. J. and Meyer, J. P. (1990). The measurement and antecedents of affective, continuance and normative commitment to the organization. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 63, 1–18. Çakır, Ö. (2001). İşe bağlılık olgusu ve etkileyen faktörler. Seçkin Yayıncılık. Cullen, J. B., Parboteeah, K. P., & Victor, B. (2003). The effects of ethical climates on organizational commitment: A two-study analysis. Journal of Business Ethics, 46(2), 127-141. Dinc, M. S., & Aydemir, M. (2014). Ethical leadership and employee behaviors: an empirical study of mediating factors. International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, 9(3), 293-312. Dinc, M. S., & Huric, A. (2016). The impacts of ethical climate types on nurses’ behaviors in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Nursing ethics, 0969733016638143. Locke, E. A., Sirota, D., & Wolfson, A. D. (1976). An experimental case study of the successes and failures of job enrichment in a government agency. Journal of Applied Psychology, 61(6), 701. Mathieu, J. E., & Zajac, D. M. (1990). A review and meta-analysis of the antecedents, correlates, and consequences of organizational commitment. Psychological bulletin, 108(2), 171. Meyer, J. P., & Allen, N. J. (1991). A three-component conceptualization of organizational commitment. Human resource management review, 1(1), 61-89. Meyer, J. P., Allen, N. J., & Allen, N. J. (1997). Commitment in the workplace. Sage Publications. Seymen, O. A. (2008). Örgütsel bağlılığı etkileyen örgüt kültürü tipleri üzerine bir araştırma. Ankara: Detay Yayıncılık, 135. Testa, M. R. (2001). Organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and effort in the service environment. The Journal of Psychology, 135(2), 226-236. Tett, R. P., & Meyer, J. P. (1993). Job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover intention, and turnover: path analyses based on meta‐analytic findings. Personnel psychology, 46(2), 259-293. 199 �Tsai, M. and Huang, C. (2008). The relationships among ethical climate types, facets of job satisfaction, and the three components of organizational commitment: a study of nurses in Taiwan. Journal of Business Ethics 80, 565–581. Victor, B., & Cullen, J. B. (1988). The organizational bases of ethical work climates. Administrative science quarterly, 101-125. Victor, B., & Cullen, J. B. (1987). A theory and measure of ethical climate in organizations. Research in corporate social performance and policy, 9(1), 51-71. 200 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Extent The size or duration of the resource. 3651 Title A name given to the resource Ethical Climate, Job Satisfaction, and Effective Commitment relationship in the Shoes Manufacturing Sector (doi: 10.14706/icesos1714) Author Author Gencoglu, Mehmet DINÇ, Muhammet Sait Abstract A summary of the resource. Abstract: Recent studies have demonstrated that retaining qualified employees is crucial for organizations. As labor-intensive sector, shoes manufacturing sector is highly dependent on qualified employees. Based on the literature in this field, affective commitment of employees to their organizations has a significant importance for retaining them. The main purpose of this study is to examine ethical climate, job satisfaction, and affective commitment relationship in the shoes manufacturing sector. A survey with four sections is conducted in 10 companies and 3 cities in Turkey with 161 respondents in overall. Descriptive and Pearson correlation analyses were made. The study results showed that statistically significant relationships exist among ethical climate, job satisfaction, and affective commitment. In specific, Law and Code type of ethical climate has a crucial statistically significant relationship with affective commitment. Keywords: Ethical Climate, Job Satisfaction, Affective Commitment, Shoes Manufacturing Sector, Turkey Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017 Keywords Keywords. Conference or Workshop Item PeerReviewed H Social Sciences (General)