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The paper analyzes the financing of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Republic of Croatia. The fundamental goal of the paper is to determine the most common forms of funding sources used by entrepreneurs classified as SMEs, as well as the advantages and disadvantages that each financing model brings. The article pays special attention to financing methods that are less known to the average Croatian entrepreneur, such as peer-to-peer lending, initial coin offering, and security token offering. Unlike the banking system, which serves as an indirect financial system, modern forms of financing allow SMEs to raise funds directly from borrowers. To obtain the most relevant information from practice, the article presents the results of conducted research on financing models for SMEs in Croatia, with a particular focus on the awareness of entrepreneurs about new and contemporary forms of financing. Research was carried out in the form of a survey questionnaire created using Google Forms. The sample for the research consisted of 145 SMEs companies, selected to represent the population from various sectors of activity according to the national categorization of activities, from which 14.48% responded to the survey questionnaire. Research showed a higher rate of awerenes and the utilization of traditional forms of financing compared to modern ones. However, it also indicates a certain readiness to embrace the latter. Although the share of modern forms of financing remains small, research revealed that they constitute an appropriate alternative to traditional banking systems, both as a relatively solid investment channel and as a way to obtain loans with convenient terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Good and effective communication is in the common interest of the interlocutor, especially in a medical setting, which creates a specific relationship of trust, and directly influences the outcomes of a medical treatment. The aim of this research is to evaluate the role of information in creating communication feedback in the clinical practice of physiotherapists. To analyse the communication feedback of physiotherapists, a survey was conducted using a questionnaire on 471 physiotherapists employed in 74 healthcare institutions in Croatia. The research hypothesis in this paper assumes that there are no differences in the assessment of communication feedback among physiotherapists with regard to age and years of experience. However, the results show that there are significant differences in the assessment of communication feedback among physiotherapists. This is an important finding, which underlines that an issue that cannot be solved by medical knowledge alone can be resolved by effective communication when combined with a certain technique and way of communicating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizations are facing a disrupted environment, which results in a need for managers who can quickly respond to volatile conditions. Such conditions lead to changes in traditional leadership and the construction of new leadership recognized by contemporary literature as digital leadership (DL). The main objective of this research paper is to examine the levels of DL and digital maturity (DM) in small and medium-sized Croatian companies in the context of digital transformation (DT). The research sample included 156 companies, and the results indicated relatively high levels of DL; indeed, nearly four companies achieved the highest level of DM. The results indicated a negative correlation between the level of DL and DM. Gender was shown to have an impact on the level of DL, while it was not indicated that gender has an impact on the level of DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper proposes an approach to development of higher education enrollment policies based on system dynamics as an appropriate mathematical modelling method for modelling nonlinearity, time delays and feedback loops. The model of teacher education students' population in Croatia is presented, to enhance forecasting, planning and support the decision-making process. Simulation is conducted for the period from 2016 to 2021 based on historical data for the period from 2010 to 2015. The results show that system dynamics modelling can support decision making regarding enrollment policies by presenting simulated data and providing recommendations to teacher education faculties and education authorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the results of the current state of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) production companies benchmarked to the Croatian production companies and to the concept of Industry 4.0, using the same methodology formerly used in Croatia related to implementation of Industry 4.0. Assessment was made on a sample of 47 manufacturing companies from different industries. Responses were collected through online questionnaires and interviews. The assessment was made using structured questionnaire with questions related to the business processes of a company from product development, production and to the quality assurance and logistics. According to the collected responses and the methodology used, the level of development of B&H production companies is 2,19, which is very close to the Croatian companies, in which the level of development was at 2.15, but in a survey conducted three years earlier. This research confirmed that the level of development of B&H manufacturing companies is actually the same as with the Croatian companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper integrates theories and findings of the role of human resources management (HRM) in the process of knowledge management (KM) in the information and communication technologies (ICT) sector in Croatia. In order to succeed, companies must prevent the loss of knowledge. Therefore, they must recognize the importance of human resources as the main factor of business. Only knowledge management enables knowledge sharing. Furthermore, applications of information technology (IT) in the field of HRM can prevent the loss of knowledge and arise the transfer of knowledge among employees. For the purpose of this paper, a survey regarding human resource and knowledge management in IT companies is conducted in order to analyze the structure of HR and the importance of knowledge sharing in an organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper employs combination of SWOT analysis and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) in strategic planning for tourism of small mid-european city Varazdin, which is located in the north west of Croatia. SWOT analysis identifies internal and external factors which are prioritized by expert in tourism domain by means of AHP. The prioritized SWOT factors are used in strategies formulation using TOWS matrix. Results indicate that proactive communication strategy and isolation strategy with effective marketing promotional strategy were the best strategies that could have been implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]