july

Project Management, a compulsory course in the fifth year of the
Management course, is recognized by the International Project Management
Association (IPMA), a non-profit consortium of 72 associations
operating worldwide in collaboration with experts, organizations,
government agencies, and universities to develop the necessary
project management competencies, and the profession as a
whole. As of this year, the course is included in the IPMA Education
& Training Registration System (IPMA REG system), a global network
of quality courses/programs in the field of project management,
and the IPMA scheme of continuous professional development
to be competitive in the labor market, as well as the CPD hours
required for the certification process according to the IPMA 4-LC
and Agile system.
How important the area is today was pointed out by Prof. Mislav
Ante Omazić, Ph.D., co-holder of the course Project Management:
“Projects are very likely an organizational form that students will encounter
at the beginning of their professional work, however and wherever
their career develops in the future. Namely, we live in a world of
increasingly complex business problems, the solution of which requires
various specific competencies that can only give sustainable results
through synergy."
On July 9, 2020, the IPMA REG Vice President for Professional Development
Prof. Mladen Vukomanović, Ph.D., Vice Dean for Strategic
Partnerships and Projects Assoc. Prof. Sanja Sever Mališ, Ph.D.,
and co-lecturer in the course Project Management Assist. Prof. Rebeka
D. Vlahov Golomejić, Ph.D., presented the IPMA REG certificates
to the first generation of students who participated in the registered
Project Management course and managed a portfolio of projects
intended to create business opportunities for the residents of
the Republic of Croatia in order that they don't need to look for the
future abroad.
According to Professor Vukomanović, the students of the Faculty of
Economics & Business have thus taken the first step towards professional
development in the field of project management and become
part of the international IPMA family.
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Our students' experience:
“Project management is an essential part of every part of our lives. It was an amazing opportunity to be a part of this course and
learn as much as we could through real-life practice.” (Martina Radanović, portfolio manager)
“I am extremely grateful to have been a part of this course that gave me insight into working with interesting new people and taught
me how to deal with short project deadlines. We overcame all disagreements during teamwork and, guided by a common goal, we
managed to turn our ideas into a successful portfolio, which resulted in new, wonderful friendships.” (Gabriela Gaiser, Program
Manager)
“Project management was an excellent course. The combination of the theoretical and practical part was perfect. Thanks to our excellent
professor and her encouragement to contribute to a particular project, I have noticed great improvements in terms of critical
thinking, teamwork, and time management.” (Mirela Hećimović, Program Manager)
“The whole course is very exciting because you never know what to expect while the project is going on. It makes a significant contribution
to the project management process and I recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the topic.” (Matija Jurčić, project
team leader and member)
“Skipping steps is a common practice when someone organizes projects within a student association. The Project Management course
showed me how to set up a project properly and make it easier to monitor its success. I believe that the organization of teaching
through practice should be applied more often in other courses, and the course Project Management would certainly be useful to attend
in the earlier years of study." (Dario Varošanec, leader and member of the project team)
"Working on this project has given us a different, more dynamic approach to mastering the curriculum. This type of project has replaced
outdated book teaching with work on interesting tasks and responsibilities that we could only solve with good teamwork. With
this project, we gained new friendships, but also a sense of the business world that awaits us after we replace the university chairs
with office ones.” (Krešimir Štruk, project manager and member)
"Teamwork is a dream job. That’s exactly how I felt during class. I really liked how we all worked together toward the same goal. The
project has shown us that nothing ever goes smoothly and that we need to learn to work on overcoming obstacles and come up with
new ways to make it happen. We have gained great skills, knowledge, and experience for the real world. I am glad to have been a part
of it.” (Klara Dragišić, project team leader and member)
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The announcement of the winners and the awarding of prizes as
part of the competition in presenting in foreign languages for firstyear
students of the Faculty of Economics Organize Your Talk 2020
was held online this year (July 3), just like the competition itself.
The ceremonial proclamation and award ceremony were conducted
by Ms. Višnja Kabalin Borenić, Ph.D., one of the organizers of the
competition, and Ms. Drijenka Pandžić Kuliš, Head of the Department
of Business Foreign Languages. All present were greeted by
the Vice Dean, Assoc. Prof. Sanja Sever Mališ, Ph.D., who on that
occasion delivers congratulations to the winners and organizers. On
behalf of the partners, Ms. Judita Cuculić-Župa, Senior Economic
Advisor of the Representation of the European Commission in the
Republic of Croatia, addressed the words of praise for the entire
project, and especially for the presentations that won favor both the
jury and the audience. Ms. Brankica Bošnjak Terzić, Ph.D., President
of the Association of Language Teachers at Higher Education
Institutions and the member of the jury, presented an expert review
of student presentations and stressed the importance of educational
content that contributes to the development of so-called soft skills.
Prof. Dubravka Sinčić Čorić, Ph.D., a longtime member of the expert
jury also expressed her enthusiasm for what she saw and especially
emphasized that in these difficult times, student presentations,
resulting from the regular teaching process at distance, are a real
refreshment and optimism. She praised all members of the Department
of Business Foreign Languages for their tireless enthusiasm
and innovation.
In the end, the students who won this year's competition - Nika
Matičić and Marko Biljaka - also addressed the audience. In addition
to thanking the jury members, all competitors, their teachers, and
organizers on behalf of their colleagues, they both strongly emphasized
the importance of optimism, motivation, and creativity in
challenging and unusual conditions. They called on all their colleagues
to take a responsible and proactive approach to their own
education and environment, as well as to a commitment to quality
and the highest values as the only guarantee of success and a better
future.
A complete recording of the 30-minute proclamation ceremony is
also available on the OYT 2020 website - online edition.
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On July 1, 2020, at the Faculty of Economics & Business - Zagreb,
the Institute of Public Finance presented the results of the sixth
cycle of research on budget transparency of Croatian counties, cities
and municipalities. The audience were greeted by Prof. Jurica
Pavičić, Ph.D., Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Mr. Vjekoslav
Bratić, Ph.D., Director of the Institute of Public Finance. The results
of the research were presented by research leaders Ms. Katarina Ott
and Ms. Mihaela Bronić, and Mr. Stipe Župan, State Secretary of the
Ministry of Finance, Darko Nekić, State Secretary of the Ministry of
Administration, Ms. Martina Furdek Hajdin, Deputy Prefect of Karlovac
County, Mr. Renato Krulčić, Mayor of Pazin and Ms. Anđela
Cirkveni, Mayor of Pušća participated in the presentation.
Budget transparency implies insight into complete, accurate, timely
and understandable budget information. Based on them, citizens
can engage and influence the efficiency of collecting and spending
budget funds, the responsibility of the Government and the authorities
of local units, as well as on the reduction of possible corrupt
practices.
The average budget transparency of all 576 local units - expressed in
the number of key local budget documents published on their website
- is 4.1 out of a possible 5. Every year more budget documents
are published, so this year's county average is 4.9, cities 4.5, and
municipality 4. However, despite very good averages and encouraging
trends, about 20% of local units still do not adhere even to the
statutory publication of all three documents, and 41% do not follow
the recommendation of the Ministry of Finance and do not publish
two additional documents.
The recognition of the Institute for the published five budget documents
this year goes to 18 counties, 87 cities and 201 municipalities.
An interactive map with data on all counties, cities and municipalities
has been published on the website of the Institute of Public
Finance. The research was conducted as part of the project Is Transparency
Worth It? Political and socio-economic effects of the transparency
of the budget of local units in Croatia funded by the Croatian
Science Foundation.
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The COVID-19 pandemic disease, on the one hand, disrupted many
of our plans, but on the other hand, we were able to reassure ourselves
once again of all our strength, ability, and togetherness when
it was most needed. On July 10, 2020, a thermal imaging camera of
the world's most famous manufacturer Hikvision was installed at the
main entrance of the Faculty, which will help prevent possible negative
effects of the spread of the disease, by measuring the temperature
of all those entering the building. We are grateful to Prof. Darko
Tipurić, Ph.D. for cooperation and assistance in purchasing equipment.
With this, the Faculty of Economics & Business took another step to
a further level of the improvement of the health safety of all visitors,
students, and staff.
As part of the standard preparation for crisis situations, on July
13, 2020, at the Faculty of Economics & Business, under the
command of Prof. Marko Kolaković, Ph.D., and his deputy Mate
Madžar have been successfully conducted a fire drill during
which fire sensors and fire alarm systems were tested. On that
occasion, a demonstration exercise of evacuation and work with
a fire extinguisher was held in the economic yard of the Faculty.
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Free education for final year students of economics, but also other
faculties with tax preferences, known as the Summer Tax Academy
2020, was held online for the first time this year due to the COVID-
19 pandemic.
The training took place from July 6 to 10, 2020, and was opened by
the Vice-Dean, Assoc. Prof. Božidar Jaković, Ph.D., Prof. Hrvoje
Šimović, Ph.D., Assist. Prof. Marko Primorac, Ph.D., and Mr. Vasil
Milev from EY Croatia.
The training aimed to further education of students in the field of
taxation, and special emphasis was placed on practical knowledge
with a focus on the EU and domestic tax issues. In addition to gaining
additional knowledge and achieving a higher level of employability,
program participants had the opportunity to get in direct
contact with leading domestic and international experts in tax consulting
with whom they discussed various opportunities for future
cooperation (work, practice, recommendations, etc.).
The professional program of the Summer Tax Academy at the FEB
has been organized by Prof. Hrvoje Šimović, Ph.D., and Assist. Prof.
Marko Primorac, Ph.D., from FEB and Ms. Maša Šarić from EY Croatia.
Lectures and workshops at this year's Academy were held by Ms.
Antonija Buljan, Ph.D., (FEB ZG), Mr. Hrvoje Škrtić from the Tax
Administration and Mr. Robert Heinczinger, Prof. Klaus von Brocke,
Ph.D., Mr. Milen Raikov, Ms. Merima Džaferović and Mr. Vasil Milev,
domestic and foreign EY experts with many years of experience in
the field of taxation.
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In strict compliance with all measures of social distancing, the Faculty
of Economics & Business in cooperation with the Croatian
Chamber of Commerce within the Plitvice Holiday Resort in
Grabovac from July 6 to 8 2020, organized the first in a series of
workshops from the CEE WORKSHOP series entitled On Research
Excellence in OM/SCM.
The CEE workshop series is a series of scientific research workshops
aimed at interconnecting, empowering researchers in Central and
Eastern European countries related to the use of the latest scientific
research methodologies, publication of papers, career development
of researchers, and application to European Commission projects.
The workshop is conceived as an informative-educational event in
which researchers will hone some new skills and at the same time
connect with colleagues in the region through socializing and sharing
knowledge.
As part of the workshop, lectures were given by eminent professors:
Prof. Gerald Reiner, Ph.D., from the Department of Information
Systems and Operations at the Faculty of Economics in Vienna; Prof.
Stefan Seuring, Ph.D., from the Faculty of Economics and Business,
University of Kassel; Assist. Prof. Željka Mesić, Ph.D., from the Faculty
of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, and was supported by Clarivate
Analytics (Web of Science) and ProQuest, whose representatives
actively participated in the workshop and presented the latest
achievements and opportunities of the platform.
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A new presentation as part of the Brown Bag Seminar via the Google
Meet application was held on July 2, 2020, by Ms. Ria Ivandić, a
postdoctoral researcher employed at the Center for Economic Performance
(London School of Economics). She presented a paper
entitled From Taxes to Polling Booths: The Effect of Economic Policy on
Turnout.
Political experts believe that economic issues are the primary motivating
factor that encourages Americans to vote. Nevertheless, causally
determining the effect of economic policy on voter turnout at
the individual level poses a significant challenge in studying voter
behavior that has not been addressed in the previous literature. This
paper uses an empirical strategy, which allows us to causally determine
the effect of tax policy divergence among candidates on individual
turnout and to clarify how this effect varies among high- and
low-income voters. Using the 2012 U.S. presidential election, empirical
evidence is found that divergence in economic policy among
candidates increases turnout at the individual level. The difference
in the average tax rate of one percentage point in the proposed tax
policies between Obama and Romney increases the likelihood of a
response by two percentage points. Moreover, high-income voters
are 30 percent more likely to turn out than those with low incomes
when faced with differences in proposed tax policies. This effect is
primarily encouraging among Republican voters and voters who
follow news and political scandals.
Ms. Petra Laura Orešković, a doctoral student at the University of
Berkeley, also gave an online presentation on July 16, 2020, as part
of the BBS, presenting the work Media Bias on Television and Its Determinants.
The effects of media bias have been demonstrated to be able to
swing elections in favor of a particular party. This paper investigates
what factors determine the supply of news stories on the three major
U.S. cable news channels — CNN, FOX News, and MSNBC. Using
a novel dataset of chyrons, the text at the bottom of the screen, it
examines what factors contribute to a story from Reuters, a newswire,
being relayed on each of the networks. It introduces a new
framework to investigate media slant, which is conceptualized as the
omission of important information or stories clashing with the political
views of the audience (or the channel). It finds that media bias
indeed manifests itself through the omission of stories that have
political significance and partisan value. The paper also investigates
whether the identified media bias is demand-driven. Using an instrument
for a decline in Fox News viewership on a given day — the
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existence of a NASCAR race, as the sport primarily attracts Republican
viewers — it estimates whether a decrease in Fox News’ daily
viewership prompts the network to omit stories harmful for the
Republican party to a lesser extent. It finds that NASCAR races significantly
reduce Fox News’ viewership, but they do not lead to a
change in the network’s omissive behavior.
One of the worst things that can happen to an organization or
institution is the immediate loss of leadership. This rule applies to
everyone, including educational institutions, and when this happens,
the institution/organization often disintegrates and shuts
down. The (Croatian) Economic and Commercial Higher School in
Zagreb found itself in such a situation in the late spring of 1945.
Namely, the collapse of the Independent State of Croatia in the first
days of May 1945 led to a general disintegration that affected the
(C) ECHS. The Rector, Milan Ivšić, Ph.D., and a good part of the
teachers, fearing (correctly or not-correctly) for their own lives,
left Croatia, moving to the West, while part (as the Vice-Rector
Eugen Sladović, Ph.D., Dean Franjo Krajčević, Ph.D., Vice Dean
Ivan Reitter and several other teachers) remained in Zagreb, but
was relieved of all duties by a decision of the new authorities…
because they were appointed during the occupation… and faced the
University Court of Honor. The only official who remained on his
"post" at that time was the secretary of the (C) ECHS, Franjo
Budrović (appointed secretary on 3 April 1945), whose function
was not elective, so he was not subject to the said decision. As the
Faculty had ceased to operate, only Budrović, with a few support
staff, was able to guard the building and inventory (which remained
undamaged after the Wehrmacht left one wing of the
premises) from "unwanted guests". Fortunately, in July 1945, the
Minister of Trade of Democratic Federal Yugoslavia in Belgrade
(under whose legal authorities passed the ECHS, according to the
inherited pre-war administrative system) appointed Prof. Mijo
Mirković, Ph.D., Rector of the ECHS in Zagreb with the authority
to establish the ECHS Reconstruction Commission and appoint a
Dean. Thus, as early as the beginning of August, the Commission
for the Reconstruction of the ECHS was formed, which, along with
Rector Mirković, Ph.D., appointed Dean Šimun Babić, Ph.D., two
full professors, and two assistant professors, also included Secretary
Franjo Budrović. In the same autumn, the renewed Economic
and Commercial Higher School began its work, and a year and a half
later, on March 1, 1947, at XXXIIIrd session of the Council of Professors
of the Economic and Commercial Higher School in Zagreb,
Rector Mijo Mirković, Ph.D., dissolved the Commission for the
Reconstruction of the ECHS, as… it has fully completed its reconstruction
task, and… the Council of Professors now becomes the only
supreme body of the ECHS, elects the rector and the dean (instead
of the octroyed previous ones). Not even a month later, on April 4,
1947, the Government of the People's Republic of Croatia passed
the Decree on the Faculty of Economics of the University of Zagreb,
which transformed the ECHS and it became part of the University
under a new name. It is interesting to mention that with the
"shutdown" of ECHS, the service of secretary Franjo Budrović
ends, and in his place comes, after the abolition of the course
"Diplomatic History", a former assistant and lecturer in that subject,
Eugen Valdec, Ph.D.
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