engleski

Assessing business culture in Croatia

This paper investigates various aspects of business culture in Croatia. The existing literature is mainly focused on the significance of cross-country cultural differences in doing business, and this research explores the specifics of national business culture from a different angle. Using the original survey data collected in February 2012, it provides comparative insights how Croatian citizens and companies assess business culture. The research is based on the survey conducted on the nationally representative sample of 636 Croatian citizens and 401 companies. The design of the two compatible questionnaires enabled us to examine perceptions and attitudes towards business culture from the point of view of Croatian public, and from the point of view of companies. The main research question was if there is a common understanding of business culture and if there are differences in assigning importance to 16 dimensions of business culture between citizens and business sector. We have further analyzed how respondent companies evaluate their business culture performance compared to the rest of the business community. The results indicate disparities between the business culture dimensions that are valued the most by citizens compared to those important to companies. The business entities see maintaining the deadlines and contract provisions including the terms of payment as the most important dimensions of business culture. For citizens, the main aspects of business culture are the company general culture, nice manners and ethical behaviour. The derived definitions of business culture therefore differ from the point of view of citizens and from the point of view of companies. The activities that a company with a developed business culture should implement mainly refer to the timely payments, as seen both by citizens and business themselves. The main differences between two groups of respondents are evidenced in surveyed perceptions about the companies’ relations to their employees. Interesting results refer to self-assessment of the level of business culture maintained in their own company in relation to the rest of the business sector. The majority of the companies in Croatia are considering they are performing better when compared to the (poor) business culture of others. The survey assessed as well the business culture awareness of both public and business group of respondents and indicated which advanced business culture practices should be implemented. This provides useful directions to the Croatian business sector to create more effective client-oriented strategies. The results of the survey enable us to derive policy recommendations for business sector as well as for policy-makers in improving the business culture in Croatia.

business culture; public perceptions; business opinion survey; Croatia

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