Volumen 63 (2017): Heft 1 (March 2017)

The terms-of-trade shocks are not main source of business cycles in three post-communist countries (i.e., Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Croatia). The zero or negative reactions of the trade balance in terms-of-trade positive shocks in the countries exhibit the Obstfeld-Svensson-Razin effect, according to which the Harberger-Laursen-Metzler positive effect on terms-of-trade indicates that the smaller the trade balance, the more persistent the terms-of-trade shock is. The conclusions come from the structural vector autoregressive analysis of the cyclical components of terms-of-trade, trade balance, output, consumption, and investment in three post-communist countries.

In Slovenia, many companies try to avoid bankruptcy with the introduction of a compulsory settlement procedure, but only a handful of companies successfully complete the compulsory settlement in the sense of a final repayment of creditors in accordance with the adopted financial restructuring plan. The article identified the factors affecting the confirmation of a compulsory settlement as well as the factors affecting the final repayment of creditors and, thus, permanently eliminated the causes of insolvency. The factors were divided into internal and external, whereby the impact of factors on a successfully completed compulsory settlement was verified using quantitative and qualitative research methods.

Job insecurity is a serious stressor in the work environment, with negative work-related outcomes. The effects of job insecurity strongly depend on the country’s economic condition. The present study investigated the relationship among job insecurity, job satisfaction, and the intention to quit as well as possible mediating variables (resources/recovery and stress). The samples of 251 Slovene and 219 Austrian workers were analyzed. The data indicated that job insecurity is related to higher stress and intention to quit as well as to lower resources/recovery at the workplace. Stress is an important mediator in the relationship between resources/recovery and job satisfaction as well as intention to quit. These relationships were found in both samples.

This paper presents the results of a study conducted to examine the dependence of customer loyalty on corporate social responsibility (CSR). CSR is a good opportunity for a company’s differentiation, but only if customers value the company’s efforts in this field. Loyalty is a primary goal of each company, but it is influenced by numerous factors. The goal of this paper was to examine if CSR influences customer loyalty as one possible factor. Based on the presented results, management recommendations are provided concerning business strategy, mission, and vision formulation, so companies can fulfill customers’ interests and gain their loyalty.

This paper aimed to identify success factors of export performance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Drawing on the resource-based view, the dynamic capability view, and international entrepreneurship theory, we extracted relevant assets, capabilities, and postures at the firm level. An extended benchmarking method was applied to empirically test the proposed success factors with a cross-sectional sample of 99 Slovenian SMEs. The results highlight the crucial role of management competence, financial and human resources, market orientation, negotiation flexibility, and a proactive and risk-taking posture to achieve superior export performance.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the current status of mobile device usage and mobile learning adoption in vocational education and training (VET) secondary schools in three European Union countries (Austria, the Czech Republic, and Germany). The research focused on exploring students’ mobile device usage habits, their attitudes toward education in the context of mobile application support, and preferences regarding mobile learning features. The research confirmed a high level of mobile device usage among secondary school students on a daily basis; smartphones and laptops were the most commonly used devices. The vast majority of participants perceived themselves to be advanced mobile device users, but reported a deficit of ICT-assisted mobile learning experience. However, the majority of respondents with prior ICT-assisted education experience described it as a positive or very positive experience. In addition, study participants tended to agree that mobile learning will play a significant role in education in the future. The paper also explored the reported differences among the students in the three countries and suggested several implications for understanding students’ views of mobile learning. The findings provide insights into possibilities of m-learning implementation while creating a framework for m-learning application development in the VET secondary school environment.