Ekonomski Vjesnik 

About: Ekonomski Vjesnik is an academic journal published by Faculty of Economics, University of Osijek. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Business & Tourism. It has an ISSN identifier of 0353-359X. It is also open access. Over the lifetime, 229 publications have been published receiving 775 citations. The journal is also known as: Econviews.

Students’ experiences of university social responsibility and perceptions of satisfaction and quality of service

Abstract: The principal aim of this paper is to identify the factors that define students’ perceptions of university social responsibility (USR) in a Spanish university, and analyse the impact of that view on their perceptions of satisfaction and quality of service. Particularly, it is hypothesized that the overall perception of university social responsibility has a positive effect on students’ experiences of satisfaction, partially mediated by the assessment regarding the quality of university services. In doing that, a self-report study was conducted with a total sample of 400 undergraduate students of the University of Leon, in Spain. Structural equation modeling with PLS was used to test the students’ overall perception of USR in order to achieve higher standards of quality of service and satisfaction. Results supported a structure of six factors explaining students’ views regarding university social responsibility, of which only internal management affects the overall perception. Likewise, quality of service and satisfaction are strongly correlated among them. Implications of these findings for marketing in university settings are discussed. Keywords: University social responsibility, public marketing, higher education, satisfaction, quality of service, Spain

Consumers’ purchase intentions towards natural cosmetics

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to determine which variables influence consumers’ intentions towards purchasing natural cosmetics. Several variables are included in the regression analysis such as age, gender, consumers’ purchase tendency towards organic food, consumers’ new natural cosmetics brands and consumers’ tendency towards health consciousness. The data was collected through an online survey questionnaire using the purposive sample of 204 consumers from the Dubrovnik-Neretva County in March and April of 2015. Various statistical analyses were used such as binary logistic regression and correlation analysis. Binary logistic regression results show that gender, consumers’ purchase tendency towards organic food and consumers’ purchase tendency towards new natural cosmetics brands have an influence on consumer purchase intentions. However, consumers’ tendency towards health consciousness has no influence on consumers’ intentions towards purchasing natural cosmetics. Results of the correlation analysis indicate that there is a strong positive correlation between purchase intentions towards natural cosmetics and consumer references of natural cosmetics. The findings may be useful to online retailers, as well as marketers and practitioners to recognize and better understand the new trends that occur in the industry of natural cosmetics. Keywords : Consumer purchase intentions, consumer tendencies, natural cosmetics

The relationship between tangible assets and capital structure of small and medium-sized companies in croatia

Abstract: The asset structure of companies should matter for financing decisions. Small and medium-sized companies in Croatia may use tangible assets as collateral, either providing more access to creditors or as a guarantee in case of bankruptcy. The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between tangible assets and the capital structure of Croatian small and medium-sized enterprises. Most previous studies have shown various relationships between tangible assets and leverage. This study has been conducted on a sample of 500 Croatian SMEs for the period between 2005 and 2010. The data used for the empirical analysis were taken from companies’ annual reports. The Pearson Correlation Coefficient is applied in order to examine the relationship between tangible assets and leverage measures. The results of this research indicate that tangible assets are differently correlated with short-term and long-term leverage. The relationship between tangible assets and short-term leverage is negative and statistically significant in all observed years. The relationship between tangible assets and long-term leverage is positive in all observed years and statistically significant. The results show that small and medium-sized companies use their collateral to attract long-term debt, which means that small and medium-sized companies use lower costs and the interest rate of long-term debt in relation to short-term debt. These findings correspond with the maturity matching principle, according to which long-term assets are financed with long-term financing and short-term assets are financed with short-term funds. These results suggest that tangible assets have a positive impact on the long-term debt of Croatian SMEs because tangible assets constitute a positive signal to the financial institutions, which can request the selling of these assets in case of bankruptcy. These findings are consistent with the trade-off theory which predicts a positive relation between leverage and tangibility, but also with the pecking order theory, which is generally interpreted as predicting a negative relation between leverage and tangibility. Keywords: tangible assets, capital structure, leverage, small and medium-sized enterprises

Transformational leadership and employee satisfaction

Abstract: The main purpose of this paper was to carry out an empirical research on whether transformational leadership, in comparison to other contemporary leadership styles, contributes to higher employee satisfaction levels. In total, 399 respondents took part in this research, which was conducted in companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Germany. This was the starting point to identify the dominant leadership style in each of the two countries. Using a nonparametric Mann-Whitney test, it was proved that there is a statistically significant difference in employee satisfaction under transformational leadership as opposed to the transactional and charismatic styles. After a detailed research of the literature, it became apparent that research on this subject is scarce. Accordingly, presenting transformational leadership and its influence on employee satisfaction was a particular challenge.

Limitations of the gdp as a measure of progress and well-being

Abstract: The subject of this paper is the gross domestic product that has become a universal measure of progress and well-being. However, its usage for this purpose is inadequate, inappropriate and wrong since this economic measure does not reflect anything more than productivity. Moreover, it was never designed to be more than just a monetary measure and, besides that, it has a lot of limitations and weaknesses that are not sufficiently presented to the general public or in academic papers. In this paper the limitations of the GDP are shown by defining and describing its historical aspects Moreover, the SWOT analysis is used to emphasize the weaknesses and restrictions of this monetary measure. Structured critiques of the gross domestic product make way for other measures of progress and well-being to be recognized and used in a more comprehensive way. Keywords: GDP, GDP limitations, progress, well-being, alternative measures