Technology companies are often described by their founders and analysts as holding the potential to disrupt the industry and revolutionise the world. In this article, we focus on Amazon Inc. as one of the trillion-dollar technology companies that are credited with having disrupted its industry. The article provides an evaluation framework built around disruptive innovation and radical innovation theories. This framework is used to assess the extent to which Amazon Inc. has revolutionised retail industry. Based on this framework, it is argued that Amazon is not a disruptor because it has not created new markets but entered existing ones. We use this framework to analyse the retail sales process and its components and show that Amazon's technology has not brought architectural changes to the retail sales process or radically change its component parts. It is concluded that Amazon's success is not the result of technology and innovation but arises from its monopoly that has been built on the traditional retail model. Keywords: new tech, retail, disruptive innovation, radical innovation, Amazon
Although the new international economic order (NIEO) has mostly been assessed as a failure, its ideas still seem relevant in today's crisis environment. The new context clearly shows that the existing liberal international order is ineffective and calls for deep changes like in the times of the developing countries' fight for the NIEO. The article considers whether its principles remain of relevance today, which ones have been amended and which should be newly introduced, all based on NIEO-related lessons. Dilemmas between international law or a rules-based order as a framework for global governance and whether the proposed new inclusive global economic order is to be based on values (and if so, which) are evaluated. Keywords: new international economic order, new inclusive global economic order, rules-based order, values, principles, international law, global governance, lessons
Ko slišimo za pojem korupcija, takoj pomislimo na zlorabo javne službe za doseganje lastnih koristi. Posamezniki in podjetja podkupujejo administrativne uslužbence, da le-ti uredijo zadeve, ki morajo biti rešene. Gre torej za izsiljevanje rent od gospodarskih udeležencev in posledično od ekonomije same izključno za zasebne koristi politikov in uradnikov. Tovrsten pristop k obravnavanju pojava je v zadnjih letih začrtal popolnoma novo smer analiziranja in merjenja korupcije. Korupcija se predstavi v popolnoma novi podobi, v kateri posamezniki, skupine oziroma podjetja vplivajo na formulacijo zakonov, ali celo spreobračajo že oblikovana pravila igre, da bi si s tem zagotovili pomembne ugodnosti. Korupcija je in vedno bo obstajala v svetu, edina razlika je v tem, da se z razvojem družb spreminja, prevzema bolj prefinjene oblike, zaradi katerih jo je težje odkrivati in preprečevati. Vse bolj razsežne in destruktivne posledice, ki jih ima korupcija na gospodarsko rast in družbeno stabilnost, nujno zahtevajo praktične strategije omejevanja korupcije. Problem korupcije se ne omejuje na določeno regijo, kajti z njenimi grožnjami se ubadajo tako razvite države kot tudi države v razvoju in tranzitne države. V postsocialističnih državah so sočasni procesi razvijanja tržne ekonomije, oblikovanja novih političnih in socialnih institucij ter prerazporejanje družbene lastnine ustvarili rodna tla za pojav korupcije. Zaradi kompleksnosti fenomena in predvsem zaradi vse večjega zavedanja, da vzroki za prevzem države presegajo golo neučinkovitost in šibkost državne uprave, je potrebno za razumevanje in odpravljanje state capture razsvetliti problem širših strukturalnih povezav, kot so interna organizacija političnega sistema, odnosi in zveze med ključnimi državnimi institucijami, interakcije med podjetji in državo ter povezave med državo in civilno družbo. ; When we think about corruption, an image quickly comes to mind of abuse of public office for private gains. Individuals and firms are bribing bureaucrats to »get things done«. Behind this view lies an understanding of the state extracting rents from the economy for the exclusive benefit of politicians and bureaucrats. Such an aprroach has had a powerful impact on the way corruption has been analyzed and measured in recent years. Corruption has taken on a new image – that of individuals, groups, or firms manipulating policy formation and even shaping the emerging rules of the game to their own, very substantional advantage. Corruption has always existed across the world and it will never disappear, the difference is that has become more sophisticated and thus more difficult and costly to detect. With the increasing recognition across the globe of the damaging effects of corruption on economic growth and social stability, the demand for practical strategies to reduce corruption has grown dramatically. The problem is not confined to any particular region, and developed, developing and transition countries alike are confronting these challenges. In postcommunist states the simultaneous processes of developing a market economy, designing new political and social institutions and redistributing social assets have created fertile ground for corruption. With regard to complexity of phenomena and with increasing recognition that the roots of state capture extend far beyond weaknesses in the capacity of government, we need to be aware of factors underlying the persistence of corruption that is broader structural relationships, including the internal organization of the political system, relationships among core state institutions, the interactions between the state and firms, and the relationship between the sate and civil society.
The financial crisis and its consequences in European societies show the weaknesses of the current economic system. Especially in the so-called peripheral countries we can notice a dramatic increasing in unemployment, reduced public spending and security, poverty, evictions, etc. The neoliberal policy followed by most European governments offers little chance for a solution to this problem. ; Finančna kriza in njene posledice v evropskih družbah kažejo na pomanjkljivosti sedanjega gospodarskega sistema. Še posebej v t. i. obrobnih državah se dramatično povečujejo brezposelnost, nižanje porabe, občasnost del, prisilno preseljevanje delovne sile, revščina, deložacije itd. Neoliberalna politika, ki ji sledi večina evropskih vlad, ponuja malo možnosti za rešitev nastale situacije.
Področje javne uprave je bilo že od samega začetka zelo težko natančno razložiti. Praktično ni področja človeškega delovanja, v katerem javna uprava ne bi igrala pomembne vloge. Reforme javne uprave so v zadnjih nekaj letih zelo aktualna tema in zato jim posvečamo vedno več pozornosti. Magistrsko delo obravnava področje uspešnosti reform slovenske javne uprave in je usmerjeno predvsem v dileme oziroma kritike zastavljenih strategij. Vse reforme slovenske javne uprave se v zadnjih 20. letih lahko štejejo za uspešne v smislu metodološkega in tehničnega napredka. Napredovali smo pri racionalizaciji struktur in optimizaciji procesov. Manj se lahko pohvalimo v zvezi s spornimi postopki z vidika interesov na primeru lokalne samouprave ter sistema javnih uslužbencev in njihovih plač. Pri doseganju končnega cilja sem ugotovila, da se nekateri od zastavljenih ukrepov, ki so bili opredeljeni v strategijah, dejansko sploh niso realizirali. Glede zastavljenih strategij je precej kritik, izpostavljena je strategija razvoja slovenske javne uprave za obdobje 2015-2020, strategija e-uprave za obdobje 2006-2010 in strategija razvoja lokalne samouprave do leta 2020. Ugotovimo, da gre pri strategijah bolj za skupek dobrih želja oziroma povzetek prejšnjega stanja. Ni zastavljene nikakršne analize, ki bi bila podlaga za spremembe. Da bi zagotovili ustrezen razvoj in napredek na tem področju, bi bilo treba natančno opredeliti jasne ukrepe, ter celovito zastaviti strategije, in le tako lahko pričakujemo uspešen sistem reform. Za nadaljnji razvoj javne uprave bo bistveno, da se izvaja modernizacija na vseh področjih, predvsem tistih, ki so najbolj kritična. Večjo pozornost bo treba nameniti zastavljanju strategij razvoja javne uprave. ; To explain the public administration field in detail has always been a demanding task. In fact, the public administration has an imperative role in almost every area of human action. The public administration reforms are currently a very popular subject matter and thus more favored in receiving attention. In my (Master's) thesis I cover the field's successfulness of the public administration reforms and focus mainly on dilemmas or critics of the set strategies. All Slovenian public administration reforms that have been passed in the last 20 years can be accounted for very successful, not only in methodological, but also its technical sense. We have also improved at streamlining structures and optimizing processes. We are less successful in terms of disputable proceedings from the perspective of interests, for instance, local self-government, the public servants' system and their salaries. While reaching the final goal of my thesis I recognized that certain measures I set in strategies were not realized at all. As far as strategies are concerned, there are quite criticized - a specific stress is put on the strategy of the development of the Slovenian public administration in the periods from 2015 to 2020, the strategy of the e-management in the periods from 2006 to 2010 and the strategy of the development of the local self-government to the year 2020. I discover that strategies are more like a unit of good intentions or better to say synopsis of a previous condition. There is no specific analysis which would be the basis for changes. To secure an adequate development and progress in this field, it is imperative to take transparent measures and set strategies in their entireties. Only then can we expect a successful reform system. For further development of the public administration it is essential to modernize in all fields, particularly in those which are most critical. A more close attention will have to be put on setting up strategies for the development of the public administration.
Different organizational structures of the Catholic Church in Slovenia were a reflection of the circumstances in the Christian community in the Central European region. Being a basic structure, a diocese has existed since the antique period. The diocese is a religious community with a centre in a large settlement (civitas). With the spread of Christianity into the rural areas and into the peasant environment, parishes began to come into existence. In historiography, the terms 'primitive parishes' began to be used to refer to the oldest parishes. They were characterized by their vastness. The number of primitive parishes increased in the 12th century. Due to remoteness of diocesan centres from the communities in rural areas and because of the inability of bishops to be in touch with the priests in rural areas, intermediate stages of organization were coming into existence during centuries, i.e., archdeaconries and deaneries at some places. Some important changes occurred in the operation of the Catholic Church and in its organization in Slovenia during the years after the Second World War. New parishes were established. The change of the state boundaries required changing the diocesan boundaries. Finally, the creation of the independent state of the Republic of Slovenia required a new setting up of the pastoral work and a new territorial organization of dioceses. Adapted from the source document.
