The Editor's Corner
Boštjan Antončič
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Globalization at Risk: The Changing Preferences of States and Societies
James M. Quirk

After long, wide trends toward freer and more integrated markets, peoples and ideas, reluctance to subordinate the ideals of globalization to state interests shows signs of serious erosion. Recent examples include the breakdown of international institutions, the rise in state control over energy resources and their use as diplomatic leverage, and US abandonment of the principles of globalization. The sources of these changing preferences are both ideological and utilitarian. The result is that key elements of globalization are at risk, but with unpredictable consequences.

Key Words: political economy, globalization, international institutions, economic nationalism, resource nationalism, financial crisis
JEL Classification: F02, F13, F33, F52, G01
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The Causes of Conflict in Public and Private Sector Organizations in South Africa
Chris van Tonder
Werner Havenga
Jan Visagie

The uncertainty that accompanies organizational change heightens prospects for intra organizational conflict. Notwithstanding this, the knowledge base on the sources (or causes) of organizational conflict is underdeveloped – largely as a result of a low incidence of empirical research, and in particular in South Africa. The current study explored the perceived sources of conflict in two South African organizations operating in different economic sectors. An experimental survey focusing on both the causes and the impact of conflict was administered to a sample of 203 employees, representing both companies. Comparative analysis revealed significant differences between the two organizations’ views with regard to the causes and consequences of conflict. The implications of these findings for future research and conflict management are discussed.

Key Words: organizational conflict, conflict management, human resource management, management
JEL Classification: D740, L290, M120
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Governance and Civil Society at the EU Level
Matevž Tomšič
Mateja Rek

In their article, the authors deal with the role of civil society as a factor of European democratic governance. Democratic governance is perceived as an ‘extended polyarchy’ that refers both to the electoral dimension of accountability and to the mechanisms of permanent control over power-holders through institutional balance of power. The authors examine specifics of governance and civil society at the EU level, claiming that participatory democracy is unrealistic at the EU level, which holds also for citizens’ engagement in civil society organized at EU level. They argue that civil society organized at the EU level can contribute to higher accountability of the Union’s institutions, but in a specific way, less through enhancing political engagement of citizens and linking them to political institutions but more through mutual control of different societal actors that would foster greater transparency of political process.

Key Words: governance, civil society, democracy, accountability, European Union
JEL Classification: Y9
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Failures in Building Partnership for Success in the Competitive Market:
The Case of Polish Ski Resorts
Michał Żemła

The topic of local stakeholders’ collaboration for success on the tourism market is a popular one, however research is usually devoted to well established Western economies. Created in this way, rules of cooperation are not fully suitable for new democracies in Central and Eastern European countries. Western standards of cooperation can not be achieved in Polish winter sports destinations, which is mirrored in the analyzed example of the Polish biggest ski resort – Szczyrk. Mutual mistrust and hostile attitude are typical for stakeholders in this example. The very low competitiveness level of the product is the most visible effect. Additionally, ski product development in Poland is highly criticized from the environmental point of view, which results in another difficult to manage, severe conflict sourced in different interpretations of the idea of sustainable tourism development.

Key Words: ski resort, partnership, Central and Eastern Europe, Polish ski industry
JEL Classification: L83, R58
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Impacts of the Euro on the Slovenian Tourism Industry
Helena Nemec Rudež
Štefan Bojnec

This paper examines the impacts of the Euro adoption in Slovenia on its tourism. For this purpose, the empirical research among foreign tourists in Slovenia was conducted on their perceptions of the Euro adoption in Slovenia during the second half of 2007. The multivariate factor analysis was performed, which confirmed the four common dimensions of the Euro impacts on Slovenian tourism: attractiveness, costs, expensiveness, and comparison. The mean values of the analyzed items indicate the most positive impacts of the Euro on the direct price comparison and the easiness of comparison among tourist destinations in the Euro zone. The empirical results suggest that the Euro adoption has had the greatest impacts on better comparisons among tourist destinations in the Euro zone, followed by a significant decline in travel-operational costs. The increase in the expensiveness of the destination among foreign tourists is confirmed, whereas no significant improvement in the attractiveness of Slovenia as a tourist destination was proved after the Euro adoption.

Key Words: the Euro adoption, European Union, Slovenian tourism, multivariate factor analysis
JEL Classification: C42, E42, F36, L83
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