Preliminary communication

Early warning systems - empirical evidence

Nidžara Osmanagić Bedenik orcid.org/0000-0003-2559-7176 ; Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb
Alexandra Rausch ; Department of Controlling and Strategic Management,Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt
Davor Labaš orcid.org/0000-0003-2500-4211 ; Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb

Abstract

Despite the importance of early warning systems (EWS) in revealing weak signals on environmental changes and in constructing a solid base for timely and appropriate business response, particularly against the backdrop of business crises, empirical evidence - especially at the country level - still lags behind. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the practical and theoretical knowledge about EWS by providing empirical evidence from companies located in three diff erent European countries, i.e. Croatia, Austria and Greece. We propose that companies in richer countries, as measured in terms of GDP, have a higher implementation level of EWS and are more likely to meet current state-of-the-art EWS standards while companies in the countries with a lower GDP show a lesser level of development. Moreover, we explore the reasons for not implementing EWS. For our survey we used a structured questionnaire. Contrary to our hypotheses, there are no signifi cant diff erences among the countries concerning the level of EWS implementation. However, there are some diff erences as to the kind of EWS. Overall, EWS are predominately short-term oriented and operating in all three countries. The main reasons for not implementing EWS are the shortage of employees and the lack of management initiatives.

Keywords

early warning system; operating and strategic business behavior; trends in management; empirical evidence

Hrčak ID:

95514

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/95514

Publication date:

23.12.2012.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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