Workshop goals

To stay competitive, businesses need to digitally transform. As the concept of digital economy is based on integration and simultaneous application of different, independently developed and ready-to-use digital technologies, various types of digital technologies will be explained and many suggestive case studies of the usage in business will be analysed. Frameworks for digital transformation will be explained and the notion of digital (innovative) business models discussed in details. The main objective of digital transformation is to consider the use of all available and ready-to-use digital technologies to innovate a business model an organisation is currently operating with. Therefore, the notion of digital (innovative) business models will be discussed and frameworks for digital transformation explained in further details.  

Lecturer's short biography

Mario Spremić is Full Professor at the Department of Informatics, Faculty of Economics & Business, University of Zagreb and a guest lecturer or visiting professor at several international institutions (Imperial College London, Sapienza University of Rome, Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana, etc.). He received a B.Sc. in Mathematical Sciences (1996.), M.Sc. in IT Management (1999) and a PhD in Business (2002), all from the University of Zagreb. He joined the Faculty of Economics & Business in 2000, with the previous corporate experience as a computer programmer and project manager. Mario has taken additional education from MIT Sloan School of Management and has substantial international teaching experience. He is a scientist with a strong publication record (15 books and more than 100 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals, books and conference proceedings) mainly in area of digital transformation, ICT-induced innovations, cyber security and IT auditing. With strong technology background and corporate executive experience, Mario has been acting as a consultant and IT auditor, leading 50+ international projects and helping companies and institutions in digital transformations and innovation processes and cyber risks challenges. Mario has a broad experience in international accreditations of higher education institutions, leading institutional processes towards achieving EPAS, EQUIS and AACSB accreditations.

Workshop goals

The aim of the workshop is to enable participants to understand key concepts related to creation, management and facilitation of innovations. Students will become familiar with a variety of intellectual property forms, ways to protect them and design a strategy for intellectual property management from business perspective. Throughout the workshop, students will adopt methods for intellectual property valuation, learn how to select optimal commercialization strategy and become familiar with peculiarities of business negotiations in the field of intellectual property. 

Lecturer's short biography

Nebojša Stojčić, PhD is Associate Professor and a director of Centre for research on digital transformation – Credo at the University of Dubrovnik, and visiting professor at Staffordshire University, UK. As coordinator and researcher, he has participated in more than 30 projects financed under FP7, H2020, Erasmus+, Croatian science foundation and others. He is the author of the most cited Croatian research paper in economics in the last decade and continuously ranked among 1% most productive scholars in Croatia in the field of economics. His research was published in world leading journals such as Research Policy, European Economic Review, Regional Studies.

Workshop goals

The workshop will provide students with an overview of existing theoretical concepts and practical tools for dealing with challenges related to virtual teamwork. The workshop consists of short on-site (or hybrid) meetings followed by individual and team-based assignments. The contact meetings will be very practical, composed of different activities and discussions to develop learners’ strategic toolbox for managing and working effectively in virtual teams. Students will form virtual (or hybrid) teams during individual assignments. Within these teams, students will solve different virtual team-related problems while at the same time analyzing their team's and their own performance from different perspectives (communication, motivation, goals, roles, management, etc.). The workshop is learner-centered, giving students the freedom to develop their ways of thinking about the topic and increasing the responsibility for their learning outcomes.

Lecturer's short biography

Katija Vojvodić is Associate Professor at the Department of Economics and Business, University of Dubrovnik, Croatia. She received her PhD in international business from the University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics and Business. She has participated in both national and various European projects funded under Erasmus+, European Social Fund, European Regional Development and other programmes dealing with various topics, such as virtual business skills, soft skills, digital entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial self-leadership, etc. She has been a guest lecturer at higher education institutions worldwide in the framework of Erasmus+, CEEPUS and other mobility programmes. She has been a member of the Accreditation Council of the Agency for Science and Higher Education.

As a part of her doctoral research, Sirja Sulakatko has mapped best practices for managing virtual teams and competencies (knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values) needed from virtual team members. She has facilitated several seminars and trainings intending to develop learners' virtual teamworking competencies. She has worked as a university lecturer on all levels (from BA to executive MBA), and her courses got maximum student feedback. She is leading an Estonian non-profit organization called Smartwork, which aims to inspire and support organizations in adopting new ways of working. Through Smartwork, she has consulted many private and public organizations on the topics related to flexible ways of working. Sirja has an MBA in Business Innovation, and integrates all the knowledge and tools gained into the courses she teaches. On top of theoretical knowledge, she has tested various tools and methods for virtual collaboration as she has more than ten years of remote working experience.

Workshop goals

The workshop introduces well-established concepts and theories regarding leadership in organizations. It will be focused on contemporary theories, analysis is conducted to understand leadership implications of the grand challenges that organizations encounter. In a globally integrated world, leaders face contradictory and incompatible expectations which together with increased situational complexity make leadership more difficult.  It is intended to present participants with some of the latest and most innovative thinking about leadership and to promote practical insights for leadership within work settings. explore theories and practical applications of management and leadership in organizational settings. This workshop addresses various forms of leadership which have evolved as a response to the contemporary organizational demands.

Lecturer's short biography

Professor Ivona Vrdoljak Raguž received her master's degree in Business Economics in Tourism from the University of Split in 2005, and her doctorate in 2009 at the Faculty of Economics, University of Split. She was the Vice-Rector for Business at the University of Dubrovnik. For two mandates she was the Head of the Department of Economics and Business at the University of Dubrovnik. In March 2015, a member of the Council for the Financing of Scientific Activities and Higher Education of the National Council for Science was appointed for a four-year term. She is the author of more than 100 scientific and professional papers in the field of organizations and management in the country and abroad. He has participated in the ERASMUS + teacher mobility program 13 times (UK, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic, Malta, Macedonia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Hungary). She has worked as a leader and collaborator on 6 European, 7 national (MZO) and 5 regional and local projects. She is the president of the organizing committee of the international scientific conference DIEM and the editor-in-chief of the journal DIEM.

Workshop goals

The objective of this workshop is to contribute to a better understanding of new institutions, trends and concepts in global finance. That includes analysing and discussing innovative processes covering various international financial institutions and introducing central banks’ digital currency. That is why we shall first discuss the global framework in terms of most influential financial institution, with special attention on newly founded institutions, and then analyze new concepts of money, with special emphasis on digital currency, using the practical case of European Central Bank. 

Lecturer's short biography

Gordana Kordić, Ph. D. is a full professor (tenured) at the Department of Finance, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb, Croatia. Gordana is author or co-author of numerous papers and book chapters, active participant in international conferences and a reviewer. Her research interests include monetary policy, international finance and exchange rate policy. 

Workshop goals

Labour markets are increasingly organised via digital platforms, often characterised by a systematic asymmetry of information and power in favour of the platform providers and a self-employed workforce that receives low wages and no social security. The non-standardised form of business via digital platforms offers advantages such as more flexible working hours, lower prices and opportunities to generate income, but is also associated with challenges in terms of job stability, social benefits and legal protection. The workshop aims to enable participants to understand key concepts related to work in the digital environment from an economic and sociological perspective.

Lecturer's short biography

Marija Bečić, PhD, is an associate professor and member of CREDO (Centre for Research on Digital Transformation) at the Faculty of Economics, University of Dubrovnik. Marija Bečić is the author or co-author of numerous articles in international journals and book chapters, as well as an active participant in international conferences. Her research interests include the labour market, the digital economy and macroeconomics. As a researcher, she has actively participated in numerous EU projects funded by the European Social Fund and the Erasmus+ programme.

Nikolina Hazdovac Bajić, PhD is an assistant professor at the University of Dubrovnik, Faculty of Economics and Business. She works as a researcher and professor in the field of social sciences, the scientific field of sociology. She is the author of more than 30 articles and chapters in international journals and a collection of studies. Since 2019, she has served as the editor-in-chief of the journal Religion and Society in Central and Eastern Europe. She is a member of numerous national and international associations and has participated in various scientific projects financed under the Croatian Science Foundation, Croatian public administration bodies, and European funds.

Perica Vojinić, PhD, is an associate professor at the University of Dubrovnik with scientific and professional expertise in the field of labour, managerial and industrial economics. She is a member of Credo (Centre for Research of Digital Transformation), which aims to promote the excellence of research at its home institution. As a researcher, she has participated in numerous projects funded by the European Social Fund (ESF), Erasmus+ and the Croatian Science Foundation. Perica is the author or co-author of numerous articles and an active participant in international conferences.