Analysis of Development Factors of Non-Governmental Organizations with Particular Emphasis on Public Funds and the Process of European Integration

In the last quarter of the century, there has been a steady increase in the number and scope of organizations operating under the so-called third sector. These organizations implement a wide range of activities, from social services to recreational activities, from political pressure groups to groups that promote art or history. Foundations and associations are an important arena of social, economic and political activity, alongside the state and the private sector, they feature an increasingly important role in today's world. European public funds provide a plentiful supply of financing for these activities. It has been shown that European funds change the statutory objectives of foundations and associations as public funds determine their operational priorities and directions of development. Active civil society supports the creative processes of social capital, and the most important function of NGOs is precise to strengthen social capital. Participation in NGOs is a determinant of civic maturity for citizens. On the other hand, due to the active participation of citizens in such organizations, societies have changed. This is the reason why the direction of the third sector development and the phenomena of its growth is so crucial for every European State.

Solution Selling in B2B: Perception of Solution Selling in Challenging Times of Management, Salesperson and Customers

Globalization and digitalization have yielded new challenges in the B2B sales environment. Besides positive also negative effects appeared in the last decades. Customer behaviour is becoming more complex, and the rivalry between the firms is getting more aggressive. Especially product-centred firms strive to fulfil their financial targets. The actual situation of COVID-19 amplify this situation. This new challenge entails firms and salespeople to find new resilient ways to survive and overcome crisis’s and resist the rivalry of competitors. The present article is based on the theoretical and extant literature of solution selling and customer solutions in different industries. Potential effects on solution selling will be discussed and contributed through empirical interviews with people in a leadership position in sales. This article analyses the individual perception of related stakeholders in B2B sales and will provide valuable insights on solution selling concerning their resilient attribute. This present review will contribute scholars on the existing literature and firms which are seeking for methods to distinct from competitors and to overcome crisis´s. Finally, the gaps in the scientific literature will be discussed for further research.

Household Savings in The Republic of North Macedonia - Seven Years Later

It has been scientifically proven that the process of financial market development involves strengthening of the financial system preceded by simple capital accumulation which in turn is closely related to the savings rate. The higher the level of financial development, the greater the financial intermediation and the economic growth. Financial development reduces inequality and poverty by super-proportionately accelerating the growth of emerging countries and implying a reduction of inequality in the world. This paper expands the time frame of the analysis in the research conducted in 2012 of a statistical sample of 1250 respondents. Based on new data seven years later and using the previously defined variables on the same size of the statistical sample, this study aims not only to confirm the basic thesis that in the Republic of North Macedonia savings (as the main source of financing domestic banks) are still at a low level, and that the examined variables which are directly proportional to savings generally have a downward trend but it also aims to emphasize the strong impact on (mis)trust in financial institutions, related to savings. Hence, this paper will note proposed measures to increase the level of savings.

Motivating Emloyees in Public Administration

The purpose of the publication is to present the specifics of motivating in public administration. There is no doubt that employees should be motivated regardless of the workplace. The publication presents the definition of motivation and its theory. It contains tips on what should be particularly considered in creating an incentive system in public administration. Particular attention was devoted to creating the foundations of a motivational system that has roots in motivation theories. The most common motivational theories and their importance in shaping the incentive system were presented.

Individuals’response to COVID-19 Restrictions in Europe: A Snapshot of Today and Hopes for Tomorrow

This study presents the individuals' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Considering that many institutions and working places were closed due to the pandemic, the possible impact of COVID-19 restrictions on individuals was assessed. The study examined the number and frequencies of respondents in the survey including demographic variables (gender, income), and future expectation on economic situation and psychological conditions. There were 218 individuals from 24 European countries participating in the survey. The percentage of respondents, discovering personal strength (previously unaware of) during restrictions was 40%. This is a high percentage showing that isolation may contribute to self-discovery. Despite annoying restrictions, many individuals expressed their economic optimism for the future. Also, most of the participants stated that they had not enough money during these restrictions. Also, this study shows that trust in governments, the European Union (EU) and the World Health Organization (WHO) was low during the pandemic restrictions. The results of this study might be useful and taken into account for potential future waves of this pandemic and possible new pandemics that may occur in the future.

Design and Conception of Online Exams With Standard Software in Social Science Courses

The 2020-2021 Coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact on teaching worldwide, prompting a mass conversion to online instruction. Universities have been greatly impacted by this. While the conversion of classic in-person, presence-based teaching formats, such as lectures and seminars, to online teaching went relatively smoothly, written exams still represent a particular challenge. Due to the nature of online instruction, it would be helpful to have online exams that can be taken from any location. The goal of the QLU-eQuiz-Project is to use standard software to create a testing environment in which university examinees can take online exams. This is not just a technical stopgap solution to the current, pressing problems of conducting examinations online during the pandemic; the project also aims to address future development toward hybrid forms, focusing on exams for social science courses – specifically, here, courses in Logistics and Business Administration. Furthermore, the project seeks to identify problems that can occur in the context of online exams and to discuss proposed solutions. For this, a series of mock and "real" online exams were conducted as QLU-eQuiz exams, both with smaller and larger groups. Part of the project compares grades on online exams with previous in-person exams.

Market Entries of Emnes in Developed Markets – A Case Study from Slovenia and Germany

To get an insight into internalization processes of Slovenian MNEs and particularly to their activities in Germany, we adopted a distinctively qualitative approach and conducted semi-structured interviews with key actors of five major Slovene companies we used as case studies. Our study shows that several major assumptions regarding frontier and emerging market MNE international activities do not fit to Slovene companies. They were found to act as innovation leaders with high quality products and services, as well as with competitive pricing, as long as their technological capabilities are competitive. The liability of foreignness as well as the liability of country of origin are steeply declining with increasing technological capabilities in Slovene EMNEs. They also showed high institutional familiarity and suffered little from uncertainty. Our study also shows that Slovene companies partially show competitive advantages compared to their German counterparts. Moreover, our findings confirm that economic liberalization, in this case Slovenia’s entry into the European common market, is a significant force driving company growth and internationalization. Thereby, this study presents generalizable insights into the internationalization process from Central and Eastern Europe and anywhere where large multinationals are scarce yet.

Progress Towards Industry 4.0 – a Management Tools Perspective

The main aim of this draft paper is to discuss the progress towards Industry 4.0 in organizations, through the lenses of management tools utilization. Our discussion is based on the cognitions that management tools support organizational working under Industry 4.0 circumstances. According to the management tools utilization we argue about the level of Industry 4.0 implementation in organizations. Based on the current level of management tools utilization, it is evident that in the forefront are management tools, which are not tightly associated with supporting organizational working under Industry 4.0 circumstances, like outsourcing, benchmarking, knowledge management, etc, while commonly emphasized management tools for supporting organizational working under Industry 4.0 circumstances, are not in the forefront of use, like lean production, RFID, six-sigma, etc. Results allow us to argue that organizations are at the early stages of Industry 4.0 implementation in organizations. The paper offers some possible reasons for such state. This paper should also trigger questions, how to increase the level of Industry 4.0 implementation in organizations.

Digital Transformation: Opportunities & Challenges

The globalized world predetermines the digital development path of countries. Maintaining and strengthening the competitive advantages of national economies depend to a large extent on opportunities for digitalization-based transformation. A significant number of leading world studies explain the priorities, benefits and risks of the digital evolution of countries, the peculiarities of the formation and development of digital business in various fields. It is also important to determine the success factors of digital transformation processes. Successful examples of digitalization of the world's economies are based on strengthening the institutional environment, encouraging investment in digital enterprises, funding digital research and development, training IT professionals and using digital applications to create jobs, implementing measures to eliminate gender, ethnic and geographical inequalities in access to digital tools. Leading scientists and consultants have studied that the digitalization of the economy is mainly formed through the successful experience of digital transformations of companies. It depends on the ability of organizations to overcome the challenges of adapting business models to digital realities, digital upgrading of business processes and company culture, as well as further digital development of organizations in a competitive environment.

Establishing an Annual Account for Performers of Independent Activity

The preparation of the Annual account is mandatory for all economic entities in the Republic of North Macedonia. Depending on the type of categorized economic entity, special forms are prepared prescribed by law, in order to summarize them in the Annual account. Performers of independent activity are economic entities that include an individual person – entrepreneur, sole proprietorship an individual person who is engaged in performing agricultural, craft activity, as well as a person who performs a service or free occupation. Accordingly, at the end of the year, it is necessary to prepare an Annual account which contains the Income and Expenses Balance, the Annual Tax Balance for determining the income tax from performing an independent activity and the Income Structure by activities. The main purpose of the paper is to reflect the legislation of a certain part of companies registered in accordance with the law in The Republic of North Macedonia for external reporting and tax purposes. Hence, as a conclusion, the practical preparation of the three forms, implemented in the Annual Account of a sole proprietorship can be seen.