Dejan Jovanović and Vesna Janjić
With an increase in the number of the companies that have adopted the ISO 14001 standard, the interest demonstrated in research studies regarding the assessment of the motives for and benefits from the ISO 14001 standard implementation has also been increasing. Nevertheless, in spite of the importance of the ISO 14001 standards, a discussion on their importance and the role of accounting in this process yet remains an open issue among researchers and practitioners. Starting from the above said, the main purpose of the research conducted in this paper is to identify the motives for and benefits from the implementation of the ISO 14001 standard and to examine the role of accounting in the implementation process. The empirical research in this paper was performed on the example of the 33 companies that have the obligation to submit their data on the sources of environmental pollution to the National Pollution Register. The data were collected through a poll of the management of the companies via a questionnaire, whereas the data analysis was performed by using various quantitative statistical methods and techniques, and primarily through the application of descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests. The results of the research indicate that the primary motives for the introduction of the ISO 14001 standards are an environmental responsibility, creating the image of a socially responsible company and the improvement of performances, whereas the benefits can be synthesized through the improvement of environmental performances, efficiency and profitability. Also, the results of the research study indicate that the managers of the companies partly recognize the role of accounting in the implementation of the ISO 14001 standard. The main conclusion of the research is that the management of the companies partly recognize the role of accounting in the ISO 14001 standards implementation. The main conclusion of the research is that the management of the companies in Serbia understand the importance of the implementation of the ISO 14001 standards, but not to a proper extent, as well as the role of accounting in that process.
Amaechi Patrick Egbunike and Godsday Edesiri Okoro
Quite a few studies have argued that green accounting does matter to the profitability of a firm; however, little is known about Nigerian firms. To address this gap, this paper seeks to investigate whether green accounting matters to the profitability of Nigerian firms or not. Towards achieving this, an expo-facto research design was adopted and ten non-consumer goods firms listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange were selected during 2012-2016. The data were sourced from the annual reports and accounts of the selected non-consumer goods firms. The data comprised of green accounting (expenses of community involvement and the amount spent on environmental protection) and profitability (return on equity and Tobin Q) indicators. The data obtained were analyzed by using canonical correlations. The study revealed that there was no significant relationship between green accounting and profitability measures among the non-consumer goods firms. The implication is that whether or not firms engage in green accounting, their profitability level remains unchanged. In addition, this provides evidence that the practice of green accounting among non-consumer goods firms in Nigeria is still at its ad-hoc stage. On the basis of the above findings, we proposed that the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria and corporate entities should, as a matter of fact, accommodate the growing awareness in green accounting and formulate a disclosure requirement aimed at improving the profitability of firms. This will no doubt enhance green accounting practices among firms and in general policies aimed at enhancing their competitiveness in the industry in which they are domiciled.
Slavica Manić, Ljubinka Joksimović and Siniša Zarić
The gender role hierarchy in the Republic of Serbia is an inspirational topic on several grounds: first, this is a specific issue within a wider gender equality problem, which has recently become the priority of structural reforms; second, it is a separate segment of gender segregation, the research issue unjustifiably ignored by the domestic academic community; finally, it is just a piece of the “puzzle” that reflects the situation in the gender inequality field, but exactly the one which neither national nor European statistics provide detailed information for. The above-mentioned reasons represent the basic motivation for writing this paper. In order to determine whether the position of women in science varies according to their position on the career scale, as it usually happens all over Europe, we shall examine the situation in the higher education system in the Republic of Serbia. That is why we apply the methodological procedures of descriptive statistics to the micro-data obtained from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development in order to calculate the following relative indicators: the teaching staff structure by gender and grades across different fields of science and the glass ceiling index. We believe that such a relatively precise insight into the range of vertical segregation could be useful in conceiving future initiatives aimed at the systemic introduction of a gender perspective in the adoption, implementation and monitoring of public policies.
Amaka E. Agbata1, Chizoba M. Ekwueme1 and Edirin Jeroh2
The study determined how the administration of the Pension Scheme could be perked up in Nigeria through effective management that would reduce fraudulent practices apparent in the scheme. By following the precept of library research via the survey design, a 5-point Likert Scale questionnaire was designed to educe primary information about pension matters from a sample of 435 knowledgeable respondents. The collected data were presented and analyzed. Three hypotheses were formulated and tested based on Multiple Regression Analysis models with the aid of Minitab version 17. The findings show that, despite the provisions of the Act (the Pension Reform Act – PRA), intents for committing Pension Fraud have not reduced to a significant extent. Also, the accumulated assets of pension funds have not been adequately diversified into profitable investment alternatives. Therefore, we recommend that, among other things, amendments should concertedly be made to the PRA to at least discourage acts of pension frauds by instituting severe punitive measures for culprits, while simultaneously inculcating moral ethics among public servants in Nigeria.
Nguyen Thi Nguyet
This paper focuses on the evaluation of the impact of the fiscal policy on the growth of Vietnam at the provincial level. A fiscal policy plays a huge role in a national economy. Policy-makers often use flexible fiscal and monetary policies to achieve the overall goal of economic growth. In order to assess the impact of the fiscal policy instruments on economic growth, integrated analyses combined with quantitative analyses are used in the paper so as to find the relationship between the key expenditure items. The government has an impact on economic growth. The results and methodology will elicit quantitative approaches in policy reviews.
Slađana Savović
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are the important mechanisms through which companies can achieve growth, gain access to new markets and diversify their activities. Although companies engage themselves in M&As with optimism, empirical evidence shows that many M&A transactions are not successful. Therefore, research is often focused on the identification of the ways to improve post-acquisition performance. One of the key success factors of M&A is to provide adequate transformational leadership during the process of change, especially in the critical phase of the post-acquisition integration. A transformational leader should provide incentives and support to the employees in order for them to accept changes and focus on achieving challenging goals. This paper explores the impact of the different dimensions of transformational leadership on the post-acquisition performance based on the example of a company operating in the Republic of Serbia’s retail sector, which was the subject of a cross-border acquisition. In order to ensure the adequate representativeness of the sample, a questionnaire was distributed in all parts of the company throughout the Republic of Serbia. The results of this study show that all the dimensions of transformational leadership positively impact post-acquisition performance. The “individual consideration” dimension of transformational leadership has the strongest impact on post-acquisition performance, whereas the “intellectual simulation” dimension has the weakest.
Srđan Šapić
In terms of modern life, consumers have an increasing number of options when it comes to choosing a restaurant when they do not wish to eat at their homes. Fast food restaurants represent one of those options. In addition to domestic fast food restaurants, the development of global restaurant chains is also noticeable. The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that affect the evaluations of products and services and the intentions of users in terms of using the services of fast food restaurants. In relation to that, it is important to analyze the factor of cosmopolitanism and tradition. Cosmopolitanism, as the willingness of people to cooperate with other cultures and tradition, and tradition, as a reflection of respect for the customs and ideas that are imposed on individuals by their culture or religion, affect consumers’ intentions and their willingness to use the services of foreign fast food restaurants. In accordance with that, the purpose of this research study is to determine if and how cosmopolitanism and tradition affect the evaluations of products and services and consumers’ intention concerning foreign restaurant chains and domestic fast food restaurants of both the local and the family types. The results of the conducted empirical research show that cosmopolitanism positively affects the evaluations of the products and services of foreign restaurants and that tradition positively affects the evaluations of the products and services of domestic fast food restaurants.
Veljko Marinković
Economic, political and militaristic tensions between countries are present throughout the world. The devastating effects of the global financial crisis are still generating the ever-increasing instability of the world economy. Patriotism and nationalism, as well as animosity towards the economic and military policies of certain foreign countries, seem to be on the rise across many countries and nations in recent years. It is precisely the current situation in the world that is favorable for encouraging citizens to purchase domestic products. The policy can be particularly useful for less-developed import-oriented economies. Thus, in the conditions of the economic crisis, the study of consumer ethnocentrism is gaining in importance. The paper examines the effects of the patriotism of the citizens of the Republic of Serbia and animosity towards the EU on consumer ethnocentrism. The results show that both these variables stand out as the statistically significant antecedents of consumer ethnocentrism; however, it should be noticed that patriotism shows a stronger influence on the consumer’s orientation towards buying domestic products. The research findings indicate that love of one’s country may direct consumer choices towards domestic brands, despite the positive image and high quality of foreign ones. In addition, due to citizens’ strong dislike towards the EU economic policy, some of them may decide to buy lower-quality domestic products; however, this does not necessarily negatively affect one’s perception of foreign products.
Loc Viet Nguyen
The business community is a social force which has had a great influence on all aspects of life and the socioeconomic conditions of every country. In the context of today’s globalization, particularly in international economic integration and the multi-cultural business climate, the current study will offer a theoretical model of entrepreneurial culture in order to identify, measure and evaluate the essential entrepreneurial culture of the business community. The paper introduces an entrepreneurial culture model through a cultural value system approach. The value system approach, also known as the table of cultural stratification values, helps model the entrepreneurial culture created by value factors. Such factors can be measured, they are easy to reproduce and help identify the strengths and weaknesses of the business community.
Dragana Rejman Petrović
Razvoj modela za unapređenje poslovnih procesa u e-lancima snabdevanja podrazumeva primenu procesnog pristupa i metodologija za razvoj informacionih sistema, i obuhvata dizajn modela zahteva, logički dizajn modela klјučnih procesa sa definisanim tokovima informacija unutar logičkih podsistema, logički dizajn modela podataka, logički dizajn modela mreže i distribucije podataka, kao i logički dizajn modela interface-a za potrebe različitih korisnika. Pri tome korišćene su različite metode i tehnike za različite faze razvoja menadžment informacionog sistema, upravljanje poslovnim procesima, upravljanje performansama poslovnih procesa i analitički hijerarhijski proces kao metod višekriterijumskog odlučivanja. U radu su analizirani poslovni procesi i različiti tipovi lanaca snabdevanja u automobilskoj industriji kao predstavniku složenih sistema. Izabrani su ključni poslovni procesi i ključni indikatori performansi poslovnih procesa na bazi kojih je razvijen model analitičkog hijerarhijskog procesa i vršena njihova optimizacija. Rezultat rada je model menadžment informacionog sistema za unapređenje klјučnih poslovnih procesa u e-lancima snabdevanja. Rezultati istraživanja pokazuju da se kroz unapređenje performansi poslovnih procesa u e-lancima snabdevanja, primenu razvijenog modela za unapređenje ključnih poslovnih procesa, kao i primenu Web baziranih informaciono-komunikacionih rešenja utiče na efikasnost i kvalitet e-lanaca snabdevanja.