This article titled “The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Croatian economy” deals with exceedingly current events triggered by the pandemic, which have reflected on the national and global economy. Based on the currently available data and the survey of 358 respondents (from both the private entrepreneurship sector and public administration), the effect of COVID-19 on the Croatian economy is observed through declining employment, the required recovery years, and declining GDP. The differences and similarities between this and the great global economic crisis of 2008/2009 as well as the opinion of entrepreneurs on which crisis has had more significant consequences for the economy were examined. A linear regression model predicts the declining employment in the recovery years. The entrepreneurs agree that the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is far more destructive and devastating to the economy, primarily because there is no end in sight even though the vaccine has been found. The unanimous agreement of the entrepreneurs is that, without further measures aimed at preserving the economy put in place by the Government, it will not be possible to suppress a further decline in employment and GDP, which will lead to a prolongation of the necessary recovery time for the Croatian economy. This research is the basis for further research on the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Croatian economy.

Controlling represent company’s bloodstream and in time of crisis, it comes to the fore since management strives for quality information’s to make the right decisions under uncertain conditions. Those quality decisions come from joint cooperation between well-educated controllers who can develop the right solutions and managers who are goal-oriented and need those solutions promptly. This need is more emphasized in times of corona crisis since nothing similar has ever happened before. The authors of the paper examine the respondents’ perception about the contribution of controlling in enabling companies’ survival in time of corona crisis through the increase of business process efficiency, as well as through business operations reorientation and strategy adjustment which enabled maintenance and stabilization in the first days of the corona crisis and during partial lockdown in Croatia. In order to test the set hypotheses after the usual descriptive statistics the Kruskal- Wallis H test was used on a sample of 180 companies in Croatia. A statistically significant correlation was confirmed between the role of controlling; i) in increasing the efficiency of business processes; ii) in adjusting the business reorientation; iii) in adjustment of business strategy. All employees from different hierarchical levels are aware the contribution and effectiveness of controlling in the corona crisis. This research is the basis for further research on role of controlling in times of crises.

Tourist activity in the Republic of Croatia is one of the leading and most promising activities. It is our past, present and future. According to the National Bank, the share of revenues from travel - tourism in overall GDP in the first 9 months of 2015 was 22.2%, an increase of 1.2% compared to the same period in 2014. In the third quarter share of revenues from travel - tourism in total GDP amounted to 41.3%, as compared to the same period in 2014, representing a growth of 1.4%. The conclusion is that tourism is one of the leading economic sectors in the Republic of Croatia. Due to realized 78 million and 569,000 overnight stays (6.8% more than in 2014) and more than 8 billion of foreign exchange inflows, the Republic of Croatia on the overall tourism market has been recognized as an important destination whose development potentials have not yet been exhausted. Relevant institutions and predictions underline the fact that tourism is one of the keys for faster integration of Croatia in the entire world economy and the networked society, from which it can be read that Croatia must view this sector in a new way and allow tourism to undergo complete transformation, in order to cope with future competitive challenges more easily. According to estimates by the World Travel & Tourism Council direct and indirect employment in the tourism sector in 2008 was about 300,000 employees, but that number will have increased by additional 100,000 in the next ten years. The Croatian tourism today employs 35-40% of workers. Thus, the tourism industry is a comprehensive and a very important generator of jobs of different profiles - from catering and hotel industry to entertainment and animation. In the light of progress in the development of tourism, and regardless of specific personnel, Croatia still needs a lot of work on the construction of the existing profile of tourism personnel and management and educate the tourist interest in tourism future. In addition, employment in the hospitality and tourism industry has a very high seasonal fluctuation of work, while the proportion of highly educated so-called senior managers is weak due to the contemporary needs of the tourism of the 21st century. The system of education for tourism is not performed well at all levels of education, and the result is inadequate qualifications. On the other hand, salaries of employees in the tourism industry, especially in the hospitality and catering industry, are among the lowest in the Republic of Croatia. With its tourism development strategy, the Republic of Croatia has turned towards building quality destinations (new facilities, renovation of existing and quality services). This paper will analyze how the quality of services, backed by human activity, is the key to the success of any enterprise, with an adopted conclusion about what kind of future we are building in this segment. The research will be carried out through the review and analysis of trends in employment in the tourism industry, the qualifying term structure of employees, their share in the total employees in the Republic of Croatia, the competitiveness in the international labor market for a period of last 5 years.

Volatilnost tržišta i dinamičnost promjena te sve veća konkurentnost zahtijevaju od prodajnih menadžera novi pristup i brzu prilagodbu u strategijama i taktikama nastupa prema kupcima i klijentima. Pet kritičnih područja emocionalne inteligencije: samosvijest, samoregulacija, socijalizacija, empatija i motivacija vještine su ključne za uspjeh u svim aspektima života, ali u prodaji mogu izraziti razliku između dobrog i izvrsnog prodavača. Posjedovanje višeg stupnja emocionalne inteligencije omogućuje prodavačima učinkovitije snalaženje u procesu prodaje koje ujedno pridonosi i njezinome većem uspjehu.

S obzirom na to da je u strukturi hrvatskih instrumenata dodjele državnih potpora u odnosu na zemlje članice Europske unije dominantna zastupljenost državnih subvencija, cilj ovoga rada je analizirati utjecaj subvencija na uspješnost poslovanja specifične skupine hrvatskih javnih poduzeća u razdoblju od 2005. do 2015. godine. Riječ je o poduzećima koja su kroz životni vijek mijenjala svoj pravni i ekonomski identitet (spajanja, pripajanja i sl.), pretežito su u državnom vlasništvu i primila su znatne iznose državnih subvencija. Podaci za analizu preuzeti su iz registra godišnjih financijskih izvještaja Financijske agencije. Promatraju se poduzeća koja su primila subvencije u analiziranom razdoblju i to samo za godine u kojima su ih primila. Cilj je izmjeriti utjecaj primljenih subvencija na financijske rezultate specifične skupine poduzeća (HŽ, Holding, brodogradilišta). Kako se ovom temom bavilo vrlo malo inozemnih i domaćih istraživača, doprinos ovoga rada je u kvantifikaciji veza i testiranju statističkih modela da bi se utvrdila statistička povezanost utjecaja subvencija na financijske rezultate specifične skupine javnih poduzeća te korelacije nezavisnih varijabli, kao i nezavisnih sa zavisnim varijablama. Odabrane su dvije glavne nezavisne varijable (dva modela) za koje se procjenjuje utjecaj subvencija na financijske rezultate specifične skupine poduzeća u promatranom razdoblju, a to su prihodi od subvencija i udio prihoda od subvencija u aktivi poduzeća. Zavisne varijable su: dobit/gubitak razdoblja, novostvorena vrijednost, koeficijent tekuće likvidnosti, koeficijent obrtaja imovine i broj zaposlenih temeljem sati rada. Na temelju rezultata provedene analize može se zaključiti da subvencije imaju utjecaj na uspješnost poslovanja specifične skupine javnih poduzeća u odnosu na modelsku procjenu, ponajprije na dobit/gubitak razdoblja, novostvorenu vrijednost, a najmanje na broj zaposlenih temeljem sati rada što implicira zaključak da su veće iznose subvencija dobivala poduzeća s većim brojem zaposlenih. Kod rezultata istraživanja treba uzeti u obzir ograničenje koje proizlazi iz baze podataka, odnosno nedostatka jasne AOP pozicije o državnim subvencijama u godišnjim financijskim izvještajima (AOP pozicija uključuje subvencije, dotacije, poticaje i sl.) te se koristila dostupna pozicija.