Klemen Kavčič

This article studies the relationship between changes in the external business environment, a firm’s innovation strategies towards customers, and performance. A model of relations was developed, as well as a hypothesis: “The use of the differentiation strategy has a positive effect on firm’s performance. SMEs that use the differentiation strategy achieve better performance than those who use one of the other strategies (low-cost strategy, focus strategy, or an overtaking strategy)”. The empirical study includes a population of 3007 SMEs and a sample of 163 SMEs. The firm’s performance was measured using financial measures such as return on equity (ROE) and return on assets (ROA), operational measures such as economic value added (EVA) and comprehensive measures such as credit rating (CR). The structural equation modelling (SEM) approach was used for data analysis. Based on the results, we can confirm that changes in a firm’s external environment affect the firm’s strategy towards customers, which influences the performance of a firm. The empirical study confirmed that firms using the differentiation strategy indicate higher performances (ROA, EVA, and CR) than those using any other strategy. Results also show that high-performance SMEs incorporate customer perspectives into strategy selection. The most significant influence on the firm’s selection of the differentiation strategy was found in cases when the firm cooperates with new customers with whom it has not collaborated thus far. SMEs that use a low-cost strategy, focus strategy, or overtaking strategy are less successful than companies that use a differentiation strategy. The developed model of relations in this research has special meaning for researchers and managers in the field of strategic management, strategy selection and implementation, as well as performance of SMEs.

Unlike profit organisations, which pursue profitable goals under the influence of influential stakeholders, the interests of stakeholders in nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) are much less uniform. The paper aims to focus on the contribution and the characteristics of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Slovenia, and the conflicting interests as well as the impact of internal and external stakeholders of NGOs. The purpose of this paper is to conduct an empirical analysis of the key infl uences of internal and external stakeholders. Our intention is to determine the relations between the interests of influential stakeholders and the performance of the organisations in question, as well as to define the understanding of performance from the viewpoint of NGOs’ management. We confirmed the hypothesis proposing that the external influences of stakeholders have a greater impact on the performance than the internal infl uences. We found out that public relations, advocacy, fundraising and regularity have a statistically significant influence on the NGOs’ mission. Complexity and heterogeneity of non-governmental organisations could be counted among the most important research limitations. From the aspect of scientific contribution in the geographical area of Central Europe, i.e. a former communist state, a country in transition economy, it was thus far impossible to find contributions to empirically examine the impact of stakeholders on the development of nongovernmental organisations; therefore, the study described in the article is unique in this area.

Business process management (B.P.M.) is empirically linked to the performance of organisations. Different studies in the business process field have shown that an organisation can benefit from B.P.M. through better financial and nonfinancial performance, which can drive it to competitive advantage. B.P.M. is also a concept which leads to better organised systems and can help companies in transition economies to perform better. The purpose of this paper is to compare B.P.M. practice in Slovenia and Serbia in order to formulate recommendations for companies in transition economies. The survey was carried out in 115 representatives of Slovene companies and 91 Serbian companies in the year 2014. The conclusions and recommendation for B.P.M. implementation in transition economies were drawn upon similarities in B.P.M. practice between Serbian and Slovenian companies. In addition, the differences in B.P.M. practice were analysed in order to identify the ways one country can learn from the experience of the other. The results from Slovenia and Serbia from 2014 are interesting for both countries from the perspective of how B.P.M. practice could be further developed in Slovenia and Serbia. The findings have significant managerial implications, as they will help managers to better understand the key factors for successful B.P.M. implementation transitional countries companies.

Purpose: In the global economy, managers are constantly innovating with their use of available Lean Six Sigma (LSS) tools. Some factors, such as training and the right educational goals, have gained strong global acceptance. The purpose of this paper is to focus on contributions to organizational factors that predict organizations usage of LSS management tools to investigate expectations of project managers prior to LSS education and the extent of fulfilment of those expectations following LSS education in Slovenia, an East European country. Design/methodology/approach: This research provides an empirical analysis of LSS as a learning structure and the characteristics of LSS project managers, followed by the results of an analysis of LSS usage in manufacturing companies in Slovenia following comparative surveys carried out in 2008 and 2013. Findings: The top four essential characteristics for LSS organizations in 2013 include: being an innovative LSS project manager; being an effective communicator; having networking ability; and being a positive thinker. Results from 2008 to 2013 have shown differences in the stages of LSS implementation in Slovenia in these years. Differences were also seen in the level of participants’ LSS training in the studies performed. Originality/value: This paper presents the first ever comparison study regarding the status of LSS education in transition countries, such as in Slovenian manufacturing companies. The study shows the expectations of participants before LSS education and their fulfilment following it. The research is original in many aspects: it includes aspects of external and internal LSS training in companies, it focusses on the manufacturing companies in the transition country of Slovenia and it provides a comparison of results in 2008 and in 2013 and an overview of the progress of LSS education. The paper will be of great value to academics, consultants, researchers, practitioners of LSS, current and future management and owners of companies in Slovenia and other similar East European transition countries. The findings will be useful in business practice for understanding the influences of education and training factors on LSS management tool usage.