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The significance of non-monetary incentives and its relationship with employee motivation: A case of civil service employees in Bosnia and Herzegovina (doi: 10.14706/icesos179)
Get PDFAbstract: The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceived importance of non-monetary
incentives as well as the degree of their current utilization within the civil service sector in
Bosnia and Herzegovina. One of the aims of the study is to explore if non-monetary incentives
have prospective to increase employee’s motivation in comparison to monetary rewards. Such
finding could play a beneficial role in understanding the fact that an individual’s behaviour and
motivation can be greatly influenced by alternative and cost-friendly non-financial motivating
factors. The study is conducted on a sample of 129 civil servants of all categories at the state
level. The relationships between the variables were evaluated by descriptive statistics,
correlations and non-parametric independent samples test. The study findings demonstrate that
the non-monetary incentives are not sufficiently utilized in the civil service sector. Furthermore,
according to the findings, non-monetary incentives represent a very strong motivating factor and
could be widely and actively used in order to secure increased motivation of the civil servants in\ud
Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Keywords: Non-monetary incentives, Motivation, Civil service, monetary incentives
Measuring Financial Inclusion in Western Balkan Countries – A Comparative Survey (doi: 10.14706/icesos1715)
Get PDFAbstract: According to the World Bank, more than one quarter of worlds’ population is without a bank
account and is excluded from financial system. Improving financial inclusion and building inclusive
financial systems is in agenda of all policy makers in both developed and developing countries aiming to
include the poorest part of the population in to the financial system. Financial inclusion is becoming
more important topic in academic world, but also among regulators and policy makers. In order to
emphasize the importance of financial inclusion, this paper investigates the extent of financial inclusion
among Western Balkan countries and in comparison to other developing regions around the world.
Using data from the World Banks’ Global Findex data base, this paper provides comparison of the level
of financial inclusion in Western Balkans counties, focusing on the importance of government role in
increasing financial inclusion. Research shows similar level of financial inclusion within Western Balkan
countries measured by the following indicators of financial inclusion: percentage of population having
formal account at a financial institution, percentage of population saving at financial institution and
percentage of population borrowing at financial institution. Furthermore, the research shows that the
level of financial inclusion in Western Balkan countries is slightly above the levels in other developing
regions around the world, but still Western Balkan countries lack national financial inclusion strategies
which will help increase their levels of financial inclusion to the level of more developed countries.
Keywords: financial inclusion, Western Balkan countries, developing regions, national financial
inclusion strategies, policy maker
Contemporary Forms of Supporting Entrepreneurship and Investments on SMEs: The case of Polog Region in the Republic of Macedonia
Get PDFThe world economy is facing a variety of financial and economic challenges caused by different economic and political crises. Furthermore, the crises have had a negative impact that has been reflected on the macroeconomic indicators of each national economy. In these circumstances the transition economies, especially the Western Balkan countries needed to cope with the ever growing international competition, increasing unemployment, lack of private initiatives and investments, low level of economic growth and development. As a result, the attention is oriented towards SMEs, the importance of SMEs as a key pillar to sustainable growth and competitiveness on national and global market. The focus of this research is the importance of various contemporary forms which support entrepreneurship in order to increase investments, such as: business start-up centres, clusters, business incubators, economic zones and investment funds. The main objective of this research is to determine and measure the relationship between the SMEs from Polog region and contemporary institutions: business development centre (BDC) and technology park (TP) at SEE University, Enterprise Support Agency (ESA) as a private company and economic chamber of Macedonia which support private initiatives and increase their investments. In order to determine the relationship, a survey on SMEs in Polog region is conducted. The methodology used is cross tabulation two-way tables with measures of association based on data analysis from surveys and processed by STATA software. The main finding of this research is the positive impact of BDC, ESA and economic chamber on Polog region SMEs on the increase of their investments.
Keywords: Investments, SMEs, Entrepreneurship, BDC, Growth, Economic Developmen
Designing teaching materials – necessity or luxury?
Get PDFThis paper examines designing language teaching materials as an integral segment of language courses taught at tertiary level. Firstly, it defines teaching materials and considers them both as anything that can be used to facilitate the language learning and as authentic materials specially designed for development of specific skills. Secondly, it discusses reasons for designing materials as supplement to the materials teachers are provided with. Thirdly, the authors attempt to present the advantages of the process of producing materials. Material designing enables teachers to have a control over selection of topic, situations, functions and skills to be developed. Moreover, it takes into account particular learning environment, students’ learning needs and their learning experiences, cross-cultural issues and their influence on development of students’ communication competence.
This is followed by a comparison of experiences in material designing at two faculties, Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum Engineering, University of Zagreb, and Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad. The language teaching material development starts at both faculties with identification of the main requirements set by the departments and the detailed needs analysis of students’ needs which is the foundation of all language courses preparing students for using language in working environment. This initial stage helps teachers to select the textbooks and decide on additional material they need. Although material designing contributes greatly to the relevancy and productivity of language courses, it goes together with numerous obstacles ranging from technological to financial ones. To conclude the authors will elaborate on actual examples of materials produced for the courses they teach.
Keywords: language teaching, materials, design, textbooks, development
Netspeak: Linguistic Properties and Aspects of Online Communication in Postponed Time
Get PDFIn the context of English as a global language, and Netspeak as a new electronic medium of communication, the present paper examines the linguistic properties and distinctive features of online communication in postponed time, bearing in mind that synchronicity is one of the dimensions upon which electronic communication can be categorised. This corpus-based study, for which data were collected from several Internet sites, places particular focus on the features of English used in asynchronous settings. The analysis, based on the model proposed by David Crystal (2001), portrays a number of highly distinctive features of Netspeak, proving an immense impact of thethis type of commucniation in terms of graphology (emoticons, punctuation) and the lexicon (blending, compounding), these being areas where it is relatively easy to introduce both innovation (nonce formation and other ludic Netspeak extensions) and deviation (abbreviations, acronyms).
Keywords: Netspeak, Internet, asynchronus settings, distinctive linguistic features, synchronicit
Writing the Proper Story: The Importance of Personal Experience and Inadequacy of Fiction in Alice Munro’s Story “The Ottawa Valley”
Get PDFThe tendency among contemporary women writers to look inside themselves for material for fiction is particularly evident in the work of Alice Munro. Munro’s practice of utilizing personal experience in her stories is central to her work, and is therefore identified as an essential element of her fictional aesthetic. In “The Ottawa Valley,” the parallels between Munro’s experiences with her own terminally-ill mother and those of the narrator whose mother has Parkinson’s Disease, are immediately recognizable. Other stories also contain bits and pieces gathered from Munro’s memories; however, she is adamant that her stories should not be seen as strictly autobiographical. Her refusal to allow her work to be described as autobiographical serves as a protective shell into which the author may retreat, and as a reminder that Munro’s stories operate on many levels of reality. In the postscript added to the story, Munro, in the guise of the narrator, deals with the inadequacy of fiction. In several stories the reader is left wondering whether certain events actually occurred or if they were imagined by the teller. This ambiguity between fiction and reality is evident in stories where Munro and/or the characters seem to be second-guessing themselves. For example, the narrator in “The Ottawa Valley” wonders at the end if she has really told a “proper story.” This paper examines the importance of personal experience and inadequacy of fiction in writing by Alice Munro in general, and particularly in reference to her short story “The Ottawa Valley.” The parallels between the narrator’s experiences in “The Ottawa Valley” and Munro’s own experiences with her mother demonstrate that Munro frequently utilizes material from her own life in her stories.
Key words: Alice Munro, Postcolonial literature, personal experience, fiction, short stor
DEVELOPMENT OF A BANK SECURITY SYSTEM USING PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC CONTROLLER (PLC)
Get PDFAbstract: The aim of this project is to solve the bank security problems (robbery, illegal
weapons, and the safety of employees) caused by lack of the security in the banks.
This project is divided into two parts which are hardware and software. A kind of bank
security system by using Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) was designed, and
the automatic control of the bank security system was performed by software. The
hardware part is the model of one bank containing two front doors, one door of the
vault room, and some sensors. The limit switches, doors and sensors are connected to
Zelio PLC Schneider SR3B261BD. The PLC controls every signal which is coming from
the inputs (Limit switch) to software and display to the outputs (Doors). Using software,
Function Block Diagrams (FBD) are programmed to control the traffic light
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ADVERTISING IN SPORT VIDEO GAMES: A COMPARISON BETWEEN SVG ADVERTISING AND TELEVISED SPORTS ADVERTISING
Get PDFAbstract: In today’s competitive business, marketers are trying to find the most
effective way to promote their products and serviced, and reach a greater audience.
Since the introduction of the internet, marketing professionals have been using digital
advertisements more and more. It is easy, cheap and they can reach a huge population
which would be impossible to reach by other means. Another way to advertise
digitally is the gaming industry. This paper focuses on finding how effective this type of
advertising really is. In the first part of the paper, a brief introduction and an overview
of previous research on this topic will be presented. The following part focused on
investigating if participants who played a sports video game had a higher recall rate
and purchase intention of advertised products than participants watching a televised
football game. Evidence from the gathered data suggests that advertising via video
games is indeed more effective than televised gaming. Furthermore, different variables
like satisfaction level and gaming experience were tested in order to see if they had
an effect on increasing recall rate of gamers. Again, the evidence was sufficient to
conclude that these variables did increase the recall rate of advertisements in sports
video games. As such, this paper provides some justification to companies willing to
invest into marketing their products in video games, and are reassuring the companies
that already do
A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO INNOVATIONS IN TOURISM
Get PDFAbstract: This paper is focused on the importance and influence of the innovations
in the time of the fourth industry revolution for the creation of value added in tourism
industry. Innovative technology solutions solve problems in a tourist destination, as in
the case of the effects of climate change as well as the revival of cultural heritage.
New products that are connected with the Internet (e.g. Internet of things) and digital
solution services invites small and medium sized firms, and other relevant actors, to
apply for funding of co-operative tourism innovation projects. The proposals should
primarily focus on the development of innovative products, services and concepts to
accelerate the tourism sector. Innovative products and services form the framework of
marketing efforts to encourage consumers to decide for the purchase and thus affect
the sales success of tourist firms. Innovations that are intended to satisfy the wishes
and needs of consumers, based on existing knowledge. Usually it is a technological
innovation with features that provide additional solutions compared with the existing
ones. Firms want to attract customers who have different needs from the existing
customers. The contribution of the paper is mainly conceptual. With the development
of the digital innovations (web 2.0., web 3.0., internet, the internet of things) that is
central to the new industrial revolution, has led to “Industry 4.0” in tourism. The aim of
this paper is to provide answers to RQ1: To present the known theory and practices of
innovations in tourism; RQ2: To investigate the changes that will result from Industry 4.0
in tourism
YABANCI DİL ÖĞRENİMİNDE KULLANILAN ÖĞRENME STRATEJİLERİ VE ÖNEMİ
Get PDFÖğrenmenin gerçekleştirilmesinde yardımcı olan unsurlardan bir tanesi de doğru seçilmiş stratejidir. Her öğrenci öğrenme yetisine sahiptir, lakin öğrenme yolunu iyi seçerse öğrenme daha kolay ve daha çabuk meydana gelmektedir. Öğrenci bu süreç boyunca ister farkında olsun veya olmasın kendince kolay ve uygun bir yolu seçmektedir. Bu çalışmanın amacı O’Malley ve Chamot, Oxford, Cohen’in ortaya koydukları araştırmalar göz önünde bulundurularak öğrenme stratejilerini tespit etmektir. Öğrenme stratejileri tek tek incelendikten sonra davranış değişkliklere kattıkları önem tartışılmıştır.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Yabancı Dil Öğrenimi, Öğrenme Stratejileri
ABSTRACT
One of the important elements which help in the realization of the learning is correctly chosen strategy. Each student has the ability to learn, yet learning occurs more easily and quickly if they choose the best way to learn. Students during this process consciously or unconsciously
choose their own way to learn. This study aims to determine O'Malley and Chamot, Oxford and Cohen learning strategies using their researches. After learning strategies were examined individually, we discussed the importance of them in learning process