Search results

1 – 10 of over 1000
Book part
Publication date: 25 October 2023

Tinde Kovacs Cerovic, Jadranka Ivkovic, Mónika Kapás and Evgeny Ivanov

Key international and intergovernmental organizations assess the size of the Roma population in Serbia to be around 4–600.000, rendering Serbia among the five countries in Europe…

Abstract

Key international and intergovernmental organizations assess the size of the Roma population in Serbia to be around 4–600.000, rendering Serbia among the five countries in Europe with the highest percentage of Roma population. Although Roma in Serbia have a long history of self-organization, cultural and media organizations, and are formally recognized as national minorities with a National Council of the Roma National Minority as a body with political decision-making influence, the Roma community in Serbia, as in most other European countries, is the most disadvantaged and underprivileged group in the country, often living in underdeveloped neighbourhoods with limited access to social services, especially education and health.

The educational attainment of the Roma population in Serbia, as in other countries in Europe, is far below the attainment of the general population. The education indicators are showing a developing trend, albeit slow. Roma integration policies evolved in Serbia from the early 2000s in the general policy framework of Equity of Education and Inclusive Education and a comprehensive education reform agenda, promoted and legally endorsed by the 2009 Law on the Foundations of the Education System. As the consequence of such an approach, the Roma integration policies intertwined and mutually reinforced with other reform policy areas. The most important post-2000 policies supporting the integration of Roma students into education are the introduction of pedagogical assistants in elementary schools and preschool institutions as a profession, paid from the budget, abolishing the system of school readiness assessment, introducing individual education plans and intensifying affirmative action and scholarships for enrolment in secondary and tertiary education.

Details

Lifelong Learning and the Roma Minority in the Western Balkans
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80382-522-9

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 30 September 2019

Slavko Alčaković

Serbian Generation Z originates from South-east Europe. They are a part of a nation that has always been divided between the East and the West and has experienced a constant…

Abstract

Serbian Generation Z originates from South-east Europe. They are a part of a nation that has always been divided between the East and the West and has experienced a constant transition (economic, cultural and political) for the last couple of decades. In Serbia, Generation Z has been under the same influences as elsewhere in the world – globalisation, technology and rapid development of the Internet have greatly influenced it and it could be said that the influence has not ceased to exist. Nevertheless, apart from the aforementioned, the representatives of the Generation Z in Serbia have faced some additional challenges during their childhood, and this distinguishes them from all the other European representatives of this generation: family (still being the backbone of Serbian society), religion, wars and their collective memory of it, as well as economy-related turbulences. The research presented in this chapter was carried out with a goal to show the attitudes, opinions and characteristics of this generation. The chapter provides not only an insight into the mentioned phenomena but also some recommendations for parents, teachers, companies and politicians, as well as suggestions for future research.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 25 September 2017

Tijana Crnčević and Violeta Orlović Lovren

The purpose of this paper is to present the major gaps in the field of planning policy and its implementation regarding climate change and disaster risk reduction (DRR), with…

4509

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present the major gaps in the field of planning policy and its implementation regarding climate change and disaster risk reduction (DRR), with special reference to the displacement of people, together with the knowledge needed to increase community resilience. The researched relations are illustrated by the example of Serbia. The Republic of Serbia has been faced with increasingly visible impacts of climate change in recent years – floods, heat waves, droughts and others. During the floods that hit Serbia in 2014, over 30,000 people experienced displacement. These events have triggered numerous efforts, both to repair the incurred damage and to analyze opportunities for prevention.

Design/methodology/approach

This research has used document analysis to investigate contemporary approaches defined by policies, programs and research reports regarding climate change and DRR, with special reference to the displacement of people. An analytical framework has been used to evaluate to what extent the planning policy framework in Serbia addresses these issues in the context of achieving resilient development. Secondary analysis of research data has been used to recognize the gaps and identify needs for increasing community resilience.

Findings

Based on the growing trends in projections of climate change as a result of induced natural disasters for the region in the future and international trends in coping with these issues, this paper argues that it is necessary to improve the implementation of the planning policy framework and the capacities of professionals and citizens, to reduce future displacement and increase community resilience to climate change. The key weaknesses found within DRR and the emergency management system in Serbia were the lack of an appropriate information base of the cadastre of risk zones and the lack of information and coordination of actors on the local to the national level. During the “pre-disaster” period, findings stress a weak partnership and capacity development practice at the local level, as well as between local responsible bodies and regional/national entities in charge of emergency management and DRR. The paper singles out the main preconditions for achieving effective resilient planning, so that such a plan can move “people away from marginal areas” and provide living conditions that are resilient.

Originality/value

This paper provides a comprehensive insight analysis of the relations between climate change and DRR, with special reference to the planning policy. Using the lessons learned from the recent climate-induced disaster with its implications on displacement, the paper identifies needs for strengthening capacities to establish more resilient communities in Serbia. The gaps and needs identified, as well as the recommendations provided, may be of value for neighboring countries as well, who face similar challenges in climate change adaptation and who need to increase disaster risk resilience.

Details

International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, vol. 10 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-8692

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 13 October 2017

Sreten Ćuzović and Svetlana Sokolov Mladenović

The aim of this chapter is to highlight the importance of sustainable development, especially its environmental component in trade and retail sector of the Republic of Serbia. Due…

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to highlight the importance of sustainable development, especially its environmental component in trade and retail sector of the Republic of Serbia. Due to a number of factors, such as increased consumer awareness on the importance of eco-products, new statutory and legal regulations, and increased competition, retail chains are increasingly oriented to the concept of sustainable development, in particular promoting its environmental component, eco-products, and eco packaging. Trade, especially retail, plays an important role in linking producers and consumers, and society as a whole. In this way, trade has a good overview of all the changes occurring in the environment, production, and consumer needs. Changes in the environment further stimulate trade to operate in accordance with the principles of sustainable development, including all its dimensions. In this regard, special attention is paid to the protection of working and living environment, as components of sustainable development. The chapter includes a review of literature in the field of sustainable development and application of this concept in the trade and retail sector. The theoretical aspect of the research focuses on conceptualization of sustainable development and its environmental component in trade and retail. With reference to theoretical research on the implementation of environmental component of sustainable development in trade, empirical research has been conducted from two aspects. First, analysis focuses on the performance and socio-economic importance of trade sector of the Republic of Serbia, as well as the number of ISO 14001 certificates in trading companies. Second, analysis shifts to the largest trading companies in the Republic of Serbia, based on available secondary data on the implementation of the concept of sustainable development and its environmental component.

Details

Green Economy in the Western Balkans
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-499-6

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 March 2020

Dragomir Dimitrijevic, Biljana Jovkovic and Suncica Milutinovic

This study aims to investigate what are the capabilities and limits of external audit in detecting frauds in companies operating in the territory of the Republics: Serbia

17237

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate what are the capabilities and limits of external audit in detecting frauds in companies operating in the territory of the Republics: Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 51 certified auditors from Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina were surveyed to analyze what are the most frequent warning signals of the existence of the frauds auditors encounter during the verification of company’s financial statements.

Findings

The study indicated that the auditors of the Republic of Serbia more often encountered groundless overstatement of revenues compared with other countries, while regarding manipulative representation of inventories, the largest mean value and median are still among the auditors of the Republic of Serbia.

Practical implications

Based on the research results, it can be concluded that it is necessary to expand the legal obligation and power of external auditors when, in financial statement auditing, they come to clear findings that indicate fraud. Expansion of external auditors’ powers would reduce their current limitations and expand the domain of action.

Originality/value

Limitations in external auditors’ work prevent the processing of frauds. However, auditors’ analysis of financial statements and pointing to potential irregularities can be a good manner for the early detection and prevention of frauds in company’s operations.

Details

Journal of Financial Crime, vol. 28 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-0790

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 26 August 2020

Mirjana Radović Marković and Renata Pindžo

Today tourism is recognised as a very complex social and economic phenomenon having a spatial, socio-cultural, economic, political, educational and environmental dimension…

Abstract

Today tourism is recognised as a very complex social and economic phenomenon having a spatial, socio-cultural, economic, political, educational and environmental dimension. Furthermore, tourismis transformingtowards an individual and his/her needs, desires and interests, with a full respect for the surroundings and environment, which are given an increasing importance. Consequently, there have been changes not only in the structure of tourist consumption and in the behaviour of tourists, but also in the concept of a tourist offer. In this sense, numerous forms of special interest tourism are increasingly being developed in response to the needs of modern tourists to experience something new, authentic and different from their everyday environment. Tourists, saturated with the global trends' consequences that dominantly foster a kind of uniformity on their trips, are increasingly looking for the uniqueness or experience that is different from their own culture. Gastronomy, as a part of the local community's cultural identity, stood out as an authentic element of the tourist destination's offer, to which tourists are increasingly paying attention, which is increasingly becoming the basic motive of travelling for modern tourists.

Taking into account the current trends of the leading global source markets of the world, as well as the growing need to create a common tourist offer of the Western Balkan economies, this concept of Mountain Breakfast applied in the Western Serbia Region could represent a good example and a platform for connecting tradition, local producers, gastronomy and tourism.

Details

Gastronomy for Tourism Development
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78973-755-4

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 25 September 2023

Ondrej Jaško, Mladen Čudanov, Jovan Krivokapić and Ivan Todorović

The main aim of this chapter is to systematize observations regarding changes in entrepreneurship in Serbia during the previous decade, having in mind some key factors such as…

Abstract

The main aim of this chapter is to systematize observations regarding changes in entrepreneurship in Serbia during the previous decade, having in mind some key factors such as high-impact low-probability (HILP) events, dynamic development in the sphere of information technologies (IT), and foreign direct investments (FDI). The choice of these factors was made in accordance with the fact that there were no significant changes in other external factors in the sphere of entrepreneurship (regulatory framework, financial conditions, and socio-political instability). This chapter discusses the assumptions that HILP events and FDI can have both positive and negative impacts on individual sectors or agglomerations of entrepreneurship, while only positive impacts are attributed to IT development. Using official databases and annual financial and business reports given by entrepreneurial agencies and micro and small enterprises we created a set of reports that indicate the strength and direction of the influence of the mentioned factors and their consequences in the sphere of entrepreneurship at the level of Serbia and selected cities, based on the fact that the entrepreneurial ecosystem in those cities faced greater than average challenges. The selected ratios indicate changes in the growth rate of the entrepreneurship sector (number of entrepreneurs and employees) as well as in the improvement of its competitiveness (productivity, assets, and profit per employee).

Details

Entrepreneurship Development in the Balkans: Perspective from Diverse Contexts
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-455-5

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 15 July 2009

Wolf-Christian Paes

The disintegration of the SFRY, which had its roots in the late 1970s and 1980s (Delevic, 1998), started with the decision of the Slovenian and Croat governments in 1990 to seek…

Abstract

The disintegration of the SFRY, which had its roots in the late 1970s and 1980s (Delevic, 1998), started with the decision of the Slovenian and Croat governments in 1990 to seek independence from Belgrade. The event triggering the outbreak of war in Slovenia was the takeover of Yugoslav custom houses by the Slovenia government, which prompted the YPA to intervene militarily, pitting a well-armed conventional army against the security forces of a nascent state, largely consisting of milita-style Territorial Defense Units (Lucic & Lynch, 1996, pp. 183–185). The EC and the United States moved quickly to impose an arms embargo against Yugoslavia following the military escalation of the crisis in June 1991. This was followed by resolution 713 of the UNSC (1991) imposing a “general and complete embargo on the delivery of weapons and military equipment to Yugoslavia” on 25 September 1991. During this early stage of the conflict, there was agreement among the key international actors (USA, Russia and the EU) that the conflict in Yugoslavia had to be contained and that the breakup of the federal republic should be avoided at all costs, not least because it would set a dangerous precedent for other parts of Eastern Europe. Some permanent members of the Security Council (such as France, Russia and the United Kingdom) sympathized with the Serbian position vis-à-vis the break-away republics and while the decision to apply the arms embargo on Yugoslavia as a whole was justified by the fact that none of the republics had been recognized as a subject of international law, policymakers must have been aware that they were putting Slovenia and Croatia at a military disadvantage through this decision (Lucic & Lynch, 1996, pp. 295–300).

Details

Putting Teeth in the Tiger: Improving the Effectiveness of Arms Embargoes
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84855-202-9

Article
Publication date: 25 March 2024

Nemanja Berber and Dimitrije Gašić

The main goal of this study is to determine the role of employee commitment in the relations between the compensation system and turnover intentions of employees in the Republic of

Abstract

Purpose

The main goal of this study is to determine the role of employee commitment in the relations between the compensation system and turnover intentions of employees in the Republic of Serbia, as well as to investigate whether there is a mediating effect of employee commitment in this relation.

Design/methodology/approach

The primary methodology implemented in the research was data gathering, obtaining theoretical research works on the proposed relations and empirical studies based on the PLS-SEM, analysed by IBM SPSS Statistics and SmartPLS data processing software. The data for the analysis was obtained from a total sample of 764 employees, collected in the Republic of Serbia via an online questionnaire.

Findings

The results indicated a positive statistically significant relationship between the formative construct (compensation system) and reflective construct (commitment), as well as a negative statistically significant relationship between the compensation system and reflective construct (turnover intentions). Employee commitment partially mediates the relationship between the compensation system and turnover intentions of employees.

Originality/value

The study was conducted in Serbia and is thus rooted in the specific national context which is characterized by high power distance and high uncertainty avoidance and more collectivistic society with feminine values more expressed. Most of the previous investigations related to the mentioned constructs were performed in companies from more developed countries, including Western Europe and the United States of America, whereas there has been no such research conducted in Serbia to date. The results portrayed a mismatch between the expected relations regarding the attitudes of employees to the rewards and the proposed national context. Modern companies in Serbia need to follow a modern reward mechanism to build stronger commitment and decrease turnover intentions. Moreover, in most earlier research works, compensation was examined in terms of satisfaction with rewards, while this study was based on questions related to perceptions of employees toward HR compensation practices (“The organization offers me”-type questions), not related to their satisfaction. Further, in the majority of previous research works, the compensation system was examined as a variable in combination with other HR processes (staffing, training and development, career development, employee relations, HR planning, communication, etc.), as a HPWP, while in this case the authors used only the practice of compensation (reward elements and employee performance evaluation) to investigate relations with commitment and turnover intentions.

Details

Employee Relations: The International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 13 October 2017

Predrag Vuković and Marija Mosurović Ružičić

In the late 1990s, the tourism in Serbia had been developing spontaneously, supported by the policy of undifferentiated marketing. That kind of approach to tourism development led…

Abstract

In the late 1990s, the tourism in Serbia had been developing spontaneously, supported by the policy of undifferentiated marketing. That kind of approach to tourism development led to unsatisfying results, which is a notion primarily based on Serbia’s obvious natural and social resources. An alternative to this approach to tourism development is the differentiated marketing strategy focusing on relevant market segments called “targets.” That way, it would be possible to commercially valorize a significant number of resources (natural and social) as well as a large number of touristic products.

Due to current trends in the international tourism market – moving away from the concept of mass tourism (holiday at the seaside and “ski resorts”), i.e., the ongoing diversification of tourism products, there is undoubtedly more potential for new tourism development trends. The increasing investment in tourism development of the Danube basin, with a larger number of potential tourist products, is expected to make it more attractive to the tourist market. This should have positive effects on the overall development of tourism in Serbia.

This chapter focuses primarily on the research of the Upper Danube region. It will show the importance of the natural and social (anthropogenic) resources suitable for the development of tourism in this area. Special attention shall be paid to the concept of sustainable tourism development, which develops tourism in accordance with the interests of all stakeholders. The positive interaction between all interest groups creates the conditions that ensure satisfaction of all stakeholders and general welfare.

Details

Green Economy in the Western Balkans
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-499-6

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 1000