Jelena Nikolić
Numerous challenges and problems in the field of economics and management require various theoretical and methodological responses implying the development of new concepts, methodologies, methods, models and techniques. Given the complexity of contemporary economic and managerial problems, the papers submitted to the International Scientific Conference entitled Contemporary Issues in Economics, Business and Management (EBM 2018), which was held at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Kragujevac on 9th and 10th November 2018, encompassed diverse topics in the following fields: management, marketing, globalization, regionalization, accounting, business finance, information systems and the application of quantitative methods and models in economics and management. So far, this EBM 2018 fifth biennial international conference brought together the largest number of participants, i.e. 127 participants in total, 88 authors being from higher education institutions (HEIs) in the Republic of Serbia, and 39 authors coming from abroad (Poland, Russia, Germany, Slovenia, Japan, Spain, Croatia, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina).
Marin Peko1, Nikola Komatina2, Nikola Banduka1,2 and Marina Crnjac2
In the course of global trends, the development and application of information technologies have emerged as a valuable source of the economy at both the micro and the macro levels. According to the results of the best practice, the application of a piece of software with failures is known to possibly to serious consequences. The analysis and elimination of potential failures in commercial software is the problem that represents one of engineers’ most important tasks. In this paper, a new integrated model for the evaluation and ranking of software failures is proposed. The cost aspect is integrated into the traditional severity index. The assessment of the severity indices, as well as a possibility of detection, is based on the Failure Mode and Effects Analysis – FMEA framework. The weights of the overall severity index, the occurrence of failures, and the possibilities of detection are calculated by applying the best-worst method. The determination of the rank of the identified failures is given by applying conventional Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution – TOPSIS. The priority of the activities that are undertaken in order to eliminate the identified failures corresponds to the obtained rank of the failures. The proposed model is illustrated by real-life data.
Şakir Sakarya1, Feyyaz Zeren2 and Hilmi Tunahan Akkuş1
Affecting a significant portion of the world economy, the commodity market is the world’s largest “nonfinancial” market. In addition to the other macroeconomic variables, commodity prices have a special importance for Islamic stock indices, which have improved in recent years because Islamic finance is a financial system based on the profit/loss sharing principle and supports the real sector’s activities. In this study, cointegration and the causality relationship between commodity markets (the Gold ounce and Brent oil) and the Participation-30 Index established by taking Islamic criteria into account were investigated in Turkey. As a result of the analysis, no cointegration relation was found between the Participation-30 Index and the commodity markets. According to these results, an investor investing in gold or oil will, in addition to the Participation-30 Index, diversify its portfolio with this commodity investment and minimize its risk. The fact that there is no relation between the variables according to the causality results indicates that the Participation-30 Islamic Indices’ structure is independent of commodity markets and conventional stock markets.
Vladimir Obradović
The paper is devoted to the review of the position of the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) for Small and Medium-sized Entities (SMEs) in the financial reporting regulation and practice in the Republic of Serbia. After considering the global importance of this standard, its position in the regulatory framework for financial reporting in the Republic of Serbia, in which it was included in 2013, is analyzed, while a deeper insight into the position of the standard in practice is achieved by the empirical research on a sample of 175 enterprises. Since it has the potential to facilitate financial reporting to many companies that had previously had to apply the full IFRSs, its adoption in the Republic of Serbia is useful, but the potential problem arises from the fact that it is not adopted at the European Union (EU) level. The research in the paper reveals that the enterprises in the Republic of Serbia that can choose between the IFRS for SMEs and the full IFRSs, however, are more likely to choose the full IFRSs. This finding should be considered in the context of the long-term application of the full IFRS before the implementation of the IFRS for SMEs. Subsidiary enterprises less often choose the IFRS for SMEs than the enterprises that do not have this characteristic.
Olubunmi Florence Osemene1, Joshua Solomon Adeyele2 and Pauline Adinnu3
In many countries, there are a certain number of organizations going through severe crises due to a failure in corporate governance. In this study, the main aim is to determine how the ownership structure and the characteristics of the boards of Nigeria’s listed deposit money banks (DMBs) affect aggressive earnings management for a period of 5 years (2011-2016). The panel least-square method was used to analyze the data collected. The findings revealed that private, foreign and government shareholdings have a negative and significant impact on aggressive earnings management. Also, directors’ tenures status has a significant effect on aggressive earning management, while the board size, the gender and the size of the firm have no such significant effect in the period observed. Based on these findings, the study concludes that the ownership structure has a significant impact on aggressive earnings management, whereas the characteristics of the board, excluding directors’ tenures status, do not have any significant effect. Hence, the study recommends that the 10% threshold imposed by the CBN on the government shareholding should be maintained, while regulatory and supervisory agencies are advised to pay adequate attention and conduct the monitoring of the activities performed by the CEOs of the banks, especially upon expiry of the directors’ tenure, so as to protect shareholders.
Alphonse Kumaza
Corporate innovation and technology application for the purpose of improving business profits are a permanent fixation in management. The study explores corporate innovation and its capability to ensure social accountability and environmental responsibility. Innovation is necessary for growth, the maintenance of the market share and for the continual expansion and exploration of business opportunities, yet difficult to secure sustainable communities. The results of an SPSS statistical analysis show that business innovative technology and new thinking capabilities are not so designed to promote environmental accountability and social welfare, but rather to enhance corporations’ growth. The insufficient poor understanding of business management of the enterprise’s externality contributes to corporations’ poor environmental performance. This contribution, which might be the subject matter of possible future research, exposes corporations’ inability to promote sustainable stakeholder communities and environmental responsibility, contrary to the perceptions that business innovation works for environmental sustainability.
Vlastimir Leković
Issue 3 Volume 20 Year 2018 contains four original scientific papers, one review paper, a review of the international scientific conference, the Subject-matter Index of the papers and the List of the Authors and Titles of all of the contributions published in the Economic Horizons in 2018. Simultaneously, we are indicating the fact that six scientific papers by the authors from abroad (Nigeria, China, Turkey, and Croatia) have been published in Volume 20 Year 20018, which accounts for 35.3% of the total number of the scientific papers published in the Journal in 2018.