EDITORIAL BOARD

Editor Dzafer Kudumovic Table of Contents

Execute editor Lana Kudumovic
Fish passages in small stream management............................................4
Secretary Nadja Sabanovic Vojislav Djekovic, Ljubomir Letic, Grozdana Gajic, Aleksandar
Technical editor Eldin Huremovic Andjelkovic, Milorad Janic, Dragomir Grujovic, Nedjo Milosevic
Cover design Almir Rizvanovic Possible implementation of free route airspace in Croatia..................13
Lector Mirnes Avdic Tomislav Mihetec, Denis Odic, Zoran Jaksic
Lector Adisa Spahic Structural degradation of the bulk-carriers
Members Amir Pasic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) caused by the corrosion............................................................................21
Spiro Ivosevic, Sanja Bauk, Danilo Nikolic
Vesna Maric-Aleksic
(Bosnia and Herzegovina) Sustainable technology for existing buildings renovation
in the function of energy efficiency.........................................................31
Avdo Voloder (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Hranislav Milosevic, Dragana Vasilski, Svetlana Stevovic
Samir Causevic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Numerical 3D model of the foundation grid
Davor Zvizdic (Croatia) with RC sceletal structure of objects exposed
Slobodan Kralj (Croatia) to the effects of underground mining.....................................................39
Zahid Basic, Nedim Suljic, Anadel Galamic
Marin Milkovic (Croatia)
Mathematical model of procedures optimization
Vilko Ziljak (Croatia)
technical diagnostic for determinate the worn out
Anastasios Politis, (Greece) of hydro plant’s bearings.........................................................................44
Rajendrakumar Anayath, (India) Dragan Nikolic, Nenad Janjic, Zoran Janjic, Ljubisa Josimovic,
Suzana Obradovic
Joza Duhovnik (Slovenia)
Compatibility of values of plane strain fracture toughness,
Janez Dijaci (Slovenia) KIc, crack growth and impact energy parameter for
Ivan Polajnar (Slovenia) welded joints behaviour evaluation in presence of cracks......................50
Tadeja Zupancic (Slovenia) Ivica Camagic, Nemanja Vasic, Zijah Burzic, Srdjan Jovic,
Tamara Gvozdenovic, Dzafer Kudumovic
Milan Medved (Slovenia)
Managing pixel deformation with pseudo-random
Jelena Ivanovic Sekularac (Serbia) values in infrared security graphics.......................................................59
Venceslav Grabulov (Serbia) Nikolina Stanic Loknar, Ivana Ziljak Stanimirovic, Tajana Koren
Hasan Hanic (Serbia) Suitability evaluation of various recycled paper grades
Zijah Burzic (Serbia) for the production of health safe food packaging.................................70
Sonja Jamnicki, Lidija Barusic, Branka Lajic
Nebojsa Vidanovic (Serbia)
Comparative analysis of pixel-based and object-oriented
Milovan Bratic (Serbia) classification by using multi-spectral spot 5 images.............................78
--------------------------------------- Miodrag Regodic, Dragoljub Sekulovic, Goran Cirovic,
Address of the Sarajevo, Grbavicka 8A Vladan Tadic, Sinisa Drobnjak

Editorial Board phone/fax 00387 33 640 407 Contribution to european initiatives for battle teams
integrations based on initial technology capabilities ...........................88
ttem_bih@yahoo.com, Momcilo Milinovic, Zoran Jeftic, Bozidar Forca, Tanja Miscevic,
http://www.ttem-bih.org Olivera Jeremic

http://www.ttem.ba Indexing on:

Published by DRUNPP, Sarajevo Science Citation Index Expanded EBSCO Publishing (EP) USA
http://www.isiwebofknowledge.com http://www.epnet.com
Volume 8 Number 1, 2013
ISSN 1840-1503
e-ISSN 1986-809X
Impact Factor 0.351 (ISI Journal Citation Reports 2011)
 Table of Contents
The basic principles for improving occupational Developing the supervisor’s authentic
health and safety information systems and leadership measure.................................................................... 229
knowledge management........................................................... 100 Miha Maric, Vlado Dimovski, Maja Djurica,
Josip Taradi, Vesna Nikolic Matej Cerne, Nina Djurica
Modelling of claim counts as a base for premium Multiple-role agent based distributed computing................ 238
system determination.................................................................112 Liguo Yu, Alok Mishra
Ivana Simeunovic, Ivana Domazet, Hasan Hanic
Business intelligence and the concept of chain
Structural analysis of international trade of the of values in the insurance......................................................... 244
Danube region countries.......................................................... 120 Vesna Aleksic Maric, Dragana Basic
Svetlana Ignjatijevic, Maja Djokic, Maja Ciric,
Exploration of old maps of Novi Pazar.................................. 256
Bojana Kovacevic
Milos M. Radovanovic
New trends in water infrastructure education:
Project modernization and reform of education
PROWAT project case study................................................... 129
system through the new methods of learning....................... 260
Selcuk Toprak, A. Cem Koc, Richard Pilcher,
Milica Nicic, Evica Petrovic, Sefedin Sehovic,
Izzet Kara, Elmo De Angelis, Fatih Dikbas,
Edib Hajrovic
Kylene De Angelis, Mahmut Firat,
Ulker Guner Bacanli, Altan Dizdar Ecological agricultural characteristics of the
countries in transition - Territory of Serbia as
Fine arts subjects at computer graphics studies
development potential for ecological agriculture................. 264
at the Faculty of technical sciences in Novi Sad................... 143
B. M. Mihajlovic, M. A. Pavlovic, Lj. M. Lazarevic
Ratko Obradovic, Milos Vujanovic,
Branislav Popkonstantinovic, Predrag Sidjanin, Environmental reporting......................................................... 271
Branislav Beljin, Igor Kekeljevic Goranka Knezevic, Marija Kostic, Vule Mizdrakovic,
Nada Arezina, Sofija Vukicevic, Vladimir Dzamic
EQMx12 model of excellence for is improvement
- On the examples of higher education institutions.............. 148 Technology assisted approach for learning,
Slobodan Petrovic, Zivadin Micic, visualizing and problem-solving in engineering .................. 277
Marija Blagojevic, Nebojsa Stankovic Manjit Singh Sidhu
Knowledge management at Croatian polytechnics – Implementation of some algorithms in
Assessment of the knowledge transfer process..................... 158 computer graphics in Java....................................................... 293
Goran Kozina, Damira Kecek, Gordana Dukic Muzafer Saracevic, Predrag Stanimirovic,
Sead Masovic, Faruk Selimovic
A conceptual integrated ICT - based leadership
learning and training architecture.......................................... 169 Effectiveness of stations for technical inspection
Evelin Vatovec Krmac, Zoran Cekerevac, of vehicles and traffic impact on environment...................... 301
Slobodan T. Ristic Fuad Klisura, Sefket Goletic, Bruno Bojic,
Aleksandra Nikolic
Problems and experiences with student projects
based on real-world problems: a case study......................... 176 Possibilities for the six sigma concept
Kresimir Fertalj, Boris Milasinovic, implementation in small enterprises...................................... 309
Ivana Nizetic Kosovic Marija Andjelkovic Pesic, Vesna Jakovic Milic,
Nada Barac, Aleksandra Andjelkovic
Competitiveness of higher education:
A cross - national perspective.................................................. 187 Striving for precision in Serbian management
Jozsef Kabok, Tibor Kis, Goran Andjelic, terminology................................................................................. 315
Vladimir Djakovic Gordana Jakic, Jovan Filipovic
Terrorist activities and internet government with Analytical model of the pressure variation
focus on importance of prevention within a family............. 195 in the gerotor pump chambers................................................ 323
Zaklina Spalevic, Milan Pocuca, Zeljko Bjelajac Lozica Ivanovic, Danica Josifovic, Andreja Ilic,
Blaza Stojanovic
„Empirical investigation into e-learning
additional benefits: student perspective“............................... 204 The Paris peace conference after World War I ................... 332
Amila Pilav-Velic, Armin Talic Zoran Jerotijevic, Srdjan Djordjevic, Milan Palevic,
Dragan Bataveljic
Credit rating evaluation in the example
of construction industry........................................................... 212 Engineering profession in society in transition ................... 342
Jasmina Cetkovic, Snezana Rutesic, Milos Knezevic Smiljana Mirkov, Marija Runic Ristic
The application of a five-regime model in Analysis of the amount of communal waste ......................... 350
adaptive traffic control............................................................. 222 Zoran Janjus, Aleksandar Petrovic, Aleksandar
Milan Simeunovic, Milja Lekovic, Vuk Bogdanovic, Jovovic, Predrag Ilic, Slobodanka Pavlovic
Zoran Papic, Pavle Pitka
 Table of Contents
Key factors influencing the success of
knowledge management........................................................... 355
Jelena Djordjevic-Boljanovic, Branislav Masic,
Gordana Dobrijevic
Profitability of the investment project of
introducing modern business information systems............. 367
Nebojsa Denic, Boban Dasic, Jelena Maslovara
The balanced scorecard vs. Total quality management...... 373
Stevo Janosevic, Vladimir Dzenopoljac
Digitized urban luminous ambiences..................................... 384
Tomaz Novljan
Correlation of water quality criteria of water
of the Danube in Serbia............................................................ 390
Ivana Mladenovic-Ranisavljevic, Ljiljana Takic, Zvonko
Damnjanovic, Milovan Vukovic, Nenad Zivkovic
Stabilization and solidification of lead and Zinc ore
processing waste deposit by using Magnesium slag............. 395
Jelena Djokic, Dusko Minic, Zeljko Kamberovic,
Gordana Milentijevic, Vladimir Malbasic
Cartographic method and validity of computer
aided cartographic generalization of river flows.................. 404
Ivan M. Filipovic, Aleksandar Valjarevic, Milan
Djordjevic, Mila Pavlovic, Aleksandar Radivojevic,
Marija Bratic, Ljiljana Dimitrijevic
Critical evaluation of elite sport system
in a transition country ............................................................. 412
Izet Radjo, Mile Sadzak, Patrik Drid, Dejana Sadzak
Integrated treatment of waste water and
solid mining waste..................................................................... 423
Mile Bugarin, Radojka Jonovic, Ljiljana Avramovic,
Milenko Ljubojev, Zoran Stevanovic, Vladan Marinkovic
Measuresto improve the energy performance
of buildings in Slovenia............................................................. 430
Martina Zbasnik-Senegacnik, Manja Kitek Kuzman
Customer knowledge management business model ........... 441
Maria Th. Semmelrock-Picej
A comperative study of model-based framework for
the AEC competency evaluation ofbuilding tenders........... 449
Tomaz Slak, Tomo Cerovsek, Tadeja Zupancic,
Vojko Kilar
xA comparative analysis of priority rules for
different job shop scheduling problem classes...................... 464
Mustafa Batuhan Ayhan, Serol Bulkan
Comparison of dimension reduction techniques
on high dimensional datasets................................................... 475
Kazim Yildiz, Ali Yilmaz Camurcu, Buket Dogan
Instructions for the authors..................................................... 484
 technics technologies education management

Fish passages in small stream management

Vojislav Djekovic, Ljubomir Letic, Grozdana Gajic, Aleksandar Andjelkovic, Milorad Janic, Dragomir Grujovic,
Nedjo Milosevic
Faculty of Forestry, Belgrade University, Belgrade, Serbia

Abstract One of many examples of cut-off migration

routes is the river Crni Drim in Macedonia (Western
Technical solutions for fishways made of natu-
Balkans), where the dams and reservoirs block the
ral materials are presented with special emphasis
migratory route of European eel (Anguilla vulgaris),
to the conservation of aquatic flora and fauna and
which spawns in the Sargasso Sea (South America),
water quality. The proposed technical solutions
and juvenile eels migrate back to the lake Ohridsko
improved the fishway regimes in all hydrologi-
Jezero where they develop to sexual maturity. By
cal conditions throughout all 365 days of the year,
dam construction in the river Crni Drim, European
with good functions even under exceptionally low
eel has become a critically endangered species.
flow levels. During the low stages with concen-
Plants and animals play a significant part in the
trated pollution in water courses, water aeration
process of water quality conservation. They support
improved self-purification and natural balance.
the process of water purification, so the presence
The proposed technical solutions promoted the
of some organisms in the streams is the indication
migration of aquatic organisms during the periods
of water quality [3]. This paper presents the practi-
of low water level. The water was concentrated to
cal solutions for fishways [4] designed in the river
the fish passage zone, which provided sufficient
Ribnica in the drainage basin of the river Koluba-
depth for unobstructed movement of aquatic organ-
ra (Western Serbia, the Balkans) and in the river
isms. After the fishway construction, fish passage
Mileševka in the drainage basin of the river Lim
was monitored during the spawning season, and the
(South-Western Serbia, the Balkans).
changes in oxygen levels in water were measured.
Economic, ecological and sociological signifi-
Key words: Fishways, dams, cascades, water
cance of the above structures is reflected in the
pollution risk, biotope protection, ecology.
fact that they improve the conservation of water
resources and do not disturb the natural ambiance.
Introduction The construction of dams with fishways increas-
es the flow aeration and activates the process of
Transverse structures are designed and in-
stream self-purification.
stalled in the aim of ecological stability of hydro-
graphic systems, for storage, diversion, or deten-
tion and for channel and bank protection. Dams Materials and Methods
moderate flow variations and convert unsteady The study is based on the design solutions for
flow into steady flow. In small waterways, dams stream regulation works in the river Ribnica in the
are installed to impound water and to control sedi- drainage basin of the river Kolubara, and the river
ment transport [1]. Mileševka in the drainage basin of the river Lim,
Channel cascading disturbs the natural flow and as well as on long-term observations and measure-
impedes normal movement of aquatic organisms ments after the construction.
(primarily fish, but also other species) and their The design solution is based on the constructed
migration along the hydrographic network, espe- sections and micro-sites in the rivers Mileševka and
cially during the breeding season and juvenile fish Ribnica, which showed excellent characteristics.
development, so the routes for their undisturbed Fish passage in the river Mileševka is a system
movement to spawning grounds must be provided of inserted pools and small low cascades, which
[2]. To provide the migratory routes, aquatic routes create water turbulence and intensive aeration,
should be inserted through the dams to allow free and stimulate fish population to collect and move
movement along the streams throughout the year. along this aquatic route.

4 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

In this way, the technical solution does not de- The fish passage in the river Mileševka consists
viate from the natural ambiance, it is compatible of a special hydrotechnical part of the fishway, a
with the environment and does not disturb normal system of small pools. The hydraulic values of the
natural cycling of aquatic organisms. By creating dam and other elements for 100-year floods are as
the conditions for aeration, oxygen content in the follows:
water is increased, leading to water self-purifi-
cation and contributes to the conservation of the Q – maximal 1% flood wave Q=150m3·s-1
aquatic flora and fauna. hp – water depth at spillway hp=1.60m
The aim of the design calculations and models
is to define the structure stability and to determine V0 – approach velocity V0=2.5m·s-1
its functions:
– Conversion of unsteady flow into steady flow; where:
– Bank and channel protection from erosion; А0 – area of water cross section in front of the
– Stabilisation of stream banks and valley structure, А0 = 60m2
slopes;
– Prevention of sediment transport; total energy of upper water:
– Formation of intake structures.

The river Mileševka – A gravity dam was con-

structed in the profile of the intake for regulation.
Valley slopes and channel profile in the dam zone
are stable, built on hard bedrock. The dam should
provide the stability for flood wave of Q=150 m3· s-1 α– Koriolis’s velocity coefficient 1.05;
A fishway was inserted as a separate element in g– gravitational acceleration
the lateral part of the right bank, enabling fish move- g - 9.81 m · s-1;
ment along the stream channel. The fishway was hk – effective height 2.00 m;
lowered by Δh=0.30m in the spillway sill to provide m – overtopping coefficient
regular water flow over the structure in all hydro- b – width of spillway sill
logical conditions, throughout the year (Figure 1). b = 30.00 m

spillway capacity on dam:

m3·s-1

The spillway sizes are determined based on the

above calculation.
Figure 1. Fishway in the river Mileševka (Photo: The upper and lower water are joined at the
V. Đeković, 2010) spillway:

A flume with a grid was installed in the dam ;

spillway (Tyrol spillway) to divert water from the
spillway laterally to the fishway (Figure 1) [5]. (Bernoulli equation)
This type of spillway functions as an intake struc-
ture for fish passage during arid periods [6]. ;

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 technics technologies education management

way was ensured. In these conditions, (Q1%) fish-

ways were functionless.
This calculation determines the water cushion
(energy loss) in the aim of establishing the submerged hydrau-
lic jump, and dam protection. In the case of the
; river Mileševka, water cushion was not designed,
because the inlet structure was built in hard bed-
velocity in narrow section is expressed by [7]. rock with good bearing capacity and resistance to
spillwater impact.
; The fishway was lowered by Δh=0.30 m, com-
pared to spillway elevation. In such conditions,
during dry period and low water level, water did
where:
not overflow over the spillway, but flowed through
the inserted fishway (Figure 1).
(coefficient of velocity)
The river Ribnica is in the drainage basin of
coefficient , varies from 0.85 to 0.95 with the river Kolubara. The dam was designed within
mean value the stream regulation in the zone of the town Mi-
so velocity in narrow section is: onica. The dam consisted of a sinusoidal cascade,
which enabled the concentration of small water
along fishways for 365 days per year. It simulta-
neously protected the previously performed town
Froude number in the narrow section (Frs):
regulation and the new reach in the downstream
sector. The existing urban regulation ends with a
submerged sill. In the meantime, natural cascade
depth of downstream water (narrow section): was formed downstream in the unstable loose ma-
terial; the denivelation amounted to 2.5 m. During
the exploitation, some morphological changes of
the stream channel occurred at this natural cascade
with the tendency of increasing the height differ-
ences and destruction of the natural channel [8].
To solve this problem and to protect the channel
from further scouring and erosion, and simultane-
conjugated depth in the zone of hydraulic jump, ously to preserve the passage for fish population, S-
is defined by: shaped apron - sinusoidal cascade was designed and
constructed (Figure 3). In the middle of the cascade
cross section, the channel bottom was lowered for
0.30 m, width 1.0 m. The function of this small chan-
nel within the main channel was to provide the con-
; centration of small and medium water in dry periods
and to provide the passage of aquatic organisms.
The brown trout (Salmo truta morpha fario)
length of water cushion is defined by the equa- and other species in the family Salmonide swim
tion [5]: upstream during the spawning period, and the low
water level presents a barrier. The streambed pro-
tection consists of bed and slope lining with stone
masonry, with trapeze-shaped cross section. The
It can be concluded that in the period of peak cross section is designed for
water arrival, the spillway was partially submerged
in water, so fish passage upstream, over the spill- Q1% = 150 m3·s-1 .

6 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

Accordingly, the arc length of the parabola is:

,
The parabolic curve is asymmetric (Figure 3).
Figure 2. Cross section of the river Ribnica im-
proved channel (Source: original)

The dam in this section of the improved chan-

nel simultaneously functions also as a submerged
sill. Sloping and S-shaped apron cascades are the
dams in the improved stream channel which solve
the denivelation in the natural channel, and simul-
taneously they can serve as fishways (especially
Figure 3. Section of sinusoidal cascade (Source:
during the fish spawning season). The S-shaped
original)
cascade is solved with two curves. One of them is
circular, radius [7]:
Downstream water cross section is a single
trapeze-shaped channel in natural material. The
,
-1
transition from double to single channel is pre-
sented in Figure 4. A dentated sill - auxiliary dam
where: which retains the bulky floating waste, increases
the channel roughness and increases the stream
(Hoffmann equation) aeration, was designed to steady the spillway wa-
ter energy at the maximal flow and to discharge
V0 – mean profile water velocity before the cas- steady water into the downstream section. Behind
cades (m·s-1), approach velocity the auxiliary dam, there is a channel section lined
with stone masonry and the channel section lined
with gabion mattresses (rock filled wire mesh ga-
(continuity equation), bion baskets), and finally a stone prism as the final
part of the cross section [9], [10], [11].
with the coordinates of the end point of the cir- The function of different types of lining is grad-
cular curve: ual increase of the coefficient of roughness in the
downstream direction. This leads to slower flow
velocity and the conditions for hydraulic jump
submergence. Although the analysis of hydraulic
jump submergence is not the subject of this study,
we shall present some general conclusions:

The circular part of the curve continues with a

parabola between the points О and С (Figure 3):

(Rehbock equation) Figure 4. S-shaped cascade with a fishway, the

river Ribnica (Source: original)

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 technics technologies education management

1. The analysis of hydraulic jump:

(Bernoulli equation)
Figure 5. Cross-section of S-shaped cascade with
the fishway, the river Ribnica (Source: original) V1= 3.53m·s- 1
V2= Vs ; π2= hs;
The calculation of the critical depth of flow
downstream of S-shaped cascade:
;

Diagram of specific energy of the section:

(flow of energy Table 4)
The procedure of gradual approximation leads to: Upstream section, zone of town regulation:
Table 1. Calculation of critical depth of flow for
maximum discharge (Source: original)
H A B
(water (surface flow (profile A3/B
depth) profile) width) As cascade height Н=2.5m, total energy flow
2.00 34.00 21.00 1871.62 in the upstream section compared to downstream
hkr=2.16 37.41 21.64 2419.62 section is:
2.15 37.195 21.60 2382.32

The calculation of normal depth for uniform Е= 2.42+2.50 = 4.92 m

flow in downstream channel:
Flow of energy in the downstream section
equals:

(Shezi-Manning equation)
(Bernoulli equation)
The procedure of gradual approximation leads to:
Table 2. Calculation of normal depth of flow in Water depth in the downstream section is cal-
downstream channel (Source: original) culated by the method of gradual approximation,
H A(m2) or it can be read from the Energy Diagram – the
O first conjugate depth.
(water (surface flow AR2/3
(wet volume) Based on the analysis of specific energy of the
depth) profile)
flow, it can be concluded that potential energy of
2.00 34.00 21.94 45.52
the flow in the upstream section is equal to poten-
2.10 36.12 22.39 49.46
tial energy in the downstream section. Therefore,
h0 =2.25 39.38 23.06 56.23
the flow depth in the downstream section is:
Based on this analysis, it can be concluded that
the flow in the stream channel is steady even after h=hs 1.19 m.
the maximal design discharge Q=150 m3·s-1, be-
cause hкr<h0 (2.16<2.25). Calculation of conjugate depth is based on the
hydraulic jump equation:

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 technics technologies education management

Table 3. Specific energy of the section in the downstream part of the cascade (Source: original)
V02 V2
H(m) A (m2) V0=Q/A (m/s) E =h+
2g
+ξ ⋅ s
2g
(water depth) (surface flow profile) (arrival rate)
(total energy flux)
0.50 7.00 21.43 26.25
1.00 15.00 10.00 6.599
1.14 17.42 8.61 5.297
1.19 18.30 8.19 4.95
1.20 18.48 8.11 4.88
1.50 24.00 6.25 3.69
2.00 34.00 4.41 3.089
2.16 37.41 4.009 3.0609
3.00 57.00 ≅ 2.63 3.385
Table 4. Calculation of energy flow (Source: original)
H(m) A (m2) V02
V0=Q/A (m/s) E=h+
(water depth) (surface flow profile) 2g
0.50 6.50 23.07 27.64
1.00 14.00 10.71 6.85
1.50 32.00 4.68 2.62
1.78 42.52 3.53 2.42
1.85 45.19 3.32 2.41
2.00 51.00 2.94 2.44
3.00 92.00 1.63 3.135
Table 5. Conjugate depth of the hydraulic jump (Source: original)
h (m) A (m2) Z0 A.Z0 θ (hs1 )
h1=1.19 18.30 0.564 10.326 135.66
3.30 64.68 1.42 91.872 127.33
3.50 70.00 1.546 108.22 140.98
h2=3.41 67.586 1.509 101.987 135.922

where:
σ - coefficient of hydraulic jump submergence
(1.05 – 1.10);
- normal flow depth downstream of the jump
;
- conjugate depth of the hydraulic jump .
The second conjugate depth of the hydraulic
jump is determined by the procedure of gradual ap- It can be concluded that ski jump occurs. The
proximation or using the Diagram . zone covering the total length of hydraulic jump
To establish the active protection of cascades has to be protected by lining the cross section
during peak water discharge, the hydraulic jump (stone masonry, concrete), or by creating the con-
should be submerged: ditions for the hydraulic jump submergence. The
length of this zone, according to Pavlovski equa-
, tion, amounts to:
because,

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 technics technologies education management

Results and Discussion discharge in the case of stream pollution, or elevat-

ed water temperatures, oxygen content decreases,
A critical phase of the fishway stability in the
and the concentration of pollution can disturb the
river Mileševka occurs during the maximum flood
ecological regime in the stream. Water spilling into
water. This paper presents the calculations of flood
the fish passage leads to its physical aeration and
water discharge in the dam zone (cascades, dams),
mixture with atmospheric oxygen. Oxygen content
and the transformation of upper water potential
in the river Mileševka downstream of fishway com-
energy (upstream of the structure) in kinetic en-
pared to the upstream content over the period 2008
ergy of downstream water [9].
- 2010 in winter months) changed on average from
The conditions for hydraulic jump submergence
3.80 to 5.32%, and in the river Ribnica there was
were created to achieve the dam stability and the
almost no change of the oxygen content (Table 6
safe dissipation of spillway water energy. In the
and Table 7) [11], [12].
river Mileševka, narrowed depth =0.568 m was The passage of fish in the fishway was recorded
formed at the discharge Q1%=150 m3·s-1 down- between November and February in 2008, 2009,
stream of the dam, while m. During the and 2010. Fish were counted between 07: 00 and
period of low water (arid periods) the entire quanti- 14: 00 h, by direct observation method, using a
ty of water flowed through the fishway. Due to low digital video camera. There were 6 recordings in

Table 6. Content of dissolved oxygen in water, the river Mileševka (Source: original)
Period Oxygen content upstream mg/l Oxygen content downstream mg/l Increase %
Jan - March 2008 7.52 7.92 5.32
Dec - Jan 2009 7.90 8.20 3.80
Nov - Feb 2010 7.60 7.92 4.21
Table 7. Content of dissolved oxygen in water, the river Ribnica (Source: original)
Period Oxygen content upstream mg/l Oxygen content downstream mg/l Increase %
Dec 2008 6.41 6.45 0.62
Jan 2009 6.93 6.98 0.72
Feb 2010 7.10 7.18 1.12
Table 8. Mean values of fish passage, the river Ribnica, between 07: 00 and 14: 00 h (Source: original)
Fish sizes (cm)
Period
10-15 15-20 20-25 >25
Nov - Dec 2008 0 11 25 7
Jan - Feb 2008 0 20 27 10
Nov - Dec 2009 1 4 21 8
Jan - Feb. 2009 1 13 28 6
Jan - Feb 2010 2 6 22 10
Table 9. Mean values of fish passage along the fishway, the river Mileševka, between 07:00 and 14:00h
(Source: original)
Fish sizes (cm)
Period
10-15 15-20 20-25 >25
Nov - Dec 2008 2 14 12 0
Jan - Feb 2008 2 17 14 0
Nov - Dec 2009 0 10 10 0
Jan - Feb 2009 0 16 12 0
Nov - Dec 2010 1 15 13 0
Jan - Feb 2010 2 14 10 0

10 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

the river Mileševka, and five in the river Ribnica, dams fit in with the natural ambiance, which gives
two to three times per month The Tables present these solutions a special value. The measurement
the mean values. of oxygen content (O2) downstream of fishway
It was observed that in the river Mileševka showed that it was slightly higher. This creates
large fish accumulated at the base of the fishway. the conditions for stream aeration and self-puri-
They did not move upstream and returned down- fication. The fish passage was monitored during
stream, whereas smaller fish succeeded in swim- winter months for the generally known reasons.
ming upstream. This water is populated with the fish in the family
In the river Ribnica, this case was not recorded. Salmonidae, and their spawning occurs over the
Fish moved unobstructed along the fishway, both period November–February. In this period, fish
upstream and downstream, but during the breed- migrate to shallow water in the upstream parts.
ing season, they swam mainly upstream.
References
Conclusion
1. Ead SA, Rajaratnam N, and Katopodis C, General-
It can be concluded that the river Mileševka ized study of Hydraulics of Culvert Fishways, J. Hy-
draul. Eng., 2002; 128: Issues 1, 1018–1022.
and the river Ribnica in the hilly and mountainous
region of Serbia are ecologically preserved water- 2. Cotel AJ, Webb PW, and Tritico H, Do brown trout
ways. They are populated by valuable fish species in choose locations with reduced turbulence? Trans.
the family Salmonidae, which are at the same time Am. Fisheries Soc., 2006; 135: Issues 3, 610–619.
indicators of healthy and pure river water, so they 3. Đeković V. Water Protection, University Textbook,
should be preserved in the top quality class [13]. Faculty of Forestry Belgrade, 2007; ISBN 978-86-
The proposed project solutions enable the con- 7299-131-4, 1-205.
servation of ecological functions of these water
courses. The solutions are economically feasible, 4. Schilt CR, Developing Fish Passage and Protection
at Hydropower Dams, Applied Animal Behaviour
rational and simple for construction, they are Science, 2007; 104: Issues 3-4, 295-325.
compatible with the natural environment. In the
river Ribnica, there is a denivelation of the natu- 5. Pećinar M, Subanović B, and Melentijević M, Hy-
ral channel bed, so the application of sinusoidal droenergy Potentials of Yugoslavia, Method of Utili-
cascades is ecologically justified. The minor chan- sation of the Existing and Planning of Future Hydro-
electric Power Stations, 2nd Symposium on Energet-
nel cut in the bottom of the cascades enables the ics in Yugoslavia, SANU, Belgrade, 1970; 1-150.
concentration of small and medium water and cre-
ates the conditions for undisturbed movement of 6. Kim JH, Hydraulic Characteristics by Weir Type in
aquatic organisms. Behind the cascades, stream a Pool-Weir Fishway, Ecol. Eng., 2001; 16: Issues 3,
425–433.
channel is lined and protected with stone masonry,
gabion mattresses and stone prism in order to in- 7. Reynolds AJ, Turbulent Flows in Engineering, John
crease gradually the coefficient of roughness and Wiley, New York, 1974; 1-33.
reduce gradually the flow velocity during high wa-
ters. This paper presents the complete calculations 8. Pavlov DS, Lupandin AI, and Skorobogatov MA, The
Influence of Water Current Turbulence Level on the
which are of practical value. Critical Swimming Speed of Gudgeon (Gobio-Gobio),
In the river Mileševka, the fishway was in- Doklady Akademii Nauk, 1994; 336: Issues 1, 138–141.
stalled as a special construction. Tyrol spillway (a
flume cut in the spillway crest) diverts water from 9. Rodriguez TT, Agudo JP, Mosquera LP, and Gonza-
the spillway laterally to the fishway and ensures lez EP, Evaluating Vertical-slot Fishway Designs in
Terms of Fish Swimming Capabilities, Ecol. Eng.,
constant washing and water concentration in the 2006; 27: Issues 1, 37–48.
fishway in all hydrological conditions throughout
the year. Both in the river Ribnica and in the river 10. Đeković V, Design in Torrent Management, Univer-
Mileševka there are good conditions for water sity Textbook, Faculty of Forestry Belgrade, 1997;
ISBN 86-7290-045-5, 1-265.
self-purification, aeration and refreshment. The

Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013 11

 technics technologies education management

11. Smith DL, Brannon EL, Shafii B, And Odeh M, Use

of the average and fluctuating velocity components
for estimation of volitional rainbow trout density,
Trans. Am. Fisheries Soc., 2006; 135: Issues 2,
431–441.

12. Zlámalová GH, Vávrová M, And Korínek P, Assess-

ment of contamination of water included into feed
rations, Friezing, Germany, 2002; 108–113.

13. Đeković V, Letić LJ, Savić R, Nikolić V, Milošević

N, Freshwater fish farming possibilitiesin the hilly-
mountain area of Serbia, international symposium,
The forestry congress in Serbia, 2010; 1066-1074.

Corresponding Author
Nedjo Milosevic,
Faculty of Forestry,
Belgrade University,
Belgrade,
Serbia,
E-mail: nedjo.milosevic@gmail.com

12 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

Possible implementation of Free Route

Airspace in Croatia
Tomislav Mihetec1, Denis Odic2, Zoran Jaksic3
1
Croatian Civil Aviation Agency, Zagreb, Croatia,
2
EUROCONTROL, Brussels, Belgium,
3
Crocontrol ltd., Pleso, Croatia.

Abstract
In traffic increasing environment in Europe
new solutions have to be developed in order to
resolve the problems that are occurring, i.e. short-
age of airspace capacity, low flight efficiency,
high ATFM delay and consequently high air trans-
port cost. One of many solutions is the possible
implementation of Free Route Airspace. As there
is already implemented Free Route Airspace in
countries on the outer borders of Europe this pa-
per presents the possible implementation of Free
Route Airspace in Croatia. The scope of this paper
is to reduce the impact of existing airspace struc- Figure 1. Air transport evolution in Europe [1]
tures on operators, i.e. possible improvements by
the introduction of Free Route Airspace in Croatia. According to the Association of European Air-
lines (AEA), air navigation costs accounted for
1. Introduction 6.2% of total operating costs in Europe in 2010. The
estimated airline delay costs include direct costs
In Europe in 2011 there was 9.78 M of Instru- (fuel, crew, maintenance, etc.) the network effect
ment Flight Rules (IFR) controlled flights (i.e. 14.4 (i.e. cost of reactionary delays) and passenger re-
M flight hours controlled), with average growth of lated costs. Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM)
3.1% in comparison to 2010. It should be empha- delays were considered as “tactical delays” which
sised that the level of traffic remains below pre- impact on costs to airspace users in terms of addi-
economic crisis levels of 2007 and 2008. Accord- tional time with a negligible fuel burn. ATFM de-
ing to Statistics and Forecast Service (STATFOR) lays originate from en route capacity restrictions.
Medium Term Forecast in 2012 traffic should de- The majority of en-route ATFM delays are con-
crease by 1.3%. Traffic growth is not evenly spread centrated in only a small number of Area Control
across Europe. High traffic growth rates can be seen Centres (ACC) which negatively affects the entire
in south-east European States and this trend is fore- European network The five most congested ACCs
cast to continue between 2012 and 2015. (Madrid, Nicosia, Barcelona, Langen, Athina and
The Air Navigation Services (ANS) perfor- Macedonia) account for more than half (52%) of
mance inefficiency can be expressed as a lack total en-route ATFM delay in 2011. Table 1 pres-
of capacity, thus generating delays. In 2011 total ents “Tactical” costs to airspace users due to ATFM
ATFM delays counted 17.9 M minutes, of which delay in Europe between 2008 and 2011.
11.3 M min was generated in en-route part of the In order to reduce delays, reduce costs and im-
flight while airport ATFM delays counted 6.7 M prove flight efficiency IATA, CANSO and EURO-
minutes of delay [1]. CONTROL developed a Flight Efficiency Plan to
identify solutions and launch operational actions
that would lead to fuel and emissions savings.

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 technics technologies education management

Within the Flight Efficiency Plan action point: 2. Free Route Airspace Concept
Enhancing European en-route airspace design
In Europe implementation of Free Route Air-
through annual improvements of European ATS
space is not mandated. States, air navigation servic-
route network, high priority is being given among
es providers, or functional airspace blocks (FABs)
others to supporting initial implementation of Free
can implement FRA, when they decide for it. The
Route Airspace (FRA). Free route airspace initia-
EC Regulation No 677/2011 of 7 July 2011 lays
tives support the objectives of the Flight Efficien-
down, in Annex I, Part C, the following airspace
cy Plan a combined initiative of IATA, CANSO
design principles: With the development of the
and EUROCONTROL that was signed in August
European Route Network Improvement Plan the
2009 [2]. Benefits that are expected by the indto-
Network Manager, Member States, third countries,
duction of the FRA concept are:
functional airspace blocks and air navigation ser-
– improved flight plan efficiency,
vice providers as part of functional airspace blocks
– reduced mileage,
or individually, shall within the cooperative deci-
– reduced flight time,
sion-making process, adhere to the following air-
– reduced fuel burn,
space design principles: (g) the design of airspace
– reduced CO2 emissions.
structures including Free Route Airspace and ATC
sectors shall take into account existing or proposed
Table 1. ATFM delay estimated cost
airspace structures designated for activities which
ATFM delays (M min)
Year require airspace reservation or restriction. To that
En-route Airport Total end only such structures that are in accordance with
2008 14.6 9.3 23.8 the application of Flexible Use of Airspace (FUA)
2009 8.8 6.4 15.2 shall be established. Such structures shall be har-
2010 19.4 8.2 27.7 monised and made consistent to the largest possible
2011 11.3 6.7 17.9 extent across the entire European network [3].
Estimated cost of ATFM delays (2010 M€)
Year
En-route Airport Total
2008 1 200 750 1 950
2009 700 500 1 200
2010 1 550 650 2 200
2011 550 550 1 450

According to EUROCONTROL the average

horizontal en-route extension in 2011 was 4.6%
(22.6 NM), of which 3.0% (14.9 NM) was related
to inefficiencies in the en-route phase (direct route
extension) and 1.6% (7.7 NM) to the interfaces
with the TMAs. In EUROCONTROL Performance
Review Report it is stated that estimated annual
savings of a 0.1% reduction of flight inefficiency Figure 2. FRA implementation - November 2011 [4]
corresponds to approximately 30000 t of saved fuel
and 92000t of CO2 in 2011. More direct routings Free Route Airspace concept represents the
given by ATC in the tactical phase contribute to- possibility for Air Navigation Service Providers
wards reducing the level of inefficiency of the ac- to provide more efficient use of airspace. Accord-
tual trajectory compared to the filed route. The im- ing to EUROCONTROL Free Route Airspace
plementation of “Free route airspace (FRA) initia- represents a specific portion of airspace within
tives” aimed at enhancing en-route flight efficiency which airspace users may freely plan their routes
started as early as 2009 and clear benefits can be between an entry point and an exit point without
seen in those areas where it has been implemented. reference to the fixed Air Traffic Services (ATS)

14 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

route network. Even though it is called Free Route the airspace the process for developing an airspace
Airspace flights in that environment must remain structure is based, in most of the cases on the fol-
subject to air traffic control and to ATFM mea- lowing sequence:
sures, i.e. airspace restrictions. – Determine the Route Network or the Free
Level of FRA implementation in Europe takes Route Operations Airspace
various operational formats. The countries where – Define the Sector Families - areas containing
FRA is implemented today are Portugal, Ireland, specific air traffic flows and conflict areas
Denmark and Sweden, as well as the Upper Area which will consist of strongly interdependent
Control Centres in Maastricht (MUAC) and Karl- sectors;
sruhe. In 2009 Portugal and Ireland implemented – Define Sectors - definition of the minimum
FRA and it is applicable above flight level 245, 24 operational elementary volume;
hours a day, and there is no fixed route network – Define Sector configurations - a combina-
above FL245. In Sweden, FRA has been imple- tion of sectors best placed to satisfy the
mented in January 2010 for all flights with a planned operational requirements (traffic demand,
cruising level above FL285. Calculations by NA- traffic pattern, staff) and airspace availability;
VAIR and LFV show that the concept correspond – Define the Modus Operandi
to an average saving of 1.3 % (fuel and flying time)
for the airliners that operate in Danish and Swed- EUROCONTROL produced the Free Route
ish airspace [5]. Maastricht and Karlsruhe choosed Concept of Operations in order to provide a frame-
for a combination of geographical (by sectors and work for the harmonised implementation of Free
flow – northbound, southbound) and time-based Route Operations in Europe whenever a State/
(weekends, night, etc), with implementation phased ANSP, a group of States/ANSPs or a FAB decides
over 2011 and 2012 by publishing allowed direct to proceed with such implementation.
(DCT) segments [4]. The yearly benefits expected According to the Free Route Concept of Op-
in MUAC airspace alone amount to 1.16 million erations following principles should be followed
km of saved flight distance, 1,300 hours of saved when planning to implement Free Route Airspace
flight time, 3,900 t of fuel, 12,300 t of CO2 and 52 t in your own airspace. FRA should be in principle
of NOX. The MUAC airspace covers 260,000 km2 classified as Class C airspace, with certain agreed
of high-density cross-border upper airspace above exemptions. The relevant national AIS publica-
the Benelux and north-west Germany [6]. tions should include the Flight Level Orientation
System (FLOS) applicable within Free Route
3. Free route airspace validation Operations Airspace. In the beginning of FRA
methodology implementation when ANSP would have limited
implementation during defined time periods it is
In European airspace there are more than 150 important to have procedures for transition be-
commercial air carriers with a fleet of 4650 air- tween fixed route and free route operations. FRA
craft. In the past year, airlines have increased operations in airspace with complex traffic flows
activity in the area of free route airspace imple- should be limited by example restricting the avail-
mentation. For airlines, free route airspace allows able entry/exit points for certain traffic flows [8].
airlines to choose to fly best-wind routes, and not When making analysis for the possible Free
just to fly directs. In free route airspace, naviga- Route Airspace implementation it is important to
tional capability using geographical coordinates follow proved methodology. The methodology
or a fixed waypoint grid must be enabled. used for this paper is the same as described in the
The development, coordination, validation and EUROCONTROL Manuals for Airspace Plan-
implementation of proposals to optimise the Eu- ning. For this research Airspace modelling was
ropean airspace structure, for both enroute and used as a validation method. Because this method
terminal airspace is done by the Route Network has theoretical nature the simulation objectives
Development Sub-Group (RNDSG) through the should be achieved by analysing the statistical
fully collaborative process [7]. When designing recorded data, such as: sector and segment load,

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 technics technologies education management

flight efficiency key performance indicators, i.e. For the Reference Scenario it is preferable to
additional mileage, additional fuel burn, addition- use one day real traffic sample (radar data record-
al CO2 and additional flight time. ings, flight plan system recordings, CFMU data-
When making assessment first step is to build base, etc) data as a representative.
adequate model for the analysed situation i.e. Ref- For Test Scenario, the aircraft profiles are de-
erence from Test developed Scenario (Figure 3). veloped according to the simulation objectives –
The degree of realism of the approximate Airspace to analyse the possibility of introduction of Free
Organisation Models depends on the capabilities Route Airspace in Croatia. Flight profiles must en-
of the simulation tool used. Each airspace struc- sure that the traffic distribution is realistic as possi-
ture has characteristics and evolves at a different ble. For Test Scenario it is very difficult to forecast
rate. The development of an airspace organisation the traffic distribution, particularly in the situation
is affected by a range of parameters that may vary, where new airspace structures are tested or major
subject to local considerations [9]. In detail the changes in the traffic demand is expected.
Reference Scenario contains different baseline pa-
rameters. The following elements should be con-
sidered in order to create the Reference Scenario:
– Traffic Sample:
○ Day/Month/Year;
○ Current traffic distribution, Traffic
Demand, Assigned Current, Forecast
Assigned.
– ATS Route Network:
○ AIRAC Number;
○ VST, VX, AAS;
○ Free Route Airspace.
○ CDRs.
– Assignment Parameters:
○ Rules (General);
○ Rules (RAD);
○ Penalisation;
○ SID and STAR points;
○ Airports;
– Sectors:
○ Elementary sectors;
○ Configurations: Figure 3. Airspace modelling [9]
○ Opening Schemes;
○ TMAs. After defining routes, holds, airspace structures
– Profile: and assigning traffic sample, data can be extracted
○ Flight Level constraints/ FLC; by running a series of queries. The output from
– Military Areas: airspace modelling and simulations includes large
○ TSAs, TRAs, CBAs, R, D, P. amount of data which can be clustered into several
groups:
Having identified those parameters relevant for – Generic static data:
the project, a model of the airspace is build using – Sector load,
an airspace modelling tool (e.g. SAAM). – Routes/segments load,
The airspace modelling tools generally use – Point load,
simplified aircraft trajectories, profile, that are – ATC related data:
usually extracted from complex traffic data, such – Workload
as traffic samples recorded from real life. – Conflicts,

16 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

– Aircraft data related to flight profile: represent international departures and arrivals and
– Flight time, domestic traffic. Most significant is the northern
– Flight distance. sector (North) incorporating the busiest intersec-
tion of routes (ZAG VOR) in this part of Europe,
Validation of the model (simulations) is made with more than 500 flight operations a day, and
with System for Traffic Assignment and Analysis it passes through one of the most loaded air traf-
at a Macroscopic Level (SAAM) software. fic corridors (UL603) that is connecting Western
It has to be noted that this research is not deal- and Central Europe with Middle East and beyond.
ing with the influence of the free route airspace Although North sector has shorter flight time then
implementation on capacity and delay and just on Adria sector (North + South), it is in a more fa-
the environment indicator – flight efficiency. vourable position because in North sector “long
range” (heavy) aircraft fly through it, which con-
4. Croatian free route airspace validation tributes a more financially then “medium range”
model aircrafts flying over the Adriatic. Also North sec-
tor contains routes that are permanent throughout
Traffic in Croatia is characterised with high the year and are not seasonal (Figure 5.).
traffic seasonality. In four months summer period Simulation Area is focused on the Zagreb Flight
between June and September there was around Information Region LDZO that is positioned in the
230000 flights while all the other months together middle of South East Axis area. The South East
count around 270000 flights (Figure 4). At Zagreb Axis represents the coordination of flights in the
ACC, average en-route delay for summer 2011 South East European region during the Summer
was 0.85 minutes/flight, which is in line with the Season. Countries concerned are Albania, Austria,
forecast delay for Zagreb: 0.9 minutes. Zagreb Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus,
ACC generated 2.86% of the network en-route de- Czech Republic, FYROM, Germany (Karlsruhe &
lay. Actual traffic growth was higher than antici- Munich ACCs ), Greece, Hungary, Italy (Brindisi,
pated (8.4% actual vs. 5.6% forecast). There were Milan, Padova, Rome ACCs),Montenegro, Roma-
no delays in April, but they increased each month nia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Tur-
to 1.5 minutes by July before dropping back down key. The South-East Axis applies from mid April
to 0.7 minutes by September [10]. until end October and is coordinated weekly via e-
conference. The South East Axis is an area of South
East Europe that is experiencing rapidly increasing
traffic demand. The key ACC’s affected include:
Padova (LIPP), Zagreb (LDZO), Athens (LGGG),
Macedonia ACC (LGMD) and Nicosia (LCCC).

Figure 4. Traffic evolution in Croatia [11]

Zagreb Air Traffic Control Centre currently

has division of three lateral sectors (North, West
and South) and four vertical sector (Lower, Up-
per, High and Top), with maximum configuration
of 10 sectors. Approximately 80% of the traffic
consists of over-flying traffic, while other 20% Figure 5. Free Route Airspace in Croatia

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 technics technologies education management

Airspace modelling tools generally use simpli- Reference scenario represents the scenario
fied aircraft trajectories that are usually extract- where the environment (ATS routes, network and
ed such as traffic samples recorded from the real traffic sample) is based on the real situation. For
time operations. Traffic sample can be historical the Reference scenario simulation traffic sample
or forecasted traffic. For the Reference scenario it Model 1 is used from 20th of July 2012. The aim
is recommended to use 24 hour real traffic sample of Reference scenario is to provide baseline in
(Central Flow Management Unit - CFMU data- order to make comparative assessment with the
base, radar data recordings, etc.). The selected traf- Test scenario (Free Route Airspace). When ap-
fic sample for this research has been acquired from plying the Assignment Process, SAAM generates
the Demand Data Repository [12]. SAAM is using simplified 4D trajectories (position = time) for the
data files from different sources as input. Traffic aircraft according with the flight plans described
data files has the extension *.so6. The traffic data in the Traffic Sample in a particular Airspace or-
normally comes from CFMU. There are two sets of ganisation. SAAM Assignment process finds the
traffic data available, model 1 and model 3. shortest distance between two city pairs.
– Model 1 is pure flight plan data, as filed by When applying Assignment process for the Ref-
the airlines and corrected by CFMU erence scenario there is 1970 flights crossing Zagreb
– Model 3 is flight plan data compared and FIR. The following figure presents the difference be-
changed according to radar data, but the tween segment load of the shortest route traffic that
flight route is still described from point to crosses Zagreb FIR on 20th of July 2012 (Figure 7.).
point.

Traffic sample used for this research is Model

1 traffic sample and it corresponds to traffic from
20th of July 2012. This was the day with the high-
est traffic in July 2012 with 32205 flights in Eu-
rope (Figure 6). In addition to selecting the traffic
sample it is important to choose the route network
that corresponds to the time period of the select-
ed traffic sample. The environment, meaning the
route network, airspace organisation and other
elements are corresponding to the AIRAC 1207
environment files.

Figure 7. Reference scenario segment load in

Croatian airspace on 20th of July 2012

In the Test scenario identical traffic sample M1

was used. The difference between Reference and
Test scenario is that the airspace environment is
changed. In the Test scenario there is no network
applied, it means that traffic sample is not as-
signed to the route network. In Test scenario Free
Route Airspace has been developed, with entry-
exit points to and from Zagreb FIR and arrival/
departure points for following airports: Zagreb,
Split, Zadar, Rijeka, Pula and Dubrovnik. The
Figure 6. Traffic Density in Croatian airspace on Free Route Airspace developed has following ver-
20th of July 2012 tical limits: lower limit FL285, upper limit FL 660

18 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

When applying Assignment process there are If Free Route Airspace would be implemented
1638 flights crossing Zagreb FIR Free Route Air- in Zagreb FIR airspace in one day (20th of July
space. The following figure presents the difference 2012) 846 aircrafts would be affected, meaning that
between segment load of the shortest route traffic from the original 1970 flights crossing Zagreb FIR
that crosses Zagreb FIR Free Route Airspace on airspace 846 aircrafts would use change its trajec-
20th of July 2012. Figure 8. represents the differ- tory due to the non-existence of route network.
ence between the segment load of Reference sce- Implementation of Free Route Airspace in Croatia
nario and shortest distance, i.e. Free Route Air- for only one day (20th of July 2012) would bring
space flight trajectories. following benefits: flight length reduced by 1399,5
NM, total flight time reduced by approximately 200
minutes, fuel consumption reduced by 9010 kg,
CO2 emission reduced for 28292 kg and NOx emis-
sion reduced by 118 kg. When this value would be
interpolated into a yearly balance flight distance for
civilian operators would be reduced by approxi-
mately 474500 NM, fuel savings of 3285000 kg
would be achieved and there would be a CO2 emis-
sion reduction of approximately 10 326 580.

5. Conclusion
In an ideal world, airplanes would fly directly
from point of departure to point of arrival, but due
to the conflicting requirements of airspace users,
it is necessary to channel the air traffic in a way
Figure 8. Test vs. Reference scenario segement load that follows certain pre-defined paths which can
be manageable. Channelling of the air traffic is
Indicators presenting benefits of the possible achieved by establishing the ATS routes, thereby
implementation of the Free Route Airspace in Za- increasing the safety, but reduces the efficiency of
greb FIR should be based on the agreed indicators air transport. Implementation of Free Route Air-
that are identified and used in the airspace design space could solve the problem of insufficient air-
and modelling methodology. The benefits of FRA space capacity, low flight efficiency, high ATFM
implementation in Zagreb FIR are presented by delay and consequently high air transport cost but
the following indicators: flight length, flight time, special attention must be paid to safety of the air-
fuel consumption and CO2 and NOx emission. space users.
Table 2. Flight efficiency benefits
Length (NM) Time (m) Fuel (kg)
Status Nb flights Total Nb flights Total Nb flights Total
Increase 3 7.09 19 4.39 31 339.52
Equal 33 -0.27 63 -0.41 8 -1.09
Decrease 810 1406.34 764 -202.78 807 9348.81
Total 846 1399.52 846 -198.8 846 9010.38
CO2 (kg) NOx (kg)
Status Nb flights Total Nb flights Total
Increase 31 1066.86 39 10.21
Equal 8 -4.06 29 -1.954
Decrease 807 29355.18 778 127.98
Total 846 28292.38 846 117.77

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 technics technologies education management

Implementation of Free Route Airspace in Cro- Corresponding Author

atian airspace would bring significant flight effi- Tomislav Mihetec,
Croatian Civil Aviation Authority,
ciency improvements of civil operators. It has to
Zagreb,
be noted that this paper didn’t analyze the impact Croatia,
of the FRA implementation on the ATC capacity E-mail: tomislav.mihetec@ccaa.hr
(traffic complexity and ATCO workload) and de-
lay. According to the RNDSG there is proposal to
introduce Free Route H24 in Zagreb ACC AoR for
the summer 2014.

References
1. EUROCONTROL PRC, Performance Review Re-
port, An Assessment of Air Traffic Management in
Europe during the Calendar Year 2011, Brussels,
Belgium, 2012

2. IATA/EUROCONTROL/CANSO, Flight Efficiency

Plan, Fuel and emission savings, Brussels, Belgium,
2007

3. European Commission (EU) No 677/2011 laying

down detailed rules for the implementation of air
traffic management (ATM) network functions and
amending Regulation (EU) No 691/2010, Brussels,
Belgium, 2011

4. http://www.eurocontrol.int/news/flight-plan-process-
ing-enters-free-route-airspace-era

5. Naviair, Free choice of flight route reduces fuel burn

and CO2 emission, Denmark, 2011

6. FABEC, Free route airspace gains ground, Maas-

tricht and Karlsruhe 2011

7. http://www.eurocontrol.int/articles/airspace-design

8. Network Manager nominated by the European Com-

mission, European Route Network Improvement
Plan, European Airspace Design Methodology –
Guidelines, Brussels, Belgium, 2012

9. Eurocontrol, Terminal Airspace Design Manual,

Brussels, Belgium, 2005

10. EUROCONTROL, Network Performance Report,

Summer 2011, Brussels, Belgium, 2012

11. https://extranet.eurocontrol.int/http://prisme-
oas.hq.corp.eurocontrol.int/analytics/saw.
dll?Dashboard&_scid=zxCfCbAMe5I

12. https://extranet.eurocontrol.int/

13. http://prisme-oas.hq.corp.eurocontrol.int/ddr/

20 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

Structural degradation of the bulk-carriers

caused by the corrosion
Spiro Ivosevic, Sanja Bauk, Danilo Nikolic
University of Montenegro, Faculty of Maritime Studies, Montenegro

Abstract etc. All analyzed parameters were aimed toward

The paper gives an overview of previous stud- determining the critical influencing factors and
ies of hull’s structural degradation of the old bulk guidelines for their reduction [3].
carriers due to corrosion effects. The emphasis
is placed on research that the authors carried out 2. Research in the field of corrosion
so far in this topic. Analyses were done in a way degradation of bulk-carriers
that the entire ship’s hull is divided into eleven Studies of structural defects have shown that
zones composed of longitudinal and transversal material corrosion and fatigue are two most out-
elements, where each of these areas is separately standing factors causing structural degradation of
treated. The data on the corrosive wear of ship the ship’s hull. However, the loss of the ship, as a
plates, collected during several years of measure- consequence has a loss of information on the cause
ments, were used for simulation techniques based of the accident, making problems with availability
on the Monte Carlo approach, in order to develop of relevant data on the structural elements of ships in
reliable predictive models as the functional depen- service. So far, the number of studies was examining
dence of corrosion depth, i.e. the steel amount that the impacts of corrosion degradation on the struc-
is to be replaced, over certain areas of the hull dur- ture and stability of the ship’s hull [4-8]. Therefore,
ing the time which the ship spends in service. the phenomenon of steel corrosion of structures in
Key words: bulk carrier, corrosion, simula- the maritime environment dedicated significant re-
tion, prediction model search attention, including the work of the authors
of this study [9-16]. The theoretical predictions
1. Introduction based on the different protection and mostly opera-
tional parameters have been done by Malchers R.E.,
During its relatively long life in service, the et al. (1995, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2008), but such ap-
ships are exposed to changing and unpredictable proach to the corrosion phenomenon is indeed a dif-
external and internal influences that may contrib- ficult task. An easier option, being used here, is to
ute to their rapid deterioration. Various types of er- base the corrosion rate analysis on the homogenous
rors can cause partial or complete loss of the ship, historical data about the corrosion losses and by de-
loss of human life and/or pollution of the environ- veloping the appropriate simulation model.
ment with almost incalculable consequences.
In studies conducted so far, it appears that bulk- 3. Structural areas of bulk-carriers, data
carriers are subject of numerous maritime acci- collection and processing
dents. During the last five decades, there were over
500 complete losses of aged bulk-carriers, causing Investigations conducted to assess the degra-
the loss of more than 2300 human lives [1, 2]. dation of certain structural elements, or fields, of
Due to the numerous negative effects of ship’s aged bulk-carriers showed that storage of cargo
accidents on humans and environment, a numer- and ballast tanks are areas that are subject to accel-
ous studies have been conducted, based on: age erated aging and decay due to the effects of corro-
and size of vessels, causes of sinking, types of sion and fatigue. Conclusions were brought out by
cargo transported, types of ships and their ton- analyzing the individual structural elements of the
nage, transport routes, state flags, weather condi- hull, with the far more studies of the longitudinal
tions, ports of departures, places of shipbuilding, than the transversal elements.

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 technics technologies education management

Investigations conducted by the authors [9-15] Open decks (2-DS): They are located in the
took into consideration overall structure of the stern area of the ship, above the main deck, in the
bulk-carrier hull, that is, all structural elements area of the space for accommodation, spanning
(transversal and longitudinal), location and orien- several levels, and in the fore castle deck.
tation all the considered elements, as well as the Bottom and side shell plating (3-BSSP): It
requirements of classification societies in terms of coats the core structure (skeleton) of the ship hull
amount of measurements. and serves as the impenetrable cloak of the hull. It
Therefore, taking into account a need to look at is composed of flat and curved panels that extend
the entire ship’s structure, a division of the ship’s from bow to stern of the ship.
hull structure was established having eleven char- Hatch cover and coamings (4-HCC): Each car-
acteristic areas that are exposed to the deteriora- go hold has in principle at least one hatch, which
tion due to the corrosion. In Figure 1 are presented consists of coamings (a system of vertical stiffen-
each of these eleven areas. ing plates which frame the hatch), and cover (steel
Upper decks (1-UD): These plates are placed structure made from sheet metal and related stiff-
in strakes which extend along the entire length of ening systems) which serve to close the hatches
the ship, and between the cargo holds. and watertight storages securing cargo.

(a) 2D longitudinal view

Legend:
1-UD - Upper deck
2-DS - Deck superstructure
3-BSSP - Bottom and side shell plating
4-HCC - Hatch cover and coaming
5-ISTST - Internal structure in top side tanks
6-CHTB - Cargo hold transverse bulkheads
7-CHMF - Cargo hold main frames
8-IBHP - Inner bottom and hopper plating
9-ISDBT - Internal structure in double bottom tanks
10-APS - After peak structures
11-FPS - Fore peak structures

(b) 3D cargo hold cross-section

Figure 1. The bulk carriers’ analyzed eleven hull structural areas

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 technics technologies education management

Structure in top side tanks (5-ISTST): Their in- are connected to the shell plating), and stiffener
terior is composed of tanks cross half-permeable system on the collision bulkhead, are all the con-
(web frames, frames) or impermeable plate (trans- stitutive parts of this area.
verse watertight bulkhead), transversal and longi-
tudinal. The floor, i.e. the very bottom of the top 4. Simulations in predicting corrosion
side tanks is composed of many plates, so called
slopping plates. The subjects of previous studies were mostly
Cargo holds transverse bulkheads (6-CHTB): aged bulk-carriers and general cargo ships, being
Transversal bulkheads can be constructed as a flat in operation for over 25 years [12]. Here, the au-
surface made up of several levels (each level con- thors have had on their disposal an extensive data-
sists of a number of flat panels) or, as is usually the base of twelve aged bulk-carriers (Table 1).
case of corrugated bulkheads. For each aging bulk-carrier, the appropriate mea-
Cargo holds main frames (7-CHMF): The surements of specific areas which are subject to cor-
specificity of single balk carriers is reflected in the rosion were conducted, in accordance with related
simple construction consisting of a multitude of regulations and standards of classification societies.
vertical stiffening (main frames) that with the sys- The measurements were performed by using ul-
tem of the lower and upper brackets reinforce hull trasonic measuring instruments, while data process-
plating in the cargo holds area. ing has been done by the sophisticated software ap-
Inner bottom and hopper plating (8-IBHP): plications of classification societies. With standard-
The bottom of each cargo hold consists of steel ized data processing, amounts of steel plates and
plates that are placed along the entire storage area, bracing marine structures that are to be replaced
extending between the sides of the bulk carrier. due to the corrosion were determined. In fact, the
Internal structure in double bottom tanks (9-IS- amounts of damaged steel in tones were estimated.
DBT): The integral parts of this area are: transversal An idea was to process collected data and esti-
floors and water tight floors with stiffener system, mate the amount of steel to be replaced at the end
bottom and inner bottom longitudinal stiffeners, and of certain period. In this sense, data were collected
girder and water tight girder with stiffener system. at the end of the bulk-carrier’s twenty-fifth year of
After peak structures (10-APS): This area in- service. Cumulative data on the quantities of re-
cludes the entire internal structure of the tank, placed steel within a particular area of the hull are
consisting of longitudinal and transversal plates, given in Table 2.
webs, and girders. Taking into the account the fact that the largest
Fore peak structures (11-APS): Tank top and concentrations of replaced steel occur in the part of
stringers plates (with transversal beams, and lon- internal structure at the top side tanks (5-ISTST),
gitudinal girders), web frames and frames (which cargo hold transversal bulkhead (6-CHTB), and in-

Table 1. Basic technical data of investigated bulk-carriers

Ships Build Ship’s age Class Gross tonnage [t] Deadweight [t]
S1 1982. 26 BV 25056 44504
S2 1982. 26 BV 25056 44504
S3 1983. 25 LR 25742 41427
S4 1983. 25 LR 22112 38110
S5 1984. 25 BV 15220 41920
S6 1982. 25 BV 17436 47871
S7 1984. 25 BV 19045 48826
S8 1984. 25 DNV 24844 42312
S9 1984. 25 ABS 17599 42390
S10 1984. 25 BV 15200 41900
S11 1978. 30 BV 22372 38972
S12 1980. 25 LR 16591 42617

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 technics technologies education management

ner bottom and hopper plating (8-IBHP), the pre- and, c) repeating the process for a series of replica-
vious research attention [5, 6, 7], has been mostly tions (runs, or trials).
given to these areas. Before performing any con- The variable we took here into consideration rep-
clusions on the basis of these results, it should be resents the average amounts of the steel damaging
mentioned that corrosion does not take place at the due to the corrosion during the time of exploitation
beginning of the service life of bulk-carriers. Due to over the ships’ plates. Namely, as a sound base for
the conditions of exploitation, adequate surface pro- applying Monte Carlo method, we used here the ho-
tection systems, and maintenance systems, there is a mogenous data collected by measurements of ships’
transition period from the beginning of service life hull structure steel thickness for the group of 12 bulk
to the point where some structural elements begin to carriers during the years. Due to the frequencies of
corrode. It is clear that there is an incubation period appearances of some steel amounts, which have to
of several years in which the steel replacement is not be replaced at some ships’ plates, and total number
expected due to effects of corrosion [16-20]. of different amounts appearing in the model, we cal-
After defining eleven structural areas of bulk- culated the probability of each possible outcome of
carriers and data processing, the key question was the variable, or its probability distribution.
how much steel is needed to be replaced in a shorter Upon the probabilities determined for each
period of time, for example, in one service year. In amount appearing in the data base, the cumulative
order to find out the answer to this question some probabilities are to be calculated by summing all
assumptions were made based on the timing of cor- the previous probabilities up to the current one [9,
rosion, using Monte Carlo simulation technique. 21, 22]. Later in the process of setting the simula-
tion process, the cumulative probabilities are used
4.1. Upon Monte Carlo simulation for generating the pseudorandom numbers from
the intervals that correspond to the boundaries
When a problem contains elements that exhibit of the cumulative probabilities. There are several
chance or probability in their behavior, Monte ways to pick random numbers: using a ball, a ta-
Carlo method is suitable for applying. The basic ble, a roulette wheel, etc. But, of course, we used
idea in Monte Carlo simulation is to randomly here today the most convenient method, based
generate values for the unknown variables in the on a computer program; concretely, the MS Ex-
model, through randomly sampling. The tech- cel embedded functions: RAND, LOOKUP, and
nique breaks down into three steps: a) establish COUNTIF, which work properly for the simula-
a probability distribution for each variable in the tion problems of relatively small dimensions. For
model that is subject to change; b) using random the purpose of this research Excel embedded func-
numbers that simulate values from the probability tions, have been employed as appropriate ones for
distribution for each variable in the previous step; the rather small-scale simulations.

Table 2. The amounts of the steel [t] removed/replaced over some of the bulk carriers’ hull structural
areas during the whole ships’ exploitation circle
Area / Ship S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9 S10 S11 S12 Average
1-UD 80 165 22 7 12 1 36 30 12 14 150 3 44.33
2-DS 5 22 6 6 14 0 2 2 5 11 4 2 6.58
3-BSSP 25 60 65 5 3 0 21 45 33 0 10 1 22.33
4-HCC 35 40 15 32 7 10 14 15 18 22 35 3 20.50
5-ISTST 120 160 9 75 14 5 16 30 187 35 45 10 58.83
6-CHTB 220 145 65 45 13 3 84 170 16 17 32 1 67.58
7-CHMF 110 85 45 32 3 0 25 85 7 0 22 4 34.83
8-IBHP 585 650 550 150 38 0 110 650 270 35 440 0 289.83
9-ISDBT 45 55 50 45 48 0 2 35 44 24 40 0 32.33
10-APS 12 30 40 14 5 0 2 5 3 2 30 0 11.92
11-FPS 55 60 6 32 26 2 19 5 1 15 20 1 20.17

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4.2. The simulation validation 5. Some numerical results

The process of verifying that the simulation By processing the data, estimated amounts of
appropriately represents the environment it is try- steel for the replacement were obtained for each
ing to imitate, is called simulation validation. It is of the eleven pre-defined areas of structural aging
very important if there is a need for the confidence bulk-carriers, after a certain period they spent in
in the results obtained by the simulation. There are service. Within the investigations, assumptions
two principal means of validation: a) comparing about the beginning of the corrosion were varied.
examples of the simulated environment to the real
environment, and b) asking the experts for the real 5.1. Estimated quantity of steel to be replaced
environment to comment on examples of the simu- after 15 years of exploitation
lated environment [21, 22]. For the purpose of our
research work, we employed the second method, i.e. This segment of our investigation is based on
we asked few experts for their opinions [9]. Later the assumption that corrosion will begin to occur in
on, in accordance with their suggestions, we in- some areas of ship after 5 or 10 years. In addition,
creased synthetically, or artificially the frequencies there is a period between initial corrosion and cor-
of appearing the certain steel amounts in the model rosion wastage which is considered unacceptable.
that closely correspond to the average amounts, i.e. Therefore, we can expect first amounts of steel to
to the expected values (Figure 2). The reason for do- be replaced after 15 years of service. An investiga-
ing this we found practically in the experts’ opinions tion was based on the question, how much steel will
based on their experiences, and theoretically in the be replaced on an annual basis between 15th and 25th
fact that the corrosion damaging process of ships’ service year [10]. Taking in account this optimistic
plates is not so rapid, neither completely unpredict- case, we took 10 ships for this investigation.
able one, like machine’s failure, for instance. Thus, Applying Monte Carlo simulation technique,
the certain convergence between simulation results the results were obtained over 100 000 simula-
and mathematical expectations might be achieved to tion runs. Although simulations have been car-
a certain degree. ried out over all structural areas [10], in Table 3
are given data obtained for three most exposed
structure areas to deterioration due to corrosion,
which were used for further analysis. In such way,
the outcomes of the Monte Carlo simulation pro-
cess should be undoubtedly closer to the average
amounts (mathematical expectation), which is in
Figure 2. Upgrading the simulation model by the accordance to the experts’ experiences. Thanks to
experts’ knowledge more extensive research this has been achieved.
The method of gaining better convergence be-

Table 3. Monte Carlo simulation results for three analyzed bulk carriers’ structure areas in terms of steel
amounts to be replaced per year
Member Steel amounts[t] / number of random appearances through the simulation process
No. App. 9997 9968 9986 10031 9773 20114 10079 10032 10020
ISTST Amount
0.61 0.81 0.91 2.51 3.01 4.52 7.51 12.01 16.01
Freq.
No. App. 9872 9992 10146 9968 10130 9923 9988 10045 10046 9890
CHTB Amount
0.21 1.61 2.41 2.51 3.21 4.51 6.51 14.51 17.01 22.01
Freq.
CHTB No. App. 10185 9985 9817 9965 9970 10052 9957 10099 19970
Amount
0.51 1.51 8.51 11.01 12.01 15.01 44.01 55.01 65.02
Freq.

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 technics technologies education management

tween simulation process results and experts’ ex- 5.3.1. A discrete approach
pectations, is described in details in reference [9],
and briefly presented below. Namely, in the paper [13], ten bulk carriers
have been analyzed by scanning the amounts of
steel that might be removed/replaced over most
5.2. Improvements in model and further con- sensitive areas of the ships’ hull structure, after
siderations 15, 20 and 25 years of their exploitation. The data
In order to achieve a better convergence of em- being taken into the consideration were collected
pirical and simulation results obtained in terms of by the Invar-Ivošević Company. Namely, this
quantity of steel to be replaced, certain modifica- Company has realized all required measurements
tions in the input data were made [9-12]. This is of corrosion wastage during the whole period of
done in such way, that the measured amounts of observation. As most sensitive areas of bulk carri-
steel that appear in input data, which are close to ers’ hull structure are identified: internal structure
the mean value (Table 4), are replaced with (ap- in top side tanks (ISTST), cargo hold transversal
proximately) mean value. This has increased ap- bulkheads (CHTB), and inner bottom and hop-
pearance of steel quantity in input data, which is per platings (IBHP). The amounts of steel in tons
close to the mean value. With this approximation, that had to be removed at each of three previously
there has been gained greater similarity between identified areas are given in Table 5.
the results of simulations and the experts’ expec- Here, Monte Carlo simulation method has been
tations, which makes the model more acceptable employed in developing predictive model of the
from a practical point of view. expected amounts of steel to be removed over
above mentioned member locations after 15, 20
and/or 25 years of the bulk carriers’ exploitation
5.3. A time-dependent model life. The simulations have been realized separate-
Up to now, several time-dependent corrosion ly, for each of the above listed bulk carriers’ hull
wastage models have been developed upon the ap- member locations. Some of the obtained results by
propriate homogenous historical (statistical) data the simulations are given in Table 6.
[23-28]. Most of these models consider depth of In order to increase the frequency of appear-
steel degradation - d [mm/year], at a certain ship’s ing some similar amounts in the model, the aver-
area. Here, we considered two different approach- age values have been taken into the consideration.
es: one either discrete, and another continuous one. For example, the amounts 4 and 4.5 [t] for internal
structure in top side tanks after 25 years of ex-
ploitation have been treated as average amount of

Table 4. The improved results of Monte Carlo simulation achieved owing to the experts’ knowledge in
the domain
Item Steel amounts [t] / number of random appearances through the simulation process Avg.
No.app. 9996 9968 9986 10031 9773 20114 10079 10032 10020 [t]
ISTST
Am. Freq. 0.61 0.81 0.91 2.51 3.01 4.52 7.51 12.01 16.01 0.52
No.app. 30284 10164 9882 19822 9796 10057 9995
ISTSTΔ
Am. Freq. 0.53 2.51 3.01 4.52 7.51 12.01 16.01
No.app. 9872 9992 10146 9968 10130 9923 9988 10045 10046 9890
CHTB
Am. Freq. 0.21 1.61 2.41 2.51 3.21 4.51 6.51 14.51 17.01 22.01 0.74
No.app. 30108 9946 9963 10135 9961 9882 9930 10075
CHTBΔ
Am. Freq. 0.7 3
2.51 3.21 4.51 6.51 14.51 17.01 22.01
No.app. 10185 9985 9817 9965 9970 10052 9957 10099 19970
IBHP
Am. Freq. 0.51 1.51 8.51 11.01 12.01 15.01 44.01 55.01 65.02 2.78
No.app. 30039 10125 9869 9965 9926 10190 19886
IBHPΔ
Am. Freq. 3.0 3
11.01 12.01 15.01 44.01 55.01

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Table 5. Steel amounts [t] being removed/replaced over most sensitive bulk carriers’ areas during the
time (years of exploitation)
Years 15 20 25
Ship/Area ISTST CHTB IBHP ISTST CHTB IBHP ISTST CHTB IBHP
Ship 1 1 0 0 2.5 0.5 1 4.5 1.5 4
Ship 2 0 0 20 2 10 200 7 55 330
Ship 3 2 1 0 7 5 2 10 13 4
Ship 4 2 0 0 5 5 5 15 8 45
Ship 5 0 0 0 0 3 5 0 14 15
Ship 6 5 0 0 20 5 50 50 15 250
Ship 7 0 0 0 8 5 10 22 35 25
Ship 8 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 20
Ship 9 1 0 0 1 6 20 4 10 90
Ship 10 0 0 35 0 0 165 30 170 450
Table 6. Input data and Monte Carlo simulation outcomes for the period after 25 years of bulk carriers
exploitation
4.25 8.5 22.33
[t] 0 50
(4+4.5)/2 (7+10)/2 (15+22+30)/3
ISTST
Frequency 2 2 2 3 1
No. of runs 199 219 185 299 100
9 14
[t] 0.75 35 55 170
(8+10)/2 (13+14+15)/3
CHTB
Frequency 2 2 3 1 1 1
No. of runs 201 199 280 109 106 105
343.33
[t] 4 20 45 90
(250+330+450)/3
IBHP
Frequency 2 3 1 1 3
No. of runs 193 316 91 78 322

4.25 [t] ((4+4.5)/2=4.25) appearing thus twice in actually an inverse approach to model previously
the model. The analog procedure has been used in developed by Guedes Soares and Garbatov, [29].
some other cases in the model, as well. While Guedes Soares and Garbatov approximated
But, it is to be noted that the historical (empiri- the functional dependence of the depth of corro-
cal) data collected during the time are mostly het- sion with time, we have made an attempt to ap-
erogeneous as in numerous other investigations in proximate quantity of the steel to be replaced as a
this domain [16, 24, 25, 27, 28] requiring larger function of time that ship spends in service.
input data set. Namely, the durability of coating, transition be-
tween coating durability and corrosion initiation, and
5.3.2. A continual approach the process of corrosion, might be represented by the
time-dependent functional equation of type [29]:
In addition to the previously presented discrete
approach, in order to analyze the amount of steel  -
t - τc 
  ........................ (1)
which should be replaced, various continuous d(t ) = d ∞ 1 - e τt 
models have been developed. Though, in the ref-  
 
erence [9], a model developed by the appropriate
extrapolations of the restrictive set of original data,
Were, d(t ) - is the corrosion wastage at time
being available at different time points during the
ships’ exploitation circles, is given. This model is t; d ∞ - is the long-corrosion wastage; τ c - is the

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 technics technologies education management

time without corrosion to the start of failure of the Monte Carlo method, in a way that random num-
bers are selected for simulation in accordance with
corrosion protecting coating, τ t - is the transition
Weibull’s distribution function, which will be sub-
time duration.
ject for future more rigorous research in this field.
Since corrosion data has a very large variabil-
ity, the time-dependent functional equation (1)
should not be taken into the consideration as “the
only”, or as “the best” one. It has been used here
as an equation that satisfies the requirements of an
approximation of the corrosion wastage.
What can be treated as novel here, due to the au-
thors’ knowledge, is the attempt to realize some in-
verse analysis of the equation (1) in manner to find
an approximate function which corresponds to the
amounts of steel replaced during the ship exploita-
tion circle. Though,after some analytical analysis
and numerous simulation trials it has been realized
that function of type (2) might be used, with relative-
ly high accuracy, in modeling the steel amounts to be
replaced at bulk carriers’ inner bottom plating areas:
Figure 3. Scheme of two different functional ap-
t - τc proximations for corrosion degradation of the
bilk carrier’s members
Q(t ) = e τt
- 1 ............................ (2)

Were, Q(t ) - is the steel amount replaced/removed 6. Conclusion

over certain ship’s area; τ c - is the time without cor- The paper represents an overview of previous
rosion to the start of failure of the corrosion protect- investigations in the field of corrosion degrada-
tion of bulk-carriers as a function of time spent
ing coating; τ t - is the transition time duration.
in service. Accordingly, on the exemplar of aged
Figure 3 shows both functional equations (1) and
bulk carriers, it has been shown how the Monte
(2), i.e. time-dependant corrosion depth expressed
Carlo simulation method might be used in predict-
in [mm/year], and time-dependant removed/re-
ing amounts of the ships’ structures steel wastage
placed steel amounts expressed in [t] units. Addi-
caused by the corrosion. Some improvements of
tionally, the time-variant removed, or replaced steel
the results obtained by the pure Monte Carlo simu-
amounts over pre-specified areas have been pre-
lation have been achieved by the appropriate modi-
sented for different τ c , i.e. τ c ∈ [1 0 , 1 2 , 1 5 ] years. fications which imply including expert knowledge
The curves Q[t] in Figure 3 have been translated and some mathematical approximations in the
to the scheme of average removed/replaced steel primer data model. These modifications comprise
amounts over bulk carriers’ inner bottom plating kind of artificial or synthetically interventions in
areas in the case of examined set of bulk carriers. the historical (empirical) data base, with an aim
In addition to this, let’s call it continual predic- of increasing the frequency of appearing the most
tive model, for the steel amounts that are to be re- common amounts of the damaged steel due to the
moved/replaced, different probabilistic techniques general corrosion over the certain ship’s plate, ac-
might be employed in such analysis as well. One of cordingly to the expert knowledge and previously
the most appropriate distribution functions which done analysis in this domain. This might be treat-
can be used for approximation of bulk-carriers steel ed in a way as a particular syncretism of quantita-
corrosion process degradation is the Weibull’s dis- tive and qualitative simulations (analysis) in the
tribution [5, 30]. It is also possible to make a sort process of estimating steel amounts that are to be
of compilation of Weibull’s distribution and the replaced at the certain longitudinal and transver-

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 technics technologies education management

sal elements of ships’ hull. What is required here References

as a base for the forthcoming more extensive in- 1. Roberts Stephen E., Marlow Peter B. , Casualties
vestigation, it is the larger primer data base and in dry bulk shipping (1963–1996), Marine Policy 2, ,
its deeper proper segregation of each ship’s hull 2002, p. 437–450.
areas into the smaller segments. This is to be real-
ized with an idea of achieving closer correlation 2. Bulk carrier casualty report, IMO, MSC 83/INF.6, 3
July 2007
between analytically and experimentally, by the
simulation method, obtained results. 3. Structural Failure of Large Bulk Ships, Report 85,
It is to be emphasized that within this paper both Bureau of Transport and Communications Econom-
longitudinal and transversal elements of ship’s ics, Canberra, December 1993.
structure have been analyzed, differing from the
4. J. K. Paik, S. K. Kim and S. K. Lee, “A probabilistic
previous investigations which deal only with lon- corrosion rate estimation model for longitudinal
gitudinal elements [24-27]. Also, the amounts of strength members of bulk carriers”, Ocean Engi-
the steel [t] which are to be replaced due to the cor- neering , 1998; 25 (10): 837–860.
rosion damages are taken into the consideration,
5. J.K. Paik, A.K. Thayamballi, Y.I. Park & J.S.
instead of the depth of the steel damage caused Hwang, “A time-dependent corrosion wastage model
by the same reason. The last can be of certain im- for bulk carrier structures”, International Journal of
portance for the practical purposes, since it does Maritime Engineering , 2003; 145( A2): 61-87.
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ship ballast tank corrosion using operational pro-
of the steel. This makes job easier in a manner to files”, International Journal of Maritime Engineer-
all here involved parties: experts, operators, re- ing “,2006;148( A3).
searchers, ships’ owners, et al. However, it is to be
noted that in the case of the corrosion effects, addi- 7. Gardiner C.P. and Melchers R.E. , Corrosion analy-
tional research is still needed to better understand, sis of bulk carriers, Part I: operational parameters
influencing corrosion rates, Marine Structures, 2003;
clarify and address the various bulk carriers’ hull 16: 547-566.
plates’ strength uncertainties and their influences
on considered naval structures’ behavior. 8. Gudze M.T., Melchers R.E., “Operational based cor-
Some additional bulk-carriers’ corrosion pre- rosion analysis in naval ships”, Corrosion Science,
2008; No. 50, 3296–3307.
diction models based upon the probabilistic theo-
ry are to be developed and tested. The authors’ of 9. Bauk, S., Nikolic, D., Ivosevic, S., “Corrosion Wast-
this paper made some experiments in finding out age Modeling for Different Member Locations of
particular convergence between Weibull distribu- Aged Bulk Carriers”, Journal of Maritime Research,
tion function and Monte Carlo technique. These 2010; 7( 1 ):27-40.
experiments will be continued in order to obtain 10. Bauk S., Vujovic L., Nikolic D., Ivosevic S.: “The Cor-
more reliable, time-dependant corrosion models rosion Damages Modeling in Improving Safety of Aged
for bulk-carriers being in operation for years, with Bulk Carriers”, Communications in Dependability
an ultimate aim of gaining more safely and effi- and Quality Management - An International Journal,
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11. Bauk S., Ivošević Š., Milošević D., “Using Simula-

Acknowledgement tion to Analyze Corrosion Loss over some Trans-
versal and Longitudinal Member Locations of Aged
The paper considered investigations in the field Bulk Carriers”, Вісник Одеського національного
of some aging bulk-carriers deterioration caused морського університету, December, 2010; Issue
31: 56-69.
by the corrosion are supported by the Invar-
Ivošević Ltd. Company (http://www.invar.me), 12. I. Bauk Sanja, N. Ivošević Špiro: “The simulation
through making us available large database of the model of the corrosion damaging ship’s hull struc-
corrosion ware over bulk-carriers in different time ture”, Tehnička dijagnostika, 2011; 1: 15-24.
cross-sections of their exploitation lives.

Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013 29

 technics technologies education management

13. Bauk S., Ivošević Š., The Expert Knowledge in the 26. Paik J.K., Thayamballi A.K., Ultimate strength of
Optimization of The Bulk-Carriers Corrosion Wast- ageing ships, Proc. Instn. Mech. Engrs. , Part M:
age Controlling,14th International Research/Expert Engineering for the Maritime Environment, 2002;
Conference - TMT 2010, Mediterranean Cruise , 216: 57-77
11-18 September 2010; 433-436.
27. Qin S-P, Cui W-C, A discussion of the ultimate
14. Ivošević Špiro, Bauk Sanja: “Fuel oil Tanks wast- strength of ageing ships, with particular reference
age analisis of aging ships”, ICDQM-2011, Beo- to the corrosion model, Proc. Instn. Mech. Engrs.,
grad, June, 2011; 395-400. Part M: Engineering for the Maritime Environment ,
2002, 216: 155-160.
15. Bauk S., Ivošević Š., Scanning the Fuel Tanks’ Cor-
rosion Loss of some Aged Bulk Carriers Due to 28. Wang G., Lee A., Ivanov L., Lynch J. T., Serratella
the Security Reason,15th International Research/ C., Basu R., A Statistical Investigation of Time-vari-
Expert Conference - TMT 2011, Prague, September, ant Hull Girder Strength of Aging Ships and Coating
2011; p. 205-20, 12-18. Life, Journal of Marine Structures, 2008; 21 ( 2/3):
240-256.
16. Gardiner C.P. and Melchers R.E., Bulk Carrier
Corrosion Modelling, Proceedings of the Eleventh 29. Guedes Soares C., Garbatov Y.,Reliability of main-
International Offshore and Polar Engineering Con- tained corrosion protected plates subjected to non/
ference Stavanger, Norway, June 17-22, 2001. linear corrosion and compressive loads, Journal of
Marine Structures, , 1999; 12: 425-44.
17. Bureau Veritas: Part A Classification and Surveys, NR
467.A1 DTR05 E, May 2006. 30. Ivanov L.D., “Challenges and Possible Solutions of
the Time-Variant Reliability of Ship’s Hull Girder”,
18. Det Norske Veritas: Guideline for Ultrasonic Thick- Ships and Offshore Structures, 2009; 4(3): 215-228.
ness Measurements of Ships Classed with Det Nor-
ske Veritas, Det Norske Veritas, MTPNO864, May
2004. Corresponding Author
Spiro Ivosevic,
19. Bureau of Shipping (ABS): Rules for Survey After Faculty of Maritime Studies – Kotor,
Construction, Part 7, 2009. University of Montenegro,
Montenegro,
20. Lloyd’s Register: Rules and Regulations for the E-mail: spiroi@ac.me
Classification of Ships, Rule Finder, ver. 9.12, July
2009.

21. Balakrishnan N., Render B., Stair R.M., Manage-

rial Decision Modeling with Spreadsheets, 2nd edi-
tion, Chapter 10: Simulation Modeling, Prentice-
Hall Inc., New Jersey, 2007.

22. A.W. Shogan, Management Science, Part 17: Simu-

lation, University of California, Berkeley, Prentice-
Hall Inc., New Jersey, 1998.

23. J. Guo, Wang G., Ivanov L., Perakis A.N., Time-

varying ultimate strength of aging tanker deck plate
considering corrosion effects, Journal of Marine
Structures , 2008,;21( 4) : 402-419.

24. Paik J.K., Kim S.K., Lee S.K., Park J.E., A proba-
bilistic corrosion rate estimation model for longitu-
dinal strength members of bulk carriers, Journal of
Ships & Ocean Technology, 1998; 2( 1): 58-70.

25. Paik J.K., Lee J.M., Park Y., Hwang J.S., Kim C.W.,
Time-variant ultimate longitudinal strength of cor-
roded bulk carriers, Journal of Marine Structures,
2003;16: 567-600.

30 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

Sustainable technology for existing buildings

renovation in the function of energy efficiency
Hranislav Milosevic1, Dragana Vasilski2, Svetlana Stevovic2
1
Faculty of mathematical science KM, Serbia,
2
University Union-Nikola Tesla, Belgrade, Serbia.

Abstract First group defines energy efficiency as the ra-

Contemporary society is characterized by dy- tio between energy extracted from the technical
namic changes, which are manifested in the field system for conversion in the form of usefull en-
of architecture through sustainable construction. ergy and energy put into the system.
Along the use of new materials and technologies in Second group defines energy efficiency as the
the design and construction of new facilities, there ratio between the function of the system and en-
is problem of achieving the energy efficiency of ergy put in the system. In that case, the dimension
existing buildings or old buildings which ought to is equal the ratio between the dimension of the ser-
adapt to new requirements in the context of static vice and input energy.
stability, functionality, aesthetic, environmental and Third group of definitions asks the question:
energy efficiency. As the number of old buildings What is the function of the system that uses the
is very large, the conclusion that their adaptation energy?
in order to satisfy these requirements, significantly The conclusion: there is no unique definition
contributed to the fight against climate change. Fa- of energy efficiency term. In general, this term is
cade is a special opportunity for intervention in ren- used to describe the process of achieving the goals
ovating a building. There are elaborate systems in by reducing energy use.
the world, in accordance with the requirements for 41% of the total amount of annual energy con-
energy efficiency. The paper will present an inova- sumed comes from about 160 million (mostly res-
tive facade system (Schuco as the model), such as idential and commercial) buildings in Europe (for
curtain wall in the sustainable energy technologies the industry 28%, transport 31%) [5].
for renovation of existing buildings. The increase in the need for energy efficiency is
Key words: facade, design, adaptation, sus- evident. To reduce dependence on energy imports
tainable building, energy-efficiency. and to simultaneously maintain the fight against
climate change, European countries aim to reduce
energy consumption by at least 20% by 2020. Ac-
1. Introduction
cording to the directives of all newly built facilities
In recent decades Europe has a lot of empha- must be so-called “near-zero-energy buildings” by
sis placed on preserving the natural environment, 2020, because it is predicted higher global energy
energy saving and use of alternative and renew- demands by 53%, as the expected state of 2030.
able sources of energy for sustainable develop- Rational use of existing building stock, in ac-
ment. According to the definition of Commission cord with the principles of sustainable develop-
on Environment and Development – WCED, in ment that is the paradigm of contemporary archi-
1987: ‘’Sustainable development is development tectural theory and practice, includes the adapta-
that meets present needs without compromising tion and restoration of architectural structures to
future generations opportunities to meet their own adjust the modern functional, environmental and
needs” [1]. This includes design of high energy energy requirements [6].
efficiency of buildings [2] with a maximum use As one of the main strategies for sustainable de-
of renewable energy sources (solar, wind, water, velopment is to minimize the use of new resources,
etc..,) [3], the rational use of energy and concern adaptation of buildings is a very rational solution,
for comfort owever, if literature is analyzed, three because extension of the building life is extending
groups of energy efficiency [4] can be declared. the use of the resources used in construction [7].

Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013 31

 technics technologies education management

Specific potential in this context is façade of 2. Goal

the building. Materialization of the building has
Changes in society, the economy and ecology
become a true philosophy in the field of architec-
are also reflected in architecture [9]. Through the
ture [8]. The behavior of the contemporary and
reduction in population and urbanization in recent
traditional materials in the exploitation, in modern
years there has been a marked decline in new-
conditions micro and macro climate change, from
build construction. In contrast, the market share in
the standpoint of environmental protection and
modernization and energy efficient refurbishment
ecology, requires their strict control and continu-
has been a rapid increase responsible for over two
ous testing.
thirds of all building projects.
The facade layer, as a complex system of con-
The aim of this study was to analyze a large
structive technology, enables the implementation of
number of bad decisions of older existing build-
different architectural solutions, in terms of achiev-
ings with low energy efficiency and to present the
ing significant improvements in energy savings.
new methodological approach by means of ther-
The facade, like the face of each object (from Latin
mal and technical renovation reduces primary en-
facies - a face), is a challenge posed to every archi-
ergy use [10]. Along side the optimization of en-
tect, because the object is an element of interaction
ergy use, the well-being of occupants of existing
with the environment as well as its protection.
buildings is an important factor. Ventilation sys-
Modern facade in accordance with the require-
tem with heat recovery, sun protection and pho-
ments of modern construction, has to meet differ-
tovoltaic elements can all be integrated into the
ent functional requirements, such as:
contemporary refurbishment façade. The aim of
– A constructive role in the acceptance and
this paper is to present one of the most effective
transfer of horizontal and vertical forces
technical solutions that can be applied in existing
– Protection from the elements as well as
facilities, with the thermal-energy characteristics
security in relation to mechanical damage
of the building to be met in accordance with mod-
– Specific requirements with respect to indoor
ern regulations and standards.
comfort parameters (such as overheating
The primary goal of their implementation is to
protection or control system adjustments
be materialized through the facade layer provide
facade membrane according to customer
the basic forms of user comfort: air (provision of
requirements in the field of providing
fresh air in the premises), acoustic (anti-noise), vi-
optimal micro-climate inside the building:
sual (brightness and quality of visual perception
air, visual and acoustic thermal comfort)
in space) and heat (comfortable feeling, neutral
– Fire protection features
thermal environment). In addition, building refur-
– Protection against mechanical damage.
bishment makes a considerable contribution to the
international climate target of 20C.
A man and his environment require new fea-
Adaptation of existing buildings can be seen as
tures of the facade building materials in the era of
a modern adaptation of facilities needs in that con-
modern technologies, which represent an expan-
text, the materialization contemporary façade layer
sion of new technical developments. They should
is relevant ecological implications for reducing
meet the criteria that enable comfortable living,
energy consumption [11]. Once the facade of the
and to ensure rational use of energy and healthy
building should be durable, high quality and easy
living conditions.
to maintain. Today this value is added to the request
In this area, implementation of energy efficient
for energy efficiency. That is achieved by adapting
buildings, both new and old, the current practice
a new architectural value, ie. transformation and
of architectural and construction in the underde-
simultaneously achieve energy efficiency. One of
veloped countries is noticeably lagging behind the
the important goals is to achieve sustainability in
developed European countries.
building construction and energy efficiency of ex-
isting and new facilities. Electricity consumption
in buildings, on average in Europe is 40% of total

32 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

primary energy consumption, while in Serbia that and architects today is to preserve the characteristic
number is 55% - [12]. Very small percentage of that structural and visual features of a building whilst at
energy comes from renewable energy sources, such the same time to achieve contemporary energy and
as the energy of solar radiation, wind, biomass, geo- architectural standards with subtle interventions.
thermal energy etc. In Serbia, the percentage is only This alignment is a basic research problem that
1.5% of the total energy. they face with and that solve. It is essential for
Focusing on energy saving measures in new builders and architects to create and analyze all
construction each year would save only about 2% their solutions during the design process, in addi-
compared to the existing building stock. From this tion to standard and through the principles of:
we conclude how important it is to work in paral- – Sustainability of construction,
lel with the construction of new (energy-efficient – Functional requirements,
buildings), work adaptation of existing buildings – Space and aesthetic aspects
in accordance with the laws of energy efficiency. – The required comfort.
In practice it is often a need to improve perfor-
mance façade layer, which entails changes in the These criteria are aligned with the latest in-
structure of layers of facade and cladding layer is ternational standards and recommendations [13].
transformed into a multi-layered. The issue of comfort is very important in energy
In order to increase use of renewable energy efficient building, it is necessary to ensure a bal-
sources the European Union adopted the program ance between energy efficiency and sustainability
“Intelligent Energy for Europe”, with the main aim on the one hand and the comfort of the building’s
of renewable energy by 2010 reached 12% in the user on the other. If in the course of designing this
total energy and 22.1% in electricity generation. aspect is neglected, it often happens that the us-
In Serbia in 2001, under the Ministry of Science ers of the building trying to increase the comfort
and Environmental Protection, established the and convenience, and thus reduce or completely
National Energy Efficiency Program (NPEE) in annul the energy savings. For example, “passive
order to increase the overall energy efficiency by solar energy” from renewable solar energy-based
20% and increase use of renewable energy sources the greenhouse effect, can be designed and calcu-
in primary energy from 1.5% and 4.5% by 2010 lated in the concept stage, including “greenhouse”
(NPEE). One program development within NPEE in the project residential units. If a project does not
is oriented towards energy efficiency of buildings. take into account the elements that will provide
protection from glare and dazzle users, users can
3. Methodological approach, Principles install their own shelters and curtains, and close
and Methods them even in winter, so it will not take advantage
of the positive effects of “greenhouse”.
The existing buildings, ie. state in which they In relation to the energy performance of the
are located, influence on the methodological ap- building, the facade can be seen as an element that
proach that will be adjusted during the adaptation affects the user needs to use energy, but also as a
of the building. potential generator of energy [14]:
For every refurbishment project, as for every – The facade as an element that affects the
new planning task, an individual solution has to user’s needs to use energy
be found-not only for the façade but also for the – Save and generate energy with the
energy concept. The existing buildings play a de- modernization of facade
cisive role in planning.
Floor-to-ceiling glazing was quite rare in the In the first case, thermal performances of the
1970s and 1980s. Many projects from that period facade directly condition the losses of energy and
have industrial structures such as washed concrete heat in the building [15]. This is why in contem-
or sandwich panel, and a large part of the facades porary practice, as a rule, thermal characteristics
are structured by classical window bands or have of the facade are always improving during the ad-
a perforated façade. The challenge facing planners aptation, even if the applicable regulations do not

Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013 33

 technics technologies education management

required that. To achieve this, in the design and

materialization, should seek to advanced struc-
tures (for example, curtain wall) as well as careful
removal of all details in the facade set.
In the second case, with innovative façade sys-
tem modernization, which is in the form of curtain
wall, the building envelope can be restored, while
the buildings are used and thus there is practically
no loss of rental income. Curtain-wall, like not
wearing façade wall that relies on the supporting Figure 1. How the zero/heating cost house works
building structure, provides many advantages in
terms of implementation of energy efficiency. Due The needs of low-energy home for heating
to other external shell, the energy efficiency of energy can be reduced even more with the new
buildings can be upgraded to passive house quali- construction techniques and systems. This type of
ty [16]. All system components have been adapted construction is a step forward in the advancement
to work with each other, which mean optimized of energy-saving construction.
isothermal flow. 3-liter houses are the ultra low energy houses,
Thanks to highly efficient thermal insulation which need as much primary energy per square
and decentralized ventilation devices, energy de- meter and per year as will fit in 3 liters of fuel oil,
mand for heating, cooling and ventilation were or about 30 kWh of energy. Electricity for pumps,
significantly lower and interior space comfort is regulation and the burner is already included in the
enhanced. In addition to saving energy, these new calculation. In late 90s the Frauenhofer IBP cre-
facades substantially improve the energy balance ated the standard and called it “3-liter house” and
of the facility if they integrate the photovoltaic el- has become a protected product.
ements [17]. The modernized building becomes a Who builds himself determines own future
solar power plant. All this was achieved without heating costs. The needs of 3-liter house corespo-
compromising activities in the building, because dent to one third of the energy for heating com-
the system is fully installed on the outside of the pared to conventional homes. 3-liter house is a
building with minimal intervention in the interior big step towards independence from the ever in-
and low noise level. creasing energy prices on world markets. 3-liter
To achieve the given object performance, in standard would have to be implemented in all new
terms of energy efficiency, there are different buildings and almost all restoration projects. In
methods today. These are developed systems of principle, all the components needed for a 3-liter
energy adaptations, each of them treat façade as house are the same as those for low-energy houses.
a possibility of intervention in terms of improv- Several structural elements must have an even
ing energy efficiency of the building (heating and better performing properties. There are listed as
cooling) [18]. follows:
One possibility is to use double skin facades, – External wall insulation must have a
one of the achievements in the field of facade thickness of 45 cm, ceiling, roof and
structures, as a product of the synthetic knowl- basement should also be well insulated
edge of several disciplines, and also of the need to – 3-way thermal insulation glass and ceramic
create optimal conditions within a structure with a insulating window frames
minimum consumption of heating and cooling en- – complete avoidance of thermal bridges
ergy. In combination with other systems, the dou- – energy-efficient heating, solar-thermal
ble skin facade provides a potential for production device for hot water and heating of incoming
of energy consumed by the structure (Figure 1). air, heat pumps.

Over the last twenty years, numerous studies

have been conducted on the basis of which these

34 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

systems have been developed in order to introduce Revaluation of technical, ecological and aes-
solutions into practice through new technology. thetic characteristics of both traditional and mod-
The impact of new technologies, is resulting in a ern materials, and new sophisticated facade layer
better situation in the world energy consumption. assemblies that are installed in the latest techno-
Finding the economical best solution, including logical achievement [20]. Architectural and tech-
energy-prices and consumption of fuels in liter, re- nical solutions façade layer is constantly innovat-
specting smart home [19], is one of the main task in ing. One such system is the Schuko, whose model
the implementation of energy efficiency (Figure 2). will be analyzed in the work, as well as the pos-
sibility of adaptation primarily business objects.
The objectives and principles of sustainable
technologies for renovation of existing facilities,
in order to increase energy efficiency, are present-
ed and analyzed in the carline example of an in-
novative façade system - Schuco.
There are a lot of advantages of the moderniza-
tion system of the facade using Schuco innovative
façade system (Modernization Façade ERC 50)
[21] because it is perfectly geared to the require-
ments of refurbishment projects.
Figure 2. Finding of the economical optimum for With a new and simple mounting system,
building renovation cost which is attached via plaster profiles to only two
points on the existing façade, renovation time is
shortened. No parapet supports are needed.
4. Research model and results The façade system is installed from the out-
There is an enormous amount of fairy old side of the building, so the work can be performed
building stock in all European countries. Thus, for while the building is being used. During construc-
example in Germany, only about 10% of all build- tion work, the rooms inside can be used with no
ings in the country were built after 1990 and there- restrictions. As a result, there is virtually no loss
fore meet current energy and building standards. of rental income.
Around half of all buildings were erected between The modular approach guarantees maximum
the late 1940s and the beginning of the 1980s. planning security, as well as time and cost con-
But even these structures will have to be adapt- trol. This kind of modern facade impresses due
ed to future energy goals, such as those laid out to its simple connection to the building structure,
in the German Energy Saving Ordinance (EnEv), to the innovative system products, and to the new
and to the global 20C climate target. As a result, mounting principle. Moreover, fewer drill holes
in 2008 approximately two-thirds of all building are needed, which reduces the amount of noise for
tasks were modernization projects, many of them building users.
in solving energy related refurbishments. In addi- The Modernization Façade offers a number of
tion to clearly reducing energy and building-main- design possibilities, ranging from a modern inter-
tenance costs, a modern appearance and greater pretation of the existing building, to a redesign of
user-friendliness are goals of every renovation. the appearance [22].
In our adaptation of the building, in terms of These possibilities can be applied to all kinds
achieving energy efficiency is implemented by of building structures and classes. A grid is put in
adding insulating layers on the outer or inner side front of the existing perforated façade, permitting
(less favorable, but economically accessible) of a high level of design flexibility.
the existing facade wall. If insulation is added ex- The system construction covers both the win-
ternally, usually applies a system of hard insula- dow areas (warm areas) and opaque building sur-
tion through which the thin finish. faces (cold areas). The cold areas can be equipped
with various fillings, including aluminum panels,

Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013 35

 technics technologies education management

the photovoltaic module window and façade mod-

ule and glazing. The modernization facade is com-
patible with the other Schuco systems.
Technical components of the system The Mod-
ernization Façade can incorporate mechanical in-
sert units that meet passive house standards, de-
centralized ventilation with heat recovery, cooling
and heating.
This system concealed solar shading or cus-
tomary Venetian blinds, radio-based control via
the Wireless Control System, and also thin-film Figure 4. Attach to building structure by mount-
modules for generating solar energy [23]. ing plaster strips with fixing bracket
The modernization façade controls the building
by means of an intelligent link between façade and
building automation: the cables are concealed in
the façade and no interior fittings are needed.
A special advantage is the wireless control
system, which optimally exploits the energy po-
tential by intelligently linking all of the building
envelope’s electronic elements. Due to its radio-
based sensor and actuator components, the system
is ideal for controlling added mechanical products
such as ventilation, solar shading, and automated Figure 5. View of the new renovated facade
façade insert units.
Combined with the Modernization Façade, the
5. Discussion and conclusion
Schuco Wireless Control System enhances user
comfort thanks to its automated connections and The existing construction funds, in terms of
its easy use. In Figures 3-5 presents the process of rational exploitation, adaptation requirements in
adaptation of the old building: from current situa- accordance with the principles of sustainable con-
tion to a new facade layer. struction. The advanced technologies used in the
design and construction of new facilities also can
be used in these adaptations.
The old buildings are transformed by the mod-
ern facilities that meet the requirements for energy-
efficient construction, and which its performance
and aesthetics are rival to facilities new building.
Thanks to the application of new technolo-
gies, create new architectural material values with
much lower energy consumption and resources
than would be the case if we tore down the old
building and built in their place new ones [24].
Figure 3. Existing façade – zero stage Quality adaptations, as a comprehensive archi-
tectural task, are complex interventions with cre-
ative use of contemporary materials and technical
solutions.
In developed countries, this approach is an ev-
eryday practice, while in underdeveloped mainly
foreign.

36 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

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22. Radivojević A, Nedić M. Environmental Evaluation

of Building Materials – example of two residential
buildings in Belgrade, Facta Universitatis Series:
Architecture and Civil Engineering, 2008; (1): pp.
97 – 111.

23. Espinosa N, Hösel M, Angmo D, Krebs F. Solar

cells with one-day energy payback for the factories
of the future, Energy & Environmental Science,
2012, Advance Article, DOI: 10.1039/C1EE02728J,
Analysis.

24. Berge, B. Ecology of building materials, Architec-

tural Press, Oxford, 2000.

Corresponding Author
Svetlana Stevovic,
University Union Nikola Tesla,
Belgrade,
Serbia,
E-mail: svetlanas123@gmail.com

38 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

Numerical 3D model of the foundation grid

with RC sceletal structure of objects exposed
to the effects of underground mining
Zahid Basic1, Nedim Suljic2, Anadel Galamic3
1
University of Tuzla, “GPP Banovici’’ d.o.o. Banovici, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
2
University of Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
3
“GPP Banovici’’ d.o.o. Banovici, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Abstract ing are done, horizontal terrain displacements can

happen too, which can lead to slope sliding below
RC frame structural system, built with concrete
foundation structures in case of objects built on
C25/30 (MB 30) has been selected as the numeri-
the terrain slopes.
cal model of the 3D calculation analysis. Model
Within this work, classical methods are used to
has ground floor and two stories with two spans in
calculate parameters of the deformation of soil dis-
one, and three in other direction. Calculation of this
placement, and the analysis of the influences of pa-
numerical model has been made using software
rameters gained for the structural system shown in
ADINA-AUI 8.3.1. For purposes of this analysis,
there have been made preliminary studies of resi-
dential buildings in the Jezero settlement, which is
located next to the exploitation zone “Omazići’’,
belonging to Banovici Coal Mine.
Gained results allow the insight in stress-strain
distribution state in each phase of simulated ex-
ploitation, and plasticization appearance and de-
velopment in single soil elements and structural
elements of the object, as well as the occurrences
of crack damages in structural elements of the sys-
tem. This work defines systematic break i.e. mod-
el completion, which appears due to convergence
loss, which brings us to fracture in the structure or
in single soil elements. Figure 1. The adopted model
Key words: numerical model, 3D analysis,
structural, underground mining Frame RC structural system (concrete used is
MB 30, i.e. C 25/30) with two spans in one, and
1. Introduction three in other direction, having ground floor and
two stories with dimensions according to figure 1
During underground mining works, damages has been chosen for the model.
of structural elements of buildings are created be- The load on the structure consists of self weight
cause of the disturbance of soil layers and their and live load of 2.0 kN/m2. [1] [2] [3].
partial excavation, i.e. when upper layer falls into Input data for model calculations:
the excavated area. -l1 = 4.5 m, spans
Vertical ground movements appear during un- -h = 2.5 m, storey height
derground mining works, and, based on this, ir- -a = 0.40 m, foundation slab
regular settlement of buildings appear, which is -b = 0.3 m x 0.3 m tie column
particularly not suitable for statically indetermi- -c = 0.3 m x 0.3 m, tie beam
nate systems. While works of underground min- -d = 0.15 m, floor structure

Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013 39

 technics technologies education management

Basic elements used for the structure were the Shown situation in figure 3. represents the posi-
finite elements of type: tion of excavating fields and marked zone of ob-
- BEAM - for columns modeling, 3D analysis; jects position.
- SHELL – modeled elements of floor Following elements are considered for model
structure, 3D analysis calculation:
- Three-dimensional spatial elements for - The excavation process is technological
modeling of ground soil and foundations, process, which consists of six consecutive
3D analysis steps, which simulate the excavation, i.e. the
change of displacement. A common feature
of these steps is the excavation height (2.5
meters).
- The occurrence of soil deformation happens
with each phase, and the area affected by
exploitation expands with excavation height.
Increases of displacement vector components
are not linear dependent. [4.][5.]
- Coordination and Compatibility of
appropriate response for each time step in the
total model.

Characteristics of the upper layer are given with

cohesion value of 100 kN/m2 and internal friction
angle of 28 degrees. Substrate is given with co-
hesion value of 500 kN/m2 and internal friction
angle of 32 degrees. Modulus of elasticity for both
materials has a value of 20 MPa. [6.]
At the time 0.5 (Time 0.5) gravity multiplier
Figure 2. Graphical model of material concrete 1 is given, and all of the statical forces are con-
sidered, which are also taken into account when
Characteristics of concrete are given by: mod- classical calculations of the structural building el-
ulus of elasticity 24 800 MPa and compressive ements are made. Increase of displacement is with
strength of 30 MPa, which is shown in the previ- the increment of 0.25 (Time Step = 0.25). [7]
ous figure 2. For each time step deformation increase and
stresses are calculated:
De = B Du,
Where:
De - deformation increase,
B - stiffness matrix,
Du - displacement increase.
σn = σn - 1 + Dσ + DDen - 1
Where:
D = corrected stiffness matrix which consid-
eres plastic components too.

The three-dimensional model analysis of the

Figure 3. The position and orientation of objects structural system with foundation grid deals with
with a marked zone of section perpendicular to the direction of work prog-

40 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

ress, while the impact of vertical and horizontal

components of soil displacement is analyzed. [8]
Time step (Time) represents a phase of excava-
tion of each band i.e. the scoop of a wide span of
2.5 m. Hereby , the time (Time = 0.5) is taken as
initial state. Start of excavations is at Time = 1,
and its end at Time = 6 [1] [2].

2. Model of foundation grid

Model of foundation grid is shown in Figures
1 and 4

Figure 5. The appearance of cracks in structural

elements (TIME = 1.0)

Figure 4. 3D finite elements model of the founda-

tion grid

The structural model is shown in Figures 1. and

4. The whole structure model is shown as a com-
plete entity composed of 3D elements given with Figure 6. Cracks in the structure in the moment
material Concrete. of solution convergence end – view
This model consists of 16 463 elements and 27
540 nodes.

3. Calculation results for foundation grid

This foundation method is used in a much high-
er percentage than foundation using beams and
slabs. During results analysis, all the important mo-
ments have been taken into consideration. Already
at the very beginning of the digging simulation first
cracks were noticed on the object, which further
multiplied and increased with excavation, and what
can be seen in Figures 5, 6 and 7. [7], [1], [2]
Figure 7. Cracks in the structure in the moment
of solution convergence end - view within the
structure

Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013 41

 technics technologies education management

Stress vectors are also shown for these times

Figure 8. Stress vectors in the construction – be- Figure 10. YZ Stresses in the same section
ginning

With a vertical section perpendicular to the X-

axis through the building, the plastification of the
basic soil and its intensity is noticed. [9.] [10.]

Figure 11. Horizontal plane displacement – in X

axis direction which simulates soil rotation

Figure 9. Vectors of soil plastic deformations in

the section at the object center indicate the begin-
ning of soil crack formation

Figure 12. Vertical displacement

42 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

4. Conclusion References
The aim and purpose of this study, i.e. research 1. Bašić Z.: Uticaj degradacije terena podzemnom
is, based on worldwide practical experiences so eksploatacijom na konstruktivne elemente građevina,
Doktorska disertacija, RGGF, Tuzla, 2009.
far, to conduct and expand new analyses and re-
searches in our country as well, with the goal of 2. Bašić Z.: Numerički model ravninske AB skeletne
construction of new objects and prevention of ex- konstrukcije objekata izloženih uticaju podzemne
isting ones, with the purpose of protection of dam- eksploatacije, Zbornik radova GTZ 2009, prvi re-
gionalni naučno-stručni skup,Tuzla.,ISBN 978-9958-
ages created by underground mining.
628-14-6, 29. i 30.oktobar/listopad 2009.
Other goal and purpose is to make suitable and
economically justified rebuilding. Calculation has 3. Bašić Z. : Numerical model of three dimensional
been made using software ADINA-AUI 8.3.1. and panel AB skeletal structures on exposed to the effects
nonlinear analysis applied has the increment of of underground exploitation,TTEM, ISSN 1840-1503,
2011; 6( 2).
0.25, i.e. until the simulation of the last open pit
fields (TIME = 6). 4. Bašić Z.: Istraživanje uticaja rudarskih radova i
Analysis of gained parameters has been made načina građenja na oštećenje građevina u užem
on numerical model by FE method on the chosen području eksploatacione zone PK ‘’Čubrić’’, Magis-
structural system with self weight and live load of tarski rad, RGGF, Tuzla, 2006. god.
2.0 kN/m2. 5. Čačković I., Bašić Z., Gušić I.: Istraživanje uticaja
The results obtained allow the calculation of rudarskih radova na građevinske objekte dijela nas-
distribution of stress-strain state in certain stages of elja Podgorje. Zbornik radova RGGF-a, Univeziteta
the simulated exploitation as well as the occurrence u Tuzli, broj XXXI, ISSN 1512-7044, 2007. god.
and development of plasticization in some elements
6. Čačković I.,Gušić I., Bašić Z.: Sanacija objekata u
of soil and structure or cracks appearance in con- zoni slijeganja. Zbornik radova RGGF-a, Univerz-
crete structure elements of foundation grid. iteta u Tuzli, broj XXIX / I, 2005.god
Break or completion of the model is at a time
of 5.03, i.e. at the beginning of the impact of sixth 7. ADINA Theory and Modeling Guide, Vol-
ume II: ADINA-T, Report ARD 00-8,Adina
excavation field operation. R&D,Inc.,USA,2003.

8. Durmic Suvada, Kudumovic Dzafer , Avdic Mevlu-

din, Delalic Sead : The implementation of finite ele-
ments method at the analysis of cutting body strength
of the rotor dredge shovel, TTEM, ISSN 1840-1503 ,
March 2007; 2 (1).

9. Čačković I.,Gušić I.: Slijeganje i deformacije objeka-

ta. Zbornik radova RGGF-a, Univerziteta u Tuzli,
broj XXVII, ISBN 1512-7044, 2004.god.

10. Čačković I.: Štete objekata od uticaja rudarskih ra-

dova. Zbornik radova RGGF-a Univerziteta u Tuzli,
broj XXV, ISSN 1512-7044, 2003.god.

Corresponding Author
Zahid Basic,
Faculty of Civil Engineering,
University in Tuzla,
Tuzla,
Bosnia and Herzegovina,
E-mail: gpp_banovici@bih.net.ba

Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013 43

 technics technologies education management

Mathematical model of procedures optimization

technical diagnostic for determinate the worn
out of hydro plant’s bearings
Dragan Nikolic1, Nenad Janjic1, Zoran Janjic1, Ljubisa Josimovic2, Suzana Obradovic3
1
High school applied professional studies, Vranje, Serbia,
2
Polytechnical School, Požarevac, Serbia,
3
DATALAB.MN d.o.o, Podgorica, Montenegro.

Abstract 2. Models and problems hydro plant tehnical

diagnostic procedures optimization
The aim of mathematical model is to choose
diagnostical parameters which condition knowl- The optimization of tehnical diagnostic proce-
edge of allowed level of reliability and determined dures is defined by the strategy of the process of
analitic expression which corresponds to precisely finding out the hydro plant components condition
described condition of hydro plant components and its division among complex components. It
complex. Model of tehnical diagnostic proce- demands balancion among long term aims non-
dures optimization is a specific approach to the precision of available data on hydro plant compos-
problematics of preventive maintaining accord- ing components performances.
ing to condition, and it is relatel to the conception The metodology of optimization, of technical
of condition parameters change which represent diagnostic procedures is presented by the algo-
abase for optimal solution for procedures of tehni- rithm and condition of work analysis at determin-
cal diagnostic of hydro plant components it also ing the safety of hydro plant composing compo-
makes direct relations between the law of condi- nents functioning. For determining the optimal
tion parameter change and reliability of the ob- safety reliability of composing components per-
served hydro plant components complex. forming on the basis of noted failuves was taken:
Key words: model, optimization, tehnical the number of failuves (h) of hydro plant compos-
diagnostic, bearings worn out, components, pa- ing components on the basis of the begining condi-
rameters tion level and analysis of exploiting conditions of
hydro plant composing components performing.
1. Introduction The model describes technical procedures op-
timization problems which is analytic or numeric
The forming of universal model of optimiza- interpretation of specific values during describing
tion of procedures of tehnical diagnostic of com- and functioning of hydro plant components per-
posing components of hydro plants included the forming. It also presents idealised picture of real-
most significaht parameters of theoretic and experi- ity and parameters which influence solving specific
mental analysis. The starting during the analyzing actions and problems of hydro plant composing
of parameters optimization was the total of noted components performing. The model determins the
failures of composing components. By analyzing connection of the periodicability of parameters con-
the model we show up to which border values of dition control, and with it sucessfully is applied the
universal equation in cases with or without apply- analysis of technical diagnostic procedures optimi-
ing parameters of hydro plant technical diagnos- zation in providing of desired level of reliability and
tic procedures optimization. Also, to construct the fullfilment of specific performing conditions. With
curve whose values are presentedin the co-rellation it is also determined portative function of incoming
dependance diagram: mechanic oscilation and tem- parameters of failuve according to out going func-
perature, mechanic oscilation and bearings worn tion which includes the analysis of the model on the
out and temperature and bearings worn out. basis of resulting spacial curves.

44 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

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The procedures and places of measurements of tion of hydro plant composing components, to de-
composing components of Đerdap II hear Kladovo termine its behaviour and develop a plan of preven-
are presented aiming to determine general condi- tive measures with suprising components failuves

Picture 1. Algorithm for tracking and determinating of parameters for optimization techical diagnostic
procedures for hydro plant components [1]

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 technics technologies education management

[1]. The merasures of mechanical oscilation on ated string by composites, since working orb of
turbine shaft, the measures of bearings temperature turbine to exciter apprehending their functionality
and observed worn out of bearings were taken dur- and assignment, so reduction compound structure
ing their life time aiming their reliability. of block diagram is executed.
Resulting model comprised the most impor- Analysis of model is implemented step by step
tant parameters with relevance of exponent of in sub model determing according to picked plac-
dependence, Sη (t ) = f (Pti (t ) = j (z ) = N i (t ), ω i (t ), Ai (t ) es for determinate mechanical oscillation levels,
thence accomplished structure block scheme of
working temperature T mi and value of gap z . slurring sub model on the way of composing com-
These dependences will determinate the correla- ponents hydro Plant’s complex moving.
tions which are defined in algorithm of methodol- Model block diagram of reliability at analyzed
ogy optimization procedures of technical diagnos- hydro Plant’s complex at solution of this model
tic Hydro Plant [1]. will be done with reduction in getting optimal
Model comprised analysis sub model 1,2,3 with function of reliability Gp(t). On the second picture
[1] we can see the model block diagram of com-
induction of corelated dependences shifts η1 i η 2
posing components reliability and word is about
loading on amplitudes valuation oscillation and in-
opened system of robotic reliability navigating.
cidence are determined ultra valuations of univer-
Model block diagram relliability at analized
sal equation Sη (t )max , Sη (t )min , Sη (t )sr , Sη (t )opt complex components of hydro plant according
without using parameters optimization pro- to picked measurment places of oscillations level
cedures technical diagnostic of hydro Plant (purwiev in picture 3), [1].It is word about open
system of robotic realibility navigating.
Sη (t )max p , Sη (t )min p , Sη (t )srp , Sη (t )optp , [1].
Analysis of model is implemented in determi-
Analysis of optimal model comprises meth- nate of sub model according to picked measuring
odology using block diagram at setting safety of place for determine the change of worn out bear-
performing constitutional components analyzed ing and getting the optimal function reliability.
Hydro Plant’s composites. Methodology com- Model block diagram reliability at analyzed hydro
prises the construction of monitoring system and Plant’s composites at solving this model will be
algorithm for construct models setting diagnostic done with reduction at getting the optimal func-
parameters (picture 1.) [1]. Components are situ- tion reliability Gp(t).

Picture 2. Model block diagram reliability at analyzed components Hydro Plant’s complex

Picture 3. Model block diagram reliability at analyzed components Hydro Plant’s composites accord-
ing to spans of mechanical oscillations level, temperature and worn out of bearings HP Derdap II
near Kladovo [1]

46 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

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Where is: Optimal assignment reliability function:

M1 – measuring place of oscillations on
N 1 N 2 N 3 N 4 N 5 N 6 N 7 N 8 N 9 ⋅ R1 ⋅ R 2
turbine’s shaft Pf (t )=
i
(1 - N 1 N 2 N 3 R1 ) ⋅ (1 - N 1 N 5 N 6 ) ⋅ (1 - N 7 N 8 N 9 )
M2 – measuring place of temperature on
bearings
N 1 ,...., N 9
M3 – measuring place of shabby measuring of
bearings R1 , R2 - paramount reliability from service work

Reduction of sub model 3 Purview of values assignment function reliabil-

ity of analyzed Hydro Plant’s composites is done
On the pictures 4. and 5. is illustrated the re- tabular, purview in table 1 [2],[1]. They are illus-
duction of components composites for monitoring trated the finally exponent of reliability functions
of worn out of bearings in analysis of components in dependence from time interval of work ana-
Hydro Plant’s composites, sub model 3 [1]. lyzed components composites. Based on attained
values, is done the graphic purview of dependenc-
es f (GP (t ), Pf (t )) , (purwiev on picture 6.) [1].
i i

Table 1. Values of assignment functions reliability of

components Hydro Plant’s „Derdap II“ near Kla-
Picture 4. Purview of composite’s components dovo composites in dependence from parameters
for monitoring of bearing’s worn out condition components with using parameters opti-
mization procedures technical diagnostic [1], [2]
Reliability Assignment function composing
values Pi (t) complex components reliability
G p -o (t i ) od 50000 – 75000 h
Pf1 (t ) G pi
Picture 5. Reduction of purview composite’s 1,0 9,763
Satisfactory reliability in analysis

components for monitoring of bearing’s worn out 0,9 P21 (t ) G p2 6,344

of hydro plant composite’s

Pf 3 (t ) G p3
0,8 5,189
Third part of composing components N7, N8, Pf1 (t ) G p4
components

N9 are [1]: 0,7 2,002

0,6 Pf 5 (t ) G p5 1,211
P 4= N7 ⋅ N8 Pf 6 (t )
0,5 G p6 0,203
Pf 7 (t ) G p7
N 9⋅ P 4 N 7 ⋅N 8⋅ N 9 0,4 0,057
P5= =
1- N 9 ⋅ P 4 1- N 7 ⋅ N 8 ⋅ N 9 Pf 8 (t ) G p8
0,2 0,004
0 Pf 9 (t ) G p9 0
Assignment function of sub model 3, [1]:
Y (t ) R 2 ⋅ N 2 ⋅ N8 ⋅ N 9
PP M = = R 2⋅P 5=
3
Y (t ) 1 - N 7 ⋅ N8 ⋅ N 9

R2 ⋅ N 7 N 8 ⋅ N 9
PP M 3 =
1- N 7 ⋅ N8 ⋅ N9

Overall assignment function reliability optimal

components Hydro Plant’s complex is:
Pf (t i ) = PP M (t ) ⋅ P P M (t ) ⋅ PP M (t )
1 2 3
Picture 6. Graph of assignment function reliabil-
ity components Hydro Plant’s „Derdap II“ near
N 1 N 2 N 3 ⋅ R1 N 4 N 5 N 6 R2 N 7 N 8 N 9 Kladovo composites in dependence from param-
P f (t i ) = ⋅ ⋅
1 - N 1 N 2 N 3 R1 1 - N 1 N 5 N 6 1 - N 7 N 8 N 9 eters condition components [1]

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In order to determinate the evaluation expected ent from reason that this segmental bearing has
value of gap until segmental axial central bearing bigger inside diameter and it is dlsrp=650[mm], [3].
(N4 i N6) has correctly work owing to worn out Base on table 2 it is illustrated total number
of his inside diameter (dlsr) we will get arithmetic of malfunction turbine’s bearing N7 HP Derdap
middle value z of that measurements [1]: II near Kladovo, will be construct the diagram of
dependent (purview on picture 7) reliability from
1 n
d l N4 , N6 = ∑d
n i =1
l i
size of gap with scope safely and correctly work
and hazard with using parameters optimization
procedures technical diagnostic and base on it will
Finally equation of universal model optimiza-
be determined values of paramount gaps.
tion monitoring of worn out change at measuring
Values of reliability Pt(t)p bearings work are
bearings during the work is [1]:
determined on same way as without applying the
parameters of optimization procedures technical
∑ (z )
n
2

- i - z max diagnostic and they are showed in table 2, [1]

zs N i = i =1

n -1

Where is:
n – number of irrespective gap’s measuring
dli – gaps of all measured inside diameters of
bearing

1 10
dl = S (599.2 5 + 599,1 8 + 599, 3 2 + 599 ,1 0 + 599 , 2 5 + 599, 1 2 + 599, 2 0 + 599, 3 3 + 599, 2 4 + 599, 2 0 )
N 4, N 6
10 i =10 Picture 7. Diagram dependent scope use the
parameters optimization and correctly bearings
9, 3 2 + 599 ,1 0 + 599 , 2 5 + 599, 1 2 + 599, 2 0 + 599, 3 3 + 599, 2 4 + 599, 2 0 ) work in function reliability and gaps [1]
d l N 4,N 6
= 599,191[m m ] ≥ d z o p t Based on table 3 will be construct the diagram
The biggest value of gap which can be realized of dependent (purview on picture 8) reliabil-
between inside diameter of bearing (N4 i N6) and ity from values of malfunction number owing to
Hydro Plant’s shaft is [1]: bearings worn out (for example period of monitor-
ing work turbine’s bearing) in scopes safety and
z N 4 , N 6 = d l sr - d z N 4 , N 6 correctly work, with and without using of param-
eters optimization procedures technical diagnostic
- - -
Values of gaps z ma x , z o p t = z s r , z min are in function service time (t) and based on him will
be determined the values of paramount gaps (val-
equal for upper and under central bearing (N4) i ues of worn out bearings with using of universal
(N6) while for turbine lezaj (N7) something differ- model reduces from 37,8 %to 11,2% [1].
Table 2. Scope of bearings work N4, N6 i N7 HP “Derdap II” near Kladovo [1]
Pt (t ) p Scope of bearing’s Scope of bearing’s
R.B. z N 4 , N 6 [ m m] z N 7 (min )
work N4 i N6 work N7
1. 0,979 ( )
0,728 z m a x p Hazard scope ( )
0,693 z max p Hazard scope

2. 0,915 0,336 (z ) S o pt p
0,208(z ) Sop p
Scope of safely and Scope of safely and
0,004548(z )
 
-
correctly work correctly work
3. 0,716 0,0044 z m i n  mi n p
 p
4. 0,405 -
5. 0,161 - - - -
6. 0,042 -

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 technics technologies education management

Table 3. Malfunctions in period of monitoring the With induction of universal model with using
work of turbine’s bearing N7 in determine time pe- parameters optimization procedures technical di-
riod of work HP „Derdap II“ near Kladovo [1] agnostic in period since 29.08.2007. to 28.08.2010.
Number of failure on hydro plant’s apparition of malfunction owing to bearings worn
Date of review bearings (t, 103h) out is reduced from 37,8% to 11,2%.
failure advent Without use of With use of
parameters parameters
3. Conclusion
25.08.2001. 16 -
28.08.2002. 18 - By the given model an analysis’s performed of
28.08.2003. 16 - complex functioning safety at any moment, that is
27.08.2004. 17 - in every moment of exploiting work of its compos-
29.08.2005. 16 - ing components. Based on these analysis you can
30.08.2006. 15 - precisely determine time of complex safe work, on
29.08.2007. - 13 which basis you can plan and enforce planed pre-
27.08.2008. - 12 ventive maintaing tehnology procedures, which
25.08.2009. - 11 makes components last longer in their work. Got-
28.08.2010. - 10 ten results represent scientific justification and es-
sence of the model of thehnical diagnosting condi-
Attained ultra gaps values indicates that with tion, and parameters check gives continous track-
using of parameter optimization, worn out is re- ing of chosen parametres changing which in one
ducing [4], [5]: way and surely describes observed hydro plant
For under and upper dynamo’s bearing: complex components condition. Based on this
way identified reliability parameters, need pro-
z (m m ) N 4 , N 6 max 0,809
z N4 , N6 = = = 1,113 cedures of preventive maintaining of hydro plant
z N 4 , N 6 (m m )max p 0,728 joining complex components are determined.

References
1. Nikolić D., Power plant technical diagnostic proce-
dures optimization Doctor disertation, T.F. “Mihajlo
Pupin” Zrenjanin, University Novi Sad, 2007.
2. Nikolić D., Project: Applying technical diagnostic
procedures in power plants, TF “Mihajlo Pupin“ in
Zrenjanin, Zrenjanin 2005.
3. Nikolić D., Applying own model optimization at bear-
ing reliability of hydro plant, magazine „Tehnička dij-
Picture 8. Diagram dependence malfunction agnostika“, Vrnjačka Banja, 2006; 3: 83-87.
number owing to worn out bearings (for example
4. Badnjak, M.H., Modelii procesi lezania tehnički
period of monitoring work turbine’s bearing N7) sistemi, Kiev, 1997.
in work period HP Derdap II near Kladovo [1]
5. Тумохов, А.В., Математическии модели
економическиа воспороизводство, Москва, МГВ,
For turbine’s bearing: 1999.
z (m m ) N 7 max 0,766
z N7 = = = 1,111
z N 7 (m m )max p 0,693 Corresponding Author
Ljubisa Josimovic,
Total reduce of worn out is Polytechnical School Pozarevac,
Pozarevac,
z N 4 , N 6 + z N 7 1,113 + 1,111 Serbia,
z= = = 1,112 = 1 ,2%
2 2 E - mail: ljubisa.josimović@mail.com

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Compatibility of values of plane strain fracture

toughness, KIc, crack growth and impact energy
parameter for welded joints behaviour evaluation
in presence of cracks
Ivica Camagic1, Nemanja Vasic1, Zijah Burzic2, Srdjan Jovic1, Tamara Gvozdenovic3, Dzafer Kudumovic4
1
Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Pristina, Serbia,
2
Military Institute of Techniques, Serbia,
3
Hydro Power Plants on the Trebisnjica, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
4
Mechanical Faculty, University of Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Abstract behaviour testing. It was produced in an electric fur-
The problem of fracture toughness, KIc, determi- nace, casted into blooms, and flat rolled to 18 mm
nation on a crack tip localized in a welded joint is thick slabs. Strengthening was done in combination
set in principle, in order to maintain theoretical pre- of a classic improvement (quenching and temper-
sumptions and the meaning of fracture toughness ing), followed by grain refinement due to adequately
as valid properties measured by some of fracture selected chemical composition, micro alloying and
mechanics methods, because fracture mechan- appropriate deposition. The mechanical properties
ics presumes homogeneous material, not only in a and the chemical composition of the delivered sheet
crack tip surrounding but on a certain distance from metal are given in Table 1 [1]. “ACRONI-Sloven-
it. Welded joint represents the non-homogeneity by ske Železarne” Jesenice was the material supplier.
its microstructure and mechanical properties, often Tenacito-75, basic coated, low hydrogen elec-
by geometrical form, and by stress field as well, trode, in diameters of 3,25 and 4 mm, was chosen
which are all affected by different factors as well for the plates welding. The choice was made ac-
as residual stress after welding. Safety of a welded cording to the base material properties and thickness
joint submitted to a variable load is dominant topic and the chosen welding procedure [1], according to
of all serious researches in this area nowadays, thus the ACRONI Jesenice catalogue recommendations.
a part of research in this paper is aimed to the analy- The mechanical properties and the chemical com-
sis of the variable load influence on a welded joint position of the chosen electrode are given in Table 2
behaviour in a presence of a crack type defect, or in [1]. Welded joint is butt 2/3 X-weld. Groove prepa-
other words to the determination of a fatigue crack ration was done according to the SRPS C. T3.030.
growth parameters. Testing of specimens with a
notch on Charpy pendulum, in order to determine Determination of fracture toughness at
impact energy, gives precious data on local behav- plane strain
iour around notch tip. The possibility to separate the
total impact energy, on the initiate energy and the Fracture mechanics testing, of specimens tak-
propagation energy of a crack, introduce the new en from the welded plates made of Nionikral-70,
approach to the material behaviour estimation dur- were done in order to determine critical value of
ing the impact testing stress intensity factor, KIc. Specimens for three
Key words: welded joint, crack, notch, impact point bending (SEB) were used for the testing.
energy, fracture toughness at plane stress, fatigue Their geometry is defined by the ASTM E399 [1]
crack growth parameters standard and it is shown in Figure 1 [1, 2]. Speci-
men for three point bending has proved to be ap-
propriate in practice, and thus it is used the most.
Introduction The testing itself was performed, at the room
High strength low alloyed steel, Nionikral-70, temperature, on the electro-mechanical testing
was chosen for the base metal and the welded joint machine SCHENCK TREBEL RM 100. Crack tip

50 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

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Figure 1. Fracture mechanics testing specimen

opening was registered by the special extensome- Noticeable unloads on the F - d curve, serve for
ter KLIP-GAGE DD1, which measuring accuracy the specimen compliance determination, for the
is ±0,001 mm. three point bending, at the current crack length a.
The fracture toughness, KIc, is determined based From the compliance, which is represented by the
on the critical value of J integral, fracture tough- ratio between the d increment and the F increment
ness measure, JIc, testing according to the ASTM on the unloading line, it is possible to determine
E813-89 [3]. Testing method of a single specimen crack length from the following:
successive partial unload were used for the J inte-
gral determination. Nodes for the base dependency  b   C - Ci 
Dai = Dai -1 +  i -1  ⋅  i -1  ,............. (1)
curve are obtained from the pair of data, acting  2   Ci 
force, F, and crack tip opening, δ. Construction of
the resistance curve (J - Da curve) is requested by where:
the procedure for the critical value determination of ai-1 - previous length of a crack,
the fracture toughness measure, JIc, in which crack Ci = tgai - slope of the observed unloading line,
increment is determined based on the compliance Ci-1 = tgai-1 - slope of the previous unloading line.
alteration. From the obtained diagrams, force F
– crack tip opening d, two series of data were ob- Compliance was determined directly, by ana-
tained by measuring and calculation: log-digital plotter HP 7090A. Also, F - d diagrams
– consumed work at individual stages of a were directly registered during the experiment,
cycle (area bellow the curve), and they were the base for calculation of all rel-
– compliance alteration (change of the slope evant parameters needed for the construction of
of the elastic unload line). the J - Da curve.
Table 1. Mechanical properties and chemical composition of Nionikral-70
Batch Testing direction Yield strength, Rp0,2, MPa, min. Tensile strength, Rm, MPa, min. Dilatation, e, %
180079 L-T 710 770 14
% mass
C Si Mn P S Cr Ni Mo V Al
0,10 0,20 0,23 0,009 0,018 1,24 3,10 0,29 0,05 0,08
Table 2. Mechanical properties and chemical composition of Tenacito-75
Yield strength, Rp0,2, Tensile strength, Rm, Dilatation, Impact energy, J
Electrode
MPa, min. MPa, min. e, % -20 °C -40 °C -60 °C
Tenacito-75 725 780 12 110-140 65-95 50-80
% mass
C Mn Si Cr Ni Mo
0,06 1,45 0,25 0,55 2,0 0,35

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The J integral was calculated from the follow-

ing dependence:
  2  A - Ai -1   a i - a i -1 
J i =  J i -1 +   ⋅ i  ⋅ 1 -  ,..... (2)
 b B   bi 

where:
A - area under the curve,
B - specimen thickness,
b - ligament length.

F - d and J - Da diagrams for specimens with a

notch in base metal (BM), weld metal (WM) and
heat affected zone (HAZ) are shown in Figures 2
to 4. The influence of the structure heterogeneity
on the toughness properties of the welded joint
components can be seen from the diagrams [1, 12].

Figure 3. F - d and J - Da diagrams for a specimen

with a notch in WM tested at the room temperature

Knowing the values of the critical JIc integral,

the value of critical stress intensity factor or fracture
toughness at plane strain, KIc, can be calculated as:

J Ic ⋅E
K Ic = 2
........................... (3)
1- í

Calculated values of the fracture toughness un-

der the plane strain, KIc, are given in Table 3 [1].
Table 3. Values of the fracture mechanics parame-
ters JIc and KIc
Critical stress
Specimen Critical J integral
intensity factor
mark JIc, kJ/m2
KIc, MPa m1/2
BM-1 90,4 142,7
Figure 2. F - d and J - Da diagrams for a specimen BM-2 94,3 145,8
with a notch in BM tested at the room temperature WM-1 64,3 119,2
WM-2 61,5 116,6
HAZ-1 80,4 131,9
HAZ-2 74,9 127,3

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Determination of fatigue crack growth Specimens were mechanically prepared prior to

parameter the testing and strain foils were glued on the prepared
specimens which were used to follow crack incense-
Testing was performed on the room tempera-
ment. 5 mm long strain foils, RMF A-5, were used.
ture, in order to determine the fatigue crack growth
FRACTOMAT [4] was used as the device for crack
rate da/dN and the fatigue threshold DKth, on stan-
incensement registration, in order to follow crack
dard Scharpy specimens, applying the method of
growth using strain foils. Crack incensement meas-
specimen banding in three points, on a resonant
uring system, FRACTOMAT, is based on register-
high frequency pulzator. The testing itself was
ing the change of the electric resistance of strain foil.
done in a force control mode. This pulzator con-
Strain gauge is thin resistant measuring foil glued
ducts sinusoidal alternating variable moment load-
on a specimen the same way as classic strain gauges
ing in the range from -70 to 70 Nm. Device is con-
used for deformation measurement. Appearance of
nected to the computer, printer and plotter, which
the prepared specimen for the testing is given in Fig-
enables the automation of measurement and direct
ure 5. Since the fatigue crack grows under the strain
acquiring and processing of obtained data.
foil, it rips following fatigue crack tip, which causes
Testing was performed under the same mini-
the electric resistance of the foil to change linearly
mum to maximum loading ratio R=-1. Achieved
with the crack length change.
frequency was in the range from 175 to 195 Hz
depending on a crack positioning, if crack was in
base metal, weld metal or heat affected zone and
on the loading level. Average loading and its am-
plitude was registered with accuracy of ±3 Ncm.

Figure 5. Appearance of the prepared specimen for

the testing of the fatigue crack growth parameters

Dependency curves a-N are used for the crack

growth rate determination. The calculation is done
through approximation of seven successive points
with the second order parabola, starting from the
first point of a-N dependence, applying the least
squares method [1, 5]:

a I = b0 + b1 N + b2 N 2 ,....................... (4)

and then by determining the first derivate in the

central point of the segment. That means that the
real curve is approximated with a series of parabo-
las, the first of which goes through points 1-7, the
second through points 2-8, the third through points
3-9 and further by this order. The crack growth
rate is determined as a derivate in the central point
(point 4 for the first parabola, 5 for the second, 6
for the third and so on) [1, 5]:
da
= b 1 + 2 b 2 N .......................... (5)
dN
Figure 4. F - d and J - Da diagrams for a specimen
with a notch in HAZ tested at the room temperature This way the growth rate for the first parabola
is obtained as [1, 5]:

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a I = b0 I + b1I N I + b2 I N I 2 , given in Figure 6 for a specimen with a notch in

the base metal (BM), in Figure 7 for a specimen
da I ................... (6) with a notch in the weld metal (WM) and in Figure
4 = b 1I + b 2 I N I4.
dN I 8 for a specimen with a notch in the heat affected
zone (HAZ) [1].
The same way, growth rates for other parabolas
are determined.
Determination of the fatigue crack growth rate
dependence da/dN and the stress intensity factor
range DK is reduced to determination of the C co-
efficient and the exponent m in the Paris equation.
The stress intensity factor, DK, should be ascribed
to the fatigue crack growth rate for the current crack
length, a, which depends on a specimen geometry
and crack length, and on the variable force range,
DF = Fg - Fd.
Following expression is used for the stress in-
tensity factor range determination:
DF ⋅ L
DK
= ⋅ f (a / W ) ,................... (7)
B⋅ W3

where:
a
3
W
f (a / W ) = ⋅
a  a 
3/ 2

21 + 2 1 -  ,
 W  W 
 Figure 6. da/dN-DK dependency diagram for
a a  a  a  
2

⋅ 1, 9 9 - 1 -  2, 1 5 - 3 , 9 3 + 2, 7   BM specimen
 W  W  W  W  
......................................... (8) Values of the coefficient C and m for a BM
specimen are given in Table 4, in Table 5 for a WM
L - support span; specimen and in Table 6 for a HAZ specimen [1].
B - specimen thickness;
W - specimen width (height);
a - crack length. Impact energy determination
Impact testing of a specimen with notch in base
Limit value DKth can be determined: by gradual metal, weld metal and heat affected zone were per-
reducing of the loading till the crack growth stops, formed in order to determine the total impact energy,
by annealing of the notched specimen to eliminate as well as its components, the crack initiation and
reduced stress around crack tip and by gradual in- the crack propagation energy. The testing procedure
crement of the loading till crack growth starts and and specimen dimensions and shape, as shown in
using the specimen which stress intensity decrease Figure 9, are defined according to SRPS EN 10045-
with crack length. 1 [6] and SRPS EN 10045-2 [7], or ASTM E 23-
Based on the testing progress log da/dN = log 02 [8]. The notch position in relation to the welded
(DK) dependences are calculated and traced. Fa- joint is defined according to EN 875 [9]. Testing was
tigue crack growth rate da/dN, - stress intensity performed on the SCHENCK TREBEL 150 J, in-
range change DK, diagrams for tested samples are strumented Charpy pendulum, at room temperature.

54 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

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Table 4. Paris equation coefficients for BM specimen

Growth region Coefficient C Coefficient m Kth, MPa m1/2
I 3,98×10-14 4,139 10,22
III 1,67×10-13 3,765
Table 5. Paris equation coefficients for WM specimen
Growth region Coefficient C Coefficient m Kth, MPa m1/2
I 8,38×10-15 4,798
II 3,30×10-19 8,462 8,45
III 7,93×10-15 5,078
Table 6. Paris equation coefficients for HAZ specimen
Growth region Coefficient C Coefficient m Kth, MPa m1/2
I 1,90×10-20 10,259
II 4,63×10-12 2,667
III 2,90×10-16 6,403 8,71
IV 7,87×10-13 3,560
V 1,48×10-16 6,505
VI 1,74×10-14 4,929

II group - specimens with V-2 notch in weld

metal (WM);
III group - specimens with V-2 notch in heat
affected zone (HAZ).

Figure 7. da/dN-DK dependency diagram for

WM specimen

Three groups of specimens were fabricated

with different V-2 notch position: Figure 8. da/dN-DK dependency diagram for
I group - specimens with V-2 notch in base HAZ specimen
metal (BM);

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Since the testing was performed on the instru- Impact testing results are given in Table 7 for
mented Charpy pendulum with oscilloscope it specimens with notch in BM, in Table 8 for speci-
was possible to grade notch positioning affect on mens with notch in WM and in Table 9 for speci-
the crack initiation energy value AI, and the crack mens with notch in HAZ [1].
propagation energy value AP, as integral compo-
nents of the total impact energy [10] . Conclusion
Heterogeneity of welded joint mechanical
properties, or its components, can be clearly seen
from the obtained values of fracture toughness un-
der plane strain, KIc, determined indirectly by the
critical JIc integral. Specimens with a notch in BM
had the highest measured value of KIc. Specimens
with a notch in HAZ had slightly lower values
of KIc, however in this particular case differenc-
es were relatively small and they were approxi-
mately 10-15 MPa m1/2 in terms of minimal and
maximal value [1]. These differences do not have
to have more significant influence on structures
that are submitted to static load. However, if struc-
tural elements are submitted to constantly variable
load, changes of KIc value are very significant, be-
cause critical crack length ac directly depends on
Figure 9. Specimen for impact energy determi- KIc value. Nature of curves changes exclusively
nation in dependence of a notch placement, or a crack

Table 7. Impact testing results for specimens with notch in BM

Testing tem-
Specimen Total impact energy, Crack initiation energy, Crack propagation energy,
perature,
mark AT, J AI, J AP, J
°C
BM-1a 118 43 75
BM-2a 20 126 49 77
BM-3a 131 50 81
Table 8. Impact testing results for specimens with notch in WM
Testing Total impact energy, Crack initiation energy, Crack propagation energy,
Specimen AT, J AI, J AP, J
temperature,
mark
°C Tenacito-75 Electrode
WM-1a 47 17 30
WM -2a 20 40 12 28
WM -3a 43 19 24
Table 9. Impact testing results for specimens with notch in HAZ
Testing Total impact energy, Crack initiation energy, Crack propagation energy,
Specimen AT, J AI, J AP, J
temperature,
mark
°C Tenacito-75 Electrode
HAZ-1a 129 45 84
HAZ-2a 20 124 41 83
HAZ-3a 119 39 80

56 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

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penetration point. Almost identical dependence of cal properties of some areas in welded joint (base
individual curves nature in each group can be seen metal, weld metal and heat affected zone), has
by analysis of obtained curves, taking into consid- crucial affect on impact properties, more precisely
eration that difference between specimens is only on the total impact energy value. Specimens with
in the maximal force value, which is in direct de- V-notch in base metal have the highest value of
pendence to the fatigue crack length. It is notice- total impact energy and it is round 125 J for test-
able that structural and mechanical heterogeneity ing at room temperature [1, 13]. Specimens with
of the welded joint has significant influence on its V-notch in WM have the lowest value of total im-
resistance to a crack development, both in elastic pact energy and it is round 43 J [1] for testing at
and in plastic area [1]. room temperature. Total impact energy is round
Welded joint toughness should be connected 124 J [1, 13] in case V-notch is positioned in HAZ.
with change of the curve part slope in the Paris Specimens with V-notch in HAZ have the most
law validity zone. Slower growth is confirmed at optimal ratio between crack initiation energy AI
specimens with a crack in BM and HAZ, because and crack propagation energy of 1:1,98 for testing
larger stress intensity factor range for the same at room temperature. Specimens with notch in BM
growth rate is needed. At higher KIc values, higher have crack initiation and propagation energy ratio
fatigue crack growth rate is needed for a transition of 1:1,64 [1, 13] at room temperature, and speci-
to the brittle fracture area, which can be clearly mens with notch in WM have crack initiation and
seen in Figures 6 to 8. For the welded joint of low- propagation energy ratio of 1:1,71 [1, 13] at room
alloyed steel it can be noticed that the transition temperature.
to the brittle fracture is slower for the WM com- Specimens with V-notch in base metal and heat
pared to BM and HAZ, which is expected because affected zone have the highest value of total im-
the KIc value is lower in WM as well [1, 11]. As pact energy, or the best ductility. Specimens with
it can be seen, notch placement and crack initia- notch in weld metal have the lowest value of total
tion point have influence on the fatigue threshold impact energy, or the worst ductility. Thus, welded
values DKth and Paris equation parameters. This is joint structure heterogeneity caused that weld met-
specially expressed at fatigue crack growth rate al has the worst ductile properties.
parameters determination in heat affected zone. Identical behaviour of welded joint zones was
Here we have 6 different changes of fatigue crack shown in this paper, based on the testing results
growth rate, which indicates different structures analysis applying different parameters.
crack is passing through [1, 11]. Maximal fatigue
crack growth rate can be expected at the stress
intensity factor range level which approaches the
fracture toughness of plane deformation, because
on that level the brittle fracture is reached. If frac-
ture toughness values at plane strain KIc are en-
tered into diagrams in Figures 6 to 8, it can be esti-
mated for which fatigue crack growth rates fatigue
process will be replaced by the brittle fracture
development during the different loading levels.
Unfavourable situation will occur during higher
loading because small loadings cannot cause such
fatigue crack growth rates in order to approach to
the stress intensity factor level needed for the brit-
tle crack generation.
Position from which specimens were taken has
influence on the total impact energy value AT, as
well as the V-notch position. Welded joint struc-
ture heterogeneity, followed by different mechani-

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References Corresponding author

Ivica Camagic,
1. Camagic I.: Analiza napona i deformacija zavarenih Faculty of Technical Sciences,
spojeva niskolegiranih celika povisene cvrstoce u University of Pristina,
prisustvu prslina; magistarski rad, Fakultet tehničkih Serbia,
nauka, Kosovska Mitrovica, 2009. E-mail:ivica.camagic@pr.ac.rs
2. BS 7448-Part 1: Fracture mechanics toughness tests
- Method for determination of KIc critical CTOD and
critical J values of metallic materials; BSI, 1991.

3. ASTM E813-89: Standard Test Method for JIc, A

Measure of Fracture Toughness; Annual Book of
ASTM Standards, 1993; 03(01) : 651.

4. Paris C. P., Hayden B. R.: A New System for Fatigue

Crack Growth Measurement and Control; ASTM Sym-
posium on Fatigue Crack Growth, Pittsburg, 1989.

5. Burzic Z.: Ispitivanje promenljivim opterećenjem

glatkih i zarezanih epruveta; 7. Tematski zbornik
radova, Eksperimentalne i numeričke metode u oceni
integriteta konstrukcije, V. Plana, , 1997; 75-92.

6. SRPS EN 10045-1: Mehanicka ispitivanja metala,

Ispitivanje udarom po Sarpiju, Deo 1, Termini i defi-
nicije, 1993.

7. SRPS EN 10045-2: Mehanicka ispitivanja metala,

Ispitivanje udarom po Sarpiju, Deo 2, Metoda ispiti-
vanja, 1993.

8. ASTM E 23-02: Standard Method for Notched Bar

Impact Testing of Metallic Materials; Annual Book of
ASTM Standards, 2002; 03(01).

9. EN 875: Welded butt joints in metallic materials-

Specimen, location and notch orientation for impact
test, 1995.

10. Kudurin V.: Steelmaking; Mir Publishers, 1989; 11-12.

11. Čamagić I., Burzić Z., Cvetković S.: Primena

mehanike loma u određivanju parametara rasta
zamorne prsline za karakteristične oblasti za-
varenog spoja; Zavarivanje i zavarene konstruk-
cije,2008; 53( 3): 97-103.

12. Camagic I., Vasic N., Burzic Z., Sedmak A.: Analy-
sis of the influence of microstructure heterogeneity
and mechanical properties of welded joint constitu-
ents on fracture toughness for plane strain, KIc; Key
Engineering Materials, 2012; 488-489: 617-620.

13. Camagic I., Vasic N., Burzic Z., Kudumovic Dz.,

Gvozdenovic T., Pravdic P.: Influence of Testing
Temperature and Crack Positioning on Behaviour
of Welded Joint Submitted to Impact Load; TTEM,
2012; 7( 2).

58 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

Managing pixel deformation with pseudo-

random values in infrared security graphics
Nikolina Stanic Loknar , Ivana Ziljak Stanimirovic, Tajana Koren
Faculty of Graphic Arts, Zagreb, Croatia

Abstract image element is of the same shade throughout its

surface, grayness, coverage and highlights that are
Image element individualization is introduced
produced on basis of the screening technology’s
into document security graphics. Pixel deforma-
characteristic parameters.
tion procedures have been set up; their transla-
This paper aims at examining the possibilities
tion and parameters defining the rhomboidal pixel
of algorithm effect on the pixel shape. Program
have been set with pseudo-random variables. Each
procedures are used to act on the pixel shape and
image element is elaborated individually, indepen-
position. By introducing the pseudo-random gen-
dently of other pixels, or they are treated as a group
erator, pixel deformation and translation become
with a program code embedded in the graphic pro-
individual, depending on the congruent pseudo-
gram. Algorithms are given in the paper for geo-
random generator initiators. The said algorithms
metrical reshaping of pixels with transformation
are set up only with the PostScript program lan-
into varying shapes. In the field of polychromous
guage. Even though they do not have menu-op-
reproduction pixel deformation becomes an indi-
tions for pixel translation and deformation, or rou-
vidual and safe solution in security printing with
tines for adjusting random value parameters, the
successful avoiding of the moire effect. An indi-
ready and set graphic computer packages accept
vidual congruent sequence is set for each colorant
outside imposing of such algorithms because they
channel with a separation that includes the charac-
also have a PostScript basis.
teristics of infrared printing inks. Recognition of
the independent graphic that needs to be invisible
in the visual specter is avoided with randomly re- 2. Objective
shaped pixels. As a digital record the pixel is de- The image element shape is described in the
signed to be 1, 2, 4, or 8-bit in the same document. paper with seven independent variables. Algo-
The result of pixel deformation is that the pixels rithms have been developed in such a manner that
overlay each other, producing thereby unique so- each variable starts from its own program proce-
lutions in the field of security graphics. dure, whereby the pixels cover each other, they are
Key words: image element, pixel deformation, irregular as to shape, they change their quadratic
stochastic in graphics, infrared graphics pattern, and position themselves differently in re-
production [2]. Every piece of information carried
1. Introduction by the pixel, or logical structure setting the con-
tents in the pixel can be the starting point in the
In literature the pixel (image element) is de- individualization of the algorithm describing the
fined as the smallest image element with a regular image element. We mix the neighbouring pixels
quadratic structure [1]. Most authors accept this whose coverage is determined with one bit only,
definition and direct their research work towards and with those pixels that are determined with an
controlling pixels just the way they are. Display 8-bit layout for blackening fineness. Such tran-
of a pixelized image is carried out with a conven- sitions and choices are carried out as stochastic
tional graphic program in a very rigid definition of computer graphics [3]. We are providing algo-
the image element; it is defined as a square shape rithm solutions for rhomboidal shaping of the im-
determined with only one variable: the square side age element’s micro structure.
length. In such image presentation the pixels are This paper sets security graphics technology as
arranged in a strict line, one after the other. Every an algorithm design. The digital basis of such de-

Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013 59

 technics technologies education management

signs contains congruency parameter values, and transformation is determined through parameters
the complete source code so that the design could M, L, P, and R. Parameters tx and ty enable transla-
be repeated. The technology of transition and im- tion of the pixel outside its conventional setting.
age element deformation is added to this security These geometrics are subject to stochastic values
graphics system with inks we call „security inks“ providing a high level of design individuality in
bringing this manner of printing to a higher level security graphics reproduction.
of security. Pseudo-random values are introduced Table 1. Highlight for 8, 4, and 1 bit coverage of
into the security graphics design with methods of the image element
individual pixel shape manipulation. Management hex dec Highlight
is carried out with reduced data on the pixels gray 8 bita 8 bit % 4 bit % 2 bit % 1 bit %
scale. The application is in producing a document
00 0 0 0 0 0
with characteristic values that make it impossible AD 173 68 63 50 100
to copy or counterfeit [4]. Thus it is possible to 34 52 20 19 0 0
plan IR and invisible colors separately, and they 9F 159 62 56 50 100
are detected by special device only. The colors do C2 194 76 75 100 100
not diminish the image quality but enhance the 88 136 53 50 50 100
quality of security graphics. F4 244 95 94 100 100
D6 214 84 81 100 100
3. Experimental part 57 87 34 31 25 0
71 113 44 44 25 0
Pictures are displayed throughout the paper E0 224 88 88 100 100
that has a pixel level visible to the human eye, in 25 37 14 13 0 0
order to observe its deformation, translation and
its reshaping. Such display is visual checking of In the 8-bit record the range from white to
the random value effect on all the image element black is divided into 256 scales of gray shades. As
variables. With pseudo-random sequences we de- the human eye detects only 50 scales of the gray
termine the non-uniformness of the CMYK color shade, this manner of displaying shades is fully
system process channels. Each channel is joined adequate for producing high quality digital imag-
with its own generator, thus completely resolving es. The division into 256 scales is sensed as a con-
the issue of moire, the periodical system of com- tinuous shade. The image is set with a sequence of
posing polychromous reproduction. hexadecimal values and the interpreter prints it out
starting from the upper left corner, horizontally to
3.1. From the 8-bit to the 1-bit image the right producing rows from the top of the image
to the bottom, finishing with the right corner as the
The image element is determined with the vec- last pixel. The display of the image on the screen
tor values of its definition and the appertaining or printer requires data on the number of pixels in
PostScript algorithm. a row, column number, printed pixel size, and the
position of the image in the page [5].
D T B [M L P R tx ty]{image string} image ;
..........................................(1)

The image is set as a sequence of hexadecimal

values in the image’s vector that mark the cover-
age (blackening) of the individual image element.
The first two values: D (column number) and T
(number of rows) divide the data given in the se-
quence {image string}. The third parameter Picture 1. Image elements in a 1, 2, 4, and 8 bit
B sets the number of bits for each gray scale: 28 = gray-scale sequence
256 gray levels. The image element’s rhomboidal

60 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

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Two hexadecimal numbers are used for the can be achieved individually, fully independent of
8-bit pixel blackening definition. For a 2-bit black- the neighbouring pixel deformation. We set pixel
ening quality each hexadecimal number carries deformation algorithms and program design from
the information on two neighboring pixels. The the less complicated to the more complicated. The
one-bit blackening definition displaying black and pixel is the basic element in the design which is
white only has been squeezed into a hexadecimal used to create all its shapes and the image as a
number in such a way that it carries information whole [6]. The pixel vector is extended by adding
on the four neighboring pixels. Such manipula- dynamic changes that act upon all other data in the
tions are not possible with conventional graphic vector (string) of the overall image.
programs. Designing of security graphics with a Pictures 2 and 3 display deformations of an im-
source PS code is improved if there is an approach age element sequence carried out with the given
to pixelization that includes mixing the image’s programs. PS program codes can be activated with
gray value definitions. graphic programs. The first design treats the ba-
sic horizontal pixel deformation. The numerical
3.2. Rhomboidal transformation of the image transformation value is added in each row through
element the fourth vector member tx (L) defining the pixel
structure.
Pixel deformation is determined by the vector The second design consists of image elements
(1) with the elements of which we control designed in one row, that have the same deformation per
rhomboidal transformations. Pixel transformation the x and y axis. A sequence of five pixels is re-

Pictures 2 and 3. Image element sequence deformation with the PS algorithm

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 technics technologies education management

peated five times and each new printout has differ-

ent image element shapes. Here we act upon the
whole row and not individually on each element
by itself. The vertical deformation is achieved by
introducing an alterable P variable set inside the
transformation vector at the third pixel size posi-
tion. The initial value of variable P is zero. This is
why there is no deformation in the lowest print-
out of the loop’s first round, i.e. the pixels have
a regular quadratic structure. The variable value
grows by the loop rounds at the rate of 0.02, acting
thereby upon the pixel’s appearance. Shifts, verti-
cal and horizontal translations are managed with
values of the fifth and sixth parameters tx i ty (XX
YY). They are altered for each row separately. In
every following printout the pixel transformations
are bigger. This solution where there are no ad-
ditional security elements provides a certain secu-
rity in documents. The numerical data on variable Picture 4. Interdependence of the image element
value change determine the deformation and it is transformation parameter
impossible to repeat such a printout if this piece of
information is unknown. Unique pixel deforma- (x, y) pair coordinates and pair coordinates (x’,
tions are applied in security printing of documents y’) are connected with the following relations:
in state institutions. The target in developing these
experimental designs is showing new possibilities x’= Mx + Py + tx
in security graphics with an application in pro- y’= Lx + Ry + ty............................ (3)
ducing personal documents or in using them as a
background on securities or documents [7]. i.e. :
The target is individualization of image ele-
ment shape [8]. The transformation matrix deter- x = (( x’ - tx) R – (y’ - ty ) P ) / (MR –LP)
mines the image element shape. Coordinates of y = ((y’ - ty) M – (x’ - tx) L ) / (MR –LP)........ (4)
the first image element are estimated on basis of
the following equation system. Transformation angles are determined by the
following relations:
0 = Mx + Py + tx 1 = Mx + Py + tx
0 = Lx + Ry + ty 0 = Lx + Ry + ty
......................................... (2) ; 0
; dijagonala ........ (5)
1 = Mx + Py + tx 0 = Mx + Py + tx ; 0

1 = Lx + Ry + ty 1 = Lx + Ry + ty
; 0

The following image element is derived for nu-

merical values in image 4 per relation (1): With the corresponding values from
​​ images.
In executive algorithms the scale command is
1 1 8 [1 0 0 1 0 0] <55 > image used that acts on the overall graphic design. If only
individual pixels are controlled or pixel groups, it
that is a quadratic structure with a highlight 55 is better to use values M and R from the matrix
(hexadecimal), transforming into a lighter (dd) pixel: (1) for the horizontal dimension and the vertical
dimension, i.e. the designed pixel transformation.
1 1 8 [3 0.5 1 1.5 -2 -0.8] <dd > image They can be complex expressions extending all the

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Table 2. Image element numerical values for deformation and translation

x’ = 0 ; y’ =0 x’ = 2 ; y’ =1 x’ = 1.6 ; y’ =0.4
M, L, P, R, tx, ty x y x y x y
1 1, 0 , 0 ,1, 0, 0 0 0 2 1 1.6 0.4
2 1, 0, 1, 1, -3, -2 1 2 2 3 2.2 2.4
3 1, 1 ,0, 1, 0, -5 0 5 2 4 1.6 3.8
4 0.6, 0, 0, 0.8, -0.5, -5 0.833 6.25 4.16 7.5 3.5 6.75
5 1, -0.3 , -0.7 , 1, 5, -8 0.76 8.23 4.18 10.25 3.14 9.34

way to algorithms for generating pseudo-random the set number ri is calculated with modulus m,
values. Pixel deformation and translation for val- constant a and previous random number ri-1 where
ues in Table 2 is achieved as shown in Picture 4. r0 is the sequence seed.
Pixel and dot translation inside a two-dimen- For
sional coordinate system is shown in Picture 5. /a 2311 def % multiplier
Translation of two pixels with a 53hexa and AA- /m 96553 def % prim number, module
hexa
coverage was carried out in the 8-bit system. /rnd {a seed mul m mod dup /seed exch def}
M,L,P,R,tx and ty parameter values are set for each def
pixel pair. Values of the initial pixel dot (0,0) in /rn { rnd m div } def % random number in the
the coordinate system and translations in each fol- range from 0 do 1
lowing printout are given in the table as parameter
x’=0 and y’=0 values.The endpoint of the sec- And the seed 41077, the pseudo-random se-
ond pixel at position (2,1) in the coordinate system quence length is 32184.
and values of its translation are shown in columns Coverage values of image elements are given
x’=2 and y’=1 of Table 2. As it is possible to have in the data string of the image hexadecimally
full control of a whole pixel translation with a
transformation matrix, it is also possible to control <D1 BC A7 99 8C 1F DA BD C3 41 EA BB>
the transformation of one dot only. Dot translation Transformation vector (1) uses generated ran-
values are shown in the table as x’=1,6 and y’=0,4. dom values rn:
Table 3. Pixel transformation angles according to M = dpixl
Picture 5 and relations (4) L = -(0.2*rn - 0.1)
g0 a0 b0 P = rn-0.5
1 450 00 900 R = dpixl
2 900 00 -450 tx = 3
3 00 -450 -900 ty = rn-0.5
4 36,900 00 900
5 37,400 16,700 55,000 and this is determined in PostScript execution
with:
3.3 Pseudo-random sequence for image [dpixl 0.2 rn mul 0.1 sub neg rn 0.5 sub dpixl
element individualization 3 rn 0.5 sub]
Pixel shape altering is carried out with the con- The dpixl (dot per inch) variable is generated
gruency generator of random numbers [9]. A ran- for each image element. The appearance of each
dom variable is given for each matrix parameter (1). individual pixel is set through the transformation
Generating pseudo-random numbers with the matrix and random numbers. It is impossible to re-
congruency method with no additional member: peat such an example if the data on the algorithm
for generating random numbers is unknown. Only
ri = mod m (a*ri-1) by changing the generator seed a completely dif-
ferent position and pixel deformation is achieved,

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as shown in the enclosed examples (pictures 6

and 7). The birth dates of two persons were taken
as the seed for generating random numbers. This
manner of programming provides the designing of
fully individual solutions in controlled conditions
with the goal to improve protection elements in
security graphics [10].

Picture 6. Seed=3008, a=715

Picture 7. Seed 3108, a=715

Pictures 6 and 7 display designs with a more

complex structure of image elements. There are
twelve pixels in each image set in three rows and
four columns. The same algorithm was used for
producing both designs. Deformations are fully in-
dividual for each separate element independent of
the neighbouring pixels. Altering of the algorithm
Picture 5. Image element deformation and seed produces a completely different pixel printout.
translation

64 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

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has been blown up to such a degree that the pixel

structure is observed, and it is the target of this
paper to prove the individuality in carrying out
the graphic designs for application in documents
or securities. The pixel coverage in the original
and derived images is the same. The difference is
only in the pixel deformation. All the pixels in the
original have the same regular quadratic shape.
In picture 9 each pixel has its own shape. Pixels
were deformed with algorithm procedures, and
the sequence of deformation shapes was deter-
mined by the congruency procedure seed, set at
the program’s beginning. In case the seed value is
changed, the pixels will have a different deforma-
tion. The individual quality of the design is based
on the fact that all parameters determining the im-
age elements are in their own algorithm.
Picture 8. Original

Picture 10. Portrait detail

Picture 11. Pixelized portrait detail

Picture 10 shows a detail from Picture 8. The

eye in the portrait has been blown up to the level
where it is unrecognizable. The resolution is only
354 x 256 pixels. The goal is to emphasize indi-
Picture 9. Pixelized portrait viduality in image element deformation. Each ele-
ment has its deformation and direction. These are,
Pictures 8 and 9 display portrait pixelization as in general, irregular rhomboidal shapes. The seed
an individual design in security graphics. Picture in this example is 765842. At deformation the pix-
8 shows the original photography, and picture 9 els overlap each other. This can be managed with
its pixelized solution. In real-life application the the program.
number of pixels is much bigger. The human eye
does not see certain transformations if the design-
3.4 Pseudo- random pixel transformations
er product has not been planned for this. In this
with infrared graphics technology
example the same program was used as previous-
ly, but the overall image is displayed in this case. Picture 12 displays a regular pixel structure; all
The source code of the image was included in the the pixels are the same and have the conventional
program carrying out the image element defor- quadratic shape. Reproduction in Picture 13 is se-
mation. Each pixel has its own shape. The image cured with the help of infrared technology [11, 12]

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 technics technologies education management

and stochastic pixel deformations set forth in this Pixel deformation is introduced into INFRA-
paper. The image that starts the CMYKIR [13] sep- REDESIGN (IRD), separately for each printing
aration is portrait „Tonka“ that will respond in chan- ink channel. In this way dependency of the col-
nel K. The gray picture of the portrait is abstracted orsetting on the infrared graphic technology of
from the remaining C, M, and Y channels. Results hiding information is significantly reduced. The
are given separately in picture 14 for each CMYK level of image element deformation and trans-
channel. Information in the reproduction of Picture lation is set on basis of the program and is fully
12 hides the image in the K channel and is not ap- controlled producing individual design. The new
parent to the human eye. Only barrier scanning or manner of pixel deformation is applied to the K
observing with an infrared camera will show the se- channel as security graphics and is recognizable in
cured Z graphics positioned in channel K. the near infrared specter (NIR) as a new manner of
hiding graphics in IRD technology. With the over-
lapping of CMYK channels with individual pixel
deformation the visual touching of the printing ink
edges with Z graphics „Tonka“ in the polychro-
mous image reproduction has been completely
avoided. Separating colors in Picture 12 into a
printing reproduction system with an infrared ef-
fect is carried out previous to the pixel deforma-
tion procedure. In this way it is has been made
possible for each process channel to be individu-
alized separately. This manner of color separation
sequence will significantly improve the area of
security graphics using polychromous and double
images in reproduction.

4. Moire and the random pixel shape

Picture 12. Mask Polychromous reproduction uses the frequently

modulated (FM) layout of the screening elements
in avoiding moire [14, 15]. The initial assertion
here is that each pixel is designed differently. There
is no periodical quality in the liniature or in the di-
rection of the image element advancing. This indi-
vidual designing of the position, shape, increasing
and deformation of the image information carrier
element: the image element is becoming the new
manner of color reproduction. Each color is given
its own pseudo-random value sequence.
We can repeat them, checking thus the authen-
ticity of the graphic reproduction’s originality. But
they can be repeated only with such a structure that
contains all the data on the random sequence initia-
tors, and has the same algorithm and the same digi-
tal record of all the original image’s channels that
had undergone the said procedure. This is the basis
in making efforts to consider pixel stochastic defor-
Picture 13. Mask with deformed pixels mation as a new way of producing security graphics.

66 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

Picture 14. The result of CMYKIR separation for each CMYK channel

5. Discussion vector that describes the shape and possible rhom-

boid pixel deformation. The reproduction turns into
Algorithms for image element transformation
its specific design depending on the congruency al-
are given in the paper as a new manner of design-
gorithm initiators. Program procedures act upon the
ing individualized graphics in documents and se-
pixel shape and translation; from its basic position
curities [16]. The technology of random numbers
to the individualized design. Algorithms with con-
is introduced into pixel graphics micro-structure. A
trolled management and micro-structure reproduc-
sequence of pseudo-random numbers acts upon the
tion mutation have been proposed for seven inde-

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 technics technologies education management

pendent parameters determining the image element. With image element deformation in the manner
Rhomboidal shapes of individual pixels cover each displayed by this paper, advances have been made
other inside the channel of the same color, they are in resolving of the moire issue, and the screening
of irregular shape and they are differently positioned liniature periodical quality has been improved. „Vi-
in color reproduction. There is mixing of pixels de- sual vibration“ has been introduced in the process
fined with only a one bit coverage and those defined printing inks channels. A basic color image is set
with an eight bit layout of blackening fineness. in three channels: cyan, magenta, and yellow. The
Graphic make-ready and printed form production image element blackening values are separated ac-
are the result of a program procedure, the source al- cording to the CMYKIR [12] theory, leaving the
gorithms of which are provided in this paper. carbon black channel for the introduction of the
New technology in the security graphics area independent image visible with the infrared cam-
is created through the proposed PostScript com- era. Such manipulations with double images are not
mands, taking into account copying techniques, possible with conventional graphic programs.
counterfeiting and checking document authenticity. There are two reasons why counterfeiting has
Each printing color; channels cyan, magenta, become impossible.
yellow and black are set with their own sequence Due to the fact that all information that had been
of pseudo-random values. Thus security individu- visible in the Z area with the help of instruments
alization values are extended and made more ef- is lost after copying and scanning, i.e. transition
ficient. The pseudo-random sequence provides for into the RGB system, the interdependence of the
the possibility of repetition, creating thus a data visual and infrared reproduction characteristics has
base on basis of which the graphic reproduction disappeared. Secondly; the scanned individualized
authenticity and originality can be checked [17]. screening elements will be quadratic, even though
This paper shows parts of source analytical and a high scanning resolution is set. Every piece of in-
computer algorithms that have not been known of formation on the pixel shape structure will be lost.
in literature to date. The results can be checked, and Thereby, all the values determining the reproduc-
experimenting on graphics that might be used in the tion authenticity are lost as well. The issue here is
area of security printing can thereby be continued. document security that is impossible to repeat with-
Based on pixel shape deformation, the paper out knowing the technology for reshaping individ-
provides a solution to the issue of hiding jagged ual image elements and installing a double image.
edges of two independent of each other graphics Application is in producing documents that
in infrared security CMYKIR reproduction. When have their peculiar characteristics making it im-
two independent of each other images are linked possible to copy or counterfeit them. Individual-
for a unique reproduction in the CMYKIR infrared ization has been achieved with different data value
security technology [11] of which one image is de- for the initiators, called the seeds, in the congru-
signed for the visible (V), and the other for the near ency method. Pictures in this paper pictures have
infrared specter (NIR), the invisible image becomes been added on purpose in the electronic version
visible at the element edges when the graphics hav- too, so that the equalizing of the pseudo-random
ing a Bazier curve are masked and joined. sequence could be carried out for some other im-
The visual sensing of the infrared image [18] Z- ages, as well as transformations and translations of
parameter contour (absorption at 1000 nm) recogni- each individual pixel.
tion is avoided with the proposed pixel shape defor-
mation method. By applying the pixel deformation 6. Conclusion
method, contours are less obvious in the visual spec-
ter as well as in instrumental barrier scanning in the The necessity for introducing new security el-
Z specter. Hiding of edge transitions of the visual (V) ements into graphics is needed as an individual
and infrared (Z) specters is best provided by intro- solution. The pixel as the fundamental element of
ducing micro mosaic elements in reproduction. Sto- any printed reproduction offers a wide range of
chastic pixel translation is a new manner of resolving possibilities in improving document and securi-
the general issue in infrared technology practice. ties protection. The basis for new types of protec-

68 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

tion in the graphic technology area is acting upon 7. Rudaz N., Hersch R. D. , Protecting identity docu-
the transformation vector that determines the pixel ments by microstructure color differences // Journal
of Electronic Imaging, 13, 2 ,2004; 315-323.
shape. The pixel size and layout are under full con-
trol. Mutation of image elements is carried out on 8. Pap K., Žiljak I. , Žiljak-Vujić J. // Design of Digital
basis of algorithm design, providing individuality Screening, (monografija) ISBN 978-953-7064-10-5,
and uniqueness. The use of double images in the 2007.
field of infrared graphics with individual deforma- 9. Koren T., Stanić N., Rudolf M., Understanding Ran-
tion of pixel size finds its place in practice by being dom numbers Through PostScript // Proceedings of t
applied to documents and printed matter that need he Design 2008 Workshop Design of Graphic, 2008 ;
(3):1487-1490
to be protected with the help of printing techniques.
Production of such printed matter does not require 10. Ostromoukhov V., Hersch R.D., Artistic Screening
any additional expenses and only provides a higher // SIGGRAPH’95, in ACM Computer Graphics, An-
level of document security. Although the program nual Conference Series, 1995; 219-228.
code can be published in public, the designs can 11. Žiljak V., Pap K., Žiljak I. , Ivana, CMYKIR security
not be repeated without knowing all the produc- graphics separation in the infrared area // Infrared
tion conditions and congruency parameters ini- Physics and Technology, 2009; 52( 2-3): 62-69 .
tializing the generated number random sequence. 12. Pap K., Žiljak I., Žiljak Vujić J., Image Reproduc-
Deformation of individual image elements for each tion for Near Infrared Spectrum and the Infrarede-
printing in color separately finds its application in sign Theory // The Journal of imaging science and
documents, diplomas, certificates, postal stamps. A technology, 2010; 54 (1 ): 010502-1-010502-9.
completely new approach to polychromous repro- 13. Žiljak V., Pap K., Žiljak I., Infrared hidden CMYK
duction has been set, merging the characteristics of graphics // Imaging science journal, 2010; 58(1):
colorants for visual and infrared technology. With 20-27.
the help of the algorithm for altering pixel shape 14. Rogers G.L., Optical Dot Gain in Halftone print //
and deformation, the multi-color moire issue is re- Journal of Imaging Science and Technology, 1997;
solved with mixing of an unlimited number of spot 41 : 643-656.
dyes and process printing inks. 15. Amidror I., Hersch R.D. , Ostromoukhov V., Spec-
tral Analysis and Minimisation of Moiré patterns in
Colour Separation // Journal of Electronic Imaging,
References
1994; (3): 295-317.
1. Kumar M. // Tehnologija grafičnih procesov, ISBN
16. Rudaz N., Hersch R. D. , Ostromoukhov V., An in-
978-961-6246-65 ,2008.
terface for the interactive design of artistic screens
2. Ostromoukhov V. , Pseudo-Random Halftone Screen- // Electronic Publishing, Artistic Imaging and Digi-
ing for Color and Black&White Printing // Proceed- tal Typography, 1998; 1375: 1-10.
ings of the 9th Congress on Advances in Non-Impact
17. Ostromoukhow V. , Artistic Halftoning-Between
Printing Technologies, Yokohama, 1993; 579-581.
Technology and Art. // Spie, 2000; 3963: 489-509
3. Ostromoukhov V. , Hersch R. D. Stochastic Clus-
18. Žiljak V., Pap K., Žiljak Stanimirović I., Žiljak
tered-Dot Dithering // Journal of Electronic Imaging,
Vujić J., Managing dual color properties with the
8, 4, 1999; 439-445.
Z-parameter in the visual and NIR spectrum. // In-
4. Ostromoukhov V., Rudaz N. , Amidror I. , Emmel P., frared Physics & Technology. 2012; 55(4): 326-336
Hersch R.D., Anti-Counterfeiting Feature of Artistic
Screening // SPIE Holographic and Diffractive Tech-
niques, 2951 ,1996 ; 126-133. Corresponding Author
Nikolina Stanic Loknar,
5. Pap K., Žiljak V., Digitalni udžbenik PostScript Faculty of Graphic Arts,
grafike (Digital book of PostScript graphic), FS, Zagreb,
ISBN: 953-199-000-X ,2002. Croatia,
E-mail: nstanic@grf.hr
6. Kellum S., A pixel Identity Crisis, Graphic De-
sign, Issue 342, 2012; http://www.alistapart.com/
articles/a-pixel-identyty-crisis/

Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013 69

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Suitability evaluation of various recycled paper

grades for the production of health safe food
packaging
Sonja Jamnicki1, Lidija Barusic2, Branka Lajic1
1
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Graphic Arts, Zagreb, Croatia,
2
“Dr. Andrija Stampar” Institute of Public Health, Zagreb, Croatia.

Abstract amines, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were

found at extremely low concentrations.
The objective of this research was evaluation
Key words: Chemical deinking flotation, food
of the suitability of recycled paper materials for
packaging, health safety, recycled fibres
direct food contact applications. Safety evaluation
of various recycled paper grades was conducted
in order to identify the contaminants that are pres- 1. Introduction
ent in certain types of recycled papers which have In order to preserve the environment, there is a
the ability to migrate into food and thus potentially growing trend of using recycled fibres in the pro-
endanger consumers’ health. duction of packaging materials. Recycled paper and
Evaluation of the food contact suitability was board is being used more and more in wide vari-
conducted on selected classes of recycled papers ety of applications, and food packaging is one of
that were produced either industrially or in labora- them. However, the suitability of using recycled fi-
tory conditions. Food contact analyses comprised bres in food contact materials is still being largely
determination of heavy metal contents (cadmium, discussed among the scientific community, since
lead and mercury), primary aromatic amines, di- it is difficult to exclude exposures to traces of ink
isopropylnaphthalene (DIPN), phthalates and chemicals, varnishes, adhesives, and other poten-
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) from aqueous or tially harmful substances applied to the material in
organic solvent extracts of papers. printing and converting processes undertaken in the
First group of materials that were tested for the previous use of the paper. Once present in the pack-
presence of contaminants comprised unprinted aging material, they have the ability to migrate into
newsprint and magazine papers. Moreover, those the food content under certain conditions, posing
two papers were mixed with equal proportions health concerns for the consumers [1].
of dry fibrous matter and were subsequently dis- However, as a response to environmentally
integrated in a tap water without addition of any driven pressures, manufacturers of food packaging
chemicals. Handsheets that were formed from the tend to produce packaging with high content of re-
pulp thus obtained were tested for the presence cycled fibres. Paper and board, partly or fully pro-
of contaminants as well. Second group of materi- duced from recycled fibres, are already being used
als comprised selected types of printed paper and in contact with certain foodstuffs in many European
boards that were treated in laboratory conditions countries [2]. Recycled paper is mainly used for di-
by means of chemical deinking flotation. The rect contact with dry foodstuffs, such as flour, grain,
deinked pulp handsheets formed after conducted sugar, rice and pasta, as well as with foods that are
deinking flotation were analyzed for the presence usually washed, peeled or shelled before use, like
of contaminants as well. vegetables, fruits and eggs. Moreover, recycled
The conducted research showed that the most paper is also used for direct contact with dry fatty
common contaminants present in the analysed pa- foods, like pizza and fast food meals.
pers were diisopropylnaphthalenes (DIPNs) and Nevertheless, since, in some cases, the origin
phthalates. Other evaluated contaminants, such as and composition of recycled fibres may be un-
heavy metals (Cd, Pb and Hg), primary aromatic known, recycled grades must be used with spe-

70 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

cial caution in the production of food packaging. response to this situation, the European paper and
Binderup et al. [3] cited a list of chemicals that board food packaging supply chain comprising
can be found in recycled paper. The list contains CEPI1, CITPA2, CEFIC3 and FPE4, has developed
phthalates, solvents, azocolorants, diisopropyl an Industry guideline for the compliance of paper
naphthalenes, primary aromatic amines, polycy- and board materials and articles for food contact
clic aromatic hydrocarbons, benzophenone and [10]. The aim of this document is to provide a sin-
others. Moreover, in recent past we have wit- gle text that can be used by all operators in the pa-
nessed several food scandals caused by migra- per and board packaging supply chain in order to
tion of contaminants from the recycled paper and establish compliance with Framework Regulation
board packages into foods. 1935/2004. Likewise, a similar guideline docu-
Food contact materials, including recycled fi- ment has been developed by the Nordic Council of
bre-based paper, have to comply with a basic set Ministers - the Nordic report on paper and board
of criteria concerning safety. This means that recy- food contact materials [11].
cled paper for food contact should not give rise to The objective of this research was to evaluate
migration of substances, which can endanger hu- suitability of recycled paper materials for direct
man health [4]. This requirement comes from the food contact applications. Safety evaluation of
EU Framework Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004 various recycled paper grades was conducted in
[5] which is the main rule for paper and board as order to identify the contaminants that are present
well as for all other materials intended to come in certain types of recycled papers which have the
into contact with foods. However, besides the gen- ability to migrate into food and thus potentially
eral requirements laid out in Framework Regula- endanger consumers’ health.
tion, food contact paper and board, although iden- Evaluation of the food contact suitability was
tified by the European Commission as an area for conducted on selected classes of recycled papers
specific legislation, currently is not the subject of that were produced either industrially or in labora-
the harmonized regulation in the EU. In the ab- tory conditions.
sence of the specific directive, the paper and board
food packaging supply chain rely on the national 2. Materials and methods
legislation for paper and board published in the
Netherlands, Italy and France or BfR Recommen- First group of materials chosen to be tested for
dation XXXVI [6] published in Germany. The ex- the presence of contaminants comprised unprinted
isting regulations define the chemicals that are al- recovered paper grades - newsprint and magazine
lowed in the manufacture of paper and board and paper. The composition and the characteristics of
set limits for various contaminants (heavy metals, the selected papers are shown in Table 1.
phthalates, polychlorinated biphenyls, etc.) in the Moreover, those two papers were mixed with
finished products [7]. However, it must be empha- equal proportions of dry fibrous matter and were
sised that the BfR Recommendation XXXVI is the subsequently disintegrated in a tap water without
most widely recognized existing standard within addition of any chemicals. Handsheets that were
the EU and is the most commonly used in those formed from the pulp thus obtained were tested
countries that have not established their national for the presence of contaminants as well.
regulations yet. In Croatia, paper and board food Second group of materials consisted of se-
contact materials are regulated by the Ordinance lected recovered paper and board grades which
on sanitary safety of materials and articles intend- were mixed and treated in laboratory conditions.
ed to come into direct contact with foodstuffs [8]. A mix sample comprising printed recovered pa-
However, the existing national laws, regulations per and board grades was prepared by mixing old
and recommendations are not always well aligned.
Moreover, the lack of the specific directive for pa-
1
CEPI: Confederation of European Paper Industries
2
CITPA: International Confederation of Paper and Board
per and board food contact materials has created Converters in Europe
disadvantage in the market because paper and 3
CEFIC: European Chemical Industry Council
board materials appear to be “unregulated” [9]. In 4
FPE: Flexible Packaging Europe

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Table 1. Newsprint and magazine paper characteristics

Newsprint paper Magazine (LWC) paper
Basis weight 45 gm-2 65 gm-2
Ash Content 9.60% 21.48%
Bulk 1.37 cm3g-1 0.89 cm3g-1
Composition
High content of deinked pulp with Light weight coated (LWC) paper, fibre furnish comprises
addition of mechanical pulp mechanical pulp, chemical pulp with addition of deinked pulp

newspapers (ONP), old magazines (OMG), offset temperature of 60 ºC, the consistency of pulp was
printed box-board (printed in 4 colours - CMYK) set to 3.75%. Afterwards, the deinking chemicals
and offset printed wood free paper (black printed were added: 5% NaOH (22.90 ml), 1.5% H2O2
only). The prints were then submitted to a labo- (20 ml), 6% Na2SiO3 (17.30 ml), 0.5% DTPA
ratory deinking flotation and the handsheets that (0.38 g) and 3% surfactant (2.25 g). The indus-
were formed from the deinked pulp were analyzed trial deinking process was simulated with these
on the presence of contaminants. amounts of added chemicals. The obtained pH
In addition, a printed folding box-board was was between 10.8-11.
submitted to a laboratory deinking flotation as
well, and the handsheets that were formed from its
deinked pulp were also checked for the presence
of contaminants. Folding box-board sample was
printed in 4 colours (CMYK) full page offset, and
finished with UV varnish layer on the top. The
composition and the characteristics of the folding
box-board are shown in Table 2.
Table 2. Folding box-board material characteristics
Folding box-board
Basis weight 400 gm-2
Ash Content 17.95 %
Bulk 1.29 cm3g-1
Composition Figure 1. The deinking flotation procedure scheme
Coating Topside pigment coating
Bleached pulp + unprinted recovered The pulp was disintegrated in the pulper at
Top layer 3000 rpm for 30 minutes and was subsequently
paper
Under layer Unprinted + printed recovered paper stored for 90 minutes at a temperature of 60 ⁰C.
Mechanical pulp + printed recovered The suspension was afterwards diluted with tap
Middle layer water up to the volume of 19 litres and transferred
paper
Back layer Printed recovered paper to the flotation cell, where it was flotated for 10
Pigmentation Coating clay grey minutes. During the flotation process, the flotation
froth was collected manually and removed from
the cell. After the flotation, the deinked pulp hand-
2.1 Deinking flotation
sheets were formed according to the TAPPI 205
For the laboratory deinking flotation (Figure 1) standard method [12].
two recovered paper samples were prepared: the
mix sample and the folding box-board sample. 2.2 Food contact analyses
The samples were recycled separately but fol-
lowed the same procedure: 75 grams of absolutely Food contact analyses were conducted on the
dry paper was cut in 2 x 2 cm strips and put in the original paper samples (the unprinted newsprint
pulper. By adding two litres of deionised water at a and magazine paper), on the handsheets formed

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after disintegration of newsprint and magazine in the German BfR Recommendations (chapter
paper combination, as well as on the handsheets XXXVI) and/or Croatian Ordinance on sanitary
obtained from mix sample and folding box-board safety of materials and articles intended to come
deinked pulp. Food contact analyses comprised into direct contact with foodstuffs that they had to
determination of heavy metal contents (cadmium, comply with. However, in case when the German
lead and mercury), primary aromatic amines, di- or Croatian regulations did not specify clear lim-
isopropylnaphthalene (DIPN), phthalates and its for tested compounds, the results obtained by
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) from aqueous or chemical analyses were compared to proposed re-
organic solvent extracts of paper. strictions laid down in the available Nordic guide-
In order to determine heavy metals, cold-water line - the Nordic report on paper and board food
extracts were prepared from all paper samples in contact materials.
accordance with the EN 645:1993 [13]. The deter-
mination of metal ions (cadmium, lead and mer- 3. Results and discussion
cury) in the cold-water extracts was carried out in
accordance with the EN 12497 and EN 12498 [14, The results of metal ions determination (Cd, Pb
15]. Detection of metals was conducted by atomic and Hg) in the cold-water extracts are presented
absorption spectroscopy (AAS). in Table 3.
For determination of primary aromatic amines, According to the German BfR Recommenda-
the paper samples were extracted in dichloro- tions and the Croatian Ordinance on sanitary safe-
methane. The concentrations of primary aromatic ty of materials and articles intended to come into
amines (expressed as aniline) in solvent extracts direct contact with foodstuffs, the transfer of metal
were determined by liquid chromatography–mass ions into foodstuffs must not exceed 0.5 mg per
spectrometry (LC-MS). kg of paper (Cd); 3 mg per kg of paper (Pb); 0.3
The determination of diisopropylnaphthalene mg per kg of paper (Hg). Testing is not necessary
content (DIPN) was carried out in accordance for paper and board intended to come into contact
with the EN 14719:2005 [16]. The content of total with dry, non-fatty foodstuffs.
diisopropylnaphthalene (DIPN) was determined As shown in the Table 3, all detected amounts
by solvent extraction (dichloromethane) of the pa- of metal ions were actually found below the quan-
per sample and analysed by gas chromatography tification limit of the instrument, which leads to
with mass selective detection (GC-MS), using di- the conclusion that there is no danger whatsoever
ethylnaphthalene as an internal standard. of a migration of these compounds from the paper
For the determination of phthalates, the paper samples into the food.
samples were extracted in dichloromethane. The The amounts of polychlorinated biphenyls
total phthalate content in solvent extract was de- (PCB) and primary aromatic amines determined
termined by gas chromatography with mass selec- in solvent extracts are presented in Table 4.
tive detection (GC-MS). According to the Croatian Ordinance on sani-
The determination of polychlorinated biphe- tary safety of materials and articles intended to
nyls (PCB) was carried out in accordance with come into direct contact with foodstuffs, finished
the ISO 15318:1999 standard [17]. The paper products must not contain more than 2 mg of PCB
samples were extracted with boiling ethanolic so- per kg paper. On the other hand, German BfR
dium hydroxide solution. An aliquot of the extract Recommendations do not impose the testing of
was mixed with water and afterwards subjected to PCBs in finished paper, so no limits for PCBs are
liquid-solid partitioning on a disposable C18 sol- set within the existing German regulation.
id phase extraction cartridge followed by elution Furthermore, according to the German BfR Rec-
with hexane. The present PCBs were quantified ommendations, primary aromatic amines must not
by means of gas chromatography with electron- be detectable in the extract of the finished product.
capture detection (GC-EDC). However, the detection limit still has to be defined.
The results of conducted analyses were com- On the other hand, the Croatian Ordinance requires
pared to the quantitative restrictions laid down that the content of these substances must be below

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Table 3. Amounts of metal ions determined in cold-water extracts (DIP- deinked pulp)
Amount in water extract Hg Cd Pb
mg/kg paper
Limit 0.3 0.5 3
Newsprint paper <0.0001 <0.0002 <0.002
Magazine paper <0.0001 <0.0002 <0.002
Newsprint/magazine handsheet <0.0001 <0.0002 <0.002
Mix sample DIP handsheet <0.0001 <0.0002 <0.002
Folding box-board DIP handsheet <0.0001 <0.0002 <0.002
Table 4. Amounts of PCBs and primary aromatic amines in solvent extracts (DIP-deinked pulp)
Amount in solvent extract PCB Primary aromatic amines
mg/kg paper
Limit 2 mg/kg 0.1 mg/kg
Newsprint paper <0.02 <0.05
Magazine paper <0.02 <0.05
Newsprint/magazine handsheet <0.02 <0.05
Mix sample DIP handsheet <0.02 <0.05
Folding box-board DIP handsheet <0.02 <0.05
Table 5. DIPN content and total phthalate content in solvent extracts of papers (DIP – deinked pulp)
Sample DIPN Total phthalate content
mg/kg paper
Newsprint paper 0.64 2.88
Magazine paper <0.50 2.12
Newsprint/magazine handsheet <0.50 <1.00
Mix sample DIP handsheet 2.57 3.16
Folding box-board DIP handsheet <0.50 10.00

the limit of detection which is set to 0.1 mg of pri- office waste in which DIPN is used as solvent for the
mary aromatic amines per kg of paper. Testing is ink system. DIPN may not be completely removed
not required for paper and board intended to come by the treatment of recycled fibres and may be pre-
into contact with dry, non-fatty foodstuffs. sent in finished paper and board materials [18].
The results of the detected amounts of poly- The presented results show that DIPNs were
chlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and primary aro- found only in the deinked pulp handsheet of the
matic amines in solvent extracts (Table 4) show mix sample (2.57 mg/kg) and also very low con-
that all detected concentrations of analysed com- centrations of DIPNs were detected in the unprint-
pounds were also found below the quantification ed newsprint paper (0.64 mg/kg). The amounts of
limit of the instrument. With regard to these three DIPNs in other analysed papers were detected at
food contact suitability parameters, all tested pa- extremely low concentrations i.e. - below the in-
pers are thus considered suitable to be used in di- strument’s quantification limit.
rect contact with foods. As regards to the determination of the to-
The results of diisopropylnaphthalene (DIPN) tal phthalate content, the highest concentrations
and total phthalate content determination are pre- of phthalates were found in folding box-board
sented in Table 5. deinked pulp (10 mg/kg). Phthalates were also de-
The presence of DIPN in recycled paper origi- tected in the deinked pulp of mix sample, news-
nates from the use of recovered paper grades that in- print paper, and magazine paper in concentrations
clude carbonless copy paper and thermal paper from between 2.1 mg/kg up to 3.2 mg/kg, while in the

74 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

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newsprint/magazine handsheet the concentrations As regards the regulations related to the residual
of phthalates were found below the instrument’s amounts of phthalates in food contact paper, the
quantification limit. Phthalates present in recycled permitted limit of the total phthalate content in pa-
paper and board materials originate from the print- per material, expressed as a group restriction, was
ing inks, adhesives and lacquers applied to the found in the Nordic guideline, whereas in the Ger-
material in the previous use of the paper [19, 20]. man and Croatian regulations the restriction limits
Since the folding box-board sample had a varnish were set only for individual phthalates. Hence, the
layer on top, this could be possible explanation Nordic reference was used for the interpretation of
why the highest contractions of phthalates were obtained results. Nordic guideline imposes that the
found in its deinked pulp handsheets. level of total phthalate content should not exceed
German BfR Recommendations, as well as Cro- the limit of 0.25 mg of phthalates per dm2 of paper.
atian Ordinance, impose that the content of DIPN The results of DIPN and total phthalate content
in finished paper should be as low as technically present in analysed paper samples expressed as
possible. Hence, it is obvious that neither the Cro- mg/dm2 of material are presented in Table 6.
atian nor the German regulations do not specify a The results presented in Table 6, indicate that
clear limit for permitted levels of DIPN in finished all detected concentrations of DIPNs in analysed
paper material. Therefore, the results obtained by samples are found much lower than the maximum
chemical analyses were compared to the allowed amount allowed (<1.33 mg/dm2). The latter means
maximum limit set in the Nordic report on paper that all of these papers, as far as this food contact
and board food contact materials. The Nordic gu- suitability parameter is concerned, are suitable to
ideline proposes that the level of DIPN should not be used in direct contact with food. Likewise, the
exceed the limit of 1.33 mg of DIPNs per dm2 of results of phthalate content in tested papers, show
paper. However, since in this case, the maximum that all detected levels of phthalates in the ana-
limit allowed is expressed as weight/area unit, whe- lysed samples are also found much lower than the
reas the results obtained by an analytical measur- maximum permitted limit (<0.25 mg/dm2). There-
ment provided the weight/weight results, a conver- fore, it can be concluded that all analysed papers,
sion to weight/area units had to be done. The con- according to this food contact suitability param-
version was made by taking into account the actual eter, are considered suitable to be used in direct
grammage of analysed paper (Equation 1). contact with food.
................... (1)
4. Conclusions
Where: The conducted research showed that the most
Qa is concentration of substance in paper ex- common contaminants present in the recycled
pressed as mg/dm², papers are diisopropylnaphthalenes (DIPNs) and
Qm is concentration of substance in paper ex- phthalates. Other evaluated contaminants, such as
pressed as mg/kg, heavy metals (Cd, Pb and Hg), primary aromatic
G is grammage of paper as expressed as g/m². amines, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) could

Table 6. DIPN content and total phthalate content present in 1dm2 of tested material (DIP – deinked pulp)
DIPN Total phthalate content
Grammage (mg/dm2) (mg/dm2)
Sample
g/m2
Limit 1.33 mg/dm2 Limit 0.25 mg/dm2
Newsprint paper 45 0.0003 0.0013
Magazine paper 65 - 0.0014
Newsprint/magazine handsheet 100 - -
Mix sample DIP handsheet 100 0.0026 0.0032
Folding box-board DIP handsheet 100 - 0.0100

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 technics technologies education management

not be quantified by available analytical methods References

i.e. were found at extremely low concentrations. 1. Triantafyllou V.I; Akrida-Demertzi K; Demertzis P.G:
While comparing the detected amounts of Determination of partition behavior of organic sur-
DIPNs and phthalates in the analyzed papers to rogates between paperboard packaging materials
the quantitative restrictions laid down in the Ger- and air, Journal of Chromatography A, ISSN 0021-
man or Croatian regulations, it was impossible to 9673, 2005; 1077( 1) : 74-79,
estimate whether those levels of chemicals impose 2. Bononi M. and Tateo F: Identification of diisobutyl
a risk to human health due to the incomplete and phthalate (DIBP) suspected as possible contaminant in
imprecise regulations. However, when compared recycled cellulose for take-away pizza boxes, Packag-
to the maximum limits proposed within the Nor- ing Technology and Science, 2009; 22: 53–58.
dic report on paper and board food contact materi-
3. Binderup M.-L. et al.: Toxicity testing and chemical
als, all the concentrations found were much below analyses of recycled fibre-based paper for food contact,
the Nordic guideline proposed limits. It can there- Food Additives and Contaminants, 2002; 19: 13–28.
fore be concluded that all tested papers regarding
the analyses done within this research are found 4. Triantafyllou V.I., Akrida-Demertzi K., Demertzis
P.G.: A study on the migration of organic pollut-
suitable to be used in direct contact with foods.
ants from recycled paperboard packaging materials
Nevertheless, additional analyses, such as the mi- to solid food matrices Food Chemistry 2007; 101:
gration of mineral oils from recycled fibre mate- 1759–1768.
rials, must be conducted to further confirm their
suitability for direct food contact. 5. Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004 of the European Par-
liament and of the Council on materials and articles
intended to come into contact with food and repeal-
5. Acknowledgments ing Directives 80/590/EEC and 89/109/EEC, Official
Journal of the European Union, L 338, 4–17 (2004).
The authors wish to thank Dr. Bogomil Breznik
and Dr. Vera Rutar from the Pulp and Paper Insti- 6. BfR, 2009, XXXVI. Papiere, Kartons und Pappen für
den Lebensmittelkontakt, Bundesinstitut für Risiko-
tute, Ljubljana, Slovenia for providing the laborato- bewertung, 2009 Available at http://bfr.zadi.de/kse/
ry deinking flotation trials. The study was financed faces/resources/pdf/360.pdf, 2009.
by the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and
Sports project “Innovative Graphic Materials” Ref. 7. von Wright, A.: Safety assessment of paper and
No. 128-0000000-3288 and partly by the bilateral board used in food packaging, in K. A. Barnes et al.
(ed.) Chemical migration and food contact materials,
Croatian-Slovenian project “New graphic applica- Woodhead Publishing Limited, Cambridge, England
tions with chromogenic printing inks”. 2007; p 334.

8. Croatian Ordinance on sanitary safety of materials

and articles intended to come into direct contact with
foodstuffs, Official Gazette, 2009; 125.

9. Ringman-Beck, Jori: Health and Safety Implica-

tions of Food Contact, 26 October 2010, Available
at http://www.packaging-gateway.com/features/fea-
ture99686/

10. Industry Guideline for the Compliance of Paper

& Board Materials and Articles for Food Contact,
CEPI & CITPA, 2010.

11. Nordic report on Paper and Board Food Contact

Materials, TemaNord 2008:515, ISBN 978-92-893-
1657-6, 2008.

12. TAPPI T 205 sp – 95 Forming handsheets for phys-

ical tests of pulp (1995).

76 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

13. EN 645:1993 Paper and board intended to come

into contact with foodstuffs – Preparation of cold
water extract (1993).

14. EN 12497:2005 Paper and board intended to come

into contact with foodstuffs. Determination of mer-
cury in an aqueous extract (2005).

15. EN 12498:2005 Paper and board intended to come

into contact with foodstuffs. Determination of cad-
mium and lead in an aqueous extract (2005).

16. EN 14719:2005 Pulp, paper and board. Determina-

tion of the diisopropylnaphthalene (DIPN) content
by solvent extraction (2005).

17. ISO 15318:1999 Pulp, paper and board. Determi-

nation of 7 specified polychlorinated biphenyls.

18. MAFF, UK (1999) United Kingdom Ministry of

Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Food Surveillance
Information Sheet No 169, January 1999; Diiso-
propylnaphthalenes in food packaging made from
recycled paper and board, Available at http://ar-
chive.food.gov.uk/maff/archive/food/infsheet/1999/
no169/169dipn.htm

19. MAFF, UK (1995) United Kingdom Ministry of

Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Food Surveillance
Information Sheet No 60, May 1995; Phthalates in
Paper and Board Packaging, Available at http://ar-
chive.food.gov.uk/maff/archive/food/infsheet/1995/
no60/60phthal.htm

20. Aurela B., Kulmala H., Soderhjelm L.: Phthalates

in paper and board packaging and their migration
into Tenax and sugar, Food Additives and Contami-
nants, 16(12), 1999.

Corresponding Author
Sonja Jamnicki,
Faculty of Graphic Arts,
University of Zagreb,
Zagreb,
Croatia,
E-mail: sjamnick@grf.hr

Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013 77

 technics technologies education management

Comparative analysis of pixel-based and

object-oriented classification by using multi-
spectral spot 5 images
Miodrag Regodic1, Dragoljub Sekulovic1, Goran Cirovic2, Vladan Tadic3, Sinisa Drobnjak4
1
University of Defence in Belgrade, Military Academy, Belgrade, Serbia,
2
The Belgrade University College of Civil Engineering and Geodesy, Belgrade, Serbia,
3
Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia,
4
Military Geographical Institute of the Republic of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia.

Abstract stand this kind of relation one needs to know the

In this study, land cover types in mountain reflective features of the observed object (spectral
Avala, Belgrade (Serbia), test area were analysed features of vegetation, leaf,…), the size of the area
on the basis of the classification results acquired image (spatial resolution), as well as other factors
using the pixel based and object-oriented image such as topography, sun height, inclination and
analysis approaches. SPOT 5 with 4 spectral bands orientation between the recorded area and image-
was used to carry out the image classification and ry sensor [1], [4], [5]. For detailed and good qual-
ground truth data were collected from the available ity analysis of satellite images, for recognizing
maps and personal knowledge. In pixel-based im- and selecting certain data, resolutions of satellite
age analysis, unsupervised classification based on images are very important and spatial resolution
ISODATA algorithm was realised first to provide in particular.
priori knowledge on the possible candidate spec- Collecting data on vegetation types from sat-
tral classes existing in the experimental area. Then ellite images was the subject of great number of
supervised classification was performed using the researches. Many authors are studying planimetric
three different approaches of minimum-distance, and thematic potential of images of the Landsat
paralellepiped and maximum-likelihood. On the satellite [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11] and SPOT [6],
other hand, object-oriented image analysis was [1], [12] for mapmaking and inventory of natural
evaluated through the eCognition software. During resources, as well as for mapmaking of the ways
the implementation, several different sets of param- of the land use.
eters were tested for image segmentation and near- Possibilities of implementation of satellite and
est neigbour was used as the classifier. Outcome aero images were expressed for the evaluation of
from the classification works show that the object- taxation volume [12], components volume [14],
oriented approach gave more accurate results (in- [15], [16], [17], [18], forest damage, vegetation
cluding higher producer’s and user’s accuracy for [19], [20], [1], [21]. Evaluation and comparison
most of the land cover classes) than those achieved of volume and components from satellite images
by pixel-based classification algorithms. of different spatial resolution (LANDSAT ETM+,
Key words: Remote Sensing, Land Cover, IKONOS, IRS, SPOT) are used by Hagner [22],
Classification, SPOT. Jensen [23], [1], Seletković [3] and others in their
research. In one word, satellite images have found
a very large-scale implementation in vegetation
1. Introduction
types studying.
Satellite remote sensing is very efficient meth- On the basis of the above mentioned, it is clear
od while satellite images are useful means for su- that satellite images have been used in different
pervision and studying of forest vegetation. The aspects of research both in the world and in our
fundamental tenet of remote sensing is to envis- country. Potential of satellite images was studied,
age the relation between the spectral reflection and analysis of the effect for mapmaking of land cov-
observed variable [1], [2], [3]. In order to under- er, land use, forest components as well as of some

78 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

single trees, was done. Classification accuracy specimen are being used as numerical basis for
was also studied and evaluated (visual and digital categorization of each pixel of the satellite image.
one), as well as the biomass and other. Object-oriented classification provides oppor-
Pixel-based classification approach of the image tunity for generating the picture of object primi-
analysis is limited at present. When using satellite tive in any selected scale and enables classifica-
images of high spatial resolution, certain difficulties tion of objects according to levels and certain hier-
occur because it is often that through the analysis archy (sub-object, super objects). The eCognition
of these images we get uneven results of extrac- software comprises multi-resolution segmentation
tion which are far from the expected results and with region limitation starting from single-pixel
demand certain operator interventions when being object [12].
implemented. Because of the mentioned features of Segmentation is arrangement of pixels (which
the classic pixel-based classification, new, object- have similar spectral features in defined bands)
oriented classification was used. This approach de- into divided regions-objects. For years, the core
mands one or more image segmentations that can problem of the segmentation process has been the
be supported by additional contextual or textual reduction in number of solutions of such a process
information which make the segments more useful to a minimum (i.e. one solution). Scene that is to
in the classification procedure. In the process of cal- be segmented is heterogeneous which makes the
culation, this object-oriented approach uses forms, segmentation process much more difficult.
textures and spectral information. The classifica- Segmentation method goals are as follows:
tion procedure starts with essential step of group- – Extraction of high homogeneity segments
ing neighbouring pixels in adequate areas which for optimal separation and display of image
are being manipulated in the further classification regions.
procedure. Segmentations and creation of topology – medium-size of the image objects must
must be adjusted depending on image resolution correspond to the requested scale.
and scale of data that are being classified. Sepa- – Extracted pictorial objects must be of
rate pixel images are not being classified with this approximately the same size. (almost all
method but homogenous pictorial objects are being attributes of image objects – the colour,
extracted through the segmentation procedure. Seg- texture, form and relations of the neighbouring
mentation can be performed in several resolutions area-depend on the scale more or less. Only
which enables differentiation of several levels of the structures of similar scale are qualitatively
objects category. comparable and have qualitative attributes).
SPOT 5 satellite image test of the mountain Av- – Certain segmentation procedure should be
ala area, Belgrade (Serbia), was analyzed in soft- universal and applicable to a great number
ware packages PCI Geomatica V9 and eCognition of different types of data and problems.
5 by using classic pixel-based and object-oriented – It must enable the same segmentation results
image classification approach. A few different again.
tests were done by using different parameters. In – Bearing in mind the great set of data
the end, results of pixel-based and object-oriented that we obtain by earth observation, the
classification were compared with detailed de- segmentation procedure should be as quick
scription of the acquired results. as possible.

1. Description of the classic technique of Good segmentation is not only the one that is
object-oriented classification being performed well statistically but the one that
is adjusted to human understanding of an image.
The ultimate goal of classic procedures of satel- With a view to achieving the above mentioned
lite images classification is automatic categoriza- goals in the segmentation process, one of the fol-
tion of all image pixels into classes or vegetation lowing two criteria must be fulfilled:
types. Of course, multi-spectral satellite images 1. medium heterogeneousness of scene objects
for classification must be used because spectral should be a minimum one.

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2. medium heterogeneousness of scene objects

multiplied with its size (number of pixels)
should be a minimum one.

The segmentation goal is to facilitate automat-

ic extraction of the desired objects (homogenous
wholeness) for the purpose of fulfilling certain tasks.
In order to determine the result of the segmenta-
tion algorithm, the user is offered to define several
parameters. One of them is the scale parameter.
The square of the scale parameter is the threshold
which must not be crossed by the variance of het-
erogeneity between new (merging of two objects)
and old state. This parameter influences the size of
an object and image detail so that by defining the
parameter we influence the scale too (scale parame- Figure 1. Four level segmentation
ter stems from it). The heterogeneity itself has been
divided into spectral and shape heterogeneity. The eCognition software offers possibility of
Spectral heterogeneity is being calculated un- work in levels (in layers). Layers are most often
der the following formula [33]: used for different levels of detailed description i.e.
different scales. In this way we extract super ob-
h = ∑ wcσ c ............................... (1) jects, objects and smaller-scale level objects and
sub-objects (or child objects), larger scale level
objects. Instead of the term sub-objects we also use
wc - defined band weight the term child-objects because those objects must
sc - standard deviation of dispersion. have attributes of parent object i.e. its super objects.
Sub-objects themselves within one super object
Object heterogeneity is expressed by the func- must differentiate among themselves according to
tion: some other features since they have the same basic
l characteristics of their super object. Sometimes it
h= .................................. (2)
n is necessary to divide one object into sub-objects
with small limit of change of heterogeneity (scale
or: parameter) with a view to obtaining certain infor-
mation through the analysis of sub-objects.
l .................................... (3)
h= Hierarchy of the objects’ networks is being de-
b
fined according to topology thus defining that one
l - border length, sub-object can belong to only one super-object [24].
n - number of pixels,
b - shortest possible length of border of the de-
scribed object rectangle.

Variance of the spectre heterogeneity is as fol-

lows:
hboje = ∑w c ⋅  nspojeno ⋅ σ c spojeno - ( nobj1 ⋅ σ cobj1 + nobj 2 ⋅ σ cobj 2 ) 
c
Figure 2. Object network hierarchy
......................................... (4)
This strictly defined hierarchy of relations of-
fers the following possibilities:

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– Structures of different (parameters) scales –– hierarchy: these features provide information

will be depicted and classified simultane- on the building of the image object into the
ously in mutual relations. entire object hierarchy. (the level of object
– Upper levels can be segmented on the occurrence).
basis of the existing maps (thematic or –– thematic attributes: these are the object
topographic) and lower levels can be attributes of thematic layers. This attribute
segmented on the basis of satellite images, is available only if we had previously
remote detection. imported thematic layer in our project.

Power technique is the analysis of pictorial ob- 2.2 Test area and used data
jects based on sub-objects. The following analysis
can be performed: The image of the SPOT 5 HRS (Systeme Pour
– Texture analysis based on sub-objects, l’Oservation de la Terre) satellite observation sys-
classification of attributes of all sub-objects tem was used as the basic data resource. This sys-
as one new object. Attributes can be contrast tem is equipped with two HRS type sensors (High
or shape, for example. Resolution Stereoscopic system in visible and in-
–– Line analysis based on sub-object. frared part of the spectre with a possibility stereo-
– Characteristic in relation to the class- relation scopic overlap of the two neighbouring images)
to the classified sub-object such as relative with the following features [27]:
area of other pictorial objects allocated to a Table 1. SPOT 5 image properties
certain class. Band Wave length Specter region Resolution
Panchro- Visible part of
In addition to the basic spectral features, there 0,48-0,71 mm 2,5 ili 5 m
matic the specter
is a possibility for the implementation of a number Band 1 0,50-0,59 mm Green 10 m
of other features in the object-oriented analysis. Band 2 0,61-0,68 mm Red 10 m
Other non-spectral features are the result of gen- Band 3 0,78-0,89 mm Close infrared 10 m
erating the pixel into segments. Medium
Band 4 1,58-1,75 mm 20 m
infrared
2.1 Object features Image covers the following area:
Object features consist of the evaluation of the Table 2. Covered area
very objects of the image and their consistence Geographic width Geographic length
with the object hierarchy. 1 440 37 ’ 30 ” 200 30’
–– level value: these features are dealing with 2 440 37 ’ 30 ” 200 37 ’ 30”
band values of one image object (spectral 3 440 45 ’ 200 37 ’ 30”
features). 4 440 45 ’ 200 30 ’
–– shape: with these features the shape of the
image object can be described by using the Area covered by SPOT images is 60x60 km²
object itself (the basic features of the shape) [28] and [29], but for the vegetation classifica-
or its sub-objects, either on the basis of tion the already prepared satellite image was used
polygon or scale. which was cut precisely to cover the area of one
–– texture: it is being calculated on the basis of sheet of topographic map scale 1:25 000 (TK 25),
the texture of the band value of sub-objects, publications of the Military Geographic Institute in
texture of shape on the basis of sub-objects or Belgrade. Depending on the need of the user SPOT
textures according to Haralick. According to Image company is delivering the already processed
Haralick textural feature calculate the value satellite images on different levels (1A, 1V and 2A).
either on the basis of the occurrence matrix The image was delivered to 2A level which
or on the basis of vectors of a variance of the means that former processing was completed in-
grey level of pixel [26]. cluding radio-metric correction of image, geo refer-

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encing in UTM WGS 84 projection without using

control points and rectification of image with me-
dium scene height. Position precision of the scene
is 50 m. That is why the geo-referencing of image
in the state trigonometry network of the Republic of
Serbia (DTM) was done first by selecting the prop-
erties for points for which coordinates were read
from TK25 and TK 50. Since the image resolution Figure 3. One of the shapes of land automatic
is 10 m it is necessary to perform geo referencing classification
as precise as possible because every imprecision re-
flects to later position of cultures’ borders vectors. Automatic classification process provides sev-
Geo-referencing was done in the PCI Geomatica eral classification methods for comparing spectral
program package where TK25 and TK50 were used arrangement of all pixels and allocating of pixels
as reference bases while coordinates of characteris- with similar pattern to the same class. The process
tic points were read with the help of coordinometer. automatically carries out categorization of image
Adequate TK25/III and TK50, aerophoto im- pixels into spectral classes which are interpreta-
ages and original updating of TK25/III were used tion of specific surface material or adequate type
as secondary data. of land cover [30].
This type of classification does not need any pre-
vious image editing because there is practically no
3. Classification and acquired results subjective influence on the final result of the classifi-
cation. It is necessary to set proper parameters (entry
3.1 Pixel-based classification bands, number of classes, number of iterations, de-
In the process of classification and extraction sired percentage of unalteration, classification type
of vegetation from satellite images many different (K-means, FuzzyK-means, ISODATA) as is depict-
algorithms of the two basic types of classification ed in figure 4 after which the process was automated
were used: automatic and semi-automatic classi- by using adequate mathematical algorithms.
fication.

3.1.1 Automatic classification

Automatic classification process classifies ras-
ter objects based on statistic grouping of spectral
features defined with small user’s intervention
(figure 3). The process has been designed in such
a way that it operates with rasters which repre-
sent multi-spectral images. Multi-spectral image
includes red, green and blue spectral band of the
scanned colour photo, but it can consist of the set
of visible and infrared bands like with Landsat or
SPOT images. Automatic classification was de-
signed for usage with conventional multi-spectral Figure 4. Parameters and automatic classifica-
images but the majority of program packages en- tion type
able reading in of unlimited number of raster ob-
jects (bands). Also, there is a possibility to include, 3.1.2 Semiautomatic classification
at the same time, raster data in the classification
processes from different sensors such as Landsat Semiautomatic classification includes carrying
and radar images. out of given instructions on the basis of the formed
“key” for analyzing multi-spectral images. Se-

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lected test regions have unique spectral properties process are: “box classifier”, minimal distance to
which is basis for selection of thematic categories the group of average classifier and maximum pos-
i.e. data classes with the same properties. The sec- sibility of classifier (figure 6).
ond part of semi-automatic classification is per-
formed with computer analysis of value pixel of
selected classes, by using statistic parameters such
as medium value, standard deviation and other. In
this way every pixel is being evaluated and joined
to certain class on the basis of determined similar-
ity in line with the previously formulated classifi-
cation key. After the classification, the quality of
the acquired results was determined. If the results
were not acceptable, repair work would start and
include more precise definition of classes.
In conducting this process of classification, it is
necessary to have much greater influence of inter-
preters as well as the previous research of the region
(field experience, data from other resources and Figure 6. Algorithms of semi-automatic classifi-
other). At the beginning of this process, it is neces- cation
sary to determine specimen and numbers of classes
that are defined and that can be achieved by the se- 3.2 Object-oriented classification
lection of test specimen. Interpreter should select
pixel-specimen (figure 5) as representative pixel for Classification method is the way of joining one
every class (test-training specimen). Data on spec- object to a certain class (figure 7). eCognition soft-
tral reflection of certain specimen (one specimen ware offers three methods of classification [31]:
per class) constitute representative data for certain 1. standard closest neighbour method
class. Set of these specimen will be used later in 2. closest neigbour method
computer classification on the entire image. 3. membership functions definition method,
conditions description.

Satellite images processing software offer the

following objects (pixels) classifiers (of different
functions):
– hard classifiers, and
– soft classifiers-fuzzy classification.

Figure 5. Selected test specimen

Following the process of determination of the

quality of selected specimen, the very process of
classification by selecting one out of few classi- Figure 7. Depiction of object-oriented classifica-
fication algorithms will be performed. The most tion of test area
commonly used algorithms in the classification

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3.2.1 Hard classifiers lecting specimen one can notice one more feature-
advantage of object method in comparison to pixel
eCognition also enables us to use the “hard one. While in the pixel method it is necessary to
classification” function-binary method, when us- create manually entire specimen, in the object
ing the method of conditions description. This method there are already existing homogenous
means that every object is being allocated 0 (does wholes which are only to be selected. The conclu-
not belong to) or 1 (belongs to) level of member- sion is that the object method has been statistically
ship. Due to its property (0,1), this classifier, being supported from the very beginning while pixel one
an independent function in the eCognition pro- is left to human evaluation (figure 8).
gram, has no logical sense. Most often it is used
as an assistance to soft classifiers. This type of
classifier is connected to soft classifiers by logical
operation (AND) [32].

3.2.2 Fuzzy Classification

It is the technique which translates characteristic
values from arbitrary scope into the value of 0 to 1
which is the level of object membership in every
class. It is being used for the following purpose:
– Standardization of every feature and
combining of different features thus getting
one numerical value which indicates the
belonging of object to every class.
– Enables adjustable description of features,
particularly the comparison within the Figure 8. Multidimensional classification of the
network hierarchy. closest neighbour
– Enables using of logic operators.
The above figure shows that the unknown object
In order to classify one object, the class must
is joined to the class which specimen is the least
be described:
distant from the unknown object, through the “clos-
– with one condition,
est neighbour” method. The distance itself cannot
– combination of conditions and
be graphically depicted because it is the multidi-
– implementation of the closest neghbour
mensional area but its formula is as follows:
method.
2
Once the object has gone through the fuzzy-  v (fs ) - v(fo ) 
d = ∑  ..............................(5)
classification it got numbers which mark the possi-  σf 
f
 
bility of its belonging to every defined class [33].
Now the software in the de-fuzzy classification where:
classifies the object to the class with the greatest d - is the distance between the specimen and
possibility of belonging, provided that the value pictorial object,
is larger than the defined values (software set 0,1).
ν (sf ) - is the value of the specimen object fea-
ture for f feature,
3.2.3 Multidimensional classification of the
closet neighbour ν (of ) - is the value of the pictorial object feature
for f feature,
In the closet neighbour method classification
one must take care of the number of features. Too σ f - is the standard deviation of characteristic
many features can disable classification. When se- values for f feature.

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Standard closest neighbour method uses mid- Table 3 depicts statistical accuracy of vegeta-
dle values of band while in the closest neighbour tion classification of the selected test area of dif-
method we decide ourselves about the features to ferent methods and classification technique.
participate in the classification (either the existing The best accuracy is being achieved by using
or the created ones). object-oriented classification with the value of
kappa κ = 0,845 or 85,789%.
4. Classification results accuracy
5. Conclusion
The classification accuracy of land cover, as to
the terrain observation, is being defined with the On the basis of the practical analysis of extract-
value of kappa coefficient κ E[- 1, +1]. In general, kap- ed vegetation from satellite images, the conclusion
pa coefficient is being reduced with enlargement is that by using eCognition and PCI Geomatica
of the number of classes i.e. the better classes are software vegetation can be classified and extracted
selected the greater possibility of an error in clas- through the pixel-based and object-oriented clas-
sification. Kappa coefficient is κ = 0 for the clear sification method from multi-spectral image.
compatibility between the two total coincidental The figure 7 depicts that the overlapping of
classifications and it reaches κ = 1 for complete vectors of borders of cultures of extracted vegeta-
harmonization between the classification and data. tion with vegetation seen on the SPOT 5 satellite
The classification accuracy of vegetation from sat- image, is large. In some places there are smaller
ellite images is most commonly expressed in per- deviations which are in the function of:
centages and it goes from 88.9% in case of Land- – geo-referencing of the image without
sat TM images up to 96% in case of IKONOS control points,
multi-spectral images. The accuracy of the clas- – subjectivity of interpreters in depicting the
sified vegetation from SPOT image is depicted in vegetation content,
the figure 9 where its value amounts to 94,4%. – subjectivity of interpreters in the process of
semi-automatic classification of an image,
– subjectivity of interpreters in the process of
class merging, and
– size of image pixel (10m),

Once these conditions have been fulfilled, the

better quality results will be acquired from the
aspect of the position precision thus starting to
use this kind of data selection very quickly, not
only data on vegetation but on other elements of
topographic map scale 1:25000, and of smaller-
scale maps in particular. In addition, the past way
of depicting the vegetation content should be as-
sessed critically with regard to detail. Also, it was
demonstrated that the object-oriented method of
classification gives better results in view of the ac-
Figure 9. Classification accuracy
curacy of the classified vegetation.

Table 3. Accuracy statistics

Parallelepipeds Minimum-distance Maximum-likelihood Object-oriented
Statistics Accuracy
classification (%) classification (%) classification (%) classification (%)
Classification Accuracy 68,459 64,784 71,478 85,789
Kappa coefficient value 0,554 0,512 0,587 0,845

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Acknowledgements 10. Jaskolla F., Hiirschheider A., Operational applica-

tion of remote sensing data in the framework of the
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36017 supported by the Ministry for Science and plication, Graz, 1987; 169-175.
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21. Maselli E., Monitoring forest conditions in a pro- Corresponding Author

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Contribution to european initiatives for battle

teams integrations based on initial technology
capabilities
Momcilo Milinovic¹, Zoran Jeftic², Bozidar Forca³, Tanja Miscevic4, Olivera Jeremic1
¹ University of Belgrade, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Belgrade, Serbia,
² University of Belgrade, Faculty of Security, Belgrade, Serbia,
³ University of Defense, Military Academy, Belgrade,Serbia,
4
University of Belgrade, Faculty of Political Science, Belgrade, Serbia.

Abstract understands initial tactical efficiency improving, in

joining which corresponds to new military capabili-
Paper is a research attempt to contribute evalua-
ties, by implementation of new technology perfor-
tion of military tactical forces, with semi-empirical
mances, developed through research programs
probabilistic modeling applied on EU(European
Key words: battle team, battle groups EDA,
Union) Battle Groups in the new EDA(European
EU, empirical modeling functions integration of
Defense Agency), ”Pooling and Sharing (P&S)”,
battle technologies, efficiency of capabilities
initiatives for the interoperable integrations.
Achieved technology level is taken as the key ele-
ment for determination of phases as well as for de- 1. Introduction -Capabilities and require-
sign of possible virtually organization for modular ments for contemporary multinational
battle teams ,of the company level Modern battle military forces
teams are supposed as modular organizations, for Orientation to be the part of joint military forces
the employments on the variable designed tasks. requires equipping of units with appropriate tech-
Efficiency criteria is considered in the frame of nology, with tactical and technical requirements
main military task functions regarding theirs tech- integrated in their design. Equipment and systems
nology levels, as initial readiness of combat unit. interoperability implies common using of the same
A key challenge in the new approach of combat exploitation procedures and performances included
efficiency research was to express units integra- in the same or similar subsystems. That, namely,
tion as international recruiting process dependable means using complementary weapons, command
by technologies in place of policy initiatives Initial and information systems technology, protection
readiness regarding to the technologies are repre- and logistic support technology, to achieve syner-
sented as intensive phase of efficiency probability gistic fully integrated operational task effects. In
development that point of view, technology readiness available in
Exploitation of available technologies is repre- the combat unit provides deliberation of full equip-
sented through training and knowledge collection ment technical efficiency. By this approach, tactical
during interoperable joining as the extensive phase issues become redesigned, only on personnel and
of efficiency development. Both parts of efficien- group readiness for mission, achieved by new and
cy function are designed as continual estimators innovative well prepared joint training.
in these processes Research goals of paper was to Tactical military requirements, integrated with
find out approximate semi-empirical probability equipment technical performances and features,
distribution law ,guided by two linked parameters demand initial personnel training in handling and
,to follow up development of joint capabilities cor- maintaining for its effective use. Familiarizing per-
responding with EDA, P&S, initiatives. One pa- sonnel with equipment becomes one of the most
rameter was recruiting technology efficiency, and important initial tasks in establishing joint forces
other, linked with them was technology relevancy and multinational units. Field manuals and hand-
in mission or in joining with other participants. Aim books for handling and maintaining the equipment

88 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

based on sophisticated technology direct almost future forces is high knowledge about ammunitions
all exploitation procedures in combat, determining effectiveness used in operations, in aim to evaluate
risk functions and efficiency of their use. Execu- combat and possible collateral damage as risk func-
tive functions and their ordering in combat units tions. What that means for new defense technology
(as the base for Command and Control functions) is not so simple question.
are rooted by equipment technology handbooks The innovative approach, contained in US mili-
for units training and equipment handling. Neces- tary documents, [1] to new battle teams and groups
sity for the same functional training in using the design, in considerations of new unpredictable
equipment is proximately the same for the same war challenges, expressed necessities of military
equipped units, regardless of national or tradition- unit readiness for two combined main tasks. First
al roots military units may have. Variations could is implying the capability and readiness for opera-
appear on higher, operational, integration levels, tions to defeat the adversary, and second capabil-
more then on baseline, tactical forces units and ity and readiness for stabilization and supporting
their command readiness. operations in the same battle area, [1]. Also, ex-
Conclusions are that new joint capabilities of pected innovative feature in capabilities, for tacti-
combat units in interoperable successful and ef- cal units design, related as interoperable require-
fective integration, lie on technology equipping, ments, is acceptability to the joint fire and others
particular and/or joint training. Technology level combat multinational supports [1]. This capability
has to be one of the main initial suppositions for is expected to be decentralized to the small units
effective combining of forces. This has to be the and battle groups, and tactically rapid applicable
initial base to consider how interoperable manag- [1] , [2]. Joint multinational fire support means,
ing system of systems could integrates their capa- practically, that all kinds of fire power technology
bilities on international level, as accepted general available among partners could be employed on
hypothesis in the further research of this paper. the battlefield without technical obstacles. These
features have more important relevance then older
2. General hypothesies as research as- conventional tactical capabilities. Mentioned is-
sumptions - Divergence requirements of sues, requires virtual and flexible concepts of
future combat forces capabilities modular units’ organization and especially, con-
cept of different technologies application in both
The character of military tasks for which mili- combat and non-combat missions. This opposites
tary forces will be employed in the future will be expressed as quality of required technology, are
much more in poorly battle manner, then in fully the second general hypotheses in the research.
expositions of fire power [1]. Forces, for the crisis
management, have to be planned for low level op- 3. Main problem of research and their
erations. This has inclined former organization ori- hypothesis
entations of military units and redirected their tra-
ditional capabilities and technologies. Engagement European initiative for interstate, “Pooling
of military units in the future requires, also, civilian and Sharing”, model for increasing the capa-
employment in combat tasks execution, as an inher- bilities of small country’s armed forces
ent constituent part of military units [1]. Civil coop- Preventive strategy is the key interest shared
erative ability and employment of balanced forces among EU member and candidate states for future
represents new capability of combat units ,named military integrations, [3]. This poses challenges for
as the selectivity, [2]. Forces prepared for peace- military capabilities development, such as commu-
keeping and stabilization tasks have oriented their nication, maintenance, transport or civil-military
capacities towards crises managing and interaction interoperability, to become as performances, more
with much more then one, differently oriented sub- important then units combat task functions. Future
actor. Overall effectiveness of force application has Joint EU armed forces have to be able to deploy on
to be in accordance with legal and political con- the distant battlefields and to be sustainable during
straints[1],[2]. Consequently, requirement for the operation time [2]. In fact, distant operation capa-

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 technics technologies education management

bilities are more expeditionary forces feature, and, political cooperation, culture and industrial rela-
usually are much more expensive and inappropri- tions, and other issues considering as fruitful.
ate for small countries. This feature is principally The cooperation algorithm thus emerging ,
divergent from campaign full-spectrum forces divides the EU into five interlinked cooperative
capabilities [1]. for which, small countries have clusters, [4,5], including South-East European
much more development experiences gained in cluster. This last trying to reach out non-EU mem-
the past. Some of the EU countries [6] , avoid am- bers, in the neighborhood (Serbia, Bosnia etc.)
bitions to have expeditionary capabilities in their into the management of joint military forces. The
national defense strategies and their activities in capstone question is not is it politically appropri-
joining EU forces are constrained by the low level ate, but much more, are they able to design coop-
of engagement. According to collective security eration on the same accepted base.
obligations, [3], small countries attempt to focus EU “Pooling and Sharing” concept, would
their military expeditionary required EU capabili- be good base of joining if would be represented
ties only on specialization role of some selected synthesis of intensive and extensive principle in
functions (citation: to offer niche capabilities and the approach of joining developed through obvi-
work with other smaller states towards a role spe- ously join benefits. Intensive part of joining could
cialization [4,5]. Usually, these functions are NBC be preparing and equipping of forces, achieved
protection, medical support, electronic warfare, in the country, and аs extensive part, could be
participation in special operations, specialization named joint international training and exercises
in reconnaissance, military police, engineering to achieve adequate level of interoperability. Both
support etc. They usually satisfies their formerly parts have to be based on recognizing the full
built capacities, developed before starting transi- spectrum of defense policy challenges in their full
tion and military reforms. It usually assumes as sense of meanings, but namely, of military units’
a beneficial advantage for offering participation integration efforts and their initial and further de-
in EU, joint forces without additional cares and velopment activities. This concept could be suc-
problems. Modern political and economic circum- cessfully implemented if some economic interest
stances, these constrains the most of medium and is obvious, as it is defense technologies improve-
small sized countries to maintain armed forces ment. In that case ,integration becomes driver in
capacities for the entire spectrum of conventional capabilities development of EU forces integrated
conflict. They rather refer to political expectations on the EDA initiatives for technology and arma-
for the new defense umbrella of collective security ment cooperation, [6]. The base toolkit for the
but, usually diminish care about collective defense implementation of this strategy has to be tacti-
military capabilities. Budgetary issues coming cal organization and its efficiency criterion based
from the modest national economies as the burden upon the new technology implementation. The
imposed on the existing military capacities, lead existing EU-Battle groups concept, [1 , 7 , 4 ,5 ],
to avoid particular contribution to collective ca- is an experimental attempt of organized approach
pabilities of expeditionary forces in interoperable in the military multinational tactical joining. The
joint participations. EU concept of “Pooling and EU Battle groups could become interactive devel-
Sharing” ,for building joint military capabilities, oping mechanisms for regulation and intensifica-
suggested in [4,5], offers an opportunity to small tion of military capabilities initiated by “Pooling
countries to improve recognition of particular roles and Sharing” concept [6]. EU-Battle groups are
in joint specialized orientations and, also, a new limited to smaller parts of troops that have been
approach to develop mechanisms for joint military taken from the existing national military forma-
harmonization. “Pooling and Sharing” concept is tions. They should be designed on virtual capabili-
a set of practical initiatives for improving joint ca- ties which exist in countries, in their own tactical
pabilities in EU. It is difficult to express which are planning documents and the opportunities to be
the best required conditions to enable interstate taken in the future, namely for national defense
cooperation in EU, [4,5]. They comes from gen- purposes [4]. However, EU-Battle groups should
eral approaches as it geographic area, pre-existing be used as a starting point for the pooling initial

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 technics technologies education management

practices, [4]. This has to be considered in con- 4. Solution structure analyzes and their
tinuation of development process and extended by hypothesis
new concepts manner. Expanded BG-concept by
Experimental organization of battle teams
[2, 6 ], could include more offers for the compre-
developed on the basis of tactical-technology
hensive mixing capabilities. Authors of the studies
accordance
[6], [8], suggested that the aim should be to trans-
Elements of modular concept content principles
fer the high degree of readiness to a selected, part
which require design of modules and appropriate
of EU armed forces. This could be a typical train-
force assembly particularly for each operation. To
ing concept based on the available initial capabili-
be modular in structure at all levels, mainly self-
ties of participants. This seems as approvable from
sustaining and capable to operate in both traditional
the political point of view, but there is not enough
formations as well as disaggregating into battle
attractively for the broader interest and wiliness to
groups and teams is the key organizational capabil-
be accepted by the EU countries with enthusiasm.
ity of new trade-off requirements of military units
Technology improving concept could deserve
design. [1]. General battle team requirements for
much stronger interest of the member states and,
land forces should be taken from the frame recom-
also, non member states. To achieve interoperabil-
mendations in [1,7,2 ]. but could vary for specially
ity, contributions to the modular structure of forces
required operations and missions.
are necessary to be planned in national scheduling
The best way for national planned strategy to
complementary with international. The underly-
cover different requirements of battle organization
ing mechanism for generating European capabili-
in military units is to accept experimental modu-
ties should be expanded to specialization fields
lar battle team (for example, average sized rein-
for states that limiting military role to particular
forced company), which provides organization with
military capacities. They should coordinate their
changeable battle elements and technologies. These
efforts with partners in alliance and develop se-
elements could be circled around modern battle
lected expert capabilities required for joint con-
command structure (Figure 1) able to accept squads
cepts by selecting one or few of them regarding
and small teams of different actors, including civil-
their technology ambitions . The key element for
ians, equipped with new developed technologies.
their successful modular integration will be differ-
This battle company should be the frame structure
ences of technology levels between countries for
for South-East European states and their defense co-
selected performances in the joint battle team re-
operation practice, especially aimed at advancing re-
lated to the tactical and technical requirements of
search on new technologies and ideas for industrial
equipment. Today these requirements have not yet
defense cooperation. This unit has to be structurally
get their full ambivalent face, because of politi-
light type force unit but also able to integrate heavier
cal priorities to accept interoperability at all cost,
weapon technology elements. Squads, battle teams
but very soon they will become main obstacle in
and groups of different actors could participate by
further partnership and international building of
modules replacing principles at all levels, and also
joint forces. That is the reason why technology
have to be both quality type forces, expeditionary
accordance has to be the main issue that must be
and campaign. They has to respond to a predicted
discussed and resolved in the future. This orien-
spectra of challenges and to be deployed in different
tated conclusion which promote “Pooling and
threats through preventive operations and civil–mil-
Sharing” initiative is taken as general hypotheses
itary missions. In that sense of meaning, unit could
in this research. Significant of technology level in
be capable to use different tactical defense technolo-
this process directed on the particular hypothesis
gies of battalion and lower levels of responsibilities.
expressed as intensive and extensive development
These forces could have different abilities as it.
of efficiency in the EU Battle Groups. Technology
1. To implement different forces modules
readiness criteria, represented by transient point of
and packages, with appropriate elements
this process and is the initial quality estimation for
of necessary flexible structure, and with
the participant countries.
different new and old available technologies.

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 technics technologies education management

2. To have ability for effective transition between This experimental and virtual team, Figure 1.,
offensive, defensive, and stability, or support could be recommended in the organization sense of
tactical operations [1], led by information meaning of next four general frames of modules.
battle team which served command and - Command module, (dark violet - fig 1.).with
others company modules by appropriate fast, two virtual adaptable and changeable squads.
decentralized information technology links. 1. First squad is Information and intelligence
with linking elements of civil agencies and
The special tactical module in the Command their activities (yellow fig 1.).This element
has to be organized as the autonomous element is responsible for information providing
of FIST team, [9], for joint fire support designed and also for risk and collateral damage
to be decentralized in competency [1]. by direct estimations and overall mission assessments
contact with appropriate fire supported capaci- before and during operations with uncertain
ties out of company battle team. The access to the conditions. The role of this module , is fully
combined and joint fire from the air and from the analytical and includes data links, collection
heavier land fire units (armored or artillery) has to and coordination in the area of battle team
be total decentralized, but coordinated with higher responsibilities, and including linking with
military links and commands. civilians and security structures out of
Combined arms in modular team composition military organization.
and access to joint capabilities with other teams and 2. Second (tricolor - figure 1.) is typical
services units of battle environment is essential tacti- military, command service elements squad,
cal feature of this experimental organization, (liter. linked with upper and lower joint military
1). Smaller autonomous units and combined arms commands and communication elements,
battle teams and groups have to change traditional and consists of joint fire support team and
squads’ organization in the new form of company security team. This squad is equipped with
battle teams and groups [1, 7, 2]. Traditional infan- technology for surveillance from the air,
try, armor or artillery units could be taken, but have and ground, by leasing groups, (as GLO,
to be replaceable or mixed in modular manner with and ALO, liter 10), and, also by elements of
teams which uses new weapon technology and with FIST , and AD teams ,in aim to procuring and
other elements of high-tech., forces such as combat supplying battle team with collected data.
UAV-team, precision weapons NLOS team, sophis- This element provides autonomy of action,
ticated sensors and command and control systems, in the preparing of operation data based on
surveillance mobile teams, etc. [1]. By these changes dispersed available capacities out of battle
, occurs synergistic effect of weaponries units , which teams and modules in the company. Also
is recommended by literature for the EU designed this team provides using others fire power
capabilities, [7,2], as the new military forces quality. modules of higher elements out of company
In the military sense of meaning, this concept able to be integrated in the company battle
of tactical experimentally virtual teams provides team tasks and company modular elements.
testing of fire power and maneuver balance as ca-
pability, [9], integrated on the lower level of orga- Central modular structure are elements of com-
nization. The issues of land forces types and bal- bat or task power and consists of:
ance as heavy and light depend on the majority - Combat module is the main activities ele-
of requirements in the missions. Modular units, ment, (green­­-Figure 1), aimed for direct battle
designed as balanced between light and heavier engagements in the missions. Consists of two or
fire power elements could achieve appropriate three squads and their separated teams (Figure 1
level of synergy quality in aim to deliver military ­­–framed in green). These teams has possibility
effects in a more flexible way [2]. But, namely, to be combined coordinated with other elements
interoperable company battle team has to be light from other military actors and arms components,
by expecting to be used as expeditionary or high as special units, gendarmeries or special police el-
mobility packaged forces for rapid reaction. ements, etc. This is a typical expeditionary or mis-

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 technics technologies education management

sion executive module for close support or action. ally expected technology requirements. The com-
It can be aggregated or disaggregated depending pany battle teams generally has to practice evalu-
on requirements. ations based on combat task functions to measure
- Combat support module (light blue and efficiency and their changes. By replacing of old
green­­-Figure 1) is elements which provides indi- , with innovative technology solutions and thus
rect or direct firing able to be delivered as suppres- developing new offers of modular structures with
sive or precision fire on ranges allowable for the virtual and real capabilities battle team generates
level of modular unit responsibilities. This combat opportunities for new tasks. Each integrative mod-
supporting element also may be the other combat ule has to satisfy efficiency criteria measured in
support type, like NBC protection or ECW support the percentage of technology level readiness, es-
and protection. This depends of operation types. timated by experts for integrations. This has to be
Module is under direct control of modular squad promoted as functional level in the units develop-
in the command denoted as the military links in ment which is required to be achieved for the so
company command for joint operations coordina- called Pooling intensive phase, as condition ,for
tion. This element could also be a civil protection the further successful interoperable joint training
unit or other non combat mission service, which as the extensive, sharing phase, of integration.
is responsible to the information team of the com-
mand module.
- Forth combat module (violet­­-Figure 1) is
element of logistic support and sustainability
which provides technical medical and sustain-
able support, and is diverse in three elements
subgroups, of the rear, close and deep logistics
elements. This depend on mission type and sus-
tainable requirements and especially of used fire
power technologies and their supply chains but,
also, of operation preparation. Some new weapons
technologies require also virtual nonformula logis- Figure 1. Principles of composition of military
tic requirements, through support in the maintain- modular flexible company battle group for flex-
ing and handling by unconventional procedures. ible tactical interoperable purposes of about
Company battle team of full composition could be about 200++ persons.
designed as the desired interoperable military par-
ticipant in the EU higher tactical units for oriented Considered idea and their measured solutions
tasks and missions. Any modular element as the orientated issue about efficiency and their signifi-
group or subgroup in this composition represents cant for battle teams integration to the forth par-
constitutive modular changeable element. Each ticular hypothesis in this research. It is attitude that
of modules also ,could be choused for offer as integrative battle teams and elements, have to be
smaller national participant in the international or recruiting determined with their choused efficien-
national tasks integration based on the interoper- cy and appropriate relevancies arguments which
able principles. Also Each of subgroups can be de- regards initial technology level.
signed as the niche capabilities tactical or technol-
ogy offer in the international EU BG participating. 5. Particular hypotheses as methodology
Modules ,also, can be tactically designed for the requirements – Demands for semi-em-
variable flexible testing purposes as example for pirical criteria modeling of the modular
combat quality evaluation of new equipment , or units efficiency
new tactical capabilities tests achieved by equip-
ping in the modernizations .Performances of par- Joint integration of modular units has to be de-
ticular technologies has to find place in some of veloped through two constitutive continual phas-
the subgroups integrated as the existing or virtu- es. First is intensive phase, and denotes achieving

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values of initial tactical performances by equip- cies as influenced by technologies it is necessary to

ping handling and training with modern technol- group technology by types which corresponds to
ogy. Accommodations for all joint participants military task functions.
in multinational military unit have to be unified Task functions mechanisms of military forces,
through their second, extensive phase, consists [1] are recognized as unique and general functional
of tactical and operational joint training. Both clusters, in the most of the military units. These
assumed phases, intensive and extensive, could are Command, Control and Information functions
estimate semi-empirically expressed by unique cluster, Joint fire and maneuver functions cluster,
probability efficiency functions. Criteria and effi- forces protection and ensuring, integrated with, Lo-
ciency measures might be expressed by the same gistics Support and sustainability in join functions
unique manner. New step in semi-empirical mod- cluster. These clusters are similar for both, modu-
eling have to recognize efficiency quality of the lar or traditional packages of combat units, and ex-
units as probability value of appropriate recruit- press general functions of forces quality. Operation,
ing technology level, determined as transient point missions, or forces types can vary their efficiency
from intensive to extensive part of development, values, but not exclude any of clusters function as
and defined on the semi-empirical functions. These constituent label. Functions could be, probability
threshold probabilities are mathematically points of designed, [10], and mathematical distribution laws
the efficiency, equal for all participants. Model de- are determined by dimensionless relevancies vari-
velopment is also orientated to express tolerances ables as the arguments. Functions also, can be taken
of the minimum and maximum efficiencies caused as the elements of efficiency for the joint capabili-
by technology level of joining elements in combat ties, by considering variations caused with mini-
unit’s integrations. Composition of military units, mum or maximum applied modern technologies.
for the targeted purposes, usually requires differ- Technology contribution in the niche capabilities
ent relevancies for available defense technologies requirements of battle teams could be successfully
in the each of task functions. Different relevancies integrated in the above mentioned main task func-
are consequences of new conditions and neces- tions as their constituent which contributes combat
sities of technologies use, new observed combat efficiency. As it was already mentioned, manage-
tasks, or appear as result of new teams observing ment of prepare units for modular combining could
in joining to the modular task organization. Selec- be treated as the technology readiness efficiency
tion of the best technology performances for the management in the intensive phase, and interoper-
organized groups in the modular combat units, and able practical application of these technologies in
estimation of their contribution to efficiency are the the extensive phase. Determined unique probabil-
questions of particular missions. Where and when ity efficiency functions as continual estimators in
some combat technology performance is more or the development process and contributing to them
less important can be expressed by new indepen- relevancies as the arguments is fifth particular hy-
dent mathematical variable, signed as the relevan- pothesis in considerations of this paper. This is
cy. Technology performances as expression of the valid for the any particular combat element in the
units’ initial readiness exposed as efficiency levels modular integration processes, including elements
dependable of initial relevancies arguments. For with niche capabilities. Transient efficiency and
some level of good or better technologies, dimen- relevancy pair of values would determine full sense
sionless relevancies argument vary around number of model research.
1 which corresponds to the declared efficiency of
technology performances. Variations of relevan- 6. Estimation methodology development
cies, affecting real efficiency development to cause and frame results -Semi-empirical ap-
different advancing of combat units. Same efficien- proximations and its dimensionless argu-
cies related to appropriate technology performanc- ment for estimations of battle teams’
es, which belongs to different relevancy arguments,
exposed different further efficiency development. Combat performances as the efficiency func-
To express development effects of combat efficien- tions cluster improved by new defense technologies

94 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

expressed in relation to dimensionless arguments, ly as the probabilistic known determined distribu-

are the challenging question of semi-empirical tion laws has been guided by theirs dimensionless
modeling. Experts usually have requests for the random arguments ω Arguments become the new
prompt answer about how much is some function- mathematically independent quality measures.
ing efficient and how much is that value significant Also, they are functionally correlated with effi-
for the mission or task. To answer on this question, ciency probabilities, as unique measures, for the
mathematical model must offer unified approach combat unit’s quality checks. Process of functions
for all efficiency functions and for all modular variation is speed upped and the approaches are
participants. The acceptance with two referencing more flexible, if efficiency functions expressions
linked values, one for the estimations of required use only control points as checking parameters
efficiency probabilities, and the other, which vary in modeling and measured tests. In the first ap-
their relevancy in the aimed mission, is problem re- proximation, distribution law of two independent
ferred as function of function. Numerous excellent dimensional random variables, revised in one rela-
probabilistic and other mathematical models used tive circular argument ω , [9], as functions,
in the operational research could be applied suc-
1
cessfully for theses purposes. But, searching for the - (ω 2 )
best values in these modeling, usually requests nu- Fω (ω )= 1 - e 2
................... (1).
merically based exhausting procedures. Simplified
method accepted here, could not have the aim to be Is accepted to express expected behavior .This
compared in quality with more precise and high ef- is derived for the so called zero systematic error,
fective probabilistic mathematical models given in [9], and is valid to the practically maximum value
the, [10, 11, 12], as well as other available literature. of F(ω ) =o.99., for the three standard deviations
The goal is to create approximate estimations for in the dimensionless arguments ω =3. Function in
particular system efficiency requirements, based on eq1, has the following characteristic properties:
relevancies arguments. Both performances have to for; ω → ∞ ; F(ω ) → 1. and for F(ω ) =0, ω =0.
be mathematically linked, in order to enable their Characteristic values in the transient point, are ap-
suppositions in further estimations of modular con- proximately next: F(ω= 1)= 0.394 , where its first
cepts for the battle groups development, in the inte-
derivation, is about, and the sec-
gration process.
ond derivation is . .
In broad possibilities of designing choices for
These behavior and values make function ex-
empirical model, the key challenge is to accept
cellence to be representative, of the required form,
enough simple mathematical bases for the prob-
in semi-empirical probability laws modeling. The
ability distribution function, of dimensionless ar-
form could correspond to quality performances de-
gument. Their main parametric properties used in
velopment and changes of battle groups efficiency
the new approximated function, which is math-
before and after their integration. Constrains in
ematically similar with old one, enables direct
the model are its numerically fixed values in men-
changes of behavior by assuming new characteris-
tioned transient points. Characteristic points and
tic values. Simple model referred in the paper [12]
features could explain transient and development
, citation, A statistical significance of “nσ” can be
efficiency behavior of intensive to extensive for
converted into a, etc ), considered random argu-
battle groups performances. Continual probabili-
ment a expressed by number of standard devia-
ties, as the semi-empirical estimators required
tions σ, and creates new estimator of significant.
avoiding determined treatment with fixed points,
Similar approach have been used here, in aim to
but also, and to keep form and behavior of func-
compress or extend random argument x at the less
tion. This means to be open for expected experts’
or high values. Consequences of direct approach
initial changes of transient points as technology
are augments or degrade of probability distribu-
efficiency estimators. For that purposes new func-
tion law and their gradients in the required points.
tions family types have been tested supposed in
New semi-empirical function must lead changes
the form of,
of probability values by new argument x , similar-

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 technics technologies education management

in technology of battle groups and their modular

constituents could take as acceptable for the func-
for.....k,p ≥ 0.....and....x ≥ 0; ................(2), tional integration.

which are by their properties and behavior sim-

ilar with eq 1, for the n>1, in the first approach..
For the transient values, where second derivation
is zero, argument, xp , and efficiency value F( xp )
exists, and also change increasing function man-
ner as in eq.1. By the simple algebra action, it was
possible to derive function, extracted from the
family eq. 2, which has coefficients, p,k , and ex-
ponent, n ,only as the functions of relevancies, xp Figure 2. Variations of representative referent
and probabilities, F( xp ) , in chosen transient point. functions depend of referent transient technology
Observed property of function is assumed as rep- points and their probabilities in the P&S concept
resentative with referent threshold point where
intensive phase and extensive phase of units effi- Technologies performances expressed as ref-
ciency change behavior of development. The form erencing probability efficiency tolerances and ac-
of this new extracted family functions from eq. 2, cepted minimum at the beginning of integration

is expressing only by pair of referent values xp , are taken for the equal initially relevancies xp =1.

Fref (xp ) , in the form, Constrained values of Fref (xp ) also have math-
ematical approval by exponent in eq. 2, which
has to be n l 2. Lower values of n, pull probability
in the zero second derivation point toward very
low, and zero values of function, which change
......................................... (3) the sense of transient behavior, Figure 2, mak-
ing it useless. Technology level expressed as the
Function property allow parametric acceptance initial efficiency readiness represents correspond-
to required criteria of efficiency and unification ing values which constrains efficiency probability
relevancies in this point valid for the all recruiting development in extensive phase. This property is
participants. Relevancy argument x is parameter also, welcome to distinguish importance of initial
which explains importance of achieved efficiency equipping by appropriate technology Maximum
in designed battle group, according to its expected gradient of probability efficiency in this point be-
or planned tasks in the integration. By this ap- comes quality development, determined by the
proach, a quality pair of values Fref (xp ) , xp rep- initial technology level of pooling into the sharing
resents independent parameters of curve eq 3 and transient process, and it contributes to further esti-
further values of eq. 4, which determine the form mations in performances managing. This process
of the function and its gradient. is orientated by performances, efficiencies and
In “Pooling and Sharing” concept [6], these their corresponding relevancies arguments. Values
recognized property would be used for represent are determined as, Fx′,ref (xp ) in criterion point xp
planned efficiency development by technology and is given by expression,
performances for all integrative modules. Expecta-
tions of integration tolerances regarding efficiency Fref (xp ) 1 - Fref (xp ) 
Fx′,ref (xp ) = ........... (4).
of technology level for modules could be between xp 1 - 2Fref (xp ) 
Fref (xp ) = 0.25 - 0.394. These differences values

96 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

The lowest and the highest recommended val- Particular task functions efficiencies developed
ues of maximum gradients in ,eq 4, recommended for the required battle groups, as well as special
for the expert requirements, are denoted as (0.375/ niche capabilities ,can be composed in the same
functional manner. This means to accept threshold
xp ),for, Fref (xp ) =0.25 and (1.126/ xp ),for, Fref (xp )
criteria dependent on joint relevancies as xp val-
=0.394 in the same referent point xp . Expected
ues and composed efficiency participation in the
initial contribution to efficiency of the best used
appropriate task function where these niche capa-
technology would be a little less then 40 %,In
bilities are expected to contribute.
this model. As the example ,combat unit which
starts integration ,with enough high technology
equipped level is determined by Fref (x= 7. Concluding remarks
p 1)= 0.394
, with exponent n, from, eq. 3, equal 4.69. – Efficiency of integrations for complex
system of systems, like combat teams,
requires semi-empirical probability model,
to estimate quality of modules packaged
in the concepts of modular battle teams.
These concepts initially integrates people
and their technologies referring as efficiency
acceptable on the appropriate level but with
distinguishing role of technology as general
hypothesis in this paper.
– New modular principles for the land forces
Figure 3. Variations of referencing function for design, orientated to the battle teams,
supposes variations, faced with acceptance
the same relevancies xp =1 of more or less combined types and levels of
combat and other technologies of different
This is realized through intensive phase of pre- roots. Battle Groups are interoperable
paring in pooling process toward EU battle groups interstate organized units planed for the
integration. Semi-empirical function in the eq.3, uncertain ,and sometimes random, activities
which corresponds for further efficiency expecta- due to the operation, mission or battle
tions in interoperable development by maximum conditions, which also affect on variations
recommended gradient of 1.126, through exten- of required technology performances. This
sive sharing phase of units integration is accord- was second accepted hypothesis in the paper.
ing to eq3, Modular tactical organization of battle team,
4.69 of company level, with capabilities to vary
0.394 x
Fref ( x ) = 4.69
.................. (5). groups and modules equipped with different
0.394 x + 0.606 technologies, and by different roots depend
Curves of lower efficiency probabilities of requirements, is attempt to contribute
understanding and solving , of this problem,
Fref ( xp ) of technology level unified by initial rel- offered in paper.
evancies, xp = 1 , which have less further develop- – In the new European interoperable initiative
ment gradients, are also shown on the Figure 3 as for creating interstates Battle Groups based
developing efficiencies. The task functions which on the “Pooling and Sharing” idea the
has better technology efficiency performances ex- problem of initial technology efficiency is
pressed by higher values of efficiencies function expected to be addressed. The paper offers
an attempt to integrate this initiative by
in the referencing point xp . Also has higher gra-
unique semi-empirical mathematic function
dients in, eq 4, which provides their further bet-
which represents this process, recognized as
ter developments in the sharing extensive phase.

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 technics technologies education management

intensive and extensive phases of integration Generally observed, the model provides ana-
development. lyzes and preliminary integration for battle groups
– They are expressed as semi-empirical and teams by consequently mathematical expres-
probabilistic functions of different groped sions regarding technology level of combat equip-
military task function efficiencies, by ment employed in variable tasks. The approach
relevancies as their arguments. Transient provides estimations of achieved, virtual and real
relations from intensive phases to extensive efficiency probabilities, led by their initial varia-
phases are hypothetically assumed as tions caused by technologies. The paper recom-
determined by level of required technology mended technology tactical laboratory for battle
performances in modular units. management organization with represented crite-
– Parameters assumed as research base in ria of quality as relevancy and efficiency required
the semi-empirical mathematical model for effective units integration. This initial research
have been accepted as unified for modular expects further development and approval.
elements in integration. In that sense of
meaning model become the contribution Acknowledgment
of toolkit design for technology tactical
management in the interoperable capabilities This paper is made within project No III
estimations of combat units. -47029, financed by the Ministry of Science and
– Especially attention deserved decision about Education of the Republic of Serbia in 2012.
transient values in model because all further
estimations depend of values pair efficiency References
probability and relevancies related to the
technology level of team or their modules. 1. Valcourt D. P., Lieutenant General, U.S. Army,
Deputy Commanding General (2009), / The army
Referred values are recruiting condition for
capstone concept, Tradoc pam. 525-3-0, Depart-
the interoperable integrations, determined ment of the Army Headquarters, United States Army
by technology achieved as readiness in Training and Doctrine Command Fort Monroe, VA
the intensive phase and battle organization 23651-1047 21 December 2009, http://www.tradoc.
improving changes in extensive phase army.mil/tpubs/pams/tp525-3-0.pdf
corresponding by “Pooling and Sharing” 2. Solana Javier, Future trends from the capability de-
initiatives. velopment, European Defence Agency, Brussels, 8
July 2008; www.eda.europa.eu/Libraries/Documents/
Mentioned choused values in method, caused CDP_brochure.sflb.ashx
consequences to the former and further expected 3. European Defence Agency, EU governments launch
efficiency determination and warn experts to be new plan to build defence capabilities for future esdp
aware of the facts that the initial technologies operations, Brussels, 14 December 2006; http://
www.eda.europa.eu/News/2006
which they include have not the same contribution
to further effective development of units. Simu- 4. Molling C. , Brune S-C. , The impact of the financial
lation of initial technology contributions to effi- crisis on european defence, policy , Directorate gen-
ciencies as probability values in the model, rec- eral for the external policy, Study, European Parlia-
ment, Brussels, 2011; http://www.europarl.europa.eu/
ommended probabilities between 0.25 and 0.394 activities/committees/studies.do?language=EN
acceptable for combat units integration. Units
could have higher tactical readiness in combat or 5. Molling C., Brune S-C., The impact of the financial
crisis on European defence, policy department, Di-
experiencing sense of meaning, but contributions
rectorate general for the external policy, Annex, Eu-
of theirs technology level is supposed by these ef- ropean Parliament, Brussels, 2011; http://www.eu-
ficiency percents. Their integration is unified by roparl.europa.eu/committees/en/studies.html#studies
relevancies arguments denoted as equal to one in
6. European Defence Agency , European armaments
the moment of decision joining, and further has co-operation strategy, Brussels, 15 October 2008;
been evaluated by unique starting determined http://www.eda.europa.eu/Strategies/Armaments
mathematical functions and arguments.

98 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

7. Major C., Molling C., EU Battle groups ,what contri-

bution to the european defense –progress and pros-
pects of European rapid response FORCES, SWP
Research Paper, Berlin Institute for International
and Security Affairs, Berlin, Germany, June 2011
; http://www.swp-berlin.org/en/publications/swp-
research-papers/archive/2011.htm1
8. Major C., Civil military headquarters for the EU.
SWP comments, Berlin Institute for international
and Security Affairs, Germany,2010; http://www.
swp-berlin.org/en/publications/swp-comments-en/
archive/2010.html
9. Tyler Gabriel J. , Bartel Matthew , Grashawn J.,
Dorrough B., Paiz Leo , Peters Brian, Savage Mat-
thew , Nordgran Spencer, Joint fire support in 2020:
Development of a Future Joint Fires Systems Archi-
tecture for Immediate, Unplanned Targets , Report
, ,Wayne E. Meyer Institute of Systems Engineering,
Naval Postgraduate School 777 Dyer Road, Mon-
terey, CA 93943-5100, USA, 2006.
10. Przemieniecky J.S., Mathematical methods in de-
fense analyses, Third edition, AIAA, Education Se-
ries, Reston, Virginia, USA, 2000.
11. Ristić S. T., Mihailović D., Čekerevac Z. P., Vatovec
Krmac E., & Salketić, S. Leadership competence
and challenges in the communication process.
TTEM, 2012; 7(4): 11/12.
12. S. Ristić, Z. Čekerevac, Dž. Kudumović, D.
Mihailović, Workplace and challenges in the commu-
nication process, TTEM, 2012; 7(2): 05/06 /12.

Corresponding Author
Zoran Jeftic,
University of Belgrade,
Faculty of Security,
Belgrade,
Serbia,
E-mail . zjeft2002@yahoo.co.uk

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 technics technologies education management

The basic principles for improving occupational

health and safety information systems and
knowledge management
Josip Taradi1, Vesna Nikolic2
1
University College of Applied Sciences in Safety, Zagreb, Croatia,
2
University of Nis, Faculty of Occupational Safety, Nis, Serbia.

Abstract % GDP in the developed industrialized countries.

This paper theoretically outlines the basic prin- These are the estimates of the European Agency
ciples for improving occupational health and safety for Safety and Health at Work (http://europe.osha.
information systems and knowledge management eu.int). According to their sources in the EU in re-
describing how they have been proven in practice. cent years due to an average of 5 million occupa-
Therefore, the goal of the research has been accom- tional injuries per year the total number of working
plished and all of the hypotheses tested and con- days lost reaches 150 million. According to ILO
firmed. In the course of study descriptive research (http://www.ilo.org), an average of 120 million
and literature review were used and the results ana- workers are injured at work in the world each year;
lysed using the survey method and other statistical 1.5 million are left permanently disables and every
tools. The research has indicated that the following year an average of 220 thousand workers are fatally
basic principles for improving occupational health injured at workplace. Occupational injury data are
and safety information system and knowledge can key performance indicators used to measure safety
be established: occupational injury data have to be in business systems, industry branches, regions and
key performance indicators reflecting the efficiency countries. The analysis of occupational injury data is
of occupational safety systems at the micro (business a precondition for acquiring knowledge and devel-
system) and macro level (country). The principles of oping new occupational safety rules [1].
process and system approach should and can be used Kacian [2]. says that “occupational safety is
in establishing a national occupational health and a set of conditions enabling normal process flow
safety information system for collecting data on oc- and enabling smooth running of business opera-
cupational injuries which should and could be entire- tions, thus enabling the achievement of better eco-
ly computerized using today’s web-based informa- nomic results”.
tion and communications technology. The national In modern market economy safety at work and
occupational health and safety information system protective measures aimed at preventing occupa-
should be managed and controlled by an indepen- tional injuries are becoming increasingly impor-
dent state body made up of experts. Scientific prin- tant and, in addition to the human aspect, their
ciples and methods should be applied in continuous social and economic implications are gaining sig-
research necessary for system maintenance, ensuring nificance as well [3, 4, 5].
the broadening of knowledge that will facilitate more The economic, i.e. financial objectives of oc-
efficient overall system management. cupational safety can be met through occupational
Key words: information system, business sys- safety management. Based on that Petersen [6, 7,
tem, knowledge management, occupational injury 8, 9] links scientific methods and managerial tech-
niques to create “safety management techniques”
and based on the “goal-oriented safety manage-
1. Introduction
ment concept” for the purpose of performing a
Subject matter of research “safety system effectiveness analysis” in accord-
The total number of working days lost due to oc- ance with the laws of economy and principles of
cupational injuries as direct costs combined with the management establishes “standards for monitor-
related indirect costs may amount to a total of 2-4 ing safety system performance”.

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Occupational safety performance encompasses resources [15]. Knowledge management aims to

a set of indicators that quantitatively or qualita- increase the scope of tacit knowledge of individu-
tively mirror the specific effects, contributions als used in solving practical problems, but also to
and results of the safety system. The indicators of create new knowledge that should contribute to the
change showing how safety levels change in time improvement of occupational safety performance.
also show the results of actions taken to mitigate In today’s world, knowledge is considered the
certain risks. “Safety indicators are an important basic economic resource for improving the quality
part of the Safety Management System (SMS) of working life and life in general. Business organi-
including the establishment, implementation and zations are focusing on investment in human capi-
monitoring of corporate policies and the accept- tal and ways to recognize, organize and use knowl-
ance of safety criteria and objectives. The results edge. Knowledge development is insisted upon and
of other activities provide the information neces- within organizations for that purpose different strat-
sary for interpreting safety indicators and a set of egies are being developed. As a modern business
safety indicators is a useful tool for defining OHS strategy, knowledge management has numerous
management strategies” [10]. advantages, such as retrieval of hidden knowledge
The literature review has indicated versatile and its mobilization, identifying and integrating
approaches to defining and determining different internal and external knowledge, knowledge avail-
types and categories of occupational health and ability, fresh knowledge gathering, establishing the
safety indicators [11, 12, 13]. culture of learning and experimenting within the or-
Hopkins categorizes occupational injuries as ganization, identification and assessment of knowl-
lead indicators requiring continuous monitoring and edge management processes etc. [16].
management. Of course, monitoring occupational Within the scope of the United Nations Devel-
injuries (and other lead indicators) is prerequisite, opment Programme the importance of knowledge
but not sufficient to improve safety at work perfor- management in resolving multiple problems the
mance. The issue is that lead indicators (e.g. occu- world is facing is emphasized, especially the issues
pational injuries) have to be monitored closely and of security and sustainable development. From the
parallel with support indicators which ensure timely perspective of occupational safety especially impor-
warning and notification aimed at preventing occu- tant is the fact that knowledge management offers
pational injuries and other work-related accidents. a possibility of depicting how pressing these issues
In the given context, training, education and knowl- really are, which means that employees are kept up
edge management should be observed as an indi- to date on the latest issues, possibilities, require-
cator of support for the occupational safety system ments and the importance of continuous improve-
performance and development of an efficient man- ment of occupational safety performance. Knowl-
agement system. A good safety management sys- edge management can be viewed as one of the key
tem is completely integrated into organization and activities in the process of employee safety training.
defines policies, strategies and procedures ensuring In addition to appropriate training programmes, it
internal consistency and management [14]. Knowl- enables continuous education of employees at work
edge management is a process that enables continu- and thus contributes to the improvement of work-
ous employee training in a time-efficient manner, ing conditions and quality of life in general. The
while appreciating the complexity of occupational following must be noted: 1) knowledge manage-
safety and the aspects involved in the matter. In ment should be customized for every organization,
practice, knowledge management aims to provide 2) the elements of successful management should
more efficient training of employees in injury pre- be implemented simultaneously and not consecu-
vention and work safety procedures. From a wider tively, and 3) knowledge management is only the
perspective, owing to non-stop access to databases beginning and the way - not the goal. In line with
and interaction with other individuals and groups the saying “knowledge is development” [17], it can
via information and communications technology, be concluded that knowledge management is con-
necessary preconditions have already been met for ditio sine qua non for the continuous development
wider education and overall development of human of an occupational health and safety system.

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Research overview Kacian’s cybernetic model of occupational safety

Upon analysing the procedure followed in oc- [2] describes the occupational safety system as “…
cupational injury reporting in Croatia Milošević an entirety connected to the environment through its
and Furlan [18] have concluded that “the com- input and output”. The system is split in two subsys-
puterization of the occupational injury recording tems: “the first one establishes safe work conditions
and reporting system will set the basic precondi- and the other provides direction and lead to follow”.
tions for ensuring good data quality and reliable Therefore, “providing safe work conditions is a per-
medical statistics. After gathering and measuring manent process” that has its “laws, factors, behaviour
such data, problems will be more detectable and models, fields of application and results”. The laws
it will be easier to intervene in the working pro- of occupational safety are “statistical in nature and
cess in order to prevent injuries at work based on based on observation, gathering and systematization
the acquired knowledge. That is exactly why the of data on occupational injuries and interpretation
existing system of occupational injury recording of results”. The system has a purpose of reducing
and reporting in the Republic of Croatia requires the number of accidents, i.e. preventing injuries at
modification as soon as possible.” work. The analysis of the models of employee be-
Establishing the key elements of the successful haviour from the aspect of injury prevention differs
American workplace safety programmes Jordan between the influences of ‘empirically and scientifi-
[19] identifies them as “systems of management cally established standards, which are the bases for
and rules, work, process and system maintenance, establishing work safety rules. Such rules and forms
procedures and conditions at workplace and the of behaviour have to be changed if feedback on per-
overall safety culture of an organization”. The ex- formance measures (data on occupational injuries as
istence and level of safety is a measure of organi- a key indicator) indicates inefficiency of the existing
zation’s development, while the frequency and se- occupational safety system.
verity of injuries provide key indicators. The term Showing the quality of working life and life in
“continuous improvement” is the key element of general as integral parts of occupational safety sys-
every successful safety at work programme in tems Markič [21] presents “new starting points that
America. In that process “the possibility of com- will be the underlying shaping the future of occu-
paring data on occupational injuries in particular pational health and safety systems in organizations.
branches of industry has a key role.” The accent is on the human and social aspects that
Describing occupational health and safety will have a substantial influence on the quality of
management in Poland, Zajac [20] emphasizes working life and life in general in the information
that systematic steps may be taken based on the society. He perceives occupational safety as ‘an in-
following: “the development and broadening of tegral part of a business system. Management of oc-
knowledge on integrated management systems in cupational safety has to include ‘a system approach,
dealing with work processes, progress in the har- general systems theory and cybernetics”. In deter-
monization of Polish law with EU law and train- mining the goals of occupational health and safety
ing of experts, especially labour inspectors.” The in the Republic of Slovenia he emphasizes the im-
author, in that context, especially emphasizes “the portance of conveying information and the signifi-
development and popularization of professional cance of having an occupational safety information
software”. Professional software is used as an system. A unique approach to gathering data on oc-
auxiliary tool in hazard identification, workplace cupational injuries may contribute to occupational
assessment and the preparation of occupational safety enhancement. When establishing an informa-
safety documents. One of these programmes is an tion system, priority should be given to an overall
information system called “STER” managed by information system necessary for decision making,
the Central Institute for Labour Protection in Po- and information technology is already enabling fun-
land, “analyses testing results measuring adverse damental changes in the implementation of occu-
effects and subsequently makes hazard identifica- pational safety measures. He concludes that under-
tions and workplace, organizational unit or organi- standing an occupational safety system “primarily
zation assessments”. means research and gathering usable information”.

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By analysing the possibility of using computer Therefore it is scientifically and socially justi-
science and informatics for keeping records on oc- fied to ask the following question about the re-
cupational injuries, Taradi [22] gives a basic con- search problem: What are the basic principles for
cept of “an information system for keeping records improving occupational health and safety infor-
on occupational injuries and illnesses” which is mation systems and knowledge management?
based on legal requirements and “procedures to be
followed and documents entered in the informa- 2. Methodology
tion system on the occurrence of each occupational
injury”. That concept is based on online commu- Goal
nication which allows prediction of “an integrated The goal of the research is to theoretically de-
information system for occupational injury and ill- fine and empirically confirm the basic principles
nesses reporting” which would “solve the problem for improving occupational health and safety in-
of communication between different information formation systems and knowledge management,
systems” in the field of occupational safety. thus setting the preconditions for safety informa-
By analysing the way occupational injury records tion system and knowledge development that will
are maintained in Slovenia, Pavlič and Markič [23, yield better business results.
24] conclude that “harmonization with international
statistical standards” is necessary, as well as “deter- Hypotheses
mining the full scope of activity”, and “the state has H1: The occupational injury data have to be key
to maintain records comprehensively and keep them performance indicators reflecting the efficiency of
updated and forwarded in a timely manner”. occupational safety systems at the micro (business
“A research on the organization and functioning system) and macro level (country).
of occupational safety departments in Croatian busi- H2: On the principles of process and system
ness organizations” and “the problematic issues re- approach it is necessary and possible to establish
lated to the work carried out by independent safety a national occupational health and safety informa-
experts employed at medium-sized enterprises in tion system.
Croatia”, [25, 26] has resulted in findings by which H3: The occupational health safety information
among the ratings of OHS departments and experts system requires computerization and can be com-
in business organizations the highest ones are those pletely computerized using today’s web-based in-
related to the “monitoring and analysis of data on formation and communications technology.
occupational injuries and illnesses” and “IT work H4: The national occupational health and safe-
conditions” while among the proposals for improve- ty information system should be placed under the
ment of OHS departments and activities carried out authority of an independent state body made up of
by experts the highest ratings were given to propos- experts.
als for “computerization of occupational safety ac- H5: Scientific principles and methods should
tivities in the business organization’, and ‘improve- be applied in continuous research necessary for
ment of online communication between OHS de- system maintenance, ensuring the broadening of
partments, experts and external participants”. knowledge that will facilitate more efficient over-
all system management.
Research problem
The basic principles for improving occupa- Methods
tional health and safety information systems and 1) Descriptive method (observation and
knowledge management have not been identified description of phenomena): literature review
in theory and confirmed in practice. That way the 2) Survey: questionnaires, voluntary and
key precondition for a comprehensive and consist- anonymous, descriptive and analytical
ent development of an occupational safety informa- 3) Statistical methods: frequency (f), percentage
tion system and knowledge has not been set, which (%), sum (Σ), mean (M), standard deviation
can and should be in the function of improving the (σ) coefficient of variation (V), Pearson’s
overall performance of business systems. correlation coefficient (r).

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Research sample n’ - prior simple random sample

The target population of the survey, with regard
za / 2 - reliability coefficient (probability) select-
to the purposes and goals of the survey and the
overall research study, are business systems (legal ed by the given probability assessment (e.g. za / 2
persons – companies) in Croatia. According to the = 1.96 at 95 % confidence or za / 2 = 2.58 at 99 %
current data of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics confidence)
(www.dzs.hr), in the Republic of Croatia, a total V - coefficient of variation (%).
of 215,682 legal persons have been registered in- Gr - relative error (%).
cluding state bodies and bodies of local and re-
gional self-administration. According to the same If using the formula prior simple random sample
source, the number of active business entities on is calculated with fraction f ≥ 0.05, the size of the
December 31, 2010 classified according to the Na- sample may be reduced so that the sample size (n) is
tional Classification of Activities was 96,589.
Business systems, by the number of employees, n′ n′ ......................... (2)
n= f′=
based on the OHS and accounting regulations can 1+ f ′ N
be divided into: 1) small-sized (up to 50 employ-
ees), 2) medium-sized (51 to 250 employees) and The size of the simple random sample for sur-
3) large (over 250 employees). The current statistics vey is:
on occupational injuries shows that a majority of
occupational injuries per year (over 3 per year per  2 , 58⋅ 6 0  2
n’ =   = 240
company) occurs in business systems with over 50  10 
employees and they are interesting for our research
study. Therefore, a framework for the selection of a The selected reliability coefficient is 2.58 at
sample that includes mid-sized and large business 99 % confidence Population variation coefficient
systems in Croatia can be given. They account for is 60 %, and has been determined based on the
2,040 according to the Companies’ Registry of the previous research. Statistical error is up to 10 %.
Croatian Chamber of Commerce. Of that total ac- As the fraction of the prior simple random sample
cording to the number of employees 1,612 (79%) n’ = 240 is f = 0.12, therefore f ≥ 0.05 and the fi-
are mid-sized and 428 (21%) are large companies. nal size of the simple random sample may be nar-
The sample was chosen by random selection (sim- rowed down to:
ple random sample) according to a predetermined
240
selection frame, ensuring a good scientific sample. n=
Stratified sampling was used in order to maintain 1+ 1 ,12
the relationship between mid-sized and large com- n = 214
panies and their distribution by counties. This sam-
pling method is enabled by the existing Companies’ The simple random sample (n = 214) is the total
Registry database of the Croatian Chamber of Com- number of business systems (units) included in the
merce available online (www.hgk.hr). Companies survey. The sample is representative of the popula-
were filtered by size and county, sorted alphabeti- tion and probabilistic (scientific) for the population
cally and then random numbers without repetition made up of mid-sized and large business systems in
were generated to represent companies included in Croatia (No = 2,040). In relative terms, the sample
the sample. The database comprises exact addresses is 10.5% of the population, which can be consid-
of the companies which simplifies the survey. ered a relatively high percentage. As the population
The size of the simple random sample can be can be easily stratified into strata interesting for
calculated by using the formula: research, which is 1) mid-sized business systems,
2) large business systems, 3) business systems by
 z ⋅V 
2 county, the calculated size of the simple random
n′ =  a / 2  ............................ (1) sample is deemed a total quantity that is stratified
 Gr  with proportional allocation of units to strata.

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Survey tools 3. Results and discussion

A questionnaire was designed and used, con-
sisting of three series of questions, i.e. statements: Basic details on the participants – business
1) Basic details about the participants – systems
business systems (5 questions, independent In mid-sized companies, according to the num-
variables) ber of employees, (51 to 250 employees) 72.22 %
2) Basic details about the participants – OHS participants have been questioned; in large com-
experts working in the business system (5 panies (over 250 employees) 27.78% participants
questions, independent variables) took part in the survey. The relationship is based
3) Basic principles for improving occupational on the sample stratification according to company
health and safety information systems and classification. Small-sized companies by number
knowledge management (5 questions, of employees (up to 50) were not included as they
dependent variables) were not in the sample.
Most participants work in domestic private com-
The questionnaire consists of 15 closed-ended panies (39.68 %), followed by those employed in
questions with an offered selection from multiple state-owned enterprises (25.40 %); 18.25 % partici-
choices. One answer can be selected by circling pants work in private companies in foreign own-
the number in front of the selected answer (group ership, 8.73 % in companies with public-private
1 and 2) and in answering questions about intensity ownership and in private companies in domestic
(group 3). Questions about intensity are Likert-type and foreign ownership 6.35%. Employees at other
questions with five offered answers ranging from types of companies account for 1.59 %.
very unfavourable (1) unfavourable (2), neutral (3), Almost half of them (49.21 %) are employed in
favourable (4) to very favourable (5). At the same the processing industry. Looking at the core activ-
time these are numeric (quantitative) ratings of cer- ity of companies (according to the National Clas-
tain indicators investigated by means of a survey. A sification of Activities) the construction industry
hypothesis is confirmed if the value of the rating of is significantly represented (15.87 %) as well as
their proposals from the analysis of research results electricity, gas and water supply (11.90 %).
individually equals or exceeds 4.00. By registered main offices in counties, the par-
ticipants are from all counties in Croatia, which
Data on the conducted survey was also the goal of the stratification of sample by
A survey was conducted in April 2011. By regu- territory. Over one third of participants (36.51 %)
lar mail to the addresses of selected companies (re- are employed in companies seated in the City of
search sample) questionnaires had been delivered, Zagreb and Zagreb County.
together with an introductory letter explaining the In the last question (no. 5) from the first group
goal of the research and motivating the participants of questions on the basic details about the partici-
to take part in the study. In addition to the company pants – business systems, the objective was to ex-
address, materials were addressed to OHS experts plore the possibilities of the use of information and
in the company keeping records on occupational communications technology and the Internet in the
injuries, in charge of their reporting and analysis. organization’s occupational safety activities. The
The participants were given a possibility of re- results of the research show that the possibility was
turning the filled out questionnaires in three ways: rated very good by a majority of participants (39.68
by 1) mail, 2) fax and 3) e-mail (questionnaire form %), good or medium by 25.40 %, excellent by
was available for download from a web page). solid 21.43 %, weak by 9.52 % , and non-existent
By the deadline a total of 131 filled out question- by mere 3.97 %. That is a positive precondition for
naires were sent back. A review showed that five the application and development of the computer-
were filled out irregularly and they were invalid. ization of occupational safety in business systems.
Valid ones were used for further processing and Qualitatively expressed average rating is 3.65 on
analysis, i.e. N = 126, which is a very good percent- the 1-5 scale (with standard deviation = 1.04).
age of 59% of the total research sample n = 214.

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Basic details on the participants – OHS tional injuries. The results of the study show that
experts in business systems a majority of participants rated individual knowl-
Over two thirds (70.63 %) are men, while edge as very good (42.06 %) and good or medium
women make less than a third with 29.37 %. (40.48 %), while only 5.56% evaluate it as ex-
The most represented age group is between cellent and 8.73% as poor; only 3.17% say they
41 and 50 years old (40.48 %), followed by par- have no knowledge at all. This certainly enables a
ticipants between 51 and 60 (27.78 %), and 31 to positive presumption of the competence of partici-
40 (23.81%). The youngest age group (up to 30) pants based on their realistic evaluation, but also
makes only 4.76%, however the least represented the application and development of the computer-
age group are the eldest (over 60) with only 3.17 %. ization of safety at work in business systems. The
Almost half of the participants have high level average rating can be quantitatively expressed as
education (47.62 %), 7.94 % have a master’s de- 3.38 (standard deviation = 0.85) and it is lower
gree or a specialty degree and 1.59 % are Masters compared to an average rating of the possibility
of Science. Participants with graduate and post- of the use of information science and the Internet
graduate degrees account for 28.57 %, while those in the business system for occupational safety ac-
with high school diploma account for 14.29 %. tivities (3.65). Therefore, in business practice the
Employees in charge of OHS in business systems technical possibilities for the use of ICT and the
mostly have a high level of education, which can Internet are somewhat higher than the knowledge
be noted as a positive precondition for the applica- of individuals – authorized persons on how to use
tion and development of occupational safety in- it. That clearly indicates the need of continuous
formation systems. education and expanding knowledge on the use of
As for the total work experience, most partici- modern information-communications technology.
pants (30.95 %) have 21 to 30 years and are fol-
lowed by those with 11 to 20 years (27.78 %) and The basic principles for improving
over 30 years of experience (23.81 %) which can occupational health and safety information
be related to the age of the participants, but also systems and knowledge management
indicates their experience. The group of partici-
pants with 3 to 5 years of experience accounts for H1: The occupational injury data have to be
3.17 %, and the lowest percentage (1.59 %) is of key performance indicators reflecting the effi-
those with up to two years of work experience. ciency of occupational safety systems at the micro
The last question (no. 10) in the second group (business system) and macro level (country).
of questions about basic details on the partici- The assessments of the first basic principle pro-
pants – OHS experts in business systems, aimed posed for improving occupational health and safety
to explore individual knowledge in the use of in- information systems and knowledge management,
formation science and the Internet in the overall which is the need to evaluate information on oc-
business and activities involved in occupational cupational injuries as key performance indicators
safety and dealing with information about occupa- of the efficiency of the occupational safety system
Table 1. Assessment of the need to evaluate information on occupational injuries as key performance
indicators showing the efficiency of the occupational safety system
Answer f %
1. I completely disagree 1 0.79
2. I mostly disagree 0 0.00
3. I neither agree, nor disagree; I do not know 3 2.38
4. I mostly agree 45 35.71
5. I completely agree 77 61.11
0. No answer 0 0.00
Arithmetic mean (M) 4.56 Σ 126 100.00
Standard deviation (σ) 0.63 Variability coefficient (V) % 13.82

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show that a large majority of the participants (61.11 management. A majority of 58.73 % agree com-
%) completely agree with the proposal and give it pletely while 37.30 % agree mostly. With a rela-
a highly favourable score (5), which is, in quantity, tively low percentage of neutral participants (3.97
the highest positive score. In addition, 35.71% par- %) none of the participants gave an unfavourable
ticipants mostly agree with the proposal and give it score to this proposal.
a positive score (4). In addition to a relatively low The average score of the proposal (arithmetic
number of neutral participants (2.38 %), negative mean, M)=4.55, with the value of standard deviation
scores (1 and 2) were given by only 0.79 % partici- (σ)= 0.57 and a variability coefficient (V)=12.53 %
pants, which is actually a negative score from only
one participant out of 126. H3: The occupational health safety informa-
Average score of the proposal (arithmetic tion system requires computerization and can be
mean, M) amounts to high 4.56 (on the 1-5 scale), completely computerized using today’s web-based
with standard deviation (σ) = 0.63 and variability information and communications technology.
coefficient (V) = 13.82 % On a positive presumption of the contribution
of information-communications technology the
H2: On the principles of process and system opinions of the participants regarding the necessi-
approach it is necessary and possible to estab- ty and possibility of complete computerization of
lish a national occupational health and safety the occupational safety information system with
information system. the use of the Internet and today’s information-
A majority of participants positively evaluate communications technology were gathered. The
the proposal to establish a national occupational results indicate the awareness and inclination of
health and safety information system and that it participants (occupational safety experts) towards
can and has to be established on the state level on the need and possibility of complete computeriza-
the principles of process and system approach to tion. With a small percentage of neutral partici-

Table 2. Assessment of the proposal of the need and possibility of establishing a national occupational
health and safety information system on the principles of process and system approach
Answer f %
1. I completely disagree 0 0.00
2. I mostly disagree 0 0.00
3. I neither agree, nor disagree; I do not know 5 3.97
4. I mostly agree 47 37.30
5. I completely agree 74 58.73
0. No answer 0 0.00
Arithmetic mean (M) 4.55 Σ 126 100.00
Standard deviation (σ) 0.57 Variability coefficient (V) % 12.53
Table 3. Assessment of the need and possibility of complete computerization of the occupational health
and safety information system with the use of the Internet and web-based information-communications
technology
Answer f %
1. I completely disagree 0 0.00
2. I mostly disagree 0 0.00
3. I neither agree, nor disagree; I do not know 3 2.38
4. I mostly agree 37 29.37
5. I completely agree 86 68.25
0. No answer 0 0.00
Arithmetic mean (M) 4,66 Σ 126 100.00
Standard deviation (σ) 0,52 Variability coefficient (V) % 11.16

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 technics technologies education management

pants (2.38%) and complete lack of unfavourable H5: Scientific principles and methods should
opinions (0 %) the proposal has won a high per- be applied in continuous research necessary for
centage or 68.25 % participants, and 29.37 % are system maintenance, ensuring the broadening of
mostly in favour of the idea. knowledge that will facilitate more efficient over-
The average score of the proposal (arithmetic all system management.
mean, M) = 4.66), standard deviation (σ) = 0.52 Among the proposed basic principles for im-
and the variability coefficient (V) = 11.16 % proving occupational health and safety informa-
tion systems and knowledge management, the last
H4: The national occupational health and one involved the need for continuous research us-
safety information system should be placed under ing scientific principles and methods to broaden
the authority of an independent state body made knowledge that will enable more efficient occupa-
up of experts. tional safety system management. The results of
One of the preconditions for having a successful the research have shown that a majority of partici-
national occupational safety information system is pants (69.05 %), the largest majority in favour of
a central management system. As for the proposal any of the proposals, completely agrees with the
to place the occupational safety management sys- proposal. In addition, 30.16 % participants mostly
tem (in Croatia) under the authority of one inde- agree. Only one participant is neutral (0.79%) and
pendent state body, a majority of participants agree there are no negative answers (0 %).
(58.73 %) while 30.95% mostly agree (also a posi- The average score (arithmetic mean, M) = 4.68,
tive score). This proposal encountered a relatively standard deviation (σ) = 0.48 and variability coef-
higher percentage of neutral opinions (10.32 %), ficient (V) = 10.26 %
but also a total lack of negative ones (0 %). Quantitative comparative analysis of the results
The average score of the proposal (arithmetic of the research on the basic principles for improv-
mean, M) = 4.48, standard deviation is (σ) = 0.68 ing occupational health and safety information
and the variability coefficient (V) = 15.18 % systems and knowledge management included
Table 4. Assessment of the proposal that the national occupational safety management system should
be placed under the authority of an independent state body made up of experts
Answer f %
1. I completely disagree 0 0.00
2. I mostly disagree 0 0.00
3. I neither agree, nor disagree; I do not know 13 10.32
4. I mostly agree 39 30.95
5. I completely agree 74 58.73
0. No answer 0 0.00
Arithmetic mean (M) 4.48 Σ 126 100.00
Standard deviation (σ) 0.68 Variability coefficient (V) % 15.18
Table 5. Assessment of the proposal to use scientific principles and methods to continuously research
the occupational safety information system in order to broaden knowledge that will enable more effici-
ent occupational system management
Answer f %
1. I completely disagree 0 0.00
2. I mostly disagree 0 0.00
3. I neither agree, nor disagree; I do not know 1 0.79
4. I mostly agree 38 30.16
5. I completely agree 87 69.05
0. No answer 0 0.00
Arithmetic mean (M) 4.68 Σ 126 100.00
Standard deviation (σ) 0.48 Variability coefficient (V) % 10.26

108 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

average scores (arithmetic means) and all of the m 11

five proposals. Average scores range from 4.48 to r= , - 1 ≤ r ≤ 1 , .................... (3)
σ xσ
4.68 and the total average score of all proposals y

amounts to favourable 4.59 (σ = 0.58). All aver-

by which, in order to calculate the strength of the
age scores of proposals are positive. Average score
linear relationship between two variables, the cova-
(4.68) was recorded for the proposal of the need
riance of two variables x and y is calculated. The
for constant research of the occupational safety
value of the correlation coefficient can vary from
information system using scientific principles and
minus one (-1) to plus one (+1), while if the value
methods to enhance knowledge, enabling more
of the coefficient is zero that proves that there is no
efficient management of the overall occupational
linear correlation between the variables. If the cor-
safety system. The lowest average score (4.48),
relation is positive (coefficient close to +1) on av-
still favourable, was recorded for the proposal to
erage with the increase of one variable the second
place the system (in Croatia) under the authority
variable increases as well, and if the correlation is
of an independent state body made up of experts.
negative (coefficient toward -1) on average if one
variable increases the other decreases.
The relationship between the dependent The most significant individual relationship (r
and independent variables = 0,313**, highly significant positive correlation)
is between the level of individual knowledge in
The statistical relation (correlation) between the
the use of information-communications technol-
characteristics of the basic data about the partici-
ogy and the Internet in business (independent
pants (business systems and persons) as indepen-
variable) and the positive opinion on the need
dent variables and scores of the proposed basic prin-
and possibility of complete computerization of
ciples for improving occupational health and safety
the occupational health and safety information
information systems and knowledge management
system and the use of modern online information-
as dependent variables was tested using Pearson’s
communications technology (dependent variable).
coefficient (r). The Pearson product-moment corre-
That is followed by a significant positive corre-
lation coefficient is given by the formula
lation (r = 0,226*) between the education of the
participant (independent variable) and opinion
Table 6. The relationship between the dependent and independent variables
Dependent variables
Independent variables H1 H2 H3 H4 H5
Business system size measured by the number of
-0.191* -0.129 -0.104 -0.103 -0.180*
employees
Possibility of using ICT and the Internet in a
0.083 0.108 0.219* 0.003 0.190*
business system for occupational safety activities
Age group 0.006 -0.115 -0.194* -0.071 -0.030
Education 0.110 0.043 0.226* 0.054 0.048
Total work experience -0.010 -0.081 -0.175* -0.075 -0.072
Individual knowledge in the use of ICT and the
0.045 0.176* 0.313** 0.164 0.161
Internet in business
The significance of correlation r (N – 2 = 124):
The risk of accepting the existence of correlation
** highly significant
P 0.01 between two indicators is below r ≥ 0.228
correlation
1%
The risk of accepting the existence of correlation
P 0.05 between two indicators is below r ≥ 0.174 * significant correlation
5%

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 technics technologies education management

on the proposal (dependent variable). As regards 5) Scientific principles and methods should be
the above proposal it is interesting to emphasize applied in continuous research necessary
the established significant negative correlation by for system maintenance, ensuring the
which more unfavourable opinion on the positive broadening of knowledge that will facilitate
value of the proposal (dependent variable) is given more efficient overall system management.
by older participants with more extensive work
experience (independent variable). By establishing the above-listed basic princi-
It is important mentioning that all of these cor- ples we have ensured a theoretical precondition for
relations have been measured by the coefficient the development of the occupational information
of determination (measure of the strength of the system and enhanced knowledge management,
relationship between the variables, step 2), that is both aimed at improving occupational safety and
arithmetically expressed as a relationship between overall business performance.
the estimated squared deviation and total squared A follow-up empirical research on use of in-
deviation, with results ranging from 0 to 1 and are formation-communications technology in oc-
not significant because they are all below 0.1. cupational safety systems, project research and
development and in the development of detailed
4. Conclusion information system management and knowledge
management models on the state level is sug-
Using the selected methods of scientific re- gested, as well as a study of their relationship with
search that have been proven appropriate in the international occupational health and safety infor-
research process, the research goal was accom- mation systems.
plished: the basic principles for improving oc-
cupational health and safety information systems Acknowledgements
and knowledge management have been identified
in theory and confirmed in practice. Research reported here is part of the project
The confirmation that the research goal has III044006 funded by Serbian Ministry of Educa-
been accomplished is in that all research hypoth- tion and Science
eses have been confirmed, so based on the results
of the research the basic principles for improving References
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ANT model. Zagreb: IPROZ. 2003
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urnosti.”2009.
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stručnjaka za zaštitu na radu u srednje velikim
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programski elementi upravljanja znanjem.”Teme. Hrvatsko društvo inženjera sigurnost.”2010.
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16. Nikolić V., Sokolović D.” Menadžment znanjem, Corresponding author

ekologija znanja i razvoj ljudskih resursa u funkciji Josip Taradi,
održivog razvoja. Andragoške studije - Časopis za University College of Applied Sciences in Safety,
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 technics technologies education management

Modelling of claim counts as a base for premium

system determination
Ivana Simeunovic¹, Ivana Domazet², Hasan Hanic³
¹ Belgrade Banking Academy, Union University, Belgrade, Serbia,
² Institute of Economic Sciences, Belgrade, Serbia,
³ Belgrade Banking Academy, Union University, Belgrade, Serbia.

Abstract which are commonly used in this procedure have

The aim of this paper is the analysis of the prob- been described, whereby the overall analysis on a
lem of modelling of claim counts in insurance that selected sample has been performed. Specific at-
implies the study of variations of their occurance tention is given to the model known as a good risk/
through finding out the distribution which fits the bad risk model. The last part of this paper repre-
observed data most adequately. In that sense, the sents the most important conclusions.
most important aspects in the process of choosing
the probability of claim numbers have been stud- 2. Actuarial modelling of claim counts
ied on a chosen sample from a Serbian insurance
company and it has been found that appropriate Losses in insurance are happening by chance,
sample analysis that was based upon the study of which is why it is not possible to anticipate the
the previous experience of the insured was one of exact time of their occurance, as well as their total
the key elements from the point of view of deter- number and the amount [2]. The process of deter-
mining adequate premium systems. mining premium rates means previously comple-
Key words: Claim Frequency, Probability Dis- ted analysis of observed claims as well as finding
tribution Functions, Determining Premium, Pois- distribution that can define frequency and amount
son-Gamma Distribution of claims. Longer periods of risk analysis pres-
ent a base for properly chosen distribution func-
tion and that is one of the biggest problems that
1. Introduction insurance companies are facing with. Since there
In order to decide on covering certain risks, in- is not enough information from previous period,
surance companies carry out appropriate analysis the analysis need to be based on the observance of
of all risk factors. The classification of risk fac- homogenic risks or extrapolation of smaller risks.
tors according to their importance brings us to the Also, since the most common case in practice is
second phase that is prior to the final calculation that distribution of claims is not known in advance,
of insurance premium – the phase of determining the initial assupmtion in solving this problem is
the size of selected risks - the process of risk quan- that the unknown distribution is a member of a
tification. Statistical estimation of risks is based family. In this way, the task becomes to estimate
upon the analysis of two key measurements – fre- the parameters of the chosen family using the data
quency and the amount of expected claims. Mod- on frequency and amounts of claims. When the es-
elling claim counts and claim severities are some timation of unknown parameters of distribution is
of the most important pre-conditions for adequate done, then we test the goodness of fit of realised
premium system determination [1]. frequencies to the distribution assumed. The most
In this paper the problem of modelling of num- widely used statistical test to evaluate the good-
ber of claims will be analysed, as well as the prob- ness of a fit is the c2 test [3].
lems of implementation of the mentioned process Three basic approaches used for the modelling
in practice. Serbian insurer’s data on claims of the of the claim counts are: empirical, analytical and
95.800 insured portfolio of automobile third-party the moments based methods. In the case of the
liability insurance have been used as the base of existence of bases containing the large number of
analysis. The probability distribution functions data to run smooth and accurate assessment of the

112 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

cumulative distribution function it is possible to In order to prove the stated fact, we are going
use empirical method. The moments based meth- to analyse a Serbian insurance company and its
od comprises evaluation of the moments of distri- chosen portfolio of automobile third-party liabil-
bution, usually the mean and variance. The most ity insurance for which we will use the assumption
widely accepted in the actuarial literature and in of homogeneity, as well as the assumption that the
practice is the analytical method that involves number of claims of each insured of the observed
finding an appropriate analytical expression that homogeneous sample is a random value that can
can describe the observed data [4]. In the follow- be approximated by Poisson distribution whose
ing, certain distributions from the aspect of their unknown parameter equals θ . On the basis of
proper selection of modelling claim frequencies the given portfolio we will estimate an unknown
will be analyzed. parameter of distribution and then test whether
Poisson distribution occupies a central pos- empirical data fit Poisson (assumed) distribution.
sition in discrete distribution theory that is used Table 1 shows the distribution of the number of
for describing events that occur randomly and claims in the automobile third-party liability port-
independatly in space or time, i.e. the number of folio which contains n=95.800 observations.
claims. Its application is justified for mass events Table 1. Observed distibution of number of cla-
with very low probability. Unlike binomial dis- ims in a portfolio
tribution, the random value of Poisson type can Number of claims (X) Number of the insured (fi)
take an unlimited number of values. The random 0 88.035
variable N (t , t + Dt ) that describes the number of 1 7.117
claims in a given time interval can be presented as 2 591
Poisson random variable, whose probability mass 3 52
function is: 4 5
≥5 0
θk ∑
pk = P ( N ) e
= k= -θ
,θ >0 95.800
k!
In the following part, it will be tested whether
Parameter θ of Poisson distribution presents
the given data adjust to the assumed, i.e. Poisson
both mean and a variance of distribution at the
distribution. In other words, we are going to test
same time, where θ is equal to the average num- the following statistical hypotheses:
ber of occurrences of a certain event (claim) in a
unit of time. H 0 : the number of claims per automobile
third-party liability insurance policy is adjusted to
E(N ) = Var(N ) = θ Poisson distribution.

One of the important features of Poisson dis- H 1 : the observed distribution of number of
tribution is the assumption on homogeneity of the claims does not adjust to the assumed distribution.
population which is the subject of a certain analysis. The mean of the sample is equal to
1 n
However, it is not a real assumption when it comes x = ⋅ ∑ X i ⋅ f i =0.088465 , while the vari-
to modelling of certain variables in the field of in- n i =1
surance. This fact is well recognized in the case of ance of the observed sample is equal to
modelling claims couts in automobile third-party 1 k
⋅ ∑ f i ⋅ ( X i - x ) =0.096862 . An un-
2
liability insurance, where we have especially em- s2 =
n - 1 i =1
phasized heterogeneity of portfolio observed [5], ie.
difference in the behaviour of the drivers who are in- known parameter of distribution is estimated by the
sured. In these circumstances, the value of the vari- moments method and it is equal to θˆ = 0.088466 .
ance of the observed variable of Poisson type will be Hereafter, we will carry out the testing by the
higher than its mean value and it will be necessary to
implementation of c 2 goodnes-of-fit test. Appli-
use other, especially compound distributions.

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 technics technologies education management

cation of this test is based on the rule that all ex- it is needed to find a model that will express the
pected frequencies belong to five of more group- heterogeneity. This will consequently produce dif-
ing procedures, with the level of significance α = ferent tariff system.
0.05. With that aim in mind, we assume that the fre-
In order to determine expected frequencies, quency of claims of every single insured of au-
first it is necessary to calculate the probabilities of tomobile third-party liability portfolio can be ap-
Poisson type for each of the values of a random proximated by Poisson distribution, while the pa-
variable marked by: X - number of claims. Then, rameter θ of Poisson distribution takes different
we will multiply the probabilities by the sample values. Thus, each insured is characterized by a
size and get fitted frequencies presented in the fol- certain value of the parameter, which means that
lowing table. Thus, we have: the behaviour of each insured is presented by the
realised value θ of a random variable Q . In that
θˆ i
f i′ = P ( X = i H 0 ) ⋅ n =
ˆ
⋅ e -θ ⋅ n , way, we get the expression which will represent
i! the distribution of the total number of claims of
i = 0,1,2,3,4,5 the observed portfolio:
2
From the χ2 distribution, c 3 ; 0 , 9 5 = 7. 815 , ac- ∞ θk k = 0,1, 2,...
=pk ∫
-θ
e ⋅ g (θ ) dθ ,
0 k!
cording to c 2 = 5 0 8. 5 8 > 7. 815 = c 2 3 ; 0 ..9 5 , we
can conclude that null hypothesis was rejected, where g (θ ) is the density function of a ran-
so the given claim frequency in automobile third-
dom variable Q . Previous expression is also
party liability insurance portfolio cannot adjust
called mixed Poisson distribution. We can further
to Poisson distribution. That is especially true for
right tail of the observed portfolio, which is why assume that the parameter Q of Poisson distri-
the data should be modeled by the distribution bution follows Gamma distribution whose param-
whose variance exceeds its mean. eters are a and τ - Q : Γ ( a,τ ) :
The hypothesis on homogeneity of the ob-
served sample of the insured is not in accordance τ a e -τ ⋅θ θ a -1
g (θ ) = , a,τ > 0
with the statistical analysis. The rejection is inter- Γ (a)
preted as the sign that the portfolio is heteroge-
neous. This means that it is not justified to use the The resulting distribution of the number of cla-
same tariff system for all the insured of the ob- ims in the portfolio known as a negative binomial
served portfolio. The analysis should include the distribution then have the following form [7]:
data on „behaviour“ of the insured in the past [6].
a k
The mentioned example shows the fact that be-  k + a - 1  τ   1   k + a - 1 a k
= pk =      p q
haviour of the insured in a portfolio differs, and  k   1+τ   1+τ   k 
shows heterogeneity of the group which is why

Table 2. Observed and fitted distribution of number of claims – Poisson distribution, the method of
moments
Number of (fi - fi’ )
Empirical frequencies (fi) Expected frequencies (fi’ )
claims: X fi’
0 88.035 87.689.02 1.365080681
1 7.117 7.757.50 52.8825403
2 591 343.14 179.0416857
3 52 10.12 173.3476413
4 5 0.22 101.9359555
≥5 0 0.00 0.003959551
S 95.800 95.800 508.576863

114 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

and whose parameters are: be especially useful when, for instance, the num-
ber of traffic accidents per an insured per year is
a a 1 modelled. In the mentioned case it is fully justified
E(X ) = σ2
and = 1+
τ τ  τ  to set the upper limit of the modality of random
variable defined as the number of claims, since it is
Hereupon, we can conclude that the value of a
physically impossible to associate positive proba-
variance of the random variable which is adjusted
bilities to individual values beyond the previously
to this distribution is higher than its mean value.
set limit. For instance, the mentioned upper limit
The stated characteristic is especially important in
in this example can be 12, so the probability of
the case of the sample analysis which contain the
the frequency of claims beyond this limit would
units coming from heterogeneous population [8],
be considered insignificant. Normal and Poisson
as it is the case in automobile third-party liability
distribution stand out as the two most important
insurance where insured individuals show a con-
approximations of binomial distribution. In the
stant, but each different tendency (ie. probability)
first case, when the sample size of the sample is
that they will suffer a claim. It is why this distribu-
large enough and when observed frequency does
tion could be an adequate choice for analysed ran-
not show important skewness binomial distribu-
dom value modelling. Therefore, we will carry out
tion is well approximated by normal distribution.
a testing of the adjustment of the observed data to
On the other hand, when the number of observa-
Poisson-Gamma (negative binomial) distribution
tions is very large and probability of success ex-
using the c2 goodnes-of-fit test.
tremely low, then the approximation that matches
Finally, using the critical value of the χ2 distri-
binomial is Poisson distribution. From this rea-
bution we have that c 2;0,95
2
= 5 . 9 91 , wherefore son Poisson distribution is often called the law of
small numbers [9], which can be understood eas-
from c 2 = 0. 5 7 < 5. 9 91 = c 2 2 ; 0 ..9 5 we can con-
ily through the occurance of claim in automobile
clude that null hypothesis can be sustained with
third-party liability insurance: the probability of
the level of significance α = 0,05. In other words,
its occurance is huge, due to the great number of
the Poisson-Gamma model can be applied to this
traffic participants, while, on the other hand, the
automobile portfolio.
probability of traffic accidents is still low.
Binomial distribution presents another type of
Finally, we will mention some other compound
distribution for the modelling of claim counts. This
(mixed) distributions which are gaining more and
is especially true in cases in which the stated ran-
more important role in contemporary literature on
dom value number of claims has the mean value
claim modelling in automobile insurance.
which is higher than its variance. As we could see,
Poisson-Inverse Gaussian distribution -
it is not in accordance with any of described distri-
butions so far. The resulting number of values that X : IGau ( m , b ) if its probability density func-
binomial random variable can take stands as an- tion could be presented by the following expres-
other important feature of this distribution. It can sion [10]:

Table 3. Observed and expected distribution of the number of claims: Poisson-Gamma distribution, the
method of moments
Number of (fi - fi’ )
Empirical frequencies (fi) Expected frequencies (fi’ )
claims: X fi’
0 88.035 88.036.12 0.000014196
1 7.117 7.113.07 0.002169728
2 591 595.65 0.036225995
3 52 50.46 0.04679922
4 5 4.30 0.113951054
≥5 0 0.37 0.367671729
S 95.800 95.799.97 0.566831922

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 technics technologies education management

m
 1
-

( x - m )2  σ2
f ( x) = e  2b x 
, x>0 Finally, if we put m = - in order to provide
2pb x 3 2
E(Q)=1, we get the resulting distibution of the
The expected value and variance of a random number of claims in the portfolio:
variable of the mentioned type are equal to:
( ) 
 2 2
 ln θ +σ 2

Var ( X ) = mb
-
E[X]=μ  2σ 2 
1 ∞ θ k -1  
P ( N= k=
) p=k ∫ e -θ ⋅ e  
dθ
σ 2p 0 k!
With introduced assumption that an unknown
parameter of Poisson distribution Q follows The described mixed distribution can be suc-
inverse Gaussian distribution, we will assume cessfully implemented in such cases where anal-
that E(Q)=1, since we want to find the aver- ysed data show exquisite skewness.
age claim frequency in a portfolio. Thus, from
Q : IGau (1, b ) : 3. Good risk/bad risk model: the main
assumptions and implementation
 1 
1 - (θ -1)2 
f Q (θ ) = e  2 bθ  For the modelling of claim counts in auto-
2pbθ 3
mobile third-party liability insurance, among the
models that have been derived from the elements
we get the resulting distribution of the number of Poisson processes which are successfully im-
of claims in the porfolio: plemented in certain cases, there is a model well-
 1 
known under the name: Good risk/bad risk (good
∞ θk 1 - (θ -1)2 
driver/bad driver) model.
∫  2 bθ
-θ
=pk e ⋅ e 
dθ ,
0 k ! 2pbθ 3 This simple model [8] is based on the as-
sumption that all drivers (insured) of a portfolio
k = 0,1, 2,... in automobile third-party liability insurance can
Inverse Gaussian distribution is an excellent be divided in two categories: “good drivers“ and
choice in modelling of values which take exclusive- “bad drivers“. Each of the mentioned categories
ly positive values of those that show right skew- of drivers experiences different number of claims
ness, which is characteristics of the claim frequency that can be approximated by Poisson distribution.
in automobile third-party liability insurance. If we mark a parameter of Poisson distribution - a
Poisson-LogNormal distribution - random value of the number of claims for good
drivers with θ1 and the matching parameter for
X : lNor ( m , σ 2 ) , if the variable ln X is normally
bad drivers with θ 2 , then the resulting distribu-
distributed - ln X : Nor ( m , σ 2 ) , and whose prob- tion of the number of claims in the portfolio can
ability density function is given by the following be presented by the following expression:
expression [11]:
e -θ1 e -θ2
1
 1 2
 - 2 ( ln x - m ) 
pk = a ⋅ θ1k + b ⋅θ 2 k
f ( x) = e  2σ 
, x>0 k! k!
2p xσ
where a and b are relative frequencies of
The mean and the variance of a random vari- good and bad insured drivers in a portfolio, res-
able which is lognormally distributed are equal to: pectively, which is why it is clear that: b = 1 - a .
 σ2  Also: a, b, θ1 , θ 2 > 0 .
 m 2 
+
E[X ] = e   The mean and the variance of a random varia-
ble that can be approximated by the mentioned
exp ( 2 m + σ 2 ) exp (σ 2 ) - 1
Var ( X ) = ( ) distribution of Poisson type are presented by the
following expressions:

116 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

m = a ⋅θ1 + b ⋅θ 2 P  good ( k _ claims )  =

P ( ( k _ claims ) ) good  ⋅ P [ good ]
σ 2 = a ⋅θ12 + a ⋅θ1 + b ⋅θ 2 2 + b ⋅θ 2 =
P ( k _ claims ) good  ⋅ P [ good ] + P ( k _ claims ) bad  ⋅ P [bad ]
Let us apply the model that we described on
studied portfolio of the insured in automobile -θ1 θ1
k

third-party liability insurance, noting that the ob- e ⋅ ⋅ P [ good ]

k !
served insured =portfolio can be classified into two =
-θ1 θ1
k
-θ 2 θ 2
k

categories - 65% good and 35% bad drivers, using e ⋅ ⋅ P [ good ] + e ⋅ ⋅ P [bad ]
k! k!
the moments method. The probability that a good
e -θ1 ⋅ θ1k ⋅ P [ good ]
driver would report k claims is one of the Poisson = -θ
e 1 ⋅ θ1k ⋅ P [ good ] + e -θ2 ⋅ θ 2 k ⋅ P [bad ]
type whose parameter of distribution is θ1 = 0.04 ,
and the probability that a driver from the category
The upper line shows the probability that the
„bad drivers“ report k claims is of the same type, insured will belong to the category of good driv-
but the parameter of a distribution is θ 2 = 0.13 . ers under condition that during the first year he/
For the insured where there is no data on previous she reported k claims. Obviously, the mentioned
claims, the insurer is not able to decide which cat- probabilities are decreasing with the number of
egory they belong to, so the expected total number claims reported. In that way, the expression for the
of claims of this portfolio according to good risk/ expected number of claims for the following (sec-
bad risk model will be: ond) year becomes:

n ⋅ ( 0.65 ⋅ 0.04 + 0.35 ⋅ 0.13) =

0.0715n ( ( ) (
n ⋅ P good ( k _ claims ) ⋅ θ1 + P bad ( k _ claims ) ⋅ θ 2 ) )
where n is the number of insured drivers of the
Finally, by including n = 9 5 . 8 0 0 , the expect-
observed portfolio.
ed number of claims in the following year accord-
In the following time interval, where the data
ing to reported claims, calculated by the studied
on reported claims are available, it is possible to
model is given by the table 4.
determine the probability that certain insured will
belong to one or another category of drivers ac-
cording to his/her number of previous claims. 4. Conclusion
Namely, by Bayes’ theorem on conditional prob-
The frequency of claims presents a random
ability, we will have:
variable of a discrete type. Choosing the appropri-
ate probability distribution function in modelling
the number of claims can be defined as a statistical
problem and its solving is of an extreme benefit

Table 4. The expected number of claims in the following year in the good risk/bad risk model given the
number k of claims reported during the first year
The number of claims Expected number of
reported during the first P  good ( k _ claims )  P bad ( k _ claims )  claims in the following
year- k year
0 0,6702 0,3289 6.664,33
1 0,3847 0,6153 9.137,12
2 0,1923 0,8077 10.795,99
3 0,0559 0,9441 11.972,03
4 0,0179 0,9821 12.299,67
5 0,0055 0,9945 12.406,58

Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013 117

 technics technologies education management

in determining the premium rate for each of the tegral part of tariffs of almost all automobile li-
insurer. The base for carrying it out is the process ability insurers in the world. Through its applica-
of modelling of two random variables, which are tion such tariff system that punishes drivers who
claim frequency and claim severity. Regarding the are responsible for the occurrence of the insured
complexity of the issue, in this paper we have es- event is provided, which allows increasing of road
pecially analysed the frequency of claims. Also, safety and ensures principle of fairness.
the attention was focused on one of the types of Due to the fact that the data mentioned could
non-life insurance – automobile third-party liabil- not be implemented into the model presented, the
ity insurance which is one of the most frequent authors of this paper are intending to improve the
type of insurance throughout the world. We used problem of modelling of claim counts together
the original data provided from the portfolio of the with tariff process as described above.
largest automobile third-party liability insurer in
Serbia, which accounts for almost 25% of the total Acknowledgements
population of the automobile third-party liability
in this country and came to the following impor- This paper is a part of research projects number
tant conclusions: 47009 (European integrations and social and eco-
– Due to the great number of distribution nomic changes in Serbian economy on the way to
functions that can be used for modelling the EU) and 179015 (Challenges and prospects of
of claims couts, first it is necessary to limit structural changes in Serbia: Strategic directions
their number to several functions. for economic development and harmonization with
– In the area of automobile third-party EU requirements), financed by the Ministry of Edu-
liability insurance that has been especially cation and Science of the Republic of Serbia.
analysed and for which can be said that it
is the typical example of heterogeneous References
population of the insured, in the process of
the modelling of claim counts it is not often 1. Simeunović I. Statistical-actuarial basis and solving
the problems in the process of premium of third party
appropriate to use Poisson distribution, but
liability insurance determination. Belgrade Banking
certain distributions derived from Poisson, Academy - Faculty for Banking, Insurance and Fi-
especially Poisson-Gamma, as well as nance, Union University. Belgrade. 2010.
Poisson Inverse Gaussian.
– One of especially appropriate models that 2. Beard RE, Pentinainen T, Pesonen E. Risk Theory:
The Stohastic Bases of Insurance. Chapman and
can be used for the modelling of claim Hall. London. 1997.
counts in automobile third-party liability
insurance is a good risk/bad risk model. 3. Besson JL, Partrat C. Trend et systemes de bonus-
By implementation of described model it malus, ASTIN Bulletin 1992; 22: 11-31.
is possible to predict the expected number
4. Klugman SA, Panjer HH, Wilmott GE. Loss Models -
of claims that will occur in the following From data to decisions. Wiley. New York. 1998.
year, which makes an excellent base point
in the process of setting the rates as the most 5. Lemaire J. Automobile Insurance: Actuarial Models.
important task of actuarial work. Kluwer-Nighoff Publishing. Boston. 1985.

6. Pitrebois S, Denuit M, Walhin JF. Multi-Event Bo-

Finally, we note that the modeling claim fre- nus-Malus Scales. The Journal of Risk and Insurance
quency may be additionally improved by intro- 2006; 73(3): 517-528.
ducing additional variables into the analysis. Also,
on the basis of conducted research, and by using 7. Nadarajah S, Kotz S. Compound mixed Poisson dis-
tributions II. Scandinavian Actuarial Journal 2006;
results obtained, the determining of premium rates (3): 163-181.
procedure begins. The described procedure based
on the analysis of past experience of the insured 8. Lemaire J. Bonus-Malus Systems in Automobile In-
is known as Bonus-Malus System and it is an in- surance. Kluwer Academic Publishers. Boston. 1995.

118 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

9. Denuit M, et al. Actuarial Modelling of Claim Count:

Risk Classification. Credibility and Bonus-malus
systems. Wiley. New York. 2007.

10. Hossak IB, Polard JH, Zehenwirt B. Introduc-

tory statistics with applications in general insur-
ance. Cambridge University Press. United King-
dom.1999.

11. Hogg RV, Klugman SA. Loss Distributions. Wiley.

New York. 1984.

Corresponding author:
Hasan Hanic,
Belgrade Banking Academy,
Faculty for Banking, Insurance and Finance,
Union University,
Belgrade,
Serbia,
E-mail: hasan.hanic@bba.edu.rs

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 technics technologies education management

Structural analysis of international trade of

the Danube region countries
Svetlana Ignjatijevic1, Maja Djokic2, Maja Ciric3, Bojana Kovacevic4
1
Faculty of Economics and Engineering Management in Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia,
2
Faculty of bussinis economis study , University APEIRON, Banja Luka, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
3
Faculty of Economics and Engineering Management in Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia,
4
Higher School of Professional Business Studies, Novi Sad, Serbia.

Abstract the poorer ones. Therefore, GDP is a key factor in

The subject of this research is the analysis of determining the trade flows of a country. The share
international trade, with the main aims to measure of industrial production in economy, measured by
the comparative advantage of export and improve participation in GDP according to Memon [3] is
the international market position. Applying the a significant determinant of a country’s economic
Balassa index, we observed the different sectors growth. This author believes that countries need a
of the Danube region countries which possess cer- developed infrastructure, modern production pro-
tain comparative advantages and potentials that cesses and a high level of technical/technological
should be further developed in the coming period. specialization and improvement. In their research
Our research proved the comparative advantage of into exporting possibilities, Henson and Humphry
export for a small number of sectors which have a [4] emphasize that quality standards, especially
more significant export than import. Research re- regarding agricultural products is a significant de-
sults also show that comparative advantage is in terminant of international export. Toming [5] men-
correlation with the structure of export. tions the extremely controversial businesses and
Key words: structural analysis of export, com- numerous limitations in export. This author con-
parative advantage of export, the Danube region cludes by saying that success and competitiveness
countries in the European market depend on the compliance
with hygienic standards and product development
investment. Akkerman, Meer and Donk [6] dealt
1. Introduction
with the question of food product assortment and
The question of a country’s international com- believe that the “differences in products can be as-
petitiveness is inseparable from the question of sociated with customer-specific products, either in
international trade. Wishing to determine the influ- packaging form, size, or print, labeling, or (more
ence of trade on a country’s capability to compete fundamental) product recipe“. Modern economy,
in international markets, Mutsune [1] states that the according to Ioncica and associates [7], is typically
presence of a high foreign trade deficit affects the characterized by specialization in services, so that a
fall in international competitiveness. The analy- country will produce and export more if more ser-
sis of trade refers to the total export of a country vices are included in their product offerings in the
relative to the total import of goods and services, sense that there is more research and development,
i.e. relative changes in export and import over the more market research and financial services.
years. Internationally competitive countries have
favorable positions in trade operations with other
2. Literature review
countries. Lastly, the author concludes by saying
that a country which has achieved relative competi- Alessandrini, Fattouh, Ferrarini & Scaramozzi-
tiveness for its products, has so enabled its compa- no [8] conducted research into the structure of
nies to efficiently enter international markets, while industrial production and trade liberalization, i.e.
preserving the stability of domestic currency [1]. they gave a qualitative assessment of competi-
Liu [2] points to the fact that economically more tive advantage and trade specialization. In their
prosperous countries produce and trade more than research into the competitiveness of international

120 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

trade, Yilmaz and Ergun [9] used the Balassa and some policy measures for eliminating the physical
Lafay indexes and analyzed comparative advan- and infrastructural inconsistencies and emphasiz-
tages of products grouped according to the level es the need for R&D activities in the sector. This
of factor intensiveness, while Ferto and Hubbard research proved that in the export of goods such
[10] carried out research into the interdependence as: oil meals, castor oil, poultry, dairy products,
between price levels and comparative advantage. spices, sesame and niger seeds, processed food,
They especially emphasize the importance of gov- fruits, and vegetables- Gujarat achieves a much
ernment support to production intended for export, bigger share in the total national export, thus indi-
wishing to stimulate an increase in export and cating Gujarat’s revealed comparative advantage
product competitiveness in international markets. in these product categories.
Erlat and Erlat [11] carried out research into Banterle and Carraresi [15] analyze competi-
the comparative advantages of Turkey, using “two tive performances of EU countries for the pre-
measures for specialization; one was the RCA in- pared swine meat sector. Research results indicate
dex and the other was the Lafay index“, and prod- that “Germany and France show positive competi-
ucts were classified according to factor intensive- tive performance, but a high level of intra-indus-
ness. The mentioned authors concluded that “for try trade and low specialization is also revealed.
total trade, both the LFI and the RSCA results Denmark is characterized by negative dynamics
show a decline in both the pattern and the degree of competitiveness, even though there are high
of specialization. This holds for both Turkey’s exports in the sector; a similar trend is observed
trade flows with the world and in terms of the po- in Belgium and the Netherlands. Italy and Spain
sition of its exports vis-à-vis the 15 EU countries“. export dried or smoked swine meat, whereas Ger-
Gopal, Jeyanthi, Geethalakshmi and Unnithan many and Denmark export mainly sausages and
[12] did research into the changes in export, wish- preserved swine meat“.
ing to improve the competitiveness of fish export Buturac [16] concludes that a large number
and processed fish from India. Research results of sectors of Croatian processing industry do not
show that “India does not have any comparative have comparative advantages in international
advantage in exporting fin fishes. The primary mar- trade. In other words, it is present in the tobacco
ket for these products is the developing countries industry, wood processing, production of coke and
having preference for low-value fishes in contrast oil derivatives, as well as production of transport-
to the preference of developed countries for high- ing devices (shipbuilding industry).
value products like shrimp and cephalopods. This is Slovenia has a deficit in international trade
also a major reason for low unit value realization“ with agricultural and food products, i.e. shows a
A complex study on the structure of interna- low level of competitiveness and decrease in com-
tional trade between Turkey and EU was written parative advantage in the export of meat and dairy
by Serin and Civan [13]. In their research they products [17].
tried to quantitatively express the degree of com- Earlier research works of Ignjatijević, Milojević
parative advantage in the export of tomato, olive and Božić [18] into the export of raw plant mat-
oil and fruit juices. They used the Balassa index ter and medicinal plants and herbs from Serbia
of comparative advantage and the comparative points to the presence of comparative advantage.
export performance (CEP) index. The mentioned Results reveal negative advantage in the export of
authors concluded by saying that “both index and final products in this sector, due to which there is
regression results indicate that Turkey has a strik- a lack of financial effects of the increase in export.
ingly high comparative advantage in the fruit juice Raičević and Ignjatijević [19] in their study of eco-
and olive oil markets in the EU but this is not the nomic aspects of foreign trade between Serbia and
case in the tomato market“. the EU show that there is a discrepancy between
In his research, Dholakia [14] tries to assess the production and exporting structure of Serbia and
potentials of processing capacities in agriculture EU market needs. These authors emphasize that it
and identify the limiting factors for the develop- is necessary to harmonize different legal solutions
ment of production and export. The author suggests within the legal system of Serbia and then harmo-

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nize the whole system with the EU legislation, is specialized for the production of those goods
helping the potential investors make decisions which it produces for cheaper than the rest of the
about investments in Serbia. Recent empirical world, the value of export shows a surplus and the
research by Ignjatijević, Milojević and Ivančević RCA indicator has a positive value.
[20] into the international trade of Serbia and the
Danube region countries, indicate that Hungary, 4. Research results
Serbia, Moldova, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Romania
make a surplus in international trade with agricul- An improvement in the area of macro-econom-
tural products and food and show positive com- ic stability is evident in securing price stability
parative advantage. The above mentioned authors and improvement in the sector of public finance.
conclude that positive comparative advantage of However, a high unemployment rate and a low
export in agricultural products and food is accom- level of product competitiveness in the interna-
panied by intra-industrial type of exchange, which tional market still represents a significant prob-
is a result of greater economic openness, trade lib- lem. Macro-economic stability had a positive in-
eralization and increase in export. fluence on the level of GDP, dynamic economic
growth and decrease in the scope and change of
3. Research methods public consumption. The liberalization of trade
and integration into international product and fi-
The subject of this research is structural analy- nancial flows had a positive influence on the influx
sis of international trade, with the aim to measure of foreign capital.
comparative advantage of export and improve the
international market position. The study uses data
obtained from the ITC, World Bank and the Statis-
tical Office of the Republic of Serbia for respective
years. According to the ITC (International Trade
Centre) methodology, products were classified
in 14 sectors: Fresh food, Processed food, Wood
products, Textiles, Chemicals, Leather products,
Basic manufactures, Non-electronic machinery, IT
& Consumer electronics, Electronic components, Source: World Bank
Transport equipment, Clothing, Miscellaneous Graph 1. GDP per capita of the Danube region
manufacturing and Minerals. countries for the period 1989-2009
Using the Balassa index in research, the au-
thors observed the comparative advantages of se- The graph represents GDP per capita in the
lected sectors of the Danube region countries in period before and after transition. In the last few
the period between 2005 and 2009. The Balassa years, all of the analyzed countries had an increase
formula for calculating revealed comparative ad- in GDP, although some countries lag behind signif-
vantage [21]: icantly when it comes to economic development.
In the observed period the increase in export and
 n  import was bigger than the growth rate of GDP,
 Xi   ∑
 Xi  which led to the increased participation and signifi-
RCA = ln  i =1  × 100 cance of international trade for the creation of GDP.
× n
 M i   M 
∑ i
 i =1


The openness of domestic market and signifi-
cant liberalization resulted in the increase of export
and import. We can especially emphasize the posi-
In the above formula X represents the value of tive movement i.e. the much higher increase rate of
export, while M stands for the value of import. export, compared to that of import. Such positive
The i index symbolizes the industrial sector of tendencies have been observed in Serbia, Slovakia,
each of the Danube region countries. If a country Bosnia and Herzegovina and Romania. In the ana-

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 technics technologies education management

lyzed period, in Austria, Germany, Ukraine, Mon- the export and import of the Danube region coun-
tenegro and Moldova, there was a faster increase tries there is great structural inconsistency.
of import compared to the increase rate of export. High participation of export of fresh food and
The lowest rates of export and import increase were processed food in the total export in the analyzed
observed in Austria, Germany, Ukraine and Croa- period is evident in Moldova, Ukraine and Serbia.
tia, while in Montenegro there was a fall in export In the structure of export of primary products in
by 5.32% per year. In the case of Serbia, average these countries, there is a high participation of ex-
rates of export increase for some sectors (primarily port of agricultural products, especially food prod-
concerning the increase of export in food industry), ucts. It is important to emphasize that an increase
compared to the average growth rate of total export, of export was achieved for agricultural products
show that those sectors made an increase in partici- being exported into Austria, Slovenia, Bulgaria and
pation of the total export. neighboring countries (Montenegro, Croatia and
Table 1. Influence of foreign trade on the industry Bosnia and Herzegovina) [20]. In the analyzed pe-
and economy of the Danube region countries riod a high participation of export of wood products
was achieved in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia,
export growth rate

import growth rate

Croatia and Serbia. Since this was the export of pri-

export markets
Annual average

Annual average

Relative deficit

Share of top 3

mary and resource- intensive products (besides the

(2009)
05-09

05-09

2009

export of paper and paper products which belongs

to the group of human labor- intensive products),
the export in these sectors brings about a small in-
flux of foreign currency and smaller participation
Austria 2.78 3.27 -0.019 42.5 in GDP. The export of textile and leather products
BIH 13.43 4.4 -0.358 45.0 participates with a small percentage in the structure
Bulgaria 8.89 6.47 -0.172 29.9 of total export of all Danube region countries. The
The Czech export of yarn, fabrics and textiles sector represents
9.61 8.19 0.037 47.1
Republic the export of products in which unqualified labor
Croatia 4.57 3.38 -0.338 42.8 prevails. In the production of textile products there
Hungary 7.31 4.05 0.033 36.7 are various problems, such as lack of investments
Moldova 4.22 9.36 -0.436 51.4 and financial inputs into the development of mod-
Germany 3.65 4.73 0.092 23.3 ern technology. With the growth of competition,
Romania 10.01 7.61 -0.144 42.4 the lack of financial resources for textile and foot-
Slovakia 14.92 12.67 0.004 21.6 wear industry, where countries sell fine finishing
Slovenia 5.71 4.91 -0.031 39.8 work, resulted in the fall of competitiveness and
Serbia 16.81 11.29 -0.316 32.6 comparative advantages in international markets.
Ukraine 3.74 5.89 -0.067 30.4 Producers of textile and leather products in Serbia
MNE -5.32 14.82 -0.644 61.3 and Croatia rely on cheap work force and offer ser-
Source: The World Bank and authors’ calculation vices to foreign brand owners (loan businesses).
These producers actually do not export products but
The Danube region countries’ economies are rent production capacities to foreign entrepreneurs
faced with a relative deficit. We can observe in the [22]. Apparel industry products are dominant in the
cases of Slovakia, Germany, the Czech Republic and export of Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Croatia.
Hungary that the situation is positive i.e. there is on High participation in the export of minerals is evi-
evident surplus. A high relative deficit is evident in dent in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro. Romania and Ukraine, and this indicates that there
Research into the level of specialization in inter- is the dinamization of export of resource- intensive
national trade is important when analyzing the com- products, based on the exploitation of mineral re-
parative advantages of a country. Specialization in sources and cheap work force.
certain areas is a result of comparative advantages The export of industrial products, typical of the
in production and openness to international trade. In developed countries from the Danube region, en-

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 technics technologies education management

ables intensive economic development. Countries products. A high participation of these products’
with export which participates with high percent- export is evident in Ukraine, the Czech Republic,
age in GDP specialized in the export of techno- Croatia, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Serbia.
logically intensive and human capital-intensive High specialization, i.e. high participation of a
products with high price per unit and high added small number of products is present in less devel-
value. A high participation of chemical products oped countries or countries in which export par-
export is evident in Austria, Hungary, Germany, ticipates with a smaller percentage in the structure
Slovakia, Slovenia and Serbia. Metal and other of GDP. The example of Ukraine reveals a high
basic manufacturing products belong to the group participation of export of basic manufacturing and
of qualified human labor and resource-intensive minerals, i.e. resource-intensive products.

Table 2. Participation of sectors in total export and import of the Danube region countries (%, average
for the period 2005-2009)

IT & Consumer
Wood products

manufacturing
Processed food

Non-electronic

Miscellaneous
manufactures

components
machinery

equipment
Fresh food

electronics
Chemicals

Electronic

Transport

Minerals
products

Clothing
Leather
Textiles

Basic

Austria export 1.60 5.20 7.00 1.20 10.20 1.00 14.40 18.00 3.20 7.00 12.00 2.00 7.40 5.20
Austria import 2.60 4.40 4.60 1.20 11.80 1.00 12.00 13.40 4.60 6.20 12.00 3.00 7.40 12.20
Bosnia and
export 2.20 5.00 10.40 1.00 4.20 6.00 24.00 9.80 0.00 2.40 2.20 4.00 10.20 17.40
Herzegovina
Bosnia and
import 5.80 11.80 3.00 3.00 11.80 3.00 13.00 9.20 3.20 4.00 7.20 2.00 6.00 16.80
Herzegovina
Bulgaria export 6.8 5 2.2 2.2 7.8 1.8 22.4 6.2 1.2 5.4 2.4 11.4 5.2 17.00
Bulgaria import 3.60 3.60 2.00 4.40 10.40 1.00 11.00 9.60 4.80 4.80 9.20 2.20 4.20 20.00
The Czech
export 1.40 2.80 3.00 2.20 8.20 0.20 13.20 14.20 11.60 9.20 17.80 1.20 9.20 4.20
Republic
The Czech
import 3.00 3.20 2.80 2.20 12.00 1.00 13.40 12.00 10.60 9.60 9.40 1.40 8.20 9.80
Republic
Croatia export 3.00 8.60 6.00 1.00 9.80 2.80 10.00 8.00 1.60 7.60 12.60 5.20 7.80 16.00
Croatia import 4.00 5.20 3.80 2.00 12.00 1.80 12.40 10.00 5.00 4.80 11.80 2.40 7.80 16.80
Hungary export 3.60 3.20 2.00 1.00 9.00 1.00 5.80 15.80 22.80 10.40 9.80 1.20 6.20 3.20
Hungary import 2.00 3.20 2.20 1.40 10.20 1.00 8.80 12.60 12.80 14.40 7.40 1.00 5.00 9.00
Moldova export 16.60 29.20 1.40 2.80 3.00 4.60 7.80 3.20 0.00 4.20 1.00 17.60 5.40 3.80
Moldova import 5.40 8.20 4.00 5.20 13.60 1.00 10.20 6.60 3.00 4.60 6.20 1.80 7.00 22.40
Germany export 1.80 3.20 2.80 1.00 15.40 0.00 9.40 17.00 4.40 7.40 18.60 1.00 8.20 3.20
Germany import 4.00 4.00 2.60 1.20 13.20 1.00 9.20 9.40 7.00 6.80 11.20 3.00 7.00 13.80
Romania export 3.00 1.80 3.60 2.20 8.20 5.00 12.40 8.20 3.40 10.40 11.80 11.40 6.20 11.20
Romania import 4.00 3.60 2.40 5.80 12.40 2.40 11.40 11.00 5.60 7.40 10.60 1.60 6.20 13.40
Slovakia export 1.60 2.60 4.20 1.60 6.80 1.40 14.20 8.80 14.00 6.60 21.60 2.00 6.80 5.80
Slovakia import 2.60 3.40 2.80 2.20 10.40 1.00 11.20 10.60 10.20 7.80 12.80 1.20 9.00 14.00
Slovenia export 1.00 2.80 5.60 2.20 16.80 1.00 14.20 12.40 1.40 10.20 16.20 1.40 11.00 3.80
Slovenia import 3.20 4.40 4.00 2.20 14.00 1.80 14.60 11.00 3.80 5.80 12.40 2.00 6.80 13.40
Serbia export 5.82 14.12 6.23 1.08 13.81 2.60 25.63 6.29 1.32 3.48 2.99 5.37 5.18 5.43
Serbia import 3.35 4.11 5.69 2.63 15.23 1.81 12.43 9.48 5.02 4.13 8.02 1.92 4.85 20.95
Ukraine export 7.00 8.40 2.80 0.60 8.80 1.00 40.00 5.80 0.80 3.00 5.40 1.40 1.80 11.80
Ukraine import 4.40 3.40 3.00 1.80 13.40 1.00 8.80 10.60 2.60 4.00 10.40 1.00 4.00 30.80
Source: ITC and authors’ calculation [24] (ITC does not have data on the export and import of MNE)

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In the export of non-electronic machinery, In the analyzed period, in the export of Austria
which represents the export of technologically- in- we can observe positive comparative advantage
tensive products, the countries which are special- for: processed food, wood products, basic manu-
ized are: Austria, Germany, Slovenia, the Czech factures, non-electronics machinery and electronics
Republic and Hungary. IT sector products, con- components. In most sectors there was the decrease
sumer electronics and electronic components rep- in comparative advantage, even in sectors with a
resent technologically and qualified labor-inten- positive value, except for a small improvement ob-
sive products. A high participation of their export servable in the non-electronics machinery sector.
is evident in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Small countries, such as Bosnia and Herzegov-
Slovakia. In the export of transport equipment, the ina, have unfavorable production structure, high
countries which are specialized are: Austria, Ger- exporting dependence and trade specialization or
many, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania and Croatia comparative advantage is present only in the wood
– with prevailing export of shipbuilding products. products sector. In Bulgaria, positive comparative
Miscellaneous manufacturing is predominantly advantage is present in the export of fresh food,
characterized by products with a high degree of basic manufactures and clothing, with the export
fine finishing work and high participation of quali- of resource-intensive products and products with
fied labor. A high participation of these products is fine finishing work. The Czech Republic has com-
evident in the export of the Czech Republic, Slo- parative advantage in the export of wood prod-
venia, Austria and Croatia. ucts, non-electronics machinery, IT& consumer
The structure of product offerings in the export electronics, miscellaneous manufacturing and
of Serbia is fairly modest, so a low price cannot sig- transport equipment – where there was the great-
nificantly affect the improvement of export. Product est increase in comparative advantage. In the ana-
quality is not satisfactory, there is a lack of certified lyzed period, Hungary shows comparative advan-
products and very few products comply with inter- tage in the export of fresh food, non-electronics
national quality standards. Furthermore, product se- machinery, IT& consumer electronics, clothing,
ries are small in scope and there is a significant lack miscellaneous manufacturing and transport equip-
of investments into export- targeted production. ment. Unfortunately, positive comparative advan-
The improvement of export i.e. export stimulation tage is in most sectors decreased and the increase
through the application and manipulation of cur- is present only in the fresh food and miscellaneous
rency exchange rates will not result in the increase manufacturing sectors. The international trade of
of export. It is necessary to make changes in the real Moldova is characterized by the export of fresh
sector of production. Aiming at export growth and food, processed food, clothing and leather prod-
increasing its participation in GDP, it is necessary ucts, which are actually products of a small added
to shape export in accordance with market demand, value. Moldova largely depends on the export of
increase productivity and product quality and focus these sectors and they have a high participation in
on the implementation of new production technolo- the structure of export leading to a positive com-
gies and management improvement. parative advantage.
After conducted research into the foreign trade Germany achieves a high index of compara-
of the Danube region countries, we can observe the tive advantage by exporting products of those sec-
increase in the scope of trade due to increased trade tors with a highest participation in the structure
openness and trade liberalization. We have already of export. A positive tendency, i.e. the increase of
pointed to the increase in export and participation comparative advantage is evident in the following
in GDP. We have also emphasized the unfavor- sectors: processed food, wood products, chemi-
able exporting structure of some countries (former cals and basic manufacturing. Romania achieves
Yugoslav countries) and showed that the greater comparative advantage in the export of leather
openness has not resulted in positive changes in the products and clothing, although in the export of
structure of trade. Empirical results of research into clothing there has been a significant decrease of
comparative advantages of export of the Danube the RCA index. In the export of wood products,
region countries are shown in Table 3. leather products, basic manufacturing, IT& con-

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Table 3. RCA indicator of export, according to the ITC methodology of the Danube region countries

Herzegovina
Bosnia and

The Czech

Germany

Romania
Hungary
Republic

Moldova
Bulgaria

Slovakia

Slovenia

Ukraine
Croatia
Austria
Sectors

Serbia
2005 -0.63 -0.65 0.23 -0.55 -0.67 0.57 0.09 -0.9 -0.65 -0.49 -1.29 -0.14 0.27
Fresh food
2009 -0.58 -0.86 0.21 -0.52 -0.4 0.96 0.17 -0.71 -0.27 -0.35 -1.07 0 0.45
Δ RCA 0.05 -0.21 -0.02 0.03 0.27 0.39 0.08 0.19 0.38 0.14 0.22 0.14 0.18
2005 0.17 -0.67 0.06 -0.19 -0.09 0.05 0.45 0.11 -0.96 -0.33 -0.51 0.16 0.55
Processed food
2009 0.08 -0.71 -0.07 -0.21 -0.16 0.04 0 0.17 -0.61 -0.49 -0.58 0.28 0.7
Δ RCA -0.09 -0.04 -0.13 -0.02 -0.07 -0.01 -0.45 0.06 0.35 -0.16 -0.07 0.12 0.15
2005 0.57 0.07 -0.19 0.19 -0.14 -0.28 -1.01 0.31 0.08 0.51 0.24 -0.33 -0.17
Wood products
2009 0.51 0.12 -0.5 0.23 -0.11 -0.08 -1.08 0.35 -0.03 0.51 0.22 -0.33 -0.12
Δ RCA -0.06 0.05 -0.31 0.04 0.03 0.2 -0.07 0.04 -0.11 0 -0.02 0 0.05
2005 -0.02 -0.82 -0.8 0.01 -0.68 -0.57 -0.89 0.17 -1.09 -0.38 -0.12 -0.73 -1.26
Textiles
2009 -0.05 -0.81 -0.67 0.11 -0.67 -0.55 -0.63 0.09 -0.82 -0.39 0.13 -0.8 -1.31
Δ RCA -0.03 0.01 0.13 0.1 0.01 0.02 0.26 -0.08 0.27 -0.01 0.25 -0.07 -0.05
2005 -0.26 -0.78 -0.44 -0.37 -0.44 -0.17 -1.39 0.48 -0.55 -0.38 -0.02 -0.33 -0.34
Chemicals
2009 -0.13 -0.8 -0.53 -0.34 -0.5 -0.04 -0.79 0.41 -0.7 -0.55 0.14 -0.56 -0.91
Δ RCA 0.13 -0.02 -0.09 0.03 -0.06 0.13 0.6 -0.07 -0.15 -0.17 0.16 -0.23 -0.57
Leather 2005 -0.23 -0.29 0.11 -0.74 -0.13 -0.27 0.23 -0.84 0.23 0.23 -0.57 -0.15 -0.35
products 2009 -0.38 0.02 -0.05 -0.56 -0.14 -0.18 0.02 -0.68 0.14 0.32 -0.53 -0.19 -0.2
Δ RCA -0.15 0.31 -0.16 0.18 -0.01 0.09 -0.21 0.16 -0.09 0.09 0.04 -0.04 0.15
Basic 2005 0.24 -0.15 0.18 0.08 -0.46 -0.41 -0.63 0.32 -0.05 0.29 -0.11 -0.02 1.47
manufactures 2009 0.02 -0.13 0.26 0.03 -0.4 -0.38 -0.67 0.37 -0.45 0.25 -0.12 -0.07 1.16
Δ RCA -0.22 0.02 0.08 -0.05 0.06 0.03 -0.04 0.05 -0.4 -0.04 -0.01 -0.05 -0.31
Non-electronic 2005 0.36 -0.3 -0.56 0.19 -0.49 0.1 -0.74 1.01 -0.5 -0.26 -0.03 -0.59 -0.66
machinery 2009 0.39 -0.38 -0.6 0.27 -0.45 0.29 -0.63 0.91 -0.44 -0.15 0.02 -0.47 -0.25
Δ RCA 0.03 -0.08 -0.04 0.08 0.04 0.19 0.11 -0.1 0.06 0.11 0.05 0.12 0.41
IT & Consumer 2005 -0.6 -1.03 -1.37 0.22 -0.86 0.65 -1.52 -0.21 -1.04 0.22 -1.13 -1.39 -1.95
electronics 2009 -0.08 -1.6 -0.74 0.17 -1.03 0.64 -1.39 -0.51 -0.22 0.4 -0.72 -0.73 -0.56
Δ RCA 0.52 -0.57 0.63 -0.05 -0.17 -0.01 0.13 -0.3 0.82 0.18 0.41 0.66 1.39
Electronic 2005 0.15 -0.56 -0.27 -0.04 -0.2 -0.42 -0.88 0.37 -0.14 -0.17 0.47 -0.64 -0.46
components 2009 0.14 -0.43 -0.08 -0.05 -0.01 -0.3 -0.25 0.32 0.01 -0.19 0.42 -0.26 -0.01
Δ RCA -0.01 0.13 0.19 -0.01 0.19 0.12 0.63 -0.05 0.15 -0.02 -0.05 0.38 0.45
Transport 2005 0.03 -0.76 -1.17 0.61 -0.35 0.06 -1.05 0.92 -0.44 0.37 0.16 -0.96 -0.65
equipment 2009 -0.13 -0.79 -0.89 0.9 -0.26 0.67 -0.92 0.74 0.45 0.57 0.29 -0.72 -0.24
Δ RCA -0.16 -0.03 0.28 0.29 0.09 0.61 0.13 -0.18 0.89 0.2 0.13 0.24 0.41
2005 -0.7 -0.24 0.85 -0.06 0.15 0.39 0.83 -0.88 1.28 0.61 -0.06 0.2 0.54
Clothing
2009 -0.83 0.02 0.85 -0.35 -0.11 -0.07 0.43 -0.74 0.87 -0.17 -0.64 0.17 0.13
Δ RCA -0.13 0.26 0 -0.29 -0.26 -0.46 -0.4 0.14 -0.41 -0.78 -0.58 -0.03 -0.41
Miscellaneous 2005 -0.03 -0.24 -0.17 0.14 -0.35 0.05 -0.75 0.43 -0.25 -0.37 0.45 -0.32 -0.89
manufacturing 2009 -0.08 -0.06 -0.11 0.16 -0.36 0.33 -0.48 0.4 -0.2 -0.14 0.21 -0.29 -0.64
Δ RCA -0.05 0.18 0.06 0.02 -0.01 0.28 0.27 -0.03 0.05 0.23 -0.24 0.03 0.25
2005 -0.95 -0.26 -0.09 -0.72 -0.35 -1.14 -1.4 -1.61 -0.39 -0.81 -1.39 -1.02 -0.75
Minerals
2009 -1.04 -0.31 -0.55 -0.77 -0.42 -0.99 -1.38 -1.59 -0.36 -0.9 -1.05 -0.87 -1.09
Δ RCA -0.09 -0.05 -0.46 -0.05 -0.07 0.15 0.02 0.02 0.03 -0.09 0.34 0.15 -0.34
Source: ITC and authors’ calculation

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sumer electronics and transport equipment, Slo- Our research has proven that there are big dif-
vakia achieves comparative advantage. Ukraine ferences in the production structures of the Danube
and Serbia have an unfavorable exporting struc- region countries, which is obvious by looking at the
ture in which food products prevail, and in the differences in exporting structures. Two groups of
case of Serbia- apparel as well. Positive compara- countries can be differentiated. The first group in-
tive advantage in the export of apparel is actually cludes those countries in which the prevailing prod-
a result of the export of qualified labor service. ucts are with a low degree of fine-finishing works,
Negative comparative advantage of most sectors small added value and primarily resource and labor-
in the export of Serbia is a result of low exploita- intensive products. The second group of countries
tion, overly big and outdated processing capaci- are well-developed ones in whose export the pre-
ties. Lack of investments, neglected research into vailing products are technologically intensive and
better exploitation of capacities and resources, qualified-labor intensive products. The global crisis
failure to apply the recent innovations and scien- affected the decrease of comparative advantage of
tific findings in processing, fluctuations in product most Danube region countries.
quality due to failure to apply international quality Comparative analysis of the export of different
standards, as well as slow adaptation to the trade industry sectors revealed a positive value of com-
market criteria are all unfavorable conditions for parative advantage index for products with higher
the improvement of competitiveness and product export than import and research results show that
placement in export. In the coming period, it is comparative advantage of export is in correlation
necessary to improve the production processes, as with the export structure of these countries.
well as profitability in production and maximize On the micro-level it is necessary to provide sus-
the production of final products. The introduction tainable growth of production and quality of prod-
of geographical origin indications to agricultural ucts and strengthen internal economy through the
products would give multiple positive effects on increase in productivity, efficiency and economical
production, employment and income distribution. business management. Wishing to improve product
Product differentiation, as opposed to traditional competitiveness, it is necessary to take advantage
production would lead to market penetration and of natural production conditions, secure quality raw
creation of economy of scope [23]. materials and resources, work on the selection and
Slovenia has more sectors with positive com- new product design, increase the degree of utiliza-
parative advantage and the highest values are evi- tion and modernization of processing capacities
dent in the export of electronics components and and equipment, as well as develop and expand the
miscellaneous manufacturing. exporting product assortment.
The fall and breakup of former Yugoslavia, and The decrease of budget deficit and deficit of
the global crisis, led to the decrease in compara- current business transactions should be overcome
tive advantage in the export of oil and oil deriva- by relying on the real production sector and re-
tives, chemical products and machinery of Croa- strictive budgeting policy, accompanied with the
tia, so that positive comparative advantage is now improvement of business conditions, creation of
observable only in the export of apparel. favorable business environment and better institu-
tional functioning. With advantageous loans and
5. Conclusion tax policy we should stimulate financial invest-
ments into the building of new and renewal of ex-
All Danube region countries have made sig- isting production capacities.
nificant efforts into establishing macro-economic
stability, limiting inflation and improvement of
public finance operations. The problem of high
unemployment and low competitiveness of prod-
ucts in the international market is still evident. In
all countries we can observe an increase in the par-
ticipation of export in GDP.

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References 13. Serin V. and Civan A.Revealed Comparative Advan-

tage and Competitiveness: A Case Study for Turkey
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128 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

New trends in water infrastructure education:

PROWAT project case study
Selcuk Toprak1, A. Cem Koc1, Richard Pilcher2, Izzet Kara3, Elmo De Angelis4, Fatih Dikbas1, Kylene De Angelis4,
Mahmut Firat5, Ulker Guner Bacanli1, Altan Dizdar6
1
Pamukkale University, Civil Engineering Department, Denizli, Turkey,
2
International Water Association, England,
3
Pamukkale University, Computers and Teaching Technologies Department, Denizli, Turkey,
4
Training2000, Mondavio, Italy,
5
Inonu University, Civil Engineering Department, Malatya, Turkey,
6
Erbil Project Consulting Engineering, Co. Ltd, Ankara, Turkey.

Abstract 1. Introduction
Water Loss or Non-Revenue Water (NRW) rep- In recent years there has been a growing re-
resents inefficiency in water delivery and meas- alization that the increasing demands for water
urement operations in transmission and distribu- throughout the world are not sustainable. As a
tion networks and, for some systems, can amount result of increased understanding of the problem
to a sizeable proportion of total water production. there has been a move away from the traditional
In order to fill a big gap of knowledge and train- approach of just increasing supply, through de-
ing in this field, a multinational and multidiscipli- veloping new resources and transfer schemes, to
nary partnership prepared a vocational education demand management. Demand management fo-
and training (VET) course as part of Leonardo Da cuses on the more efficient use of water, reducing
Vinci programme project PROWAT. The objec- losses, less wasteful use of water, more efficient
tive of the PROWAT training project is to provide appliances and water recycling. In many cases it is
engineers and technicians with the skills that are cheaper and more effective to improve water use
necessary for the implementation of international efficiency than it is to increase water supplies [1].
best practice on all aspects of water loss reduction On the supply side, water losses or Non-Revenue
and control. An overview of the PROWAT train- Water (NRW) from the distribution system are
ing course that is implemented in the online train- estimated to amount to an average of around 30
ing platform (Moodle – open source) is presented to 40% water introduced into the networks (e.g.,
herein. Pilot training testings were performed in 45% in Turkey). In some of the former eastern Eu-
six countries namely Turkey, Greece, Finland, The ropean countries it is not uncommon to find water
Netherlands, Italy, and Belgium with the aim of loss exceeding 50% of the total amount of water
getting an evaluation and feedback of user groups put into the system. As Liemberger [2] pointed out
and experts about the training material and the many public water utilities suffer from high lev-
learning approach. Results of the questionnaires els of Non-Revenue Water (NRW). In cases where
conducted after the testing have shown that partic- the utility has surplus water resources, the high
ipants finished the trainings with positive thoughts levels of NRW only have a negative impact on the
about the course and learning approach. This re- utility’s finances by increasing operating costs and
sult was encouraging for the use of such kind of reducing revenues. However, in cases where the
learning management systems in vocational edu- utility has no surplus water resources, high levels
cation and training. of NRW can also result in water shortages during
Key words: interdisciplinary projects, lifelong peak demand periods, resulting in an intermittent
learning, teaching / learning strategies, water dis- supply and therefore posing a significant public
tribution systems; water loss health risk. The International Water Association
(IWA) constituted a task force related with the
water losses and this task force produced an in-

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 technics technologies education management

ternational ‘best practice’ standard approach for to make vocational education more attractive to
Water Balance calculations, with definitions of all young people. By helping European citizens to
terms involved, as the essential first step in practi- acquire new skills, knowledge and qualifications,
cal management of water losses [3]. the programme also aims to foster the competi-
In colleges and universities engineering students tiveness of the European labour market [5].
learn how to design new systems but not to man- The innovative part of PROWAT Project was to
age and improve existing ones. There is a lack of promote and use Learning Management Systems
knowledge in the field of NRW and this gap was ex- (LMS) in preparing and presenting training ma-
pected to be filled by PROWAT Project. This expec- terials. Developments in information technologies
tation was to be fulfilled by applying and transfer- and widespread use of internet have brought many
ring the new methods and techniques of the Water- new opportunities in the field of education. Sig-
World to the users via modern training approaches. nificant progress has been achieved in recent years
Hence, the products of the project will contribute regarding Learning Management System (LMS)
to decrease the loss-of-water in water distribution softwares from being just a simple education re-
systems [4]. With these aims, a vocational educa- cording system to serve as integrated systems
tion and training (VET) project under Leonardo Da which can manage all human resources, personnel
Vinci programme with 10 partner institutions from and student information needs along with provid-
Turkey, Greece, Italy, Finland, the Netherlands and ing education within whole institution.
Belgium started in February 2007. The multina- LMS have an important place in web-based or
tional partnership included private companies from distant learning. LMS can be identified as software
industry, universities and training organizations. or web-based technology that provides planning,
The project is entitled “Planning and Implementing evaluating, and practicing the learning process.
a Non-Revenue Water Reduction Strategy Improves Typically an LMS system, besides preparation and
the Performance of Water Supply and Distribution management of educational content in electronic
Systems” and its acronym is PROWAT. The web ad- form, provides the opportunity to evaluate the per-
dress for the project is http://www.pro-wat.com. The formance and observe the participation of the user
project duration was two years. The title of this proj- who uses material, as well [6]. Because LMS soft-
ect is also a slogan of the modern water-world where ware constitutes the back bone of an e-learning
“Non-Revenue Water” is the difference between the project, they have an extremely vital importance
volume of water put into a system and the volume for institutions. However, LMS have been turning
of water paid by the customers. PROWAT follows gradually into distant learning portals. This situa-
this slogan and its main goal was to develop specific tion makes the production and usage of new soft-
training modules and a software tool to help reduce ware together with LMS widespread. When the
the loss of drinking water and provide technical as- cost is an issue, open-source softwares can be con-
sistance to Water Authorities in order to apply and sidered as an option.
disseminate the slogan as much as possible. The expectations a LMS needs to answer are dif-
The Leonardo da Vinci programme funds a ferentiated in respect to what degree the institution
wide range of actions, notably cross-border mobil- or individuals, who will use this system, will recede
ity initiatives; co-operation projects to develop and from their traditional learning habits, and to what
spread innovation; and thematic networks. The degree they will approach to, in short, “e-learning”
potential beneficiaries are similarly wide – from or “mixed or blended” learning settings [7]. The
trainees in initial vocational training, to people courses that are given in LMS have shown variation
already in the labour market, as well as VET pro- in relation to the needs of individuals and institu-
fessionals and private or public organizations ac- tions. The important thing is to decide how much,
tive in this field. Leonardo da Vinci enables VET of the learning path will be offered on a LMS to the
organizations to work with European partners, ex- users. While for some courses, the LMS education
change best practices, increasing the expertise of is solely enough and sufficient, for other courses it
their staff and respond to the teaching and learn- can be used as a promotion to offer them in a cheap-
ing needs of people. It therefore supports efforts er way to a large amount of people

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There are two kinds of interaction known in courses. The first one concerns the development of
Web-based learning, which is done via LMS. The training courses in the field of waste management
first one and the source of educational problems is (a Leonardo Da Vinci Project) and the second one
mechanical interaction; thinking interaction as giv- deal with the creation of a Bachelor course in the
ing the right to user to click on some writings and ICT domain. Their study particularly focused on
shapes via mouse. In mechanical interaction, the the re-usability of pedagogical templates.
user does not show mental effort, s/he is a passive In this study, a pilot vocational training test was
observer. The user’s reaching the designated learn- performed with 125 participants in 6 countries
ing goals via such kind of interaction is a weak pos- (Turkey, Greece, Finland, The Netherlands, Italy,
sibility. The second and the one which is considered and Belgium) and a survey was made with them.
as a solution to this problem but whose design is This paper describes PROWAT training in Moodle
hard and production is expensive, is operative in- platform, the testing methodology, and the results
teraction. In this kind of interaction, the user is ac- of the survey and its implications for future educa-
tive, s/he learns by doing, changing parameters of tion and training programmes. To author’s knowl-
content and seeing the results of the operations in edge, it is the first of its kind regarding a compre-
the learning process. This kind of interaction makes hensive presentation and discussion of vocational
learning easy, effective and permanent. training in Leonardo da Vinci project concept. The
Recently, there have been some researches about aim of the pilot testing was to get feedback and
LMS to improve the quality of education, work opinions from the user groups and experts from 6
productivity, and permanency in education [8, 9, different countries about a) the training and mate-
10, 11]. In this project, one of the learning man- rials prepared as part of PROWAT project for pos-
agement systems, Moodle open source was used sible improvements, b) blended-learning concept
(http://moodle.org/). Guidelines on Moodle teach- in VET training supported by Moodle platform
ing techniques are available in the literature (e.g., and also to determine the perspectives of this type
[12]). Several applications of Moodle in university of training. The similarities and differences with
courses are available in recent publications. Urena, respect to countries regarding blended learning
Gómez, Ruiz and Godoy [13] applied a learning and learning via Moodle was investigated.
program with course materials that are prepared
on WebCT and Moodle platforms to medical fac- 2. PROWAT Training with Moodle
ulty BA students within two academical terms. A
change in a positive way was observed on partici- The objective of the PROWAT training pro-
pant students. Martín-Blas and Serrano-Fernández gramme is to provide engineers and technicians
[14] implemented the undergraduate online Physics with the skills that are necessary for the implemen-
course at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) tation of international best practice on all aspects
in the Moodle platform. This course was developed of water loss reduction and control. Central in the
as an enhancement of the face-to-face courses with course is the participant which is an active learner
the aim of creating an online learning community who builds knowledge through social interaction
which helps both teachers and students to have a vir- with others (students and trainer) within a context
tual space where they can share knowledge through driven by own motivation. The courses can be
different kinds of supervised activities, chats and delivered with a mixture of face to face learning
forums. According to the results presented in their (in the class room or distant learning, online via
paper, the students’ response to this initiative was the internet). This is commonly known as blend-
very good: the online Physics course helped them ed learning (e.g., [17], [18]). The composition of
reinforce their abilities and knowledge. Some other which depends on the training provider. PROWAT
specific studies exist with focus on verification and training materials are presented in a Moodle envi-
assessment in Moodle (e.g., [15]). ronment which is one of the commonly used plat-
Sommaruga, Catenazzi and De Angelis [16], forms for distance learning. The web site of the
presented their experiences of use of LMS in differ- project and course is: http://www.pro-wat.com/
ent domains and delivery modes for two different moodle.

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 technics technologies education management

The training materials were presented in 6 lan-

guages using Moodle platform. The training lan-
guages are: English, Finnish, Greek, French, Ital-
ian and Turkish. Figure 1 shows the initial page
after the trainees login from the main page using
their personal password. Each partner institution
assigned one person as a teacher of the course and
their names can also be seen in the initial page of
the training (Figure 1). They have the authorization
to change the content and design of the courses by
using Moodle features. The trainees can choose Figure 1. Training introduction page in Moodle
the language of the training and are directed to ap- platform
propriate page. As an example, Figure 2 shows the
Italian training Moodle page. The page presents Module A is primarily intended for senior
some options to trainees and the Modules below. managers and policy makers; it outlines the back-
The structure of the course was based on a mod- ground to the subject of water loss from transmis-
ular concept, meaning that the section and units of sion and distribution systems. Module A also pro-
the course can be used independently, according vides principles and guidance on all aspects that
to the participant’s needs and wishes. This training will enable an appropriate water loss reduction
course is created primarily in Modules as follows: and control policy to be determined for any water
– Introduction utility in any European country.
– Module A - A basic guide to the assessment, The rest of the modules mainly illustrate tech-
reduction and control of losses from water nical manuals. The aim is to assist engineers and
distribution systems technicians plan and implement a water loss re-
– Module B - Introduction to the technical duction strategy. The process of assessing the
issues of water loss components of water loss, strategy development,
– Module C - Water and water distribution the economics of leakage right through to the
systems practical activities required to reduce leakage are
– Module D - Assessing water loss and the discussed in detail. It is recommended that the
application of performance indicators training course is used in conjunction with all the
– Module E - Developing and implementing other products of the PROWAT project to equip
a water loss reduction strategy and engineers and technicians with a “toolbox” that
introduction to the economics of leakage will assist them to develop a ‘tailor made’ and
– Module F - Requirements for ensuring most importantly, a sustainable strategy to suit the
the sustainability of water loss reduction local conditions and influencing factors. Some of
programmes the content of Module A is repeated in the rest of
– Module G - Key components of leakage the modules. It is considered important to rein-
reduction, control and pipe maintenance, force the message in certain sections rather than
rehabilitation and replacement risk loss of understanding through omission. Sev-
– Module H - Key components of apparent or eral successful case studies from various parts of
commercial losses Europe are also featured in the course.
– Module I - Demand management and water Figure 3 shows the structure of Module A as
efficiency plans an example. Each Module starts with a description
– Module J - Case Studies file. The description primarily includes: title, sec-
– Poseidon Water Balance Software - Example tor, main target audience, description of the mod-
Calculations ule and general aims, learning time and duration,
– Glossary of terms ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) credits,
– Final Assessment tools required to carry out the module (IT, equip-
– Links and resources ment, etc), learning objectives (each learning ob-

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 technics technologies education management

jective is expressed by means of predicates for

detailing the deepening level, following Bloom’s
Taxonomy), pedagogical methods used (self-
study, group work, etc.). Each Module is divided
into coherent small size sections. There may be
text, figures, pictures, videos, etc. in each module
to carry out the training. Exercises and quizzes at
the end of each section are present. The purpose of
the exercises and quizzes is primarily to reinforce
the learning. Different types of exercises and quiz-
zes such as multiple choices, true or false, text, file Figure 3. Course structure in a Module
uploads are used in the Moodle environment.

Figure 2. PROWAT_Italian course in Moodle

platform
Figure 4. Some of the Forums in PROWAT
Creation of virtual spaces for communication Training Page
in the online learning system, such as forums and
chats allow the groups of engineers and/or techni- 3. Pilot Training Test and Results
cians with specific interests and knowledge in water
loss reduction to be in constant communication and 3.1. The methodology and questionnaire
use the material contained within the book and on- For the pilot training testing, 125 people par-
line as a common basis for exchanging views and ticipated from 6 countries. The aim of the test
ideas. Furthermore, within the PROWAT course, was to get an evaluation and feedback of the user
participants are stimulated to present and discuss groups and experts about the training and mate-
their own case studies in order to find common so- rial prepared as part of the PROWAT project, on
lutions and strategies for managing water loss re- the blended-learning concept in VET training sup-
ductions. Figure 4 shows the general forum (news ported by the online platform and also to deter-
from) and learning forums available in the training. mine the perspective of these types of trainings.
According to the need of each country, additional Table 1 presents the methodology of the training
forums can be added in the respective language. that was decided by the project partners for testing
As a supplementary tool, an online software purposes. The general methodology was prepared
tool was developed in the project to design and for a blended learning approach. As described be-
assess water loss reduction strategies. The tool is fore, blended learning courses can be delivered
named POSEIDON which stands for “Profession- with a mixture of face to face learning (in the class-
al PROWAT Performance of On-Line Instrument room) or distant learning (online via the internet).
on How to Manage Water Losses of Networks”. The composition of which depends on the training
Because this tool is not main part of the training, it provider. Within PROWAT testing, partners were
is not discussed herein. given the freedom to do slight modifications to the

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 technics technologies education management

methodology according to the needs of their test participant with age less than 25. For The Nether-
group and the composition of their blended learn- lands, the distribution was almost even. The case
ing as long as they follow the general outline in for Turkey was significantly different because
Table 1. Table 2 shows the outline of the revised most of the participants were younger than 25.
methodology used in Greece. Current state of the participants was surveyed
Pilot trainings in each language were carried with consideration that it may affect the response
out in partner’s countries and partners decided of participants to blended learning, training via
what language to use for the testing; the Belgian Moodle and their expectations for these types of
and the Dutch partners chose English in their technologies. 62% of the participants stated that
trainings. The testing was carried out in 5 languag- they did not get computer assisted or web-based
es, namely English (Belgian and Dutch partners), education before in response to question 1. The
Finnish, Greek, Italian, and Turkish. For the face distribution within the countries is given in Table
to face sessions of the pilot training, lessons are 4. In particular, the participants from Greece, Italy
delivered by teachers separately in each country. and The Netherlands were less familiar with these
Although not used in this study, collaborative ap- new technologies.
plications such as video conferencing can be used Sixty per cent of the participants had not par-
for this part of training. ticipated in any application of blended learning
The evaluation of the participants was collected approach before, and only 22% were familiar with
through a questionnaire at the end of the pilot test- the concept (question 2). The distribution within
ing phase. There are a total of 30 questions in the the countries can be seen in Table 4. The case for
questionnaire, 17 of which are quintet Likert type, Greek participants was distinct because no partici-
7 are yes-no, 4 are open-ended and 2 are multiple pant was familiar with this concept.
choice. For all quintet Likert type questions, 1 Ninety-three per cent of the participants stat-
corresponds to the answer of “disagree” and 5 is ed that they never used Moodle platform before
“agree”. There are two other questions regarding (question 3). The distribution with respect to coun-
age and gender. Table 3 presents each question, its tries can be seen in Table 4. Only limited number
category, its type, number of responses, and num- of participants from Finland, The Netherlands and
ber of groups. Also given in the table are degrees of Turkey were familiar with this LMS.
freedom and Qc values for each question which are
used in statistical evaluations and presented later. 3.3. Assessment of questionnaire categories

3.2. The sample group The participants expressed their opinion by an-
swering 30 questions in seven categories as given
The distribution of 125 participants is as fol- in Table 3. Table 4 and 5 summarize all the re-
lows: Turkey (25), Greece (15), Finland (9), The sponses to the questions. Table 5 presents the re-
Netherlands (30), Italy (10) and Belgium (36). The sults in terms of percentages. In Table 5, N is the
background, status and experience of participants number of people which replied to each question,
cover a wide spectrum from managerial staff of M is means, 1Q is the first quartile (%25), 2Q is
water utilities, engineers and technicians to acade- the second quartile (median; %50) and 3Q is the
micians and students from universities. third quartile (%75).
The percentages of male and female partici- In the learning objectives category there were
pants are 66% and 34%, respectively. The number two quintet Likert type questions. The questionnaire
of male participants is higher than the female par- results show that the course was prepared in accor-
ticipants for all countries except for the Nether- dance with the aim and in a comprehensible way.
lands as shown in Figure 5a. Regarding the age of In the design category, one Yes/No and three
the participants, 24%, 34% and 42% belong to less quintet Likert type questions were directed to the
than 25, between 25 and 35 and above 35 groups. participants. About the design and structure of
Their distribution within the countries is shown training modules, the content of the course and
in Figure 5b. For Italy and Finland, there was no activities and whether the transitions between

134 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

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Table 1. PROWAT Pilot Test Course General Methodology

Stage Activity Remarks of the Activity
Informing the participants about the project web site
1 and the blended-learning course and the book so that
they can have a look at the material before the testing
· General information about the project
· The aim of the project
Course opening and general information about the
2 · Partners in the project
“PROWAT”- Project Introduction to the course
· Products of the project
· Applied methods of knowledge transfer
Overall Presentation of the Water Loss Book, and the Example of Learning objectives for respective
3
Relevant Chapter(s), and the Software Program chapter(s) (example in Moodle)
Content, methodology and material, presentation
Overall Presentation about Blended-Learning and of the Moodle Platform and the activities available
4
Moodle Environment and to be carried out. The schedule of the training
course should be illustrated.
Real time use of the platform with login of partici-
5 Testrun on Moodle
pants to allow them to get acquainted with the system
Face to face teaching of some parts of the chapter(s);
6 Testing of the Chapter
E-learning testing of the rest of the chapter(s)
Open questions in the group, in the forum and in
chat (date previously established or communicated
7 Discussion
on forum or by e-mail) for questions and on-line
discussion
Individual Specific Tools to find the new level of
knowledge and competences.
· Quiz in Moodle (favor, uniform with all)
8 Post-test (Assessment in Moodle)
· Post-Test (uniform with all)
· Discussion (individually or in the group)
· Or other suitable methods
Knowledge and skills consolidation/ summary of Individual Specific Tools of the Tutor plus sum up
9
content the Moodle chapters
Discussion and responses on evaluation (plus
questionnaire to evaluate the test run), promotion
10
of benefits, Information about other options of
construction courses
11 Conclusion on the course/ valediction
Table 2. PROWAT Pilot Test Course Methodology used in Greece
Stage Activity and Period Remarks of the Activity
1 E-Courses kick-off (September 29, 2008)
Real time use of the platform with login of participants to
Introduction and test run on Moodle
2 allow them to get acquainted with the system. Help desk
(September 29-30)
phone support to trainees.
· Including exercises for all Modules (due on October 10).
3 Running the e-courses (October 1-15) · Including evaluation and electronic discussion (October
13-15)
Testing of Poseidon Software and discussion
4 using the Moodle Forum and Collaboration
Tools (October 13-17)
End of Training. Summing up the training
5 goals and achieved results. Survey of trainees
opinion via questionnaire (October 13-22)

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 technics technologies education management

modules were easy or not. The responses showed (in total 94% and high) were suitable and they
respectively, the course module’s content structure helped the understanding of the course content (in
was clear (97%), course content was engaging (in total 98% medium level and high).
total 99% medium level and higher), transition In the content category, one Yes/No and three
between modules was easy (in total 94% medium quintet Likert type questions were asked. Trainees
level and higher). And to the design of modules, gave responses about whether the content of the
98% of participants answered that it was flexible course was accurate, covered in appropriate degree
enough for them to move around at their own pace. of breadth, explained clearly and whether the num-
ber and quality of exercises related to each module
was sufficient. About 95% of the participants ranked
the accuracy of the content as medium and higher.
Regarding the coverage breadth, 70% had chosen
the medium level and higher. To the question about
whether the content is clearly explained, 90% an-
swered as medium level or higher. The number and
quality of exercises within each module were found
satisfactory by 84% of the participants.
In navigation and instructions category, three
quintet Likert type questions were directed to par-
ticipants about the sufficiency of directions and
explanations inside the training website. 86% of
participants found that the navigation was intui-
a) Gender
tive. Respectively, 91% and 79% stated that the
program and exercise directions were clear.
In logistics/performance category, there were
three Yes/No questions, one quintet Likert type
question and one open-ended question. One in three
of participants stated that they finished the course in
one session and 85% of the remaining participants
were able to continue from the point they left with-
out having any problem. Regarding the usefulness
of web platform and performance, 90% of the par-
ticipants evaluated them as medium level or high.
84 % of them responded positively about suitability
of the content for their firm or the region they were
in. A 14% group, which gave negative opinion in
their answers to the open-ended question “If not,
b) Age specifically what was included in the course that
Figure 5. Gender and age of trainees with re- was not relevant to your geographical region and
spect to countries company and what should be included?”, advised
that there should be a specific section about non-
In the activities category, three quintet Likert revenue water management in islands and more
type questions were asked to trainees about the discussion about national problems and topics.
suitability of number of activities, whether the In miscellaneous category, two open-ended
location of activities in good order, and whether questions were directed to participants to get their
activities contribute to the understanding of the recommendation on how to improve training and
course content. According to the responses of the what other topics should be included in the training
trainees the number of activities (in total 87% me- in the future, and one quintet Likert type question
dium level and high) and placements of activities about their wills, whether the participants want to

136 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 Table 3. Specifications of the questions in the questionnaire
Number Number Degree of
Question
Category Question Question Type of of groups freedom Qc
Number
responses (countries) (DOF)
Gender - Male, Female Multiple Choice
Age - <25, 25-35, >35 Multiple Choice
1 Have you taken computer-based or Web-based training courses before? Yes/No
2 Are you familiar with blended learning approach? (Yes, No, Only at knowledge level) Multiple Choice
Background 3 Did you use MOODLE before? Yes/No

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Information 4 Is the content of the PROWAT Moodle manual sufficient and useful? (Yes, No, Partly) Multiple Choice
If you have taken computer-based or Web-based training courses before, how does this
5 Quintet Likert 52 6 46 2.7572
course compare?
Learning 6 The objectives of the course were stated clearly. Quintet Likert 123 6 117 2.6839
Objectives 7 The objectives of the course are relevant to my job. Quintet Likert 125 6 119 2.6831
8 The course content and activities are engaging. Quintet Likert 124 6 118 2.6834
9 Is the content of the programme/module clearly structured? Yes/No
Design
10 The course is easy to move through. Quintet Likert 122 6 116 2.6842
11 The design is flexible enough for me to move around at my own pace. Quintet Likert 124 6 118 2.6834
12 There are an ample number of activities. Quintet Likert 114 6 108 2.6878
Activities 13 The placement of activities makes sense. Quintet Likert 119 6 113 2.6855
14 The activities helped to reinforce my understanding of the content. Quintet Likert 116 6 110 2.6868
Table 3 (Cont.). Specifications of the questions in the questionnaire
Number Degree of
Question Number of
Category Question Question Type of groups freedom Qc
Number responses
(countries) (DOF)
15 The content is accurate. Quintet Likert 97 6 91 2.6972
16 The course content is covered to an appropriate degree of breadth. Quintet Likert 122 6 116 2.6842
Content
17 The content is clearly explained. Quintet Likert 124 6 118 2.6834
18 Do you find the number and quality of exercises related to each module satisfactory? Yes/No
technics technologies education management

19 The navigation is intuitive. Quintet Likert 119 6 119 2.6855

Navigation and
20 The program directions are clear. Quintet Likert 122 6 116 2.6842
Instructions
21 The exercise directions are clear. Quintet Likert 123 6 117 2.6839
22 How long did it take you to complete the course? Open Ended
23 Did you complete it in one sitting? Yes/No
Logistics / 24 If not, were you able to pick up easily where you left off? Yes/No
Performance 25 There were no delays in accessing the content; performance was sufficient. Quintet Likert 106 5 101 2.6254
26 Is the content relevant to you geographical region and company? Yes/No
If not, specifically what was included in the course that was not relevant to your
27 Open Ended
geographical region and company and what should be included?
28 What would enhance this learning experience? Open Ended

137
Miscellaneous 29 What additional content would you like to see developed in the future? Open Ended
30 I am willing to join such kind of blended learning courses in the future. Quintet Likert 124 6 118 2.6834
 Table 4. Results of the Yes/No and Multiple choice type questions of the questionnaire

138
Belgium Finland Greece Italy The Netherlands Turkey
Q
N Yes No Partly N Yes No Partly N Yes No Partly N Yes No Partly N Yes No Partly N Yes No Partly
1 36 16 20 N/A 9 6 3 N/A 15 3 12 N/A 10 1 9 N/A 30 8 22 N/A 25 13 12 N/A
2 36 7 19 10 8 4 2 2 15 0 15 0 10 0 8 2 30 6 24 0 26 5 8 13
3 36 0 36 N/A 9 5 4 N/A 15 0 15 N/A 10 0 10 N/A 30 1 29 N/A 24 3 21 N/A
4 35 14 2 20 9 7 0 2 0 0 0 0 10 9 0 1 30 20 0 10 24 19 0 5
9 36 36 0 N/A 8 6 2 N/A 0 0 0 N/A 10 10 0 N/A 30 30 0 N/A 25 24 1 N/A
18 36 29 7 N/A 9 7 2 N/A 15 14 1 N/A 10 6 4 N/A 30 30 0 N/A 23 17 6 N/A
23 28 13 15 N/A 0 0 0 N/A 15 4 11 N/A 9 5 4 N/A 30 8 22 N/A 20 7 13 N/A
24 10 6 4 N/A 0 0 0 N/A 11 10 1 N/A 4 4 0 N/A 2 2 0 N/A 12 11 1 N/A
26 33 24 9 N/A 9 8 1 N/A 14 8 6 N/A 10 10 0 N/A 30 28 2 N/A 15 15 0 N/A
N: Number of persons replied the question

Table 5. Statistical results of the Quintet Likert type questions of the questionnaire
Belgium Finland Greece Italy The Netherlands Turkey
Q
N M 1Q 2Q 3Q N M 1Q 2Q 3Q N M 1Q 2Q 3Q N M 1Q 2Q 3Q N M 1Q 2Q 3Q N M 1Q 2Q 3Q
5 19 3.263 3.0 3.0 3.75 6 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 3 4.667 4.25 5.0 5.0 2 2.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 8 3.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 14 4.0 4.0 4.0 5.0
6 34 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 9 4.333 4.0 4.0 5.0 15 4.133 3.25 5.0 5.0 10 3.40 3.0 3.0 4.0 30 4.033 4.0 4.0 5.0 25 4.440 4.0 5.0 5.0
7 36 1.833 1.0 1.0 3.0 9 4.222 4.0 4.0 5.0 15 4.40 3.25 5.0 5.0 10 4.40 4.0 4.0 5.0 30 3.233 2.0 3.0 4.0 25 4.400 4.0 5.0 5.0
8 36 3.472 3.0 3.0 4.0 9 4.0 3.75 4.0 4.25 15 4.467 4.0 5.0 5.0 10 3.80 3.0 4.0 4.0 30 3.267 3.0 3.0 4.0 24 4.292 4.0 4.5 5.0
10 36 3.806 4.0 4.0 4.0 9 4.222 4.0 4.0 4.25 15 3.60 3.0 4.0 4.75 10 2.80 2.0 3.0 3.0 30 3.867 3.0 4.0 4.0 22 4.182 4.0 4.0 5.0
11 36 4.083 4.0 4.0 4.0 9 4.333 4.0 4.0 5.0 15 4.667 4.25 5.0 5.0 10 3.40 2.0 3.0 5.0 30 4.033 4.0 4.0 4.0 24 4.0 3.5 4.0 4.5
12 36 2.944 3.0 3.0 3.0 9 3.889 3.0 4.0 4.25 15 4.933 5.0 5.0 5.0 10 3.40 3.0 3.0 4.0 20 3.15 3.0 3.0 4.0 24 3.958 3.0 4.0 5.0
13
technics technologies education management

32 3.344 3.0 3.0 4.0 9 4.222 3.75 4.0 5.0 15 4.667 5.0 5.0 5.0 9 3.889 3.0 4.0 5.0 30 3.267 3.0 3.0 4.0 24 4.417 4.0 4.5 5.0
14 30 3.467 3.0 3.0 4.0 9 3.778 3.0 4.0 4.25 15 4.867 5.0 5.0 5.0 9 3.444 3.0 3.0 4.0 30 3.40 3.0 3.0 4.0 23 4.087 4.0 4.0 5.0
15 12 4.25 4.0 4.0 5.0 9 4.111 4.0 4.0 4.25 15 4.267 3.25 5.0 5.0 9 4.0 3.75 4.0 4.25 30 3.633 3.0 4.0 4.0 22 4.727 4.0 5.0 5.0
16 36 1.917 1.0 1.0 3.0 9 4.0 3.75 4.0 4.25 15 4.40 4.0 4.0 5.0 9 3.444 2.75 3.0 4.25 30 2.90 2.0 3.0 4.0 23 4.478 4.0 5.0 5.0
17 36 3.639 4.0 4.0 4.0 9 4.333 4.0 4.0 5.0 15 4.067 4.0 4.0 4.0 9 3.222 2.0 4.0 4.0 30 3.333 3.0 4.0 4.0 25 4.560 4.0 5.0 5.0
19 36 3.50 3.0 4.0 4.0 9 3.889 3.0 4.0 4.25 15 4.133 4.0 4.0 4.75 9 2.333 2.0 2.0 3.0 30 3.70 3.0 4.0 4.0 20 3.95 4.0 4.0 4.5
20 36 3.556 3.0 4.0 4.0 9 4.333 4.0 4.0 5.0 15 4.40 4.0 5.0 5.0 9 2.333 1.75 2.0 3.0 30 3.367 3.0 3.0 4.0 23 4.391 4.0 4.0 5.0
21 36 2.861 2.0 3.0 4.0 9 4.444 4.0 4.0 5.0 15 4.867 5.0 5.0 5.0 9 2.444 2.0 2.0 3.0 30 3.10 3.0 3.0 4.0 24 4.458 4.0 5.0 5.0
25 31 3.161 3.0 3.0 3.0 - - - - - 15 3.733 3.25 4.0 4.0 8 3.125 3.0 3.0 3.0 30 2.933 3.0 3.0 3.0 22 4.455 4.0 5.0 5.0
30 36 2.75 1.0 3.0 4.0 9 4.222 4.0 4.0 5.0 15 4.667 4.25 5.0 5.0 9 3.889 3.0 4.0 5.0 30 2.733 1.0 3.0 4.0 25 4.840 5.0 5.0 5.0

Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

N: Number of persons replied the question
 technics technologies education management

take part in blended learning courses. To the Likert One can conclude from “large” values of Q that
type of question, 76% of participants stated that the difference of the two groups being compared
they were willing to take such a course and 35% is statistically significant. In this study, probability
of them expressed they were certainly willing to level is selected as 5%. Critical Q values (Qc) for
take. With the answers to the open-ended ques- this probability level can be obtained from stan-
tions, participants recommended to include more dard tables (e.g., [19] by using number of groups
visual materials such as photographs and videos and degree of freedom for the analysis. Degree of
in the training and to increase the number of quiz freedom values are calculated by the subtraction
questions and particularly multiple choice ques- of number of groups from the number of partici-
tions for each section. Participants also stated that pants in the test. If the Q value for the comparison
there should certainly be topics about design and is greater than Qc, one can confidently conclude
new technologies among the topics that will be that there is a difference and the likelihood of be-
added in the future. ing incorrect in concluding that there is a signifi-
cant difference is less than 5%. Dunn’s test uses
3.4. Statistical evaluation of the responses rank means, since they are adjusted for unequal
with respect to countries sample sizes. Table 3 presents Qc values for the
respective likert type questions in pilot test ques-
Differences between the pilot test question- tionnaire. The test is done on all possible pairs of
naire grades of countries are determined by means samples. All questions except the 25th have data
of multiple comparison tests (MCTs). In this from 6 countries then 15 pairs come out. For the
study, most of the likert type question responses question 25 there are 10 pairs to be compared.
do not satisfy the normal distribution and equal Because of the space limitations and direct rel-
variance requirements. Parametric ANOVA could evance to discussions here, statistics for only se-
not be used because it assumes that the data are lected questions (Q5, Q7, and Q30) are presented
normally distributed and the variances are equal. herein. Tables 6, 7 and 8 show the results of the
Then, Dunn’s test is selected as a nonparametric pair wise multiple comparison tests in terms of Q
MCT with unequal sample sizes [19]. Dunn’s test values. Shaded cells, if any, show the pair of coun-
computes the Q test statistic (Equation 1): tries which are statistically different from each
other according to Dunn’s test as described above.
R b- R a Table 6 shows all pairwise MCT results for
Q= ............................ (1) Q5. This question is answered by participants
SE
only if they received computer assisted or web-
where, Ra and Rb are rank means of a pair of based education before (38% of all participants-
data sets b and a respectively, SE is the standard see Table3). Out of these participants, 43% rated
error given in Equation 2. When calculating the this course at the same level and 53% rated as bet-
rank means of a pair of data set, two data sets are ter. None of the Q values for pairwise compari-
combined and accepted as a single data set. But son is larger than Qc = 2.7572, which indicates
the members of each data set are not forgotten. that it cannot be confidently concluded that there
Combined data set is enumerated from the small- is a significant difference between the response
est to the highest value and ranked. Then ranked of participants from different countries regarding
data set is divided by two previous data sets. Fi- this question. However, the results also show that
nally means of ranked data sets can be calculated. some differences exist. Table 5 shows the respons-
es with respect to countries in terms of percentiles.
N ( N + 1)  1 1  The mean values for the responses of the partici-
SE= +  ........................ (2) pants from Belgium, The Netherlands, Finland,
n 
12  a nb  Italy, Greece, and Turkey, respectively are 3.26,
3.50, 4.00, 2.50, 4.67 and 4.00. The results show
where, N is the total number of data, na and nb that the participants evaluated PROWAT training
are data numbers of data sets a and b respectively. somewhat better than their other experiences.

Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013 139

 technics technologies education management

Table 7 shows all pairwise MCT results for Q7. participants of the test of this study are willing to
This question was asked to determine the match join such kind of blended learning courses in the
between the technical training subject and partici- future. Q values of pairwise comparison are larger
pants’ job. It is considered that this aspect may affect than Qc = 2.6831 for Belgium and Greece, Bel-
the response of participants in this study. Q values of gium and Turkey, The Netherlands and Greece,
pairwise comparison between Belgium and all other and The Netherlands and Turkey. Table 5 shows
countries are larger than Qc = 2.6831, which indi- the responses with respect to countries in terms of
cates that there is a significant difference between percentiles. The mean values for the responses of
the response of participants from Belgium and the participants from Belgium, The Netherlands,
other countries regarding this question. Compared Finland, Italy, Greece and Turkey, respectively are
to other countries, the responses from The Nether- 2.75, 2.73, 4.22, 3.89, 4.67 and 4.84. Except for
lands have higher Q value but the difference is sta- Belgium and The Netherlands cases, the responses
tistically significant only for The Netherlands and are quite positive and especially for Greece and
Turkey. Table 5 shows the responses with respect to Turkey, the responses are extremely positive. For
countries in terms of percentiles. The mean values Turkey’s case, most of the participants are younger
for the responses of the participants from Belgium, and this generational difference might have played
The Netherlands, Finland, Italy, Greece and Tur- a significant role for the positive response.
key, respectively are 1.83, 3.23, 4.22, 4.40, 4.40 and
4.40. The results show that the technical objectives 4. Conclusions
of the training for the participants from Belgium are
not very much relevant to their job. The case for the In order to fulfill the objective which is to pro-
Netherlands is on average level whereas for other vide managers, engineers and technicians with the
countries there is a good match between the techni- skills that are necessary for the implementation of
cal training subject and participants’ occupation. international best practice on all aspects of water
Table 8 shows all pairwise MCT results for Q30. loss reduction and control, PROWAT project se-
This question was asked to determine whether the lected the use of an online learning management
Table 6. All Pairwise MCT results for Q5 according to Dunn’s Method
Question 5 Country Belgium
If you have taken Finland 2.056 Finland
computer-based or Greece 2.674 0.988 Greece
Web-based training Italy 1.035 2.121 2.662 Italy
courses before, how does The Netherlands 0.797 1.161 1.957 1.398 The Netherlands
this course compare? Turkey 2.694 0.029 1.120 2.273 1.382
Table 7. All Pairwise MCT results for Q7 according to Dunn’s Method
Question 7 Country Belgium
Finland 3.735 Finland
Greece 5.205 0.492 Greece
The objectives of the course
Italy 4.279 0.300 0.171 Italy
are relevant to my job
The Netherlands 3.149 1.614 2.597 2.057 The Netherlands
Turkey 6.113 0.513 0.0248 0.165 3.003
Table 8. All Pairwise MCT results for Q30 according to the Dunn’s Method
Question 30 Country Belgium
Finland 2.604 Finland
I am willing to join such Greece 4.715 1.135 Greece
kind of blended learning Italy 1.932 0.531 1.729 Italy
courses in the future. The Netherlands 0.468 2.249 4.216 1.590 The Netherlands
Turkey 6.270 1.703 0.561 2.347 5.600

140 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

system (LMS) to prepare and present training ma- Consulting Engineering, Co. Ltd, Turkey; Walter
terial. The choice was to use a moodle platform Bogaerts and Thuy Vu Thi of Katholieke Univer-
which is an open-source software. The courses siteit Leuven, Belgium; J.H. Zheng of Techno-
were delivered as blended learning with a mixture logica Group-European Technical Joint Venture,
of face to face learning (in the class room) and dis- Belgium; Damianos Dimitriadis of Infoproject
tant learning (online via the internet). Pliroforiki S.A., Greece; Stratos Arampatzis of
Pilot training tests were carried out in 6 coun- Tero Ltd., Greece; Risto Tenhunen of Osuuskunta
tries to get evaluation and feedback of user groups Eco-One, Finland; Ton Knobbout of Project Con-
and experts about the training approach and mate- sultatie En Training Groep B.V. PCT, The Neth-
rial prepared as part of the PROWAT project, the erlands; Arjan De Bruin of Van Der Meer&Van
Moodle platform and also to determine the future Tilburg Innovation Consultant, The Netherlands.
of these types of trainings. The pilot training test-
ing and questionnaire results were used to improve References
PROWAT training materials available in Moodle
platform. For example, some participants asked 1. Pilcher R, Dizdar A, Dilsiz C, Toprak S, Angelis ED,
Angelis KD, Koç AC, Dikbaş F, Fırat M, Bacanlı
addition of case study presentations from different
UG, How To Prevent Water Losses?, Eflatun Publish-
countries including some islands. As a response, ing House Ankara, Turkey. 2009.
three case studies were added to the course: Greek
Cyprus, Macedonia and Italy. Also participants rec- 2. Liemberger R, Competitive Tendering of Perfor-
ommended to include more visual materials such mance Based NRW Reduction Projects, IWA Efficient
2003 Conference, Tenerife, April 2003.
as photographs and videos in the training and to
increase the number of quiz questions and particu- 3. Lambert A, Assessing non-revenue water and its
larly multiple choice questions for each section. components: a practical approach, Water 21, IWA
Pilot training tests provided valuable informa- Publishing, August 2003; 50-51.
tion about several aspects of training such as eval-
4. Toprak S, Koc AC, Dikbas F, Firat M, Bacanli UG,
uation of learning objectives, design, activities, Dizdar A, A Leonardo Da Vinci Project (PROWAT):
content, navigation and instructions, logistics/ Planning and Implementing a Non-Revenue Water
performance and other miscellaneous issues. The Reduction Strategy Improves the Performance of
majority of the trainees were not exposed before Water Supply and Distribution Systems, 8th Inter-
to training approach and technologies used in this national Congress on Advances in Civil Engineer-
ing, Eastern Mediterranean University, Famagusta,
study: only 38% of participants took computer- North Cyprus. September 2008; 15-17.
based or web-based training courses before; 18%
were familiar with blended learning approach; and 5. European Commission, http://ec.europa.eu/education/
7% used Moodle before. After the training, 76% lifelong-learningprogramme/doc82_en.htm, 2009.
of them expressed interest in having such blended 6. Aydın CÇ, Biroğul S, Open Source Learning Man-
learning courses in the future. This result was en- agement Systems in E-Learning and Moodle, In-
couraging for the use of learning management sys- ternational Journal of Informatics Technologies (in
tems in vocational education and training. Turkish with English Abstract). 2008; 1(2): 31-36.

7. Türkiye Bilişim Vakfı (TBV) , Guidelines for e-learn-

Acknowledgments ing, http://www.tbv.org.tr/TBV/Documents/Egitimve-
Bilisim/UzaktanEgitimKlavuzu.pdf (in Turkish).2003.
This project was funded with support from the
European Commission under Project No: TR/06/ 8. Black EW, Dawson K, Priem J, Data for free: Using
B/F/PP/178065. This publication reflects the views LMS activity logs to measure community in online cours-
es, Internet and Higher Education 2008; 11: 65–70.
only of the authors; the Commission cannot be
held responsible for any use which may be made 9. Huang CJ, Chen HX, Chen CH, Developing argu-
of the information contained herein. We thank to mentation processing agents for computer-supported
following people who contributed to the project collaborative learning, Expert Systems with Applica-
at different stages: Cuneyt Dilsiz of Erbil Project tions 2009; 36: 2615–2624.

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 technics technologies education management

10. Romero C, Ventura S, Garcia E, Data mining in

course management systems: Moodle case study
and tutorial, Computers & Education 2008; 51:
368–384.

11. Moreno L, Gonzalez C, Castilla I, Gonzalez E,

Sigut J, Applying a constructivist and collaborative
methodological approach in engineering education,
Computers & Education 2007; 49: 891–915.

12. Nash SS, Rice W, Moodle 1.9 Teaching Techniques:

Creative ways to build powerful and effective online
courses, Pact Publishing ,UK. 2010.

13. Ureña MÁG, Gómez LMM, Ruiz VV, Godoy AD,

Application of new technologies to the teaching of
surgery in the school of medicine, Cirugia Espano-
la (in Spanish with English abstract). 2009; 85(3):
165-170

14. Martín-Blas T, Serrano-Fernández A, The role of

new technologies in the learning process: Moodle
as a teaching tool in Physics, Computers & Educa-
tion 2009; 52: 35–44.

15. Gutierrez E, Trenas MA, Ramos J, Corbera F,

Romero S, A new Moodle module supporting au-
tomatic verification of VHDL-based assignments,
Computers & Education 2010; 54: 562–577.

16. Sommaruga L, Catenazzi N, Angelis KD, Prac-

tical experiences of reusing LAMS pedagogi-
cal templates, The LAMS Conference,Cadiz,
http://lams2008.lamsfoundation.org/pdfs/
CAD08_05Final.pdf. June 2008; 25 - 27

17. Bonk CJ, Graham CR, The handbook of blended

learning: global perspectives, local designs, John
Wiley and Sons , San Francisco: 2006; pp. 624.

18. Toprak S, Koç AC, Contribution of Leonardo Pro-

jects to Education in Technical Fields, Pamukkale
University. Journal of Education 2013; 33 (January
2013/I):73-91.

19. Wheater CP, Cook PA, Using Statistics to Under-

stand the Environment, Routledge Introductions to
Environment Series, London.2005.

Corresponding Author
Selcuk Toprak,
Civil Engineering Department
Pamukkale University,
Denizli,
Turkey,
E-mail:stoprak@pau.edu.tr

142 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

Fine arts subjects at computer graphics studies

at the Faculty of technical sciences in Novi Sad
Ratko Obradovic1, Milos Vujanovic2, Branislav Popkonstantinovic3, Predrag Sidjanin1, Branislav Beljin1,
Igor Kekeljevic1
1
Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia,
2
Academy of Arts, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia,
3
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.

Abstract tecture. In fact, some architectural objects disappear

and remain only as they are registered on paper.
Since two years ago, intensive work has been
Data about 3D structures often exist accurately de-
done in defining a new Computer Animation cur-
scribed on photographs. Using these photographs as
riculum at the Faculty of Technical Sciences in
source and method of photo restitution, Stojaković
Novi Sad, Serbia. The result of these efforts is an
[1] virtually reconstructed these collapsed objects.
accredited degree program Computer Graphic –
Stojaković and Tepavčević [2] combined various
Animation in Engineering, for Undergraduate Aca-
methods to create a morphogenetic reconstruction
demic Studies and Master Academic Studies. These
of Liberty Square in Novi Sad using photo docu-
programs were accredited in the 7th accreditation
mentation as input data. Sidjanin [3] described main
cycle in the Republic of Serbia, on December 24th,
concepts about a design tool and its testing support-
2010. Undergraduate Academic Studies comprise
ed by an visualization of Geographic Information
40 subjects (31 compulsory subjects & nine elec-
System (GIS) data in VR system. In civil engineer-
tive positions with a choice of several subjects),
ing, Kovačević [4] formed the algorithm for using
and Master Academic Studies comprise 10 subjects
finite elements methods which emphasizes issues
(with three elective positions). This article analyzes
of modeling the topology of the structural system,
the five fine arts subjects from this program which
i.e., geometry of structural elements. Kovačević
are a necessary basis for computer animation devel-
and Matijević [5] gave the proposal of a new con-
opment. The article also explains the importance of
cept of education system in the field of Computer
fine arts subjects for this kind of studies.
Aided Structural Analysis (CASA) which insists on
Key words: computer graphics, animation,
understanding the essence of modeling structural
fine art
systems and emphasizes the finite elements method
with reference to the “classical” manual methods.
1. New curriculum: computer graphics – Kovačević, Džolev and Janjić [6] insisted on the
animation in engineering fact that the quality of implementation of the Fi-
Animation in Engineering is an interdisciplinary nite Elements Method (FEM) in Computer Aided
program which connects the courses of electrical en- Structural Analysis (CASA) determines to what
gineering and computer science with mathematics. extent the performance of FEM will be beneficial
Animation in Engineering is an integral part of in education terms, in everyday construction prac-
any product or development process today and in- tice and in the case of scientific research. Comput-
volves almost all areas of life. When any kind of er graphics is also successfully applied in traffic,
product or an object such as a car, airplane, train, electrical and electronic engineering, geodesy, etc.
highway, building, factory, etc., is designed or con- This discipline has its safe place in fine arts, and
structed, it is cheaper to build a computer 3D model also in medicine. Milojević at all [7] developed an
and then make all analyses, technical corrections, appropriate software system for human knee recon-
aesthetic changes, system changes and so forth. struction i.e. for generation of the approximate 3D
Computer Graphics and Animation in Engi- model for the femur and screw, built in it. CG is
neering are areas which have been used in various also used in pharmacy, physics, biology and chem-
technical disciplines such as engineering or archi- istry, as well as mathematics. Obradović [8] deter-

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 technics technologies education management

mined the intersecting curve between two surfaces years should be mainly devoted to the specialized
of revolution using purely descriptive geometric courses which provide the necessary technical and
method of auxiliary spheres. This method is used applied knowledge.
when axes of surfaces meet each other. The cen- During the studies, especially in professional
tre of all auxiliary spheres is the intersecting point subjects, independent work is highly rated, students
of these axes. Some other areas of CG application are encouraged to participate in professional and
include applied mathematics and computational development projects, and the focus is on the de-
geometry. Obradović [9] determined intersection velopment of the skills for solving real problems.
between two surfaces of revolution, using descrip-
tive geometric methods. Intersection between two 2. Fine arts in computer graphics
quadrics, cone and cylinder, are determined by us-
ing auxiliary planes which intersect both quadrics Training of animators-engineers to be able to
at two lines. Obradović [10] created a procedure for communicate with fine arts animators is one of the
determining a plane section of the surface of revo- basic tasks in the curriculum of Computer Graphics
lution. Obradović at all [11] created the algorithm studies in Novi Sad [12]. Training future engineers
for generation of transitional developable surfaces of Computer Graphics to be able to track modern
between two polygons. trends in animation, in terms of satisfying not only
It has a significant place in education while the a technical demands (all the more extensive re-
impact of this discipline in the film industry is well quirements) for development of animated films is
known, especially since 3D movies production another important goal. Artistic animation in this
started. It is also used for making computer games region can barely follow the high contemporary re-
and web visual design. quirement because of limited technical and human
It is often the case that Animation in Engi- resources. Establishing new study programme and
neering is used for simulations of manufacturing education of engineers of this profile may help to
processes, inaccessible or poorly visible elements meet the artistic demands in art and experimental
(underground and underwater installations, geo- animation, as well as in domain such as video art-
logical mapping, structural machine elements, works, digital arts, etc. Of course, students graduat-
human body parts, etc.), risk simulation (earth- ing from Computer Graphics programme will have
quakes, floods, fires, etc.) and to visualize differ- a sufficient basis for further individual upgrade of
ent types of data and information. All this gives a their knowledge and skills to meet the artistic de-
strong social significance and justification of in- mands of modern animation and other animation
vestments, both in developing the necessary tech- skills. In this way the curriculum provides a launch-
nologies and in training of expert personnel who pad for newcomers to Computer Graphics studies
will deal with these widespread and necessary at the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad,
tasks of nowadays. meet the needs of modern work environment (mod-
Studies of this profile do not exist in Serbia, but ern animation teams have a large number of col-
studies of Computer Graphic or Animation in En- laborators on the projects, as well as great amount
gineering have existed at American and European of high-tech equipment), which is essential for any
universities for forty years. serious production, not only in terms of technical
The need for visualization is all-pervading equipment, but also in terms of increasing aesthetic
because it is the most natural way of seeing the demands in modern animation.
world and an excellent choice to render objects – The ideas expressed above indicate a need to
a visual representation for learning and teaching, develop perception skills and a need to understand
for spreading information. It is well known that “a observations as well as the ability to implement
picture is worth a 1000 words”. the matter which has been perceived and under-
A large proportion of courses taught at the first stood, and transport it to appropriate media, espe-
few years of study contains the necessary knowl- cially because the increasing technical sophistica-
edge which sets the basis for understanding the tion follows an increasing aesthetic requirements,
problems of Animation in Engineering. Senior even in the field of applied animation.

144 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

This problem is easy to understand on the ing materials; communication methods through
theoretical and intellectual level, but its practical drawing. 2. drawing form; drawing in plane and
implementation presents a huge and often insur- volume; rhythm and tempo of drawing; dynamics
mountable task because it includes talent and in- and latent dynamics in drawing; light and shadows
volves practical work through manual and theo- in drawing. 3. meaning and possibilities in drawing:
retical exercise in artistic subjects. the meaning of points and lines in freehand draw-
Manual work with basic materials (pencil and ing, the meaning of points and lines in computer
paper) provides a subconscious adaptation of the drawing; basic archetypal and symbolic forms; the
basis of visual perception and its development to a symbolism of drawing, relation between seen and
higher level, as well as the ability to understand all created (final simplification that becomes readable
the elements involved in the process. Theoretical for the audience); recognizing and supporting the
introduction to basic visual elements provides in- individuality of handwriting in drawing.
tellectual support of the adopted knowledge, as a
necessary language for communication within this 3.2. Animation & visual effects drawing
multidisciplinary profession [13], [14], [15].
The last, but not the least important reason Drawing of the basic geometric shapes and ob-
for fine arts subjects at Animation in Engineer- jects which can be achieved from basic geometric
ing studies is the fact that newcomers (students) shapes; drawing of portraits and human figures;
eventually have a chance to build individual ar- sketch drawing and small size drawing [17], [18].
tistic handwriting, or at least to understand and The roots of animation and visual effects in his-
recognize work of other authors, and respond to tory of art; geometrization and simplification of
professional requirements of their individuality the drawing; movements in foreground; rendering
or individuality of others, through which they can of space and perspective types; visual culture – ba-
reach high levels in creation process, in the World sic meanings and principles. Anatomy (construc-
intensively searching for innovative and original tion) of objects – animation models; becoming fa-
approaches in fine arts and beyond. miliar with omnipresence of drawing as a superior
means of communication.
3. Fine art courses content
3.3. Character animation
Undergraduate studies last for four years, cov-
ering 40 subjects, of which four are artistic/expert Drawing of basic 3D shapes and manipulation
type subjects. These courses are the core subjects, with basic 3D shapes [19], [20], [21], [22]. Draw-
compulsory for all students: ing of basic 3D animation shapes and animation of
– Freehand Drawing basic figure through 12 principles of animation:
– Animation & Visual Effects Drawing 1. Squash and Stretch;
– Character Animation 2. Anticipation;
– Storyboard 3. Staging/Directing;
4. Straight-ahead and Pose to Pose;
Master academic studies last one year and com- 5. Follow Through and Overlapping Action,
prise 10 subjects with a single artistic type of course, Held Pose and Moving Hold;
which is placed in elective group of subjects. This 6. Slow-in and Slow-out;
subject is Elements of Artistic Expression. 7. Arcs;
Content of Fine Arts courses: 8. Secondary Action;
9. Timing;
3.1. Freehand drawing 10. Emotions Exaggeration;
11. Solid Drawing;
this course covers the following topics [16]: 1. 12. Character appeal.
drawing as a primary tool in communication; his-
torical review and development of drawing; draw-

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 technics technologies education management

After mastering the basic skills, work on famous 4. Conclusion

animated characters and individual student works.
The development of computer animations in-
Program for characters computer animation:
volves several basic steps: writing an animation
Poser.
script, creating a storyboard, modeling computer
models and creating animations and finally add-
3.4. Storyboard ing visual effects and sounds. The curriculum of
Script reading, conversation with a director, in- Computer Graphics studies includes five Fine Arts
troducing the characters, scenery, architecture, in- subjects with the goal of educating students who
terior and exterior, landscape, flora, furniture, ve- can independently create storyboards and anima-
hicles, clothing, style; type of planes and drawing tions. In addition, in the case of making a feature-
of planes; type of frames and frames connecting, length animated film, students should be able to
motion and movements in the frame; body poses have a constructive cooperation with the Fine Arts
in a frame of a storyboard: one, two and three; associates, to understand communication stan-
group scenes and metamorphosis; action, the axis dards with artists and to know how to explain their
of action and its monitoring and rendering; frame’s requirements and ideas to Fine Arts associates.
deep of field, screen space and perspective; point
of view by horizontal line, vertical line, diagonal References
line and inclination of the frame; frame compo- 1. Stojaković V.: Virtual Reconstruction of Architectural
sition, balance, feeling and understanding of the Objects, in Proceedings of 13th International Con-
space, as well as its expression in drawing; cam- ference on Geometry and Graphics, Dresden, 2008,
era tracking, camera tracking marks, zooming, ISGG, pp. 1-8.
insert, sharpness; cuts, cut marks, cut types and
2. Stojaković V., Tepavčević. B.: Image-based modeling
other marks; film timing; dialogue and its mark- approach in creating 3D morphogenetic reconstruc-
ing; the use and meaning of colors; light, shadows tion of Liberty Square in Novi Sad, Journal of Cul-
and textures; the relationship between the film and tural Heritage, Vol. 11, pp. 105-110, 2011.
storyboard; drawing types for the storyboard, goal
3. Šidjanin P.: Visualization of GIS Data in VR Related
and approach [23]. to Cognitive Mapping of Environment, Proceedings,
International Conference on Information Visualiza-
3.5. Elements of artistic expression tion, London, England, pp. 339-349, 1998.

(Through studies of representative artworks 4. Kovačević D.: MKE modeliranje u analizi konstruk-
cija, Gradjevinska knjiga, Beograd, 2006.
and practical work of students)
Line: The origin of the line, contour and texture 5. Kovačević D., Matijević I.: Alternative Concept in
lines, line types per its character, emotional ef- CASA Education, VSU2009, 9th International Sci-
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shape element and element of 3D expression. vanced Approach In CASA, INDIS 2009, 5th Interna-
Color: color classification, Oswald’s circle; tional Scientific Conference, Proceedings, ISBN 978-
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9. Obradović R.: Intersection Between two Surfaces of Corresponding Author

Revolution, The Tenth International Conference on Ratko Obradovic,
Geometry and Graphics, Ukraine, Kiev 2002, Proceed- Faculty of Technical Sciences,
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Novi Sad,
10. Obradović R.: The Plane Section of the Surface of Serbia,
Revolution, Facta Universitatis, Series Architecture E-mail: obrad_r@uns.ac.rs
and Civil Engineering, University of Nis, Vol.3, No
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izdavanje udžbenika, Beograd, 1999.

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Novi Sad, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Novi Sad,
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Ireland, 1999.

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 technics technologies education management

EQMx12 model of excellence for is improvement

- On the examples of higher education institutions
Slobodan Petrovic1, Zivadin Micic2, Marija Blagojevic2, Nebojsa Stankovic2
1
Business Technical College Uzice, Serbia,
2
Technical faulty Cacak, University in Kragujevac, Serbia.

Abstract 1.1 Aim of the paper

This paper presents a model of excellence The aim of the paper is modeling, development
EFQMx12 as a new approach for the development and continuous improvement of higher education
of the information system (IS) in order to achieve software system, with higher future objectives to
the sustainable business excellence of the organi- integrate adaptive E-learning from the IS universi-
zation. The new model has been applied to devel- ties. For originally implemented goal, the develop-
op and improve the IS of higher education (HE) ment of IS higher education system, was used the
institution, in the PDCA spiral of quality, on the EFQMx12 Excellence Model, with “innovation”
sample of HE institutions in Serbia and by evalu- of widespread EFQM model in the EU, applicable
ating individual elements (of 144 elements) of the for the improvement and quality management of
model, especially on the examples of sub-system the company [2]. The premise (hypothesis) of the
IS of the Student service (ISSS). paper is that the EFQMx12 Excellence model of
Key words: EFQMx12 model, IS improve- excellence can be applied in the IS development to
ment, higher education, PDCA determine the weakest (critical) elements 1-12, on
the way to excellence. The hypothesis is proven by
1. Introduction implementation of the subsystem IS in the HE insti-
tution (with a focus on IS Student services – ISSS),
The European Foundation for Quality Manage- closets to the student – user of education services.
ment, known as EFQM, is the owner of the EFQM
model of excellence, a business model that helps
2. Review of the literature
organizations (over 30 000) around the world in
pursuit of achieving sustainable excellence [1]. Information system (IS) is defined in the stan-
The research has been presented structurally dardized way as a system for information, process-
and meaningfully through resultant 12 points of ing, which together with belonging organizational
this paper which include 12x12 aspects of adjusted resources, provides and distributes information
EFQMx12 model of excellence. The work pres- [3] – the information relevant to decision making
ents such a new approach: the development and and solving business problems. In many papers
application of the EFQMx12 model of excellence (for example [4], [5], [6], the application of the
for improvement of the information system. At the EFQM Excellence Model in HE institutions has
same time, modified EFQM in EFQMx12 model been shown as a model for improving the quality
of excellence is the basis for improvement of the of the institution work. There are numerous papers
system, process and product with the application describing the development of IS higher educa-
of TQM (Total Quality Management) on the ex- tion institution (for example, [7]). However, there
amples of higher education institutions. Model have not been papers so far stating that the EFQM
EFQMx12 has been applied at the University in Excellence Model is used as a model for the IS
Kragujevac (Serbia), and 47 of the 65 high school development, although the literature gives the
of professional studies in Serbia (September 2011) connection between the EFQM Excellence Model
have been investigated. and the process for improvement of the system
in school institutions [5]. The paper [8] demon-
strated the existence of a significant links between

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the achieved level of TQM implementation in Standardized methodology was applied for
organizations and the development of quality IS software development and documentation of the
in the same organizations. The investigations pre- system-software engineering (starting from stan-
sented in [9] a connection is established between dardized terminology, through design, to imple-
the competencies relate to the organization IS and mentation and maintenance of the system–IS). The
implementation success of IS in the organization. research is integrative, implemented on a statistical
This paper or improvement of IS project, is based sample of 47 high schools of professional studies
on satisfying the requirements of standards, and in Serbia, with original modeling of excellence, for
is connected with a number of papers on the sub- the product quality (software, services in integra-
ject, [10]. At the same time, IS of higher educa- tion with the appropriate hardware platform). Phase
tion institution must support all requirements for design model for education system improvement,
accreditation [11], take into account all aspects of does not have to coincide chronologically with fur-
local or national –state standardization, [12]–[15], ther representation of “resultant” excellence mod-
as well as the international standards in this area of eling elements (1-12) and research of deficiencies,
work and creativity, [16] – [18], etc. with the aim of continuous improvement, in PDCA
spiral of quality, including aspects 12x12 = 144 as-
3. Methodology pects of the management model EFQMx12.

In preliminary research, which resulted in the 4. Results

IS development, a number of methods were used:
deductive (in system design, standardized and in New approach and the results of EFQMx12
project methodologies for software development), modeling in the development and improvement of
as well as the method of analysis, inductive (for IS, are presented in all 12 aspects. Research on the
programming and implementation of a software possibilities of application the EQFMx12 model
system), method of synthesis, method of abstrac- was conducted during the first installation of all
tion and concretization (general and special), spe- 12 aspects of the model into the strategy of the
cial methods of modeling and comparison of 12 University in Kragujevac (individual faculties),
elements of the EFQMx12 model with 12 IT seg- followed by the development and implementation
ments in the processes of real terms (macro pro- of IS in HE institutions in Serbia (especially ISSS
cesses on the examples of education). The mod- – Teachers’ Faculty in Uzice, High Business-tech-
ification of EFQM has been carried out and ad- nical School in Uzice, with the analysis of some
aptation to the EFQMx12 Excellence Model and aspects of EFQMx12 model in the sample of 47
PDCA methodology (ISO/IEC 20000-1:2011). high schools in Serbia…). The development of
Organization and successful promotion of the ISSS is planned (hereinafter referred to as P) and
business macro processes (aspect 8–teaching pro- started on February 2007, and the improvement
cesses) require quality functioning of all informa- of results has still been carried on, together with
tion sub-systems and all potentials of the organi- research of adequacy of model implementation.
zation (elements of the model: 1-7, 9), Figure 1. During 2007 the implementation of IS was com-
pleted and the system has been operational since
January 2008 with the improvements in the main-
tenance phase. Since then, the system has been
continuously monitored, improved and innovated
in the PDCA spiral quality. Results of the expected
improvements are further presented in combina-
tion with the second part P1 D1C1A1 of the spiral
Figure 1. The Excellence Model EFQMx12 for quality and in the dimension of time.
development and improvement of IS [10]

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4.1 Initial planning - developing tasks 4.2 By team work towards improvements of
the organization and data protection
The first criterion based on the model
EFQMx12 is defining/redefining the project tasks In the basis of presented concept, there is an in-
(planning of development/reengineering). At the cremental model of software life cycle [14], where
same time, it is also one of IS competencies (com- the development is achieved through several stag-
petency 4.1 Project management – manage project es. Each stage performs necessary processes, ac-
scope, resources and time, through planning, orga- tivities and tasks defined by the standard ISO/IEC
nizing and controlling, usually involving multidis- 12207: 1995 [15].
ciplinary teams [9]), and the first requirement of From the aspect of standard for accreditation
standard [11], to define objectives and tasks of HE of HE institution [11], here is necessary to meet
institution. The project task defines the objectives requirements relating to the planning, organiza-
of the system – IS, which are classified through tion and management. In this regard, for recruiting
12 interdependent sub-objectives in accordance the team, it is necessary to determine the mem-
with the standard SRPS ISO/IEC 9126:1997 [12]. bers of the institution who (for the realization of
Standard defines the characteristics of the quality this project) have the necessary experience, who
taking into account the purpose of software prod- are professionally trained and all that, as a feed-
ucts (information or expert or…), [13]. Follow the back, reflects on the quality of educational pro-
examples of initial improvements from the proj- cess. Organizational-management, members of
ect work, in P1D1C1A1 phase: 1P1-(planned) to de- the team should be so constituted that they are
fine new project task through 12 goals, 12 related able to “cover” each of the 12 elements of the ex-
activities for 12 expected results, 2D1-optimally cellence model (number of members is irrelevant
protect data, network and the integrated system compared to the expected results within a set pe-
(P0–on ISSS example), 3P1-plan the use of avail- riod of time). In reference to time, from P0D0C0A0
able knowledge and technology to improve the towards P1D1C1A1: 1P0-team leader, 2P1-expert in
degree of satisfaction of all users of the system advanced organization of team work (for example,
(P0 – on ISSS example),4P1-plan the development project), data protection, networks and systems
of management models for continuous develop- (expert in protection (2P1) must apply a number
ment, as well as functional and practical software of precautionary measures, including standard-
(P0–such as ISSS), 5A1–improve reporting system ized measures, for example ISO/IEC 27000:2009
for management needs for obtaining quick and [16], 3P0-application programmer, at least one and
interactively relevant data and information, 6A1- preferably more workers (example ISSS), 4P0-
improve conditions for smooth development of designer, responsible for the analysis of IS institu-
other subsystems IS into LAN of HE institution, tion and IS design (example ISSS), 5P1-including
7A1-promote the quality control system of institu- the principles of E-learning and distance learning,
tion (providing previous connection with standard 6P1-with reorganization of the work of employees
requirements for quality assurance), 8A1-improve (teaching and non-teaching staff), 7P1-integration
the conditions for smooth integration of the adap- of the responsible persons for quality and scientif-
tive system for E-learning with other business ic research of workers (through “special“ subsys-
functions, 9D1-define the platform of initial re- tems: “quality management” and “SR” – scientific
sources, so that it can constantly be improved, research), 8P1-all processes and subsystems of IS
10D1-optimize the configuration and correspond- “studies” integrated into the IS of the University
ing modern user interface of other IS subsystems, etc, 9-11A1-preliminary “creators” of integration,
11P1-(planned) predicts all types of maintenance reorganization towards the automation of all re-
and improvements (P0 – after the ISSS develop- quirements for improving the quality of products
ment), 12P1-define periods to summarize prog- may be at the same time some of the mentioned
ress, as well as the opportunities and directions members, one or more experts – for each ele-
for further improvements from P1D1C1A1 towards ment of the model (aspect: 9–resources, finance,
P2D2C2A2 spiral quality. 10-platform configuration for IS, 11–mainte-

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nance), and 12P0 - user, an expert in the service follow the analyses from the point of (“Check”-C),
work, is responsible for training of officers in use the applicability of available technologies for IS
of new software. improvement: 2C0-MS Windows or Linux for secu-
rity of the system, network, data; 3C0-MS Access or
4.3 Methodology (and technology) of design MySQL, PHP etc; 4C0-MS Windows OS or Linux
and improvement on workstations (users); 5C0 – Apache or?

The third group of criteria of the EFQMx12 4.4 Design and reengineering
model includes the choice of methodology: first of
all the design, then the IS implementation and fur- Before the start of IS design, it is necessary to an-
ther on the improvement of the maintenance phase. alyze demands of stakeholders. Users of ISSS are:
Today, the design of IS requires the full implementa- Legislator, students, teaching staff, management
tion of standard and object-oriented approach, both of higher education institutions and officers in the
for modeling and for the IS implementation. The Student service. Each user has his own view of IS,
incremental model of the software life cycle [14] is what to do and what is expected. For the successful
the basis for object-oriented approach in IS devel- development and implementation of application for
opment. Multiple repetition of the IS life cycle, as managing of the Student service it is necessary to
a result of each iteration (step), is a small but sig- carry out modeling of the service work. UML lan-
nificant increment for the user of the project of con- guage was used that allows a better understanding
tinuous improvement. Thereby we always focus so of IS which is developing and allows the recording
that each successive iteration is directed to IS part, of important parts of the system.
which solves an important user’s problem or dimin- Selection of the system for database manage-
ishes the importance of the problem. For IS mod- ment, its design, successful normalization of the
eling (example of the Student service) were used base represent further steps towards the imple-
standardized methods and object-oriented language mentation of the application and its use in daily
UML (Unified Modeling Language-http://www. work. For the database management system it is
uml.org/)-standard language for writing of software necessary to choose the object system for man-
schematic reviews. Through 12 diagrams UML ful- agement of relating databases. Preferably, the
ly and clearly describes the information system [17], selected system should have tools for creation of
[18]. When designing the IS designer, depending on forms (user forms) for entry of data, reports, static
the complexity of the IS and the need for visualiza- and dynamic pages for access to data in the da-
tion, specifying, constructing and documenting, will tabase through Internet. Some of the advantages
choose the diagrams to be used for IS description of developed (designed and implemented) system
and the level of detail of each diagram [19]. (C0-on the example of ISSS, software and docu-
For the analysis of user requirements, the meth- mentation) are: 3C0-developed model (logical and
od of interview was used with its advantages (in physical) implemented using the above methodol-
the label “P0”): 1P0-a good basis for identifying and ogies (established connection with relevant stan-
analyzing user requirements was created; 3P0-with dards from IT); 4C0-some of the used standards,
deductive methodology (top-down), as well as doc- connected to the development processes and doc-
ument analysis, that is, synthesis with the reverse umentation of software, were selected and out-
process (inductive methodology bottom-up), 4P0- lined, 7C0-survey of current state was carried out
methodologies of designing and documenting ISSS (aspects of the requirements of standards for insti-
are standardized; 7P0-ISSS is in compliance with tution accreditation), 12C0-identified and analyzed
national laws and regulations, meets the require- user requirements in real environment conditions
ments of national and ISO standards and is in line and supporting documents. The following is an
with the Bologna Declaration for work of HE insti- advanced stage of reengineering planning (P1):
tutions and study programmes, 9P0-improvements 9P1-reengineering subsystem for management of
from the maintenance phase with methodologies resources and 10P1 - including reengineering of
for IS reengineering; 12P0-ISSS implemented. Then integrating elements of the configuration.

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4.5 OLAP systems move the dilemmas relating to organization of

data documentation – whch one is right?), a lot of
Today, business systems collect daily vast data and reprots (which are right?). Eliminate any
amounts of data stored in relatively large num- possibility of data manipulation: 1D1- by the lead-
ber of tables. Requests that users submit to data- er / leadership; 5D1-by the students and the Inter-
bases make the speed of SQL responses rapidly net; 6D1-by the employees (and/or administrator
decrease. Analytical databases caused the estab- in LAN) and 12D1- all users of education services.
lishment of data warehouses (Data Warehouse –
DW), with the main purpose to report by use of
transactional data, historical data, and data from 4.6 Improvement of communications and
other systems [20]. work in LAN
OLAP (On-line Analytical Processing) is a All higher education institutions in Serbia are
powerful device for obtaining maximum values enabled to access to the academic network (2
from business data through multidimensional Gbps). Local (area) network (LAN) of the high-
analysis. OLAP provides a complete view of the er education institution allows the integration of
higher education institution where everyone can automated information subsystems into a single
get the information that he needs, provides a pro- IS. For the purpose of promotion, the advantages
active way of management education institution, of (C0) and disadvantages (D1) of these commu-
which means that it is possible to predict the fu- nication resources have been analyzed: 2D1-lack
ture, make a couple of scenarios and be prepared of application is a potential hazard to the security
for every situation [20]. Practically, in real time, (ISSS), 4D1-creation of conditions for full devel-
for a relatively short period of time, a large amount opment of other IS subsystems of HE instititution,
of analytical data are analyzed from different as- 5C0-enabled electronic communication with IS of
pects (for example, [21], [22] and receive a variety other higher education institutions, 6C0-enabled
of synthetic and statistical data, Figure 2). These electronic communication with ISSS users of the
data can multiply the speed of decision-making same institution, 8D1-enable development of the
and substantially help in the process of control, configuration of integrated IS of HE institution
decision-making and other management activities. (Figure 4), 10D1-need for configuration improve-
ment of integrated IS University and High Schools
of Professional Studies at the state level, Serbia.

4.7 Innovations lead towards improvements

Figure 2. On-line analysis per test periods and Innovations are an essential aspect of every de-
subjects on the example of Business-technical velopment process and management EFQMx12
School model. Innovation is the competence that has
also been identified in [9] as one of the 22 com-
Advantages of installation and use of OLAP petences necessary for successful development of
systems within the ISSS are in the next phase IS in small and medium enterprises. The survey
when they can/should and/or must provide the that was conducted in September, 2011 (Figure
end user of the system of planned improvements 3) with the aim to determine which services, i.e.,
(P1):2P1-meeting the needs (of employees) of un- components of electronic business of higher edu-
limited reporting, 5P1-that any data from the insti- cation instituions present on web portals of higher
tution is used for OLAP analysis, 8P1-ability to set schools of professional studies in the Republic of
up any business question and receive a response Serbia. Of the 47 colleges of professional stud-
and 12P1-satisfaction of user needs. Disadvan- ies whose portals were visited and analyzed, 27
tages of using OLAP system (on the examples of schools have some of the e-business services rep-
„0“ ISSS phase) remove (D) in the next „1“ phase resenting 57,44% of the total number of analyzed
(D1): 4D1-a lot of information and knowledge (re- samples. This is a significant percentage which

152 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

suggests the importance of introducing e-business possibility of promotion through the elements
service and application of web technologies. The EFQMx12 into PDCA: 1P1-defining terms accord-
same survey was conducted in November 2008 on ing to the priorities of business process improve-
the same sample (47) of higher schools of profes- ment, 4C0-a review of the given project solution
sional studies with the same aim. Table 1 gives a of exam application electronically, 4D1 - needs for
comparative analysis of conducted investigations. improvement (design and software) of the part of
the Student service business related to the man-
agement of graduate (Master) and PhD students
thesis, improvement of efficiency and automation
of the documentation at a higher level – reported
examination with the conditions met for pre-exam
obligations, the application recorded in the exami-
nation record card, 5D1-needs for elimination of
Figure 3. E-business on web portals of Higher
partial student alienation from the institution due
Schools of Professional Studies in Serbia
to electronic system of exam application, 8A0-
improvement of complete automation of Student
The research in the phase P0D0C0A0 gives the
service business related to final student works
guidelines for further innovations and improve-
(first level of studies), 8C0-possession and review
ment directions of developed and implemented
in order to improve the possibility of automatic
IS, as well as possible design solutions D1C1, for
generation of reports with statistics of the exam
example: 3C1-needs for improvement of technol-
period which is the requirement of the standard for
ogy, tools, methodology etc, 5D1-web-based ap-
accreditation of HE institution [11], 8D1-improve-
plications as components of e-business of higher
ment of the application of any higher education in-
education institution, 9D1-take the advantage
stitution, flexibility of ISSS application in terms of
of electronic payment of exam fees and tuition,
management automation and organization of en-
10C1-need for configuration improvement, 11D1-
trance exam on the examples of different combi-
obtaining data on the portal of the institution about
nation of study programme and/or accompanying
all passed exams and other relevant information
modules, 9D1 - provision of additional investment
for the student (electronic index) and 12D1-reduce
in IS resources, 12D1-modernization of student
the need of strudent direct visiting the service.
need to execute the formal obligation (exam ap-
plication) from home.
4.8 Improvement of business processes
For successful organization of higher education
institution, the quality functioning of all informa-
tion subsystems is needed, both from the stand-
point of each individual subsystem as a separate
entity, and from the point of integration and their
interdependence (Figure 4).
The business of higher education institution is
analyzed through the advantages of P0D0C0A0 and Figure 4. Diagram of the package for higher
deficiencies of specific processes P1D1C1A1, with education institution

Table 1. Trend on the Web portals of HE institutions – September 2011/ November 2008.
Higher school of pro- Implemented DLS Exam application enabled
No.
fessional studies Number % number %
1. November 2008 0 0,00 3 6,38
2. September 2011 7+1 17,02 7 14,89
2011/2008 233,3 %

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4.9 Resources for improvement and thus contribute to the efficiency and effective-
ness of the system (C0), and shortcomings are to
Resources include, apart from computing, the be planned (P1) for elimination (D1): 1C0-initial
appropriate organizational resources (human, tech- configuration of the system is easy with advantag-
nical, financial…) which are necessary for provi- es of MS Windows XP and MS Access , 2C0-some
sion and distribution of information. From the point parts of control user interface prevent accidental/
of standards for accreditation of higher education unwanted changes of data, 3P1-emphasize the ad-
institution [11], here is needed to meet the require- vantages of Open Source technology: MySQL and
ments relating to: space and equipment (IX request), PHP etc, 4D1 -establish a documented manage-
library, textbooks and info support (X request), fi- ment of publications and distributions, 5P1-em-
nances (XI request). ISSS is set so that it contrib- phasize the advantages of Web application, 6P1-
utes to good performances of the entire IS. Through remove the deficiencies of Windows by the server
measurements the checks (Check – C0) of loads of advantages configured in Linux, 7C0-minimized
the computer system of workstations and servers movement over the interface, number of clicks
were carried out: 2C0-to stimulate and motivate the on buttons and achieved consistency in the ap-
involvement of existing staff in the institution, 3C0- pearance of windows, 8C0-moving between win-
on 12.10.2011 by use of the system tool Task Man- dows of interface correspond to work mode while
ager of Windows XP, 6C0-the amount of data sent the system is not automated, and the work logic
during the work of the Student service with students within the interface is close to the manual working
(from 12.00 to 14.00) from servers to workstations mode, 9P1-plan the resource improvement, 10C0 -
does not exceed 9%, 8C0 - the load of the worksta- interface is close to paper copy and manual perfor-
tion processors (Intel Pentium Dual Core 2.1 GHz) mance of tasks and uses the terminology of users
do not exceed 47%. Advantages of the applied solu- in its daily work, 11P1 - follows the advancement
tion in the C0 phase are: 9C0 - do not require com- of knowledge for the system configuration.
plex and /or specific (hardware-10 and software -4)
equipment, thus the financial investments are mini-
mal, 12C0 - in the period when the Student service is 4.11 Improvements in the maintenance phase
working at full intensity with students. The goal is functional, efficient and appropri-
ate maintenance, without unnecessary involve-
4.10 System Configuration Improvement ment of professional staff, resulting in cheaper
maintenance. It is necessary to manage changes
Optimally, configured system, including user in the elements (structural tables, SQL queries,
interface provides satisfaction to the user and staff user forms, etc.) databases and to have an effec-
(Fig. 1) and then the results are achieved for IS tive software solution for monitoring of changes
service users (for example, users, parents, social in the database elements. The goal of optimization
community) at a satisfactory level. The user inter- of the maintenance system starts from preventive
face needs to be an effective interface [23]. It must maintenance by removal of observed deficien-
be understood by users, to have the possibility of cies even when mistakes are not quite clear and
checking the accuracy of data entered or limiting inconvenient for users (they are hidden). Together
data selection. All the major requirements fulfills with the improvements which are preferable to be
graphical user interface, when desktop applica- conducted continuously, a reliable IS – system is
tions lose their primacy, from the aspect of user achieved that reduced the possibility of errors to
interface, compared to Web-based applications. a minimum. The result of all these activities is a
Activities related to the IS configuration, ap- satisfied user. Applying the above criteria, the goal
plication of standards from IT in connection with is already achieved in the first phase (C0), or it is
platform configuration and user interface, as well necessary to remove the deficiencies (D1) in the
as the principles of the effective EFQMx12 mod- next phase: 1C0-correlations with maintenance
el. Well-configured system and efficient user in- standards are established, 2C0-data protection is
terface contribute to overall system performance, always a priority, 3D1-fundamentally define the re-

154 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

sponsibilities for maintenance in higher education process, recording has been provided, including
institution (individual, internal or external func- the number of taking exams, statistics of passing
tion), when, how (preventive and/or corrective), in an examination period, and therefore the quality
4D1-document what is maintained (hardware– of work process of higher schools in Serbia; 8P1-
software), 5C0-the system is suitable for analysis integration with the results of teaching process of
and testing, 6D1-give the concept and elements of the separated LMS Moodle system, 8C1 - analysis
the maintenance contract, especially in case of fur- of the Report on the pre-examination activity of
ther ISSS commercialization, 7C0-innovations are a student (recording and evaluating the teaching
most often absent where there are no responsible activities, results of midterm tests, seminar works
for maintenance etc, 8D1-document all parts of the and other pre-examination student activities),
maintenance process, 9C0-minimal maintenance 9P1-planning of integration with resources of E-
costs (for example the implementation), there is learning and E-business, 11C1 - archive analysis
neither need for additional professional staff for (maintenance) Student Report Books, etc.
IS maintenance, nor engagement of external sup-
port, 10C0-improvement of platform configuration 5. Discussion – analysis of results
from the maintenance phase is not always possible
(most often due to transition to other technologies) EFQMx12 model is applied for the ISSS de-
and 12C0-a high level of IS work stability and re- velopment of and is successfully applied in higher
lated subsystems. education institutions in Serbia: High Business-
technical School in Uzice and Teachers’ College
4.12 Results of improvements in Uzice. ISSS has been developed (taking into
account the standardized requirements), terminol-
The following are examples of some of the ogy – [24], starting from analysis requirements,
separated results of ISSS implementation (and through the system design, implementation, docu-
in terms of Standards for accreditation of study mentation and quality assurance to E-learning ex-
programmes [11], and in particular the request of cellence according to EFQMx12 model. The sys-
Standard VIII - Evaluation and advancement of tem enables efficient monitoring of performance
students: 5C1-statistical data for the examination (students, teaching staff, management) and in-
periods and for the school year (OLAP: for each creases the satisfaction of all (including the social
subject–number of students who take the exami- community – criterion 12). An adequate analysis
nation, number and percentage of students who of data and information, generated by ISSS (cri-
sit for the examination, number and percentage of terion 5), provides guidelines for innovations (cri-
those who passed the examination, passed with a terion 7), changes that must be done, both at the
mark 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 etc), the Examination Report institution level and for each individual (student,
(control of statutory pre-exam points – minimum teacher, manager) in particular. ISSS provides
30 and maximum 70, with automatic calculation management of performances of educational sys-
of the grade, based on total number of achieved tem in a higher education institution, through 12
points on the examination), 6D0 - exam applica- aspects of the EFQMx12 model, from the point
tion (with control: how many times a student has of 12 integrated, connected and dependent objec-
been taken the exam in a school year, whether the tives, activities and expected results.
student has enrolled the appropriate semester and Based on the analysis, it is also possible to per-
completed its financial obligations, whether the form the discussion on the results of Model ap-
exam is from the study programme and whether plication through 12 aspects: 01-A systematized
the student has already passed the exam). approach to the implementation of information
From the point of Standards for accredita- technologies (IT) in the work of Student service
tion of HE institution [11], it is necessary to meet has been given, from the point of 12 aspects of
the requirements related to quality assurance of modified Model of excellence of the European
the institution (XII request) on the examples of HE Union; 02-Organizationally, ISO standards from
institution: 8C0-for improvement of educational the IT (ICS = 35.080) were applied ; 03-Method-

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 technics technologies education management

ologically, a model IS Student service has been IS. The initial premise (hypothesis) of the work,
developed using he available methodology; 04- proved through realization of IS subsystem on the
From the point of development and design the au- examples of higher education institution, has the
tomated IS of Student service was implemented prospect of wider application.
and documented by use of the object-oriented
technologies; 05-Analytically, the reporting sys- Acknowledgment
tem was represented for needs of management,
using OLAP technologies; 06-in terms of net- The work presented here was supported by the
work, a connection between IS Student service Serbian Ministry of Education and Science (proj-
and LAN of higher education institution has been ect III 44006, http://www.mi.sanu.ac.rs/projects/
given; 07-In terms of innovation, quality of work projects.htm#Interdisciplinary).
in Student service is promoted and improved;
08-In terms of business, the connection of ISSS References
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has been established; 09-In terms of resources, 1. EFQM. European Foundation for Quality Manage-
ment web portal [on-line]. 2011 [cit. 2011-12-16],
the analysis of resources is done and the need for
available on Internet: <URL: http://www.efqm.org/>
improvement of resources is defined; 10-In terms
of configuration, a model of ISSS configuration is 2. Ruiz-Carrillo, J.I.C. & Fernandez – Ortiz, R. (2005).
given and the principles of efficient user interface; Theoretical Foundation of the EFQM Model: The
11-Operationally, the connection between ISSS Resource - based View, Total Quality Management,
vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 31-55
with maintenance is established and; 12-In terms
of results, examples of ISSS of Higher Business- 3. ISO/IEC 2832-1:1993 Information tehnology – Vo-
technical School in Uzice are given as a result of cabulary – Part 1: Fundamental terms
the application. The work presents the EFQMx12
4. Da Rosa, M.J.P., Saraiva, P.M. & Diz, H. (2001).
model, and its practical side on the examples of 96
The development of an Excellence Model for Por-
elements of IS subsystem. Of 96 elements of the tuguese higher education institutions, Total Quality
matrix (12x12), almost half of them with planned Management,vol.12 no.7&8, pp.1010-1017
objectives, activities and /or results from the first
part PDCA spiral (P0D0C0A0). The other half re- 5. Farrar, M. (2000). Structuring success: a case study
in the use of the EFQM excellence model in school
fers to the future improvements of IS (P1D1C1A1).
improvement, Total Quality Management, Vol. 11No.
Also, the future work relates to the additional par- 4–6, pp. 691–696.
ticularities of each elements of the matrix (12x12
= 144) x4n, where is n = number of phases in a 6. Kanji, G.P., & Tambi, A.M. (1999). Total quality
spiral PnDnCnAn,. management in UK higher education institutions, To-
tal Quality Management, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 129-153

6. Conclusion 7. Fetaji1, B., Fetaji, M., Kudumovic, Dz. & Sukic, C.

(2010). Software Engineering Interoperable Environ-
Application of PDCA spiral of quality, inclu- ment for University Process Workflow and Docu-
sion of 12 elements in each of 12 aspects of the ment Management: Case Study, TTEM, Vol. 5, No. 4,
DRUNPP, Sarajevo, pp. 896-907
EFQMx12 model, makes the model more suitable
for evaluation of results through 144 elements. At 8. Fok L., Fok W. & Hartman S. (2001). Explor-
the same time continuous innovations lead to the ing relationship between total quality manage-
comprehensive and sufficiently detailed EFQMx12 ment and information systems development,
model and to improvement of the information sys- Information&Management, Vol. 38, No.6, pp. 355-371
tem. Based on the above presented, i.e., the analysis 9. Cragg, P., Caldeira, M. & Ward, J. (2011). Organiza-
of modeling and the results of implemented sub- tional information systems competences in small and
system and the needs for IS reengineering, it can medium-sized enterprises, Information & Manage-
be concluded that by application of the EFQMx12 ment, Vol. 48, No. 8, pp. 353–363
model for IS development, it is possible to improve

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10. Micić, Ž. (2007). ICT in i integrated educa- 24. ISS: ISO/IEC 2832-20:1990 Information tehnology
tion systems, IV International Symposium – Vocabulary – Part 20: System development
Technology,Informatics And Education for Learn-
ing And Knowledge Society, N.Sad, 26-27. january,
2007. Proceedings, pp. 470-476 Corresponding author
Slobodan Petrovic,
11. Ministry of Education and Sport of the Republic Business Technical College Uzice,
Serbia (2010). Accreditation in Higher Education, Serbia,
Second Edition, supplemented and revised: http:// E-mail: slobodan.petrovic@vpts.edu.rs
www.kapk.org/, KAPK, Belgrade

12. ISS: SRPS ISO/IEC 9126: (1997) IT – Software

product evaluation – Quality characterics and gu-
idelines for their use.

13. Micić, Ž. & Ječmenica, R. (1999). Realization de-

velopment information-expert system, V symposium
YU INFO ‘99, CD-proceedings, Kopaonik, 22-26.
march 1999.

14. ISS: ISO/IEC TR 15271:1998 Information tehno-

logy – Guide for ISO/IEC 12207

15. ISS: ISO/IEC 12207:1995 Information tehnology –

Software Life Cycle Processes

16. ISO: JTC 1/SC 27 IT Security techniques

(2012)http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_cata-
logue/catalogue_tc /catalogue_tc_browse.
htm?commid=45306&development=on (accessed
3th january 2012)

17. ISO/IEC 19501:2005: Information technology --

Open Distributed Processing -- Unified Modeling
Language (UML) Version 1.4.2,

18. ISO/IEC 19793:2008 Information technology --

Open Distributed Processing -- Use of UML for
ODP system specifications

19. Booch G., Rumbaugh J. & Jacobson I. (2000).

UML User Guide, CET, Belgrade

20. Veljović A. (2003). Information Systems Design – in

practice, Computer Library, Cacak

21. Camilovic, D., Becejski-Vujaklija, D, Gospic, N.

(2009). A Call Detail Records Data Mart: Data
Modelling and OLAP Analysis, Computer Science
and Information Systems, Vol. 6, No. 2, 87-110.

22. Blagojevic, M. & Baric, S. (2011). Appliance of

OLAP and web mining techniques in analysis of
behaviour patterns, TTEM, Vol. 6, No. 2, DRUNPP,
Sarajevo, pp. 382-391

23. Roirdan R.. M. (2006). Database Design, Mikro

knjiga, Belgrade

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 technics technologies education management

Knowledge management at Croatian

polytechnics – Assessment of the knowledge
transfer process
Goran Kozina1, Damira Kecek1, Gordana Dukic2
1
Polytechnic in Varazdin, Croatia,
2
Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Information Sciences, Croatia.

Abstract 1. Introduction
The primary task of any higher education sys- Knowledge creation, gathering, identification,
tem is producing competent, well-educated gradu- organization, presentation and distribution, i.e.
ates, who are essential for social and economic knowledge transfer is in the focus of any institu-
development, as well as raising successive gen- tion of higher education. They are in their essence
erations of scientists who will enhance the man- oriented towards activities related to knowledge
kind’s range of insights through their work. Since management. It follows that knowledge manage-
knowledge is at the focus of interest at higher ment is of crucial importance for higher education.
education institutions, it can be safely concluded Knowledge management can help institutions of
that they have to be oriented towards knowledge higher education to better utilize information and
management by their very nature. The basic aim knowledge, and thus to perform their tasks more
of this paper is to establish how Croatian poly- efficiently and effectively. The popularity and cred-
technic students assess the knowledge and com- ibility of knowledge management as a management
petencies acquired during their studies. The paper tool, but also as a scholarly discipline, has signifi-
therefore puts special emphasis on the assessment cantly increased over the past two decades, prov-
of knowledge transfer process, although the ques- ing that doubts about its role and significance in the
tionnaire also covered some general questions re- modern organization were unfounded. The busi-
garding the functioning of polytechnics. Since it ness world was quicker to adopt knowledge man-
is essential for higher education institutions to be agement, since it proved to be strong support for
recognizable, competitive and adaptable to the la- improvements in operations. Institutions of higher
bour market needs, we tried to find out how far the education lagged behind in its implementation,
Croatian polytechnics have fulfilled students’ ex- with one of the consequences being a smaller num-
pectations, i.e. how efficiently they perform their ber of scholarly papers dealing with the issues of
functions. The research included students at six knowledge management application in the higher
polytechnics. The most important role in the paper education system. [1]
is given to the cluster analysis. The results indi- There are a number of advantages if knowledge
cate that students are not sufficiently satisfied with management is implemented in higher education.
the acquired knowledge and skills, conditions for Kidwell, Vander Linde and Johnson [2] emphasize
studying and generally with the role of polytech- the following five areas of application and benefits
nics. The conclusions can certainly be of use in derived from knowledge management in this sys-
formulating future development strategies for the tem: research process, curriculum development
Croatian higher education. process, student and alumni services, administra-
Key words: knowledge management, knowl- tive services and strategic planning. According to
edge transfer, polytechnic efficiency, student sat- the authors, knowledge management implemen-
isfaction, higher education development strategy, tation can help to increase competitiveness and
cluster analysis research response, reduces the time required for
research, improves the curriculum quality, accel-
erates curriculum revision, improves student and

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alumni services, reduces administrative costs, and to do this, polytechnics need to invest continuously
enhances the capacity for strategic planning and in their teachers and technological infrastructure.
decentralized decision making. This approach will result in well educated graduates
There are several factors that contributed to the whose skills are a match to labour market demands.
increasingly significant role of higher education in Satisfied students are the best guarantee for survival
contemporary society. Kende, Noszkay and Seres and development of each polytechnic. Obviously,
[3] point out that knowledge-based 21st-century those polytechnics that ensure better knowledge
society has made knowledge production an impor- distribution and provide better study conditions will
tant economic sector – and this is what higher edu- be more competitive. As a consequence, such poly-
cation system is based upon. In a world in which technics will attract more prospective students and
information and knowledge are rapidly becoming retain higher numbers of enrolled students. To iden-
a key resource, higher education institutions have tify the areas they are particularly good in, as well
gained an opportunity to be a lever of economic as those they need to improve, polytechnics have
development more than ever before. Information to conduct student surveys on a range of issues, fo-
and knowledge society goes hand in hand with the cussing especially on students’ satisfaction with the
need for life-long learning, especially in the area study programme they have chosen. The results of
of information and communication technologies. one such survey are presented in this paper.
The concept of e-learning, which is being widely For Reić, Ercegovac and Jukić [6] satisfaction
accepted throughout higher education systems, is is derived from the overlap of that what we are
one of the possible answers to the demands of the getting with what we believe we should get. The
modern labour market for highly trained, compe- authors note that students’ satisfaction increases
tent employees. Within this process knowledge if a study programme fulfils their expectations,
transfer has taken a special place. Higher educa- and higher satisfaction has a positive impact on
tion institutions have a particularly big responsi- student overall performance. According to Elliott
bility in the area of knowledge transfer. Starting and Healy [7], student satisfaction is a short-term
from this premise, this research set out to establish attitude arising from the educational experience
how Croatian polytechnic students assess knowl- and its assessment. These authors believe that sat-
edge and skills acquired during their studies. isfaction arises when actual efficiency meets or
Over the past few years the number of institu- exceeds students’ expectations.
tions of higher education, as well as the number of
students in the Republic of Croatia has been signifi- 2. A brief overview of previous research
cantly increased. This trend is particularly notice-
able in polytechnics which are in charge of profes- If knowledge is to have a wide organization-
sional, i.e. vocational study programmes intended al impact, it has to be transferred or shared. [8]
to provide students with the level of knowledge and Knowledge transfer or distribution is one of the key
skills required for immediate entry in the work pro- activities of knowledge management [9-11]. This
cess. In the academic year 2011/2012 there were 16 concept denotes sharing of knowledge between in-
active polytechnics with a total of 24346 students dividuals, teams and groups within an organization
[4], which accounted for 15.93% of all students and between organizations. [12] For Delvine [13]
enrolled in Croatian higher education institutions. knowledge transfer represents the ability to take
As a comparison, in the academic year 2005/2006 information learned in one context and apply it in
there were nine polytechnics in the higher educa- new contexts. Knowledge transfer is therefore the
tion system. [5] At that time, they had 14420 stu- primary goal of educators in virtually every disci-
dents, i.e. 10.85% of the total student population. pline. According to Hu [14], strategic management
The increase in the number of polytechnics has of knowledge transfer is an obligatory topic in the
resulted in a competitive environment where, due area of knowledge management, since it plays a
to rapid development of new technologies and the crucial role in attaining strategic goals.
globalization process, it is necessary to be recogniz- The basic mission and purpose of higher educa-
able and to offer quality service. In order to be able tion institutions is to create knowledge and transfer it

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 technics technologies education management

to a wider community, i.e. to society. Institutions of but if this satisfaction is to be enhanced, one should
higher education have formulated different knowl- not disregard or underestimate the infrastructure
edge transfer strategies, both within and outside of and quality of administrative services.
the institutional framework. [15] A typical example Lüring et al. [20] surveyed the students at a
of such concrete activity is setting up of business German faculty. Their results show that 56% of re-
incubators which connect higher education and the spondents feel that knowledge transfer is adequate,
world of business. As globalization gathers pace, whereas 20% of students would like to see practical
knowledge transfer is gaining in importance, and aspects of medicine pushed to the foreground.
thus also institutions of higher education. [16] Butt and Rehman [21] aimed to examine stu-
Nedajt et al. [17] believe that from a research dent satisfaction within the Pakistani higher edu-
perspective knowledge transfer methods can be cation system. The authors found that among the
classified in two groups: passive and active. The variables offered for evaluation, teacher expertise
most obvious example of passive strategy in the was the factor with the biggest influence on student
academic world is publishing papers. Unlike pas- satisfaction. The range of study programmes and
sive ones, active strategies are based on interac- learning environment and conditions had a slightly
tion with users of research results. In this paper the lower influence, whereas classroom facilities were
emphasis was put on knowledge transfer within shown to be the least important factor for student
the teaching process. In these circumstances there satisfaction.
is a direct transfer of knowledge and experience After conducting a student survey, Guo [22] used
from professors to students. statistical analysis and neural networks to construct
Institutions of higher education have lately be- dynamic models for the analysis and prediction of
gun to conduct more surveys in order to examine student satisfaction with the course they have taken.
how satisfied their students are with the chosen The results of this study show that the factors with
study programme and to get student assessment of the highest influence on student satisfaction with the
knowledge gained during their studies. This is evi- chosen course are the number of enrolled students
denced in papers discussed below. The analyzed and high distinction (HD) rate. The author con-
papers were published over the past few years, and cludes that student satisfaction would be increased
they testify that student satisfaction depends on a if the number of students within one section were
range of factors. Knowledge transfer, as an ele- lowered. This would result in better student-teacher
ment of knowledge management, was more or less rapport and increased ratio of high distinction rates,
emphasized in the presented papers, depending on due to creative teaching and effective learning.
the author’s approach. Since out paper looks into Hammed and Amjad [23] examined the satis-
satisfaction of students with different aspects of faction of Pakistani students with the higher edu-
studying, we decided to present also some studies cation institution that they attend. The authors as-
which do not highlight the assessment of knowl- sumed that satisfaction would be connected to the
edge transfer as such. experience at the institution, and this experience
In order to determine student satisfaction and depends on the following factors: the school itself,
expectations Baykal et al. [18] conducted a sur- teaching staff and courses. The research confirmed
vey at a Turkish nursing college between 1999 that these factors have a significant impact on stu-
and 2001. They used a questionnaire consisting of dent experience, and positive experiences lead to
85 items, divided into 11 factors. The results indi- higher student satisfaction.
cate that the general level of satisfaction among Biasutti and EL-Deghaidy [24] conducted a
nursing students is low, which shows that the pro- study with Egyptian and Italian students, which
gramme needs to be improved. aimed to investigate the impact of Wiki on the
In their paper Jurkowitsch, Vignali and Kaufmann knowledge management process and student sat-
[19] proposed a student satisfaction model at Aus- isfaction. The results of their research suggest that
trian Universities of Applied Sciences. The authors Wikis can promote the knowledge management
emphasized that student satisfaction depends on the process and satisfaction of students while they co-
academic and pedagogic quality in an institution, operate in designing interdisciplinary projects.

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3. Sample and methods To interpret the results and to facilitate conclu-

The survey included 818 students enrolled in sions, we used the means and mean-based statis-
six Croatian polytechnics. The data were collected tics, although opinions differ as to their appro-
by means of an anonymous questionnaire, and an- priateness in analyzing responses that have been
alyzed by descriptive statistics methods and clus- measured on a Likert scale. Expressed as a mean,
ter analysis [25, 26]. respondent’s ratings are rather uniform: the aver-
The characteristics of surveyed students are age value for all variables does not exceed 4. Stu-
given in Table 1. It shows the distribution of re- dents agreed to the highest degree with the need to
spondents by the observed characteristics: gender, recruit outside experts, as this would enhance the
age group, year of study and professional area. teaching quality and improve knowledge transfer
There were more female students in the sam- at the polytechnic. Another item that was widely
ple. The age group of 18-24 year olds far outnum- accepted was the importance of internship in
bered the second group of respondents aged 25- companies as a means to expand and validate the
51, which accounted for less than 20%. Almost knowledge gained at the polytechnic. These two
two thirds of respondents were first-year students, ratings are followed by the utility of modern tech-
whereas there were only 29 who were enrolled in nologies in learning and acquiring knowledge and
the third year. Because of this small number, third- expertise (knowledge) of teachers at a polytech-
year students were added to those in the second nic. Knowledge acquired during studying at the
year for the purpose of analysis. The biggest num- polytechnic was rated with the average grade 3.55,
ber of surveyed students was in social studies and whereas the chosen study programme received the
the lowest in the area of biotechnical sciences. average rating 3.33. The students who participated
in the survey feel that polytechnics are more fo-
4. Assessment of the knowledge transfer cused on imparting theoretical knowledge, rather
process and analysis of satisfaction among than on practical knowledge. The lowest mean
polytechnic students was calculated for the rating of the connection of
polytechnic with the business world, e.g. through
The study of student satisfaction, with an em- internships or student participation in real com-
phasis on assessing the knowledge transfer pro- pany projects. A slightly higher mean was calcu-
cess and study conditions on Croatian polytech- lated for the availability of course materials, i.e.
nics, was based on self-assessment of respondents. the holdings of polytechnic library. Furthermore,
Students rated their satisfaction with the analyzed the surveyed students gave slightly lower ratings
aspects of studying on a five-point Likert scale (1 when assessing how adapted polytechnic study
= Poor, 2 = Fair, 3 = Good, 4 = Very good, 5 = Ex- programmes are to the needs of the labour market,
cellent). Table 2 lists the basic descriptive statistics as well as to the possibility of computer-assisted
that were calculated for the analyzed variables. knowledge assessment.

Table 1. Characteristics of respondents

Characteristic Number of respondents Percentage
Male 365 44.62
Gender
Female 453 55.38
18 – 24 655 80.07
Age group
25 – 51 163 19.93
First 526 64.30
Year of study Second 263 32.15
Third 29 3.55
Technical studies 273 33.37
Health care 116 14.18
Professional area
Biotechnical studies 89 10.88
Social studies 340 41.57

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 technics technologies education management

Table 2. Descriptive statistics referring to the assessment of knowledge transfer process and satisfacti-
on with particular aspects of studying
Standard Coefficient
Rating Mean Median
deviation variation
Overall rating of the polytechnic they attend 3.33 3.00 1.00 29.96
Quality (content) of the chosen study programme 3.36 3.00 0.98 29.10
How interesting are the courses at a polytechnic 3.39 3.00 0.95 27.92
How adapted are polytechnic study programmes to needs of the
3.13 3.00 0.96 30.61
labour market
Expertise (knowledge) of teachers at a polytechnic 3.81 4.00 0.93 24.29
Skill of polytechnic teachers to transfer knowledge to students 3.39 3.00 0.95 27.97
How far do teachers encourage students to use ICT to acquire
3.49 4.00 1.07 30.57
knowledge
Utility of modern technologies in learning and acquiring knowledge 3.84 4.00 1.00 26.00
Possibility of studying through e-learning alone, without obligation to
3.29 3.00 1.31 39.68
be physically present
Technical (ICT) equipment at the polytechnic 3.32 3.00 1.05 31.72
Possibility of computer-assisted knowledge assessment 3.19 3.00 1.36 42.69
Available course materials (the polytechnic library holds the required
3.02 3.00 1.11 36.79
literature)
Quality and appropriateness of teaching premises at the polytechnic 3.24 3.00 1.19 36.56
Value of knowledge acquired during studying at the polytechnic 3.55 4.00 0.85 23.90
How focussed is the polytechnic on students acquiring theoretical
3.50 3.00 0.89 25.49
knowledge
How focussed is the polytechnic on students acquiring practical
3.32 3.00 1.08 32.49
knowledge
The need to recruit outside experts to improve knowledge transfer at
3.87 4.00 0.97 25.20
the polytechnic
Connection of polytechnic with the business world in terms of
2.95 3.00 1.02 34.55
knowledge sharing
Importance of internship in companies as a means to expand the
3.87 4.00 1.03 26.53
knowledge gained at the polytechnic
Utility of knowledge and skills acquired during studying for future
3.58 4.00 1.02 28.56
performance at work
Importance of the polytechnic degree for better positioning on the
3.54 4.00 0.98 27.64
labour market
Importance of the polytechnic degree for faster advancement at work 3.41 3.00 0.95 27.91
Participation of polytechnic in projects aimed at promoting student
3.33 3.00 1.05 31.71
mobility and thus expanding their knowledge
Contribution of polytechnic to life-long learning 3.34 3.00 0.94 28.19

For most variables the median was 3. The me- technic, the rating for the need to recruit outside
dian value 4 was determined in the following cases: experts to improve knowledge transfer and thus
the rating for the expertise (knowledge) of teachers the quality of teaching at the polytechnic, the rat-
at a polytechnic, the rating for teachers in terms of ing for the importance of internship in companies
encouraging students to use ICT to acquire knowl- as a means to expand and validate the knowledge
edge, the rating for the utility of modern technolo- gained at the polytechnic, the rating for the utility
gies in learning and acquiring knowledge, the rating of knowledge and skills acquired during studying
for knowledge acquired during studies at the poly- for future performance at work, and finally, the rat-

162 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

ing for the importance of the polytechnic degree for The obtained results suggest that students are
better positioning on the labour market and better not sufficiently satisfied with the knowledge ac-
employment prospects. quired at polytechnics, and their satisfaction with
The calculated coefficients of variation indicate different aspects of studying is not particularly
that all variables are characterized by a degree of data high. If they wish to change these perceptions,
variability which cannot be considered to be small. i.e. to improve their efficiency and effectiveness,

Table 3. Means and standard deviations of clusters

Cluster
1 2
Rating
Standard Standard
Mean Mean
deviation deviation
Overall rating of the polytechnic they attend 3.88 0.75 2.73 0.88
Quality (content) of the chosen study programme 3.92 0.75 2.74 0.80
How interesting are the courses at a polytechnic 3.85 0.74 2.88 0.87
How adapted are polytechnic study programmes to needs of the
3.63 0.79 2.59 0.81
labour market
Expertise (knowledge) of teachers at a polytechnic 4.28 0.68 3.30 0.88
Skill of polytechnic teachers to transfer knowledge to students 3.93 0.72 2.80 0.79
How far do teachers encourage students to use ICT to acquire
3.93 0.86 3.01 1.06
knowledge
Utility of modern technologies in learning and acquiring knowledge 4.20 0.83 3.45 1.01
Possibility of studying through e-learning alone, without obligation
3.46 1.32 3.10 1.24
to be physically present
Technical (ICT) equipment at the polytechnic 3.74 0.95 2.86 0.96
Possibility of computer-assisted knowledge assessment 3.23 1.40 3.15 1.31
Available course materials (the polytechnic library holds the required
3.43 1.04 2.57 0.99
literature)
Quality and appropriateness of teaching premises at the polytechnic 3.72 1.07 2.71 1.05
Value of knowledge acquired during studying at the polytechnic 4.01 0.59 3.04 0.78
How focussed is the polytechnic on students acquiring theoretical
3.76 0.78 3.21 0.90
knowledge
How focussed is the polytechnic on students acquiring practical
3.82 0.90 2.77 0.97
knowledge
The need to recruit outside experts to improve knowledge transfer at
4.16 0.80 3.55 1.03
the polytechnic
Connection of polytechnic with the business world in terms of
3.33 0.97 2.53 0.87
knowledge sharing
Importance of internship in companies as a means to expand the
4.22 0.82 3.48 1.07
knowledge gained at the polytechnic
Utility of knowledge and skills acquired during studying for future
4.14 0.74 2.96 0.91
performance at work
Importance of the polytechnic degree for better positioning on the
3.94 0.80 3.09 0.95
labour market
Importance of the polytechnic degree for faster advancement at work 3.81 0.80 2.97 0.88
Participation of polytechnic in projects aimed at promoting student
3.72 0.92 2.89 1.00
mobility and thus expanding their knowledge
Contribution of polytechnic to life-long learning 3.77 0.80 2.86 0.83

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Croatian polytechnics have to review and amend In this research we used the cluster analysis to
the existing curricula and make substantial con- classify students in two relatively homogeneous
nections with the business world. Polytechnics groups with regard to their assessment of knowl-
need to put more emphasis on imparting practical edge transfer process and satisfaction with partic-
knowledge, which is, after all, their main function. ular aspects of studying. In the analysis we used
Table 4. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) table
Between Within
Rating cluster sum cluster sum F p
of squares of squares
Overall rating of the polytechnic they attend 266.502 541.384 401.685 0.000
Quality (content) of the chosen study programme 286.441 488.272 478.700 0.000
How interesting are the courses at a polytechnic 191.368 533.058 292.944 0.000
How adapted are polytechnic study programmes to needs of the
220.107 523.476 343.105 0.000
labour market
Expertise (knowledge) of teachers at a polytechnic 194.895 499.241 318.552 0.000
Skill of polytechnic teachers to transfer knowledge to students 262.199 464.647 460.467 0.000
How far do teachers encourage students to use ICT to acquire
172.466 752.503 187.019 0.000
knowledge
Utility of modern technologies in learning and acquiring
114.615 689.146 135.713 0.000
knowledge
Possibility of studying through e-learning alone, without
25.565 1350.751 15.444 0.000
obligation to be physically present
Technical (ICT) equipment at the polytechnic 155.323 743.323 170.509 0.000
Possibility of computer-assisted knowledge assessment 1.455 1493.737 0.795 0.373
Available course materials (the polytechnic library holds the
148.764 847.958 143.157 0.000
required literature)
Quality and appropriateness of teaching premises at the
209.486 922.395 185.323 0.000
polytechnic
Value of knowledge acquired during studying at the
190.657 386.548 402.475 0.000
polytechnic
How focussed is the polytechnic on students acquiring
63.729 572.766 90.793 0.000
theoretical knowledge
How focussed is the polytechnic on students acquiring practical
223.486 711.466 256.323 0.000
knowledge
The need to recruit outside experts to improve knowledge
76.460 687.582 90.740 0.000
transfer at the polytechnic
Connection of polytechnic with the business world in terms of
131.401 700.604 153.044 0.000
knowledge sharing
Importance of internship in companies as a means to expand
113.970 728.754 127.615 0.000
the knowledge gained at the polytechnic
Utility of knowledge and skills acquired during studying for
279.738 558.481 408.727 0.000
future performance at work
Importance of the polytechnic degree for better positioning on
147.040 621.129 193.171 0.000
the labour market
Importance of the polytechnic degree for faster advancement at
146.039 571.944 208.355 0.000
work
Participation of polytechnic in projects aimed at promoting
139.849 750.453 152.064 0.000
student mobility and thus expanding their knowledge
Contribution of polytechnic to life-long learning 169.710 539.718 256.585 0.000

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the k-means algorithm. Using the cluster analysis, The F-values indicate that the variables that con-
the student sample was divided into two clusters. tribute most to cluster separation are those defined
Table 3 shows the values of means and standard as the rating for the quality (content) of the chosen
deviations for the two determined clusters. study programme, the rating for the skill of poly-
The first cluster consists of more satisfied stu- technic teachers to transfer knowledge to students,
dents, whereas students who have more negative the rating for the utility of knowledge and skills
perceptions of various aspects of the analyzed top- acquired during studying for future performance
ic were put in the second cluster. For this reason at work, the rating for knowledge acquired during
the average ratings in the first cluster are higher studies at a polytechnic, and the overall rating of
than those calculated for the second cluster. The the polytechnic students attend. The lowest contri-
first cluster included 428 of the surveyed students bution to classification of students into clusters was
(52.32%), whereas 390 students were put in the by the variable that represents the rating for the pos-
second cluster (47.68%). sibility of computer-assisted knowledge.
Within cluster analysis we also determined the Table 5 shows the distribution of students ac-
analysis of variance (ANOVA) table, which is cording to the observed characteristics (gender,
helpful in identifying the variables that are most age groups, year of study and professional area),
important for cluster separation. and according to the cluster they belong to. The
When interpreting the obtained results, it table also shows the results of the chi-square test
should be noted that in cluster analysis F-values for independence.
cannot be interpreted in the same way as in the tra- The majority of both genders ended up in the first
ditional analysis of variance. The significance val- cluster, but the prevalence among female students is
ues, listed in the table, are not a reliable estimate slightly higher. Nevertheless, the results of the chi-
of the probability that the cluster means are equal. square test indicate that gender and belonging to one
of the clusters are not significantly related.

Table 5. Distribution of students according to the observed characteristics and cluster membership with
results of chi-square test
Cluster Chi-square
Characteristic
1 2 test
185 180
Male
(50.68%) (49.32%) χ2=0.709
Gender
243 210 p=0.4
Female
(53.64%) (46.36%)
323 332
18 – 24
(49.31%) (50.69%) χ2=11.936
Age group
105 58 p=0.001
25 – 51
(64.42%) (35.58%)
275 251
First
(52.28%) (47.72%) χ2=0.001
Year of study
153 139 p=0.975
Second and third
(52.40%) (47.60%)
124 149
Technical studies
(45.42%) (54.58%)
68 48
Health care
(58.62%) (41.38%) χ2=28.902
Professional area
68 21 p<0.001
Biotechnical studies
(76.40%) (23.60%)
168 172
Social studies
(49.41%) (50.59%)

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The younger age group had slightly more stu- quired during their studies, and also how satisfied
dents who were assigned to the second cluster, they are with certain aspects of the study process.
whereas in the older age group there were more The sample included 818 students who were en-
students who were put in the first cluster. The re- rolled in six Croatian polytechnics. In addition
sults of the chi-square test indicate that there is a to the methods of descriptive statistics, cluster
statistically significant relationship between these analysis was also used to analyse the data. Within
two observed characteristics. cluster analysis students were classified into two
When looking at the years of study, both groups relatively homogeneous groups with regard to
(first-year students, and students enrolled in the their ratings of the knowledge transfer process and
second and third year) had more respondents in their satisfaction with the polytechnic they were
the first cluster, with roughly the same percentag- enrolled in. Based on the results of the cluster
es. Accordingly, the results of the chi-square test analysis we determined the respondent distribu-
show no statistically significant relation between tions with regard to the observed characteristics
year of study and belonging to a particular cluster. and belonging to a particular cluster. This was fol-
Among the students of technical and social lowed by the chi-square test.
studies the majority were assigned to the second The research results show that Croatian stu-
cluster, whereas students of health care and espe- dents are moderately satisfied with the knowledge
cially students of biotechnical studies were more acquired at polytechnics, and the same goes for the
numerous in the first cluster. The results of the analyzed aspects of studying. As for studying con-
chi-square test indicate that there is a significant ditions, students are least satisfied with the avail-
relationship between the professional area and be- ability of course materials (holdings of profession-
longing to a particular cluster. al literature in the polytechnic library, and with the
quality and appropriateness of teaching premises.
5. Conclusion In comparison to some other items, teachers’ ex-
pertise is relatively well rated; still, the respon-
Knowledge management is inextricably related dents are less satisfied with their skill to transfer
to higher education. Institutions of higher educa- knowledge to students. Also, they feel that poly-
tion have the opportunity, but also the obligation technics do not put sufficient emphasis on practi-
to apply knowledge management as a support took cal knowledge, which is something they need if,
in accomplishing their mission. In today’s com- after graduation, they are to start working without
plex and turbulent world higher education institu- special additional training in the workplace. The
tions need to re-examine their mode of functioning results indicate that polytechnics should make ad-
and find an optimum way to respond to needs and ditional efforts to improve the knowledge transfer
requirements of students and the wider commu- process, and thus also student satisfaction with the
nity alike. Knowledge management seems to be chosen study programme. Polytechnics should
a logical choice, since knowledge creation, trans- naturally strive to become recognizable through
fer and usage are the focus of all activities in any knowledge and skills imparted to their students.
higher education institution. Full implementation In that sense, polytechnics must immediately seek
of knowledge management can make a significant stronger connections with the business world, re-
contribution to a more efficient operation of such design the existing curricula to make them fit bet-
institutions. Therefore, it can be safely concluded ter to the needs of the labour market, and improve
that today knowledge management is a key source the studying conditions. Since people are the criti-
of competitive advantage, not only in business en- cal success factor in any organization, polytech-
vironment, but also in higher education. nics need to work continuously on scientific and
In this paper we have focused on knowledge professional advancement of their teaching staff.
transfer process as one of the key activities in The results of the cluster analysis indicate that
knowledge management. The aim of our research age and professional area of studies are related to
was to establish how Croatian polytechnic stu- the way that the analyzed questions are perceived.
dents assess the knowledge and competencies ac- Students in the older age group, as well as those

166 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

enrolled in health care and biotechnical study pro- 8. King W.R.: Knowledge Management and Organi-
grammes have higher percentages of more satis- zational Learning, In: King, W.R. (ed.): Knowledge
Management and Organizational Learning, Annals
fied individuals. Statistically significant relation-
of Information Systems 4, Springer, Dordecht, 2009,
ship between age and professional area on one pp. 3-13.
hand, and satisfaction on the other was confirmed
by the chi-square test. 9. Dave B., Koskela L.: Collaborative Knowledge Man-
The conclusions derived from this study can agement – A Construction Case Study, Automation in
Construction, 2009; 18( 7): 894-902.
certainly help policy makers in formulating fu-
ture development strategies for Croatian higher 10. Allameh S.M., Harooni A., Borandegi F.: Inves-
education. Such strategies should define the role tigating the Relationship between Social Capital
of polytechnics more clearly and determine what and Knowledge Transfer within an Organization,
kind of polytechnics Croatia needs in view of the American Journal of Scientific Research, 2012;
74:14-24.
social and economic conditions. Furthermore, it is
necessary to define more precisely the knowledge 11. Nielsen A.P.: Understanding Dynamic Capabili-
and competencies that students should possess ties through Knowledge Management, Journal of
upon graduation from a polytechnic, and rede- Knowledge Management, 2006; 10( 4): 59-71.
sign the curricula accordingly. The results of the 12. Al-Sha’ar H.: The Impact of Knowledge Manage-
presented research are possible signposts on the ment in Achieving Qualitative Services in Jordanian
road to more efficient Croatian polytechnics, mak- Telecommunication Sector, European Journal of
ing them more responsive to the challenges of the Social Sciences, 2012; 22( 2): 270-288.
modern age.
13. Devine K.L.: Improving the Knowledge Transfer
Skills of Industrial Technology Students, Journal of
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15. Gomez C., Perera B.Y., Manning M.R.: Knowledge
2. Kidwell J.J., Vander Linde, K.M., Johnson, S.L.: Ap- Transfer in Higher Education: The Case of Monter-
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16. Dickson T.: Knowledge Transfer and the Globalisa-
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20. Lüring C., Bred, K., Beckmann J., Köck F.X., Grifka
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Corresponding Author
Goran Kozina,
Polytechnic in Varazdin,
Croatia,
E-mail: goran.kozina@velv.hr

168 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

A conceptual integrated ICT - based

leadership learning and training architecture
Evelin Vatovec Krmac1, Zoran Cekerevac2, Slobodan T. Ristic3
1
Faculty of Maritime Studies and Transport, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia,
2
Faculty of Industrial Management, “Union” University Belgrade, Serbia,
3
University of Belgrade - Faculty of organizational sciences, Belgrade, Serbia.

Abstract gy has great potential to improve LT activities, but

The principal aim of this paper is to provide only if these activities are based on an appropriate
integrated enterprise leadership learning and train- technical infrastructure or platform.
ing architecture or platform. The proposed archi- On the other hand, enterprises should be firstly
tecture is defined in the form of interrelated func- interested in the education of their employees and
tional blocks or subsystems, including descrip- secondly in the implementation of these platforms
tions of their purposes and functionalities. Block in their business environment. We can generalize
or subsystems are different tools, technologies and that currently enterprises, especially the biggest
resources which support leadership learning and and the richest one, are now more than ever aware
training processes and activities. The integration of the great significance of the continuing educa-
of two learning and training environments is pro- tion of their employees, particularly of their man-
posed: web-based and non-web based or in-house agers. Consequently companies invest in the edu-
environments. Although our first intention was cation of their employees by organizing training
develop an architecture which supports leader- programs for the improvement of their leadership
ship learning and training, but our work resulted skills on their own or with the help of a third party
in a generic, conceptual and reusable environment institution. Mostly these programs concentrate on
model which describes the technical components LT generic skills and are not personalized, nor en-
needed for a complete ICT learning and training compass LT of specific skills needed for further
infrastructure. Didactical considerations, content development of a leader’s career. The majority of
design processes, learning and training theories the proposed programs is domain independent, but
and design of related processes are outside the im- there are also programs tailored to specific enter-
mediate scope of this paper. prise needs and requirements, which is an essential
Key words: learning and training architecture, prerequisite for effective and efficient LT. Another
computer-based learning and training, e-learning, weakness of these generic programs is that they
web-based learning and training are designed for managers on low and medium
levels, but not for the highest management where
leadership skills are the most important.
Introduction
Today’s LT is predominantly technology-en-
The very fast evolution of technology and its hanced, computer-assisted, and in most cases (only)
widespread use has drastically changed the con- web-based [1, 2]. However, for implementation of
cept of learning and training (LT). In the last two successful LT a complex LT platform is needed.
or three decades we have been witnessing a con- The platform should support continuous LT by pro-
stant change in LT methods and the emergence of viding life-long enterprise learning and also pro-
many new forms of LT activities, independently viding an active changing of employees LT plans
of domain and purpose of learning. New LT ap- with regards to the progress assessed after finish-
proaches, focusing predominantly on learning by ing a set of LT activities, acquiring planned skills
experience, learning to learn independently, and and knowledge. LT should as much as possible be
explorative learning, can be easily supported by self-paced and tailored to individual needs and the
modern information and communication technol- actual skills and knowledge of an employee which
ogy in many different ways. Therefore, technolo- have been gathered in their LT profile. The platform

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must support communication, cooperation and col- fines as “the art of motivating a group of people to
laboration with other participants of the LT course act towards achieving a common goal” [5] or as “a
or program, continuous assessment, testing and re- winning combination of personal traits and the abil-
porting the progresses in skills and knowledge ac- ity to think and act as a leader, a person who directs
quirement. The platform should be a convergence the activities of others for the good of all” [6]. There
between stand-alone and networked resources, and are many other definitions, however, the common
because of specifics of the work conditions of man- belief in all these definitions is, that leadership is
agers who are often out of office there is also a need something you can learn, and that includes skills
for a platform which supports mobile LT. you can train. Leadership training is one of the most
This paper presents our proposal of an inte- effective methods of development of leadership
grated LT environment which satisfies the above skills. “Skills approach suggests that knowledge
described conditions, integrates contemporary and abilities are needed for effective leadership
software, hardware, communication and learning […] Leadership skills are the ability to use one’s
technologies and methods, from face-to-face to knowledge and competencies to accomplish a set
distance and ICT-learning, and represents an inte- of goals or objectives” [3] and “skill-based training
gration of enterprise in-house, non-web solutions is defined as a planned event designed to teach the
with those which are web-based. The platform has specific knowledge and skills required to enhance
been built during leadership LT needs and require- performance” [1]. Therefore, leadership skills are
ments research, but it is flexible, robust and reus- abilities which a leader can acquire through appro-
able enough to be used in any other LT domain. priate training. The most important among these
Because the architecture should be derived from are the skills of effective communication, listening
enterprise LT needs and objectives, first the over- and leading skills, relationship skills and alliance
all process of architecture design has been defined. building, skills in delegating task to others, problem
With the aim of presenting information and solving, coaching, motivating, decision-making,
communication technology (ICT), supporting LT etc. According to Stockley, learning “is a major out-
processes and a framework of a conceptual inte- come” [7] of training, or its consequence or result.
grated LT environment, this paper is structured as Therefore, systematic and continuous LT is also es-
follows. Section two presents the background on sential for acquiring leadership skills.
leadership LT, and leadership skills, the character-
istics and requirements that influence the selection The process of leadership learning and
of appropriate LT techniques and methods. Section training architecture design
three is dedicated to the description of the overall
process of the leadership LT architecture design According to our firm belief that before start-
we defined. In section four conceptual enterprise ing with the design of LT architecture or/and infra-
LT architecture is presented in detail. Section five structure, LT needs and objectives, participants and
concludes the paper with discussion and descrip- programs should be determined and designed. This
tion of future work. is possible only throughout a well defined set of
phases, forming the process of architecture design.
Leadership learning and training charac- The resulting architecture should be comprised of
teristics and requirements all technologies and support all methods needed to
satisfy the needs and objectives of LT. Because LT
In literature there are many definitions regarding changes over time, so do technologies and meth-
leadership. Northouse defines leadership or “effec- ods, the infrastructure should be flexible and robust
tive administration” as “a process whereby an indi- enough to permit future changes and upgrades.
vidual influences a group of individuals to achieve Leadership LT therefore encompasses knowl-
a common goal” [3]. Chemers stated that leadership edge and skills needed to prepare the employee for
is a “process of social influence in which one per- work as leader person or to improve the knowl-
son can enlist the aid and support of others in the edge and skills of employee already working as
accomplishment of a common task” [4]. Ward it de- leader. For systematic LT, the systematic design

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of an appropriate platform is needed. In Figure 1 Plans must be determined prior to the begin-
the overall process, divided into 6 steps, of archi- ning of the LT activities. Individual plans should
tecture design is depicted. The process was based also consider the actual knowledge and skill levels
on the findings of the literature review, also tak- of employees, their motivation and abilities to un-
ing into consideration Yukl’s description [8,9] of derstand and remember complex information.
the most important preconditions for quality edu-
cational process that should be fulfilled: (1) clear Learning and training techniques and methods
learning objectives, targets, expectations, skills Selection of the most appropriate LT techniques
and knowledge to acquire should be set; (2) the and methods that will fulfill set goals, objectives
programme content should be clear and unambig- and individual plans is the next step. The most
uous, and should include as many as possible con- frequently used LT techniques that should be in-
crete examples; (3) the program should consider cluded in leadership LT program, are: (1) lectures
the prior knowledge of participants; (4) LT meth- (classical classroom-based face-to-face lectures
ods should be combined and adjusted to the LT for a group of participants with common LT needs
outcomes and to the conditions in which training where a teacher explains the topics regarding
is held; (5) LT must enable participants to actively leadership activities, approaches, styles, theories,
apply acquired skills in practice; (6) a constructive skills, etc. ); (2) role-playing (a situation where
and timely assessment of the degree of progress one participant takes on a new person and acts as
should be constantly provided to participants. if he/she were someone else, with a different role,
The first step of the process of LT architecture as a leader); (3) behavioral role modeling (a tech-
design is the determination of leadership LT needs nical procedure of developing interpersonal lead-
and objectives of the concrete enterprise. These ership skills, derived from demonstration and role
needs should be derived from business needs and playing; the essence of the learning is observation
the working environment and its specifics, but and copying of others’ behavior and application of
they should also be based on findings of known such behavior in practice, where appropriate); (4)
theories of leadership skills and leadership. Once case study (one of the most common techniques
defined, they are an essential part of an enterprise of leadership LT; cases that have to be analyzed
competency in which all core competencies and are usually descriptions of real events which have
key abilities and skills for each job or position occurred under similar circumstances to the work
within the enterprise are determined. Based on a circumstances of the participant); (5) business
competency model, LT needs for each job or po- games and simulations (aimed at practicing and
sition are also defined. From competency models teaching problem solving, interpersonal, analyti-
individual LT plans are derived. cal thinking and decision-making skills; partici-
pants are faced with the consequences of their
decisions made during playing the game, which
simulates events and situations from real business
life); (6) problem-based LT (encompasses skills of
effective and successful problem solving; during
problem solving, the participant must first define
the problem and asses a current situation, then find
or generate alternatives, evaluate them and select
the right ones, and finally, implement solutions).
To define enterprise active LT methodology, a
proper combination of LT methods must be cho-
sen. Various LT techniques can be executed or
implemented with various different methods and
in different environments. According to Oliver
Figure 1. The overall process of LT architecture [1] there is a conviction in education theory, that
design the most effective and powerful forms of learn-

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ing are those which contribute to the creation of obligations and schedule (i.e. self-paced training)
knowledge and enable learners with complete co- and his or her training needs, there is an increasing
operation, collaboration, and communication. Re- interest in distance learning also for LT of lead-
garding the degree of knowledge construction and ership skills. Distance learning makes it possible
collaboration, various classifications of LT types for participants (virtual team or group members)
were made. According to Collis and Moonen [10] to collaborate and communicate using electronic
technology-supported LT can be classified in four communication and collaboration technology at
basic categories: (1) LT by only accessing infor- any time, regardless of the differences in geo-
mation repositories - contents of information re- graphical distance, organization, or culture [11].
positories are not organized for instruction and Globalization and the improvement of distance
there is little or no human interaction, (2) distance learning technologies make this kind of blended
participating in web-based courses where content LT method more cost-effective and flexible than
is pre-structured and communication limited only classical classroom-based LT.
within a course, (3) regular classroom-based LT In this paper the focus is on LT methods that
with blending use of web resources where con- are based on the usage of modern ICT, either ex-
tent is still pre-structured, but courses include also clusively (all LT processes are computer or/and
contribution activities, and (4) “participating in web based), or partially (ICT is only partially used
communities of practice for learning and knowl- in LT processes). For the purposes of our study,
edge building”, where content is co-constructed the term ICT-based LT has been introduced. ICT is
by participants and collective knowledge building a broader term and it includes not only distance LT
and reflection are constructed. technologies and systems but also all software and
Therefore, the three basic methods of LT, (1) hardware systems, databases, and communication
classical LT (known also as face-to face, class- paths between them that make part of LT environ-
room-based or conventional learning), which com- ment and are not accessible (only) through web
prises classical fixed-schedule lectures (fixed time or internet, but can be (only) an integral part of an
and place), with support of mostly printed materi- enterprise business information system.
als without using computers or other digital equip- After enterprise LT methodology is defined,
ment, (2) computer-based LT where computers and web, non-web and communication technologies
CD ROM’s or DVD’s or memory cards with edu- are, relying on standards and using protocols,
cational programs, video and audio materials, text combined in an integrated LT environment that
files, multimedia presentations and other digital supports blended, collaborative LT and all forms
materials are used in the LT process, and (3) web- of communication and cooperation.
based LT (known also as internet-based or online
or virtual LT) which encompasses synchronous and Learning and training conceptual architecture
asynchronous LT activities, where applications, re- model
sources and tools are available through web sites Because of the rapidly growing importance of
and web repositories; the participant can use the LT of all of the employees of every enterprise and,
web as a learning tool while participating in a for- not only of leaders and managers, ICT supported LT
mal programme or can directly participate in one environments are becoming an important compo-
of the online courses (because the web-based LT nent of the whole enterprise IT infrastructure. One
forms an important part of our LT environment it of the most important steps during establishment or
will be discussed more precisely in the following development of enterprise LT environment is the
section) should be combined in blended or hybrid design of LT architecture. This architecture should
LT. The most widely used and known form of cur- comprise various disparate systems and tools and
rent blended learning is distance or e-learning. should be reliable, robust and flexible enough for
Distance or e-learning is a conjunction of future changes. To maximize the LT effects these
web-based and computer-based LT. Because of disparate (sub)systems should be consolidated, i.e.
the possibility for participant to choose the time properly integrated, interoperable and interconnect-
of taking training on the basis of his or her work ed using common standards and protocols.

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Systems and tools can be theoretically all de- Integrated learning and training management
veloped (and maintained) exclusively by the enter- system
prise itself or they can be developed on demand by The most vital part and the core component of
a third-party company, or they can even be all hired the proposed integrated architecture is an integrat-
(contracting of third-party systems). However, the ed LT management system (ILTMS), supporting
most reasonable and practical solution seems to be both environments with LT management activi-
a combination of all of these possibilities. For the ties. It represents a set of various software systems
purposes of a description of how these systems and and tools for managing (authoring, delivering and
tools are accessible, we use the term in-house for tracking) of content, scheduling, administration,
the systems and resources accessible through in- documentation and managing LT processes or ac-
tranet or other private networks, and web-based for tivities, managing participant profiles, adaptation
all others. Searching for and choosing appropriate of individual learning plans or programs regard-
systems and appropriate providers should be driven ing assessments of performed LT activities and
by enterprise LT needs, goals and objectives, and individual progress, and providing (standardized)
also by an enterprise competency model. training reports for individuals, groups or whole
The most important element of the integrated en- enterprise. Because ILTMS is a part of the whole
vironment for users or participants is a single user enterprise information system it should be con-
interface through which access to all subsystems, nected also with legacy (third-party) software and
products, tools and resources of integrated LT envi- database or knowledge systems. Figure 3 repre-
ronment should be possible, regardless of whether sents the essential parts and functions of ILTMS. It
the systems are a part of the proprietary enterprise should consist of content management system, au-
system (i.e. non-web or in-house systems) or if they thoring system, reporting and performance man-
are web-based. The interface should be realized in agement system, content and profile repositories
the way that the integration of all these systems and with storing and retrieving tools, and computer
resources results to a user as a single integrated sys- aided assessment system.
tem. An important function of user interface should Through ILTMS all adaptations and personal-
be personalization which is based on knowledge ization of user interface are possible, determina-
about user behavior and user requirements, and not tion of authorized users, assignment of their roles
only on user preferences. and rights (authentication, authorization, and ac-
Figure 2 represents a framework of an integrat- cess management), and assignments of LT plans
ed LT environment infrastructure model. Concep- for individuals and for groups, as well the accom-
tually, the architecture has been divided in three plishment of various other LT support activities.
parts: (1) integrated LT management system (IL- Its capability of providing competency manage-
TMS), (2) web-based LT environment, and (3) in- ment is, according to various authors [1], is one of
house LT environment. the greatest advantages of ILTMS.
ILTMS should support both LT environments,
in-house and web, and therefore must support
management and all other functions of web con-
tents as well. To satisfy this condition two imple-
mentations are possible: the first one is that web
content management system forms an integral part
of ILTMS, the second one foresees an appropriate
connection and collaboration between in-house
ILTMS and remote web-based LTMS.
Regardless which of implementations will
be chosen, the complexity of the integrated LT
management system is high, so significant effort
Figure 2. A framework of integrated LT environ- is needed for installation, configuration and later
ment infrastructure model maintenance should be considered.

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 technics technologies education management

Figure 3. Content and functions of integrated LT management system

Web-based learning and training environment at least a distance-learning platform, web-learning

In recent years there has been a great deal of tools and web content, all of them supported by LT
research done on web LT and various frameworks, content management and course management ap-
models, architectures, platforms, tools, and even plications. A LT content management system pro-
standards for distance or web-based learning were vides access to learning content, performance of
developed [12]. Modern LT needs demand the in- content creation and content manipulation. Courses
tegration of all kinds of services in one environ- and lessons management systems cover the delivery
ment, frequently a web-based LT platform. and management of participants (trainees), trainers,
A web-based platform is an integrated web- courses, lessons, and system modules. These two
based environment that comprises applications and systems can be realized within ILTMS or can be
tools needed for online collaborative web-based parts of a web LTMS.
LT. Important parts of this environment are also
programs that support synchronous and asynchro- Other computer-based learning and training
nous communication, and collaboration. Synchro- software systems and tools
nous or real-time communication is occurring at the Besides a classical web-based LT platform and
same time for all participants (internet telephony, enterprise business information system there are
chat room, audio and video conferencing applica- numerous other applications and tools we can
tions, voice e-mail, text-messaging), in asynchro- incorporate into an enterprise leadership LT plat-
nous communication participants receive messages form. They can be of direct use in LT (computer
and information independently one from each other games, simulations, expert systems and neural
(blogs, wikis, discussion boards, e-mail, text-based networks, educational databases, knowledge re-
computer conferencing, tools for dissemination of positories, tutorial software systems, etc.) or they
course content and multimedia learning materials). only support LT activities (training dashboards,
Collaboration is advanced, mainly real time com- role analysis and role modeling support applica-
munication of group of users who work together tions, project management software, computer-
(whiteboard, brainstorming board, co-web brows- based testing systems, decision support systems,
ing, application sharing, slides and multimedia electronic performance support systems, etc.).
creation and presentation, video conferencing). When preparing leadership LT plans and pro-
Because of the vast number of available web ap- grams, it should be taken into consideration that for
plications, tools and resources that can be success- the most leadership skills are better learned expe-
fully used during LT processes this set can be very rientially and independently. Some of these skills
populated. Nevertheless, it should be comprised of can be trained and learned exclusively during live

174 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

exercises, but the live action exercise of others can 2. Cooper C. L., Locke E. A. : Industrial and Orga-
be very expensive [13], time-consuming and risky. nizational Psychology. Blackwell Publisher Ltd.
Retrieved December, 2011, from http://www.google.
In these cases computer games, simulations, virtual
com/books. ISBN 0-631-20992-1.,2000.
reality environments, computer-based microworlds
and workbenches, expert systems, and other related 3. Northouse P. G. : Leadership. Theory and practice.
5th Edition, SAGE Publications, Inc., USA. Retrieved
computer-based software can be used very success- December, 2011, from http://www.google.com/books.
fully. These systems and tools can be realized in- ISBN 978-1-4129-7488-2., 2010.
house or web-based. 4. Chemers M. : An integrative theory of leadership.
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers. ISBN
Conclusion 9780805826791.,1997.
5. Ward S. : Leadership. Retrieved December, 2011,
This paper investigates the problem of ICT based from http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/leadership/g/
LT of leadership skills. According to these investiga- leadership.htm. 2011a.
tions, the LT platform that supports all of the new LT 6. Ward S. : 5 Keys to Business Leadership for Small
approaches, such as learning by experience, learning Business. Retrieved December, 2011, from http://
to learn independently, and explorative learning has sbinfocanada.about.com/od/smallbusinesslearning/a/
been proposed. The overall process of architecture leadership1.htm . 2011b.
design has been defined and description has been 7. Stockley D. (n.d.): Is there a difference between LT?
given. The proposed architecture is an integration of Retrieved December, 2011, from http://derekstockley.
com.au/newsletters-06/079-training-learning.html.
stand-alone and networked resources that combines
all the necessary tools and services in one, integrated 8. Yukl G. A. Leadership in organizations, 4th Edition,
environment. It represents an integral part of enter- Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle Rivers, New York. ISBN
978-0138975210. ,1997.
prise business information system and offers a single
user interface through which access to all subsys- 9. Yukl G. A. Leadership in organizations, 5th Edition,
Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle Rivers, New York. ISBN
tems, products, tools and resources of integrated LT 978-0130323125.,2001.
environment are possible, regardless they are part of
10. Collis B., Moonen J. : An on-going journey: tech-
the proprietary enterprise system (i.e. non-web or
nology as a learning workbench. Retrieved Decem-
in-house systems) or they are web-based. The archi- ber, 2011. , 2005.
tecture has been developed for leadership skills LT,
11. Ramalingam B. : Tools for knowledge and learning.
but it is flexible and robust enough to be reused in A guide for development and humanitarian organi-
different LT domains. zations. Overseas Development Institute, London.
In this paper, only the first step of the whole archi- ISBN 0 85003 8138.,2006.
tecture design process is presented; it is a description 12. Bouras C., Giannaka E., Tsiatsos TH. : An integrat-
of the integrated architecture. The next step is the ed Architecture for supporting vocational training.
implementation of the enterprise leadership educa- IGI Global. Retrieved December, 2011, from http://
tional system, developed on the basis of the proposed ru6.cti.gr/ru6/publications/172311.pdf , 2008.
architecture and appropriate standards and protocols. 13. Raybourn E. M., Deagle M. E., Mendini K.,
A prototype development lifecycle is planned for the Heneghan J.: Adaptive Thinking & Leadership Sim-
ulation Game Training for Special Forces Officers.
implementation - first the basic features and systems
Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, and Edu-
will be implemented and tested and gradually new cation Conference (I/ITSEC). Retrieved December,
services and systems will be added. Finally user test- 2011, from http://www.virtualheroes.com/pdf/Adapti-
ing and evaluation will be performed. veThinkingLeadership_IITSEC_2005.pdf., 2005.

References Corresponding Author

Evelin Vatovec Krmac,
1. Adelsberger H. H., Collis B., Pawlowski J. M. : University of Ljubljana,
Handbook on information technologies for education Faculty of Maritime Studies and Transport,
and training. Springer-Verlag Berlin, Germany. ISBN Portoroz,
3-540-67803-4.,2002. Slovenia,
E-mail: evelin.vatovec@fpp.uni-lj.si

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 technics technologies education management

Problems and experiences with student

projects based on real-world problems: a
case study
Kresimir Fertalj, Boris Milasinovic, Ivana Nizetic Kosovic
Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb, Croatia

Abstract nature of the undergraduate study, those changes

Involving students into real-world projects and included teaching paradigm shift towards project-
real teamwork environment is of the great impor- based learning.
tance in software engineering education that is Traditional teaching is based on exposing theo-
sometimes ignored in academic environments. retical fundamentals explained by hypothetical
The Bologna Process reforms gave the authors an examples and case studies. Due to that, a profes-
opportunity for necessary changes in the teaching sional having a certificate in programming would
methodology. Although the real-world projects be a more desirable candidate for a potential em-
have generated the topics for degree theses at the ployer then a student thought to be a programmer,
authors’ department for years, the reform provoked and a system analyst and a software architect, but
the student projects to be comprehensively in- trained on hypothetical problems.
cluded in the university curriculum. This paper de- Having this in mind, we recognized a need to in-
scribes the implementation of the real-world proj- troduce one or more courses that will integrate the-
ects within the undergraduate course Development oretical fundamentals with professional practices
of Software Applications and the authors’ four-year simulating real-world problems. Such courses com-
experience in teaching that course. The key issues bined with seminars, student projects and degree
regarding the selection and adaptation of real-world theses given to solve particular real-world problems
projects have been discussed for different types of enable students to gain invaluable practical experi-
student work as well. The organization and the im- ence. Although a huge number of the problems are
provements of the course through the years are pre- solved in everyday life, a limited number of them
sented together with course evaluation. can be used for teaching. Project size, duration, and
Key words. Real-world project, Bologna pro- complexity, intellectual ownership and rights, inap-
cess, project-based learning, software engineering propriate hardware and software platforms can sig-
education, teamwork. nificantly reduce range of plausible themes. Each
project has to be downsized and adjusted to the or-
ganization of teaching and schedule of classes, de-
1. Introduction
pending on the type of the student work.
Due to the implementation of Bologna Decla- Real-world problems can be assigned to the
ration in Croatia, the study of Computing at the students on several levels during their studies.
Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing Some problems can be isolated from real-world
was reorganized and changes have been carried projects and assigned to students on the courses
out from the academic year 2005/06. One purpose such as Seminar on undergraduate study or Proj-
of the undergraduate study of Computing is to ect on the graduate study. Bigger project mod-
teach students fundamental knowledge and to pre- ules can be assigned to students as degree theses
pare them for the graduate study. Simultaneously (bachelor, master or even doctoral thesis). Parts
the same undergraduate study must equip students of a project need to be adjusted in respect to the
with enough practical knowledge to be skilled and whole project. An additional adjustment is needed
competitive for professional work if they decide whether the student works on the project with the
not to continue graduate study. Due to such dual other students or with the teaching stuff. Another

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problem is the integration of real-world problems Importance of practical assignments and tenden-
within the courses, depending on the semester in cy to simulate real projects are discussed in several
which the course is held. articles emphasizing the importance for students
The focus of this article is the incorporation of and for teaching staff. Today’s students are already
the real-world projects into the course Develop- familiar with advanced computer features and they
ment of Software Applications (DSA), taught in are not impressed by the typical and hypothetical
the last, 6th semester of the undergraduate study. introductory programming examples [8]. Thus, stu-
A few examples of the projects successfully per- dents are more eager to produce something that has
formed during the course as laboratory work and value beyond the classroom [9]. In [10] authors not-
homework are presented. Although the article is ed that impressionable students are forming opin-
not focused on other types of assignments of the ions of the utility of computer science and ques-
real-world projects such as seminars and projects, tions whether students would eventually change
they are also commented to emphasize a different computer science study for another study with bet-
approach compared to the course-related projects. ter chance of giving them a career with some more
The importance and benefits of using real-world noble purpose. In [11] is noted that, when working
projects in students’ assignments and an overview of on projects lacking application outside of the class-
the related work are given in the second section. The room, students are primarily interested in getting a
third section discusses the dilemma between simu- good grade and they spend more energy guessing
lating a user and involving a real one. Problems in the intent of the instructor and adapting to grading
choosing and adapting real-life projects are elabo- criteria than they are focused on project require-
rated in the fourth section. The fifth section presents ments. In [12] authors emphasize that choosing a
a case study of a successful course organization. problem that is not within the experience of most
students forces students to develop a high-level
2. Importance of real-world projects understanding and design before coding, as early
implementation is not feasible. Through this expe-
“Software engineering (SE) is the application rience, students get insight into the project require-
of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach ments and constraints from the client perspective,
to the development, operation, and maintenance learning how to overcome misunderstandings be-
of software” [1]. Software engineers require both tween clients and developers in terms of vocabu-
technical and social skills [2]. The traditional lary, technology complexity and capabilities [12].
teaching methods, focused only on lectures and Focusing on real-world projects in courses means
tutorials, are not sufficient for SE students to de- that student’s assignments do not have predefined
velop skills needed to solve real-world problems problem or solution sets, which makes them harder
[3]. In traditional approach, students must com- to grade, but drive the students to extend their deci-
plete their tasks mostly on their own, in contrary sion making skills [13].
to professional practice of team environment and Using real-world projects as course projects
collaboration. Collaboration with other students in has benefits to teaching staff as well. Such teach-
traditional approach can even be penalized. ing paradigm may encourage instructors to use
The need for modern approach to teaching SE projects for more than just student grading, such
is not new, but the significance of supplying stu- as to apply experimental SE principles and to use
dents with real problems and real teamwork envi- projects as part of their research [13]. Still, it is
ronment is often ignored in software development important that in the case of using real-world proj-
in academy [4]. ects as course projects the main objective is not
Project-Based Learning (PBL) which is a on the research perspective or technology transfer
student-centered instructional approach used to perspective but on the educational goals [14].
promote active and deep learning by involving Real-world project assignments can be applied
students in investigating real-world issues in a not only to SE courses, but also to seminar themes,
collaborative environment [5], is becoming recog- project themes and degree theses. This could be ben-
nized as the valuable approach to SE [6, 7]. eficial for all participants because it better simulates

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students’ future jobs and it is more interesting than 4. Typical issues in selection and prepara-
hypothetical problems and it could be a stepping- tion of real-life problems
stone for future research and business projects.
Real projects can be very large and monstrously
complex. Some concerns regarding selection and
3. Simulation of a real-world project adaptation of real-world problems, their imple-
As noted in [6] it is imperative that a clear and mentation and maintenance are listed in this sec-
concise scope statement must be formulated in or- tion, regardless of teaching and learning context
der to get a list of requirements. The (in)famous (course, thesis, etc.). The problems are related to
software development process tree-swing comic problem decomposition, resource and time man-
about the design and development process [15] agement, isolation of a student’s work, intellectual
is a good reminder that SE is a specific discipline property and to project maintenance.
that deals with humans and it is prone to many
misleading guides. Simulating real-world project 4.1. Problem decomposition
in students’ assignments should not neglect this.
A major problem is how to make real-world
Design of a complete real-world system starting
projects feasible in academic settings. Project size
from a vague, or incompletely specified problem
and complexity can be reduced by decomposition
statement is an invaluable educational experience
and modularization (the well-known divide-and-
of a problem that professionals may face [12].
conquer paradigm). The partitioning can be very
If a real user is involved in student projects,
demanding, hence one must take care of size of
students will soon realize the problem of impre-
student team(s), teaching schedule and teaching
cise, inconsistent and changing requirements.
workload, In addition to that, the modularization
However, teaching schedule is limited and usu-
adds an integration overhead.
ally it is not possible or appropriate to involve a
Special care should be taken to estimate if a po-
real end user in a teaching process due to several
tential theme is of an appropriate size for a particu-
reasons. There is no free lunch - if the user has to
lar type of student’s work (a seminar, course proj-
spend his/her time on the project, then s/he may
ect or thesis). Obviously, different types of student
have big expectations that could not be fulfilled
work have different aim and scope. However, the
regarding the scope, time constraints and educa-
same theme can evolve from one stage of tuition to
tional goals of the course/project. Furthermore, if
another, for instance from an individual seminar to
the project fails or ends with an expectations gap,
a degree thesis. In such case, an incremental project
then the disappointment of wasted time and effort
would develop as a student performing it gradually
could prevent further collaboration in future proj-
advances through the study. For example, a student
ects. Therefore, if success is not foreseeable it is
would do a seminar in system analysis, then do an
better to simulate the user by teacher.
individual project of system design, and finally de-
Two notable obstacles should be carefully
velop a system while working on his/her degree
avoided when impersonating the user. The first one
thesis. On the other hand, a team of students can do
is tendency of the teacher to elicit the requirements
a prototype, and only some of them would later be
clearly and consistently, as a professional, not the
interested in completing a final version.
user. Opposite to that, the teacher can exaggerate
when making an impression of a user who changes
his/her mind, makes digressions and elicits vague 4.2. Resource and time management
requirements, which may direct the students to
Engagement of students in real-life projects is
guessing the requirements. An experiment with in-
limited by a lack of previous knowledge and a lack
tentional misleading and consequences after teams
of time. Course schedule determines the deadlines
have been reshuffled has been done in [16].
and time the students should dedicate to work on
their assignments limits is limited, which leaves
no room for extensive research. This is usually ac-

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companied with the fade of interest and ambition do their assignments. Thus, having backup resources
as problems arise, because students are not used ensure that project would be finished on time. If all
to act professionally. As novice professionals, stu- students complete their work on time, surplus re-
dents may lack work ethic. They may have dif- sources could be used for implementing additional
ferent priorities. Some of them work during their features and improving the product quality.
study and give priority to honorary jobs. Some The third approach is to integrate students in
of them are preoccupied with other courses and the existing team consisting of teaching staff (a
some just have some private issues that hinder professor as project leader and the assistants as ar-
their study. All of these problems are emphasized chitects and developers) in which a student’s tasks
if they are working in a team. A student’s perfor- can be more easily reassigned to another member
mance during his/her study can be used to assess of a team or scaled down if necessary.
the technical competence. The student’s reliability
is not so easy to asses because she or he can lag in 4.3. Intellectual property and work isolation
execution of other obligations and decide not to
pass a subject in favor of another one. Working in a real-life project may impose some
Thus, one of the important questions is to additional constraints. A student must be provided
whom to assign a theme. To assign a theme to an with proper (eligibly real) data to be processed and/
average student now or save the theme for a bet- or to test the software. The data can be generated,
ter one enrolling next month, semester, year, …? but data generation sometimes can be a project it-
Assigning the theme to the first student that shows self. Moreover, a student may use some software
interest for the theme can produce insufficient or components built/bought by somebody else (e.g.
useless deliverables. The students may be unreli- university, customer). The solution is to sign a dis-
able. They can leave the study, prolong it for too closure agreement and/or copyright agreement.
long or may simply be incapable of completing In bigger projects, students work should be
the task. In a company, such task would probably isolated as much as possible to decrease the cou-
be reassigned to another person (although caus- pling, therewith to reduce interdependency with
ing some waste of time and additional cost). For the rest of development being in progress. How-
a one-man-project (e.g. thesis), reassignment is ever, business needs always change in real proj-
not possible during the semester. Consequently, ects and software must meet the business needs.
the theme would become “worn out”. Despite the One cannot just wait for the student to finish his/
aforementioned risk, there is no sense to wait in- her work as initially planned (if ever). If there is
definitely for a hypothetical ideal student, as we software already being in use then the final prod-
have to work with resources that we have. Fur- uct of (successful) student’s work must be fully
thermore, judging students’ motivation and prior integrated with that software. As it is a tendency
knowledge sometimes can be difficult and waiting for students to experiment with new technologies
for a better student can prolong work indefinitely this integration could not always be achieved, or
and thus can make a theme to become obsolete. at least it is not a trivial task and may be out of the
When it comes to student teamwork, a sort of student’s engagement. Nevertheless, implementa-
resource leveling may be accomplished, but with tion of new techniques and technologies can be
the degradation of project deliverables. One solu- imperative, but must not become an end in itself.
tion to the problem can be design-to-schedule ap- As noted in [14] if an empirical study is part of a
proach, paying a special care to the team cohesion course, then the research objectives should not be
and continuous supervision of the team, forcing allowed to dominate over the educational goals.
the team members to jointly progress, and eventu-
ally leaving out less important features in case of 4.4. Project maintenance
lacking time or manpower.
Another approach is to have some backup re- The last, but the not the least problem is related to
sources in the project. It is not unusual that some stu- maintenance of the product (in our case, a piece of
dents from a group give up from the project or fail to software) delivered by student(s). When the product

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is not going to be used by a real customer and its The second example is Fauna Croatica (CRO-
purpose is only educational, it is upon the teacher Fauna) [19], started as a system specification study
to evaluate the outcomes. Otherwise, several ques- for Croatian State Institute for Nature Protection
tions may arise. Was it worth of effort? Who is going and some of the CROFauna subsystems later be-
to integrate the project deliverables into the existent came themes for degree theses. Two subsystems
system? What about the maintenance and future (wolf tracking and marine mammal monitoring)
development? Nothing worth effort is ever gained have been further expanded and adapted by stu-
without effort. In our experience, both the teaching dents making another two success stories.
staff and the customer should put additional effort Tracking and prediction of movement of wolves
and time in the project in order to ensure the quality started as Wild life observer (WLO) mobile appli-
of results. They should negotiate (and even contract) cation to support field observations, implementing
their business relationship and roles prior to project triangulation of VHF collars and tracking of GPS
implementation. As said before, the engagement of collars. It was developed for a veterinarian as an
students is limited. However, the students can be en- assignment in course Project. One year thereafter
gaged in part-time job based on particular project, the same students received the Rector’s award
but this is out of the scope of this paper. [20] and applied for Microsoft Imagine Cup com-
petition and won 2nd place in Croatia. Upon gradu-
5. Case study ation, the team members did some development
professionally (for a fee). WLO also became a
5.1. Representative project examples case study project for the course DSA and yielded
a theme for doctoral thesis [21].
In the past few years, authors ran several real- The fourth example is Marine Mammal Moni-
world projects involving students. Some represen- toring Database system [22], developed as a de-
tative examples are described in this section. gree thesis under additional supervision of the
The first example is Flora Croatica Database mentor and assistants. The system was built by
(CROFlora), [17]. Started as a business project using an application framework developed at the
and a standalone single user application [18] circa department and based on CSLA [23].
ten years ago it evolved to a rather complex in-
formation system with multiuser web applications
for the systematic and taxonomic classification of 5.2. Organizing the course on applications
the Croatian flora including bibliography, herbar- development
ia, observations, gallery, distribution maps, spatial The course DSA is held in the last semester of
analysis, and so forth, representing the most im- Software Engineering undergraduate degree pro-
portant botanic resource in Croatia. Finally, it has gram. The course elaborates SE concepts, prin-
found its usage as a valuable resource for seminars ciples and techniques and prepares students for
and degree theses for the test of new technologies development of complex interactive applications,
with real users and real data. It has been used as a particularly database applications. The course pro-
project within the course DSA and some CROFlo- vides knowledge for successful design, construc-
ra components were developed for the degree the- tion and implementation of application software.
ses. Some of those components were integrated in The weekly schedule of themes is given in Table
CROFlora almost as-is. Some of the components 1. There are three hours of lecture and one hour
completed as prototypes (although planned as a laboratory exercises each week.
fully working versions), due to significant flaws The aim of the course is to provide students
in implementation or due to the problems in in- with fundamentals and with practical knowledge
tegration. As in “real” software projects, the suc- of software development, as a prerequisite for the
cess varied from project to project (thesis). Some upcoming master courses Information systems de-
of them could be considered a failure due to poor velopment and Project management.
design, failure to set and manage expectations or Unlike in [12] and although [8] points that one
just because being behind the schedule. semester might be too short time for students to

180 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

work on real-world projects, in our case the re- every student has to practice the whole process
al-world project has to be integrated into the SE from requirements specification to software docu-
course within the syllabus (13 weeks of semester mentation. (The students tend to be para-profes-
effectively – see Table 1). According to [14], in- sionals and specialists devoted to only some de-
tegration of the real-world projects in the existing velopment techniques).
SE course is the most suitable way in which em- Every year we select a different project, where
pirical SE can be taught in bachelor level of study. all student teams solve the same problem. As op-
Table 1. Weekly schedule for the course DSA posite, on the master courses Information systems
Week Theme development and Project management students
Software engineering fundamentals. work individually. The course DSA is the first un-
Week 1 dergraduate course where students learn about the
Software development life cycle.
Week 2 Project definition. Project plan. software development life cycle in practice and
Requirements specification. Unified thus we believe they should performed in a con-
Week 3 trolled environment.
modeling language basics.
Coding standards. Programming
Week 4 Forming teams
techniques.
Week 5 Graphical user interface. The team is the key component for successful
Week 6 Data access logic. student outcomes and individual learning accord-
Week 7 Object-relational mapping. ing to PBL. Team is committed to a common goal
Week 8 Software architectures. and the members share responsibilities and tasks
Week 9 Multi-layered applications. in line with individual goals.
Universal and self-adaptable program The teams are formed during the first week of a
Week 10 semester and become operational within the next
modules. Report design.
Week 11 Web applications. two weeks. The teams have five to seven mem-
Week 12 Service oriented architecture. bers. There are several strategies to form a team,
Interactive help and software based on students’ personality, knowledge and
Week 13 ambition. Jenkins [26, 27] identifies four catego-
documentation. Software release.
ries of students: “rocket scientists” (already profi-
About one hundred students enroll the course cient programmers.), “copers” (those who would
DSA each academic year, which complicates form- find the module challenging, but who would cope
ing, monitoring and control of the teams. In contrast and eventually pass reasonably well), “strugglers”
to that, in [24] the authors presented the successful (those who would find the module difficult, and
implementation of the SE course which enrolled a who would not pass without significant extra sup-
group of 10 to 20 students. According to [25] truly port), “competents” (those who remain, who will
real-world problems, such as those engaging stu- pass with limited support provided as and when
dents in internships, cannot easily be brought to needed). Teams can be selected so that academi-
such a number of undergraduate students. cally weaker students gain the advantage of work-
ing with academically stronger students [3].
One cannot know the category a student be-
5.3. Organizational context
longs to, so the teams are formed based on the
Project preparation available information such as the module of study
To make student project feasible, the real proj- a student enrolled in (it is assumed that students
ect scope must be reduced and project priorities who enrolled SE module are better programmers
must be redefined. For example, although a GIS than the others) and repeating enrollment. The
map is the key feature of CROFlora and CRO- objective is to form mixed but equally competent
Fauna, it has the lowest priority when considering teams.
those projects as student projects. Since the aim
of the course is to teach the students applications
development through the project life cycle phases,

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Preparation of development environment and The midterms and homeworks represent the proj-
collaboration environment ect milestones.
Obligatory development environment is Micro- The homework assignments and the exams
soft Visual Studio (VS) Team System (VS is obliga- evaluate the project progress and different aspects
tory Integrated Development Environment (IDE) of development life cycle. Homework and exam
for the course Development of Software Applica- are not separate problems. They are rather small
tions. In the course Information system develop- units of the students’ project.
ment students can choose the IDE they like best). Although written at home (or in the classrooms
Students have access to Microsoft Team Founda- and halls) homework assignments and reviewed
tion Server (TFS) where they can control the source by assistants in labs, in front of students. Those
code of their solutions, assign the tasks and so on. reviews are very important for students because
They also have access to common database man- they get the feedback of quality of their solutions
agement system (Microsoft SQL Server) where and they can make the corrections on time.
they can create and manipulate the team database. Short tests consist of multi-choice questions
The obligatory programming language is C#. with one correct answer. They evaluate general
Students’ projects are compiled and built auto- knowledge of software development. The test
matically on a regular basis (according to Daily questions examine conceptual knowledge, which
Build and Smoke Test [28]), after which students is also important in the context of SE [8, 29].
and teachers receive e-mail notifications of the Classroom activity considers attendance to
build results. This procedure enables detection of lectures and collaboration between students and
the linking errors and avoids situations when the teachers. The interview with the user (either real
software “works at home, but not in the lab”. The or emulated) is also considered a class activity.
described development environment is very simi- Each team member works on one segment of
lar to that in professional real-world projects. the problem domain of a project. Although all
teams solve the same problem, every project has a
5.4. Course organization and grading unique work breakdown structure and distribution
of its segments (tasks) amongst team members,
The course consists of the following assign- because they depend on the quality of systems
ments (Since this academic year due to faculty analysis and design and on the team performance.
regulations, there would be only one mid-term Consequently, the solutions differ in terms of
exam instead of two): high-level design, coding style, naming conven-
– Six homework assignments tion, data models, user interface design etc. All
– Three short tests on computer this makes cheating impossible because it is easier
– Classroom activity to write own piece of code then to copy, modify
– Two midterm exams (and debug!) somebody else’s code.
– Final exam The overall course grade for a student is calcu-
lated by converting the scores on the exams and
The students’ final product on the course is the the homework into a grade-point score. The grad-
implementation of the given real-world project. ing scheme is given in Table 2.
Table 2. The grading scheme for the course DSA
Percent of grade
Type of assignment Min. of points to pass
Group part Individual part
Homework 50% 0% 15%
Short exams 50% 0% 30%
Class activity 0% 0% 5%
Midterm exams 50% 8% 22%
Final exam 50% 4% 16%
Total 50% 12% 88%

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 technics technologies education management

Points of all assignments except exams are years, but the delivery was less frequent, thus less
strictly individual. Points on exams are earned for stressful for students, who stopped to complain on
individual and group work separately, where indi- homework.
vidual work prevails. Individual points bring 88% Common database server. Every student team
and group points 12% of overall points. The exams develops a common database. In the beginning,
look like verification and validation where the assis- the students designed and integrated their databas-
tants evaluate the technical aspects and the teacher es locally and then delivered it to the source con-
(acting as a customer) validates the solution against trol system TFS. For each update, the database file
the requirements. Students have to reach minimum had to be re-attached in database server on each
of 50% of the points on each of the assignments and personal computer, by team members and assis-
for overall points to pass the course. tants, which was time consuming and error-prone.
Setting up the common database server eased the
5.5. Course evaluation and feedback database development and the evaluation of the
students’ tasks significantly.
Students consider the course hard but very use-
ful, which are the main characteristics of the real-
world projects. We gained good feedback from
students who were employed after graduation, and
also from their employers. Furthermore, students
appreciate the effort assistants and teacher put in
permanent collaboration and consultations pro-
vided almost as 24/7 service.
Distribution of the overall point on the course
DSA through the four years is presented in Fig-
ure 1. The differences in distribution between
the years are minor. Distribution of points (for Figure 1. Distribution of overall points for the
students that have passed the exam) is similar to course DSA
Gauss distribution (Figure 1). Distributions of the
points earned on the assignments separately are Automated build (and smoke test). The major
Gauss-like as well. problem in the first two years of the course was
We believe that the grading scheme presented discrepancy in versions of students’ solutions at
in Table 2 with emphasis on minimum of 50% on home computers and at assistants’ computers as
each assignment to pass the course have caused they have often forgotten to check-in changes in
the Gauss-like distribution, which is not the case their projects. This led to negative evaluation of
for many other courses at authors’ faculty which students’ homework when assistants were unable
doesn’t have the minimum of the points on indi- to build students’ solutions. Last year, we enabled
vidual assignments. automated build at the server so the students could
We continuously improve the course based on check if their solutions were built successfully and
our experience and on the comments from stu- had chance to make corrections before coming to
dents’ surveys. Here are some notable changes we formal verification. Regardless of whether the stu-
have made during the years: dents had enough time to correct the errors, at least
Decreased number of homework assignments. bugs discovered on exams did not surprise them.
In the first two years of the course, students had Obligatory laboratories. At the beginning, the
to deliver their homework once a week (twelve laboratories were not obligatory and only a small
homeworks altogether). They were complaining number of students ever showed up. As the stu-
on homework frequency, so next two years we dents were not present at the evaluation of their
recombined existing homeworks into six home- homework, they did not get the appropriate feed-
works. The total points for homeworks and the back. So the laboratories became obligatory and
amount of work were the same as for the first two now the students have to demonstrate their up-

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 technics technologies education management

loads. The students can explain their solution and possibilities and development duration so it would
assistants can give them suggestions about the be the best if a student can join an existing team of
corrections and future work. teachers and assistants working for a real custom-
Student assistants. Student assistants are the er. Exception can be made for students that previ-
students who participated the course antecedent ously showed good results. The business relations
year and who help the actual students in labs and with the customer should be agreed (preferably
share their experience about the course. Often, stu- contracted) in advance, defining the responsibili-
dents feel freer to ask student assistants for help, ties for the future development and maintenance.
rather than asking teaching assistants. In authors’ opinion use of real-world projects
In [30] framework for evaluating the impact in teaching process is win-win-win combination
of assignments on students learning has been pro- for all stakeholders in the process – potential us-
posed. Although it was not our primary motivation, ers, students and teaching staff in which a potential
we are happy that the course satisfies all eleven con- user gets value for money (or value for no money).
ditions proposed by the framework. The students’ For students it a valuable experience. Real-world
effort is evenly distributed across topics and weeks projects increase students’ motivation, ensuring
(conditions 1 and 2 from [30]). Real-world proj- that students are not anymore primarily interested
ects engage students in productive learning activity just in getting a good grade without too much ef-
and put high expectations to students (conditions 3 fort. The students are aware that it is a great way
and 4 from [30]). They have to attend homework for them to increase their experience and they are
reviews getting accurate feedback very fast. Some- willing to work harder if they find their work use-
times they get all points for homework even if they ful for the customer or beneficial for students’ fu-
have made some minor mistakes, but have to fix ture. From the authors’ experience, uncertainty of
them until the exam. Such approach can increase tasks provokes creativity, but can make the students
motivation, release pressure and help students to less satisfied at the same time. We believe that the
keep the focus on the problem. Given feedback is course described in this paper can be a good basis
used to improve their work to be delivered for the for students to decide whether they want to become
exams. With such organization of assignments’ re- software engineers and software developers or not.
views, conditions 5 to 11 from [30] are satisfied. We face them with near-the-professional reality and
in turn hear comments like “I spent too much time
6. Conclusion in debugging”, “It works at my computer…”, “I
don’t know what user wants…”, so we can easily
Teaching based on real-world projects is chal- answer “Welcome to the club”.
lenging and requires special effort and time to de- In order to use real-world projects in teach-
vise and adapt the student projects and to coordi- ing environment, teaching staff have to devote an
nate or emulate the real user. The course DSA pre- additional effort. Although the workload, project
sented in the article deals with software develop- performance and software deliverables can be
ment principles, not the technology, although the measured, some things are intangible, such as
technology is extensively used in order to achieve pleasure, pride, experience, frustration, etc. Suc-
the project goals. As the principles do not change cessful implementation of real-world projects
often, the basic structure of the course remain the makes teaching staff more attractive to students,
same since the course was introduced five years up to date with implementations of new technolo-
ago. The technology changes more frequently, so gy and enables creation of new courses. Good de-
the source code examples need to be refreshed and liverables make teaching staff satisfied, although
upgraded to new versions every year. sometimes frustration could occur as a side effect
When assigning real-world projects for semi- of effort devoted to unsuccessful projects. Howev-
nars and degree theses, a special attention should er, real-world examples can make education more
be paid to selection of students in order to ensure interesting, simultaneously serving as foundation
feasibility of student projects. Student’s work for future research or startup of business projects.
brings uncertainty about code quality, integration Finally, they can be a good reference too.

184 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

Acknowledgement 11. Buckley M., et al., Benefits of using socially-rele-

vant projects in computer science and engineering
This work was carried out within the research education. SIGCSE Bull., 2004; 36(1): 482-486.
project “Sustainable development of information
systems”, supported by the Ministry of Science, 12. Kershner H., et al., Partnering with Social Service
Organizations to Develop Socially-Relevant Proj-
Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia. ects in Computer Science and Engineering.

13. Hayes J.H., Energizing Software Engineering Edu-

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Corresponding Author
Boris Milasinovic,
Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing,
University of Zagreb,
Zagreb,
Croatia,
E-mail: boris.milasinovic@fer.hr

186 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

Competitiveness of higher education: A cross

- national perspective
Jozsef Kabok1, Tibor Kis2, Goran Andjelic3, Vladimir Djakovic4
1
Provincial Secretariat for Science and Technological Development, Novi Sad, Serbia,
2
Faculty of Economics of Subotica, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia,
3
Faculty of Business in Services, Educons University, Sremska Kamenica, Serbia,
4
Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia.

Abstract within the education system of those countries and

the need for their engagement in the global mar-
The competitiveness of higher education is a
ket competition in the field of European Higher
determinant of the increase of the overall social
Education Area. The volume and structure of in-
and economic development, while knowledge re-
vestments, as one of the basic determinants of the
sources represent a competitive advantage for fur-
higher education competitiveness, especially in
ther growth of countries and regions in Europe. In
transitional countries, depend on the investment
the Republic of Serbia and its Autonomous Prov-
model for higher education, used in those coun-
ince of Vojvodina, as a European region and part of
tries. The investment model used in the Republic
the European Higher Education Area, the compet-
of Serbia does not increase the higher education
itiveness of higher education has been considered
competitiveness in comparison with the countries
in the context of development and implementation
of the European Union.
of the new investment model for higher education.
The subject matter of this paper is the higher
The subject matter of this paper is an alteration in
education competitiveness of selected European
the level of the competitiveness of higher educa-
countries and the possibility of increasing the
tion in the Serbia by means of the implementation
higher education competitiveness of the Republic
of the new investment model, while the purpose
of Serbia and its Autonomous Province of Vojvo-
of the study is to determine the higher education
dina, as a European region, by means of estab-
competitiveness index and rating of the Serbia,
lishing the new investment model. Establishment
that is of the Vojvodina, in comparison with se-
and implementation of the new investment model
lected European countries. The results of the study
which should enable greater competitiveness of
imply that the Serbia and Vojvodina, both lag be-
higher education in the Republic of Serbia, are
hind the majority of analysed European countries,
also the subject matters of this paper.
as far as the higher education competitiveness is
The purpose of the study is to use econometric
concerned, but they also imply that the implemen-
analysis of selected indicators, based on the data
tation of the new investment model would contrib-
from 2009 and determine specific, qualified and
ute to the improvement of their competitiveness.
scientifically based data on the competitiveness
Key words: competitiveness, higher educa-
index of higher education in the Republic of Ser-
tion, investment.
bia and its Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, as
a European region, in comparison with 26 coun-
1. Introduction tries of the European Union, Republic of Croatia
Development of higher education in Europe and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in
requires not only greater volume, efficiency and 2009. In the same manner, the purpose is to ap-
effectiveness of the funds invested in higher edu- ply the new investment model to initial data of
cation, but also the increased competitiveness of selected indicators, to establish variations of the
higher education. The aspect of the higher edu- higher education index and rating of the Repub-
cation competitiveness gains more value in tran- lic of Serbia, that is of the Autonomous Province
sitional countries, considering the dynamics of of Vojvodina in comparison with the abovemen-
social and economic changes, as well as changes tioned countries.

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The paper is divided into five chapters. The in- sitional countries. Universities contribute to com-
troductory part encompasses the subject matter petitiveness of countries, thereby determining
and goals of the study, the second chapter refers to whether those countries will benefit from globali-
theoretical premises of the higher education com- sation and in what way. Establishment of scientific
petitiveness and overview of relevant researches in centres make universities and industry powerful
this field which can be compared with the subject- partners in new development contents aimed at
specific study. The third chapter outlines the meth- increased competitiveness [3]. The programme of
odology of the study, while the fourth chapter anal- Hungarian universities Univerzitas is an example
yses the results of the study pertaining to the higher of the abovementioned statement, while the same
education competitiveness of selected European programme is dedicated to improvement of com-
countries, the Republic of Serbia and AP Vojvodi- petitiveness of Hungarian higher education [4].
na. On the basis of the analysis of the study results, In the process of reviewing competitiveness
the conclusions offer measures and activities to the of their universities, some countries, such as Fin-
authors of the higher education development strat- land, have attempted to improve performance of
egy and policy in the European Union, Republic of univiersities by introducing reforms of the higher
Serbia, that is AP Vojvodina aimed at improving education system, in the form of extended auton-
competitiveness of higher education. omy of universities and integration processes, i.e.
merging of different universities, for the purpose
2. Theoretical Premises of concentrating their resources and increasing the
overall higher education competitiveness [5].
The higher education competititiveness has Conclusions of the UNESCO Forum on Higher
been discussed in scientific literature in the con- Education in Education in the Europe Region [6]
text of the existing problem in operating of the imply that academic competitiveness, including
higher education market and the role of the state in the higher education competitiveness, should be as-
the higher education management. There are also sessed on the basis of clear and transparent academic
issues of the higher education competitiveness re- criteria. Competitiveness of universities is not only
lated to its quality, as well as valid and reliable measured with respect to efficiency of their projects
information about envisaged public and private or in comparison with other universities in the coun-
benefits of higher education which have been ex- try or region, but at the global level, in comparison
amined. The conclusion is that certain investment with the most competitive universities [7].
models for higher education encourage institu- Unlike previous studies stated as comparative
tions to enroll a large number of students which in the research sector, this study is focused on
decreases the quality of higher education [1]. the impact of the investment model on the higher
Increase of the higher education competitive- education competitiveness in the Republic of Ser-
ness is one of the key issues of economic and so- bia, that is Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in
cial development of numerous countries. Teodor comparison with competitiveness of 26 countries
Berhem [2] concludes that the European Union of the European Union, Republic of Croatia and
became the most competitive and the most dy- Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The ba-
namic economy on the planet, since universities sis for the study is the new investment model for
in the countries of the European Union were inter- higher education which is presented in the paper
related, by their nature. The same author claims titled “Investment Models for Higher Education”
that the obstacles to greater competitiveness were [8]. The new model stimulates investments per
obsolete structure and organisation of universities, student who take university study courses and it is
unable to guarantee academic prestige. based on the formula which contains input-output
In the era of knowledge, individual and so- criteria for calculation of costs in higher education
cial expectations which have been imposed upon sector. The new investment model, pertaining to
universities and other research institutions in the investments in higher education, has been modi-
field of higher educations, increase exponentially fied for the purpose of its further enhancement [9],
in highly developed countries, as well as in tran- while its qualitative and quantitative features have

188 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

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been analysed for the purpose of increased com- sary to convert certain indicators by means of the
petitiveness of higher education. reciprocal value, opposite number or subtraction
from an invariable for the purpose of adjustment.
3. Methodology of the Study Stated formulas (1-6) have been created within the
Project titled “European Competitiveness Index of
Determination of the competitiveness index of Serbia” [11].
higher education in 26 countries of the European If there are calculated element ranks by each
Union, the Republic of Serbia and its Autonomous indicator, and Rij is the Ei element rank by indica-
Province of Vojvodina the Republic of Croatia and tor Pj , the formula is as follows:
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, requires
application of the modified method patterned by R
ij
= rank E
P
( ) ,......................... (1)
i
the methodology of the study applied in the pro- j

cess of determining the European competitiveness Besides, the element with the highest value of
index, conceived by Robert Huggins [10] and used the indicator has the rank 1. The formula created
for rating of the regions of Great Britain, as well by adding an appropriate number of points Yij to
countries and regions in the European Union. Tak- each rank, so that the element with the highest
ing the accessibility of official statistical data into value of the indicator has the highest number of
account, the study was conducted for 2009. The points, is as follows:
applied methodology for determining the Euro-
pean competitiveness index has been modified in Yij=n+1-Rij,............................... (2)
this paper as compared to the original source [10], where:
and it implies implementation of the methods of Yij: number of points of the element rank
analysis and synthesis, statistical and mathemati- Rij: element rank
cal methods, in particular, the method of linear n: number of elements
programming, based on the rating of countries by
respective analysed indicators. The abovementioned method enables each in-
In order to determine the higher education com- dicator to be awarded a sequence of integer value
petitiveness index of the aforementioned countries points, corresponding to specific elements by spe-
and AP Vojvodina and according to official sta- cific indicators. The determined goal is to estab-
tistical data for 2009, three indicators which, ac- lish the derived unique point value belonging to
cording to the abovementiond methodology of the specific elements and which encompasses points
study, have a role to increase the higher education by specific indicators. For that purpose, the linear
competitiveness will be analysed: programming method (DEA method) has been ap-
- the number of students per 1000 residents plied, including maximisation of the linear com-
(P1); bination of points belonging to a certain element.
- the number of students per 100 employees The linear combination of points is achieved by
(P2); means of artificial variables:
- budgetary resources per student in Euros (P3); vj, j=1, 2, . . ., k - artificial variables correspond-
ing to specific indicators,
The second part of the paper demonstrates the whose values are restricted by the following
procedure of determination of the competitiveness condition:
index used in this paper. Let us assume there is the 0 <0 ≤vvj < 1, ∀jj.
≤1,
n number of elements Ei, i=1, 2, ..., n with k num- j

ber of indicators Pj , j=1, 2,…, k each. The condi- For the combination of indicators, a set of n re-
tion for application of calculation procedure and strictions, belonging to specific elements, has been
accurate interpretation of results is for indicators established:
to be adjusted so that higher value of each indi- k
cator has equal positive effect (or negative effect) ∑ Yijv j ≤ 1, i =
1,2,...,n ,................. (3)
j=1
on the common indicator, otherwise it is neces-

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where: mean of original indicators, and then deviations of

Yij: number of points of the element rank; original indicators which will be corrected so that
vj: artificial variables corresponding to specific the obtained mean is 100.
indicators. By means of the linear programming, Final index point values, which have been
the optimum values of artificial variables have awarded to specific elements and which indicate
been determined, including upper limits and cri- the relative position in comparison with other el-
terion function: ements, are calculated by correcting standardised
k
derived indicators with the mean deviation of orig-
max ∑ Yij=
⋅v j z = i 1,2,...,n ,........... (4) inal indicator values, using the following formula:
i( i )
j=1
K=
i
S i ⋅σ p +100 ,........................... (6)
Where the subscript letter “i” indicates that op-
timisation has been performed for the “ith” element, where:
with its own (ith) limitation integrated in the crite- σp: original indicator mean deviation;
rion function. In this manner, each element is asso- Si: derived indicator standard scores;
ciated with the optimum set of artificial variables Ki: final index point values.
(vi1, vi2, . . ., vik)opt and corresponding maximum
The obtained index points Ki indicate the rela-
value of the criterion function, i.e. linear combina-
tive position of a given element in the set as well,
tion of point values and artificial variables: zi(i).
where index point values have been adjusted to
The obtained values zi(i) per specific elements
the order of magnitude of original variables. The
are mutually independent, and in order to obtain
purpose of the obtained index points is consistent
commensurable results, the following operation
with the purpose of initial variables, which means
will be performed. For each element of the set,
that if initial variables by their values indicate the
an indicator of the criterion function value will be
better position of the set elements, index points
calculated which will be achieved using the opti-
will indicate it just as well.
mum values of artificial variables from all other
Initially, this study uses the described method
optimisations:
based on the initial data by given indicators to cal-
k culate the higher education index of 26 countries
z 1,2,...,n ,.......... (5)
∑ Yhj ⋅v hj, i,h =
=
h( i )
j=1
of the European Union, Republic of Serbia, AP
Vojvodina as well as the Republic of Croatia and
where: Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia for 2009.
zh(i): criterion function value for the h -th ele- The initial data by given indicators for the Republic
ment, with these optimum values of artificial vari- of Serbia, that is AP Vojvodina pertain to the appli-
ables obtained from the optimisation for the (i)-th cation of the existing investment model for higher
element; education in 2009. The next step is the ex-post ap-
Yij: number of points of the element rank; plication, under the same conditions, of the new in-
vj: artificial variables corresponding to specific vestment model for higher education on the initial
indicators. data by given indicators pertaining to the Republic
The result of the calculation is the set of n2 de- of Serbia and AP Vojvodina for the purpose of as-
rived indicators zh(i). sessing the impact of the model on variations in the
For the purpose of obtaining the unique sys- higher education competitiveness.
tem of n commensurable indicators, geometric The methodology of the study has used the new
and arithmetic mean will be calculated for each modified investment model for higher education
element, after which their standardisation will be [9]. Enhancement of the abovementioned invest-
performed so as to calculate the mean deviations ment model for higher education produces the in-
and standard score of elements. In order for the vestment model based on formulas and input-output
standard scores of elements to be adjusted to the criteria for calculation of the spending per student,
values of original indicators, operation which will which at the same time increases the number of uni-
be performed is the calculation of the arithmetic versity students and new jobs for graduate students.

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Graduate student employment through higher edu- 4. Results of the Study

cation planning [12] is a qualitative feature of the
new investment model for higher education which 4.1. Competitiveness index of selected
pertains to results of the model application. The European countries, the Republic of Serbia
abovementioned new investment model for higher and AP Vojvodina, as a European region
education consists of three formulas aimed at in-
Described methodology has been applied, on
creasing the higher education competitiveness. Ap-
the basis of the initial indicators, to calculate the
plication of the new investment model on the initial
higher education competitiveness index (Table 1)
data of given indicators, have resulted in the new
of 26 countries of the European Union, Republic
indicator values for the Republic of Serbia and AP
of Serbia, AP Vojvodina, as well as the Republic of
Vojvodina which are used for calculating the higher
Croatia and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedo-
education competitiveness index.
nia for 2009, as well as their rating.
Table 1. Higher education competitiveness index and rating of selected European countries, Republic
of Serbia and AP Vojvodina, for 2009
Countries or Number of students Number of students Budgetary resources Index
Rating
regions per 1000 residents per 100 employees per student in Euros points
P1 P2 P3
1 Finland 55.70 12.07 11031.90 165.6
2 Sweden 45.65 9.39 14497.26 154.3
3 Denmark 42.56 8.45 23175.45 148.7
4 Greece 53,54 13,37 5737,65 146,5
5 Ireland 41.04 9.53 11493.94 141.8
6 Belgium 39.23 9.62 11252.47 133.8
7 Slovenia 56.28 11.66 3910.00 132.9
8 Lithuania 62.91 14.88 1592.58 123.1
9 Spain 39.30 9.53 6048.46 119.9
10 Latvia 55.44 12.75 1676.93 115.7
11 Austria 36.88 7.56 14910.14 115.3
12 Poland 56.38 13.55 1559.26 113.8
13 Estonia 50.86 11.44 2528.24 111.4
14 Netherlands 37.52 7.20 14354.11 106.1
15 Cyprus 38.88 8.13 10834.66 102.5
16 Hungary 39.65 10.52 2648.30 101..
17 Slovakia 43.42 9.93 2222.96 99.4
18 France 33.76 8.28 11072.43 98.6
19 Czech Republic 39.82 8.45 4030.94 96.9
20 Romania 51.08 11.88 1481.48 94.2
21 Italy 33.50 8.74 5916.84 92.5
22 Portugal 35.10 7.38 5476.71 73.3
23 United Kingdom 33.25 7.08 7325.59 73.0
24 Germany 29.74 6.29 12598.64 67.4
25 Croatia 31.36 8.66 2807.35 65.8
26 Serbia 32.23 12.49 1139.26 56.1
27 Malta 25.03 6.39 5814.14 43.6
28 Bulgaria 36.05 8.43 911.02 39.7
29 AP Vojvodina 27.91 11.04 1124.68 34.3
30 FYR Macedonia 28.26 13.58 572.91 32.7
Data source: Eurostat, 2009 [13,14,15]; Statistical Almanac of the Republic of Serbia, 2010 [16] and Author’s calculations.

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According to presented data a conclusion can be 4.2. Competitiveness index of the Republic of
drawn that the most competitive higher education, Serbia and AP Vojvodina, as a European
on the basis of applied methodology and among 26 region, for 2009 after applying the new
countries of the European Union, has been identi- investment model
fied in Scandinavian countries where budgetary
investments and output criteria, used in calculation Data on the competitiveness index and rating
of the spending per student, represent the basis of of higher education of the Republic of Serbia and
the investment model for higher education: Finland its AP Vojvodina in comparison with 26 countries
is ranked 1st with 165.6 index points, followed by of the European Union, the Republic of Croatia
Sweden and Denmark ranked 2nd and 3rd respective- and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia for
ly, with 154.3 and 148.7 index points respectively. 2009, after applying the new investment model,
The significant level of competitiveness is also no- according to the new methodology, have been pre-
ticeable in Greece, ranked 4th, Ireland ranked 5th and sented in Table 2 below.
Belgium ranked 6th. It is particularly important to Data in Table 2 indicate that the application of
emphasise the high rating of the competitiveness of the new investment model has contributed to rais-
Greece due to positive effects of two higher edu- ing of the higher education competitiveness of the
cation competitiveness indicators: the number of Republic of Serbia from 56.1 to 68.5 index points,
students per 1000 residents, as well as the number as well as to improvement in ranking from 26th to
of students per 100 employees. The lowest level 24th place, in comparison with 26 countries of the
of the higher education competitiveness and the European Union, AP Vojvodina, the Republic of
smallest numerical value of competitiveness indi- Croatia and Former Yugoslav Republic of Mace-
cators are evident among the analysed countries of donia. The higher education competitiveness of
the European Union, such as Malta and Bulgaria AP Vojvodina has been similarly improved, by
with 43.6 and 39.7 index points respectively. There means of application of the new investment model
are clearly visible inequalities of the higher educa- for higher education in the Republic of Serbia,
tion competitiveness among the analysed countries, since the initial 34.3 index points, have increased
since the difference in calculated index points of the to 43.4, while the rating of AP Vojvodina has im-
most and the least competitive countries is over 110 proved from 29th to 27th place. The new invest-
index points. ment model for higher education which has been
As far as the higher education competitiveness proposed in the Republic of Serbia, enhances the
is concerned, analysed according to the existing volume, structure, efficiency and effectiveness
investment model for higher education, based ex- of investments in higher education, increases the
clusively on the input criteria of the calculation of number of students and stimulates their employ-
costs, the Republic of Serbia in 2009 was ranked ment, which in return, also contributes to its in-
26th with 56.1 index points, while AP Vojvodina creased competitiveness.
was ranked 29th with 34.3 index points.
Among the neighbouring countries of the Re- 5. Conclusions
public of Serbia, with similar higher education
The results of the study show great differences
systems and investment models for higher educa-
concerning the higher education competitiveness
tion, the most noticeable is the competitiveness of
among the analysed countries and regions of Eu-
the Republic of Slovenia taking very high 7th place
rope, while the stated fact requires a unique ap-
with 132.9 index points, while the Republic of
proach to drafting of the higher education com-
Croatia is ranked 25th with 65.8 index points, and
petitiveness development strategy in the European
according to the applied methodology, the lowest
Union. Creation of the knowledge-based society
level of the higher education competitiveness has
requires the increased share of highly educated
been identified in the Former Yugoslav Republic
population, therfore making the issue of achiev-
of Macedonia, which among the analysed coun-
ing, maintaining and increasing the level of the
tries of the European Union and AP Vojvodina
higher education competitiveness, one of the key
takes the last 30th place with 32.7 index points.

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Table 2. Higher education competitiveness index and rating of selected European countries, the Repu-
blic of Serbia and AP Vojvodina, for 2009 after applying the new investment model
Number of students Number of students Budgetary resources Index
Rating Country or region
per 1000 residents per 100 employees per student in Euros points
P1 P2 P3
1 Finland 55.70 12.07 11031.90 165.6
2 Sweden 45.65 9.39 14497.26 156.5
3 Denmark 42.56 8.45 23175.45 150.9
4 Greece 53.54 13.37 5737.65 145.8
5 Ireland 41.04 9.53 11493.94 143.4
6 Belgium 39.23 9.62 11252.47 134.6
7 Slovenia 56.28 11.66 3910.00 131.9
8 Lithuania 62.91 14.88 1592.58 121.0
9 Spain 39.30 9.53 6048.46 120.9
10 Austria 36.88 7.56 14910.14 116.5
11 Latvia 55.44 12.75 1676.93 113.4
12 Estonia 50.86 11.44 2528.24 110.1
13 Poland 56.38 13.55 1559.26 110.1
14 Netherlands 37.52 7.20 14354.11 107.8
15 Cyprus 38.88 8.13 10834.66 104.0
16 Hungary 39.65 10.52 2648.30 101.7
17 Slovakia 43.42 9.93 2222.96 99.6
18 Czech Republic 39.82 8.45 4030.94 98.3
19 France 33.76 8.28 11072.43 96.1
20 Romania 51.08 11.88 1481.48 90.9
21 Italy 33.50 8.74 5916.84 89.2
22 Portugal 35.10 7.38 5476.71 72.2
23 United Kingdom 33.25 7.08 7325.59 70.9
24 Serbia 35.42 13.71 1197.16 68.5
25 Croatia 31.36 8.66 2807.35 65.3
26 Germany 29.74 6.29 12598.64 63.7
27 AP Vojvodina 30.68 12.12 1181.84 43.4
28 Malta 25.03 6.39 5814.14 42.7
29 Bulgaria 36.05 8.43 911.02 38.7
30 FYR Macedonia 28.26 13.58 572.91 26.5
Data source: Eurostat, 2009 [13,14,15]; Statistical Almanac of the Republic of Serbia, 2010 [16] and Author’s calculations.

issues which authors of the higher education de- tem in a transitional country, such as the Republic
velopment strategies in the analysed countries of Serbia. Application of the new investment mod-
should resolve. el for higher education in the Republic of Serbia,
The same results also indicate the low level based on the increase in budgetary investments for
of the higher education competitiveness of the higher education per student, increase in the num-
Republic of Serbia and its AP Vojvodina in com- ber of students and graduate student employment
parison with 26 countries of the European Union, rate, improves the higher education competitive-
the Republic of Croatia and Former Yugoslav Re- ness in the Republic of Serbia, that is AP Vojvo-
public of Macedonia. The higher education com- dina. The study results also show the authors of
petitiveness of the Republic of Serbia, that is AP the higher education development strategy of the
Vojvodina does not correspond to the need and de- Republic of Serbia, that is AP Vojvodina, the need
velopment dynamics of the higher education sys- for undertaking measures and activities within

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their scope of competences, with the purpose of 6. UNESCO. Access, Values, Quality and Competitivness.
improving the higher education competitiveness UNESCO Forum on Higher Education in the Europe
Region, Bucharest, Romania May 21 – 24 2009.
in the forthcoming period, by means of applica-
tion of the new investment model. 7. Marga A. The University of the 21st Century. Studia
Problems in the study pertain to methodological Universitatis Babes-Bolyai. Studia Europea, 2008;
inconsistency of presented data of Eurostat [13,14,15] LIII(1): pp. 5 – 39.
and the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia 8. Kabok J. Investment Models for Higher Education.
[16], therefore, the used data have been processed Annals of the Faculty of Economics in Subotica,
by means of the procedure and unique methodology 2010; 46(24): pp. 155-168.
suitable for application in this study. Limitation in the 9. Kabok J, Djaković V, Andjelić G. Investment Model
subject-specific study pertains to the fact that, due Aimed at Raising Competitiveness of Higher Educa-
to unavailability and inadequacy of data, it was not tion. Proceedings of the XVth International Scientific
possible to present in the paper the higher education Conference on Industrial Systems, Novi Sad, Serbia,
September 14 - 16 2011; pp. 446 – 450.
competitiveness of the whole European Union and
to compare it with the higher education competitive- 10. Huggins R. Designing A European Competitiveness
ness of the Republic of Serbia, that is AP Vojvodina. Index: Measuring the Performance and Capacity of
Europe’ s Regions and Nations. European Regional
The course of further researches will be focused on
Economic Forum, Nova Gorica, Slovenia, October
the analysis of the higher education competitiveness 27 - 28, 2005.
of Former Yugoslav republics, by means of applica-
tion of the new investment model according to the 11. Ćosić I, Katić V, Kiš T, Andjelić G. Study: European
Competitiveness Index of Serbia. University of Novi
prescribed methodology, in comparison with the Sad, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Novi Sad, 2009.
countries of the European Union.
12. Tinbergen J, Correa H. Quantitative adaptation of
education to accelerate growth. Seminar on the pro-
Acknowledgement gramming of Economic Development, Sao Paulo,
Brazil, 30 December, 1962 - 17 th January, 1963;
The Authors Acknowledge the Financial Sup- UNESCO document, Cataloge Number: 157619.
port of the Ministry of Science and Technological
13. Eurostat Employment statistics, 2009; Available
Development of the Republic of Serbia, within the
from: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/
Project No. 47028. portal/employment_unemployment_lfs/data/data-
base [Accessed on 30th August 2011].
References 14. Eurostat Population statistics, 2009; Available
from: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/
1. Eicher J, Chevailler T. Rethinking the Financing of
portal/population/data/database, [Accessed on 30th
Post-Compulsory Education. Higher Education in
August 2011].
Europe, 2002; 27(1-2): pp. 69 - 99.
15. Eurostat Tertiary education statistics, 2009; Avail-
2. Berchem T. The University as an Agora – Based on
able from: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statis-
Cultural and Academic Values. Higher Education in
tics_explained/index.php/Tertiary_education_statis-
Europe, 2006; 31(4): pp. 395 -396.
tics, [Accessed on 30th August 2011].
3. Nursall A. Building public knowledge: collabora-
16. Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, Statisti-
tions between science centres, universities and in-
cal Almanac of Serbia, Belgrade 2010.
dustry. International Journal of Technology Manage-
ment, 2003; 25(5): pp. 381-389.
4. Lentner C. The Competitiveness of Hungarian Uni- Corresponding Author
versity Based Knowledge Centres in European Eco- Jozsef Kabok,
nomic and Higher Education Area. Transformations Provincial Secretariat for Science and
in Business & Economics, 2007; 6(2): pp. 87 - 99. Technological Development,
Novi Sad,
5. Tammi T. The competitive funding of university Serbia,
research: the case of Finnish science universities. E-mail: Jozef.Kabok@vojvodina.gov.rs
Higher Education, 2009; 57(5): pp. 657 - 679.

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Terrorist activities and internet government

with focus on importance of prevention within
a family
Zaklina Spalevic1, Milan Pocuca2, Zeljko Bjelajac2
1
Faculty of Law, University Sinergija, Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
2
Faculty of Law for Economy end Justice, University Business Academy, Novi Sad, Serbia.

Abstract From the time of ICANN, the debate about

This paper describes and analysis the attempt to “Internet governance” is characterized by a num-
introduce Internet governance as a special model ber of government interference countries around
against terrorist organizations, driven by increas- the world, mainly through the United Nations.
ing number of terrorist cells that use the Internet At the first World Summit of Information Soci-
for the purpose of disseminating information, re- ety (WSIS), held in Geneva in December 2003
cruiting new members and communication in the the question of “Internet governance” was on the
preparation of their acts. This model of struggle session agenda of diplomatic representatives. Dec-
is primarily related to: content control of Internet laration of Principles and Action Plan adopted at
communications and efforts in passing legislation the WSIS summit 2003rd, proposed a number of
to place certain content on the Internet. changes. When the term “Internet Governance”
Key words: E- Government, Cyber terrorism, was presented at the WSIS Summit, many coun-
Geographical Location of The Software, Preven- tries associated it to the concept of government.
tion of Terrorist Activities, Family. One of consequence was the belief that the “In-
ternet governance” should be primarily applied to
the intergovernmental level, with limited participa-
1. Introduction
tion and responsibility of certain individuals. The
Establishment of a global government is a huge question is what was the main reason for this ter-
and complex thing, and therefore we can assume minological confusion? Gelbestein and Kurbalija
what is the complexity of setting up Internet gover- claim that to the most people term “Administra-
nance. Efforts to try to pass laws on a global scale tion” means “government.” They point out that the
are the efforts that must include economic, cultural, term “good governance” is used by the World Bank
developmental, legal and political interests of dif- to promote the reform of the state, thus introduc-
ferent states, the state association and the owners of ing more transparency, reducing corruption and
multinational companies complicate further even in increasing the efficiency of administration, taking
the area of computer systems. International terror- action in the field of “Internet governance”, includ-
ism via the Internet is a significant security issue ing the establishment of the Working Group on
which importance was highly understood on 11th “Internet governance” (WGIG)[1]. This was nec-
September 2001. This terrorist attack, consider- essary because the terms “Internet” and “manage-
ing advances in information and communication ment” were the subject of controversial views, as
technologies added new dimensions of this global was the concept of “Internet governance”[2]. The
problem. In newspapers and magazines, in movies term “management” was a completely different
and on television, in research and analysis, “cyber perceived during WSIS summit. Poor understand-
terrorism” has become a key word. In the year 1998 ing stemmed from confusion in terminology.
was formed an international organization ICANN When the term “Internet Governance” was
(Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and presented at the WSIS Summit, many countries
Numbers), which is a non-profitable, public-private related it the concept of government. One con-
partnership company whose mission is to preserve sequence of this was the belief that the “Internet
the operational stability of the Internet. governance” should be primarily applied to the

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intergovernmental level, with limited participa- on the Internet audio recording that lasted for 30
tion and responsibility of certain individuals. The minutes, explaining who he was, what he was fight-
question is what was the main reason for this ter- ing for and explained the details of the attack for
minological confusion? Gelbestein and Kurbalija which he and his group will be responsible.
claim that to the most people to “Administration” Before this campaign encouraging speech on
means “government.” They point out that the term the Internet, the goal of each of the al-Zarqawi at-
“good governance” is used by the World Bank to tacks was the killing of many people in order to
promote the reform of the state, thus introducing emphasis the fact of the chaos and the large num-
more transparency, reducing corruption and in- ber of casualties in Iraq. The appearance to the
creasing the efficiency of administration[3]. Based public through the Internet, al-Zarqawi could con-
on the results we may consider these two authors trol his statements about the actions of violence
that the term “administration” directly linked to and to achieve greater media significance even
key government functions [4]. with small operations.
Analyzing the concept of “Internet Manage- In May 2004. Al-Zarqawi went a step further
ment” by Robert Dahl in his article “Democracy and published online video of decapitation of U.S.
and its critics” (1989), identifies the minimum citizen hostage [8]. His aim was that through this
requirements necessary to establish an efficient image attract the attention of allies and enemies,
system of governance: government, law, sanctions which was undoubtedly successful. Al-Zarqawi
and the judiciary. risked very little on this occasion, but the effect
Dahl believes that these four mechanisms was far greater than the killing of 100 people in
form a “government” possible, i.e. government Najaf, which made him a hero of jihad through-
makes decisions about land management policy out the world [9]. The availability of this and other
that complies with the judiciary, all in accordance horrible videos on the Internet leads to the realiza-
with the legal framework and the implementation tion of the largest aspect of terrorism where terror-
of sanctions on those who do not respect the laws ists use the Internet to exchange information and
[5]. Dahl’s concept of “governance” is closer to for recruitment needs.
the “government”. “Jihad Warriors” effectively exploit the unique
WGIG has published the following definition attributes of the Internet during the last five years.
of Internet governance: “Internet governance is In fact, there are clear indications that the higher
defined through the process of their development, branches of Al-Qaeda cells that have formed spe-
implementation by Governments of the world, pri- cial task exercise of protected communications in
vate sector and civil society, and through the use almost real time, to intense transmission of tactical
of shared principles, norms, rules and decision- and technical experience, as a medium for special-
making procedures and programs that shape the ized training of its followers and the ideological
development and use of the Internet “[6]. This propaganda of the possible successors.
does not mean that the four above-mentioned In particular, the widespread use of this medium
mechanisms identified by Dahl, are not important for command and control of the cell members to
because they occur in any discussion of the rela- collect information on infrastructure facilities in a
tionship between use of the Internet by terrorists particular territory that could be targets of attacks.
and Internet governance. Internet has enabled the development of more inde-
pendent and decentralized terrorist networks, which
2. Permeation of terrorism and the internet allows these networks to operate as a decentralized
concessions or free agents (freelancers).
in less than four weeks in April and May 2004., These networks allow terrorists to operate as
now deceased Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who at one a virtual transnational organization and reach out
time was the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, attracted to their followers and sympathizers around the
huge media attention, using a thoughtful combina- world, to maintain group identity, carry out and
tion of extreme violence and publicity on the Inter- implement their indoctrination of ideology and
net [7] . In early April 2004. Al-Zarqawi uploaded principles (Gendron, 2007). Internet as a medium

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spread uncensored information, regardless of their regarding the right of speech. Control of content
validity and potential impact. It allows even small is limited to the interests of free speech and limit
groups to spread their message and exaggerate its freedom of expression. Control of speech on the
importance and threats. Internet is contrary to First Amendment law which
The militant groups are now active participants guarantees freedom of expression, even the right of
in numerous web sites. Many groups have shown public expression of hatred and similar activities.
they know how to use the power of the global in- Achieving an appropriate balance between content
formation network for the purpose of the adver- control and freedom of expression is a major chal-
tisement: Lebanese Hezbollah demonstrated this lenge. Since the U.S. Congress seeks implementa-
capability, and also the Tamil Tigers and al-Qaeda. tion of more stringent content controls, especially
after 11. September 2001. The U.S. Supreme Court
3. Content control problems upholds the protection of the First Amendment.
Freedom of expression largely determines the
In case of detection of terrorist activities, na- position of the United States in international de-
tional governments must play a major role in con- bates on the topic of “Internet governance”. As
trolling the content on the Internet, which legally long as the United States, as a signatory to the
and lawfully have to be obtained by these coun- Convention on the Computer’s Crime, distance
tries. State agencies require operators of Internet themselves from the signing of the Additional
content and what protocols should be controlled. Protocol which refers to criminal acts of a rac-
Some groups or individuals, such as ‘haktivists’ ist and xenophobic nature which are carried out
on their own initiative omit the presence of nu- through computer systems, the problem of hate
merous terrorist organizations on the Internet. speech over the Internet remains open [10]. In oth-
Therefore, the regulatory control of content er words, while the Additional Protocol signed by
and private initiatives require active or indirect the governments of the European Union and other
participation of private companies, especially In- signatory countries, where it is possible to add
ternet service providers and companies that offer other statutes expression of hate crime, according
search services of Internet content, to which state to which terrorist groups and their supporters may
and private organizations are pressing for regulat- be subject to prosecution, the same legal options
ing the content of terrorist organizations. do not exist in the legislation of the United States.
Here we must take into account the avail- For this reason, many Internet sites of terrorist
ability of appropriate technology to control con- groups are located in the United States. For ex-
tent. General access control policy content has ample, Internet service provider of Connecticut
three Internet activities starting point: human offered relocation services and virtual hosting for
rights (freedom of expression and right to com- the website of the organization Hamas in the data
municate), government (legal control of the con- center in Chicago and Connecticut. While Hamas
tent) and technology (tools to control content). Web sites were subject to observation only after
Freedom of expression and right of the user to 11 September 2001., Similar sites have been mon-
claim, receive and give information is a fundamen- itored in European countries before the event.
tal right under Article 19 of the Universal Decla- In 1997, appeared a controversial situation
ration of UN Human Rights (1948). On the other when it was discovered that the State University
hand, this statement indicates that restricts the free- of New York (SUNY) hosted the web site of the
dom of expression freedom in accordance with mo- Revolutionary Army of Colombia (FARC), a web
rality, public order and general welfare (Article 29). site of the Revolutionary Tupac Amaru Movement
Therefore, the discussion on the implementation of Solidarity’s hosted at the University of California
Article 29 must be placed in the context of estab- at San Diego. SUNY shut down the official web
lishing a balance between the above views. site FARC, while San Diego has officially decided
This dualism in acts of public international law that for the freedom of speech stay on the server
on human rights opens the door to many oppor- Tupac Amaru Web site a few years more. Many
tunities for different interpretations of the norms countries have access to technologies which it is

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possible to prohibit dissent and limit the use of the users denied access to one part of the Yahoo.com
Internet with. Successful use of the Internet for the Web site in which they sale Nazi souvenirs. Most
recruitment of new members of terrorist organiza- of the content control in Asia and the Middle East
tions and other types of politic actions are based is justified for reasons of cultural and moral val-
on the assumption that users have access to the ues. In this prohibition include: ban pornographic
Internet through which they exchange messages. and gambling sites.
Thus the state can limit their effectiveness by Finally we have a third type of content that is of-
limiting access to Internet users, whether they ac- ten discussed, which contains politically and ideo-
tively censor any content on the Internet to control logically sensitive material, which is one of cen-
the infrastructure of the Internet, or to combine the sorship. There is a dilemma between the real and
preceding limitations. computer world. The existing rules on freedom of
The common element that is used for filtering speech, which exist in the real world, can be imple-
index represents sites are blocked for access. If mented on the Internet. This is best explained with-
the web site listed here to access will not be al- in the European area, where, for example, decision-
lowed. Technically speaking, the filtering is done making framework for the EU Council on combat-
by using IP routing protocols, proxy servers and ing racism and xenophobia, to determine what is
DNS redirection. Content filtering is done in illegal in the real world is illegal and virtual [11].
many countries such as China, Saudi Arabia and Therefore, one of the arguments highlighted by
Singapore, while other countries use censorship. those who believe that the Internet should have a
For example, Australia has a filtering system specific legislation, tailored to its specific charac-
for specific national web site, while the German teristics is that quantity (e.g. intensity of commu-
states of North Rhine-Vestfalia requires Internet nication, the number of messages, etc.) makes a
providers to filter access to most neo-Nazi sites. difference in quality[12]. Thus the problem of hate
There are three types of Internet content filtering speech and terrorism is that it is not required for its
capabilities based on the content or a restraining suppression, but the fact that the spread of the In-
order, which are discussed. ternet makes a distinction between terrorism and
The first type consists of content where there the spread of hatred on the Internet and its equiva-
is global agreement on the issue of control. Con- lents in the real world. Basically, most individuals
trol the spread of child pornography over the In- are exposed to this type of hate speech and it is
ternet, is an area for which there is currently the difficult to apply existing rules. Thus, differences
largest consent. Although the guidance to terror- within Internet are related mainly to problems of
ist acts and organizations of the same prohibited applying the rule, rather than the rule itself.
by international legal acts, in which there is gen-
eral agreement about how to remove such content 4. Position of U.S.A.
from the Internet, there are certain disagreements.
The reason for this is that there is no globally ac- Immediately after the events of the 11. Septem-
cepted definition of terrorism, which makes things ber, the FBI officially closed the hundreds, if not
difficult. Consent, in that respect, is still possible thousands of internet sites in the United States.
to achieve as opposed to the creation of support in For example, several radical Internet radio sta-
the fight against terrorism in any of its instances. tions, such as IRA Radio, Al Lewis Live and Our
In terms of control, another type of content, Americas, the Internet service provider in Indiana
which has been discussed, is content that may eliminated after 11. September, while FBI warned
be sensitive to certain countries, regions or eth- them that they would be deprived of means for
nic groups because of certain religious or cultur- promoting terrorism. However, since these sites,
al values. Ho most court cases refer to this type which were shut down, did not directly encour-
of content. Germany has a highly developed le- age violence and collecting money, their shutting
gal framework in this field and has experience in down was not in compliance with U.S. law and
many cases against those responsible for hosting the increasing number of them was launched soon
web sites with Nazi content. In France, Internet after they were turned off.

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Of all the laws brought after 11. September, the controlled by this “new power”. Draft Law on the
most important in terms of Internet governance is Prevention of Terrorism Act of 2005. was close
the USA PATRIOT Act-2001., which declares ille- not to be adopted in Westminster in October 2005.
gal counseling or aiding terrorists, even through its Terrorism Act 2006, was introduced in the Parlia-
Web site [13]. Babar Ahmad’s case is interesting in ment of the United Kingdom on 12 October 2005
this regard. Ahmad, who is a British citizen, was and went into force on 30 March 2006 (http://www.
the founder of two well-known sites of jihad, and opsi.gov.uk/acts/ acts2006/20060011.htm (7. 12.
azzam.com and qoqaz.net, which are hosted in the 2007.)). The opposition demanded two things:
U.S. and are the main suspects for raising funds for – the new police forces have to hold suspects
Islamist militants in Chechnya and elsewhere. The up to 90 days without charge,
UK government has agreed to extradite Ahmad to – to punish “the encouragement or glorification
the U.S. where Ahmad is serving a sentence for us- of terrorism”.
ing the Internet for terrorist purposes [14]. Ahmad
is not charged only for fundraising but also to en- As for the “glorification of terrorism”, such
courage Muslims to “use all available resources to a measure would need to clearly criminalize the
carry out military training and physical training for creation, maintenance and hosting numerous web
holy war” and giving “clear instructions” how to sites that currently exist in the UK. The main criti-
collect and direct funds, violent fundamentalist or- cism is that this provision may stifle legitimate po-
ganizations through charity organization [15]. litical speech.
Similar charges, which Ahmad should be Several other measures were included in this
charged for, were brought against other U.S. citi- bill, which could sanction the use of the Internet
zens. However, due to the high level of protection for the purposes of terrorism such as the work of
of freedom of speech in the United States, at least preparing terrorist acts and terrorist training, are
two defendants were released without charges as undoubtedly in the last parliamentary debates.
follows: Sami Omas Al-Hussayen, a doctoral student This bill came into force in 2006.
of computer science at University of Idaho, who
founded and maintained a radical web site, and 6. International initiative
Sami Amin al -Arian, a professor at the University
of South Florida who was accused of publishing At the international level, the major initiatives
articles on violence committed by members of the are taken to control of content by European coun-
Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The judicial process of tries that have highly legalized speech of hate, and
Babara Ahmad will serve as another test of USA the European regional institutions try to impose the
PATRIOT Act. It is obvious that Ahmed’s case same rules in cyberspace. Key international legal
will be highly observed because of his speech on instrument in terms of content control is Additional
terrorism on the Internet in the United States. Protocol Treaty on Cybercrime of the Council of
Europe. The protocol specifies the different types of
5. Position of United Kingdom hate speech that should be banned on the Internet,
including racist and xenophobic materials, justifica-
Bombing in London on 7. July 2005. urged the tion of genocide and crimes against humanity.
British Government to participate in the struggle OSCE organization is also active in this regard.
against terrorist Web sites inside and outside the At the OSCE conference on freedom of media and
UK. Immediately after the attack, State Secretary the Internet in Amsterdam in June 2003 were ad-
Charles Clarke in his speech in the lower house of opted recommendations on freedom of media and
parliament stressed the need to control the mecha- the Internet. Recommendations to promote free-
nisms of state power “those who incite terrorism, dom of expression and the desire to reduce the
or ask others to support terrorist acts” [16]. In this censorship on the Internet in June 2004, the OSCE
speech, Clark emphasized that “the establishment organized a meeting to discuss the phenomenon of
of web sites or writing articles for the purpose of interdependence racist, xenophobic and anti-Se-
encouraging terrorism” activities that need to be mitic propaganda on the Internet and hate crimes.

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The focus of this event was a misuse of the Inter- One of the technological solutions aimed at de-
net and freedom expression. These events provide tecting and preventing access to the content and
a wider academic and political look at these as- messages inspirers and organizers of terrorist ac-
pects of control over content. tivities, the geographic localization of software,
In May 2007. Ambassadors of the European which identifies the location of computers and
Union agreed that the online portal known as the filtering access to certain Internet content accord-
Check the Web, the European Police Office (Eu- ing to national origin of computer. Case Yahoo!
ropol), should further strengthen the fight against ter- is very important in this regard, when a group of
rorism. Web sites and content with chat communica- experts found that 90% of cases, Yahoo! could not
tions that are subjects to control allow EU member determine whether some Web sites that advertise
states to collect data, sort them and form appropriate Nazi souvenirs, accessed from France.
database of Islamist propaganda over the Internet. This technological assessment helped the court
Check the Web is only available to law authori- to make a final decision. Companies that have the
ties and experts, but the Safer Internet Action Plan software for geographic location claim to be flaw-
has resulted in the establishment of the European less to identify the country of origin and the city
network of hot lines, known as Inhope, which aim from which they accessed the Internet in 85% of
is to inform about illegal contents of the public. cases, especially if it is a great city. Thus, such
Today illegal content of pedophilia and child por- software can help Internet providers to filter Inter-
nography are the most presented in the Internet. net access, according to national origin and there-
fore to avoid court cases in foreign jurisdictions.
7. Geographical location of the software
8. Hackers and haktivists
In the analysis of Internet governance, one of the
key reasons for the debate was the fact that the decen- Events of the 11. September 2001. prompted a
tralized nature of the Internet follows the application number of private companies and individuals on
of excessive censorship. This is not true in every as- the Internet to find and destroy terrorist’s Web sites.
pect, because it includes a number of techniques and Computer hackers have had a role in this type of
technologies that provide effective control. From activity. Shortly after the attack group, calling itself
the technological point of view, control mechanisms the “dispatching”, followed by a posting that will
can be avoided. In countries where government destroy the web servers and Internet access in Af-
manages the control of content, technically experi- ghanistan and other countries that support terrorism.
enced users find ways to circumvent such controls. This group was brought down thousands of web sites
It is still difficult to identify who exactly is behind and launched a Distributed Denial of Service attacks
a computer, but it is quite clear how to identify In- (DDoS) attacks against various targets around the
ternet service provider through which users access world, starting with the Iranian Interior Ministry and
the Internet. the Presidential Palace in Afghanistan. Do not pro-
There are more recent legislation on electronic vide all the support so-called hacker groups hacker
communications worldwide that require Internet war. German group of hackers “Chaos Computer
providers to identify their customers and if re- Club” called upon all hackers, who took the law into
quired, to provide the necessary information to the their own hands, to stop their actions.
competent authorities of the users. Many Govern- One of the reasons preventing the escalation of
ments have also plans to monitor users accessing attacks may be that many hackers have been cau-
the Internet from public places, particularly from tious about the negative associations with the ter-
Internet cafe. What is more represented in the In- rorist attacks of 11 September, and they curb their
ternet world, the less will be its unique “gover- activities. For the terrorist organization has never
nance”. For example, with the ability to geograph- been easier to surf the Internet, even before the 11.
ically locate Internet users and their transactions, September. Homepage of the site was the subject of
complex issues of legal competence can be solved alternate DDoS and other cyber attacks, and were
more easily by existing laws. also present and attacks on Internet service provid-

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ers which caused numerous problems. For example, If there is evidence of terrorism on the Internet,
in 1997. bomb attack took place via e-mail that was Internet Haganah will contact the hosting company
directed at the Institute for Global Communications and ask them to remove the site from their servers.
(IGC), Internet service providers in San Francisco, If this is done successfully, Internet Haganah will
which hosted the website Basque separatist group lease the domain name in the address would never
ETA. The attack against IGC began after the attacks be used again. Since its inception in the 2003[20].
on ETA-known consultant in the north of Spain. Internet Haganah has merit in closing more than
The protesters wanted to put out the site on the In- 600 sites that are linked to terrorism.
ternet so it IGC finally removed from the server,
but before that saved a copy of the site, allowing 9. The role of families in the prevention of
other providers to set up mirror-mirror sites, have terrorist activities
appeared on dozens of servers on three continents.
In addition, the campaign of anonymous e-mail Technology has obviously made the world
haktivists sowed fear of a new era of censorship. smaller. The ability of technology that has revo-
11. September 2001. established a number of lutionized the economy and communications,
official websites for the organization of monitoring has also encouraged many global terrorist poten-
terrorist Web sites. The most famous of these types tial, because with the help of electronic networks
of websites is the web site “Internet Haganah”. and highly developed technology, “wash” huge
Also known site of Washington DC’s “Search for amounts of money, but also among other things,
International Terrorist Entities” (SITE), which is collect valuable “goods”, ie. information.
like Internet Haganah focused on Islamist terror- It is evident that the obsession with Internet ad-
ist groups. Customers pay for services and use the diction is a growing problem. This problem is so
SITE: FBI, U.S. national security and a number of pronounced that it became the practice, which be-
media organizations. gan with the opening of the hospital, only to quit
Analysis of terrorist activities through the in- the Internet and video games. The first such hos-
ternet shows the duality of the Internet policy pital under the symbolic name of “Save the Brain”
of Western states, primarily the U.S., compared was opened in South Korea, which has an estimated
to the website of Islamic extremists. On the one two million drug users from the Internet. Bearing
hand, induces the activity of hackers who exercise this in mind, particularly the alarming backlog of
control and supervision on the internet, on the oth- social problems and contradictions, and inability to
er hand the pressure is off and the physical Inter- respond to numerous challenges in a holistic front
net addresses terrorist organizations. A co-founder and in a comprehensive manner, increasingly turn
and director of SITE’s Rita Katz has commented: to violence as a pillar that is basic cell of every soci-
“In our favor is going to exist as a terrorist sites ety. Thus, the role of the family must be adapted in
run by companies in the United States. If the serv- line with modern times in which we live, to expand
er is located in the U.S., then it goes in our favor to new modes of education, guidance and commis-
when we need to monitor activities “[17]. Aeron sioning independent living children [21]. In addi-
Weisburd, who founded the Internet Haganah, said tion, the importance of education and prevention
that his goal was to force the militants to move from of abuses in cyberspace, among other things, the
one address to another: “Our goal is not to silence dangers of terrorism in this virtual world, a neces-
them, but to get them to move and communicate so sary prerequisite for the formation of healthy and
they made a mistake, and we gather as much infor- socially responsible person.
mation about them at their every move “[18]. Worldwide known Islam followers be-
Supervision is done by downloading the entire lieve that the obligation of the whole soci-
traffic on the Internet with the help of certain peo- ety, not only the state, is to address to the roots
ple and software solutions. One way is by using of such ideology which propagates terrorism.
the “digging through the data” for the detection of Obligations which have as an aim prevention ac-
terrorist activities (using Data Mining for Detect- tivity of terrorism have a family, schools, youth or-
ing Terror-Related Activities on the Web)[19]. ganizations, social work services to religious com-

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munities. The should make it more to do more to and assassinations. Words are cheaper than life.
make up the roots of radicalism, extremism, if not The public does not see the terror, if they see that
eradicated completely, and it reduced the in order to terrorists speak on television or the Internet, but
then be turned into a purely into a safety issue. they are scared if they see the victims of terrorist
For example, it is observed that the terrorists- attacks, but not the terrorists [23]. Not everyone
suicide bombers can be said to come from religious agrees with this statement. Over time, the state ac-
families. They are very devoted to God and religion, tors and individuals are trying to curb the occur-
and most attend Islamic religious schools. The most rence of terrorist material on the Internet.
common are from the lowest social classes and the Authoritarian governments have had some
poor. Terrorist organizations are recruited through success in using technology to restrict its citizens
religious leader or a teacher, and today especially from accessing certain sites. There are a number of
over the Internet. Interesting is the fact that among restrictive options in democratic countries, where
them there are highly different occupations. although they adopted new restrictive laws in a
The family must be encouraged to use the In- number of judicial authorities, it remains unclear
ternet adolescent controlled facilities in order to whether they will be effective as earlier attempts
acquire new knowledge and new friendships re- at control, such as cyber hate.
gardless of their ethnic and religious affiliation In terms of terrorist Web sites and their remov-
[22]. The role of a family is of great importance al, private institutions, in cooperation with Inter-
in deterring children from monitoring sites with net providers are much more successful. How-
extremist’s content. One must bare in mind the ever, the activities of individual activist seriously
fact that adolescents aged 12-15 years are the most undermine freedom of speech and those who need
common target of these sites and they are most ex- to make decisions about these limitations. Such ef-
posed to indoctrination by Islamist militant orga- forts may actually encourage us to think carefully
nizations. It must also be taken into consideration about the legislation, not only in terms of setting
that most of the killed Jihad terrorists are minors, up control, but also in terms of writing robust law
and therefore it follows that the role of families in of radical political speeches.
the prevention of terrorist activities, primarily in
terms of Internet terrorism decisive. References
1. WSIS Action Plan, World Summit on the Informa-
10. Conclusion tion Society, Geneva, 12 Decembar 03, document
WSIS-03/GENEVA/DOC/5-E; www.itu.int/wsis/docs/
The chances for the emergence of the new 11. geneva/official/poa.html, paragraph 13b.
September are small in the near future, where the
Internet has started to gain a new role since 2001. 2. Besic Carisa, Sedlak Otilija, Grubor Aleksandar,
Terrorism and the Internet are significant global Ciric Zoran, “Measurement model for assessing the
diffusion of e-business and e-marketing”, TTEM
phenomena, which form various aspects of world
journal, ISSN 1840-1503, 2011; 6(3): 651-656.
politics. Due to its global presence and extensive
multilingual context, it has the potential to impact 3. Milicevic Vladimir, Popovic Marko, Savic Zoran,
differently on different types of politics and social “Business rule aproach as basis of e- bills payment
relations. Unlike traditional mass media, the Inter- system Development”, TTEM journal, ISSN 1840-
1503, 2011; 6(1):26-34.
net’s open architecture limits the efforts of the Gov-
ernments of the world to regulate Internet activity, 4. Gelbstein Eduardo, Kurbalija Jovan , “Internet Gov-
and this provides customers with enormous free- ernance: Issues, Actors and Divides”, Geneva, Diplo
dom and space to shape the Internet in their way. Foundation and Global Knowledge Partnership,
The terrorists now know that a very clever use www.diplomacy.edu/isl/ig, 2005; pp. 10–12.
of traditional mass media, while also recogniz- 5. Klein Hans,”ICANN and Internet Governance: Le-
ing the value of direct communication channels. veraging Technical Coordination to Realize Global
If terrorists want to send a message, they now Public Policy”, The Information Society, 2002;
have a chance to do it without action bombings 18(3):194–195.

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6. Report from the Working Group on Internet Gover- 20. Johnson Douglas B., Martin John. P. u Cyganov Vik-
nance, dokument WSIS-II/PC-3/DOC/5-E, 3 August tor ,”Media-terrorizm:Terrorizm i sredstva massovoj
2005; paragraph 10. informacyi”, Nika-Centr, Kijev, 2004; pp. 20.

7. Eedle Paul, “Al Qaeda’s Super-Weapon: The In- 21. Geljman Marat , “Russkij sposob-Terrorism i mass-
ternet”, International Conference “Al-Qaeda 2.0: media v tretjem tysjachiletiyi”, Guelman, Moskva,
Transnational Terrorism After 9/11”, Washington, 2004.
DC, 1–2 Decembar 2004.
22. Boccara Marie-Hélene, “Islamist Websites and
8. Video “Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Shown Slaughter- Their Hosts Part I: Islamist Teror Organiza-
ing an American”; www.globalsecurity.org/military/ tions”, MEMRI (The Middle East Media Research
world/ para/zarqawi.htm. Institute),Washington D.C., 2004.

9. Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cyber- 23. P. Alex, De Graaf Schmid and Janny, “Violence as
crime, Starzbur, www.conventions.coe.int/Treaty/EN/ Communication: Insurgent Terrorism and the West-
Treaties/Html/189.htm. 28. January 2003. ern News Media”, London, Sage, pp. 170, 1982.

10. Proposal for a Council Framework Decision on

Combating Racism and Xenophobia, Official Jour- Corresponding Author
nal of the European Communities 2002/C 75/E17, Zaklina Spalevic,
26 March 2002. Faculty of Law,
University Sinergija,
11. Petrović Slobodan R. ,,Kiber-terorizam - realnost Bijeljina,
ili fikcija?”, Bezbednost, Beograd, 2000; 42(5-6): Bosnia and Herzegovina,
643-675. E-mail: zspalevic@sinergija.edu.ba

12. Bockstette Carsten, “ Strategic communica-tions

management techniques used by jihadi terrorists”,
Military Act, 2010 ; 62 ( 1): 326-353.

13. Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Ap-

propriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct
Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act). 2001.

14. United States of America v. Babar Ahmad and Az-

zam Publications, Indictment, United States District
Court, District of Connecticut; www.usdoj.gov/
usao/ct/Documents/AHMAD%20indictment.pdf.

15. “British Man Arrested on Several Terrorism-related

Charges”, Press Release, United States Attorney’s
Office District of Connecticut, www.usdoj.gov/usao/
ct/Press2004/20040806.html. 6 August 2004.

16. Clarke Charles , “In House of Commons Debates”,

Hansard, 20 July 2005; 436: Column 1255.

17. Quoted in John Lasker, “Watchdogs Sniff Out Ter-

ror Sites”, Wired News, 25 February 2005.

18. Bunt Gary, “Islam in the Digital Age: E-Jihad,

Online Fatwas and Cyber Islamic Environments”,
London, Pluto Press, 2003; pp. 24 and 93.

19. Elovici Y. et al., “Using Data Mining Techniques

for Detecting Teror – Related Activities on the
Web”, Journal of Information Warfare 2004; 3(1) :
rr. 17-29.

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 technics technologies education management

„Empirical investigation into e-learning

additional benefits: student perspective“
Amila Pilav-Velic, Armin Talic
School of Economics and Business, University of Sarajevo

Abstract 1. Introduction
E-learning offers new oportunities for both the During the last decade a surprising evolution of
educator and the learner to enrich their teaching and electronics, computer systems and information tech-
learning expirience thorugh virtual enviroments that nologies, together with the worldwide accessibility
support not just the delivery, but also the explora- to the Internet have made available an incredible set
tion and application of information.The purpose of of applications. This trend has significantly condi-
this study is to investigate which characteristics and tioned the emerging and the evolution of new aca-
benefits of e-learning students find valuable and im- demic and industrial opportunities. In particular, the
portant for their education. The data were collected possibility to easily reach an extremely large num-
using a survey research method. Sample is com- ber of users with significantly low costs has moti-
prised of students of the distance learning program vated the development of an increasing number of
of the University of Sarajevo. The most important web applications for educational purposes. With e-
characteristics of e-learning were examined using learning, education has gained wings as it has expe-
factor analysis. The results show that 45.2% of re- rienced a rapid change from a traditional context to
spondents state that the scope and quality of online an e-learning environment. Moreover, the usage of
interaction with the faculty is extremely signifi- e-learning has provided teachers with a possibility
cant for their education and professional advance- of working in a virtual office, allowing them to work
ment. Also, 52.4% of respondents/students assess from home, interact with students via the interactive
the course material availability to be an extremely aspects of e-learning, thus reducing the need for a
valuable feature of e-learning which positively cor- physical office. As a result, e-learning has achieved
relates with the scope and quality of the knowledge a worldwide acceptance in several domains such
they acquire. And 52.4% of respondents express as universities, secondary schools, companies and
their complete satisfaction with the schedule flex- public institutions. On the other hand, learning can
ibility. The research findings indicated that social occur anywhere, at any place and at any time. Given
interaction, availability, flexibility and travel/com- the aforementioned facts, the topic of our research
mute related factors represent the most significant can be formulated as the additional benefits students
additional benefits of e-learning as perceived by gain from e-learning. Also, the secondary objective
students. Creating an interactive online atmosphere of this paper is to stimulate additional research in
in terms of establishing a direct, two-way and al- this still insufficiently explored area. The purpose
most immediate communication between students of this study is to investigate which characteristics
and faculty and among students themselves, as well and benefits of e-learning students find valuable and
as constant availability of course materials via the important for their education. It is precisely these
Internet are mostly the reasons why students opt values that motivate students to opt for e-learning.
for this model of education. Students require model The paper then establishes a correlation between the
which allows them to become more self-directed researched additional values of e-learning with the
independent learners, as well as the fact that they demographic sample data, that is, to be more pre-
can choose not to be in crowded classroom if they cise, the gender of the respondents and the specific
prefer more individualistic approach or a work in a departments they are enrolled in, finishing with the
small groups. appropriate conclusions.
Key words: e-learning, social interaction, The paper is organized as follows. First, the
availability, flexibility existing literature is discussed in order to devel-

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op the theoretical background and the conceptual Thus, MacDonald et al. [6] in their article “Ad-
framework for the study. Thereafter, we describe dressing the E-Learning Contradiction“ presents
the methodology used in the study, including the the results of a research regarding online learning
sample, measures and scales generated. We also and the enhancements and benefits contributing to
present research results in this section. Next, we the learning process. First, there is flexibility and
analyze and discuss the findings of the research. convenience because materials can be accessed
Finally, we lay out our main conclusions. at any time and from any place where there is an
Internet connection. Second, on-line learning pro-
2. Literature Review vides opportunities to share resources amongst
colleagues, thus creating an economy of sharing
E-learning is the acquisition and use of knowl- and third, there is an opportunity for learners to
edge distributed and facilitated primarily by elec- actively interact with the content [6]. Interactions
tronic means. This form of learning currently de- allow learners to tailor the learning experience to
pends on networks and computers but will likely meet their specific needs or abilities. Group col-
evolve into a system consisting of a variety of laboration is one of the most significant e-learn-
channels (e.g., wireless, satellite), and technolo- ing benefit. Namely, electronic messaging creates
gies (e.g., cellular phones, PDAs ) as they are de- new opportunities for groups to work together
veloped and adopted. E-learning may incorporate by creating shared electronic conversations and
synchronous or asynchronous access and may be discussions [7]. Being able to control the pace of
distributed geographically with varied limits of their learning, learners have time to reflect on and
time [1]. E-learning has become popular among process information. The potential for reusability,
educationists because of the inherent strengths and adaptability, and scalability make learning objects
advantages it provides to the instructional process. a possible solution to many of the issues associ-
Some of the most prominent benefits include: ated with the E-learning Contradiction [8], [9],
– Access to educational resources from outside [10]. Furthermore, a number of studies do provide
the institution on global and instant basis; some indication of students’ perceptions of online
– Quick and easy ways to create, update and distance education. In general, the benefits identi-
revise course materials through low-cost, off- fied by students include convenience and flexibil-
the-shelf software; ity, greater motivation to work, learning more and
– Increased and flexible interaction with greater understanding of the course material, high-
students through LMS messaging system, er quality of education, better access to and com-
discussion forums or email; munication with the professor, more communica-
– Location and time independent delivery tion with other students, and more active partici-
of course materials such as course notes, pation in discussion [11]. However, the thing that
diagrams and reading lists; could be singled out as the fundamental advantage
– The ability to combine text, graphics and of e-learning in relation to traditional learning is
a limited amount of multimedia, thereby the possibility of establishing a two-directional
enabling instructional designers to prepare and immediate student-teacher and student-stu-
quality learning materials; dent communication. G. Salamon believes that a
– Interactive and dynamic learning experience great number of benefits of online-learning in edu-
through any computer with simple browser cation and training stems from creating an online
interface; community of people working jointly on given
– Increased learner control through hypertext- tasks. Fostering online socialization is critical, as
based presentation of information; it provides the motivation and creates the impor-
– Opportunities for international, cross- tant building blocks of professional development
cultural, and collaborative learning; and [12]. The research conducted by Wm. Benjamin
– The ability to serve a large number of students Martz from University of Colorado showed that
at a potentially reduced cost [2], [3] [4], [5]. while working with Computer Based Training
(CBT) systems, students were more successful

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in the CBT environment when more social in- naires were submitted, out of which 42 were us-
teraction occurred [13]. Namely, interactions be- able. This makes for a 52,5% response rate. The
tween individuals in a group constitute a source respondents’ characteristics are shown in the fol-
of knowledge which, in the long run, creates the lowing table.
basis of knowledge [14]. It is certain that the ex- Table 1. Sample characteristics
istence of such interactions greatly contributes to Percentage
the quality of education and an individual’s profes- Age
sional development. Modern learners’ perception 20-30 61.9
is that Web 2.0 tools and the social aspect are the
30-40 35.7
crucial elements to the success of e-learning [15].
>40 2.4
It is worthy of note that the students appreciated
the flexibility of the class, the excitement of be- Gender
ing involved in something new and experimental, Male 33.3
and gaining experience in the technology (these Female 66.7
were non-IS majors). More learners are requiring Employment status
flexibility in program structure to accommodate Employed 64.3
their other responsibilities, such as full-time jobs Not Employed 35.7
or family needs (Penn State Strategic Plan, 1998). Department
With these constraints, students are enrolling for Economy and Management 33.3
courses that best accommodate their schedules and Business School 66.7
learning styles [16], [17]. In order to satisfy the Computer owner
needs of growing numbers of learners, the avail-
Yes 99.25
ability of well-designed, effectively implemented,
No 0.75
and efficiently delivered online courses is essen-
Place of residence
tial [6]. In addition, as one of the most significant
e-learning benefit, students evaluate the fact that Sarajevo 85.7
they avoid traveling to classes [18]. Other 14.3

3. Research method 3.2 Survey instrument

The research was conducted via an online
3.1 Sampling and Data collection questionnaire with a link posted to ensure a great-
The data for this study were collected using a er response rate and a substantial research base.
survey research method. When choosing a sam- The questionnaire comprised six sections. In the
ple we followed the guidelines of existing similar first section, respondents were asked to assess the
researches which point out that the respondents availability of learning materials as a benefit of e-
should be individuals sufficiently acquainted learning and how easy it is to use the contents (in
with the subject of analysis. Considering the fact terms of navigation, organization and the form of
that we are dealing with e-learning as an increas- the contents), as well as how easily and quickly
ingly more available model of education and the all the necessary information can be found, etc. In
additional benefits it offers, the logical choice is the second section, respondents were asked to as-
for respondents to be distance learning students. sess the importance of e-learning flexibility (in the
Therefore, our sample is comprised of students of sense that it allows students to study when they
the distance learning program of the University of find it most convinient and to access all courses in
Sarajevo. This is why the sample representative- one place - on the Internet) as well as the possibil-
ness can be deemed highly satisfactory. Students ity of writing, submitting homework assignments
were asked to respond to an online questionnaire online, etc. In the third section, respondents were
based on their experience with e-learning and dis- asked to assess social interaction as one of the
tance learning courseware. A total of 80 question- fundamental characteristics of e-learning. In this

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section questions dealt with the scope and qual- factor, social interaction, explains 17.67% of vari-
ity of interaction between faculty and students, as ance of all components thus representing the most
well as among the students themselves, the sense significant value of e-learning as perceived by
of belonging to an e-community etc. In the fourth students. The second factor (availability) explains
section students were asked to assess the advan- 16.96% of variance of all components and rep-
tages of learning at home such as: cutting down resents the second most significant benefit of e-
on the travelling/commuting expenses as well as learning. Flexibility is the third factor, explaining
expenses of accommodation, etc, better time man- 16.4% of variance of all components and travel/
agement (allowing the students to manage their commute-related aspects are the fourth factor
own schedules and save time), the option not to which explains 10.37% of variance of all com-
attend classes during the course of semester due ponents. In the overall sum the listed results rep-
to business and other obligations etc. In the fifth resent constructive scale value of 61.42% which
section students were asked to assess how satis- is presented in the Table 2. (Results of Principal
fied they were with regard to the scope and qual- Component Analysis).
ity of the knowledge they gained with this kind Varimax rotation was performed in order to
of education, as well as the possibility of practical identify interrelated set of the variables that can
application of the acquired knowledge. In the final be named and explained. All statistical significant
section, respondents were asked to answer general factor loadings are bold and presented in Table
demographic questions (e.g. age, gender, employ- 3. There are coefficients that relate variables to
ment status, place of residence), computer and In- the four rotated factors. This table shows factors
ternet related questions and also questions regard- structure and correlation coefficients of individual
ing the department they are enrolled in. All items variables with social interaction, availability, flex-
used a five-point Likert scale (0=fully satisfied, ibility and travel/commute-related aspects as the
5=not satisfied at all). The results of the completed most significant four factors.
questionnaires that were submitted were entered Reliability was tested by computing Cron-
into an MS Excel document, and were processed bach’s α. The Alpha coefficients were calculated
with the Statistical Package for Social Science for each of the factors to access each factor’s in-
(SPSS) Version 17.0 software. ternal consistency (factor 1: Cronbach’s Alpha =
.913; factor 2: Cronbach’s Alpha = .853; factor3:
4. Research Results Cronbach’s Alpha = .885; factor 4: Cronbach’s
Alpha = .575).
Factor analysis was used to determine the ad- In addition, the multivariate analysis estab-
ditional values of e-learning that students perceive lished that there is no statistically significant dif-
as the most important in their education. Four ference in factors between the students of the
factors with eigenvalues greater than one were Business School and those of the Economics and
extracted. The extracted factors explain 61.42% Management (factor1: F=0.142; p>0.05, factor2:
of variance of all components. Namely, the first F=0.07; p>0.05; factor3: F=0.351; p>0.05, factor4:

Table 2. Results of Principal Component Analysis

Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings
Percentage Cumulative Percentage Cumulative
Component Eigenvalue Eigenvalue
of variance percentage of variance percentage
1 10.365 45.067 45.067 4.066 17.677 17.677
2 2.356 10.244 55.311 3.902 16.963 34.640
3 1.654 7.192 62.503 3.774 16.407 51.047
4 1.329 5.778 68.281 2.385 10.371 61.418
5 1.262 5.486 73.767 2.260 9.826 71.244
6 1.070 4.651 78.418 1.650 7.174 78.418

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Table 3. Varimax Rotated Component Matrix

Factor
Variable
1 2 3 4
I am ___ with the scope of online interactions among students themselves. .937
I am ___ with the quality of online interactions among students themselves. .854
I am ____ with the online interactions between faculty members and students. .772
I am ___ with regard to feeling as a part of an online community. .640 .320 .319 .382
I am ___ with the scope of the online interactions between faculty and students .603 .393
I am ___ with how easy-to-use the system is (learning material format, navigation, user
.522 .311 .445
interface etc.).
I am ___ with the scope of knowledge that is transferred via online courses. .801
I am ___ with the knowledge acquired through this distance learning program. .724 .417
I am ___ with the support I get from my family in my online studies. .416 .701
Given all the previously stated factors I am ___ with my distance learning program. .653
I am ___ with the various tools we have at our disposal (chat, forums, polls, text
.321 .598 .323
messages etc.).
I am ___ with the availability of learning materials. .552 .449
I am ___ with the speed and ease of finding information. .368 .495 .388
I am ___ with the possibility of studying at all times (schedule flexibility). .853
I am ___ with the possibility of accessing courses online (from home, school, work
.804
etc.).
I am ___ with the fact that e-learning allows me to write and submit homework
.778
assignments and quizzes via the Internet (from home, school, work etc.).
I am ___ with the fact that we have access to all courses in one place. .374 .634
I am ___ with the possibility of travelling (for business obligations etc.) during the
.834
semester because the availability of materials online.
I am ___ with the fact that it lessens the need to travel/commute (to attend classes). .380 .737

F=0.620; p>0.05). Furthermore, the multivariate of students in terms of creating an online atmo-
analysis demonstrated that there is no statistically sphere with the support of computer technologies.
significant difference in factors between male and The results of this research show that 36.6% of
female students (factor1: F=0.035; p>0.05, fac- students are satisfied and 31.7% are very satisfied
tor2: F=0.502; p>0.05, factor3: F=0.647; p>0.05, with the online interactions with other students.
factor4: F=0.380; p>0.05). Such communication enables experience and in-
formation exchange, group discussions, quick
5. Analysis and Discussion and simple completion of assignments, and so on.
Moreover, e-learning also includes online com-
This study demonstrates that the most signifi- munication between students and faculty in terms
cant benefits of e-learning compared to traditional of consultations, explanations of lessons and as-
in-class learning are: social interaction, availabil- signments, acquisition of information regarding
ity, flexibility and necessity and travel advantag- the course and exam materials, completion of as-
es. Social interaction, both between students and signments, etc. Such interaction enables teachers
teachers and among students themselves, its scope to establish timely contact with more students,
and quality, represent the most significant value regardless of where they are. The results show
and motivational factor which induces students to that 45.2% of respondents state that the scope and
opt for this form of education. Namely, e-learning quality of online interaction with the faculty is ex-
offers new learning and teaching possibilities pre- tremely significant for their education and profes-
cisely due to interactivity and mutual cooperation sional advancement. In line with this, a study by

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[3] shows that e-learning provides synchronous the course of semester in case they have to travel
delivery mode whereby all learners receive infor- on business or attend to their family obligations,
mation simultaneously and communicate directly etc. After extracting the four most significant fac-
with the other learners, as well as with the instruc- tors of the additional benefits of e-learning, their
tor through teleconferencing, internet chat forums correlation with the respondents’ gender and the
and instant messaging. The second important fac- department at which they study were examined.
tor or additional benefit is the availability of e- Namely, the results of the research show, as was
learning. Students can easily and quickly get the stated already, that 66.7% of the respondents study
new course materials. Unlike the traditional way at the Business School, and 33.3% at the Depart-
of studying, e-learning entails quick and simple ment of Economics and Management. Such ratio
acquisition of the necessary information regard- could be explained by the fact that the Business
ing the course materials, constant accessibility to School is more business-oriented, namely direct-
the course materials which remarkably facilitates ed towards the acquisition of practical knowledge
the process of acquiring knowledge and skills, as and skills. Since the majority of DL students are
well as the revision of what was already acquired employed, the knowledge they acquire can be
thus enhancing students’ efficiency in prepar- applied to their everyday obligations. Unlike the
ing for exams. This result is consistent with the Business School, the Department of Economics
finding by Fichten et al. (2006) that learners ben- and Management is theory-oriented and aimed
efit from e-learning in terms of the availability at those who intend to pursue research and de-
of online course materials and course notes that velopment. The multivariate analysis of variance
they can receive at any time and anywhere [19]. established that there is no statistically significant
This research shows that 52.4% of respondents/ factor difference between those who study at the
students assess the course material availability Department of Economics and Management and
to be an extremely valuable feature of e-learning the Business School. However, it is interesting to
which positively correlates with the scope and note that those who study at the Business School
quality of the knowledge they acquire. Flexibility point out social interaction, flexibility and travel/
is the third added value of e-learning in terms of commute related factors as more significant ad-
its significance. It entails the possibility to access ditional values of e-learning, whereas those who
courses via the Internet and study when it suits study at the Department of Economics and Man-
the students best which results in a better time or- agement find availability to be the main benefit of
ganization. Schedule flexibility results in a high this educational model. Considering the minor dif-
level of satisfaction among students as it allows ference in statistics, these observations cannot be
them to harmonize their professional and personal generalized. Moreover, the multivariate analysis
lives. It also leads to greater efficiency and timely of variance established that there is no statistically
completion of assignments. Therefore the results significant factor difference between female and
of the research show that 52.4% of respondents male students. As demonstrated before, it can be
express their complete satisfaction with the sched- noticed that male students point out social inter-
ule flexibility. This is a very significant advantage action and availability as significant benefits of e-
considering that most of the students who opt for learning and female students assess flexibility and
this form of studying have jobs. Namely, this re- not having to commute/travel to classes as most
search demonstrates that 64.3% of DL students important. Such correlation could be explained by
are employed and the possibility to do and sub- the fact that female students prefer the possibil-
mit their homework and tests from home, work or ity of learning and finishing assignments at home,
some other place via the Internet is very important not attending classes during the course of semester
for them. Moreover, this model of studying and due to family obligations etc. However, a gener-
education cuts expenses to a significant degree, alization and correlation of these observations is
meaning that there is no need for commuting/trav- impossible considering the almost negligible dif-
eling in order to attend in-class lectures. It also ferences in statistics.
enables students to be absent from classes during

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 technics technologies education management

6. Conclusion References
The research findings indicate that social in- 1. Wentling, T. et.al. e’Learning: A review of the Lit-
teraction, availability, flexibility and travel/com- erature. Champagne, Il: Knowledge and Learning
Systems Group, University of Illinois, 2000.
mute related factors represent the most significant
additional benefits of e-learning as perceived by 2. Bates, T., & International Institute for Educational
students. As we already discussed in the Analysis Planning.. National strategies for e-learning in post-
and Discussion section, creating an interactive on- secondary education and training (Vol. 70). (2001).
Unesco.
line atmosphere in terms of establishing a direct,
two-way and almost immediate communication 3. Goldberg, M. W., Salari, S., & Swoboda, P. World
between students and faculty and among students Wide Web—Course tool: An environment for building
themselves, as well as constant availability of WWW-based courses. Computer Networks and ISDN
course materials via the Internet are mostly the Systems, 1996. 28(7), 1219-1231.
reasons why students opt for this model of educa- 4. Starr, R. M. Delivering instruction on the World Wide
tion. Namely, the way students perceive education Web: overview and basic design principles. Educa-
has also changed. Therefore educational institu- tional technology, 1997; 37(3).
tions have responded to the demands of a new and
different generation of students. Students have 5. Weller, M. The distance from isolation: Why commu-
nities are the logical conclusion in e-learning. Com-
increasingly demonstrated a demand for an edu- puters & Education, 2007; 49(2), 148-159.
cation that will prepare them for a life in an elec-
tronic era. Students require a model which allows 6. MacDonald, C. J., Stodel, E. J., Lynn, T., Muirhead,
them to become more self-directed and indepen- B., Hinton, C., Carson, B., Banit, E. Addressing the
E-Learning Contradiction. Encyclopedia of Distance
dent learners, as well as the possibility to choose
Learning 2nd ed. 2009; 33 – 39
not to be in crowded classrooms if they prefer
more individualistic approach or working in small 7. Capper, J. E-learning growth and promise for the
groups. The fact that distance learning or learning developing world. TechKnowLogia, May/June, 2001.
via e-platforms requires a high level of motiva- <http://www.techknowlogia. org>.
tion, time management and a focused approach, 8. Gibbons, A. S., Nelson, J., & Richards, R. The nature
which is not what every type of student is prone to, and origin of instructional objects. The instructional
indicates that e-learning still remains a challenge, use of learning objects. Bloomington, IN: Associa-
and it has received a lot of criticism due to the tion for Educational Communications and Technol-
lack of “human touch”. Developing countries, like ogy, 2000.
our own, represent the biggest challenge when it 9. Hodgins, H. W. Into the future a vision paper. In
comes to the implementation of e-learning where Commission on Technology and Adult Learn-
it is met with skepticism regarding its usefulness. ing(2000). Retrieved from http://www. learnativity.
Such countries, due to their poor infrastructure com/download/MP7. PDF
and relatively low awareness of the relevance of
10. Urdan, T. A., & Weggen, C. C. Corporate e-learn-
e-learning benefits neglect it as a way of providing ing: Exploring a new frontier. WR Hambrecht,
a more cost-efficient method of education. These 2000.
findings have made an important contribution to
both theory and practice. This paper serves as a 11. Dick, G. N. Academic Workload in Online Cours-
es. Encyclopedia of Distance Learning 2nd ed.,
good foundation for further research, and also 2009; 1-5
contains some practical implications and findings
that can be used especially in targeting and adver- 12. Salmon, G. Learning: Living It Forwards, Un-
tising this model of education. derstanding It Backwards, Online educa Berlin,
2009; 8-10

13. Martz, Wm. B., Jr., Shepherd, M. M. Assessing the

Impact of Internet Testing: Lower Perceived. Infor-
mation Science Publishing, 2004; 177 – 189

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14. Vidoni, D., Mascherini, M., and Rita, A. M. Scout-

ing for Drivers of the European Knowledge Society:
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15. Torres, R. K., Edirisingha, P., and Monguet, M. J.

Using Web 2.0 Applications as Supporting Tools for
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16. Carnevale, D. Southern educators seek to cut tu-

ition rates for online courses. The Chronicle of
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learning as academic currency (Vol. 4). 2002;
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J. Automobile Traffic Impact of Distance Learning.
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Corresponding Author
Amila Pilav-Velic,
School of Economics and Business,
University of Sarajevo,
Bosnia and Herzegovina,
E-mail: amila.pilav-velic@efsa.unsa.ba

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Credit rating evaluation in the example of

construction industry
Jasmina Cetkovic1, Snezana Rutesic2, Milos Knezevic2
1
Faculty of Economy in Podgorica, Montenegro,
2
Faculty of Civil Engineering in Podgorica, Montenegro,

Abstract ate amount of interest, in defined deadlines. Ger-

Modern theoretical and methodological frame- man business practice identifies these two terms,
work of credit rating evaluation is based on wider while Anglo-Saxon business practice approaches
economical-accounting concept of his interpreta- to credit rating evaluation wider, evaluating in the
tion, in order to meet new requirements and needs same time wide number of elements in aim to deter-
of credit rating evaluation. Successful mix of quan- mine credit and material status of subject.
titative and qualitative evaluation of company is so- Analysis based on annual financial statement
lution which increases use value of evaluation and results with many indicators (dynamic and prog-
makes it comprehensive. In this work is presented nostic nature), while qualitative analysis should
qualitative evaluation of company, i.e. credit rating evaluate prospects of company in forthcoming pe-
evaluation in wider sense, in the example of con- riod, through forecast of qualitative performances
struction. Evaluation is given based on available of company in future period, such as: future mar-
researches and on level of known and generally ac- ket position, level of inventiveness and innova-
cepted, scientific relevant opinions and conclusions, tion, internal and external flexibility related to the
without author’s ambition to enters in detailed anal- changes, level of proactive behavior, attitudes re-
ysis of every single parameter of evaluation. lated to ecological issues, dynamic of investment
Key words: liquidity, solvency, credit rating, plans, quality of internal and external communica-
credit rating evaluation, construction industry. tion, attitude related to different types of risk, atti-
tude related to concept of social responsible busi-
ness activities, company’s image in the region, etc.
Introduction
Regarding this, we can conclude that evaluation of
Closest conceptual definition of company credit rating have evolved, from evaluation based
credit rating includes evaluation of company’s as- strictly on quantitative financial-accounting indi-
surance as debtor, i.e. evaluation of its solvency cators, to evaluation of credit rating which, be-
or evaluation of possibility to reach insolvency. sides quantitative indicators, includes numerous
Some authors define business failure of company qualitative indicators of business organization.
precisely as inability to pay liabilities on time [1]. Since there still does not exist universal inter-
Wider definition of credit rating includes eval- pretation of term credit rating, his evaluation is
uation of liquidity and credit rating of company, performed by applying different methods. How-
while in the widest sense evaluation of credit rat- ever, it is notable tendency and need to harmonize
ing includes comprehensive evaluation of busi- evaluation of credit rating with market conditions,
ness entity based on analysis of annual financial which has its real base in fact that those condi-
statement (quantitative analysis) and complete tions are different from one market to another and
situation in company and its business environment evaluation of credit rating should respect charac-
(qualitative analysis). teristics of actual market, which is different from
Identification of credit rating with creditwor- traditional market in many ways.
thiness of company occurs because of importance Regarding previously introduced, it is com-
of credit rating evaluation in process of evaluation pletely logical that theoretical and methodological
of its creditworthiness, which represents ability of framework of credit rating evaluation today is based
company to repay main debt increased by appropri- on wider economic-accounting concept of his inter-

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 technics technologies education management

pretation, in order to meet new needs. Therefore, factors, based on which we can only get complete
this evaluation should perceive complete position information about credit rating and which may be
of company, through consideration of future busi- used in order to forecast success of construction
ness processes and anticipating future chances and company in forthcoming period.
possibilities of organization, in aim to serve as effi- In the following text it is given review of main
cient instrument of modern management in process indicators of qualitative company evaluation and
of managing and operating. qualitative evaluation of industry on example con-
However, evaluation of credit rating in devel- struction company, i.e. construction industry.
oped market economies has great use value be- Type of ownership of the company, as we al-
cause on the evaluation of credit rating are based ready know, significantly determines processes
many significant activities such as processes of and relations in the company. Different types of
ownership, organizational and financial transfor- ownership in the company impact on different risk
mation, new investment programs, securities issu- level in business with them. Risk and all restric-
ance, public procurement, etc. tions which are result of ownership over company
assets are not favorable circumstance in credit rat-
Credit rating evaluation in wider sense in ing evaluation. Also, legal form of organization of
the example of construction the company affects on performing activities, as
well as on the way of managing. To legal form of
Credit rating evaluation in wider sense, i.e. organization which makes more space for inade-
qualitative evaluation of company implies, be- quate management in the company, business part-
sides evaluation of company itself, evaluation of ners, creditors, investors approach with caution
business environment, considering intensive in- and increased discretion, which adversely affects
fluence of environment on activities of company. on bomitet evaluation. Some researches that have
Regarding this, credit rating evaluation in wider been performed in the world on this subject show
sense should contain qualitative evaluation of that structure of ownership significantly affects
company and qualitative evaluation of industry to on corporate reputation [4]. Namely, in theory
which belongs specified company. are widely accepted opinions that highly concen-
Qualitative evaluation is based on evaluation of trated ownership or high level of insider owner-
certain indicators which are not quantitative, but ship undermine corporate reputation. Lower level
descriptive nature. Regarding this, on one side it is of ownership concentration, small differences in
easier, and on the other it is more difficult process ownership between first and second owner and
of credit rating evaluation in wider sense. reasonable level of insider ownership are usually
Traditional approach to credit rating evaluation signals which encourage corporative reputation.
of company in civil engeneering is focused on Maturity of the company represents significant
ability of company to plan and implement projects element in credit rating evaluation of the company.
[2], where parameters of success are treated as ex- There is no rule between age of company and credit
penses, time and quality [3]. Modern approaches rating of the company. Newly established company
to credit rating avaluation in construction compa- ussualy ‘carry’’ with beginners problems, which is
ny are much wider, exactly in part related to quali- unfavorable circumstance in credit rating evalua-
tative indicators. tion. However, ‘’youth’’ of organization is not al-
Basic goal of this research would be to review ways limiting circumstance, as well as ‘’maturity’’
influence of specific activities of company in con- of organization is not always affirmative circum-
struction on analyisis of their credit rating. stance in credit rating evaluation. Generally, in pro-
Hypohtesys on which the work based is: cess of credit rating evaluation it is more important
H1: Due to specific activities of construction to identify phase of life cycle in which company is
companies, credit rating evaluation of company, situated now, than to determine its age.
besides quantitative values, requires wider frame- Ordinary private construction company passes
work for research, that includes combination of through four phases of life cycle [5]. First phase is
social, economical and organizational managing phase of embrionic development which is charac-

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terized small volume of business, ownership which tal credit rating evaluation. Theoretical approaches
is not separated from management, low level of which promote integration and cooperation of all
profitability, bad anti-risk ability, and main goal is participants in industry are not new [8]. Considering
to survive and move from that phase. In the phase globalization of business, development of business
of growth, private construction company mature network in modern business becomes more impor-
quickly, increase sale, expand their business and tant. Vertical and horizontal forms of cooperation
develops very fast. Those construction companies of organization, internet and strategic integration,
which occupy market first, expand space for its trans-national and national business integration
later development. In mature phase private civil provide additional competitive advantage. Network
engineering companies have significantly larger of computer-related companies in production of
market share than in the previous phase, as result one product (Value Added Community) is modern
of achieved highly performances. Most important way of thinking and business in organizations. Or-
characteristic of recession phase is significant de- ganization can affect on credit rating if it is included
crease of profit, which leads to expressed vulner- in these kind of integration, and it can lose possible
ability of company on impact of different internal advantages if it stays out of these processes.
and external factors. That situation can lead con- Largest part of construction industry in the
struction company to bankruptcy or it can be chance world aspires to improvement exactly through ac-
for new life through phase of innovation. cess in integration processes of construction and
Size of organization is also important element design, thereby responsibility for finished job is
of credit rating evaluation. However, with intro- concentrated on one organization, although theo-
duction of modern methods of business this ele- ry points on other side of the same process, and
ment becomes relativized, in sense that it is dif- that is potential problem of repetition in produc-
ficult to determine what is small and what large tion, which violets traditionally high creativity
company is. Namely, there are companies which and originality of production in construction [9].
have only few employees, and achieve enormous On the other side, modern construction has led to
amounts of profit and/or possess extremely valu- increased need for cooperation of experts in phas-
able assets, and inversely. This means that in pro- es of design and construction. Growing requests
cess of company credit rating evaluation are taking related to production in construction have result-
into consideration different criteria of company ed in need to work together. Study, done on the
size, in aim to give objective evaluation of com- standard size business building in London shows
pany. Thereby, it is good to know whether smaller that its construction was followed with enormous
size companies are included in certain business in- number of drawings, over 17.000, which are prod-
tegration, because they are gaining strenght, cred- uct of different professions and specialties and
ibility and security for business partners, banks, which are included in process of its design and
investors, etc. In process of credit rating evalua- construction. However, practice shows that real
tion, trend of progress (growth) of company size supply chain in construction industry, which in-
is positively evaluated during time. cludes designers, architects, contractors, equip-
Unfortunately, volume of scientifically relevant ment suppliers, clients, has not integrated enough
researches, regarding impact of organizational size towards realization of common goal [10]. Basic
on organizational value in construction company, is and constant challenge in construction industry
modest. Additional and aggravating circumstances is management of large number of participants in
for determination and measurement of this influence process, which are essentially linked, but included
are very different, actually non-unique measures of in the whole process in different time and on dif-
organization size in theories of organization [6, 7]. ferent ways. Grouping of participants with cluster
However, our oppinion is that some established ba- technology represents modern management phi-
sic principles regarding size of organization can be losophy in construction, which appears at the end
applied on construction company also. of XX century, and it can be one of the ways for
Intensity, strength and reliability of business solving these and similar challenges by creating
connections are one of the important aspects in to- ‘’sub’’ organization and culture, which helps to re-

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 technics technologies education management

move barriers for efficient and quality production. Because of the long period of production, actually
However, implementation of cluster technology in construction, it is important timely and completely
practice is still in development phase [11]. preparation of production process, comprehensive
Organization and organizational structure are and efficient logical support and optimal organiza-
important determinants of fast and adequate adap- tion of construction. Additional specificity of con-
tation to market, as one of the imperative requests struction sector is large number of participants in
in modern business, and therefore significant pa- process of construction, which have to be linked,
rameter of qualitative evaluation of credit rating. organized and coordinate during complete pro-
Rigid structures of organization are overcomed with cess of production. Every process in construction
modern business systems and circumstances where industry is special quality, regardless of the wider
business takes place. Extremely flexible structures use of typification and standardization. Product in
have possibility of fast adjustment to requirements construction always requires continual modifica-
of modern market, which is regular factor of com- tion, due to the need to be always special, which
pany survival. Main characteristic of modern orga- is additional and constant request in relation to
nizational forms are dynamic, flexibility, collabora- construction company. By combining specificity
tion and reliance on information technology. of construction product with quality and price, it
Many authors agree that organization, actually is provided, on typical way, market share of con-
organizational structure, cause of large number of struction company. Besides constant insisting on
typical problems in private construction companies. the specificity of constructing product, in sense of
All scientific and professional analysis of organi- modification of existing products, alongside in the
zational problems in constructing companies in- company is carried out very important process for
dicates exceedance of centralized and mechanical evaluation of credit rating, and that is research-de-
organizational structures. With increasing volume velopment work in order to develop new products
of activity, constructing companies are realizing and other innovation in construction industry, espe-
from centralized, hierarchy with high structure and cially in aim to improve methods and technology
moves on structures which imply greater autonomy of construction. Reasons for elimination of product
and responsibility of middle level in organization, from production program in construction industry
which directly improves efficiency and effective- are same as for any other product: bad sale results,
ness of business. Classical standard management bad compliance with business strategy of company,
structures show their incompliance in terms of proj- unfavorable market prospect, decreasing of profit-
ect-oriented construction company [5]. ability, etc. [12].
Main activity of organization is important ele- Quality and efficiency of information technol-
ment of evaluation of credit rating, which deter- ogy support has an impact on internal and exter-
mines purpose and mission of company’s existence. nal users. Information technology have expedite
Different activities are characterized by different performance of every day activates in company,
levels of market propulsive feature, different level affected on structure of organizations, changed
of profitability, actualities, etc. Various production way of offers and demands of products on mar-
and sales programs of companies represent chance/ ket, as well as way of business operating. In this
challenge for company or real/potential barrier for time information make vital economic resource.
development. Characteristic of production, i.e. sales Modern companies depend, beside of maintain-
programs which are taken into account in evalua- ing of competitiveness on market through offer of
tion of credit rating of company are modernity, spe- different products and services and improving of
cialization, exclusivity, standardization, innovation, internal capacity, on quality of information sys-
quality, competitiveness, etc. tems for managing of business process. According
Construction activities, besides diversity and to certain studies companies which mostly use in-
complexity of production, is characterized by: long formation technology increase up to 3,8% yearly,
period of production, large number of participants, and the one which do not use it only around 0,4%.
mainly unique production and purpose of product According to certain estimates total expenses for
dictates size, content, design and shape of product. information technology (hardware, software), in

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developed countries, have overcome total expens- The modern trend of development of construc-
es which implied on other fixed assets. With this in tion companies involves the participation and
mind, information technology is important factor investment on foreign markets. Strategy for in-
of qualitative evaluation of company. volvement of construction companies on foreign
Application of information technology in con- markets are different and the theory of investment
struction is imperative of time in order to harmo- of construction companies is based on the fact that
nize on time different needs of the many partici- the investment strategy depends on the target mar-
pants in projecting process and construction on ket, so they adjust on the specifics of that market.
one side, and users of built facilities on other side. Some studies have shown that at the beginning of
Widely application of information technology in the 21st century, the most attractive markets were
projecting process and construction of facilities markets of China, USA, Singapore, Yugoslavia,
has become a condition of optimization of that Germany, Poland and Russia [16]. The financial
process [13]. Numerous design and production crisis has certainly slowed down significantly
process in construction are supported by informa- internationalization of construction markets and
tion technology (CAD-CAM), and A-E-C (archi- some of gigantic of construction industry lead to
tecture-engineering-construction) processes are the collapse. An example is the Spanish “dino-
everyday practice in construction. It is the speed saur” Martins-Fadesa who collapsed in 2008 with
in the construction of facilities significantly in- debt of 5,2 billion dollars and assets of 17,2 bil-
creased by robotization and integration of CAD- lion dollars and whose collapse shook the Span-
CAM system. ish banking system [17]. Regardless of the current
Technology of production is very important el- crisis, it is recommended that construction com-
ement in evaluation of credit rating of company. panies explore investment opportunities in foreign
The use of modern technologies of production markets and by application of new approaches in
affects on the level of competitive advantages of marketing, human resources, technology and de-
company. Old or obsolete technologies lead to loss velopment of unique projects provide prestige in
of market and decrease of profits, while successful the market of construction services with tradition-
innovation of products as a result of the new ap- ally strong competition. Strategic alliances joint
pliance of technology enables increase of profit. ventures and other forms of integration are likely
Beside that, harmonization of structure of organi- to be organizational models of investment in a for-
zation and technology is necessary condition of eign market in the future.
high efficiency of use of modern technology. In The level of innovative tendencies of the com-
evaluation of credit rating are analyzed all aspects pany is also an actual element of evaluation of
of influence of technology on business operations credit rating of modern company, through assess-
of company, such as: level of costs, production ef- ment of innovative activity in company. This ele-
ficiency, ecological aspects, etc. ment becomes more important considering that in-
In construction is characteristic process of com- novation is a very important factor in the survival
bining of old technologies with modern production of companies on modern market. The innovative
technologies [14]. The use of modern technologies activity of companies is evaluated in the interval
in construction should lead to improving of quality from the point of an extremely high risk and un-
of construction, shortening of expenses, increasing certainty of innovative activity to the point where
of productivity, improving of demands of security the innovative activity is seen as a very important
of products and environmental protection [15]. factor of success and opportunity for organization.
Investment process also presents very important Because of the specificity and uniqueness of
element in evaluation of credit rating of company. products in construction industry, it is to inno-
This process is perceived for evaluation of credit vate constantly to be competitive and profitable.
rating from different aspects while are very interest- Therefore, the product in construction is treated as
ing information about types of investment, the level the most important element of the marketing mix.
of investment performance, economic efficiency of Construction is and activity that, as a rule, is ac-
investment, markets in which to invest, etc. tivity with a high degree of innovation. What is

216 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

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the kind of problem in construction is called the in Australia on a sample of 1300 construction
time lag between innovation and its applications industry, such as: investment in research and de-
(so-called time lag). One of the ways to improve velopment, participation in partnerships and joint
innovative activity in construction is coordination projects, transfer of knowledge from project to
between all participants in construction activities continuous business processes, monitoring if in-
and the use of so-called knowledge-anchoring ternational best practices and new recruitment of
mechanisms [18]. In construction there have been graduates from the profession [23].
significant changes and innovations through the Since competition is one of the most impor-
use of information technology, expert systems, tant factors of environment in context of impact
the application of Internet, new materials and con- on company, the evaluation of competition is very
structions, new computerized supported process, important element of total evaluation of credit
etc. On the other hand the fact that the production rating of company. Research of competition can
in construction is limited with many and differ- be provide through research of demand (volume,
ent regulations are often treated as a barriers to structure, oscillation), characteristic of given
innovative activity in construction [19]. Also, the product, prices, technology of production, global
request to react quickly to the tendering process characteristic of product/service, recognition of
can also seem as barriers to innovation in the con- the trademark/company, etc. Evaluation of credit
struction industry [20]. However, large corpora- rating can request and research of potential com-
tions and government agencies as largest investors petition, i.e. competition which presents organiza-
are in best position to lead and encourage changes tion or products/services which are not currently
in the construction industry, focusing on innova- available on market, but potential are interested to
tion processes, technology and behavior, through entered on market. This only implies on need to
contractual provisions, incentives and selection undertake an evaluation of long term sustainable
of contractors. In some variants clients require to credit rating of company.
be the only initiators of innovation activities in As is known, 21st century is characterized by
project-oriented organization such as the construc- advanced technology, liberalization of trading and
tion company, which is another issue that does not integral market, which resulted in strong compe-
support the innovative activities in construction tition and internationalization of business, so the
[21], so there is small reason that constructor in large numbers of constructors in construction in-
construction industry invest in innovation, except dustry were not exempt from this trend. On the one
those which means optimization of their process, hand side, many construction companies have en-
which means that effects of economy volume and tered into joint venture on international market of
effects of involvement of organization largely construction services [24]. On the other hand, same
failed on that basis [22]. companies which joined to that strategy to provide
In this regard, there is understanding that in the continuously growth and development, has to fight
construction industry you cannot rely on innova- with international competition on domestic market.
tion to cause radical changes, but on minor or ma- Thus, construction business is currently between
jor modifications of inputs which construction use. local and international practice of business. Also,
Related to this it is explained about a kind of ad- due to the increasing of internationalization of con-
diction of construction industry on other industry struction market in construction industry starts to
and about construction industry where dominate increase of competition which increased intensity
providers, which indicates on relevant role of con- causes usually instability on market of construction
struction industry as a users and not as a produc- services. For example, actual expansion of con-
ers of innovation. On the other hand, the fact that structors from Chine, South America, South-East
the construction industry is services sector creates Asia and Africa in last few years causes hard tur-
the need to assimilate and integrate knowledge bulence and displacement of order on list of 10 in
through the specific organizational forms, increas- world of strongest constructors in construction sec-
ing the possibility of its involvement in innovative tor. Since absence or low competition can lead to
activity. The research that was done in the 2004th decreasing of efficiency and effectiveness of using

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of resource in construction industry, on one hand, studies indicate that with increasing of demand
some of authors suggest on possibility of collapse on the quality of construction, the increasing de-
of construction market due to excessive competi- mands on environmental and social performance
tion on it, on other hand [25]. requires the strengthening of the company, the
An additional element in evaluation of long strategy “low bid” very likely not be able to pro-
term sustainable credit rating of company is strate- vide the contractor a competitive advantage in the
gy of organization which presents long term plan- future. The balance of the interests of contractors,
ning of action of organization in order to achieve clients and society as a whole, should be the basis
planned goals in future period. Strategy as way of for generating the optimal competitive strategy of
achieving of projected goals determines business modern construction company [27].
orientation and direction of activity of organiza- Corporate identity of company is very important
tion in future period and by this way determines element of business of modern organization. By
level of achievement and performance of organi- evaluation of credit rating of company corporate
zation, which has significant influence on its credit identity is seen through analyses of large numbers
rating. Incomplete, unclear strategy of acting and of aspects: individuality, politics of corporate iden-
non realistic goals are certainly restrictive circum- tity, relations with social environment and image of
stances for evaluation of credit rating of organi- organization. Individuality of company is specific of
zation because of higher risk from unsuccessful company in relation on other companies and compe-
business of organization in the future. tition. Politics of corporate identity is seen through
Selection of the right competitive strategy to behavior of company with employees, all types of
attract customers is the ambition of most con- communication of organization with environment
tractors in the construction industry. The increas- (public relation, advertisement, behavior with en-
ing demands of clients and number of criteria vironment, creation of trade mark, etc) and visual
for selection of contractors (especially for public identity of organization (business documentation,
works) encourage constructors that beside low collateral material, etc). Social environment implies
cost strategy re-generate new competitive strate- on situation in politics, science, low, techniques and
gies as a way of providing additional benefits to technology, thus effects on corporate identity of
customers. In competitive strategy should certain- company. The image of company is committed by
ly be incorporated construction company specific fact how others (customers, suppliers, competition,
resources which create a competitive advantage business partners) sees us, so the stability and recog-
so this generated strategy can give results. The nition of that image affirmative factor in evaluation
theory already offered certain models of optimal of credit rating of company in a wide sense.
offers which should help to constructors in defin- The understanding that reputation of company
ing of appropriate contractors offer strategies [26]. can not be separated from ethics of business and
Previous studies offer a large variety of competi- reliability [28] did not past even construction sector.
tive strategies offers in the construction industry, Research which was made with construction com-
such as: strategy of low offer (Low bid), strategy panies in USA shows that beside the construction
of high technology (High tech), strategy of man- quality, quality of sub constructors, quality of em-
aging of innovation (Management innovation), ployees and time of constructions, critical factors of
strategy of joint venture (Joint venture), strategy success of construction companies are reputation,
of partnership (Partnership), strategy of public re- relation with buyers and business moral [29]. How-
lations (Public relation), a longer warranty period ever, construction industry as a whole has bad ethi-
strategy Long term of warranty), strategy of tech- cal reputation and in public is opinion about con-
nology transfer (Technology transfer), strategy of struction sector as a sector of often corruptions [30].
unique architectural design (Unique architectural Many studies of this topic on example of construc-
design), risk sharing strategy (Risk sharing), so- tion sector implies on examples of non ethical be-
cial responsibility strategy (Social responsibility), havior of companies in construction industry, while
etc. At various internal and external circumstanc- wide by media are shown incidents in this sectors
es these strategies lead to different results. Many very common. Namely, it is widespread believ-

218 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

ing that construction industry “suffers” from bad Conclusion

reputation by influence of unfair tender practice,
Stabile and successful relation of companies
manipulation in paying of obligations, corruption,
with environment, and especially business rela-
non professional behavior, avoiding of low and
tions with creditor are based on reliable credit
regulations, false information, inadequate relation
rating information. Their knowledge creates pos-
to environment, inadequate application of standard
sibility for improving of communication quality in
of security at work, etc. [31].
company, as well as communication of company
Corporate culture as a system of values, beliefs,
with environment. Today in conceiving of theo-
norms and customs that define organizational be-
retical and methodological basis for evaluation of
havior permeates all aspects of business, and be-
credit rating insists on acceptation of wide concept
cause of this reason there is very interesting aspect
of evaluation of credit rating.
of total evaluation of credit rating of company in
Although construction industry is subject to the
a wide sense. Temporarily organization and target
same economic regulations as other sectors, she is
connection of more organizations (participants)
very specific by their characteristics, which should
which are on different level of organization and
be taken into consideration in evaluation of credit
culture is very important characteristic of activity
rating. Referring to these specifics and their influ-
of construction sector. Organizational culture of
ence on evaluation of credit rating of construction
temporarily organizations widely looked depend on
industry was guiding idea of this document.
strategy and content of temporarily organizations,
characteristic of projects, project managers and
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Corresponding Author
Jasmina Cetkovic,
Faculty of Economy in Podgorica,
Montenegro,
E-mail: jasmina@ac.me

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The application of a five-regime model in

adaptive traffic control
Milan Simeunovic, Milja Lekovic, Vuk Bogdanovic, Zoran Papic, Pavle Pitka
Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Serbia

Abstract The analysis on the existing adaptive traffic

Contemporary traffic control systems are based control systems brings the conclusion that today
on reducing vehicle delays and stops in traffic one can select from a larger number of developed
flows to the least possible measure in cases when systems, such as the following:
the volume demand approximates roadway ca- 1. SCOOT–Split Cycle and Offset Optimiza-
pacities. Volume intensities similar to the capacity tion Tool;
occur in conditions when the traffic stream is in 2. SCATS–Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Tra-
the saturated flow regime. Adaptive traffic control ffic System;
is established on measuring the traffic flow param- 3. RHODES–Real-Time Hierarchical Optimi-
eters and on selecting the working programmes zed Distributed and Effective System;
utilizing the pre-defined algorithm. The paper 4. OPAC–Optimization Policies for Adaptive
proposes a model for the adaptive traffic control Control;
based on the five-regime model for a traffic flow. 5. RT-TRACS–Real-Time Traffic-Adaptive-
The five-regime model conceptually describes Control System [2].
functional relationships among traffic flow param-
eters. On applying the model, the control system The determination of the traffic flow param-
can be adjusted to real traffic flow regimes and to eters in real time is key information regardless
the momentary volume demands regardless the the system and the strategy of the adaptive traffic
high-density or low-density traffic situations. control. Individual traffic flow parameters are dif-
Key words: five-regime model, adaptive traf- ficult to measure and establish. Determining traffic
fic control flow parameters such as waiting queues and time
delays presents a special problem [3]. A special sig-
nificance in modelling is attributed to relationships
1. Introduction
among volume, speed and density as traffic flow
Traffic problems nowadays are increasing due parameters [4]. Cycle duration in isolated signal in-
to the growing number of vehicles and the limited tersections can be based on traffic flow parameters
resources provided by current infrastructures [1]. within certain min – max boundaries [5].
Traffic in most urban road networks is almost in- Various simulation models in real networks have
conceivable today without the application of con- proven the possibility to reduce travel time by ap-
temporary managing technologies. In the last years, plying an adaptive traffic control [6]. The develop-
attempts have been made to establish a control sys- ment of the control model based on a fuzzy deter-
tem that will have the ability to adopt to momentary mination can provide significantly better results in
volume demands in traffic networks. The greatest relation to classical fixed working regimes [7, 8,
traffic problems most commonly occur in large ur- 9]. The usage of micro-simulations has determined
ban cities, in places when traffic routes meet and that the adaptive control system is the most efficient
traverse each other, i.e. in intersections. in moderate traffic stream conditions [10]. In their
The principle of the adaptive traffic control in paper, Baiyu Yang and Elise Miller Hooks have de-
large urban areas implies that the traffic control sys- fined the expansion of known methodologies for
tem obtains data from intersections via periphery solving the shortest route problem [11, 12].
devices, in real time, hence creating a correspond- In recent years, models have been developed
ing signal plan which is then automatically applied. to provide the priority to public transportation ve-

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hicles in signal intersections rather than all other In those first empirical researches, one of the
vehicles. The Transit Signal Priority (TSP) strate- significant goals was to evaluate functional rela-
gies are mainly based on two principles, those be- tions among basic traffic flow parameters. The
ing unconditional prioritizing for public transpor- researches were mainly performed in conditions
tation vehicles and selective prioritizing [13]. similar to the ones for which the fundamental re-
Since the traffic control concepts are largely lations among basic traffic flow parameters were
based on the traffic flow parameters closely re- defined. The actual traffic flow was not identical
lated to traffic capacities, one can observe some to the conditions established for fundamental rela-
vacancies not included in control systems and tions; hence, the practical application of the ob-
known strategies. The traffic operates in different tained results was limited.
regimes, so functional relations and traffic flow Only the five-regime model creates a real base
parameter relationships alter accordingly. The ve- for the quantitative definitions of basic traffic flow
hicle motion conditions in a traffic volume vary parameters, and thus the results of previous em-
depending on the volume demand and traffic net- pirical researches have lost their practical signifi-
work capacity; therefore, it is not justifiable to ap- cance [14]. As a consequence, the empirical mod-
ply same models for controlling low-, moderate- els from previous researches are regarded today
and high-density traffic. more as an illustration for the historical develop-
In the traffic flow theory, there is a series of ment of the traffic flow theory, while their practi-
models to describe functional relations between cal significance is ignored and nulled [14].
traffic flow parameters. One of the most well-
known models to describe vehicle movement 3. Five-regime model
conditions in a traffic flow is a five-regime model.
The objective of this paper is to define an adaptive In order to obtain an initial basis for evaluat-
traffic control strategy in accordance with condi- ing the relationships among basic traffic flow pa-
tions and functional relations between traffic flow rameters and for determining their relationships in
parameters according to the five-regime model. boundary conditions, the ideal traffic flow is de-
scribed. In the conditions of an ideal traffic flow,
2. Traffic flow models the relationship among volume, density and speed
is expressed in an equation [15]:
In contemporary professional literature, there
is a range of models describing traffic flows via q=g · Vs
functional relations among basic traffic flow pa-
rameters [14, 15]. Most models are founded on re- where:
lationships among three basic traffic flow param- q–vehicle volume [veh/h];
eters, namely speed, density and volume. g–density [veh/km];
All models for distinguishing relationships Vs-space mean speed [km/h].
among traffic flow parameters can be divided into
two categories, namely one-regime and multi-re- Functional dependency among the basic traffic
gime models [14]. flow parameters is referred to as the traffic flow
Apart from the classification into one-regime fundamental relationship and can be presented by
and multi-regime models, empirical models, de- the fundamental traffic flow diagram. The rela-
pending on the parameter relationships, can be re- tionships among basic parameters in a real traffic
garded as the following: flow are an unknown function, and the fundamen-
– Empirical models describing space mean tal diagram is drawn for the listed, strictly restric-
speed –density dependency; tive conditions [15].
– Empirical models describing vehicle Using all advantages and drawbacks from other
volume – density dependency; and empirical models, the developed five-regime mod-
– Empirical models describing space mean el most accurately defines relationships among ba-
speed – volume dependency. sic parameters in the models speed – density, vol-

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ume – density and speed – volume, presented in where:

Figures 1, 2 and 3, respectively. Vsi – speed in a free flow [km/h];
Vzt min – minimum speed in a saturated flow;
Vzt max – maximum speed in a saturated flow;
gsl – density in a free flow [veh/km];
gzt min – minimum density in a saturated flow;
gzt max – maximum density in a saturated flow;
gf – density in a congested flow [veh/km];
gmax – maximum density;
qmax – maximum volume [veh/h];
qsl – volume in a free flow;
qf – volume in a congested flow.

The first regime in the hypothetical five-regime

Figure 1. Five-regime model “speed – density” model is the free traffic flow, where the conditions
[15] for individual vehicle motion are valid. There is
no vehicle interaction, and hence speed dispersion
is realistically high. Maximum density is 6 veh/
km, and thus vehicles can move along the lanes
undisturbed, each one individually. Density – vol-
ume relationship is linear, and the speed in not de-
pendent on volume and density.
The second regime is the normal flow regime,
i.e. low- and moderate-density traffic, whose
values vary between gsl < gII < gzt min. Maximum
density value in this regime approximates around
34 veh/km. Individual speed deviations from the
space mean speed in this traffic flow are signifi-
Figure 2. Five-regime model “volume – density” cantly lower than in the free flow, and in this re-
[15] gime they depend on density and are in limitations
between 65 km/h <VII < Vsl. In this regime, ve-
hicles move under the partial influence by other
vehicles present in the traffic stream, and the vol-
ume – density relationship is parabolic.
The third regime is the saturated flow regime,
where almost all vehicles move in queues, so the
space mean speed is the mean value of practical-
ly “n’, by intensity approximately same, speeds.
Speed regime largely depends on density and is in
the boundaries around 55 – 65 km/h. The volume
is maximal, and it moves in the limitations of ap-
proximately 2,200 veh/h per lane and it represents
the traffic lane capacity. Density is in the limita-
tions 34 < gIII < 40 veh/km.
The forth regime is the congested flow regime.
Figure 3. Hypothetical five-regime model “speed It is a high-density traffic flow with intensified mo-
– volume” [15] tion, and there are delays and jams causing shock
wave appearance. Speed, next to the expressed
dependence on density, is also dependent on sig-

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nificantly diverse vehicle speeds in the flow, and it One among the contemporary detectors, Radar-
is in the limitations between 10 < VIV < 55 km/h. based detector (RTMS), which enables basic traffic
Density is in the boundaries 40 < gIV < 80 veh/km. flow parameter measuring, has been developed by
The fifth regime is the jammed regime without the Canadian company EIS. Radar detector provides
the continual vehicle stream and generally there is the opportunity to measure traffic flow parameters
no uninterrupted flow, so the major part of the travel necessary for adaptive management, and its com-
time is lost in frequent stops. The vehicle interaction munication with the central operating system via the
degree is high. In this regime, there is no precise in- communication portal is in the on-line regime.
formation on the speed, volume and density relation-
ships. Speed varies between 0 < VV < 5 km/h. Volume 4.2. Controllers
values are in the boundaries 0<g<800 veh/km.
When measuring instruments detect adequate
4. Traffic control system data, they transfer it to controllers. Preliminary
data processing is performed in the controller. On
To enable the control system operation, it is one side, the controller directly utilizes these data
necessary to organize the traffic control system to modify the signal plan; on the other side, the
performance in such a manner so each segment is controller calculates volume values in predeter-
to be related to a certain function within the con- mined time intervals. Furthermore, the controller
trol system. Traffic control system is a complex communicates with the central zone computer; in
system based on functional units for data gather- other words, all data collected in a predetermined
ing on traffic flows, data processing, information time interval are being sent to the central system,
flow along the entire system, appropriate control i.e. the central computer. Using the feedback infor-
action management and traffic condition control mation, controllers activate a certain signal plan,
after performing appropriate strategies. or leave the already operating one; hence, the sig-
Therefore, a traffic control system comprises nalization is possible to be adapted to the current
the following: conditions and real-flow regime via controllers.
– Measuring elements
– Controllers 4.3. Central system
– Central system
– Communication subsystem The central system presents the ultimate level
in the management system hierarchy and control-
4.1. Measuring elements ling. Whether it is automated or operator-defined,
the management is conducted by the central com-
The essence in adaptive traffic control is based on puter by sending adequate controlling messages to
the existence of devices which in any given moment every collector. Apart from controlling messages,
acquire data on traffic conditions, i.e. which mea- in certain time intervals, the central computer also
sure traffic flow parameters in an on-line regime. sends synchronized messages to controllers in or-
To measure traffic flow parameters, even today, der to achieve the working synchronization of all
the most common are inductive loops. Inductive controllers in the road network. The central sys-
loops are placed on approach lanes to an intersec- tem has the ability to isolate controllers from the
tion, and the necessary information is obtained on traffic control system, i.e. to perform traffic flow
analysing the changes in loop inductiveness. When management without controllers’ participation.
a vehicle passes over a detector, a controller that is
linked to the detector receives an impulse of certain 4.4. Communication subsystem
duration. The main drawback of inductive loops is
their unreliability due to common failures [16]. The main objective of the communication sub-
To determine vehicle speed and vehicle length, system is to provide an efficient and reliable trans-
a reliable method is to utilize dual loops [17], as fer of data and control signals between system
well as some other measuring detector units. elements set along roadways and their superior

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control elements set in the central system, that is, proach lanes in the intersection. In the algorithm,
in the centre for traffic control and management. it is necessary to set a condition that the calculated
value for the saturation flow rate can be larger than
5. Application of the five-regime model in 1, which is significant for traffic control in certain
traffic control traffic flow regimes.
Each of the five regimes defined and described
5.1. Adaptive traffic control in the five-regime model has an adequate satura-
tion flow rate, in relation to the capacity.
First traffic control systems were established ac- In the first regime – the small volume traffic
cording to fixed plans, i.e. by utilizing pre-memo- (free flow), it can be stated that the saturation flow
rized signal plans. These signal plans were calculat- rate is in the boundaries from 0.0 to 0.5. In this re-
ed in advance, based on the previously determined gime, the volume demands are significantly lower
data on traffic flow intensities during certain week- than the available capacity.
days and certain daytime hours. After the calcula- In the second regime – the moderate volume
tions, signal plans were memorized in a control unit. traffic (normal flow), the saturation flow rate is in
Depending on the day of the week or the hour of the boundaries from 0.5 to 0.75. In this regime,
the day, the signal plan was activated, with the pos- the volume demands are lower than the available
sibility to be replaced by the operator if they assess capacity; hence, this regime offers significant re-
that some other signal plan would work better in the serves, i.e. capacity “surplus”.
existing traffic situation in the observed intersection. In the third regime – the flow when maximum
Diversely from earlier systems, the essence of the volumes occur (saturated flow), the saturation flow
contemporary traffic flow management lies in the rate is in the boundaries from 0.75 to 0.9. In this
fact that, based on the current traffic flow condition, regime, there are small capacity reserves; hence,
signal plans are optimized in the signal network, i.e. the least increase in volume demand will lead to
adequate strategy is selected and applied for the mo- the complete saturation.
mentary traffic situation. Therefore, the work of the In the fourth regime – the flow considered as
command centre implies the existence of a certain oversaturated (congested flow), the saturation flow
number of control strategies applicable in certain rate is almost maximum and it is in the boundaries
conditions in the road network, such as normal situ- from 0.9 to 1.0. In other words, this is the regime
ation, saturated traffic load, congested and jammed of the high-density flow where movements are in-
traffic situation, etc. Thus, in order to establish di- terrupted, with stops and jams.
verse strategies, it is possible to employ the five-re- In the fifth regime – the flow without continual
gime model established on the diverse traffic stream volume (jammed flow), the saturation flow rate is
situations, namely free flow, normal flow, saturated much larger than 1.0, practically implying that the
flow, congested flow and jammed flow. volume demands are momentarily larger than the
roadway capacities. In this regime, the flow delays
5.2. Traffic flow regimes and the saturation occur, manifested in queuing on approaching the
flow rate observed sections.
The following Figure presents the graphic sur-
In accordance with the traffic flow regimes and vey of the five-regime model and the saturation
the traffic flow parameter values provided with- flow rate for each traffic flow regime.
in the five-regime model, it is possible to define For each of the described traffic flow regimes,
the saturation flow rate as a parameter for mod- it is necessary to define the goal to be achieved
elling the modes of traffic control. On obtaining by the control, and accordingly, it is necessary to
data from the measuring devices regarding the define the working regime of the control system
real-time traffic flow parameters, these data are and signalization.
processes in the controller and sent to the central
computer. Based on the received data, the algo-
rithm calculates the saturation flow rate for all ap-

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mum. Signal plans should be designed in a mode

to prevent the appearance of high-density flows,
i.e. it is important to prevent vehicle entrance into
the controlled zones. The reason is to retain traf-
fic flow speed and density in the controlled zones
within certain boundaries in order to achieve the
maximal possible volume.
In the jammed flow regime, the main objec-
Figure 5. Traffic flow regimes and saturation tive is to achieve maximal capacity usage and to
flow rate prevent continual flow interruptions in the road
network segments between intersections. For this
For the free flow regime, i.e. low-density flow, reason, the priority in this traffic flow regime is to
the main objective is to achieve greater number of control waiting queues due to the real danger of
signal alterations and progression. In this regime, jamming the exit roads in adjacent intersections.
it is not necessary to establish the coordination in The main objective in this regime is to prevent
light signalization is consecutive intersections; jamming and to increase fluctuation of exit roads
rather, it is necessary to coordinate light signaliza- in order to maximally utilize the control zone ca-
tion in accordance with individual demands. Inter- pacities. Signal control in consecutive intersec-
sections should have shorter cycle length where tions and in the entrances into the control zone has
the lowest limit is the one allowing safe pedestrian to prohibit the complete halt in intersections, i.e.
traffic, since uniform stops are reduced in such controlled zones, which then prevents the vehicle
manner. In this regime, time losses are the conse- entrance into the intersection sector if there al-
quence of phase distribution rather than volume ready is a formed queue in the transit zone. Using
demands. this signal control mode, waiting queues are rap-
For the normal flow regime, i.e. moderate-den- idly relocated towards the periphery sectors in the
sity traffic, the main objective to be achieved is to controlled zone, not allowing the complete halt in
minimize the number of stops. It can be obtained the key segments of the road network, leading to
by time coordination of signals in consecutive in- maximal volume.
tersections, as well as controlling the arrival meth-
od to the intersection. The normal flow regime can
achieve a very good service level since the volume
demands are lower than the available capacities,
so one can establish signal plans working almost
without delays.
For the saturated flow regime, the main objec-
tive to be realized is the time delay minimization
due to the fact that traffic stream is still satisfac- Figure 6. Overview of the signal control in con-
tory. In this flow regime, it is possible to realize secutive intersections, with queue lengths, for
the maximum vehicle volume; hence, it is impor- high-density traffic flows
tant for the signalization to be in accordance to the
volume demands for all approaches with lost time 6. Conclusion
balance and optimization. The signal plan needs to
respond to volume demands and prevent queuing Traffic control in cities has to be related to the
outside the approach lanes in intersections. current conditions in a traffic flow, since it provides
For the congested flow regime, apart from lost a possibility to improve the traffic situation in ac-
time minimization, it is essential to control queue cordance with the priorities characterized by the
length in intersection approaches. Signalization traffic flow regimes. The overall description of a
should be in accordance with the volume demands traffic flow, reliable enough for the application of
in approach lanes to keep waiting queues at mini- a control system, can be achieved by applying the

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five-regime model for the traffic flow. Therefore, 8. Chen Bor-Sen, Yang Yu-Shuang, Lee Bore-Kuen,
the modelling of a control system with the proper- and Lee Tsern-Huei, Fuzzy Adaptive Predictive Flow
Control of ATM Network Traffic, IEEE Transactions
ties of diverse traffic flow regimes defined in the
on fuzzy systems, 2003; 11( 4).
five-regime model enables optimal solutions re-
gardless the current flow situations. Due to their 9. Daneshfar Fatemeh, Ravan Jam Jah Javad, Man-
properties, intersections present critical places in soori Fathollah, Bevrani Hassan, Zahir Azami Bah-
the travelling and road network, so it is important ram, Adaptive Fuzzy Urban Traffic Flow Control Us-
ing a Cooperative Multi-Agent System based on Two
to control and manage traffic flows according to the Stage Fuzzy Clustering, Department of Electrical
volume demands generated in intersections. Adap- and Computer Engineering, University of Kurdistan,
tive traffic control based on the five-regime model Sanandaj, Iran.
enables the realization of priorities and goals fol-
lowing the momentary flow situations within the 10. Recker Will, Zheng Xing , Chu Lianyu, Optimization
of Control Parameters for Adaptive Traffic-Actuated
control zone, as well as the improvements in traf- Signal Control, ITS World Congress, New York, 2008.
fic stream conditions. In accordance with the five-
regime model and the traffic flow parameters, for 11. Yang Baiyu, Miller-Hooks Elise, Adaptive routing
every regime there is a defined saturation flow rate considering delays due to signal operations, Trans-
portation Research Part B, 2004; 38: 385–413.
as a key parameter for selecting the control strategy.
Depending on the saturation flow rate, every traf- 12. Ziliaskopoulos A., Mahmassani H., A note on least
fic flow regime has the control objectives defined, time path computation considering delays and pro-
together with the signal plans, i.e. cycle lengths and hibitions for intersection movements. Transporta-
phase distribution. tion Research Part B, 1996; 30: 359–368.

13. Ling Kenny, Shalaby Amer, Automated Transit

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3. Viti Francesco, J. Van Zuylen Henk, Probabilistic ington D.C. 2010.
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4. Kim Youngho and Keller Hartmut, Analysis of Char- transportation systems applications, Dissertation,
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6. Meng Qiang and Ling Khoo Hooi, Optimizing Con- Corresponding Author
traflow Scheduling Problem: Model and Algorithm, Milan Simeunovic,
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12(3): 126–138. University of Novi Sad,
Novi Sad,
7. Arachchige Jayakody, Nishani Nimanthi, Yakody Serbia,
Kumuduja, A real time traffic signal control system, E-mail: milansim@uns.ac.rs
Department of Electrical Engineering University of
Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, 2008.

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Developing the supervisor’s authentic leadership

measure
Miha Maric1, Vlado Dimovski2, Maja Djurica3, Matej Cerne4, Nina Djurica
1
University of Maribor’s Faculty of Organizational Sciences, Slovenia,
2
University of Ljubljana’s Faculty of Economics, Slovenia,
3
Belgrade Business School - Higher education institution for applied studies, Serbia,
4
COBIK, Slovenia.

Abstract ship is, according to the researchers of positive

organizational behavior [1, 2, 3], the success fac-
The paper identifies authentic leadership (AL)
tor of today’s progressive organizations. Because
as the latest evolutionary stage in leadership de-
authentic leaders are taking into account not only
velopment focusing on the development of a new
organizational but also social problems, they con-
measure of AL construct (The Supervisor’s Au-
tribute to the society at large.
thentic Leadership Measure). Contrary to the pre-
We focus on authentic leadership, a recently
vailing method of self-evaluation in measuring AL
emerging research field [4, 5, 6, 7]. The construct
properties in a leader, we propose a new instrument
of authenticity was researched already by ancient
based on the followers’ perceptions of their super-
Greek philosophers as »know thy-self«, and »thy
visors. AL has gained importance throughout the
true self«. Authentic leadership began to develop
last decade in both, academic community as well as
after the year 2004. Authentic leaders must iden-
among practitioners in business environment. The
tify the strengths of their followers and help them
results of our exploratory factor analysis demon-
with their development and integration towards a
strate three theoretically acknowledged dimensions
common goal, purpose, vision and identity of the
of AL. Through the confirmatory factor analysis
organization.
the validation of the research instrument was per-
Authentic leadership focuses on positive achi-
formed. The results indicate that the new measure
evements rather than emphasizing flaws [8, 9, 10]
of AL leadership contributes to further research of
and promotes employee trust, which results in
AL and the development of this research filed.
higher emotional safety and unconventional idea
Key words: authentic leadership, positive psy-
proposition [11].
chology in leadership, factory analysis, LISREL.
Authentic leadership is about enhancing and de-
veloping the employees’ values, motives, emotions,
Introduction and goals and using them for the benefit of the orga-
There is a growing interest nowadays for au- nization [4]. Finally, Walumbwa et al [7] have dem-
thentic leadership in business practice as well as onstrated discriminant validity of authentic leader-
in academic literature. Avolio and Gardner’s ar- ship from other leadership styles. Nonetheless, it is
ticle on authentic leadership development [1] is important to note how exactly authentic leadership
constantly ranked among the 25 ScienceDirect’s differs from other types of leadership.
»hottest articles« in the subject area of business, Authentic leadership is the root concept and a
management and accounting, indicating the inter- foundation for any positive forms of leadership [12,
est and importance of this research area within 13]. Authentic people are in the centre of authentic
academia. Also, scientific articles on authentic leadership that can be authentic transformational,
leadership produced in less than a decade can be transactional, or of any third type [14, 15]. It repre-
counted by the dozen. The reason for the interest sents the extent to which managers are aware of and
of practitioners and academics in authentic leader- also exhibit a pattern of openness and clarity in their
ship is the authentic leaders’ impact that extends behavior in relations toward others by sharing in-
beyond first-line management, that is, to all the formation, accepting others’ inputs, and reveal their
members of the organization. Authentic leader- own values, motives, emotions, and goals, in a way

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that enables the followers to assess their behavior resides in a vanishing world. It is a force that looks
[16]. In recent years, there have been quite a few forward, a force that attempts to adapt the tradi-
empirical studies (in addition to theoretical concep- tional wisdom in favor of modern life. Authentic-
tualizations) that examine the positive relationship ity is a process, a progressive revolution [18].
between authentic leadership and numerous em- The construct of authenticity was dealt with al-
ployee attitudes and behaviors [8, 7, 16]. ready by the ancient Greek philosophers as know
We propose and empirically test a model ex- thy-self, and thy true self [3]. The essence of au-
amining the supervisor authentic leadership (The thenticity is to know yourself, to accept and main-
Supervisor’s Authentic Leadership Measure). We tain ourselves such as we are. Better than to accept
use data from 2176 employees in Slovenia and the authenticity as a construct is to realize that the
apply structural equation modeling to present au- authenticity is an element of the continuum, mean-
thentic leadership. We discuss the implications of ing that the more people, including employees,
these findings for practice and theory. maintain their real values, identities, and emotions,
the more authentic they become [19]. The concept
1. Theoretical model and hypotheses of authenticity, discussed in this article, relates to
the possession of own personal experiences – either
1.1 Authenticity thoughts, feelings, needs, requirements, desires,
preferences, or beliefs. These are the processes by
The dictionaries reveal to us that authenticity is which we know ourselves, and which indicate that
a characteristic, or a quality to be genuine or un- someone is acting in accordance with his real self,
spoiled. More broadly, authenticity reflects the un- expresses himself in ways that are consistent with
obstructed operation of one’s true, or core, self in his inner thoughts and feelings, and thus manifest-
one’s daily enterprise [17]. It means to be faithful ing his own identity [20]. In our view, authenticity
to the original, source, commitment, truthfulness, reflects one’s general tendencies to view oneself
and purpose. Authenticity contrasts imitation or within one’s social environment and to conduct
counterfeit. Despite our inner feeling of knowing one’s life according to one’s deeply held values. At
when something or someone is authentic, various more specific levels, authenticity is manifested in
dictionary definitions of authenticity offer a lot of concrete aspects of one’s behavior and existence,
vagueness. The Cambridge dictionary defines au- such as in leading others.
thentic as real, true, or as precisely that, what people
say it is. Synonyms for authenticity are often genu-
1.2 Authentic leadership
ineness, bona fide (in good faith and with a sincere
purpose), accuracy, legitimacy and correctness. Authenticity in leadership describes leaders
Although there is no single definition of au- with great capacity to effectively process informa-
thenticity, we know what it means when we detect tion about themselves (their values, beliefs, goals,
authenticity, be it in a form of person, food, cul- and feelings), an ability to adjust their behavior
ture, politics, or a story. Authenticity is reality and in leadership in accordance with their own self, a
means to identify the reality of a person’s exis- clear personal identity, and an ability to harmonize
tence, the reality of the place, food, community, or their preferences with the demands of society [21].
stories. When we name something real today, we To be authentic means to be natural, original, and
demand it to be rooted in human ethics, the nature, not a copy [15]. Authenticity includes possessing
geography – it has to originate from somewhere personal experiences (values, thoughts, feelings,
clearly defined and recognized. It has to be fair beliefs) as well as acting in accordance with one’s
and appreciated for its simplicity. It has to be pure own real self [4].
and noble, sound as a mountain stream. Authentic The generally accepted framework of authen-
is the word that carries the meaning and depth of tic leadership, conceptualized by Walumbwa et
a person or object. Authenticity means that it con- al. [7], proposes four dimensions of authentic
tains a feature that is profound, contrary to super- leadership: self-awareness, balanced processing,
ficial. Authenticity is not a conservative force that relational transparency, and internalized moral

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 technics technologies education management

perspective. Self-awareness refers to the extent to built. This results in increasingly salient indepen-
which the managers know and understand their dency [9], which is inevitably perceived by the em-
own true self [16]. During the process of self- ployees. Authentic leaders are very aware of their
awareness, the authentic leaders observe and ana- own self; their motives, goals, emotions, and val-
lyze their own mental state through introspection. ues. They understand what drives them and what
Internal connection with one’s true self is achieved they need to achieve to fulfill their higher goals.
by an individual delving into his own personality This may result in them not being as concerned
by recalling the important events in his life, and with providing support for their subordinates’ ex-
his reactions and emotions of that time [22]. They perimentation, but more with their own develop-
learn about and accept their fundamental values, ment [29]. Leaders should control and monitor
feelings, identity, and motives or goals [1,11]. employee work [30, 31, 32] but also permit the
Balanced processing is about unbiased analysis degree of participation and involvement [30].
of all relevant information and taking into account Important implications of the practice of Authen-
others’ opinion and input before making a deci- tic Leadership, as George [5] states it, can be divided
sion [16]. Relational transparency involves openly in three levels: (1) authentic leaders build authentic
sharing information and expressing true thoughts companies (organizational level implications), (2)
and emotions in relations to others. Thus, au- authentic companies compete more effectively in
thenticity reflects leaders’ ability of harmonizing the market (economy level implications), and (3)
responsibility to themselves, their followers and authentic leaders look beyond the bottom line (soci-
the wider public, in order to achieve collaboration etal and environmental level implications).
within, and outside of, an organization [23].
Finally, internalized moral perspective refers to 2. Methodology
the extent to which the manager’s behaviors are
guided by internal moral standards and values, rath- 2.1 Sample and procedures
er than by external pressures [4]. Individuals must
manage their own behavior so that it matches with Empirical data that were used for examining the
moral standards [13, 23]. Leadership is moral only, supervisors’ authentic leadership were collected
if an individual’s internalized values are moral, or, from 2176 people in Slovenia in July 2011. We used
if they are perceived as such by others [24]. It is, convenience sampling, with a preliminary question
on one hand, a harmony of leaders’ behavior with to target only employed people with a supervisor;
their own values, and on the other hand, a harmony a person they receive instructions from and report
of leaders’ behavior with ethical rules of the soci- to. Therefore, we got the responses only from the
ety. To earn respect of the followers and earn the employees, the subordinates, employed in compa-
possibility to affect their actions, the leader must, nies in Slovenia in various industries. A translation-
besides authenticity, also demonstrate integrity; back translation procedure was used to translate the
thus, possess personal values harmonized with the questionnaire items from English to Slovenian and
ethical code [25]. A leader must consistently reflect back to English. We include the questionnaire in
integrity, to be perceived as authentic [19]. Appendix 1. We present the demographic informa-
The theory of positive psychology, which has tion of survey respondents in Table 1.
been tightly connected to authentic leadership from
the beginning of the research on this field [26, 1, 2.2 Measures
11], has followed an interesting notion: the more
developed a strength is, the better people are and the As data regarding supervisors’ authentic lead-
better results they achieve [27]. Authentic leader- ership were gathered from the employees, prob-
ship research recognized that a lack of managers’ lems with common method bias are inevitable. To
authenticity can harm employee outcomes, such as avoid them as much as possible, we used follow-
job satisfaction or work engagement [7, 16]. ing approaches. First, after the data collection, we
Through the process of self-awareness, an in- conducted Harman’s one-factor test to address the
dividual’s higher levels of self-confidence [28] is common method variance issue. If common meth-

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Table 1. Demographics of Survey Respondents cally, we proceed to include positive psychological

Number of respondents N=2176 capital in the measure as an integral part of the self-
Age In percentages (%) awareness dimension [4].
Up to 25 years 9.6 Walumbwa et al. [7] do see positive psychologi-
26-35 years 31.1 cal capital as fostering the development of authen-
36-45 years 30.6 tic leadership, yet they do not posit it as an inher-
46-55 years 22.1 ent component of the construct. However, this is in
Over 56 years 6.6 contrast with previous definitions of authentic lead-
Gender ership [4, 12, 11] that do imply authentic leadership
Male 46.1 to involve high levels of positive psychological
Female 53.9 capacities. Furthermore, the very root of authentic
Work tenure leadership construct is in positive psychology; it
Up to 5 years 19.0 has evolved from positive organizational behav-
6-15 years 38.9 ior movement [4, 11]. We feel that the research-
16-25 years 24.5 ers should derive from the beginnings of authentic
26-35 years 15.9 leadership and follow the basic model [11] when
Over 36 years 1.7 conducting empirical research. Hence we include
positive psychological capital as an integral part of
od variance was a serious problem in the study, The Supervisor’s Authentic Leadership Measure.
we would expect a single factor to emerge from There is a heated debate in authentic leadership
a factor analysis or one general factor to account research and in leadership research in general re-
for most of the covariance in the independent and garding the self-others ratings and the bias con-
dependent variables [33]. The results of the factor nected to that [34]. Many researchers assume that
analysis demonstrated that no general factor was authenticity and consequently authentic leader-
apparent in the unrotated factor structure, with the ship do not involve others’ perception of a leader,
first factor accounting for only 27.3% of the vari- but only an individual’s own actions in accordance
ance. Second, the items used in our study are part with an individual’s true nature [35, 36, 4, 5, 15].
of a large-scale questionnaire. Third, we reverse- Thus, authenticity can be self-ascribed.
coded some items in the questionnaire. Therefore, Sparrowe [24] opposes this and exposes the
the respondents would likely not have been able need to assess a leader’s authenticity from multiple
to guess the purpose of the study and force their sources. Goffee and Jones [37] and Harvey et al. [38]
answers to be consistent. also insist that authenticity must be attributed to an
The Supervisors’ Authentic Leadership Measure individual by others. The leaders cannot asses them-
measures the authentic leadership construct with a selves to be authentic, but can be described as such
questionnaire that we have developed and adapted only by the people in contact with them. Defined as
from previously used research instruments based such, authenticity is only perceived by others. There-
on a comprehensive literature review. The mea- fore, two perspectives exist about perception of au-
surement instrument we have developed is similar thentic leadership. We use an approach that measures
to the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire (ALQ), perceived authentic leadership, which is the most
validated by Walumbwa et al. [7]. They have pro- common in quantitative research on the field of au-
vided validation for their research instrument and thentic leadership [7, 16]. However, we need to be
have also distinguished it from research instruments aware of the differences in both measuring perspec-
measuring other what they call ‘positive forms’ of tives, as it is more likely that the leaders will assess
leadership. We follow their research framework and themselves as more authentic (presumably, better) as
measure four dimensions of authentic leadership they are assessed by the employees [39, 40].
(self-awareness, relational transparency, balanced A set of 17 items was used for measuring per-
processing, and internalized moral perspective), ceived (assessed by the subordinates, a leader’s fol-
but have adapted some of the questions based on lowers) authentic leadership. A 5-point Likert-type
the literature review and conceptualization. Specifi- scale ranging from one to five was used (this is true

232 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

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for all the measures in this study) (1 = “strongly work of Walumbwa et al. [7]. However, we did not
disagree”; 2 = “disagree”; 3 = “nor agree, nor dis- find support for a fourth factor, internalized moral
agree”; 4 = “agree”; 5 = “strongly agree”). perspective. The EFA has shown this is covered
within the self-awareness dimension. This makes
3. Results sense conceptually (similar to the fact that positive
psychological capital is part of self-awareness) –
3.1 Exploratory factor analysis discovery of an individual’s true self involves an
exploration of an individual’s positive capacities
We performed Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and internalized moral standards, as well.
to discover the factors underlying our research con-
struct. It was conducted on a different dataset than
3.2 Descriptive statistics, validity, and reliability
further analyses. We have used a different, smaller
sample – 289 employees in one Slovenian company Previous studies have found support for com-
employing about 500 people collected in February bining authentic leadership dimensions into one
2011. We present the results of EFA in Table 2. common core construct [16]. Individual dimen-
Due to cross-loadings, items AL2 and AL8 sions do not add any significant incremental va-
were excluded from further analysis. We have lidity beyond the common core higher factor [7].
found three factors that correspond with the frame- Furthermore, as written by Walumbwa et al. [16],

Table 2. Results of Exploratory Factor Analysis for The Superiors’ Authentic Leadership construct
Superiors’ Authentic leadership Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3
dimensions Self-awareness Relational Transparency Balanced Processing
Variables (Varimax-rotated factor loadings)
AL13 .752 .087 .135
AL16 .719 .224 -.002
AL14 .693 .304 .255
AL17 .686 .327 .244
AL11 .628 .377 .208
AL15 .612 .329 .325
AL12 .600 .457 .181
AL6 .563 .284 .299
AL9 .544 .405 .382
AL8 .542 .290 .488
AL3 .334 .809 .134
AL4 .373 .786 .087
AL5 .381 .700 .158
AL1 .237 .626 .414
AL2 .098 .586 .524
AL10 .135 .108 .826
AL7 .297 .177 .753
Shares of explained variance (%) 27.281 21.104 14.975
Eigen Value 4.638 3.588 2.546
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.
Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.
Keiser-Mayer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy: 0.934
Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity approx.
Chi-square: 5655.364
df: 136
sig.:0.000
n = 289

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 technics technologies education management

there are many conceptual similarities among the Table 4. Discriminant validity
factors and they each represent one aspect of a Scale/construct 1 2 3
leader’s authenticity. All the dimensions of au- 1 SA (0.86)
thentic leadership are self-regulatory processes 2 RT 0.73 (0.89)
that are managed through individuals’ internal 3 BP 0.47 0.50 (0.70)
standards and evaluations of their own behavior
[2]. The latent higher order construct of authen- Items in the body of the table are pairwise Pear-
tic leadership can help explain the conceptual and son correlation coefficients. Items in parentheses on
empirical overlap among the dimensions [16]. the diagonal are Cronbach’s Alphas for each scale.
For validation of the measurement instruments,
we applied confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) us-
4. Discussion and implications
ing LISREL 8.80 software package. Convergent
validity and unidimensionality were examined by The results of exploratory factor analysis demon-
the loading paths of all items, which are statistically strate three theoretically backed-up [7] dimensions
significant if they exceed 0.50. In the iterative pro- of authentic leadership (self-awareness, relational
cess of purifying the scales several items were ex- transparency, and balanced processing). Authentic
cluded from the further analysis. In the final version leadership dimensions mostly correspond with the
of the model, 13 of 17 items were used to measure framework of Walumbwa et al. [7]. However, we
seven constructs (Self-awareness, Relational Trans- did not find support for a fourth factor, ethical/mo-
parency, Balanced Processing,) that constitute two ral perspective. The EFA has shown this is covered
latent second-order factor (Authentic leadership). within the self-awareness dimension. Apparently,
We present factor loadings of all items in Table 3. in our study, if the respondents’ supervisors exhibit
Discriminant validity tests (a matrix of zero-or- high levels of self-awareness, they exhibit high lev-
der Pearson’s pairwise correlations for the initial 3 els of ethical/moral standards, as well.
measurement variables) are presented in Table 4. The theoretical contribution of this study is to
The Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients for each con- the existing research on authentic leadership in the
structs range from 0.70 to 0.89, suggesting that the aspect of advancing previous research by empiri-
scales have relatively high internal consistency. cally examining authentic leadership. The prac-

Table 3. Construct validity

Measurement Completely
Second-order Unstandardized
Constructs variables standardized t-values
Factors factor loadings
(items - final) factor loadings
Superiors’ Authentic Relational
AL1 2.49 0.70 0.88 0.71 36.46 14.10
Leadership Transparency
AL3 0.69 0.74 14.30
AL4 0.76 0.74 15.03
AL5 0.69 0.71 15.30
Self-awareness AL11 4.91 0.71 0.83 0.73 43.82 31.75
AL12 0.76 0.78 32.40
AL13 0.67 0.68 31.34
AL14 0.72 0.71 35.55
AL15 0.71 0.70 31.11
AL16 0.73 0.69 34.55
AL17 0.69 0.75 38.97
Balanced
AL7 3.32 0.74 0.58 0.76 39.87 31.45
Processing
AL10 0.65 0.66 30.39
Fit indices: χ = 35.57 (p=0.000), df= 7, χ /df =5.08, NNFI = 0.99, CFI = 0.99
2 2

234 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

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Appendix 1: The questionnaire

The Supervisor’s Authentic Leadership Measure

Dear Sir or Madam,

With this questionnaire we are asking you about your superior’s level of authentic-
ity. We ask of you to please solve the following questionnaire in which you will be assess-
ing your manager. It will take approximately 5 minutes to answer all questions. Let’s add
that there is no right or wrong answers, but answers only reflect your opinions or positions.
In replying please give your level of agreement by circling a number in a five-point scale ranging from
one to five (1 = “strongly disagree”; 2 = “disagree”; 3 = “nor agree, nor disagree”; 4 = “agree”; 5 =
“strongly agree”).
This questionnaire is anonymous!

Fill out or encircle:

Gender: 1-M 2-F Age: ______ years
Work tenure ____________ years

Strongly Nor agree, Strongly

Your Superior Disagree Agree
disagree nor disagree agree
1. My superior has a positive attitude towards
1 2 3 4 5
work and challenges.
2. My superior has clearly defined personal goals. 1 2 3 4 5
3. My superior is honest. 1 2 3 4 5
4. My superior does not pretend, is not acting. 1 2 3 4 5
5. My superior acts in accordance with moral and
1 2 3 4 5
ethical rules.
6. My superior is easy to adapt to changes. 1 2 3 4 5
7. My superior is optimistic and has a strong
1 2 3 4 5
personal self-esteem - a strong “I”.
8. My superior gives hope for the development of
1 2 3 4 5
situations and solving of problems.
9. My superior is develops and inspires confidence. 1 2 3 4 5
10. My superior has a high self-esteem. 1 2 3 4 5
11. My superior is primarily focused on finding
1 2 3 4 5
positive values in individuals (humans).
12. My superior does what he promises - “The
1 2 3 4 5
actions follow words.”
13. My superior quickly ignores the negative,
1 2 3 4 5
problem situations.
14. My superior acts as a mentor - to promote
professional and personal development of 1 2 3 4 5
individuals and groups.
15. My superior encourages us to achieve the
1 2 3 4 5
expected goals with his experience.
16. My superior does not feel the need for exposing
1 2 3 4 5
himself, but is there for “service to others”.
17. My superior’s positive influence causes positive
1 2 3 4 5
changes in others and an inspiration for work.

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Multiple-role agent based distributed computing

Liguo Yu1, Alok Mishra2
1
Computer Science and Informatics,Indiana University, South Bend, IN, United Stafes of America,
2
Department of Computer and Software Engineering, Atilim University, Ankara, Turkey.

Abstract Agent-based modeling has been utilized in var-

A software agent is a computer program that acts ious domains [5] including distributed computing,
as an agency of human being to perform some tasks in which, software agents are located remotely.
or to provide some services in order to fulfill its des- Depending on whether an agent can migrate from
ignated responsibilities. In current software design, one node to another node, it could be either a static
each agent is usually specified with one role for low- agent or a mobile agent. A static agent refers to
er complexity and better maintainability. However, a software object that can only provide service
quite often an intelligent agent needs to act as multi- remotely. In contrast, a mobile agent refers to a
ple roles and coordinate the tasks/services performed software object that can provide service through
by different roles. This is especially important for migrating to the client’s site [6][7][8][9].
distributed computing in order to achieve high intel- Traditionally, for design simplicity, each agent is
ligence and high performance. This paper reviews employed with one role and each role is associated
existing design patterns for multiple-role agents and with a set of tasks. This kind of agent is called sin-
examines their limitations. A new pattern for multi- gle-role agent. Single-role agent has the advantage
ple-role agents based on object-oriented paradigm is of clear separation of concerns, easy understand-
presented and discussed with respect to distributed ing, and easy maintenance. In contrast, if an agent
computing. An example of multiple-role distributed is employed with more than one role, it is called
real estate agent is designed and analyzed to illustrate multiple-role agent. A multiagent system is a distrib-
the usefulness and benefits of this pattern. uted system consisting of multiple software agents,
Key words: software agent, multiple-role which structure “a loosely coupled network, called a
agent, distributed computing. multiagent system (MAS) to work together to solve
problems that are beyond their individual capabili-
ties or knowledge of each entity [10]”. The use of
1. Introduction
multi-agent systems to solve complex problems in
Agent is a significant notion in computer sci- distributed software environments is growing [11].
ence and distributed artificial intelligence, which The concept of a multi-agent system offers a solu-
represents a new process to conceptualize, de- tion consisting of a set of non-centralised, mutually
scribe and implement complex systems [1]. A co-operating autonomous agents [12]. Multi-agent
software agent is a computer program that acts as systems are reported as offering a new dimension
an agency of human being [2]. It can respond to for co-ordination in an enterprise resulting in a
requests and perform certain tasks or provide cer- more systematic and organized operation [13]. Co-
tain services. The tasks an agent can perform and ordination is widely acknowledged as a central is-
the services it can provide are in accordance with sue in expert systems involving interacting agents in
the role specified to the agent. In agent-based soft- dynamic, distributed environments towards perfor-
ware engineering, a role defines a position and a mance of distributed organizational structures [14]
set of responsibilities within a domain [3]. The re- [15][16]. Further, it is acknowledged that there is re-
sponsibilities include services and tasks, in which, quirement for intelligent agents inhabiting a shared
services are externally accessible, while tasks are environment to co-ordinate their activities, and that
functions utilized within the role itself [3][4]. In to be effective any agent co-ordination strategy
this paper, we do not differentiate services and should address the problems of task allocation and
tasks and call them in general as tasks. resource negotiation [17]. Following Figure 1(a)

238 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

and Figure 1(b) show the mapping among agents, sociated with a mechanism allowing agents to co-
roles, and tasks in a single-role agent and a multiple- ordinate with each other to reach a common goal
role agent, respectively. It is worth noting that both [16]. Further, Multi-agent system has been used as
static agents and mobile agents could be designed as the approved technology to solve the distributed
either single-role or multiple-role. resource allocation problem in a collaborative en-
vironment [14]. In distributed computing, a mul-
tiple-role intelligent agent can respond to requests
promptly and accurately, and accordingly dramati-
cally improve the system’s performance.

Figure 1. The mapping among agents, roles, and

tasks in (a) a single-role agent; and (b) a multi-
ple-role agent

Object-oriented paradigm has been widely used

in agent-based modeling, in which each agent is rep-
resented with one class/object. For single-role agent,
there is no clear difference between an agent and a
role: an agent plays a role and a role is implement-
ed through an agent. In other words, in single-role
agent modeling, each agent (role) is implemented
as one class and tasks performed by the agent (role)
are implemented as methods of the class. Figure 2a
Figure 2. The object-oriented representation of
shows an object-oriented representation of single-
(a) single-role agent systems; and (b) multiple-
role agents, in which, each class is one agent, and ac-
role agent systems
cordingly plays one role. The single-role agent mod-
eling has the following advantage. (1) Each agent
Applying object-oriented paradigms to multi-
is assigned with one role, which makes the system
ple-role agent modeling, each agent is better mod-
easy to understand; (2) Clear separation of concerns
eled as a class/object. This class/object can contain
(tasks/roles) makes the system easy to implement;
state variables, which can be affected by external
(3) Interactions within an agent/role and between
messages (environment) or internal functions. Each
agents/roles are clearly separated, which make the
role can also be modeled as a class/object. The tasks
system easy to maintain and evolve.
could be modeled as methods in the role class. Roles
However, a single-role agent model fails to rep-
are best to be represented as inheritance relations to
resent an agent that might execute several roles at a
promote task reuse. Figure 2b is the object-oriented
time, which can only be accurately represented by
representation of a multiple-role agent system.
a multiple-role agent [18][19]. In other words, mul-
However, to assign the relationship between
tiple-role agents more accurately represent human
multiple roles and one agent is not trivial. Many
beings, because a human being could play more
design quality factors need to be considered. Soft-
than one role at a time. Moreover, a multiple-role
ware quality has long been a critical issue for soft-
agent is more likely to behave like an intelligent
ware developers [21]. This paper reviews existing
agent that can respond to multiple and complicated
patterns and presents a new pattern for multiple-
requests at one time [20]. Multi-agent systems are
role distributed agent modeling. More specifically,
viewed as an enabling technology that can be as-
this paper made the following contributions:

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– A new pattern for multiple-role agents based In Figure 4(a), multiple roles are implemented in
on object-oriented paradigm is presented. multiple agents. This pattern is a natural solution
– A multiple-role distributed real estate agent and is widely used. It is just a simple transforma-
is designed and analyzed to illustrate the tion of single-role agent model: each role class is an
usefulness and benefits of the new pattern. attribute (data member) of an agent class. The col-
laboration and co-ordination of several single-role
The remaining of the paper is organized as fol- agents play the role of a multiple-role agent. Agent
lows. Section 2 reviews multiple-role agent pat- co-ordination is noted as a key feature of a multi-
terns and discusses their limitations. In Section 3, agent system [22]. Further, co-ordination is viewed
we propose our solutions to multiple-role agent as playing a fundamental role in the application of
modeling. A case study is described in Section 4 multi-agent systems since it allows agents to interact
to illustrate the strength of our pattern. The con- with one another in a productive way [23]. How-
clusions are presented in Section 5. ever, the pattern in Figure 4(a) has one drawback:
the tasks (methods) of base_role class can be ac-
2. Review: multiple-role agent patterns cessed by multiple agents. Additional specifications
are needed to define the relationship between tasks
There are basically two approaches in imple- and agents. This issue is even critical for distributed
menting multiple-role agents. One approach (Fig- agents: it will be difficult to determine which agent
ure 3a) uses the combination of single-role agents should provide the service to a request that can be
to act as a multiple-role agent. Another approach responded by several agent classes.
(Figure 3b) incorporates several roles in one agent.

(a)

Figure 3. The multiple roles implemented in (a)

multiple agents; and (b) a single agent
(b)
Figure 3 describes a system in the problem do- Figure 4. The object-oriented representation of
main. Figure 4 converts the representations into the multiple-role agent in (a) Figure 3a; and (b) Fig-
solution domain using the object-oriented paradigm. ure 3b

240 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

In Figure 4(b), multiple roles are implemented

in a single agent: each role class is an attribute
(data member) of an agent class. This solution also
has a drawback: duplicated tasks can be executed
by an agent, which makes the system difficult to
understand and maintain. For distributed comput-
ing, this means tedious upgrading and evolution of
both the agents and the system.

3. Proposed solution
Figure 5. Inheritance relation pattern of multi-
Figure 5 shows a pattern that implements multi- ple-role agent: preliminary solution
ple-role agents. Inheritance relations are assigned
to agents that play multiple roles. The advantage
of this pattern is that the same task is no longer
duplicated in one multiple-role agent as does in
Figure 4(b). However, one major issue in this pat-
tern is multiple-inheritance, i.e., a multiple-role
agent class inherits behaviors and features from
more than one (single/role or multiple-role) agent
class. Because multiple-inheritance increases the
complexity and ambiguity of the model, it is dep-
recated in some object-oriented programming lan-
guages. Therefore, the pattern in Figure 5 is not Figure 6. Inheritance relation pattern of multi-
the ideal solution to multiple-role agent models. ple-role agent: final solution
We call it the preliminary solution.
Figure 6 is an alternative solution: it utilizes
4. Case analysis: distributed multiple-role
the combination of inheritance and aggregation
real estate agent
between agents: aggregation is used to avoid
multiple inheritance; in other places, inheritance To illustrate the usefulness of the pattern pre-
is utilized. Association instead of aggregation is sented in Figure 6, a multiple-role real estate agent
specified between agent class and role class to is designed following this pattern.
avoid the duplication of tasks. Although the task In real estate industry, there are basically four
in base role class could be accessed by two mem- types of players, seller, buyer, listing agent, and
ber agents, they should be used in different con- selling agent. Their descriptions are given below.
ditions. For example, in multiple-role agent class – Seller is a client who wants to sell a real
MR_agent_x, both member objects MR_agent_11 estate property;
and MR_agent_21 can invoke task_1() in base_ – Buyer is a client who wants to buy a real
role class; it is up to agent MR_agent_x itself to estate property;
determine which object to use according to the – Listing agent, also called seller’s agent, is a
specific role it plays. real estate agent that works for the seller to
The pattern shown in Figure 6 has clear advan- get the property advertised and sold.
tage over the previously described patterns. It is – Selling agent, also called buyer’s agent, is a
more favorable than those in Figure 4 and Figure real estate agent that works for the buyer to
5. We accordingly choose the pattern in Figure 6 find and buy a property.
as the final solution to multiple-role distributed
agent. Both listing agent and selling agent work di-
rectly with their clients. Examples of their duties
are listed in Table 1.

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Table 1. Duties of real estate agents

Listing agents Selling agents
• Inform clients • Touch base with clients
• Answer questions • Answer questions
• Address concerns • Address concerns
• Prepare for a presentation for advertisement • Get price and sales term
• Help client determine the price • Disclose the property history
• Hold an open house • Disclose the material fact
• Search and contact potential buyers • Disclose the personal fact

Occasionally, both seller and buyer might hire case, the design of multiple-role agent makes the
the same agent. This agent is called a dual agent, system easy to maintain and evolve.
because he/she acts as both a listing agent and a If Dual agent is used as a mobile agent, more
selling agent. benefits can be achieved. (1) Because Dual agent
Following the pattern (final solution, Figure plays two roles, it can migrate between client
6) proposed in Section 3, the four types of play- nodes more freely. This will make it behave more
ers (seller, buyer, listing agent, and selling agent) like a human being (intelligent agent): it can move
can be modeled as classes. Moreover, the duties from one client node to another client node without
(tasks) played by agents can be categorized into returning back to the server node; (2) Dual agent
different roles using inheritance relationship. Ac- carries less code than single-role agents that need
cordingly, a dual real estate agent could be mod- to perform the same tasks. This less code migra-
eled as a multiple-role agent, as shown in Figure 7. tion can reduce the traffic of distributed comput-
It is worth noting that in Figure 7, although the ing; (3) Dual agent can more easily coordinate the
tasks in realtor’s role class are duplicated in the two clients (Seller and Buyer). This coordination
Dual agent class, they should be executed by dif- will be difficult for two single-role mobile agents.
ferent agents according to different clients these All these benefits can greatly increase the perfor-
tasks are executed for. For example, if the ques- mance of distributed computing.
tion comes from the seller, the Listing agent object
in Dual agent should invoke the function Answer 5. Conclusions
questions() in realtor’s role class; if the question
comes from the buyer, the Selling Agent object This paper analyzed existing patterns for mod-
in Dual agent should invoke the function Answer eling multiple-role software agents and presented
questions() in realtor’s role class. a new pattern. The usefulness of this new pattern
is demonstrated through a distributed multiple-
role real estate agent. The advantage of this new
pattern is summarized below.
– Agents, roles, and tasks are clearly
separately;
– The relations among agents, roles, and
tasks are specified using object-oriented
paradigm, which can increase the reusability
of the system;
– The understandability and maintainability
Figure 7. Modeling of a multiple-role real estate of the distributed system can be increased;
agent – The performance of distributed computing
can be improved using this pattern.
In distributed computing, the Dual agent in
Figure 7 acts as distributed agent on remote nodes, Potential future work will focus on the imple-
where it could be either static or mobile. In either mentation of distributed multiple-role agents. Em-

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pirical studies will be performed to evaluate its control using stigmergy”. Computers in Industry,
performance as well as its understandability, reus- 2004, 53, 75–96.
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 technics technologies education management

Business intelligence and the concept of chain

of values in the insurance
Vesna Aleksic Maric, Dragana Basic
University of Banja Luka, Faculty of Economics, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract trepreneurs could share information, experiences

and insights to each other and with the sailors.
In today’s conditions, and that means in terms
Today we can say that this was the place where
of a particularly high degree of competitiveness
he created the first insurance company established
of the market insurance products and services, in-
by the 79 entrepreneurs, shareholders of the com-
surance companies are forced to transform from a
pany’s first Lloyd’s. But today we can also say that
product centric to customer centric organization.
this was the place where the business intelligence
In order to succeed, their business should be based
was born, created by the mass of known and un-
on the concept of chain of values custom features
known entrepreneurs, seamen’s, and drunkards.
of activity they are involved. In this value chain,
business intelligence plays a key role. It is this is-
sue which is dealt with in this paper. 2. The dynamic development of insurance
Key words: Insurance, Chain of Value, Business in the global financial environment
Intelligence, Customer Relationship Management Insurance is an institution for damages result-
ing from the realization of spontaneous and other
1. Introduction extraordinary events, and tragic cases, which the
Although the term “business intelligence” is in company or individual are exposed to.
use for a relatively short time, its essence had devel- The essence of insurance consists in associating,
oped a long time ago. Specifically, 17 century was directly or indirectly, by individuals (or businesses)
a period of flourishing international trade. The new that are exposed to the same or similar hazards so.
territories and waterways are disclosed, and the high-risk communities. Education community at
sailors are brought things weird looks and purposes risk is exposed to the risk of each member of the
from their exotic journeys. However, their journeys community is distributed evenly, according to the
were exposed to various risks and challenges. They established key, to all members of the community.
needed some sort of protection from the dangers In this way, any damage affect all of them members
that are lurking on them in the distant sea. It in- of the community together, instead of an individual
spired a new type of entrepreneur - the maritime with incomparably less time sharpening their dam-
insurers, who were willing to cover the losses, in age by providing “fragmented”, that comes to ap-
exchange for adequate consideration or premium. plying the principle of reciprocity.
Even then the insurers depend on accurate and Insurance has three basic functions:
updated information, such as the waterways, pi- – The preservation of property (primary
rate activities, the political situation in different re- function),
gions of the world, the atmospheric conditions in – The mobilization of financial resources
certain geographic areas, the condition of the ship (cash-obligatory function),
and cargo, and the characteristics of the crew, but – The social function of improving the living
also about the needs, desires and preferences of po- conditions (secondary function).
tential customers, and their willingness to purchase
exotic items. To reach the necessary information, “Analysis of the evolutionary development of
many maritime insurers have begun to visit the the insurance companies in the world, observed
popular inn, which was held in London, concerned over several time periods shows some impor-
Edward Lloyd. It was a place where these new en- tant characteristics of insurance companies in the

244 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

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world - the continuity and stability. While other fi- tion in the sector and the rapid development of the
nancial institutions have a tendency of variation in insurance sector have affected by the demands of in-
terms of participation in the structure of the total dustry and development of information technology.
assets of various financial institutions, insurance Total insurance premiums in 2010. year in-
companies involved with, relatively, uniform per- creased by 2.7% over the previous period, respec-
centage” [1, pp. 18-21]. tively, amounted to 4.3 billion U.S. dollars, which
Although the insurance market is often viewed means that they have a tendency to increase com-
as an entity, there are significant differences in the pared to pre-crisis period (Table 1). Life insurance
two segments, life insurance, on the one hand, and premiums increased by 3.2% and 2.1% for non-life.
the general or non-life insurance on the other side. Table 1. Total revenue from insurance premiums
Depending on the nature of events in the United according to the type of billions of U.S. dollars[7]
States, insurance companies can be [10, pp. 31]: General or Non-life Life
Years
– Insurance companies for life insurance, Insurance Insurance
– Insurance companies for personal and 2000 926,5 1518,4
property insurance. 2001 969,9 1445,8
2002 1090,1 1536,1
Life insurance makes the bulk of global insur- 2003 1276 1683
ance sector, with revenue from insurance premi- 2004 1395 1849
ums amounting to 2.520 billion U.S. dollars in 2005 1442 2004
2010. year, or 58% down payment. 2006 1514 2209
While in the United States, Germany and Canada, 2007 1685 2441
the share of non-life insurance in total premium is 2008 1781 2439
greater than life, in developed economies like Japan, 2009 1742 2367
Britain and France share a life insurance prevails. 2010 1819 2520
Unlike other institutions in the financial mar-
kets, insurance companies are not faced with the While in industrialized countries saw an in-
risk of withdrawal; engage far less financial power crease in premiums of about 1.4%, the insurance
and balance are mainly long-term liabilities and in- market in developing countries recorded a rapid
vestments. expansion with 11% growth in revenue from in-
Direct impact of financial crisis on the invest- surance premiums during the year which is largely
ments of insurance companies is limited due to the due to the faster pace of economic growth in these
broad diversification of investment portfolios of countries, and growth commodity prices.
insurers. In 2008. year of participation subprime The gradual recovery of the global economy
mortgages in the investment portfolio of insurance from the financial crisis in 2008. and 2009. year,
companies amounted to about 80 billion U.S. dol- and is conditioned in 2011. year of continued
lars, which is less than 1% of invested assets. growth in revenue from insurance premiums on
Several factors can affect the level of insur- the insurance market in the industrialized coun-
ance premiums in the individual countries. For tries and markets in developing countries. How-
instance, countries such as India and China are ever, the negative impact of financial crisis in
considered as countries with high potential in the the insurance industry has been reflected on the
insurance field because of their large populations, side of asset of insurance companies in terms
but also significantly low payments per capita in of falling returns on investments and on the
the case of realization of the contingency. The lev- side of liabilities in terms of growth in claims.
el of expenditure on insurance varies from country An insurance company who’s the insurance busi-
to country, although dominated by the developed ness was combined with the banking operations
countries, and depends on the state and private and financial guarantees could use financial sup-
welfare of the land and its inhabitants. port from governments. However, regardless of
As is the case with other types of financial ser- the realized losses on both sides, the most impor-
vices, insurance sector has seen its internationaliza- tant segment of the insurance sector is sufficiently

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capitalized to withstand a negative reflection of tial, United States and Japan account for 40% of
the financial crisis and absorb the losses. the global of insurance and participate in the total
Table 2. Total revenue from insurance premiums world population with only 7%, while emerging
by type and country in billions of U.S. dollars in economies account for over 85% of the world’s
2010. Year [7] population, while the insurance sector, viewed
Income from insurance premiums by type and from the aspect of insurance premiums, account
country for about 15 %. Life insurance market is most de-
Non-life veloped in Europe in the UK. The UK is also the
Country Life Insurance second largest in Europe in terms of non-life in-
insurance
U.S. 506 660
surance, immediately after Germany [6].
Japan 441 116
Another way of comparing the insurance in-
United Kingdom 214 96 dustry in different countries is to be seen insurance
France 192 88 premiums as a share of GDP
Germany 115 125 According to the research the highest penetra-
China 143 72 tion rate of insurance was in 2010. year by 18.4%
Italy 122 52 in Taiwan, then South Africa 14.8%, the UK and
Canada 52 64 the Netherlands, each with around 12.4%. At the
North Korea 71 43 global level, in 2010. year penetration in the insur-
Netherlands 25 72 ance industry averaged 6.9%.
Reinsurance is intended to protect insurers
Developed countries will be faced with the dra- from large losses with the risk of loss transferred
matic demographic changes over the next 50 years to the reinsurer; the primary insurer only needs to
due to the expected increase in life expectancy and maintain equity in its balance sheet to cover its
falling birth rates. Future trends are going in the share of risk. Non-life insurance generates about
direction of greater individual provision for re- three-quarters of the total reinsurance.
tirement and health care and less reliance on state Latest available figures show that in 2010. year
pension systems. in North America is generated largest share of the
Developed economies dominated the overall total reinsurance, 47%, followed by 38% Europe
insurance sector. The total amount that has domi- and Asia, and Australia with 9% [6]. The world’s
nated Europe in 2010. realized premium income largest reinsurers in 2010. were as Munich Re
amounting to 1.620 billion U.S. dollars, followed (Germany), Swiss Re (Switzerland), Hannover Re
by North America with 1.409 billion, and Asia (Germany), Berkshire Hathaway (USA) Lloyd’s
with 1.161 billion U.S. dollars. Considered a par- (UK) and others. For the five reinsurers worldwide
wastes more than half of the reinsurance market.
Table 3. Insurance penetration in 2010. Year [7]
Insurance premiums as part of GDP, 2010. years
Total Business Non-life Insurance Life Insurance
Taiwan 18,4 16 84
South Africa 14,8 19 81
United Kingdom 12,4 23 77
Netherlands 12,4 74 26
Hong Kong 11,4 11 89
South Korea 11,2 37 63
France 10,5 33 67
Japan 10,1 21 79
Switzerland 9,9 44 56
Bahamas 9,9 75 25
Total 6,9 42 58

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It is evident from the available data that the re- 4. Modules in the insurance chain of values
insurance companies from Switzerland, Germany
The primary the value chain of insurance con-
and the United States dominated the rankings (in
sists of the following modules (activities):
2010. Munich Re is the largest with 15% share
– Channel management;
in total gross reinsurance premiums, followed by
– The calculation of risk premiums;
Swiss Re Group 12%, Hannover Re 7%, Berk-
– Sales and management of policyholders and
shire Hathaway, 7% and 6% of Lloyd’s total mar-
– Manage damages requirements.
ket share). Besides the dominance of large com-
panies, on the insurance and reinsurance market
On the other hand, the secondary the chain of
there are a number of smaller market participants
value comprises three main modules, or groups of
who tend to concentrate in their home countries.
activities:
– Financial Management;
3. Chain of values in the insurance – Human resource management and
During its more eternal existence, the insurance – Corporate Governance.
industry has been collected and accumulated a large
amount of enviable knowledge of the possible offers, Chain of values ends by module relationship
and portfolio of services that can provide to their cli- management with clients, which materialize the out-
ents. However, many studies testify that such a mass put value of the total business of insurance company.
of knowledge does not match the amount collected
and the accumulated knowledge that insurance com- 4.1 Channel Management
panies allow a detailed understanding of customers
Traditionally, business, insurance companies
and insight into their needs, wishes, preferences and
rely on live agents, i.e. agents and direct sellers who
desires. This leads to a situation that some companies
distribute their products. Objectively speaking, they
in the industry develop products that can offer, and
are still the main channel for distribution services
not those customers are looking for.
and insurance products, and it will certainly remain
However, more recently, rising competition forc-
so in the foreseeable future. However, with the
es insurance companies to be more customer-orient-
development of information and communication
ed. Instead of the concentration in the portfolio of
technologies, especially those based on the Internet,
products that can offer the insurance company and
there are created some new options to offer, mar-
its management are directed towards the customers,
keting and distribution of certain types of products
trying to figure out precisely what the characteris-
these companies, such as car insurance provider.
tics of market demand for its services. To succeed
Placement and distribution of the majority of
in the highly competitive market, insurance compa-
services and insurance products through the Inter-
nies need to completely understand the concept of
net so far have not proved particularly successful,
chain of values, to modify it in accordance with the
mainly because of the complexity of the transac-
characteristics of the activity they are engaged and
tions at the same time to perform. This greatly
implement it in their business practices.
contributes to the fear of the so-called. duct of the
Application this concept implies that insurance
conflict. The essence of the canal of the conflict
companies have adequate financial resources,
lies in a dilemma: to fully orientate the online
skills, knowledge and skills to convert large vol-
business and fully or partially abandon previously
umes of data, which relate to their clients, agents,
used distribution channels or retain old business
products, claims and insurance policies in the in-
contacts accomplished through traditional chan-
formation to allow the taking of appropriate ac-
nels, and electronic commerce look as an opportu-
tion. In other words, the business intelligence is
nity to achieve new business relationships.
essential for the insurance companies. It is the
It is no surprise that many insurance companies
business intelligence factor that should be a criti-
who have already created a positive market im-
cal support to each element or module in the insur-
age and good market position of reluctant use of
ance chain of values.

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all available resources online, using this medium conducted via the Internet allows the execution
only to provide information about their services and of a number of useful analyses. Thus, the data
products, without offering at the same time and the collected is appropriate to connect and integrate
possibility of their direct purchases by the network. with data collected via traditional channels of
One thing is certain, the insurance company, we distribution in order to carry out appropriate
like it or not, will have to integrate the Internet into segmentation of customers who purchase of the
their mix of distribution channels, but also improve policy via the Internet. Such segmentation of
their efficiency in the use of traditional channels. online customers can help design and planning
Business intelligence can enable insurance of advertising campaigns using the concept of
companies to create insight into the different dis- so-called. direct marketing.
tribution channels in order to effectively apply
certain principles of intelligent control mix of 4.2 The calculation of risk premiums
channels. In this sense, business intelligence in In-
surance offers the following features: The function of calculating risk premiums (the
– Engagement of agents and sellers. Based on actuarial function) makes it “hard core” of every
the analysis of geographic distribution and insurance company. It includes risk assessment of
characteristics of their clients, insurers can what type of insurance, as well as determining the
optimally recruit and assign agents and vendors appropriate insurance premiums.
in various locations. Such analysis can be The insurance premium is the price of risk,
covered and potential clients who aspire to new which contains the cost of insurance (Ck), the price
and existing products and services offered by of insurance services (Cu) plus a certain amount of
the insurer. reserve accumulation that is security provisions (R):
– Training of agents and relationship management
with sales staff. Business intelligence can P=Ck+Cu+R
contribute to a better use of sales data, which are
stored in the appropriate transactional databases The task to be performed this function is ex-
and data warehouses, in analyzing the behavior tremely complex and it is of strategic importance
of staff and agents when sell insurance products for the success of business insurance company. In
and services. Such analysis can serve to identify performing this task it will often use sophisticated
the best agents and sellers, which will then be mathematical models whose parameters can be de-
able to be adequately rewarded. The analysis can termined by applying business intelligence. Some
be extended to recognize good behavior patterns typical examples where, in the context of business
in the sale of insurance services and products to intelligence can be of great help are the following:
be used in designing educational programs and – Modeling of risk. Business intelligence enables
training of sales staff. you to create the model predictions, which will
– Research and determine the efficiency and determine the profile of different clients [9, pp.
profitability of various channels of distribution. 112]. Created by recognizing the regularity and
With the use of business intelligence and its legality of certain events based on registered and
tools, the insurer can compare the effectiveness stored historical data of past events. Such models
of different channels, the manner in which they may include a variety of risk indicators such
are used by different agents, and their relevance as average amount of claims, the frequency of
ranking of certain types of services and products. claims and amounts of paid insurance premiums.
Efficiency should be monitored over a longer – Reinsurance. Reinsurance company assumes
period of time to be able to identify certain the risk of the insurer in exchange for paying a
regularities, and if necessary, to define the portion of insurance premiums. In the event of a
necessary corrective measures and development claim, the company will pay off in reinsurance
activities that insurers should take. premiums. The function of risk and the premium
– The development of electronic commerce. must be determined that the appropriate amount
Collecting data on or-pay and other transactions that will belong to the insurer can maximize its

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revenue. In this case, the prediction model based 4.4 Manage claims for damages
on the application of business intelligence is
proving extremely useful. The importance of managing claims for dam-
– Profitability Analysis. The profitability of ages can never be emphasized too much, because
existing products and services can be traced to it is of utmost importance. Quickly and efficiently
the influence of various factors, such as service management of the requirements forms is the ba-
lines and / or products, geographic areas, agents, sis for establishing good relationships with clients,
customer segment, etc. This is usually the first identifying their trust and increase loyalty to the
step in assessing the potential survival of new, insurer. At the same time, the insurer must be pro-
especially complex products. Based on historical tected from the ever increasing number of fraudu-
data on the profitability of other, more or less lent claims for compensation for nonexistent or
similar products, they are trying to develop simulated damage.
sophisticated forecasting models to estimate the For example, in research published in the
potential market acceptance of new products American Council for Research Insurance (Insur-
and determine the most profitable segments of ance Research Council) states that almost 36%
customers that such products will offer. of citizens believe that the claims justified unre-
alistic increase in order to restore the amount of
premiums paid several years [4]. Another, some-
4.3 Sales and Management backstop what earlier published study shows that in the U.S.
Business intelligence can help to make better 1999th as much as 10% of all claims accounted
use of data previously sold polis, claims, damages, for one that is conclusively established that they
etc., which are stored in a data warehouse, in the are untrue, and the amount that such requirements
formulation of optimal management policies of claim has reached a whopping $ 24 billion [12].
the polis. Some potential areas of application of The opportunity cost of ineffective manage-
business intelligence for such purposes are: ment of claims for damages are extremely high.
– Analysis of premiums. Premium income is the Namely, the hasty resolution of claims may result
main source of income for insurance companies. in an increased number of paid untrue or unreal-
Analysis of premiums enables monitoring of the istically high expectations, while simultaneously
efficiency of the premium offered by service detecting fraud slowly extend the cycle time of
and product lines, by geographic region, by processing the application, which in turn can neg-
branch or by individual agents. The method of atively affect customer satisfaction. So no wonder
“cutting and chopping data”, as one of the most the insurance companies all over the world see
popular supporting business intelligence tools, it salvation in technology for improving the man-
is possible to generate the most diverse types of agement of claims for damages.
analytic and synthetic, as well as periodic and The experience of many insurers are saying that
ad hoc reports that are essential for formulating, without the application of sophisticated analytical
managing and adjusting the management policy techniques and tools, aspirations for optimal man-
of the polis. agement of claims for damages remain just “wish-
– Analysis of the damage or loss. In some cases, ful thinking”. In other words, the implementation
i.e. for some services, products and/or product of business intelligence supported by appropriate
line can happen that the premium income is tools will be imposed as an imperative of good
less than the cost of their service. Such losses governance requirements, and applies to the fol-
are usually the result of previously committed lowing sets of activities:
errors in risk assessment. Insurers should – Analysis of claims for damages. It is one of
continuously to monitor and control data on an the most common applications of business
error and actual losses in order to accurately intelligence in the insurance industry. It includes
determine the costs of acquiring new customers an analysis of data from claims for damages
and existing customers renewing the polis, and associated with other data sources, such as
to avoid repeating the mistakes in the future. insurance policies and their sales. They are

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used primarily for precision measurement of [11]. Revenues insurance companies always make
the efficiency of application processing, which the interest on invested funds, and it represents the
of course has a direct impact on the level of base of profitability of the insurance business as
customer satisfaction. This type of analysis a whole. However, the costs of selling insurance
is also used for discovering hidden business policies are steadily growing, resulting in a ten-
trends that otherwise might have remained dency to reduce the profitability of insurance com-
unnoticed. Thus, for example, insurers will panies. To be and stay competitive in this market,
use the information on claims for damages insurance companies and their management need
for the analysis of potential losses, which can a quick and direct access to financial data on which
help to optimize the use of reserves, leading they conduct the appropriate analysis.
to a reduction in the level of business risk and For these reasons, many insurers are now fo-
the possibility of separating large amounts of cused on building and establishing a data ware-
funds for investment in business development. house (Data Warehouse), which can store and in-
Analysis of compensation claims may be useful tegrate historical and current financial data, which
in detecting fraud, identifying abnormal or enable them to perform the following activities:
atypical conditions and processes according to – Planning. The data warehouse facilitates
geographical regions, agents and policyholders. analysis and comparison of planned and actual
– Detection of fraud. Probability of the elements costs of different types, such as marketing
of fraud in claims for damages may be costs, sales commissions, etc. The business
determined by sophisticated analysis of data intelligence derived from such data can be used
from application-related data from other internal to develop models of optimal allocation and
and external sources, such as payment records, cost control insurance companies [5, pp. 223].
sales, initiated and completed trials. Business – Assessment of exposure to financial risks. Data
intelligence tools can be used to develop models Warehouse and supporting tools of artificial
designed to detect different forms, or method of intelligence can be used to develop models of
carrying out fraud. exposure to financial risks such as unexpected
– Estimate the value of the request. If it comes to changes in interest rates or a disruption in the
launching new services or insurance products, stock exchanges. Such models can be used to
the actual value of future claims for damages predict the possible ways of managing financial
can not know in advance. In such cases one portfolios in different economic conditions,
should resort to estimate these values, which and assessing the liquidity of the insurer.
will cause the amount of allocated funds needed – Analysis of financial indicators. Using data from
to cover, i.e. the payment of compensation the data warehouse can be analyzed various
required. These frozen assets (reserves) will not financial indicators, such as the rate of liquidity,
be used for long-term investments. Just by it debt ratio, the relationship between claims
implies that the accuracy of the value of future and debts, etc. As in the analysis using actual
compensation claims have far-reaching impact historical data, it will be more realistic than when
on the profitability of insurance companies. used solely or predominantly superior data.
Business intelligence makes good conditions for – Profitability Analysis. It is possible the
a more precise assessment of the value of future analysis of profitability of individual services
compensation claims. and products, services and product lines,
sales activities and investments. The main
4.5 Financial Management component of profitability analysis is a detailed
analysis of the costs that arise during the sale of
The role of financial reporting in the last de- the policy, which is often asserted as the main
cade experienced a significant change. It is no lon- cause of lowering the overall profitability of
ger just about generating financial reports as pre- insurance companies.
scribed by law, but are increasingly being used as a – Reporting and analysis based on the Web.
tool to help in making strategic business decisions Financial decision-making often requires

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the rapid provision of appropriate data and redeployment of agents and sales staff when it
information. In all the conditions of intensive is anticipated that in some geographic areas
Internet use and Web services, it is growing MMOG experience excessive or reduced
availability and speed of access to financial data demand for services and products of insurance
from external, independent sources, which often companies.
allows making objective and better financial – Employee Portal. Employers should provide up
decisions. It is even more evident when using to date information about employees in order,
the appropriate tools, business intelligence whenever necessary, to obtain information about
financial data from external sources, affected the paid salaries, incentives and awards, pensions
over the Web, manage to connect with data and severance pay, etc. The data on wages can be
from the data warehouse insurance company. linked with other data bases and data warehouses
of employees, and in this way to make transparent
4.6 Human Resource Management throughout the organization.
– Training and planning progress. The data
Data warehousing can significantly contribute warehouse can find accurate and up to date
to aligning HR strategies with the general business information on the qualifications, skills, aptitudes
strategy of any organization, including insurance and abilities of employees. As such, these data can
companies as well. It can ensure the creation of be used in planning the education of employees,
an integrated insight into the structure, operation determining the content of educational programs
and efficiency of employees and assist in devel- and career planning and advancement of
oping appropriate reward schemes, improving employees in the organization.
productivity and reducing labor costs. As some of
the major business intelligence applications in the 4.7 Corporate Management
field of human resource management, supported
by data warehousing and appropriate tools, it can Top management of each insurance company has
specify the following: its own needs and requirements in terms of business
– Reporting and analysis of human resources. It is intelligence. The IT Department is usually the one
possible to generate reports and conduct analysis that will ensure the appropriate management reports.
on the basis of which will create a general picture She is also responsible for generating statutory busi-
and integrated insight into the situation of human ness reports that are intended for external entities,
resources. In this particular interest is in the analysis such as organs of state administration or local gov-
of labor turnover, employee productivity, reasons ernment, and other information required within the
for the termination of employment, performance company or outside. Business intelligence that al-
evaluation to organizational units, awards and lows the use of quality data about the activities that
incentives, etc. Information about employees can make up the chain of values can be a good solution
be compared with the corresponding standards in on the basis of which the IT service meets the nu-
the insurance business, to be performed on the merous and diverse information needs and require-
basis of guidelines to improve human resource ments of numerous and different users. In this re-
management. gard, following applications are very interesting:
– Schedule (allocations) employees. This applica- – Reporting to top management of insurance
tion is particularly important when it comes to company. Reports that will be given the
allocating staff to tasks related to developing appropriate indicators of efficiency and success
and selling new products and services. Business of company such as profitability of product
intelligence will allow the selection of those lines, the total cost of sales of the policies, the
employees whose knowledge, skills and return on investment, etc. shall be disclosed to
experience up to the challenge of innovative the top management to facilitate the process of
activities and tasks, and increased requirements making strategic and tactical business decisions.
in such situations. Likewise, the applying Warnings can be generated in situations where
business intelligence can be the criteria for the any of the indicators of success and effectiveness

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break pre-defined framework. Such reports may should pay much attention to how to choose and
include evaluations performed by independent apply the technology required to manage relation-
entities, such as audit firms, statistical institutes ships with their clients, in order to fully exploit the
or inspection services. potentials and advantages of this technology.
– Reporting required by law and other binding Since the management of client relationships is
regulations. Insurance companies have, a continuous process in every step of the process,
depending on the environment in which they the insurance company should use large amounts
operate, submit numerous reports to the various of data that already have from earlier, but also sys-
external actors, which is particularly complex and tematically collect new data. All these data should
difficult task when they operate in international be stored in a data warehouse, which will enable
markets. In the environment where the business those using appropriate methods, techniques and
intelligence is created and implemented, such tools allowing the creation of insight into all the
requirements are easier to satisfy than in areas important features of customers demand. Such
where business intelligence is not used. insight will be helpful in developing, designing
– Information services for clients. Historical data and personalization of new products and services
on claims for damages, stored in a data warehouse appropriate to constantly changing and evolving
can be of great benefit to the institutional clients needs of clients.
and organizations and institutions such as those The process of managing relationships with cli-
who has a practice to provide insurance to their ents that should be practiced by modern insurance
employees against accidents and other incidents companies consists of three steps [2]:
at work. Such information will be helpful to 1. Finding, identifying and accessing the
customers in determining the major trends in most profitable or potentially profitable
claims and the implementation of appropriate customers, due to the later establishment of
corrective actions. Information services aimed interaction with them;
to customers can not only result in lowering 2. Researching, identifying and understanding
the cost of the insurance companies regarding their needs, desires, preferences, capabilities
claims, but they can significantly contribute to and behavior in deciding to purchase a
strengthening its relationships with clients. product or service and
3. Interaction with customers and operations
5. Manage relationships with clients in the in a manner that will enable the fulfillment
insurance of their expectations.

Manage relationships with clients is the last Business intelligence and its supporting tools can
link in the value chain insurance company, or its enhance the interaction and operation of insurance
“extended” the hand to the market sales of insur- companies with clients throughout the entire pro-
ance products and services. The typical insurance cess of finding, identifying and accessing the most
company today has a large number of clients, profitable customers, to provide additional services
which offers a diverse line of products and ser- after purchase or during the use of insurance servic-
vices. Each line usually consists of a numerous of es. The success of management strategies relation-
products or services offered through various chan- ships with clients from the insurance company may
nels to market, which occupies huge physical, or be manifested in different ways, such as:
geographical area. – Profitability of clients. Instead of all its efforts
To be able to effectively deal with clients, and to and resources concentrated on attracting new
design, formulate and offer products and services customers, for the insurance company is vital to
appropriate to their needs, desires, preferences and increase the profitability of existing customers. To
capabilities, an insurer must develop an appropri- be able to achieve the desired level of profitability
ate strategy for managing relationships with cli- of customers, insurance companies should
ents. However, such a strategy nowadays is largely know and be able to quantify the costs caused
depending on technology. Insurance companies by servicing customers within a certain period

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and the revenues generated by each customer insurer, it is highly unlikely that he will never
during that period. The results of the customer return. That is why the retention of existing
profitability analysis will suggest reasons why client’s problem of paramount importance
some customers are not profitable, and some others for the insurance company, and the analysis
are. For example, a customer can be unprofitable of leaving (going clients to another insurer)
because the product or service he uses, does not fit is the first step in this context. The analysis of
the profile of risk they are exposed or because the leaving includes the analysis of data offending
environment in which it operates in some of its or collected during the company’s contacts with
atypical features. Customer profitability analysis specific customer through different channels
can be of great help in developing new products and points of contact [3]. For purposes of this
and / or services, and adaptation of existing to the analysis, information on contacts with the client
single customer or a class (segment) of clients. is connected with data from other sources, such
– The value of the customer throughout the entire as policyholders and claims for damages. The
life cycle. Customer profitability is not the only data are then linked with data about clients who
measure of value of the customer in terms of the left the company in order to identify possible
insurance company. The client, in fact, may have reasons of such their decisions. Of course, the
the potential to buy profitable products and / or ultimate goal is to detect errors or omissions that
services in the future. Also it can be an excellent led to this, so they avoid in the future and in their
reference for more profitable customers than relationships with other clients.
him [9, pp.65]. Therefore, as a more objective – Analysis of affinity. This type of analysis based
measure of customer value for the insurance on the application of business intelligence is often
company is showing the value of the customer referred to as the analysis of the consumer basket
throughout the entire life cycle, taking into (Market-Basket Analysis). The point is that some
account all the factors that influence the value products show an affinity to one another. Such
of the client during the business relationship products are typically purchased together. Thus
between him and the insurer. for example, a man in the thirties, which buys life
– Segmentation of customers. Segmentation insurance policy, might be inclined to purchase
is applied so that the clients, who have some a product and ensure that it guarantees a regular
similar characteristics or exhibit similar patterns annual income. This affinity is quite difficult to
of behavior, grouped (classified) into various detect, if it is not applied some of the appropriate
groups or segments. These segments can then be methods of business intelligence. One of the
treated as separate entities, and future action the most famous - the method of data mining (Data
insurance company can tailor to their specific Mining) in this respect proved very effective,
properties. Segmentation of customers can because it often allows you to discover some
save a lot of marketing effort, and that means hidden principles of phenomena and processes.
money that would otherwise be unnecessarily Likewise, good results were achieved by using the
spent. Some tools of business intelligence- techniques and associative analysis (Association
based on clustering algorithm (cluster) for the Analysis) that attempts to discover the real and
segmentation of the entire customer base into attractive combination of products and services
“clusters” according to various demographic, that would be offered together to the particular
geographic, and even psychological criteria. client or client segment of the population.
– Analysis of abandonment. Many studies have
clearly shown that the attracting new customers Targeted marketing. Targeted marketing is try-
much more expensive than retaining existing ing to hit a specific group of clients or service us-
ones. This is especially true when it comes to ers. Of course, it is necessary first to perform the
insurance companies. Typically, buying an segmentation of customers. When you have iden-
insurance product or service is a decision for tified and established various client segments of
the client and the company which has long term the population, the appropriate tools of business
consequences. If the client decide to change his intelligence can be applied to develop prediction

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models that will try to predict the propensity to a – Cross-selling. This form of sales (cross selling)
certain segment of consumers to some existing or involves the offer and sale of any new products
new products. “Armed” of such knowledge, mar- or services to a client who has already purchased
keters will be able to access the shaping campaigns a product or service, and it is estimated that
aimed precisely defined segments of consumers. the other product or service could well serve.
– Viral marketing. In this case it is a kind of We should carefully assess whether this other
technological version of an oral advertisement product or service to arouse the attention of the
(Mund Propaganda), where instead of the client, to meet their needs and bring profit to the
traditional oral traditions as a means of seller at the same time not causing resentment
communication uses electronic mail. News about or a feeling that the client was manipulated
good or bad products, services and organizations by a cheap advertising. Cross-selling can be
spread like an infection, similar to computer an important source of income of insurance
viruses, and hence such a name for this type of companies. However, in order to be effectively
marketing. Viral marketing can be considered practiced, the insurer and its agents shall have
as any strategy that encourages individuals to access to data stored in a data warehouse that will
forward a marketing message to other people, allow quick response to customer requirements
thus creating the potential for exponential growth, and assess their needs.
exposure and impact messages to the potential
customers of the company [13, pp. 17-21]. 6. Conclusion
Like a virus, the marketing message will spread
to the Internet user population exponentially. In today’s conditions, and that means in terms
However, this kind of sophisticated marketing of a particularly high degree of competitiveness
carries a latent danger of turning into some of the market insurance products and services, in-
kind of overloading clients with a large mass of surance companies are forced to transform from a
unsolicited message via electronic mail, what the product centric to customer centric organizations.
technical jargon is called spam. That or some of In order to succeed, their business should be based
the many other ways to interfere with customer on the concept of chain of values customized with
privacy is probably the worst thing a company features of activity they are involved. In this value
can make. Therefore, one should seriously try to chain business intelligence plays a key role. The
make marketing information that customers are primary value chain of insurance company make
placing more suggestive and authentic, but not modules channel management, accounting and
too annoying and aggressive [8]. risk premiums, sales and management of the poli-
– An analysis of marketing campaigns. This cies, and the management of claims for damages.
activity is used to determine the effectiveness Recurrent value chain activities are financial man-
of advertising and marketing campaigns. agement, human resource management and corpo-
Impact of specific campaigns endorsed the rate governance.
sale of products can be detected and monitored Business intelligence, supported by adequate
by appropriate business intelligence tools. data warehousing and analytical tools, can con-
Infrequently happens that the expansion of sales, tribute to a better and more efficient execution of
advertising heavily supported products resulting these activities, resulting primarily to increased
in decreased volume of sales of other products. profitability of the company, strengthening its
For example, a powerful new advertising service relationships with customers and increasing cus-
of supplemental insurance may act to decrease tomer loyalty. Without the application of business
the demand for life insurance. These hidden intelligence, these tasks are difficult or even im-
or not obviously, applies can also be detected possible to perform well in the increasingly com-
using techniques, methods and tools of business petitive insurance market.
intelligence. Campaign data is stored in a data Customer satisfaction has always been very
warehouse, in order to be used later to predict important in every job. Insurance business that not
similar campaigns in the future. only no exception, but here is customer satisfac-

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tion, and certainly even more pronounced neces- References

sary than in other sectors. The service can now be 1. Bašić, D., Značaj i integrisanost osiguravajućih
imposed on and win the favor of consumers only društava u finansijskom sistemu, Finrar. 11 Banja
by quality. Therefore, the quality of services given Luka, 2001.
to clients is shown as an important factor of differ-
entiation in modern insurance providers. Compa- 2. CRM, The Final Piece of the Supply Chain, Inte-
grated Solution Magazine, http://www.isit.com;
nies are faced with a far larger number of increas- 30.05.2002.
ingly varied customer inquiries set on some of the
traditional, but more and online modes. In order to 3. Customer Centered Service: A Clear Path to Loyalty,
respond to them, which certainly represents one of http://www.egain.com; 2001.
the essential elements of quality of service given
4. Customer Perception and Insurance Development,
to existing and potential customers; companies http://www.irc.org/research; 05.2002.
have to train their employees in a variety of ways
to communicate. This will enable the establish- 5. Dyche, J., e-Data: Turning Data Into Information
ment of close and lasting relationships with exist- with Data Warehousing, Addison-Wesley, Boston,
2001.
ing and potential customers.
However, good relationships with clients does 6. Insurance. december, 2011. TheCityUK partnering
not arise spontaneously, by themselves, they re- prosperity. http://www.thecityuk.com/assets/Uploads/
quire the application of appropriate methods and Insurance-2011-F2.pdf; 01.2012.
business processes that the company will establish
7. Insurance. december, 2011. TheCityUK partnering
a control or with which they will be able to man- prosperity. http://www.thecityuk.com/research/our-
age these relationships. A set of such methods and work/reports-list/insurance-2011/; 01.2012.
business processes is called customer relationship
management with clients. Since the management 8. Sounders, C., User Satisfaction Key to Viral Marke-
ting, http://cyberatlas.internet.com/markets/adverti-
of client relationships is a continuous process in
sing; 09.05.2002.
every step of the process, the insurance compa-
nies should use large amounts of data that already 9. Swift, R.S., Accelerating Customer Realtionship
have, but also systematically collect new data Using CRM and Relationship Technologies, Prentice
about their customers. All these data should be Hall PTR, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2001.
stored in a data warehouse, which will, by appro- 10. Šoškić, D., Hartije od vrijednosti: upravljanje port-
priate methods, techniques and tools of business foliom i investicioni fondovi, Ekonomski fakultet,
intelligence, enable the creation of insight into all Beograd, 2001.
the important attributes of customers demand.
11. The Emeregence of Web Services for the Financial
Services Industry, http://www.CapitalStream.com;
2002.

12. The U.S. Insurance Industry Overview 1999., Insu-

rance Information Institute, New York, 2000.

13. Wilson, R.F., The Six Principles of Viral Marketing,

Web Marketing Today, Issue 70, Fabruary 1, 2000.

Corresponding Author
Vesna Aleksic Maric,
University of Banja Luka,
Faculty of Economics,
Banja Luka,
Bosnia and Herzegovina,
E-mail:

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Exploration of old maps of Novi Pazar

Milos M. Radovanovic
University in Kragujevac, Technical Faculty in Cacak, Serbia

Abstract locations and spatial structure of its segments in

particular periods. Rectification of old maps and
In this paper, four old maps of Novi Pazar, pre-
drawings is extremely significant, because it im-
served in the Vienna War Archives, have been anal-
plies their adjustment to the proportions of the
ysed and explored. Two of the maps originate from
existing maps from present time and elimination
the 18th century, and two from the 19th century and
of shortcomings and inaccuracies which are the
they were all made for the needs of war operations
consequence of limited technical and graphical
of the Austrian army against Turkey. The maps of-
possibilities of that period.
fer a valuable material on appearance, size and main
Urban development of a settlement or its parts
characteristics of settlements in the 18th and 19th
is usually presented chronologically, according to
century. Despite certain generalizations and short-
the order of phases, starting with its origination
comings, since they had probably been made by
all the way to the latest period. Exploration of the
informers, partly from memory, the maps provide
urban development usually goes from the present
elements important for the urban development of
period backwards, towards the past, i.e. from the
settlements in that period. Rectification of the maps
existing state via closer and farther phases all the
and their comparison to the current state, but also
way to the initial phase of the settlement. When
to other data, provided valuable elements used for
it comes to the exploration of some phases closer
defining the developmental phases of settlements
to the present moment, there are some additional
in the specified periods. The analysis of maps gave
documents and sources based on which that phase
important data on: the size and area encompassed
can be defined; concerning some other phases, old
by the settlement, its structure and organization, po-
maps and drawings provide precious data, some-
sition and direction of main travel routes and streets,
times the only one available.
but also about some important objects. The Fortress
of Novi Pazar was shown in the plans exceptionally Analysis and exploration of old maps
well. It was given separately in the plan Sig. Kia 44 Many authors have dealt with the topic of settle-
(map 4) and was shown as a separate detail with all ments and architecture of the Ottoman Empire pe-
the important objects. riod, especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina [1-7],
Key words: maps, plans, settlement, streets, but from the aspects different from the topic of this
mahala. paper. Some authors have been involved in meth-
odology of research and processing of architectural
Introduction heritage in old cities and their centres [8-14]; some
The paper deals with the period of the Ottoman of their methods or their elements were applied in
Empire with reference to the construction and de- this paper. This particularly applies to [12, 14 and
sign of Novi Pazar, a town in the South-East part 8], whose papers are closely connected with the
of Serbia. Papers and references from the previous topic of this paper. Fewer authors have dealt with
issues of this journal, treating similar topics from the topic of urban centre of Novi Pazar, but from
the same period in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but the other aspects. Thus, the [15] contains the speci-
some other regions, have been used in this paper. fied maps, but the author was focussed only on the
Study of old drawings and maps is of great im- fortress of Novi Pazar, and in the [16] on the revital-
portance for the exploration and analysis of urban ization of the city centre of Novi Pazar. Significant
entities of old cities and their segments. They can data on Novi Pazar in the period of the Ottoman
provide valuable data on spatial frame and area Empire, vital for this analysis and comparison with
of the city, direction and position of streets, free the maps results, are provided by papers [17 and

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18]. Many authors considered this topic from some presented rather correctly; the fortification
other aspects, or they only researched its particular system of Novi Pazar was shown really well.
segments and periods [ 19 – 21]. – The plan of Novi Pazar with nearby
Very important data on the development of surroundings from 1879 is registered in the
Novi Pazar are provided by four old maps, which Vienna War Archives as number: Sig. Kia 44
are being preserved in the Vienna War Archives, (map 4) [15 and 16]. The plan was made in the
two of which are from the 18th and two from the approximate proportion 1:43200, in detail and
19th century. The maps were made for the needs of with relief presented by contours. The town
the war operations against Turkey and they pro- area was presented by texture, and in that way
vide valuable material about the settlement. detached from the surroundings; therefore,
– The plan of Novi Pazar, from the second decade the borders of the town area can be defined
of the 18th century, registered in the Vienna quite accurately. The fortress, which was also
War Archives as number: sig. Gib, 172 (map 1) presented separately as a special detail, was
[15], was made in the approximate proportions rather accurately shown within the town area,
1:5100. In the plan, the whole town was with all the important objects it included.
presented rather schematically, with rectangular
fortification and water ditch around it. According
to the plan, major part of the city was located
on the left side of the river. Only some streets
can be identified, such as Stambol Road, for
example. Streets network does not match the
present one, but the main roads and the number
of mahalas match the other sources. Plots of
land and houses were presented schematically
in inaccurate order, but they reflect the basic
principle of organic formation of a mahala in the
Ottoman settlements – setting up the plots next
to the street- alley. Division of plots into a yard
and a garden at the back is visible.
– The plan Novi Pazar registered in the Vienna Map 1. (sig. Gib.172 ) [15], the plan of Novi Pazar
War Archives as number: sig. Gib, 171 (map from the second decade of the 18th century.
2) [15], was made in proportion 1:11800 and
probably originates from 1783 or from the first
decades of the 18th century. The plan presented
the rivers Jošanica and Raška and main roads
for Sarajevo (towards Sjenica), for Visegrad
(towards monastery Đurđevi stupovi) and for
Cacak (towards Raska). Regarding streets,
the following ones can be identified: Stambol
Road (28th November Street) and, perhaps,
Rifat Burdzevic Street towards Sjenica. There
are many errors in the map, so it is possible that
it was made by the informers from memory.
– The map of Novi Pazar with the surroundings Map 2. (sig. Gib. 171) [15], the plan of Novi Pazar
from 1878, registered in the Vienna War Archives from 1783.
as number: sig. Kia 43 (map 3) [15 and 16].
The map is rather detailed, made in proportion
1:43200, with relief, water courses and travel
routes. Position and borders of the town were

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bases. Maps rectified by aforementioned method

provide data on the size and actual borders of the
town in the second decade of the 18th century and
in 1879, free from producers’ errors, but they also
present other important data on the characteristics
of the settlement in that period.

Exploration results
Exploration and analysis of the specified old
maps of Novi Pazar led to the following results
which helped us reconstruct the size, position, form
and main characteristics of the settlement at the be-
ginning of the 18th and the end of the 19th century.
In map no. 1 [15], the main part of the settlement
Map 3. (sig. Kia. 43 [15], the plan of Novi Pazar located on the left side of the river Jošanica was de-
with the surroundings from 1878. fined, as well as its smaller sections on the other
side in the area between the rivers Raška and Jos-
anica. The plan also included the position, form and
size of the fortress and schematic presentation of
the main objects in it. Direction and position of the
Stambol road – the main road leading through the
settlement – were shown in the plan, as well as the
main travel routes from Novi Pazar. The map also
included schematic presentation of the number and
position of the main residential areas – mahalas.
In map no. 2 [15] the town with rivers and main
travel routes was presented rather schematically.
However, it provides important data on: approxi-
mate size and form of the settlement, main streets
and travel roads from that time, from Novi Pazar to
Map 4. (sig. Kia 44) [15], the plan of Novi Pazar
Sarajevo, Sjenica and Cacak. In addition to that, the
from 1879.
position, size and form of the fortification located
between the rivers Raška and Jošanica were shown.
After the analysis and study of the old maps and
In map no. 3 [15 and 16] a wider area around
their comparison with the existing situation, rec-
the town was presented, with relief, water courses
tification of map 1 from the second decade of the
and main travel routes. The map also defined the
18th century and map 4 from 1879 was performed.
position, form and the approximate borders of the
Rectification of maps consisted of their adjustment
town in relation to the main travel routes and riv-
to the proportions of the existing map from present
ers. In addition, the map provides data on the posi-
period 1:10000, and then their comparison, togeth-
tion of the fortress of Novi Pazar in the town area.
er with defining of benchmark points, main travel
Map no. 4 [15 and 16 ]gives data on the wider
routes, position of rivers and North. All the other
surroundings of Novi Pazar, presented with con-
data included in the Defter and other written sources
tours, rivers and roads in that area. The town itself
on the number and position of mahalas, population,
was presented as a textured area, which rather clear-
position of objects etc. were used in rectification.
ly defined the position, size, form and borders of the
In that way, the rectified maps were obtained, with
settlement with the fortress. As a special detail, the
addition of the old borders which were the result of
fortress with its actual shape, size and position of
the synthesis of the specified activities with the new
towers (tabia) and main objects in it was shown.

258 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

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Conclusion 8. Bedenko V.: „Preservation and restoration of the ar-

chitectural heritage“, script of the Faculty of Archi-
The analysis and exploration of the four old tecture, University in Zagreb, Zagreb 2004.
maps of Novi Pazar from the Vienna War Archives
9. Demaret J.: „ Aesthetics and production of the
made possible for us to obtain important and exact works of art“, Dunod, Paris 1948.
elements on the basis of which the developmental
10. Kudumovic L.: „Possibilities for utilization of
phase of this settlement in the 18th and partly 19th welded beams during revitalization of objects“,
century was rather accurately reconstructed. They TTEM 4(2), 2009; 189-195.
exploration provided actual urban elements, such 11. Čelić Đž.: „Problems of preservation in urban enti-
as: positions, form, dimensions and area encom- ties with the review of situation in Bosnia and Her-
passed by the town with its borders. In addition to zegovina“, Our antiques VII, Sarajevo 1960.
that, data on many important transport routes in the 12. Ređzić H.: „Some experiences in revitalization
town and distribution of residential zones (mahalas) of old city centres in Bosnia and Herzegovina“,
were obtained, as well as data related to some im- Journal of Cultural Monuments Preservation, book
portant object, such as the fortress. By comparing XXV, Belgrade 1982.
these data to other sources and elements acquired 13. Marasović J., Marasović T., Sheila M., Jehan W.:
by various explorations, urban base of good quality „Diocletian’s Palace“, Report on Yugoslav-Ameri-
was made, on the basis of which it was possible to can project of exploration of south-east palace sec-
tion, part 1, URBS, Split 1972.
reconstruct the town of Novi Pazar in the 18th and
19the century quite reliably. Owing to this analysis 14. Marasović T.: „Enclosure to the methodology of
architectural heritage processing“, dissertation,
and exploration of old maps, a rather good idea was the Faculty of Architecture, University in Zagreb,
obtained not only regarding the appearance and size Split 1977.
of the settlement in these periods, but also about its
15. Popović M.: „The fortifications of Novi Pazar in
urban structure and organisation of its entities, es- the plans from the 18th and 19th century“, Journal of
pecially residential areas and the fortress. The de- Novi Pazar 9, Novi Pazar 1985;113-125.
scribed explorations and their results applied in the 16. Nešković J., Kurtović-Folić N., Đorđević S., Radović
urban analysis of the development of Novi Pazar R.: „The old city centre in Novi Pazar“, Protection
can become a role model when exploring similar and revitalization, Belgrade-Kraljevo 1988.
old settlements or their historic centres. 17. Andrejević A.: „Monuments of Islamic art“, Novi
Pazar and the surroundings, Belgrade 1969.
References 18. Mušović E.: „Ethnic processes and ethnic structure
1. Pašić А.: „Islamic architecture in Bosnia and Her- of the population of Novi Pazar“, Institute of Eth-
zegovina“, IRCICA, Istanbul 1994. nography of the Serbian Academy of Science and
Arts, special edition, book 19, Belgrade 1969.
2. Hasandedić Hm: „Cultural and historical monu-
ments of Mostar“, Mostar 1980. 19. Price N.: „The reconstruction of ruins“, From:
Conservation: Principles, Dilemmas and Uncom-
3. Čelić Dž, Mujezinović M.: „The Old Bridges in Bos- fortable Truths Edited by Alison Richmond and Ali-
nia and Herzegovina, The library of cultural heri- son Bracker, Publisher: Elsevier, 2009.
tage, Sarajevo, Veselin Masleša, 1969.
20. A history of technology, Oxford 1965; 2.
4. Pašić A.: „The Old Bridge in Mostar“, Gračanica,
Grin 2006. 21. Nara Conference on Authenticity, UNESCO World
Heritage Centre, Agency for Cultural Affairs Japan,
5. Gojković M.: „One hypothesis on appearance and ICCROM, ICOMOS;
construction of the bridge over the Neretva before
the construction of the Old Bridge“, Journal of Cul-
tural Monuments Preservation, Belgrade 1966.
Corresponding Author
6. Chabbouh Akšamija L.: „The Architecture of Pur- Milos M. Radovanovic,
pose“, Acta arhitectonica et urbanistica, University Technical Faculty,
Book, Sarajevo 2009. Cacak,
7. Ređzić H.: „Islamic art on the territory of Yugo- Serbia,
slavia“, Publishing institute of Yugoslavia, Zagreb, E-mail: arhminja@eunet.rs
Belgrade 1982.

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 technics technologies education management

Project modernization and reform of education

system through the new methods of learning
Milica Nicic1, Evica Petrovic2, Sefedin Sehovic3, Edib Hajrovic2
1
Business study Novi sad, Serbia,
2
Faculty of Economic Niš, Serbia,
3
Faculty of Teacher’s Beograd, Serbia.

Abstract forms of education worldwide, similar or the same

changes are necessary and needed in education due
Education is one of the most important interests
to the fact that education in a modern society have
of society and must meet certain other criteria as
to follow the development of science and technol-
well. Reforms of education system must lean to-
ogy and thereby become modernized. With the pur-
wards the strategies of social and economic devel-
pose of social, economic and technological devel-
opment. They have to include the change in curric-
opment, there is a need for new methods of educa-
ulum in order to provide functional, computer and
tion. That means certain reforms and innovations,
technological proficiency, encouraging creativity,
in order to modernize and improve education and
development of critical opinion and necessary
catch up with the rest of the world. Today’s society
skills, permanent adoption of new knowledges and
and especially the future society sets a great task for
skills and development of explorative spirit. There
education: to prepare young generation for life in a
must be new teaching models, which will prepare
modern society. In order to achieve this, certain re-
students for life in the 21st century. Education sys-
forms need to be innovated. These innovations re-
tems are mainly inert and late with necessary up-
late to the educational process and the improvement
dates that result in the growing difference between
of teaching process and teaching methods.
the technological education and technological
achievements in the world. Long-term plans in the
development of education should be thought of 2. Project of education reform
the direction of quick changes that would keep up A new education needs to be in harmony with
with the technical and technological development the needs of a modern society, to respond to all its
in the world. Education in the Republic of Serbia needs, to be consistent with science, technology,
has to provide conditions to achieve European and ecology, culture, employment etc. With the re-
world standards in technological and innovative forms in education, one must be familiar with the
sense. In order to implement the reforms of educa- basic goals of those reforms and why something is
tion in a good way, there must be well informed being changed at all. The main motive why some-
about the changes in the world and a connection of thing needs to be changed in the education system
mutual information in education. Reforms can be is to prepare a person, i.e. a young man for life in
successfully implemented like project through the a modern society so that they can adapt to all in-
new methods of learning with all key factors for novations of the modern era.
successful implementation of a reform. The reform must be such as to meet the demands
Key words: educational reforms, technologi- of today’s society and they are [1]: that it is flex-
cal development, new methods of learning ible and ready for changes, it is open to the outside
world, that it is dynamic, in line with the economy,
1. Introduction society and the environment. Due to the faster and
easier recruitment, sometimes it is even necessary
The future development will depend on the abil-
to change profession or educate for a new profes-
ity of innovation and the genesis of new kinds of
sion and should have a feedback whether the pro-
knowledge, ideas and technologies through the
gram is successful or not. The reforms that are well-
new, modern education. With the changes and re-
planned, implemented and accepted by both teach-

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ers and students will become successful and of high new, more modern and contemporary elements of
quality. Otherwise, they give unfavourable results education. Students develop a creative character
both for teachers and students and they themselves and creativity since they themselves, through dis-
remain without success. Education reform is a dif- covering, come up with new knowledge and stimu-
ficult job and requires a lot of effort and work, so it late their creative potential. Each person acquires
have to be implement like a project with all impor- new methods and techniques of research, a student
tant elements for successful implementation. becomes motivated, their curiosity arises which is
Well implemented project of education re- the goal of a new modern education.
form cannot pass without certain obstacles and In a traditional education, leisure activities were
problems. The problems mainly relate to specific not given special attention, and it is through them
characteristics of a modern society. They are pri- a student can acquire aesthetic values, for example:
marily demographic and social problems, tech- art, sports, nature and others. These aesthetic values
nical - technological and scientific features. All should be pursued in communication, i.e. life in gen-
those changes that occur have a positive impact eral. We should not exclude frontal teaching because
on modern society but partly negative as well. Be- it is essential in providing the necessary information
cause of these changes, education has the task of and guidance, but should be supplemented with the
preparing a young person to adapt to any kind of active participation of students. In order not to sup-
innovation. These problems may be that the task press an individual talent, stifle their creativity, ex-
and goal of the reforms are not fully understood plorative spirit and talent, the acceleration should be
by those who need to implement them. They do enabled, the possibility to „grade skipping”. The ac-
not know what is expected from them at all and so celeration must be done with high quality and care-
due to misunderstandings, they implement them fully so as not to cause a negative effect.
in the wrong way and the wrong outcome. When A student must satisfy the traditional features
making innovations the local community must be based on moral and spiritual values, but also to re-
taken into account since depending on how devel- spond to the needs of a new era to be a free and cre-
oped a local community is, to that extent it is ready ative person for each student is an individual who
for changes. If a local community is more devel- adopts values of one’s surrounding. We should
oped and has a more skilled staff it is more likely strive towards individualization in teaching since
to accept innovations, also have to show good will the differences in the way of thinking and talents
for innovations, apply and test them, be in line of students are obvious, but also towards group
with the development and not to show resistance and independent work of students.
to what is new and unknown. In the general teaching, which is the same for
The reform is meaningful and successful only all, there are optional subjects that are oriented to-
if it lasts where new requirements are imposed on wards students’ interest and preferences. In addi-
a student: that their knowledge and skills are in tion, in order to achieve individual and differential
line with European students, to accept the inno- teaching, optional subjects should be introduced
vations in science, engineering, technology and as well. By this a student would study the subject
informatics, to know foreign languages well, and they are most interest in and be better prepared for
eventually to be a broadly educated person. further education.
A modern, contemporary era requires from a
3. New and innovated education young man to be an active creator in society, to initi-
ate changes, to be independent, flexible and original.
The traditional method of transmitting informa- It is important how much students know, and
tion and knowledge, where a teacher gives basic in- how applicable and functional that knowledge
structions and knowledge, should be supplemented is, which will depend on what is taught and how
with a new method so that students learn how to much students study. A question arises: What
acquire knowledge independently, get informed knowledge is of high quality? In addition, that
through various sources and use that in everyday knowledge is the one that serves as the foundation
real life. It is best to combine old, traditional and for new knowledge [2].

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Quality requires that the learned acquired password and e-mail address in order to
knowledge needs to be understood so that it con- adjoin the system. Exercises (homework
tinues to function. Because of that, there must be assignments) and assessment is also done
a correlation in teaching, coordination and linking on-line. The support of a teacher is realized
of similar teaching content. through the forum within which the beginners
Innovations in teaching require from students to can ask the teacher certain questions and get
learn how to work. The reformed teaching does not the answers via e-mail. Public electronic
imply the adoption of theory and practice in an ab- board enables group communication.
stract way, but rather it gets quite a different dimen- 2) ”Live” teaching with on-line exercises.
sion. This primarily relates to the affairs of intellectual The beginners apply a course according
content, how to turn acquired and learned knowledge to an on-line plan. Basic information are
into creative work. It is expected from students that provided in order to allow the beginners to
those who have the same qualifications solve tasks at prepare adequately. The preliminary testing
approximately the same or similar level. is supported so that a teacher can evaluate the
The aim of the activities related to the develop- knowledge of the beginners. Before “live”
ment of modern methods and models for learning teaching, a teacher can direct the course
is that learning is available to anyone, at any time, towards the specific needs of a beginning
and that it is not conditioned by time, place or any group according to the results of their testing.
other barrier. In class time the beginners log in which
makes the administration of course easier.
4. Reform education through the new Testing and assessment can be supported
models of learning during a class and in the appointed time after
class. The public board and a teacher enable
Information and communications technology on-line communication among the beginners
has given a new dimension to the modern educa- as well as between beginners and a teacher.
tional system and opened the possibilities for new 3) On-line seminars. Video streaming techno-
teaching models. Teaching model systematically logy can be used for “live” presentation
uses scientific principles in order to develop a (including PowerPoint presentations)
more efficient model of teaching. lt is, at the same and their distribution via the Internet. An
time, a systematic process of teaching programs arbitrary number of beginners can join
and the organized collection of scientific princi- the “class”. Then, the beginners can ask
ples about how people learn. Both the process and questions that are answered by the teacher
the principles are important. None of them inde- who is on-line(conferences in the real time)
pendently is enough for the guaranteed success. or off-line(via e-mail). Communication and
lt is the base of teaching and it is crucial for e- exercises can be done in the same way as
learning. In the classroom the majority of teaching with other models. Once recorded a digital
model depends on the experience and wisdom of a presentation can be used many times after
teacher. E-learning, however, has to have a teach- without new investment costs.
ing model that is precise in the selection, sequence 4) Web based education. In modern world
and the form of acknowledgement whose result is millions of students study at home. For
learning. Types of learning models are [3]: example, students go to faculty only the first
1) Individual learning with asynchronous week and the rest of the semester is used
support. This support includes catalogue for studying the material from the Internet
courses, lists of information about the that is prepared to instruct them in the
beginners, information about the course process of learning. In different cases these
and manuals distributed on-line. Teaching students come two or more times to faculties
material should be available to the beginners because of exams or other obligations. In the
via the Internet /intranet. A beginner is meantime, they can communicate via the
supposed to have the identification number, Internet and the telephone with professors

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and administrative staff. This model of 5. Conclusion

education is called “web based education”
Considering the importance and currency of
and besides the teaching material it can
modern education in the conditions of rapid so-
involve testing via web, communication
cial changes in the rapidly changing world and in
via the so called “forum”, mutually used
which knowledge are increasingly becoming more
applications, automatic administration and
complex and expanding every day, and sources of
evaluation of the beginners etc.
information multiply unpredictably, while data,
5) Interactive virtual teaching in the real world.
information and facts can become pointless and
Technically the most prompted and the
overcome before they are used, there is an extreme
most expensive type of electronic teaching
need for education that requires a new approach to
is virtual teaching in the real time that uses
the organization of teaching and learning in gen-
videoconference through the net. Although
eral. In the socio-humanistic approach, teaching
the equipment of the final user(beginner) is
assumes the organization as the process of inter-
not so expensive, hiring the band-bass for
action between a teacher and the students. In the
this type of teaching is still very expensive.
teaching process the best type of organization is
Besides, for some organizations, because
one where all beginners work, think and solve the
of the nature of their job, it is problematic
problems. Further development, improvement
to plan teaching in the precisely chosen
and modernization of educational process is go-
term(synchronous virtual teaching) and for
ing towards the cooperative learning. The aim of
them this is not an appropriate model.
it is that teaching is based on the fact that it is a
whole system and that each step in teaching is fol-
Program designers assess that informatics liter-
lowed by feedback. Information and communica-
acy and the ability for the self education of students
tions technology has given a new dimension to the
is quite developed.lt means that the population of
modern educational system and opened the pos-
university subjects (students, tutors, professors) is
sibilities for new teaching models.
something that can be relied on as far as the active
participation in educational projects is concerned.
Two-way multimedia communication that is en- References
abled by the Internet rationalizes and enriches the 1. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001242/
process of learning. With this kind of communi- 124208e.pdf Teacher education through distance learn-
cation that is realized through the Internet the us- ing; technology - curriculum - cost – evaluation;
age of the traditional ways of communication that
is realized through traditional media or through 2. www.cet.co.rs/arhiva/30/r30_OnlineUcenje.htm;
the direct contact of a teacher and a student can 3. http://www.elearningeuropa.info/extras/pdf/virtual_
be reduced. The Internet gives the possibility of models.pdf Studies in the Context of the E-learning
teaching through videoconference. For example Initiative: Virtual Models of European Universities
[4], students at many western universities “attend” (Lot 1) Draft Final Report to the EU Commission,
DG Education & Culture;
the lectures in one classroom in the city whereas
the teacher is in another classroom in some other 4. www.newcastle.edu.au/discipline/socoli-anthrop/
city. Videoconference is two-way so the students staff/kibbymarj/inline/matrix.html.
from all classrooms can ask questions. In more de-
veloped countries of western and northern Europe
Corresponding Author
there are examples of educational programs where Edib Hajrovic,
each beginner in his/her house or at the working Faculty of Economic Nis,
place follows the lecture through desktop video- Nis,
conferencing. lt is assumed that each beginner has Serbia,
installed camera, loudspeakers and microphone at E-mail: zipedenim@gmail.com
his/her computer, as well as some of the programs
for desktop videoconferencing.

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 technics technologies education management

Ecological agricultural characteristics of the

countries in transition - Territory of Serbia as
development potential for ecological agriculture
B. M. Mihajlovic, M. A. Pavlovic, Lj. M. Lazarevic
Faculty of Geography University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia

Abstract are result of any kind of genetic manipulation, that

is packed in packaging made from materials that
As a reaction for constant endangering of nat-
do not pollute natural environment and people’s
ural environment, decrease of food quality and
health, made by processing of organic raw mate-
increasing influence on people’s health, organic
rials without endangering quality or decreasing
agriculture is developed. In economically devel-
nutritional values, with label that guarantees it is
oped countries where conventional agriculture,
organic, to posses certification from appropriate
due to careless use of all available agrochemicals,
certification institution.
has already brought to disruption of natural cycles
and significant accumulation of agrochemicals in
the ground, conditions for development of organic Materials and methods
agricultures are almost non-existent. Influence of The methodological approach implemented in
popularity of organic food in Serbia, like in oth- this study is multidisciplinary. Were used the results
er countries in transition, can only be favorable of research in different fields of science that were
because with just a little modification of today’s later adjusted to the needs of this study. Primarily,
methods for breeding cultures, we can easily im- were used the research methods, and methods co-
prove production growth, and export of organic munication of research results, methods of assess-
products to western countries. ment, and quality. These methods are extremely
Key words: Ecological agriculture, healthy important for planning quality of the environment
food, land degradation, Transition Countries, Serbia and improvement of environmental quality. Gen-
eral methods and techniques are related to planning
Introduction activities of analysis, synthesis and evaluation as a
In order to develop organic agriculture in cer- methodological phase of the planning process.
tain area, that area must fulfill precisely defined Basic task of food producing is to ensure enough
conditions. These are: isolation of land parcels, food quantity and raw materials of organic origin
farms and processing capacities from possible for existing human population. Social factors such
sources of pollution, then water quality used for as population, employment generation, profitabil-
watering the plants, synchronized growth of plant ity to farmers, regional growth, and changes in
and cattle production and education of experts and land use are effects on food and agricultural prices
producers for organic agriculture with obligation including impacts on food security and environ-
for constant innovations of knowledge [1]. mental impacts and greenhouse gas emissions. In
Organic product is the result of organic food fact, growth in decomposition of soil organic mat-
production. It is produced in natural environment ter, ensuing from global warming or from land use
without influences of possible polluters, on a land change, could considerably enlarge the atmospheric
unpolluted by heavy metals and other hurtful and burden of CO2, which would further improve the
poison materials, without the use of chemically greenhouse effect. Justified by this with special
synthetic fertilizers, without the use of artificial overlook on constant need for increasing the pro-
chemically synthetic products for protection of ductivity, because of still large number of the hun-
plants, without the use of products or plants that gry all over the world after the World War II, there

264 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

has been increasing development of agricultural is a guarantee that the management regime to be
techniques based mostly on artificially synthesized suitable for the preservation of natural resources.
materials (mineral fertilizers, pesticides, growth The Western Balkans countries contains a signifi-
stimulators, hormones, etc.), by heavy agricultural cant proportion Europe’s biodiversity, as a result
machines [2] and in great dependence from inputs of mostly low-input and low-intensity agricultural
which origin is away from the place where food practices still used in these countries [4].
production is done. Application of fertilizers to Animal husbandry and production based on
farmland soils is a necessity to produce food. Truth milk and meat in system of organic agriculture
is that new technologies have contributed for crops guarantees additional safety for consumers of
to be significantly increased and according to some organic products, because in organic animal hus-
information even 4 times increased. However in bandry:
year 2000 it was produced enough grains to feed – animals aren’t genetically modified, nor are
8 billion people, and yet there were 790 million of any inputs of such origine used during their
those who were hungry. At the same time in devel- growth,
oped countries there are leftovers of production and – growth is done on natural, unaltered land
producers are paid not to produce agricultural prod- parcels which are not treated with chemical
ucts in certain period, or already produced products fertilizers or pesticides,
were destroyed so there can be no price dropping – food production for animals must be ensured
[3]. On the other hand, uncontrolled use of agro- by the system of organic agriculture,
chemicals, intensive use of heavy mechanization – treating animals is such so it improves health
in land processing, as well as endangering natural and wellbeing of animals,
processes, have led to significant endangerment – animals have enough fresh air, water and
of natural environment [1]. For effective control food and natural light in order to fulfill their
of excessive fertilizers applications legislation for needs,
environmental protection in agriculture is needed. – all animals can be taken for pasture,
The issue of land occupation is one of the most con- – nomadic pasture is allowed only on natural
troversial subjects in developing countries, such as uncontaminated meadows, closed spaces
Serbia. A large constraint regarding the social im- for temporary placements of animals in
pact of agriculture production is the occupation and conditions that are
degradation of arable land. Any anthropogenic ac- – not hurtful for them, animals have enough
tivity is expected to cause some impact on the sur- space or moving, etc [5].
rounding environment.
The driving forces for environmental prob- Animal waste is very often causing the pollu-
lems in the Western Balkans countries (countries tion of the environment. With the adequate treat-
in development/transition) can be divided into ment of animal waste, it is possible to obtain pro-
two main categories. The first problems are re- tein food and other worthy products. On the other
sulting from intensive agricultural production in side, by treating it is possible to get valuable pro-
the socialist regime, mostly on large farm in so- tein food and other products. It is very important
cial or state ownership. Second, marginalization that technical-technological solutions for adequate
and abandonment of agricultural land use due to treatment of the animal waste must meet not only
the transitional agricultural crisis. These different technological and ecological standards, but eco-
challenges posed by intensification and abandon- nomic criteria as well. Over 270 thousand tons of
ment of farming highlight the complexity of the animal waste is produced in Serbia annually, out
relationship between agriculture and environment. of which only 20% is processed.
It is clear; on the one hand that in the past, the As a reaction to increasingly explored eco-
institutionalization of agriculture and inappro- logical degradation, decrease of food quality and
priate policies has caused many environmental increasing endangerment of health of human
problems. On the other hand, state ownership of population, emerges development of organic (al-
areas with high natural value in some countries ternative, ecological, biological) agriculture. It

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implies that, no matter the current difficulties, we On the other hand, after all that has happened on
should go in direction of making balance between food market, demand for organic agriculture prod-
development and market needs and preservation ucts is highly increased. In countries of EU sale of
of natural environment with decrease of quan- organic products is doubled. Consumers buy this
tity so quality of food can be increased, where it food mostly for health reasons (46%) and better
is necessary to reduce the use of agrochemicals, taste (40%). In some highly developed countries
and instead start favoring agricultural techniques organic agriculture already presents significant
which use natural resources optimally (recycling part in total agricultural production, for example
biomass and energy) and minimize production of in Denmark it makes 13% of total production, in
waste materials. According to definition of FAO Australia 10%, in Switzerland 8%. The biggest
(Food and Agriculture Organization of the United market of organic products is in Germany with an-
Nations) and WHO (World Health Organization) nual increase of 10% which is twice as large as the
organic agriculture is system for managing pro- market on second place in France. It is estimated
duction which promotes recovery of ecosystem that is USA, France and Japan, annual growth of
including biodiversity, biological cycles and em- this production is 20%.
phasizes usage of methods which at large extent As the most important result of survey, the
exclude use of inputs outside farm. scientists emphasize the fact that in organically
Basic goal of organic agriculture is food produc- produced fruit and vegetables is found 40% more
tion of high quality (high nutritional value, devel- antioxidants and important minerals like iron and
opment of sustainable agriculture with preservation zinc. Here, mostly stand out green salad spinach
of ecosystem, maintaining and improving fertility and cabbage. Organically produced kiwi, potato
of the land, use of herbal and manure spreaders or and carrot have significantly more C vitamin com-
plants with deep roots in crop rotation several years paring to conventional production. Study done
long and addition of composted or non-composted by German scientists showed that cow milk from
organic matter into the land) [1]. Maximum usage cows fed by organic forage, consists of 60% more
of renewable sources is implied, also, keeping the antioxidants and significantly more E vitamin.
genetic varieties of agro and ecosystems and pro- Because of high demand and inability to pro-
tection of natural environment, reducing all kinds duce due to high pollution of land and air and dis-
of pollutions which can be result of agricultural turbed relations in nature in developed countries
production to create conditions for satisfaction of emerges high lack of organic products on the mar-
basic needs of agricultural producers and to gain ket [1]. Because of that, less developed countries
certain benefit and satisfaction by their own work. in which agroecosystem is still preserved have the
Organic agriculture is completely controlled chance to, through organic products, increase their
production. Conditions for production according export. That chance is significantly used by China
to the rule book IFOMa (International Association and Egypt at the moment. Results of many surveys
of Organic Food Manufacturers) must be adjusted show that in products of industrial agriculture are
to specific conditions of each country in which this often found agrochemicals hurtful for the health
kind of food is produced. Government policies in of humans. Data of World Health Organization
transition economics should aim at facilitating show that each year 3 million people are poisoned
structural adjustment in agriculture, not only to by pesticides. According to the newest researches
enhance competitiveness and economic efficiency done by British Ministry of Agriculture, in half of
but also to protect the environment and maintain the controlled products are found particles of pesti-
social welfare in rural areas. In more developed cides and therefore consumers are advised to peel
countries where conventional agriculture, due to off fruits and vegetables to reduce the risk of them
ruthless use of all available agrochemicals, have getting into organism. Food produced by principles
already brought to violations of natural cycles and of organic production is safe from presence of any
significant accumulation of residue of agrochemi- kind of synthesized matters [5]. Besides this, it en-
cals in land; conditions for establishing organic ables nutrition with products with higher nutritional
agriculture don’t exist. values comparing to those from conventional agri-

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culture. Researches done in Germany show signifi- The main directions of development of agricul-
cantly higher level of minerals in organic products, ture are: increasing the competitiveness of agricul-
especially of potassium and iron, also higher level tural production, improvement of environment and
of magnesium, phosphorus and C vitamin. natural landscapes [6]; diversification of economic
Opponents of organic agriculture claim that or- activities in rural areas and improving the quality of
ganic products are significantly more expensive life in rural areas, support the implementation of lo-
than products from industrial agriculture. Higher cal strategies for rural development (Figure 1).
prices of organic products are consequence of larger Fresh, unprocessed organic food, like fruits and
engagement of work force which is very expensive vegetables, is possible to buy directly from pro-
in developed countries, and on the other hand on ducers on markets, supermarkets, healthy food
market organic products are in deficit, which surely stores. Unprocessed products of animal origin are
influences prices. However, prices of products from rarely found in so called fresh state [5]. Under pro-
conventional production are by far higher than those cessed organic food is implied most of products
we pay directly, including the prices of organic which can be found in supermarkets. Often it is
products. This claim we justify by the fact that in possible to find in the same store products pro-
consideration is not taken cost of treating people, duced on organic and conventional way, where
nor the cost of wastewaters and pesticides [6]. organic product is more expensive. The largest
Main issue with industrial agriculture is erosion. part of organic food comes from large producers
Series of experiments comparing land quality under which make and sell even food in cans, frozen
organic and non-organic production in USA show vegetables and fruits [6. Processed organic food
that surface layer of land in areas with modern pro- usually consist only organic ingredients, without
duction will be lost in 100 years unless processing additions, artificial additives and it is made using
of that land is improved. In systems with organic several methods, special materials and under spe-
agriculture, processing of land minimizes erosion cial conditions. This implies that no chemicals or
by using covered crops and green fertilizers. conventional methods are used.
Although they hold only 1% of total world
food market, organic products are increasingly
demanded merchandise in the world and share
of these products on world market is more and
more significant [6]. It is estimated that the share
of these products on world food market will keep
growing in years to come.

Labeling of organic products

There are no standards yet for labeling organ-
ic products in the world. In European Union and
USA producers must follow strict standards if they
want to label their products as organic.
By buying product, consumers can be sure that:
– at least 95% of ingredients of that product is
of organic origin;
– product is in terms with inspection regula-
tions which these products must pass;
– the product comes from the direct producer
Macro-region of Agriculture, forests and water and it is packed into appropriate packaging;
resources in Serbia, according to the Spatial De- – it has name of the producer and institution
velopment Strategy of Serbia for 2009. year. which made the inspection.
Figure 1. Macro-region of Agriculture, forests
and water resources in Serbia

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 technics technologies education management

Results and discussion of farm production, biotechnology and informa-

tion technology play and will play the leading role
In our country (Serbia) with preposition of law
in the next 10 to 15 years. The typical farm will be
for organic agriculture and organic products, certi-
bigger and bigger; the process of strengthening its
fied organic product is labeled with “organic prod-
connections with the whole of agro-food industry
uct”, with code from authorized organization and
and the role of living labor will reduce.
national symbol [7]. Look of the symbols is provid-
Table 1. Area under organic agriculture in hecta-
ed by minister. In the last 10 years production and
res in Europe. Table based on data from publicati-
processing of organic products is becoming more
on of the World of Orange Agriculture, 2007.
and more popular and economically significant. It
Italy 954.361
is understandable considering that methods used
Germany 767.891
in conventional production (intensive processing
Spain 733.182
of the land, growing only one species on large sur-
Great Bitain 690.270
faces, use of mineral fertilizers, chemical control of
France 534.037
weeds, pests, diseases and genetic manipulation of Austria 344.916
plants produced) have for purpose to increase pro- Czech Republic 260.120
ductivity. However, with such actions, future level Greece 249.488
of production is at stake, considering that condi- Ukraine 241.480
tions to provide long term fertility are violated. Sweden 206.579
According to the data from 2004 under organic Portugal 206.524
products are 24 million hectares all over the world. Finland 162.024
In 2006 in Europe were 6.5 million hectares Denmark 154.021
of areas under organic agriculture with 167.000 Hungary 128.690
farms. The largest number of these farms are in Switzerland 121.387
southern Europe, mostly in Italy. Spain has good Slovakia 93.943
results in organic food production. In central Eu- Poland 82.730
rope Austria and Germany are leaders, and in Romania 75.000
western Europe Great Britain and France. Lithuania 64.545
In the report of Ministry for Science and Pro- Netherlands 48.152
tection of Natural Environment from 2002 about Estonia 46.016
the state of natural environment in Serbia, it was Latvija 43.902
stated that 651.000 hectares or 75% out of analyzed Norway 41.035
868.000 hectares of agricultural areas are suitable Ireland 30.670
for organic production. Those areas are unburdened Belgium 23.728
with heavy metals, pesticides, leftovers from min- Slovenia 23.032
eral fertilizers and are not acidic soils [8]. Serbia 20.542
Based on many researches advantages of or- Bulgaria 12.284
ganic food are the following: Farms of organic Moldova 11.075
food don’t let out pesticides into environment, of Croatia 7.355
which some are very dangerous for flora and fau- Iceland 4.910
na. Farms of organic food do not endanger exist- Luxembourg 3.158
ing ecosystems and herbal and animal life in them. Cyprus 1.018
In calculations of yields per unit of arable land or Liechtenstein 984
per unit of product, it comes to a conclusion that Albania 804
less energy is needed for their production. Also, Bosnia and Herzegovina 310
quantity of waste made growing them is smaller. Macedonia 192
Technological development will continue to play Malta 13
the basic role in agro-food industry transformation WORLD 31.502.786
in EU countries. The sophisticated mechanization

268 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

Serbia is with its agricultural food products in has received appropriate legal solutions, but with-
large portion oriented towards markets of countries out sufficient programming and financial support
in Europe. Many countries give subsidies for these for their implementation [10]. Despite new laws,
kinds of products, stimulating in this way agricul- it provided an efficient and sustainable use of large
tural producers to accept it. Without the support agricultural areas, which could have negative
of the state this kind of producing can hardly sur- socio-economic effects in some areas. Erosion,
vive competition of industrial agriculture, because salinization of land, loss of nutrients, chemical
the effect of this production cannot be viewed in a pollution of bioindustrijskih sources, mechanical
short term manner, they show its results after years compaction of soil in the processing of heavy ma-
of using them [9]. It is also important fact that for chinery, soil waterlogging, flooding, loss of fertil-
products made by organic agriculture you can get ity, waste disposal, etc. are just some of the prob-
higher price based on the way of sale. Consumers lems in current practice
from western countries are keen to buy it no mat- The only remedy to achieve progressive chang-
ter the higher price because in general it is health- es or to “escape” from the negative present state
ier and tastes a lot better. of innovation in our country is the “new” educa-
tion or the knowledge produced by it. Based on
the literacy research conducted in Serbia we can
say that reasonable need for such knowledge ex-
ists and that the results on innovation state were
quite expected and concerning. In fact, there is a
general and established belief that the knowledge
is becoming not just the irreplaceable but also the
leading factor of the development. Therefore, at
the early beginning of the 21st century developed
Figure 2. The representation of the basic catego- countries will enter a period of transition from in-
ries of land in Serbia. formation to knowledge-intensive societies and
economies. As far as we now know we can claim
The main objective of further land use is ra- that quite a noticeable number of countries will
tional use of land - to stop further degradation, invest great efforts in transition from material to
prevention of unplanned construction and misuse, information intensive economy and society in the
revitalization of vulnerable areas, especially those early 21st century, while other also noticeable
who have the perspective of development (Figure number of countries will continue their spasmodic
2). Improvement of farmland is aimed at produc- struggle with the problems of the agricultural and
ing healthy organic food. The data shown on Fig- traditional industrial development.
ure 2 were obtained from the Spatial Development
Strategy of the Republic of Serbia. The proportion Conclusion
of primary agricultural production is approximate-
ly 1:1, in food industry production it is 1:5 on be- On territory of Serbia, situation is much more
half of Vojvodina, and for the population it 1:2,7 favorable, because economy still hasn’t achieved
on behalf of the rest of Serbia. intensity of fast growing and consumption which
Agricultural land and its fertility are affected give us opportunity to eat much healthier food
by uncontrolled actions of the new owners, as well grown in conventional way. Influence of populari-
as illegal construction [10]. Prudential structure ty of organically produced food in Serbia can only
is mainly affected by human activities below the be positive because with little modifications of to-
prescribed standard. Strengthening the competi- day’s methods of plant cultivation we can improve
tiveness of agricultural production in the world production growth, and with that export of organic
market has been partially achieved, but below the products to western countries.
actual potential of the Republic of Serbia. The Basic problems in Serbia that do not allow de-
production of healthy food and organic products velopment of organic agriculture are:

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 technics technologies education management

– Ignorance of consumers, 6. Lješević M., Filipović D., Lukić B., Životna sredina
– higher prices of products, kao elemenat kvaliteta ruralnog života, Zbornik
radova sa jugoslovenskog simpozijuma “Revital-
– relatively healthy conventional food,
izacija sela”, Univerzitet u Kragujevcu i Agronom-
– small amount of products on market, ski fakultet u Čačku, 1994.
– unregulated application of laws and
disinterest of market for the products. 7. Pavlovic M., Villages of Sjenica - Anthropogeograph-
ical studies, Faculty of Geography, Belgrade, 2009.
Most people agree that the quality of today’s 8. Miletic N., Vuksa P., Antisporulation action of fungi-
food products is by far lower than before. It is of- cides in Podosphaera leucotricha (Ell. And Ev.) Salm.
ten commented that food is tasteless, starchy, rub- Pesticides and phyto-medicine, 2006; 21(2): 145-148.
ber-like, etc. Therefore, often aromas are added,
9. Jaksic V., Situation of agriculture in Serbia, SGD
additives, artificial colors, sweeteners and other
Journal, Vol. XLI, Belgrade, 1985.
“improvers” of taste and smell.
Unfortunately most of these products do not 10. Stojkov B., Strategija prostornog razvoja Republike
have any kind of nutritional value and it is often Srbije, Ministarstvo životne sredine i prostornog
unknown how it affects human organism. Because planiranja. Republike Srbije, 2009; 82-87.
of that it is not surprising to know the fact that
in many countries on packaging instead of real Corresponding Author
chemicals additives and names are used codes so Mihajlovic Bojana,
that the consumer is uninformed what kind of ad- Faculty of Geography,
ditives are actually used. University of Belgrade,
Belgrade,
Serbia,
Acknowledgements E-mail: bokicagf@gmail.com,

The authors wish to thank the Serbian Ministry

of Science and Technological Development for fi-
nancial support (Project #. 176008).

References
1. Lješević M., Životna sredina sela i nenastanjenih
područja, Geografski fakultet, Beograd, 2005

2. Ljesevic M., Mihajlovic B., Cuculovic R., Strategic

programmes for sustainable development of local
communities, Bulletin of the Serbian geographical
society, Tome XC - Nо 4, 2011;160-174.

3. Lješević M., Životna sredina, teorija i metodologija

istraživanja. Geografski fakultet, Beograd, 2002.

4. Karahasanovic D., Avdic A., Cinjarevic M., Improv-

ing of sustainable development indicator with special
focus on transition countries, TTEM, 2010;5( 4) .

5. Jovanović B. , Samardžić I., Ekološki potencijali

ruralnih prostora u funkciji održivog razvoja Srbije,
Zbornik radova sa međunarodnog naučnog skupa
„Teritorijalni aspekti razvoja Srbije i susednih ze-
malja“, Geografski fakultet Univerѕiteta u Beogradu,
Ministarstvo za nauku i tehnološki razvoj republike
Srbije, Beograd, 2010; 491- 495.

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Environmental reporting
Goranka Knezevic, Marija Kostic, Vule Mizdrakovic, Nada Arezina, Sofija Vukicevic, Vladimir Dzamic
Singidunum University, Faculty of Business, Belgrade, Serbia

Abstract While processing the topic, we have used both

This paper analyzes implementation and re- theoretic achievements and legal regulations in
porting on environmental programs within cor- this field and researches of current practice of re-
porate social responsibility policy of economic porting of companies from non-financial sector
entities. Governments of EU Member States has in Serbia included in the calculation of Belgrade
to fulfil “environmental” obligations and establish Stock Exchange index - Belex 15. Beside Belex
further mechanisms by which they will oblige or 15 companies, comparison was also made with the
motivate all relevant national entities – primarily Royal Dutch Shell, representing the best practice
companies – to actively work on the improve- of reporting in this field and often used as basis for
ment of the environment. In that sense, we have comparison with other companies.
compared and analyzed current situation in report-
ing on environment of our best economic entities 1. Environment protection within corpo-
within Belgrade Stock Exchange Index (Belex 15) rate social responsibility (CSR)
with the best worldwide practice in this field.
Key words : environmental reporting, environ- 1.1 environment and sustainable development
mental programmes, annual reports, sustainability
The need of environment protection is more and
reports, corporate social responsibility
more prevailing the awareness of widest public, as
well leaders of governments in countries world-
Introduction wide. Over the years numerous environmental
One of the biggest challenges of the humanity aspects had been protected and their endangering
during this century is going to be the achievement is sanctioned increasingly. In the European Union
of sustainable and balanced development. In rela- (EU) members states today, public awareness on
tion to this, huge part of the responsibility is in facts that climate changes and water pollution are
economic sector; the destiny of the whole society inflicting everyone with no exception is higher than
is mostly depending on business methods in it, i.e. ever, as well as on necessity to strengthen both in-
solving or causing problems affecting the whole ternational co-operation and efficient measures on
society. national levels of member states, if long-term suc-
We could present corporate social responsibil- cess named „healthy environment“ [Kostić, M. and
ity in the widest sense as a way of economic enti- Gasmi,G., 2010] is to be achieved.
ties’ business, i.e. development of their innovative Environmental policy belongs to shared com-
and economically sustainable products, processes petencies at the level of European Union, mean-
and services, and in co-operation and in accor- ing that EU institutions and governments of EU
dance to needs of widest public and environment. member states share responsibility in terms of its
Since reporting on social responsibility is en- implementation. The goal of this policy is not only
abling more concrete inclusion of an economic en- protection of environment in the current condition,
tity in wider non-economic flows, in the paper we but – after entry of The Lisbon Treaty into force –
have analyzed current practice of economic enti- an obligation of its quality improvement was also
ties in our country and compared it with the best introduced for the purpose of sustainable develop-
practice in countries with developed markets. We ment establishment.
have limited our research to use of annual reports
and web sites as a presentation of information on
environmental protection and impacts.

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1.2 Legal framework of environment 1.3 Environmental programmes and environ-

protection in European Union mental accounting within CSR
Unlike all previous Founding Treaties being
extremely general in proclamation of environment 1.3.1 General Trends
protection goals, the Lisbon Treaty regulates this The European legislator and influential interna-
problem in significantly more complex and more tional organizations and institutions have expressed
precise manner. Besides accepting already exist- unquestionable supports to adoption and implemen-
ing provisions of previous Treaty on EU on envi- tation of the concept of sustainable development
ronment, the Lisbon Treaty contains also concrete in the new millennium. Governments of Member
indications of measures related to climate changes States have accepted the obligation to define and
problem treatment and energy policy. According implement measures on national levels in relation
to provisions of this Treaty, environment and im- to presented imperative and there is no doubt about
provement of environment and sustainable devel- that any longer. However, concrete achievement of
opment have to become fundamental values, not set objectives will exclusively depend on concrete
only within the EU but also within relations be- measures and activities conducted daily. The bur-
tween the Union and the rest of the world [Treaty den of this responsibility is, above all, on economic
of European Union, 2009]. entities as subjects, activities of which have the big-
In the domain of environmental goals of the gest influence on lives of individuals and state of
Union, the crucial innovation of the Lisbon Treaty their overall living environment.
are provisions by which, for the first time in the his- The Lisbon Treaty affirms determination of the
tory of European integrations, environmental policy European legislator towards continuous and pro-
of the EU is qualitatively enriched by the require- gressive expansion of requirements and raise of
ment not only to “protect” but also to “improve the environment standards and improvement of envi-
quality” of the environment. It was previously men- ronment quality. This further indicates permanent
tioned that Lisbon Treaty specifically indicates the increase in obligations for Member States’ Gov-
need to solve problems of climate changes and en- ernments, but also existence of the need to adopt
ergy policy [Treaty of European Union, 2009], di- trends by all their socially responsible subjects to
rectly correlating, because better energy efficiency undertake complex ecological measures and ac-
strengthens fight against climate changes. In 2007, tivities on voluntary basis too, beside legally pre-
almost 86% of „green-house“gases emission in the scribed environmental standards. This is a conse-
European Union was induced by energy causes. Af- quence of the fact that awareness of responsibility
ter the Lisbon Treaty got into force, the Treaty on over the environment is simultaneously the proof
Energy Policy was moved from the area of national of awareness of the responsibility for survival of
policy to the scope of shared responsibility between future generations! Therefore, from the perspective
EU and member states. The task to provide energy of legislator and environmentally aware public, it is
policy, created “taking into consideration need to more than desirable for companies to improve the
protect and improve the quality of environment”, quality of environment through implementation of
was set in the article 194 of the Treaty, stressing environmental plans within their corporate social
the need to reduce environmental harms caused by responsibility – and even more than determined by
inadequate use of energy, including „green-house“ regulations [Kostić, M. and Gasmi, G., 2010].
gases emission, other forms of air pollution and ex- Up to now we have tried to give arguments for
traction of fossil fuels. The obligation to improve the importance of corporate social responsibility
energy efficiency and energy saving was also de- implementation. But the fact is that companies
fined, and institutions of the Union were tasked to realistically do not have strong reasons to do so,
prepare drafts of legal acts to provide continuous since their main goal is to make profit. Even if
development of renewable energy sources. they determine to implement environmental pro-
grammes within their corporative social respon-
sibility, companies will do so for the purpose of

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their own positive marketing and establishment those expenses have an impact on potential and
of positive relations with the public. Companies measurable future economic benefits of the assets
which really consider that through environmental- (e.g. extends the economic life of the existing as-
ly positive and sustainable methods of production sets). Besides the above mentioned standards IAS
and services providing they will, at the same time, 37 and IAS 16 within IFRS/IAS framework, no
achieve, i.e. increase profits, are oriented to corpo- other standards cover environmental issues.
rate social performance of activities, not to corpo- Annual reports of Serbian companies required
rate social responsibility [Hay, B., Stavins, R.N., to follow IFRS/IAS consist of Balance Sheet, In-
2005]. Unlike corporate social responsibility, cor- come Statement, Cash flow Statement and State-
porate social performance presents „strategic“ be- ment of Changes in Equity. All these reports are
haviour of the firm (i.e. any business entity) in the prepared in accordance with the Rulebook on the
sense of „configuration of principles, processes content of items comprising Balance Sheet, In-
and policies and their noticeable outcomes in re- come Statement and Cash flow Statement (Official
gard to social relations“1, with a vision that such Gazette of the Republic of Serbia No.53/2004,
behaviour will lead to increase of owner’s profit. 11/2005, 51/2005). It means that Serbian compa-
Such strategic determination is characteristic for nies use standardized financial statements. We in-
manufacturers of products and services marked vestigated whether the financial statement within
with eco-label [Kostić, M., 2009]. the annual report contain some of the environmen-
tal information in that standardized form. But the
1.3.2 Environmental reporting with the findings are more than disappointing, e.g. there are
emphasis on International Financial no items related to environment in regular reports.
Reporting Standards (IFRS) Companies from developed countries use ad-
ditional reports as a supplement to annual report
In the EU public companies whit stocks traded in order to show their environmental information.
on stock exchange have an obligation to prepare There is no law governing these issues in devel-
corporate annual reports using International Finan- oped economies and reports are prepared on a vol-
cial Reporting Standards/International accounting untary basis. In Serbia those reports are required in
standards (IFRS/IAS). Therefore, IFRS/IAS influ- the case when company is included in some gen-
ences environmental reporting and presentation of eral projects for environmental preservation (for
information of this kind in annual reports. IFRS/ example projects by UN Compact Group). Com-
IAS consists of 41 basic standards and 8 additional pany is then required to improve its environmental
international financial reporting standards, but none information transmission as a part of the results of
of them covers accounting on environmental trans- the project. From the above mentioned, we can
actions. In some standards accounting treatment of conclude that regulative framework in Serbia for
environmental issues is briefly described, and we environmental reporting is at a very low level in a
present those standards in the following paragraph. sense that it does not facilitates the transmission
IAS 37- Provisions, contingent liabilities and of that kind of information by Serbian companies.
contingent assets has some guidelines for provi- The practical research conducted and presented in
sions arising from the environmental transactions. the following paragraphs would reveal additional
It uses examples with the environmental transac- facts about the development stage in environmen-
tions to define and recognize environmental li- tal reporting in Serbia.
ability and provisions. IAS 16- Property, plant and
equipment (paragraph 24) permits accountants
to capitalize environmental expenditures only if

1 Although there are authors considering that business

voluntarism (corporate social responsibility) and
investments of money into environment increase
profitability, most of the authors is at the viewpoint that
it usually does not happen; see: Reinhard, F.

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2. Environmental reporting - researches on nant company among mentioned is Energoprojekt

companies from non-financial sector of Holding having the biggest number of shares in
Belex 15 index mentioned stock exchange. In two of nine entities
Tigar, a.d. and Energoprojekt a.d. Republic of Ser-
2.1. Research methodology and criteria for bia holds majority shares’ package, while others
companies’ ranking are primarily in private ownership of legal entities
such as investment funds, and natural entities such
as management and employees.
Theoretic elaborations in this paper are supple-
Research results (see table 1) for domestic eco-
mented by the analysis of environmental reporting
nomic entities, as well for system of reporting on
using web sites and annual reports by Serbian eco-
corporate responsibility are more than defeating.
nomic entities belonging to non-financial sector of
None of the companies have present reporting in
economy, and included in calculation of Belgrade
all segments and according to all criteria. Only
Stock Exchange Index, known as Belex 15. Non fi-
two companies, Messer Tehnogas and Telefonija,
nancial sector of this Index consists of 9 entities. The
discloses environmental costs for the current year
research was limited to companies of non-financial
(2010). Environmental costs are not presented
companies because we consider them as biggest
in the original report but in the part of the report
potential polluters, and these companies and their
known as “Statistical annex”. Considering addi-
practice should be examples to others if we speak of
tional statements supplementing the annual report
reporting on environmental programmes.
results we found that only two of nine companies,
The basic research methodology is content
or 22% of the above sample, have report on corpo-
analysis. Orientation to this type of secondary data
rate social responsibility. These are Energoprojekt
collection resulted from the fact that we use in-
Holding, a.d. and Telefonija, a.d. Energoprojekt
formation readily available on corporate web sites
presents Progress Report as part of the report of
and in annual reports. Content analysis has been
UN Global Compact Group while Telefonija, a.d.
widely used in the literature examining non finan-
publishes the report on corporate social responsi-
cial disclosure behaviour (Unerman, 2000).
bility for 2009. There is no data about latter report-
ing for 2010 or reports before presented. Above
2.2. Results of the research mentioned reports are written in Serbian language
that limits investors to use this information.
Non financial sector companies from Belex
We may conclude from previously presented
15 Index include the following: Energoprojekt
facts that Serbian economic entities have not yet
Holding, a.d., Soja protein a.d., Imlek a.d., Meta-
recognized all advantages of reporting on social re-
lac, a.d., Messer Tehnogas, a.d., Tigar, a.d., Alfa
sponsibility using annual or supplemental reports.
plam, a.d., Telefonija, a.d. and Veterinarski zavod
(Veterinarian Institute of) Subotica, a.d. A domi-

Table 1. Structure and quality of environmental information in Annual Reports for the year 2010
potential environmental
expenditures, operating
disclose anything about

Environmental policies

Information regarding
information regarding

contain disclosures on
environment (capital

regarding provisions
dedicated section on

contain information
Do annual reports

Do annual reports

Do annual reports

for environmental
Do the companies
reports include a
Economic entity

expenses etc.)?
Environment?
environment?

certification?
environment
disclose any

in footnotes
protection?
Do annual

liabilities

Messer Tehnogas,
Company / / / Inc. / / /
Telefonija, Inc.

274 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

3. Best practice of reporting on fact that Shell compares this environmental infor-
environmental information in developed mation with its operating performance, revealing
countries – Royal Dutch Shell, Inc. that 20% of scorecard goals are sustainable devel-
opment goals and that bonuses for managers are
Royal Dutch Shell, Inc. is a global company
based on the attainment of these goals as well.
in the field of oil production and refining, as well
According to Scott and Jackson [Scott and
other forms of energy. The company and its web
Jackson, 2002] Shell applies integrative strat-
page dealing with corporate social responsibility
egy of web reporting on corporate responsibility
represent “best practice” according to criteria of
which means that all accompanying elements are
British Accountants Association.
added to published report in pdf format, enabling
Shell (see table 2) shows much information
to get an impression that company is fully oriented
about its impact on environment and those informa-
toward goals of socially responsible business.
tion are presented in the separate section of the re-
port named “Environment and Society”. That sec-
tion is under Business Review part of the annual re- Conclusion
port and it supports the discussion of risks to which By demonstration and continuous promotion
Shell is exposed during its oil and gas exploration of corporate social responsibility, organization
activities. In the footnote No. 19, Shell discloses its achieves sustainable development contributing to
provisions for environmental remediation. Envi- its better positioning in the market and creation of
ronmental provisions rose from 891 million $ in the competitive advantage.
year 2009 to 1,122 million $ in 2010. Fact that oil Although domestic practice of reporting on
production rose by 5% from 2009 to 2010, means social responsibility shows significant improve-
that Shell has an impact on environment and as a ments, it cannot be said that Serbian companies
consequence provisions and costs for future pos- have dedicated their attention to reporting on envi-
sible environmental hazards rise also. Shell disclos- ronmental information using annual report. Com-
es additional report entitled “Sustainability report pared with the Shell as a “best practice” company
2010”. Sustainability report of the “best practice leads us to conclusion that there is a much room
company” has many sections with specific quanti- for improvement and much of a knowledge that
tative information of energy savings, gas emission, our companies still have to apply in the environ-
spills and flaring. What drives our attention is the mental reporting area.

Table 2. Royal Dutch Shell, Inc. - “best practice” of transmitting environmental information using
Annual report
Does annual report contain
disclosures on environment
any information regarding

environmental protection?
Do annual reports include

Do the companies disclose

Environmental policies in
operating expenses, etc.)?
environment certification

regarding provisions for

potential environmental
disclose anything about

Information regarding
a dedicated section on

(capital expenditures,

Does annual reports

contain information
Do annual reports

in annual report?
Economic Entity

Environment?
environment?

footnotes

liabilities

Under Business Under “Risk”

Company
Review section section it
discloses
Shell, “Environment of annual report discloses
No No provision for Yes
Inc. and Society” Shell discloses only briefly
environmental
Environment environment
remediation
policy risks

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 technics technologies education management

References Coresponding Author

Goranka Knezevic,
1. Bruce LH, Robert NS, Vietor RHK (2005). Environ- Singidunum University,
mental Protection and the Social Responsibility of Faculty of Business,
Firms: Perspectives from Law, Economics and Busi- Belgrade,
ness, Resources for the Future. Washington DC. Serbia,
E-mail: gknezevic@singidunum.ac.rs
2. Certified Accountants Educational Trust (2001).
Environmental, Social and Sustainability reporting
on the World Wide Web: A guide to best practice.
London.

3. Consolidated versions of the Treaty on European

Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the
European Union. OJ. of the EU 2008/115/01
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/showPage.
aspx?id=1296&lang=en (accession date: March
15, 2011)

4. Hohnen P, Potts J (2007). Corporate Social Re-

sponsibility- An Implementation Guide for Business.
International Institute for Sustainable Development.
London.

5. Unerman J. (2000) Reflections on quantification in

corporate social reporting content analysis, Account-
ing, Auditing and Accountability Journal, vol. 13,
No. 5, pp 667-681

6. Kostić M (2009). Eco-label as a form of information

on products. Business Law and European Integra-
tions. Law and Economy 5-8: 89-92 (in original:
Eko-oznaka kao vid informacije o proizvodima.
Pravo i privreda 5-8: 89-92)

7. Kostić M, Gasmi G (2010). The Lisbon Treaty on EU

and Corporate Responsibility and Environmental
Responsibility. Law and Economy 7-9: 350-360 (in
original: Lisabonski ugovor o EU i korporativna
društvena i ekološka odgovornost. Pravo i privreda
7-9: 350-360)

8. Reinhard, F (1999) Bringing the Environment Down

to Earth, Applying Business Principles to Environmen-
tal Management, Harvard Business School Press.

9. Scott P, Jackson R (2002). Environmental, Social and

Sustainability Reporting on the World Wide Web:
Best practice. International Journal of Corporate
Sustainability 9 (2): 200

10. World Business Council For Sustainable Develop-

ment (WBCSD) http://www.wbcsd.org/templates/
TemplateWBCSD5/layout.asp?type=p&MenuId=N
jA&doOpen=1&ClickMenu=LeftMenu (accession
date: March 15, 2011)

11. www.sustainabilityreport.shell.com/2010/ (acces-

sion date: July 21, 2011)

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 technics technologies education management

Technology assisted approach for learning,

visualizing and problem-solving in engineering
Manjit Singh Sidhu
Universiti Tenaga Nasional, College ot IT, Dept of Graphics and Multimedia, Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract 1. Introduction
Teaching conceptual and qualitative material Computer aided learning (CAL) is a terminolo-
effectively while leveraging the contents efficient- gy used for delivering educational experiences elec-
ly has been an elusive goal for many computer tronically. CAL materials may use any combination
aided learning (CAL) packages in the past. With of teaching techniques including question and an-
the advent of newer technologies such as multime- swer, simulation, multimedia, didacticism (tending
dia and virtual reality these technologies are being to convey information), or problem solving. CAL
researched and applied to various areas of educa- environments increasingly are using a combination
tional settings, especially in science and technol- of interactive multimedia and virtual reality (VR)
ogy. However the potential of these technologies such as text, audio and video, graphics and images,
has not been fully exploited, particularly in the two and three dimensional animations, and simu-
teaching of engineering. In this research an inno- lations in presenting learning materials. Interactive
vative approach based on the principle of CAL is refers to the way the user engages in these environ-
used to design and implement integrated packages ments to enhance his/her learning process.
known as Technology Assisted Problem Solving The first use of computers by educational in-
or TAPS packages, which guide students step-by- stitutions and the introduction of computers in the
step to complete various Engineering Mechanics classroom teaching and technical training began
problems. Since the use of CAL in higher learning in the 1950’s [1]. According to [2], the most per-
institutions in Malaysia is still at its infancy, this re- vasive tool to deliver education is the computer.
search is mainly concerned with the development This is probably due to the increasing popularity of
of effective TAPS packages in supplementing the personal computers [3]. In the 1960’s and 1970’s,
teaching and learning of Engineering Mechanics. more teaching devices (computers) and teaching
The TAPS packages were structured according to CAL applications were developed for teaching and
the learners’ needs based on the survey carried out job training. As a result, improvements in computer
using the Felder-Solomon’s ILS questionnaires design during the 1960’s enabled the integration
and the packages were evaluated using quantita- of text and graphics; a move that encouraged the
tive techniques for its effectiveness. Four groups development of computer based training programs.
of learners were identified i.e. sensory, visual, ac- Such use was, however, limited, as programming
tive and sequential. The results showed that differ- was costly, slow and tedious, and the computing
ent group of learners have different preferences of relied on a mainframe, or central computer, to do
the features offered in the TAPS packages. Never- all the work. The release of the first microcomput-
theless, the study found that the step-by-step ap- ers during the late 1970’s assisted computing in be-
proach which was integrated in each of the four coming more portable and affordable.
TAPS packages was beneficial in promoting learn- The paradigm shift from textbook learning
ing and understanding of Engineering Mechanics to CAL started in the 1980’s. Ease of use took a
concepts, particularly to slow learners. quantum leap with the introduction of the Apple
Key words: engineering, interactivity, multi- Macintosh computer in 1984. Operation of the
media, problem-solving, visualization computer and its programs became more intuitive
and user-friendly largely as a result of intense re-
search in the area of human-computer interaction
where graphical user interface was introduced [4].

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The lower cost of hardware equipment and educa- 2. Problems associated with CAL
tional software motivated the use of CAL in edu-
Despite many successes, CAL packages are
cation and training. Today, as affordable personal
bound by numerous limitations and drawbacks.
computers become more powerful, the range of
An educational practitioner reported that early ed-
operations that can be reasonably performed has
ucational software offered tedious drill (exercise
increased rapidly.
programs) and were primarily built on a set of pre-
The use of newer technologies in CAL packag-
defined steps that did not engage the students in
es i.e. multimedia and virtual reality, allows highly
their learning process and thus failed to promote
engaging activities such as interactivity and simu-
learning [14]. According to Kinshuk [4], the pre-
lation. Interactive multimedia systems for learning
defined steps incorporated into the computer soft-
came into existence in the early 90’s [2]. Accord-
ware presented knowledge to learners through a
ing to [5], multimedia is simply a mixture of data
specific order in a text form. The knowledge of a
on digital basis. Multimedia systems support the
CAL package did not go beyond the information
physical and logical coexistence and interactive
stored in its memory and has likely done little to
use of mixed media classes such as print, audio,
improve learning. When using educational CAL
and video in specific application environments.
packages, students typically rely on the package
Interactive multimedia systems have the potential
for feedback. Therefore, the prime challenges of a
to create high quality learning environments that
CAL package is to response to students’ needs and
actively engage the learner [6]. Additionally, the
provide appropriate feedback so that the students
key elements of multiple media, user control over
can understand the theories and be able to apply
delivery of information and interactivity, could be
them in solving problems. However, according to
used to enhance the learning process [7].
[4], the rigid and unresponsive nature made the in-
Another emerging technology that is being used
structional effectiveness less than satisfactory.
in CAL is virtual reality (VR). VR systems were
As a consequence of the introduction of Arti-
first introduced in the learning environment in mid
ficial Intelligence (AI) to CAL, AI researchers in
90’s [8]. The term ‘virtual reality’ is currently used
the 1970’s started to transfer expertise from hu-
to describe a range of computer-based systems in
man professionals to a machine accessible form
which a user can explore hardware or software gen-
and then redirected this knowledge back to other
erated ‘micro world’ (artificial environments) that
human beings [15]. AI researchers attempted to or-
allow close resemblance to reality. VR extends the
ganize the problem-solving skill and expertise in a
interaction-oriented features of multimedia by the
way that was suitable for teaching and consulting
concept of cyberspace, i.e. modeling objects and
[4]. To develop such an intelligent teaching pack-
their behaviors in virtual environments, integrating
age, AI techniques such as knowledge representa-
position-tracked human-computer interaction de-
tion, user modeling, and natural language process-
vices, and performing numerically intensive com-
ing have widely been incorporated into intelligent
putations for real-time navigation.
tutoring systems (ITS) [4].
The prime feature of VR is ‘interactivity’. Spe-
From the perspective of human computer inter-
cial VR hardware and software are thus required to
action, the research on CAL is very focused on how
allow human-computer interaction to permit input
to represent the learning content and tends to ne-
of the user’s actions and movement to the computer,
glect the impact of the user-interface in the learning
and to provide corresponding simulated feedback
process [16]. On the other hand, there is a growing
to the user. An early application of such system was
evidence that interactive multimedia is not being
the flight simulator used to train pilots. However, it
fulfilled [17]. The author further argued that early
is in the area of hi-tech computer games that many
designs were driven by technology (i.e. focusing
of the application developments in this field have
mainly on physical interface) rather than pedagogy.
taken place. Although VR has been used for educa-
Additionally, it has been reported in the litera-
tional purposes [9], [10], [11], the potential of VR is
ture that it could take 40 hours to develop one hours
just beginning to be exploited by a few science and
worth of quality interactive multimedia learning [7].
engineering educators [12] and [13].

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This lengthy development time is extremely expen- for many years, on the other hand studies on im-
sive because it is difficult and costly to find human proving learning have received great deal of at-
experts to develop the interactive multimedia CAL tention only recently. More researchers today are
packages. As an option with most other teaching looking into what characteristics affect a student’s
media, instructors wanting to use interactive multi- learning curve given that the teaching techniques
media CAL package in their teaching can choose to are close to optimal.
develop simple unsophisticated materials locally or A variety of student characteristics impact a
purchase more sophisticated, and thus more expen- student’s performance and ultimately individual
sive, teaching materials from professional develop- achievements in the classroom. Six main charac-
ment units (commercial software house, etc). teristics can be listed as follows [22]:
According to [14], most multimedia programs – Intelligence, achievement, and prior
are not suitable for learning because they merely knowledge
add video and graphics to page-turning programs. – Learning style
On the other hand the collection of multimedia ob- – Cognitive development
jects i.e. pictures, graphics, sounds, and video does – Gender
not guarantee proper learning, especially when the – Race
complexity of the task, skill or learning increases – Moral and character development
[18]. As such, further work is required to develop
more effective approaches that could serve this pur- The design approaches (of TAPS packages) un-
pose and task. At the simplistic level, some multi- der study have focused on a first year undergradu-
media programs and software have limited quali- ate level classroom that teaches Engineering Me-
ties and have been dubbed ‘electronic page turners’ chanics subjects. Considering that many first year
[19]. Interaction is limited to the student clicking a undergraduates have different level of knowledge
mouse to sequentially take them to the next page. To in science and mathematical subjects, the student
fully develop the enormous potential of multimedia characteristics list of learning as stated above can
as an interactive learning package, multimedia el- be extended as follows:
ements and activities must possess a multitude of – Basic knowledge background: The characte-
interactivity option made available to the student. ristic represents the basic science and
Subsequently, a range of problems limit the use mathematics knowledge of the student.
of hi-end hardware and software in the education- On a given scale, it shows whether, and
al environments. These problems are mainly as- how much, basic science and mathematics
sociated to VR technology. The main problem of knowledge the student has. The scale is
VR technology in the educational environments is however multidimensional, showing not
associated with high cost. Although prices are rap- only the background knowledge in science
idly decreasing, immersive VR systems still cost and mathematics, but also knowledge
hundreds of thousands of dollars [20] and [21]. of other categories required for a better
Other problems that are restricting the pursuit of understanding of the selected Engineering
the VR vision in the educational environments Mechanics subject. Engineering Mechanics
include the limited availability of applications subject is better understood if the student has
development expertise and software licenses for an intermediate knowledge of topics such as
multiple users (learners). calculus, science, mathematics, and physics.
– Academic performance: A student’s prior
3. Pedagogical characteristics affecting academic performance is often a factor that
students and learning styles is overlooked in a student’s current academic
achievements. A good or bad performance
In recent years, approaches to teaching have often affects a student positively or negatively,
changed significantly and have led to a greater dif- particularly during test, or quizzes.
ferentiation between teaching and learning. While – Exposure to modern educational technologies:
studies on improving teaching have been ongoing This represents the experience that students

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already have in using modern technological 4. The Felder-Silverman learning style

learning aids such as computer and learning model
packages. The use of computer packages is
The Felder-Silverman Learning Style Model
more easily understood if students already
classifies students along four dimensions: sens-
have some elementary computing skills.
ing/intuitive, visual/verbal, active/reflective and
– Learning style: Student learning styles are
sequential/global as shown in Table 1.
probably one of the most researched factors
Table 1. The four Dimensions Of Felder and
affecting student cognition and learning
Silverman’s Learning Styles
rate. Many studies have been performed on
student learning styles with many different Dimension Description
categorizations made. Sensors prefer facts, data, experimentation,
sights and sounds, physical sensations are
In general learning styles are most often tar- Sensory / careful and patient with detail, but may be
geted in elementary education. A number of re- Intuitive slow. Intuitions prefer concepts, principles
searchers have tried to categorize learning styles and theories, memories, thoughts, insights
in different manners. Some of these are stated in and may be quick but careless.
this section. Visual learners prefer pictures, diagrams,
Literatures on learning styles have emphasized charts, movies, demonstrations and
much awareness that students do have different Visual / exhibitions. Verbal learners prefer words,
learning styles, characteristics, strengths, and pref- Verbal discussions, explanations, discussions,
erences in the ways they absorb and process infor- written and spoken explanations formulas
mation [23]. Dunn [24] described learning style and equations.
as “…the way each learner begins to concentrate, Active learners learn by doing and
process and retain new and difficult information, participating through engagement in
Active /
p.224”. Although the theory of learning styles has physical activity or discussion. Reflective
Reflective
been used in other educational domains, several learners learn by thinking or pondering
practitioners within the field of science and engi- through introspection.
neering education have also noted the importance of Sequential learners take things logically
teaching with learning styles [25], [26], [27], [28], step by step and will be partially effective
[29], [30]. The learning style models approach can with understanding. Global learners must
Sequential /
be used to measure an individual’s preferences in see the whole picture for any of it to make
Global
sense and are completely ineffective
way of thinking, learning and the degree to which a
until they suddenly understand the entire
certain learning style is ineffective.
subject.
There have been several learning style ques-
tionnaires (instruments) and models developed
to categorize the way learners take in and pro- In this research, the subjective views of students
cess information. Some most quoted and popular are examined for the evaluation of the developed
ones found in the literatures include, the Myers- TAPS packages and are used to analyze their learn-
Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), Kolb’s Learning ing styles. Respondents may be classified as adopt-
Style Model, Herman Brain Dominance Instru- ing a particular learning style preference, based on
ment (HBDI), McCarthy’s 4MAT model, Dunn the score obtained on individual scale using the In-
and Dunn Learning Style Model of Instruction, dex of Learning Styles (ILS). The index of learning
Felder-Silverman Learning Style Model and Hon- styles is a forty-four-question instrument developed
ey and Mumford Learning Styles Evaluation. Re- in 1991 by Richard Felder and Barbara Solomon
search conducted with engineering students using [29], to assess preferences on the four dimensions
any of these learning styles mentioned is reported of the Felder-Silverman model. The index of learn-
to provide a positive involvement. However the ing styles is a self-scoring instrument that assesses
Felder and Silverman model is discussed in some preferences on the Sensing/Intuition, Visual/Verbal,
detail in this research. Active/Reflective and Sequential/Global dimen-

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sions. The ILS is available at no cost to individu- or a mix of both media, and do they prefer to see
als who wish to assess their own preferences and the TAPS packages solving a problem or prefer to
instructors or students who wish to use it for class- solve the problem themselves? The feedback from
room instruction on research. these questionnaires provided useful information
Scoring the questionnaire is quite straightfor- to improve the contents of the TAPS packages so
ward. When an individual submits a completed that the TAPS packages can be effective in helping
ILS questionnaire on-line, a profile is instantly the students in solving the engineering problems.
returned with scores on all four dimensions, brief The aim of this research is to evaluate the inter-
explanation of their meaning and links to refer- active multimedia TAPS packages with the help of
ences that provide more detail about how the students’ opinions about them. The effect of learn-
scores should and should not be interpreted. Each ing styles of students is an important factor in de-
learning style dimension has associated with it 11 ciding the type of students that are likely to benefit
forced-choice questionnaires, with each option (a from these packages.
or b) corresponding to one or the other category
of the dimension (e.g., visual or verbal). For sta- 5. The need for TAPS packages
tistical analyses, it is convenient to use a scoring
method that counts ‘a’ responses, so that a score The Mechanical Engineering course is largely
on a dimension would be an integer ranging from based on practical skills and requires the acquisi-
0 to 11. Using the visual-verbal as an example, 0 tion of basic skills and domain knowledge before
or 1 ‘a’ responses would represent a strong prefer- applying them on real problems. In order to design
ence for verbal learning, 2 or 3 a moderate prefer- and develop a technology assisted problem solv-
ence for verbal, 4 or 5 a mild preference for ver- ing (TAPS) package particularly to guide students
bal, 6 or 7 a mild preference for visual learning, 8 in learning and solving engineering problems, it is
or 9 a moderate preference for visual, and 10 or 11 necessary to be acquainted with its development
a strong preference for visual. This method was and its process of realization in practical terms
used in the statistical analyses reported in this pa- in computer software. Therefore it is imperative
per. The method used to score the on-line version to examine some of these approaches in order to
of the instrument subtracts the ‘b’ responses from discover the extent to which they help engineer-
the ‘a’ responses to obtain a score that is an odd ing students in their learning. This examination
number between – 11 to + 11. includes an overview of good practice in the po-
A number of studies have collected the response sitioning and operation of navigational features,
data for the Index of Learning Styles. Some inves- visual screen presentation, the nature of presenta-
tigators simply measured and reported response tion, help and feedback and views on the role of
profiles and drew conclusions from them regard- the learner in using the TAPS packages.
ing appropriate teaching methods for their classes, Research has shown that in general students
and others used the profiles to examine various as- studying physics and engineering subjects en-
pects of student performance and attitudes. A sum- counter many difficulties in understanding the
mary of learning styles profiles reported in various concepts of Engineering Mechanics. For example
studies can be found in [28]. in kinematics topic, in a study of student under-
The main reason for utilizing the Felder-Sol- standing of two-dimensional motion, diagrams of
omon’s Index of Learning Style Questionnaire trajectories of moving objects were shown to five
as an instrument for this study was to determine students in an introductory university course and
engineering students’ (students who need addi- to five physics faculty [31]. The participants were
tional support in applying principles presented in told whether the objects were speeding up, slow-
lectures to problems) most productive learning ing down or moving with constant speed and were
style and to incorporate the same in developing asked to draw the acceleration vectors at specified
effective TAPS packages. For example, do these points. The novices did very poorly at these tasks;
students prefer to see animated objects rather than even the experts had some difficulties. A detailed
static images, do they prefer text rather than sound analysis of how the two groups approached these

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tasks enabled the investigators to identify the un- demonstrations related to gravity [37]. For ex-
derlying knowledge and skills required for suc- ample, students were asked to compare the time
cessful performance. it would take for an equal-sized steel and plastic
Some investigations have focused on student balls to fall from the same height. On this task,
understanding of the graphical representations 75% of the students gave different answers.
of motion. A descriptive study that extended Since engineering subject involves a simul-
over several years and involved several hundred- taneous mix of mathematics and physics, some
university students helped identify a number of instructors are beginning to explore and develop
common difficulties encountered by students in multimedia computer aided learning packages for
making connections between the kinematical con- teaching [38]. The following are some difficulties
cepts, their graphical representations, and the mo- experienced by the instructors in using conven-
tions of real objects [32]. Another study identified tional teaching methods in engineering:
that students have difficulties with the graphical – In the area of engineering, the traditional
representation of a negative velocity [33]. communication model follows a one-
On the other hand, the topic of dynamics and dimensional, linear path that focus on the
misconceptions about the relationship between instructor/lecturer as the most important
force and motion has been extensively studied. element of a communication transaction.
Less well documented are difficulties students have This model does not take into account the
in interpreting the relationships between force and level of the learners. In addition, traditional
more complex concepts, such as work, energy and learning methods could not engage the
momentum. Some samples of investigations re- learners in visualization tasks and work on
ported in the literature on student understanding of virtual experiments [39] and [40].
Mechanics course can be summarized as follows: – Engineering Mechanics Dynamics, like many
Prior to instruction, more than 100 students in other engineering subjects, is fundamentally
an introductory university Mechanics course were about problems solving through the
given a short-answer test on concepts of force and application of scientific principles. The
motion [34]. The test used a technique abbreviated engineering problems are often complex,
as D.O.E. (demonstration, observation, explana- and relationships among the variables of an
tion). The results revealed that the students, who experiment can be difficult to visualize [41].
had previously studied physics, had mixed ideas – Traditionally, problems in Engineering
such as a force will produce motion; a constant Dynamics are presented to the student as
force produces constant velocity and the magnitude a combination of schematic diagrams and
of the velocity is proportional to the magnitude of text descriptions. The shapes and lines that
the force; acceleration is due to an increasing force; make up the schematic diagram have very
and in the absence of forces, objects are either at rest specific engineering meanings, and the words
or slowing down. The results of another study also accompanying the diagram also give rise to
indicated that both before and after an introductory student error because critical information
course in Mechanics, many students seemed to be- about the solution of the problem is often
lieve that motion implies a force [35]. concealed in the text in unexpected ways [41].
In a study involving curvilinear motion and tra- – Theory oriented approach results in some
jectories of moving objects, about fifty undergrad- disparity between text coverage and student
uates were asked to trace the path that a pendulum comprehension [42].
bob would follow if the string were cut at each of – One of the difficult issues to deal with
four different positions along its path [36]. Only engineering within the curriculum at
one-fourth of the students gave a correct response. the introductory level is the process of
Other studies have examined student difficul- abstraction of real and practical situations
ties with situations involving gravity. A study of into mathematical models [43].
several hundred first-year university students in – Although many forms of learning aids have
Australia involved in the use of simple lecture been used by educationalist to support them

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in their teaching [44] and [45], there is a learning in engineering, these packages do not pro-
need to provide better-enhanced learning vide the user adaptability, in particular to students
aids. For example multiple tools such experiencing difficulties in studying Mechanical
as calculator, glossaries of words, and Engineering, i.e. students who normally need more
electronic notepad can be integrated in a time to understand a particular concept in engineer-
single learning package that can perform ing. As a result, these packages fail to provide ad-
multiple tasks simultaneously, is user- equate feedback, as they do not guide students to
friendly, and caters learner’s requirements solve the engineering problem in a step-by-step ap-
and could guide the learner when reaching proach. Additionally students who use such pack-
an impasse (wrong answers). ages do not know if they have applied the appropri-
– In general, the feedback that students receive ate formulas to solve the problem (some may use
on their homework is relatively ineffective. wrong formulas or working approach) even though
Feedback usually comes too late; solutions the answer given by them could be correct.
are often made available to students after the TAPS packages are developed to include mul-
week’s homework was completed [46]. timedia features and simple intelligent functions
– Engineering Dynamics subject is difficult to such as alerting a student by displaying messages
understand from the textbook alone because (hints) on screen if a wrong formula is applied or
there are many cognitive steps that lead a wrong answer given in solving the selected en-
from a problem through a series of steps to gineering problem. However, if the user still can-
solution. Subsequently, this scenario creates not solve the problem, the student could approach
additional educational difficulties, such as the TAPS package by clicking on “solve” button
some learners lack the ability to translate to aid the student in solving the problem. The so-
mathematical word problems into the lution is given in a step-by-step manner showing
form necessary for effective computation how the answer is obtained. Additionally, desktop
and poor visualization of the problem that virtual reality features were incorporated to encour-
ultimately leads to lack of interest in the age students to interact and engage with the TAPS
subject matter. package. These efforts have focused on conveying
technical knowledge to the student solving the en-
Although there are many conventional com- gineering problem in such a way so as to support
puter aided learning (CAL) packages available the acquisition of theoretical knowledge. The TAPS
in the field of Mechanical Engineering, much of packages can be classified as cognitive tools for
the efforts in the engineering CAL packages have learning, problem solving, testing, and simulation.
attempted to replace the lecture and not focus on To assist students who need additional sup-
problem solving skills. Multimedia based tech- port in applying principles presented in lectures
nologies have the potential of providing a mean to problems in the subject matter, four design ap-
for dealing with the aforementioned issue in a dy- proaches were used in developing the TAPS pack-
namic (animated), provocative, and cost-effective ages namely 2-D graphics and animation (design
manner that not only will increase the effective- approach 1), coach-based environment (design
ness of the educational program but will also in- approach 2), 3-D virtual environment (design ap-
crease the quality of the resulting students. proach 3), and desktop virtual reality (design ap-
proach 4). These TAPS packages can be classified
6. The development of TAPS packages as cognitive tools for learning, problem solving,
testing, and simulation. A complete description of
This section describes the approach taken to these TAPS packages is given in [47] and [48].
integrate computer-based technologies in problem The reasons for employing TAPS packages can
solving learning environment, subsequently termed be summarized as follow:
as technology assisted problem-solving (TAPS) – To use and store the knowledge of
packages. While many software packages have experienced instructors (human) and make
been developed and used for the purpose of student the same easily accessible to the students;

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– To develop a suitable user interface for of the TAPS packages. The aim is to develop qual-
simplifying the difficult engineering ity TAPS packages that would promote learning.
concepts; In this study, the survey was made anonymous and
– To help students who need additional voluntary.
support in applying principles presented The students were given the index of learning
in lectures to problems to acquire problem styles (ILS) instrument based on Felder-Silverman
solving skills; model to obtain the learning styles of the students.
– To provide encouragement to students in The same students were also given a set of ques-
independent learning by incorporating tionnaires that adopt the Likert-type assessment
simple intelligence (expert system like [4], i.e. based on the scale 1 (Strongly agree) to 5
rules) in the TAPS packages; (Strongly disagree) to access their perception of
– As an attempt to improvise the limitations the TAPS packages. The results of the survey were
of the already existing computer based used to determine whether the TAPS packages had
learning packages thereby making them potential pedagogic advantages over conventional
more acceptable as effective learning aids in teaching approach.
UNITEN. Since the objective of the evaluation of stu-
dents’ learning styles in this research was to design
The TAPS packages developed for this re- the TAPS packages tailor-made to students needs,
search used selected engineering problems that mainly quantitative methods were employed in
are difficult to understand by first year engineering the evaluation.
undergraduates taking the Engineering Mechanics As an adjunct to quantitative data collected,
and Dynamics subjects at UNITEN. Since the in- some qualitative views from students have also
formation, diagrams and sketches are presented in been sought in the evaluation study presented in
a static way in engineering textbooks, multime- this research but the data obtained from various
dia and desktop virtual reality technologies were sources was not consistent and was merely in the
found to be a suitable alternative in delivering form of observations and open-ended questions
technical information to students in the subject relating to their computer usage. Though this
matter. For example, each problem-solving step in data was of limited value for statistical analysis,
the TAPS package can be narrated and shown in it provided an indication of students’ keen inter-
an animated form to help students understand the est towards the TAPS packages and the perceived
problem being presented. strength and weaknesses of the packages.

7. Research methodology employed for 8. Procedure to evaluate students’ learning

examining students’ learning styles styles
The evaluation was carried out to examine the The ILS was administrated to the students in the
distribution of learning styles (discussed in Sec- form of printed questionnaire at the commence-
tion 4) of the third year undergraduate engineering ment of the first study semester in 2003. The re-
students and suggest effective problem solving ap- sponses to the learning style questions were then
proaches that could increase the motivation and un- entered on-line using the Web for each respon-
derstanding of slow learners at UNITEN. For this dent. The responses were processed on-line and
research, a sample target population of 60 third year the results of analysis were displayed as a report
undergraduate engineering students who had taken and printed for each respondent. Thus 60 printed
the Engineering Mechanics subject was tested. reports corresponding to 60 respondents formed
These students were selected based on their second the basis of the data analysis and the results are
year grade point average (CGA) of less than 2.5 as presented in following section.
this study emphasizes on slow learners.
The study focused on issues of problem solving
methods, user interface, and multimedia attributes

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9. Data analysis and results Table 2. Percent Frequency Values

The analysis report consists of scores on a scale
of 1 to 11 (odd numbers only) for one of the di-
chotomy of each of four dimensions of the ILS. For
example, the result for the hypothetical individual
student may consist of the following scores along
the four dimensions: 3 reflective, 5 sensing, 7 visual
and 9 global. A score of 1 to 3 in either dichotomy
of a dimension indicates a learning style preference
that is fairly balanced in that dimension. A score of
5 to 7 indicates a moderate preference in the asso-
ciated dichotomy of the concerned dimension (e.g.
sensing dichotomy of the sensing-intuitive dimen-
sion). A score of 9 to 11 indicates a very strong In the sequential-global dimension, 61.7% (37)
preference. The result reports of the 60 respondents of the respondents are balanced learners. Moderate-
were consolidated into percent frequency values for sequential dimension shows 21.7% (13) have mod-
the four dimensions as given in Table 2. erate preference and 3.3% (2) have strong preference
Data presented in Table 2 shows that 58.3% for sequential learners. Thus, 86.7% (52) of respon-
(35) of the respondents have balanced preference dents would like problem-solving techniques geared
in the sensing-intuitive dimension. Moderate- toward sequential learners (learners who take things
sensing dimension shows 21.7% (13) have mod- logically step by step in their learning and will be
erate preference and 5.0% (3) have strong prefer- partially effective with understanding). The data
ence for sensing learners. Thus, 85% (51) of the clearly shows that the majority of the engineering
respondents would feel comfortable with problem students surveyed in this research will benefit from
solving techniques geared toward sensing learners problem solving methods that match the needs of
(learners who prefers facts, data, experimentation, sensing, visual, active and sequential learners.
sights and sounds in their learning). The results of the students learning styles indi-
In the visual-verbal dimension, 23.3% (14) of cate that problem-solving approaches of the engi-
the respondents have balanced preference. Mod- neering students geared towards sensing, visual,
erate-visual dimension shows 38.3% (23) have active and sequential learners, which formed the
moderate preference and 38.3% (23) have strong basis for designing the TAPS packages. To help
preference for visual learners. Thus, 100% (60) the sensing learners, it would be desirable to mod-
of the respondents would prefer problem-solving el selected engineering problems that are difficult
techniques geared toward visual learners (learn- to understand from the textbooks. The solutions
ers who prefer pictures, diagrams, charts, movies, to the selected engineering problems should be
demonstrations and exhibitions in their learning). shown in a step-by-step fashion and narrated to the
Table 2 shows that in the active-reflective di- students while interacting with the TAPS packag-
mension, 70.0% (42) respondents are balanced es. In addition, the sensing learner will understand
learners, 18.3% (11) are moderate active learners, the concepts of engineering and problem solving
and 1.7% (1) is strong active learners. Thus, 90% steps better if the instructor gives examples of the
(54) of respondents will benefit from problem- application in a dynamic form.
solving techniques preferred by active learners Both visual and active learners will benefit
(learners who prefer to learn by doing and partici- from hands on activities and virtual experiments.
pating through engagement in physical activity or Sequential learners will understand the material
discussion in their learning). presented in the TAPS packages better if a brief
summary of the selected engineering problem is
given in the packages from the lecture taught by
the instructor during normal classroom teaching.

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The results of the data analysis indicate that From the open-ended questionnaires adminis-
a small proportion of respondents are intuitive tered at the beginning of the TAPS packages [48],
(15%), verbal (0%), reflective (10%), and global it was found that these groups of learners had very
(13%) learners. It can be suggested that certain ac- little or no experience in using computer-based
tivities and problems that are more difficult can be learning packages. Nevertheless, from the ob-
included in the TAPS packages to motivate this mi- servations made as mentioned in [48] during the
nority group. The students may be given a few rel- evaluation of the TAPS packages in the computer
atively difficult problems whereby they can solve lab by the instructor/researcher and also based on
these problems through group effort. This oppor- the following comments obtained from the open-
tunity will satisfy the intuitive and verbal learn- ended questionnaires:
ers who get a chance to talk about the problems
in sharing of knowledge. Small case studies may “The 3-D models seem to be quite realistic and
be interesting to the reflective and global learners helps motivates learners to explore, learn and dis-
who like to work alone at their own pace, analyz- cover the problem solving strategies presented in
ing the problems from multiple views. In view the TAPS packages”
of the obtained results, the researcher designed
the TAPS packages using technologies (2-D/3-D “The simulations and animations really moti-
and DVR) to make ideal problem-solving models vate me to learn more about the selected topics as
(step-by-step approach). compared to the way I learnt in textbooks”

10. Evaluation of students learning styles Selected comments such as:

and selection of TAPS packages
“I am impressed by the fact that the concepts
This Section attempts to assess the students are shown visually, and think it saves the instruc-
learning styles and their preferences towards the tor’s time to cover additional information”
features offered in the TAPS packages. The pur-
pose is to understand students attitude towards us- “I liked the idea of having more computer
ing the TAPS packages as well as to gauge which graphics and animations as it could help maxi-
features (i.e. DVR, 2D simulation, 3D animation mize the computer visualization capabilities in the
or Coach-based) of the TAPS packages that would packages”
be most beneficial to a given group of learners.
In this exercise, the students that participated can be concluded that the students showed
in the Felder-Solomon’s index of learning styles great interest in using the TAPS packages.
questionnaires were selected. These students were In addition, comments such as:
divided into four groups based on their learning
styles as follows (n = number of respondents): “I find these sorts of multimedia packages to be
1. Sensory: are learners who prefer facts, very useful for engineering students as different an-
data, experimentation, sights, sounds and imated colors, fonts and sketches could be used to
physical sensations ( n = 30 ) highlight and shown in understanding the difficult
2. Visual: are learners who prefer pictures, engineering concepts as compared to text-books”
diagrams, charts, movies, demonstrations
and exhibitions ( n = 59 ) “The desktop virtual reality images produced
3. Active: are learners who learn by doing for the TAPS packages were excellent”
and participating through engagement in
physical activity or discussion ( n = 36 ) “The use of colors and arrows on the analysis
4. Sequential: are learners who take things of engineering structure was good idea where only
logically step by step and will be partially the important concepts were made to be dim, blink,
effective with understanding. ( n = 37 ) rotate and move to direct my attention because it is
difficult to learn these concepts from the text-book”

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“I liked navigating with the 3-D interface as it not possible to link the students’ academic perfor-
allowed me to view the objects from multiple views” mance with the preferred features of the TAPS pack-
ages. This is because some students may have mul-
Further highlight the overall perception of stu- tiple learning styles thus more difficult to target, and
dents towards the incorporation of multimedia and specific activities meant to target a learning style do
virtual reality in simulating engineering concepts not always accomplish the goal due to differences
that were otherwise difficult to comprehend from in terms of individual preferences. Additionally, stu-
the text-book. dents’ background knowledge may also affect per-
The analysis carried out based on the four formance depending on their exposure to modern
groups of learners i.e. sensory, visual, active and technologies, motivation and flexibility of learning.
sequential, indicate that different groups prefer At present, this paper is focused on testing the de-
different features of the TAPS packages as sum- sign and functionality of the TAPS packages. More
marized in Table 3. The number of students with work would be required to understand how the dif-
their individual learning styles is derived from the ferent learning styles of students are linked to the
Felder-Solomon’s ILS questionnaires and their preferred TAPS features and how this would influ-
feedback was compiled based on their learning ence their overall performance in the subject matter.
styles [48]. The comments listed in [48] with the The general outcomes of the statistical data col-
following variables: improves, helps, understand/ lected from the learners who used the TAPS pack-
understood, learn/learning, interest, interesting, ages to visualize and solve the selected engineer-
easy, provides, teaches and interactive were se- ing problems can be summarized as following:
lected. The comparison was made on the basis From the results obtained in this research, it
of the comments for each of the TAPS packages. appears that virtual problem solving aids with
The results indicated that sensory group of learn- dynamic illustrations enhanced student learning.
ers prefer (DVR, 3D and 2D), visual group prefers For example, the 2-D and 3-D animations clearly
(2D and 3D), active learners prefer (3D and DVR) helped the students in understanding curvilinear
and the sequential learners have high preference motions better, which were otherwise difficult to
for (coach-based and 2D) TAPS packages. understand from the textbook alone.
However, when comparing the performance of The overall percentage of positive response
the learners in the laboratory, the active and sensory towards the TAPS packages showed increased
learners performed almost equally well when using awareness amongst the learners (students who
the 3D animation and DVR TAPS packages. This need additional support in applying principles
result is indicative of the relationship between labo- presented in lectures to problems) on the impor-
ratory performance and the active and sensory learn- tance of the course towards their future develop-
ers that prefer interactive problem solving tasks. On ment but concurrently felt that their mathematical
the other hand, sequential learners performed better background did not help much in solving the engi-
when using the coach-based TAPS package. This neering problems. It was also found that the TAPS
can probably be attributed to the design philosophy packages are capable of helping them understand
of this TAPS package i.e. leading from problem the selected engineering problems.
statement through a series of steps and solutions. The results further indicate that most of the
Visual learners appear to be comfortable with 2D students preferred learning using TAPS packages
simulation TAPS package as it matches their learn- because it is on one-to-one basis with the tutor as
ing styles where the learners prefer to see 2D pic- compared to the traditional classroom learning.
tures, diagrams and charts in their learning. Currently, at UNITEN, the engineering courses are
In summary, the analysis showed that differ- conducted with large numbers of students ranging
ent groups of learners have different preferences of from 50 – 60 students per tutor (human). This can
the features offered in the TAPS packages and this be cited as one reason for the slow learners wanting
in turn would affect the effectiveness of the TAPS the TAPS packages as additional educational aid.
packages in meeting its objectives as well as the per- The impact of learning by employing animation
formance of the students. However, at this stage it is techniques, graphics, 2-D / 3-D and desktop virtual

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reality environments in this study promotes the us- sic principles of Engineering Mechanics Dynam-
age of multimedia presentations (problem-solving), ics, and as such they do not know which math-
especially in technical discipline areas since these ematical relationships are to be applied in solving
presentations will have a direct impact on the quality a particular problem. Additionally, as the name
of the engineering materials at every level. Multime- “dynamics” implies, the very nature of this subject
dia may become a standard level of instruction; its is not “static” and thus requires learners to visual-
strength lies in its ability to simulate life situations ize motion; for example, in a given time period, a
while engaging the senses. Interactive multimedia particle may be moving in a straight line and after
TAPS packages allow students to put themselves in time seconds the particle may experience a cur-
real life decision making situations while providing vilinear motion. If the learner fails to see this, the
immediate feedback that allows learners to see, feel, learner will not be able to employ the right equa-
hear and experience the consequences of their deci- tions to solve the problem.
sions in unprecedented way. Problem solving via us- As such, an effort was made to evaluate the fea-
ing TAPS packages is specific, whereas traditional sibility and effectiveness of employing technolo-
classroom lecture style learning is more abstract and gies such as multimedia and desktop virtual reality
cannot involve students in the consequences of their to enhance the problem solving skills and learning
decisions in comparison to multimedia. Thus multi- of students.
media makes problem solving real (more natural). In this research four TAPS packages were de-
As multimedia expands, retention and instructional veloped to confirm its design and effectiveness
quality will most likely improve due to the real life based on students preferences of learning styles.
nature and sensory motivation of the medium. The Among the four TAPS packages developed, signif-
learners who used the TAPS packages learn and icant contribution was shown in the desktop vir-
understand the problem solving steps faster as the tual reality TAPS package that demonstrated the
TAPS packages enhanced their interest and engaged motion of a robotic arm in 3-D space. Better visu-
learners at their own level of comprehension. For alization technique was introduced i.e. the design
example if the learner is slow in absorbing the in- of an algorithm to show the motion path taken by
formation, the learner may use his/her own pace of the robotic arm from one point to another in a 3-D
time to absorb the multimedia material. space. This technique contributed significant level
The quantitative results obtained from the eval- of visualization and understanding among engi-
uation provided evidence that the TAPS packages neering students to understand the motion of cur-
developed have a good potential as an adjunct to vilinear motion. In addition, the algorithm could
traditional learning aids. TAPS packages can be be used to show similar motion paths for other
seen as an important commercialization educa- engineering problems. Another important contri-
tional tools in the future to be used not only by bution that could be seen in the TAPS package is
learners who need additional support in applying the way it provided feedback. The TAPS package
principles presented in lectures to problems, but is capable of informing the learner the questions
also by all engineering students in their learning. that were incorrectly answered, and providing a
TAPS packages are seen as futuristic integral part brief explanation to clarify the student’s misunder-
of delivering knowledge in engineering and also standing. The TAPS package could also suggest
other fields of education where similar difficulties the learner to revise a topic thereby increasing the
are faced in presenting the subject matter to the students’ motivation to learn.
students via conventional textbooks. In general all the TAPS packages were found
to be effective in promoting learning and the out-
11. Conclusion come of this research revealed that technologies
such as multimedia and desktop virtual reality ap-
Mechanical engineering course subjects such proach enhanced user understanding of the under-
as Mechanics Dynamics, combine a mix use of lying theory of Engineering Mechanics Dynamics,
mathematics, schematic diagrams, and text de- promote interactivity as well as visualization and
scriptions. Frequently, students are unclear of ba- users are able to solve engineering problems such

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Table 3. Students Feedback on Taps Packages Based On Different Group of Learners

Sensory Visual Active Sequential
· Improves comprehension
· Provides high
and retention.
impact presentation.
· Maintains interest and
· Maintains interest
involvement.
DVR and involvement.
· Helps communicate
· Makes learning
complex engineering
more intuitive.
problems faster.
· Provides the ability to
· The concept of a
explore multimedia
structure could be
data.
understood better
· Usage of colors
as compared to the
and animation adds
static images in the
attraction to learn and · Very interactive and problem
textbook.
makes the subject solving steps can be repeated
2D · Animation of
interesting. until understood.
simulation the structure and
· The forces shown on
computations
the free body diagram
could be shown
of the truss in an
simultaneously
animated form can
and help students
be easily seen and
understand better.
understood.
· Provides better · Provides multiple · Provides better interface
interface to engage views to suit the to engage and interact
and interact with learner interacting with TAPS package.
TAPS package. with the TAPS · Helps understand
· Provides multiple package. curvilinear motion better
views to suit the · Helps understand in a 3-D environment
learner interacting curvilinear motion that is impossible to be
with the TAPS better in a 3-D shown in the conventional
package. environment that method.
3D
· The 3-D objects is impossible to · Helps in understanding
animation
look more realistic be shown in the the problem faster.
and easy to conventional method. · The 3-D objects look
manipulate. · Helps in more realistic and easy to
· The cognitive understanding the manipulate.
load is lower than problem faster. · The cognitive load is
using the textbook · The 3-D objects look lower than using the
to learn solving more realistic and textbook to learn solving
similar problem. easy to manipulate. similar problem.
· Interesting, less monotonous
coach environment.
· Very interactive coach based
package.
· Provides timely feedback
to wrong answers with
reasoning.
Coach · Helps in correcting mistakes
Based in every step in the package.
· Reinforce learning of
engineering concepts.
· Provides room for making
mistakes.
· Teaches problem solving in
a step-by-step method.

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 technics technologies education management

as engineering structures, rectilinear kinematics, Acknowledgements

and curvilinear motion quickly and efficiently.
I like to thank Assoc. Prof. Ir. Dr. Ramesh
Engineering education is an area that holds
Singh (Lecturer, Mechanical Engineering Depart-
great interest and potential for developing TAPS
ment, UNITEN), & Dr. Kirandeep Kaur Sidhu for
packages. One reason for this is the ability of pro-
their constructive comments at all stages of this
viding experimental learning. The TAPS packages
research and especially during the development
presented in this research has achieved its objec-
of the (TAPS) packages, advice on the course on
tives, as students were able to describe the posi-
performing research and writing this paper. Lastly,
tion, velocity, and acceleration as two-dimension-
the management of University Tenaga Nasional
al vectors, recognize two-dimensional structures
(UNITEN) for providing the financial support as
motion, and visualize particles experiencing cur-
well as the basic facilities to carry out the research.
vilinear motion. Students were able to apply the
relevant Mechanics Dynamics theories and kine-
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 technics technologies education management

Implementation of some algorithms in

computer graphics in Java
Muzafer Saracevic1, Predrag Stanimirovic1, Sead Masovic1, Faruk Selimovic2
1
Faculty of Science and Mathematics, University of Niš, Serbia,
2
Department of Computer Science, University of Novi Pazar, Serbia.

Abstract need appropriate data structures for representation

of points, segments, a set of points and other geo-
This paper describes an application of Java pro-
metrical objects.
gramming language in the implementation of the
This paper presents the results in the develop-
algorithm for generating triangulations of a con-
ment of Java library for working with geometric
vex polygon and their graphical representation.
objects which consist of classes that represent the
Particularly, we present the method for creating
basic objects and includes some of the basic algo-
records in the form of the specific Alpha-Numeric
rithms of computer geometry. In the library, it is
notation. Final result is the Java application which
also possible to find some classes that belong to
displays a correlation between the Alpha-Numeric
the field of computational geometry but are useful
notation and the graphical representation. Gen-
for visualization of some geometric objects. We
erally speaking, our application is applicable in
use methods for adding and removing vertices of
solving of some algorithms in computer graphics.
the polygon (at the addition it checks whether the
Key words: Java programming, Computer
polygon remains simple – if there are no intersect-
Graphics, Polygon Triangulation.
ing edges) for manipulation of edges and closing
the polygon (adding the edge connecting the first
1. Introduction and the last vertex). The general structure of this
paper is as follows. In the second section we brief-
Object-oriented programming provides more
ly restate some related investigations. In the third
flexibility, modularity and multiple utilizations.
section we describe Java implementation of the al-
Programming language Java is independent from
gorithm for generating triangulations of a convex
the platform. This property provides easy, fast and
polygon. We mainly consider graphical represen-
efficient execution of Java programs on any com-
tation of generated triangulations, their storage in
puter system. Java is focused on creating and ma-
the database as well as relationship between nota-
nipulating objects and doing these objects to work
tion and the graphical representation.
together. All the operations are performed through
functional members (methods) of defined classes.
Java supports Multithreading, which enables 2. Related works
that different parts of the code can run at the same As it is mentioned in the Introduction, in our pa-
time and independently from each other [1]. Ad- per we present the advantages of Java program-
vantages of Java in the design and implementa- ming language in the implementation of some al-
tion of web applications are presented in paper [2]. gorithms in computer graphics. In the following
Java is the programming language with ex- we briefly restate several related applications of
ceptional opportunities when it comes to working Java in similar areas in the computer graphic and
with graphics and also when it comes to speed of computational geometry.
the execution. Algorithms of computer geometry In the paper [5] authors present their experienc-
range from simple tests of co-linearity of points, es with Java 3D API in a computer graphics course
their mutual positions, up to very complex find- on modeling and simulation. Their approach pro-
ing the smallest convex layer set of points to gen- vides students with an easy to use programming
erate Voronoi diagrams and the similar [3,4]. In environment which enables them to build their
order to make the algorithms work effectively, we own interactive graphic applications.

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 technics technologies education management

The authors of the paper [6] describe the con- mechanism for “glazing” 3D figures which is very
cept and the implementation of an interactive important for speed, quality and resolution of the
computer graphics course, combining lectures, ex- objects in computer graphics [12].
ample Java applets, programming exercises and The following algorithm is stated from paper
documentation within a common sophisticated [13] for the sake of completeness, since it is ex-
web-based framework. Then the authors describe ploited in our implementation.
how they use models to transform the existing
course into a modular construction kit consisting Algorithm 3.1. Algorithm for finding triangu-
of teaching text and program classes’ components. lations of convex polygon
Authors of the paper [7] describe how Java Step 1: Set the counter i = 1,
programmers can quickly and easily define graphic Step 2: i-th point connect with (i+2)-nd point,
programs using Java 3D’s scene graph classes. An Step 3: Is the new diagonal internal?
expanded view model lets applications seamlessly Yes: Add it in the list and eliminate (i+1)th
operate in a variety of single and multiple-display, point of the polygon.
non-head tracked and head-tracked, display envi- No: i=i+1
ronments. This view model relies on the flexible Step 4: Return to step 2
InputDevice interface that Java 3D provides
to remove most of the vagaries of hardware trackers. At the end, Algorithm 3.1 comes to the triangle,
The advantages of the language Java are pre- or to n-3 diagonals, where n is number of vertices
sented in paper [8]. However, these advantages in the polygon [14].
must be balanced against two significant draw- The number of all triangulations of a convex
backs: the instability caused by the rapid evolu- polygon with n vertices is closely related with the
tion of the Java toolkits and the complexity of the concept of Catalan numbers [15,16].
graphics model for new students. That paper out- More precisely, the number of triangulations is
lines a strategy for teaching Java. equal to
Using Java, the authors of the paper [9] devel-
oped a prototype genome browser applet that in- ,................. (1)
corporates a three-level graphical view of genomic
data. Visualization tools for bioinformatics ideally
where C n-2 denotes the (n-2)th Catalan number.
should provide universal access to the most cur-
Table 1. The number of triangulations for n=3 up
rent data in an interactive graphical user interface.
to n=20
Since the introduction of Java, a language de-
signed for distributed programming over the Web,
Number of triangulations

Number of triangulations

the technology now exists to build a genomic data

Number of vertices of a

Number of vertices of a

Number of vertices of a

visualization tool that meets these requirements.

triangulations

The paper [10] presents an adaptation of frame-

Number of
polygon

polygon

polygon

work and component concepts to 3D graphic to

improve development speed and stability of 3D
applications. Java and Java3D based imple-
mentations, as well as their usage in a large 3D
application, is presented and discussed.

3 1 9 429 15 742,900
3. The application of Java in graphical 4 2 10 1,430 16 2,674,440
illustration of convex polygon triangulation 5 5 11 4,862 17 9,694,845
A triangulation of a simple polygon assumes 6 14 12 16,796 18 35,357,670
the decomposition of the polygon interior into 7 42 13 58,786 19 129,644,790
triangles, where mutually internal diagonals do 8 132 14 208,012 20 477,638,700
not intersect [11]. Triangulation also provides a

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 technics technologies education management

3.1. Description of the source code A for loop inside the class TriangPolygon
repeats as many times as we have triangulations for
The application TriangulationPol is de- a given value n. The aim of this loop is to connect
veloped in Java programming language. In this the ending points of generated diagonals and thus to
section we will mention only some parts of the form the corresponding convex polygon. The pro-
source code that are responsible for drawing the cedure is repeated until all possible triangulations
triangulations of a convex polygon. are drawn on the Panel of the application.
The method make()creates an instance of the for( Enumeration e = elements();
class TriangPolygons. The number of ele- e.hasMoreElements();) {
ments in the instance is equal to the value of the Point p = (Point) e.nextElement();
integer order, which represents the number of x=TriangulationPol.
Fsinus[p.x]+sCursorX;
generated triangles for given n-gon (therefore its y=-TriangulationPol.
value is n-2). The size of the drawn polygon and Fcosinus[p.x]+sCursorY;
displaying mode (rotation, the diagonal position z=TriangulationPol.
etc.) are adjusted in this method. Fsinus[p.y]+sCursorX;
public void make() { w=-TriangulationPol.
kListing = new Vector[order]; Fcosinus[p.y]+sCursorY;
for( int i = 0 ; i <= order ; i++ ) g.drawLine(x,y,z,w);
kListing[i] = new Vector(); }
kListing[0].addElement( new LNodes() );
kPicture = new TriangPolygons(); The method display()draws all different
for( int k = 0 ; k < order+2 ; k++ ) {
triangulations of the convex polygon with n ver-
//for diagonals and size of polygon
double d = tices.
(2*order+2-4*k)*Math.PI/(2*order+4); public void display( Graphics g ) {
Fsinus[k] = (int)Math.floor(60*Math. pStructure t;
sin(d)); g.drawString(“number of different com-
Fcosinus[k] = (int)Math.floor(60*Math. binations of polygon triangulation =
cos(d)); “+kListing[order].size(),480,20);
} kPicture.init();
for( Enumeration e = kListing[order].
elements(); e.hasMoreElements();) {
The object kPicture represents an instance t = (pStructure) e.nextElement();
of the class TriangPolygons. kPicture.copy(t);
The vector kListing is the vector that de- kPicture.DrawPol(g);
termines the number of instances of the mentioned }
}
class.
LNodes indicates the terminal (leaf) node.
The object enumeration generates ele-
In the following, the method make() gener-
ments used for passing through a collection
ates triangulations via 4 nested loops. These loops
(kListing[order]). Then we apply the
provide iterations in which all combinations are
method hasMoreElement() which checks the
drawn in the specified order.
for( int n = 1 ; n <= order ; n++ ) { existence of the next element.
for( int i = 0 ; i < n ; i++ ) {
for( int j = 0 ; j < kListing[i].size()
; j++ ) {
3.2 Graphical interface of the application
for( int k = 0; k<kListing[n-i-1].
The Toolbar containing functional buttons ap-
size(); k++ ) {
kListing[n].addElement( pears on the application’s panel immediately after
new Nodes((KListD)kListing[i]. its starting. These buttons are aimed for display-
elementAt(j), (KListD)kListing[n-i-1]. ing and storing the results in different file formats.
elementAt(k) )); } Possible choices are: tabular view (xls file format),
}
the text view (doc file format) and the option to
}
} store the results graphically in the form of images

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 technics technologies education management

(jpg format). The drop-down menu allows you to Table 2. Execution time for the application
choose the number of the polygon vertices (an-

time (seconds)

triangulations
triangulations

File size (Kb)

gles) for which we want to get all possible trian-

vertices (n)
Number of

Number of
Number of

per second
Execution

ps format
gulations. Our application allows selective storage
of generated triangulations. The buffer records the
results of execution. It can be cleaned at any time.
In the application we have a link to the Internet,
where the user can compare the obtained results 5 5 0.5 s 10 2
at any time. 6 14 1s 14 3
7 42 2s 21 11
8 132 3s 33 39
9 429 8s 48 156
10 1430 15 s 84 624
11 4,862 38 s 106 2463
12 16,796 72 s 173 9879
Figure 1. Toolbar of applications
13 58,786 149 s 323 38844
14 208,012 342 s 531 156916
The application TriangulationPol con-
tains the central panel, which is the place for the
PC performance for testing results : CPU – In-
graphical representation of the convex polygon
tel (R) Core (TM) 2 Duo CPU,T7700,2.40 GHz,
triangulations. All triangulations are drawn on
L2 Cache 4 MB (On-Die, ATC, Full-Speed), RAM
the central panel, based on the selected number of
Memory - 2 Gb, Graphic card - NVIDIA GeForce
vertices for a polygon. The central panel of the ap-
8600M GS.
plication with some triangulations (9 of 14) for the
hexagon is presented on Figure 2.
4. Internal representations of triangula-
tions and their storage
In this part of the paper we explain implemen-
tation of some equivalent representations of the
generated triangulations and illustrate some pos-
sibilities of their application in computer graphics.
As an example we use the Balanced Parentheses
(shortly BP) notation [17]. The BP notation repre-
sents a set of ordered parentheses pairs. Each set
of pairs corresponds to exactly one triangulation
of convex polygon.
Inspired by very rapid increasing of the number
of triangulations with increasing values for n, in or-
der to reduce the memory space requirements, we
propose a shortened form for the storage of gener-
ated triangulations. The shortened form is defined
as the exact Alpha-Numeric (AN shortly) notation.
Figure 2. Central panel of the applications The paper [18] describes the algorithm for
polygon triangulation through the reverse polish
Table 2 contains CPU times required for gener- notation. Our method for converting the BP nota-
ating all possible triangulations. The number n in tion into the AN notation is presented in Figure 3.
the table denotes the number of the polygon ver- Details of the method are previously described.
tices.

296 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

String aFirst=aLabel1.substring(0,2);
String aLast= aLabel1.
substring(aLength-2,aLength);
String str0=”00”;
String str1=”01”;
String str2=”10”;
String str3=”11”;
if (aFirst.equals(str1) && aLast.
equals(str0)) aLabel3=”A”;
if (aFirst.equals(str2) && aLast.
equals(str0)) aLabel3=”B”;
if (aFirst.equals(str1) && aLast.
equals(str2)) aLabel3=”C”;
...
if (aFirst.equals(str3) && aLast.
equals(str0)) aLabel3=”M”;
Figure 3. Method for AN notation
–– aLabel3 represents the string of alpha
characters.
4.1 The source code of the Java application
Here we present the part of the source code that Part of the source code that converts the re-
converts the BP notation into the binary equivalent. maining part of the binary equivalent into the dec-
This part of the code performs transformations imal notation (Step 5):
(Step 1) of the open parenthesis “(“ into the bit “1” long num = Long.parseLong(aLabel2);
and the closed parenthesis “)” into the bit “0” (Step long rem;
while(num > 0){
2). We observed that there always appears bit 1 at
rem = num % 10;
the beginning of the string representing BP notation num = num / 10; }
and at the end of the string appears bit 0. Therefore, int str= Integer.parseInt(aLabel2,2);
it is possible to remove the starting and ending bit aLabelEquiv = Integer.toString(str);
(Step 3), without losing necessary information.
aLabel1= aLabel1.replace(“(“,”1”); –– aLabelEquiv presents Binary Equivalent
aLabel1= aLabel1.replace(“)”,”0”); for aLabel2
aLabel1 = aLabel.substring(1,aLabel.
length()-1);
Part of the source code for storing the
int aLength=aLabel1.length();
results in .xls format:
aLabel2 = aLabel1.substring(2,aLabel1.
BufferedWriter bufferedWriter = null;
length()-2) try {
bufferedWriter = new BufferedWriter(new
–– aLabel denotes the string representing FileWriter(“notation.txt”,true));
BP notation. bufferedWriter.
–– aLabel1 denotes the string representing write(aLabel3+””+aLabel2;
the binary equivalent of the BP notation bufferedWriter.newLine(); }
catch (FileNotFoundException ex) {
without first and last element. ex.printStackTrace();}
–– aLabel2 denotes the string generated by catch (IOException ex) {
deleting the first and last two elements from ex.printStackTrace();}
the string label1. finally {
try {if (bufferedWriter != null) {
bufferedWriter.flush();
Further, we observe the first two and the last two bufferedWriter.close();
elements of the binary equivalent. These elements } }
are converted into the set of characters {A,B,C,… catch (IOException ex) {
,M} (Step 4). There exist nine possible combina- ex.printStackTrace(); }}
tions for these elements. For example, binary pair }
{01,00} generates the character A, and so on.

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 technics technologies education management

Part of the source code for printing results on Table 3. Testing results of the application
the Panel of application:

Reduced size of files – ratio (how many

Reduced characters – ratio (how many
Number of characters in AN notation
g.drawString( aLabel+””+ aLabel1 + “” +

Number of characters in BP notation

File size for Balanced Parentheses

aLabel3+aLabel2+””+aLabel3+aLabelEquiv,

File size for AN notation (Kb)

Number of vertices of polygon
sCursorX, sCursorY);
sCursorX += XBLANK;

notation (Kb)
Java Panel with all different representations

times)
times)
of the hexagon triangulations (BP notation, Binary
Equivalent, Alpha-Binary and AN notation) is pre-
sented on Figure 4.

5 6 1 6 0.5 0.3 /
6 8 2 4 1 0.6 /
7 10 2 5 2 1 2
8 12 2 or 3 6 or 4 3 2 1.5
9 14 3 4.67 7 3 2.33
10 16 4 4 26 9 2.89
11 18 5 3.6 95 31 3.06
12 20 6 3.33 386 122 3.16
13 22 7 3.14 1378 446 3.08
14 24 8 3 4792 987 4.85

Figure 4. Java panel with some equivalent nota-

tions of triangulations

We gave testing results of the application where

are listed advantages of our AN notation in ratio to
the BP notation (Table 3).
The ratio of strings length for these two nota-
tions in the numbers of characters, with respect to
n (from 5 to 14-gon), is illustrated on the Graph 1.

Graph 2. Saving the storage space in percents

4.2 Graphical interface of the application with

BP and AN notation
Graph 1. Ratio of strings length corresponding If call of the method t.notation() is in-
to BP and AN notation cluded in the method display(), we provide
notations for the records which are used for easier
Graph 2 illustrates the ratio of the sizes of oc- storage results in the database:
cupied memory spaces for BP and AN notation (in
percents). kPicture.DrawPol(g,t.notation());

298 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

variable g is responsible for the graphic repre- 5. Conclusion

sentation,
The triangulation of polygons is very important
t.notation() initiates graphic display of
notion in the computer graphics. It allows us to
BP and AN notation,
obtain three-dimensional view of objects from the
t is a type of abstract class pStructure.
set of points. Java is a programming language
abstract class pStructure{ with exceptional possibilities when it comes to
abstract String notation(); } working with graphics and also when it comes to
speed of execution. In order for certain algorithms
The command for printing both to work efficiently, they require appropriate data
notations is included inside the method structures for the representation of points, set of
DrawPol(Graphics g, String aLa- points, segments and other geometric objects.
bel) of the main class TriangPolygon: The proposed application allows efficient rep-
// BP notation resentations of the convex polygon triangulations,
g.drawString(aLabel,sCursorX,sCursorY); both in the graphical form as well as in the terms
of appropriate records stored in the database. We
// Alpha-numeric notation have listed the efficient method for storing results
g.drawString(aLabel3+aStringSk,sCurso
in the form of AN notation. This shortened record
rX, sCursorY );
form presents a unique key for each graph or any
combination of triangulations for convex poly-
The final result is the application which dis-
gons. The application in conjunction with a graph-
plays a correlation between BP notation, AN nota-
ical display of triangulations can be used to detect
tion and the graphical representation of generated
some regularities in generating the triangulations
triangulations (Figure 5).
of larger polygons.

References
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2. Masovic S, Saracevic M, Kamberovic H, Kudumovic

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4. Keil MJ, Tzvetalin SV. An Algorithm for the MaxMin

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7. Sowizral HA, Deering MF. The Java 3D API and

virtual reality. Computer Graphics and Applications
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Corresponding Author
Muzafer Saracevic,
Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics,
University of Nis,
Serbia,
E-mail: muzafers@gmail.com

300 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

Effectiveness of stations for technical

inspection of vehicles and traffic impact on
environment
Fuad Klisura1, Sefket Goletic2, Bruno Bojic3, Aleksandra Nikolic4
1
IPI-Institute for Commercial Engineering L.L.C., Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
2
University in Zenica, Mechanical Engineering Faculty in Zenica, Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
3
Foreigin trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
4
MIKRO DOO, Belgrade, Serbia.

Abstract tion, air pollution, water pollution and land pol-

lution, the devastation of the land surface, etc.
This work analizes the effectiveness of stations
[1].Only in the case of construction of roads, on
for technical inspection of vehicles in Federation
annual basis, it is visible losing of fertile ground
of B&H and the traffic impact on environment,
of about 20 million acres, and thus disappearing
particularly on air quality. Technical inspection of
habitats and numerous flora and fauna.
vehicles is an acxtivity of public interest due to the
Through the researches in Serbia it has been stat-
creation of condition for greater traffic safety and
ed the trend of increasing emissions of NOx, SO2,
decreasing of the traffic impact on environment,
CO, CO2, PM, heavy metals and other pollutants
particularly on air and ground, but also on human
from road traffic [2].Also, through the researches
health. This area has been significantly improved
in European countries, particularly in Germany and
in Federation of B&H by introduction of a unique
the Netherlands, it has been stated the trend of slight
information system in which all stations for techni-
or more intense growth of emissions of certain pol-
cal inspection have been connected. This enabled
lutants from traffic, especially CO, CO2, NOx and
the effective management of the system of stations
others. There is especially expressing the emission
for technical inspection, because all the data on
of NOx from traffic due to the combustion of liquid
the technical condition of vehicles and emission of
fuels. It is believed that the traffic dominantly emits
exhaust gases are collected in one place. The sys-
NOx in comparison to other sources. In Croatia, the
tematic planning and introduction of surveillance
largest share in emissions of NOx comes from road
into stations for technical inspection of vehicles
traffic with 42,9%, but the emission of NOx from
significantly contribute to a safer road traffic and
the traffic is lower now than in year 1990 [3].Lin-
thereby reduce emissions of exhaust gases in the
dov (2009) states that the road traffic is the main
air and protect the environment.
cause of appearance of CO, NOx, NHCH and other
Key words: stations for technical inspection of
pollutants in the air [4].Vujadinović et all. (2007)
vehicles, traffic, exhaust gases, traffic impact on
state that the share of CO2 emissions from road traf-
environment.
fic is 20%, which requires special attention within
the program of reducing emissions of greenhouse
Introduction gases [5].
Many European cities have managed to re-
Due to its technical and exploitation character-
duce emissions from road traffic using a variety of
istics the road transport is suitable for transporta-
measures ranging from improving the fuel quality
tion of all types of cargo and passengers, and for
(reduction of lead in gasoline and sulfur in diesel
this reason has got a great significance in the de-
fuel), internal combustion engines and the organi-
velopment of economy and other social activities.
zation of the technical inspection of vehicles.
On the other hand, the traffic consequences have
The European Commission has adopted guide-
been noticed everywhere in the form of contribu-
lines for the control of emissions of exhaust gases in
tion to global warming, acid rains, ozone deple-
road traffic, which defines, inter alia, the following:

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 technics technologies education management

– limit values of emissions and quality of fuel, sible to establish a system for specific vehicles, tak-
– fiscal benefits related to vehicles that are ing into account all of the key influencing factors.
subject to standards, Stations for technical inspection of vehicles
– on-board diagnostics for petrol cars since have to ensure roadworthiness as one of the es-
year 2000., and for diesel vehicles since sential preconditions for safety of all road users in
year 2003 traffic and as many as possible decreasing negative
– leaded gasoline is ejected from the use in environmental impacts. To make this more effec-
year 2005, etc. tive it is necessary to provide preconditions for
qualitative work of stations for technical inspection
Looking from the aspect of traffic safety and of vehicles, which includes qualitative supervision
from no less important traffic impacts on the en- over the work of stations and introduction of an ef-
vironment it is necessary to underline that the ficient system for technical inspection of vehicles.
technical inspection of vehicles is an activity of The need for emphasizing and avaluating of ef-
public interest due to th ecreation of conditions for ficiency and significance of the influence of sta-
greater traffic safety and lower impacts on envi- tions for technical inspection of vehicles in our
ronment, particularly on air and ground, but also country arises primarily because this area has not
on human health. been satisfactory arranged as in most European
countries. There is a need to regulate this field ac-
2. Stations for tehnical inspections of cording to the principles of the European Union in
vehicles in the service of traffic safety order to provide conditions to raise traffic safety
to a higher level and minimize the impact on the
The task of maintainig a vehicle is, by ade- environment. Stations for technical inspection of
quately technical means, to improve the technical vehicles should be able to function as testing labo-
condition deteriorated during vehicle inspection, ratories, which requires a higher level of education
thereby ensuring an important place for technical of the controllers at stations, and station managers
component in the system of general traffic safety, should be graduate mechanical engineers or traffic
as well as reducing negative impacts on the en- engineers. They will be able to perform the tasks
vironment. Connection of an exploitation process and duties related to the inspection and mainte-
and impact of vehicle maintenance on traffic safe- nance of motor vehicles only if, besides of the ac-
ty have been analized with two important aspects: quired academic titles, they acquire competencies
– traffic safety, and necessary for the functioning of modern stations
– maintenance in the service of exploitation of for technical inspection of vehicles.
road vehicles. Roadworthiness control gains special signifi-
cance when one takes into account the age structure
Development and adoption of laws in the field of the vehicle in traffic in BiH. Age and poor main-
of technical inspection of vehicles on the basis tenance of vehicles in our environment is a very
should have to be done at the state level due to the common cause of technical failure and uncertainty
balancing of criteria for technical inspection of ve- in the public transport vehicles, and greater envi-
hicles in order to increase traffic safety and lower ronmental pollution, especially in air. According to
environmental impact. Regulations from this field data from the year of 2012, the average age of vehi-
should be aligned with the international norms in cles in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is
order to avoid any possible misunderstanding in in- still quite high and for passenger cars is 16.99 years
ternational transport and how to comply with the and for buses is 18 years, which ranks our country
obligations from numerous conventions that were on this issue at the very bottom in Europe [6].
signed by our country. All this points to the need By the Decision of the Federation of B&H
for the state to establish its roof laws, and their en- Government at the 178th session held on 21 De-
forcement entrust to one or more institutions that cember 2006 one part of professional work from
meet criteria for the implementation of the assigned the Federal Ministry of Transport and Communi-
obligations. In doing so, differetn solutions are pos- cations was transferred to the professional insti-

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 technics technologies education management

tution IPI - Institute for Commercial Engineering information system a|TEST, whereby the inspec-
Zenica. This professional institution performs su- tion authorities provided effective oversight of the
pervision over the work of stations for technical work stations for technical inspection of vehicles.
inspection of vehicles, and they are:
– professional training of controllers of 2.1. Criteria for opening of stations for
roadworthiness, managers of stations for technical inspections of vehicles
technical inspection and other people who
work in professional jobs of technical In year 2007 the professional institution for the
inspection; periodical assessment of the supervision of work of stations for technical in-
knowledge of controllers of roadworthiness spection of vehicles started to work in the Federa-
and other people who work in professional tion of B&H. At first it introduced a unified infor-
jobs of technical inspection; mation system, then the vide surveillance system,
– control of performed calibration of and then the eTP certificates on roadworthiness of
equipment which performs control vehicles. By the Decision of FB&H Government
roadworthiness; the video surveillance system has been introduced
– data processing and analysis in the field of to all stations for technical inspection of vehicles
technical inspection of vehicles; as an obligatory material evidence of the presence
– development of written instructions and of vehicles during technical inspection. Also, all
information and professional publications in data and errors encountered on vehicles are pub-
the field of technical inspection of vehicles; licly pronounced and available to the public. Thus,
– networking of stations for technical the Federation of B&H has made tremendous
inspection of vehicles and other interested progress in the control of roydworthiness of motor
parties into a single computer system linked vehicles. The objection in relation to the members
to the activities of technical inspection of of the European Union is the human factor in im-
vehicles; plementation of legal obligations starting from the
– monitoring the regulations in the area of controllers of roadworthiness, police, inspection
control of the vehicle taken by neighboring bodies, i.e. responsible accepting of obligations of
countries, the European Union and other implementation of the legislation in this area.
international organizations; Criteria for opening new stations for technical
– cooperation with professional, scientific inspection of vehicles are not uniformed in B&H,
organizations, institutions, companies and in the entities and in Brčko District B&H [8].
other legal entities in the field of technical There are two different systems for opening
inspection of vehicles. new stations for technical inspection of vehicles,
as follows:
The purpose of the technical inspection of ve- – in Federation of B&H, pursuant to criteria,
hicles is to ensure the safe road traffic with the one station for technical inspection of vehicle
least adverse impacts, and that technical malfunc- on every 5000 vehicles or 35 kilometres of
tion of the vehicle is as small as possible the cause mutual distance,
of traffic accidents and environmental pollution as – in RS and Brčko District all stations are
stated by Klisura (2010) [7]. opened on the basis of commercial conditions.
Although in the period from 2009 to 2012 the
constant trend of decreasing of number of defec- Setting up a system for technical inspection of
tive vehicles was registerred in the control system, vehicles in the Federation of B&H is conducted
our country is still far from the average of defec- principally by the same criteria as in Croatia and
tive vehicles in relation to the standards of the Eu- Slovenia. In the RS and Brčko District this system
ropean Union. is formed by the criteria as in Serbia.
Data on the number of performed technical Table 1. presents data on completed technical
inspections of motor vehicles and other data pre- inspections of vehicles per administrative units in
sented in this work were obtained from a single B&H compared to the total number of stations for

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 technics technologies education management

technical inspection of vehicles, and Table 2. gives 3. Legal regulations in B&H and EU about
data on number of registered vehicles in Croatia, traffic impact on environment
Slovenia and Serbia.
Cities and settlements along the roads are ex-
Table 1. Number of completed technical inspecti-
posed to continous traffic impacts due to pollution
ons of vehicles and stations for technical inspecti-
of air, water and ground, as well as the production
ons per administrative units in B&H.
of noise and vibration. It is considered that the traf-
Number of Number of
fic is the main cause of air pollution in developing
Administrative completed stations for
countries. Only road transport is responsible for
unit inspections of technical inspect-
vehicles in 2012 ions of vehicles 25% of carbon dioxide emissions on global level.
Also, the noise from traffic accounts 80% of the
Entity FBiH 602.444 162
Entity RS 398.800 212
total noise in cities. Ecological consequences are
Brčko District 27.210 14
visible at every step, and the fact that in just one
Total 1.027.454 388 hour of highway driving by the speed of 130 km/h
a road motor vehicle in average consumes oxygen
Table 2. Number of registered vehicles and autho- as one man in 10 days of life shows this the best.
rized stations for technical inspections in neighbo- Therefore, in order to improve and protect the en-
ring countries vironment, development of traffic must follow the
principles of positive sustainable development.
Number of
Number of stations Traffic that does not endanger public health and the
registered
Country for technical environment, and continuously monitors and meets
vehicles in
inspections of vehicles the need for transportation is named Sustainable
year 2012
Croatia 1.838.550 156 Transportation. It is manifested through the rational
Slovenia 1.347.630 86 use of non-renewable energy sources and more in-
Serbia 1.989.760 1.254 tensive use of naturally renewable sources.
Aspects of sustainable development of traffic
The following Table 3. presents the number of from the ecological point of view treat reducing
completed technical inspections of vehicles per of impact on environment through three following
years from 2008 to 2012 pursuant to the Profes- basic elements:
sional Bulletin of IPI No. 21 [9]. – environmental pollution through the
emission of harmful substances,
– production of waste,
– production of noise.

Table 3. Number of completed inspections and ECO tests per years from 2008 to 2012.
No. of inspections Preventive Regular + Special TEU Regular-6 ECO TEST
2008
572.583 55.258 477.992* 39.333 0 *
No. of inspections Preventive Regular Special TEU Regular -6 ECO TEST
2009
579.648 54.065 461.210 9.513 49.311 5.549 362.856
No. of inspections Preventive Regular Special TEU Regular -6 ECO TEST
2010
597.147 25.898 468.625 14.464 54.096 34.064 512.115
No. of inspections Preventive Regular Special TEU Regular -6 ECO TEST
2011
598.932 19.392 480.467 8.396 50.642 40.035 512.656
No. of inspections Preventive Regular Special TEU Regular -6 ECO TEST
2012
602.444 17.478 486.878 8.519 49.586 39.983 518.156
* Recording of completed ECO test was performed mandatory after 01 May 2009. By that time the ECO test was performed as
an integral part of inspection, but was not specifically recorded.
* Data for regular and special technical inspections were consolidated in year 2008.

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Researches of experts from several scientific gines [6].In the period 1992 – 2008 these amounts
fields clearly show that the aforementioned influ- were constantly decreasing.
ential factors have a direct connection between
health and traffic safety. All this indicates that
there is an obligation of coordination of economic
development through the use of different knowl-
edge from several fields: traffic, energy, ecology,
health, statistics, spatial planning, etc.

3.1. Norms and standards of exhaust gases

Start of testing the exhaust gases from motor ve-
hicles began in the sixties of the last century in Cali-
fornia and today is obligatory conducted on the oc- Figure 1. Diagram NOx and PM (visible particles
assion of vehicle inspection in stations for technical of soot).
inspection in European Union and developing coun-
tries of the World. The fact that if we want to be one European Conference of Ministers of Transport
part of developed world and European Union our (engl: ECMT – European Conference of Ministers
country must respect rules that are applied for reduc- of Transport, i.e. french: CEMT - Conférence Eu-
ing emissions and negative traffic impacts on envi- ropéenne des Ministres des Transports) has passed
ronment regardless of B&H being a non-member of a resolution: CEMT/CM(2001)9/FINAL dated 20
the European Union nand that does not have obliga- July 2001, which, building on all previous ECMT
tion of introduction of inspection of exhaust gases. resolutions on multilateral quota in international
The environmental regulations regulate obligation road traffic prescribes an obligation of introduction
of environment protection, including preservation of new forms to confirm vehicle belongings to the
of air quality, water quality and other elements of category of “greener and safe”, type “EURO 3 safe
environment. Therefore, regardless of our country vehicles”. Mandatory use of new forms has began
not having obligation of inspection of exhaust gases, on 01 January 2002 and since that day no vehicle
the limitation of emissions from traffic is an obli- that gets or extends above categorization could not
gation on the basis of environmental regulations on prove the vehicle belongings to the category of
limited values of air quality, water quality and land “greener and safe”, i.e. “EURO 3 safe vehicles” if
quality, as well as allowable level of noise. the vehicle did not meet new legal requirements.
By its Directive No. 96/96/EC dated 20 De- This is important because on the basis of afore-
cember 1996 the European Union has established mentioned forms the carriers are assigned higher
the way to control exhaust gases. Members of the quotas for the passage of their vehicles throughout
European Union were introducing eco-test gradu- countries that prescribed and introduced vehicle be-
ally, as follows: longings to the category of “greener and safe” and
– 01/01/1994. - Vehicles with gasoline engines “EURO 3 safe vehicles”.
without catalyst, The CEMT/CM(2001)9/FINAL resolution ela-
– 01/01/1996. - Vehicles with diesel engines, bo-rates in detail the system as follows:
– 01/01/1997. - Vehicles with regulated – Certificate on ecological eligibility of
catalytic converter. vehicles,
– Certificate on technical security equipment
So, in year 1992 there were first norms made of vehicles, and
by the EU known as EURO 1 – 1992, EURO 2 – Certificate on technical security of road-
– 1996, EURO 3 – 2000, EURO 4 – 2005 and worthiness of vehicle.
EURO 5 – 2008.
Figure 1. presents allowable amounts of NOx It can be seen from the above that the Certifi-
and solid particles in exhaust gases of diesel en- cate on ecological eligibility of vehicles is on the

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first place, which forced manufacturers of motor not meet legal requirements for exhaust gases, it
vehicles to develop and continuously improve will not pass regular technical inspection (nega-
new generations of internal combustion engines tive findings) [6].
in order to meet these norms. For this reason, the Air quality in cities is becoming an increasing
examination of exhaust gases of motor vehicles is environmental problem because of the continuing
prepared in B&H, and is popularly called “eco- increase in the number of vehicles and the lack of
test”. This examination includes the largest cat- concern of responsible operators and drivers them-
egories of motor vehicles, that is all vehicles with selves. It is not even expected to improve the eco-
category M (vehicles for transport of persons) logical state of conscience of the pollutants but this
and category N (commercial motor vehicles) are problem must be addressed systematically modeled
subject to examination of exhaust gases. Only old on developed and environmentally sustainable Eu-
vehicles (vehicle equipped with gasoline engines ropean countries. The best and most effective way
manufactured before 1870 and vehicles equipped is the consistent application of legislation governing
with diesel engines manufactured before 1980), this area. According to national legislation, and pri-
vehicles with technically obsolete workflow (ve- or their registration, control of emission of exhaust
hicle with two-stroke engine) and vehicles with a gases has to be made on vehicles. For some types
variety of alternative drives (methame, propane- of vehicles it is required to conduct this test twice
butane, etc.) are excepted from above mentioned a year, on the ocassion of preventive technical in-
examination. Also, some slow vehicles powered spection. Permissible concentrations are prescribed
by gasoline engines with speed lower than 50 for carbon monoxide (CO) for the gasoline engines,
km/h and diesel engines with the highest speed and the amount of uncombusted carbon particles in
lower than 30 km/h are not subject to examination. diesel engines. For the complete control of exhaust
When examining the exhaust gases, if a driver gases in motor vehicles it is necessary to exercise
has got a book for the vehicle, then the factory control of other uncombusted products that pollute
data on permitted amounts of ingredients that are the environment. Using the so-called eco-test, the
measured are the relevant ones. However, if these concentration of nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon di-
data are not available then we apply limit values oxide (CO2), Hydrogen chloride (HC), oxygen (O2)
listed in Table 4, as stated Klisura (2011) [7]. and lambda (χ) coefficient [10] are additionally
Mandatory examination of exhaust gases is controlled.
conducted during and within the deadlines of Stations for technical inspection of vehicles in
regular technical inspection of vehicles. After the Federation examine exhaust gases from the
completion of inspection of vehicle the driver of vehicles, but this obligation has not completely
that vehicle gets a printout of measurement results begin to live, and is not conducted responsibly in
with appropriate findings on satisfaction of pre- accordance to legal regulations. Stations for tech-
scribed conditions (allowable values of exhaust nical inspection of vehicles in the Sarajevo Canton
gases). The document does not set any marks on have monthly submitted reports on examination of
the condition of exhaust gases, but the correctness exhaust gases to the Ministry of Spatial Planning
of the same is the condition for the passage on reg- and Environment Protection of the Canton Saraje-
ular technical inspection. So, if the vehicle does vo, together with measuring tapes on which there
Table 4. Prescribed limit values per fuel type
Engine without catalyzer Engine with catalyzer Diesel engine
n = idling of engine 1. t ≥ 80°C 1. t ≥ 80°C
t ≥ 80 °C oil temperature in engine 1. 60 s/3000 min-1 1. preparatory venting
CO≤3,5% (for 1987 and younger vehicles) 2. n = 2500 - 3000 min-1 2. number of accelerations > 3
CO ≤ 4,5% (for 1986 and older vehicles) 2. CO ≤ 0,3% 2. n = idling → maximum rotation speed
2. λ = 0,97 - 1,03 3. k for suction engines ≤ 2,5 m-1
3. n = idling 3. k for supplemented turbo engines ≤3,0 %
CO=0,5% (less or equal)

306 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

are measured values. The data on examination of 3.2. Indicators of the research on fuel quality
exhaust gases are entered in the Register of emis-
sion of exhaust gases from motor vehicles. Above Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro
mentioned Ministry analyzes the validity of the and Macedonia are the four remaining countries
measurement of exhaust gases during technical in- in Europe which still use leaded fuels, or fuels
spection of vehicles. Through the present analyzes that increase the level of pollution of air and soil,
of data, it was concluded specific improvement in and influence the health of children and adults. In
this area since the introduction of video surveil- Bosnia and Herzegovina there is still used norm
lance in the stations. However, there are still pres- of Euro 3 (and such vehicles are imported as used
ent the failures related to compliance measure- ones), which allows the fuel sulfur content up to
ment procedures and the quality of the measured 300 ppm (for fuels produced in our state allowed
data due to the lack of knowledge of methods of sulfur content is slightly higher up to 500 ppm),
measurement by the controllers. Education of con- while in the EU the effective is Euro 5, which lim-
trollers and improving of the systems of control its the sulfur content to 10 ppm [11].
of the work of stations for technical inspection of It is very difficult to reach the data on quality
vehicles will contribute to reducing the negative of fuel in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The quality of
impacts of motor vehicles on air pollution and fuel in B&H is monitored by the authorized in-
thereby protect human health [8]. spection institutions that deliver their results to the
Appreciating the general efforts, that BiH, as Federal Administration for Inspection.
soon as possible, creates the conditions for acces- The best indicators in this area are the research-
sion to the European Union, we have the obliga- es of quality of fuel in Croatia conducted in year
tion to adjust this area as well, at least at the level 2007 regarding the presence of sulfur in the fuel,
of the European Union requirements. However, to which comprises the five countries of the region.
achieve these conditions and performance testing, These studies have shown that the fuel in B&H
it is necessary to have certain assumptions. One of is lower quality than in the region. Studies have
the most important requirements is to establish a shown that every fifth petrol station did not meet
quality control of fuel used in BiH. Until then, the standards on fuel quality. Results of quality fuels
technical inspection will control only the concen- for Austria and Hungary are according to Euro 5.
tration of CO in gasoline engines and the amount The fuel in Slovenia is at the level of quality of
of uncombusted particles in diesel engines. fuel in B&H and in Croatia. The results of hese
Table 5. gives comparison of the limits of studies are presented in the following diagram, in
composition of smoke quantity of exhaust gases which the average values of sulfur content (Figure
through legal regulations in BiH and the EU [7]. 2) are presented [11].

Table 5. Comparison of limit values of the pollutants in exhaust gases of motor vehicles
B&H regulation 2009/40/EC
Engine type Increased number Increased number
Idling Idling
of revolutions of revolutions
CO ≤ 3,5%
OTO – without or with nonregulated CO ≤ 3,5% ili
ili
catalyser CO ≤ 4,5%
CO ≤ 4,5%
OTO - with regulated catalyzer CO ≤ 0,5% CO ≤ 0,3% CO ≤ 0,5% CO ≤ 0,3 %
OTO – first registration after 01 July
No regulations CO≤0,3% CO ≤ 0,2 %
2002
k ≤ 2,5m-1 (suction engines) k ≤ 2,5m-1 (suction engines)
DIESEL
k ≤ 3,0 m-1 (supplem. engines) k ≤ 3,0 m-1 (supplemented engines)
DIESEL-EURO IV AND EURO V k ≤ 1,5 m-1 k ≤ 1,5 m-1

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References
1. Goletic S., Imamovic N.: Statistical analysis of the ef-
ficiency tretment of wastewater, TTEM, 2010;5(4).
2. Papić V. et all.: Determination of the amount of
emission of gaseous pollutants originating from road
traffic using the COPERT IV model of the European
Agency for the Environment, Institute of Traffic Engi-
neering faculty, University in Belgrade, 2010.

Figure 2. The presence of sulfur in the countries 3. The emission of pollutants into the air in the area of
of region Republic of Croatia for year 2010, Agency for Envi-
ronmental Protection in Zagreb, 2012.
4. Lindov O.: Transport and Environment, University in
4. Conclusion
Sarajevo, Faculty of Traffic Engineering and Com-
Established uniformed information system of munication, Sarajevo, 2009.
the professional institutions of the Institute for 5. Vujadinović R., Nikolić D., Dobovišek Ž.: Alternative
Commercial Engineering in Zenica and stations approach to the modeling of CO2 emissions of per-
for technical inspection of vehicles in coordina- sonal vehicles, GOMABN, 2007;46 (2): 129-148.
tion with the Federal Ministry of Transport and 6. Klisura F., Selimović S., Matoc Ž., Talijan D.:
Communications represent a huge contribution TMT 2009, 13 International Research/Expert
to the significant improvement of the control of Conference“Trends in the Development of Machin-
roadworthiness of vehicles as an important factor ery and Associated Tehnology“, thema :“ CONTROL
OF THE EXHAUST GASES EMISION OF CARS“,
in traffic safety, and thus an incentive to put under Hamamet , Tunisia, 16-21.10.2009.
control other ancillary activities through IT solu-
tion as are the results of emission of fuel combus- 7. Klisura F.: Contribution to a study of the impact of
stations for technical inspections of vehicles on traffic
tion in engines and the like. In cooperation with
safety in Bosnia and Herzegovina, The Master’s The-
relevant government agencies and professional sis, Mechanical Engineering Faculty in Zenica, 2010.
organizations it is foreseen the IT networking of
devices on the stations for technical inspection. 8. Mustafić I., Klisura F.: Professional guide for man-
agers of stations for technical inspections of vehicles,
This would allow the data to be collected directly 2nd edition, the Institute for Commercial Engineering,
in one place, thus achieving multiple benefits in Zenica, 2011.
the management of the technical inspection of the
vehicle according to the same criteria. Systematic 9. Professional bulletin No 21, Institute for Commercial
Engineering L.L.C. Zenica, January 2013.
planning and introduction of surveillance in the
area of technical inspection of vehicles will signif- 10. Klisura F.:First Symposium with international par-
icantly contribute to a road traffic safer and there- ticipation “Ecology in traffic” with the theme: “The
role of a unified information system and surveil-
by reducing emissions of exhaust gases which in lance vedeo technical inspection stations in FBiH
most European countries contribute significantly and Brcko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina”,
to air pollution. In this way we will solve the prob- Vlasic Travnik, 02-03.JUNI.2011.
lem of input data on emissions of exhaust gases
11. Lindov O.: Influence of road vehicles and road
in an integrated information system of a | TEST, infrastructure on ecological parameters, Interna-
which will ensure the exclusion of vehicles with tional Science Conference “Ecological problems of
excessive emissions of exhaust gases, as defec- modern transport”, Sarajevo, 2009.
tive vehicles. Introducing a system of control of
exhaust gases at technical inspection of vehicles Corresponding Author
will significantly contribute to improving air qual- Fuad Klisura,
ity, because traffic is regarded as the dominant air IPI-Institute for Commercial Engineering L.L.C.,
pollutant in developed European countries. Zenica,
Bosnia and Herzegovina,
E-mail: fuad.k@ipi.ba

308 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

Possibilities for the six sigma concept

implementation in small enterprises
Marija Andjelkovic Pesic, Vesna Jakovic Milic, Nada Barac, Aleksandra Andjelkovic
University of Niš, Faculty of Economics, Nis, Serbia,

Abstract enterprises in some of its features are in advan-

tages over large enterprises when it comes to ideas
The Six Sigma concept as been born in an en-
and postulates the concept of Six Sigma.
terprise that belongs to large ones. This concept as
also been promoted by very famous giants. Con-
cerning that, one can ask a question: If this concept 2. Advantages and limitations of small
implementation is limited with enterprise’s size? enterprises for the Six Sigma concept
The aim of this paper is to indicate that Six Sigma implementation: theoretical background
concept, and ideas it is based on, can equally be If one has in mind that small enterprises are
useful for large and small enterprises. Although the more agile, and have a lower level of production
paper assumes that size is not crucial, when it is (sales) compared to large enterprises, they can
about the implementation of Six Sigma concept, much easier adapt to the changes which come
the small enterprises have certain shortcomings from the environment. For small enterprises it is
or problems, on the one hand, and benefits on the easier to provide support to employees by manag-
other hand, compared to large enterprises. ers, because they have less employees, which are
Key words: Six Sigma, small enterprises, often included in decision-making related to the
competitiveness, quality. implementation of the Six Sigma projects [3].
Another advantage of small enterprises com-
1. Introduction pared to large is reflected in closer relationships
Business in modern conditions is characterized with the customers [4]. Small enterprises are char-
by continuous searching for sources of competi- acterized by a higher degree of communication
tive advantage. This involves the development of with key customers, which makes it easier to re-
specific resources and capabilities, which will pro- spect the customer voice [2, 4].
vide competency for enterprise, and consequently A third advantage of small enterprises is related
competitive advantage. One of the most popular to the speed of making decisions and implemen-
concepts in recent decades is the Six Sigma con- tation of those decisions. The making and imple-
cept. According to this concept of business im- mentation of the decisions is not depending from
provement should be based on continuous qual- extensive hierarchical levels, and decisions can be
ity improvement. Usage of quality tools is very made and implemented more quickly.
important sources of competitiveness to small as One of the major limitations of implementa-
well as to large enterprises [1, 2]. The Six Sigma tion the Six Sigma concept in small enterprises is
concept incorporates a methodology that enter- definitely a lack of capital, respectively expressed
prises implement to improvement projects, and it limitations of financial resource, and the others
is a DMAIC (define, measure, analyse, implement, resource which include financial commitment. In
control) methodology. This methodology includes addition, a small enterprise more difficult comes
the activities and tools that should be used in real- to the required knowledge, because the fees for
ization of the improvement projects. Although the professional consultants are extremely high, and
origin of the Six Sigma concept suggests that it is are often unable to employ them.
intended for large enterprises, the ideas on which Regardless of these obstacles and constraints for
is based concept can significantly contribute to the which it appears that small enterprises handicapped
promotion of small enterprises. In addition, small in relation to the large when it comes to implemen-

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tation of the Six Sigma concept, this concept can be 4. Continuous learning and apprehension of
implemented in small businesses if there is manag- the customers voice,
ers’ support and employees’ willingness to partici- 5. Implementation of improvements,
pate in continuous quality improvement. 6. Control and continuous improvement.

3. Methodological aspects of the Six Sigma Six Sigma is not a program or technique which
concept in small enterprises to be applied toward the established scheme in the
enterprise. Implementation of methods and tools
Considering that Six Sigma implementation re- offered by Six Sigma must to be flexible and satis-
quires huge investments, many believe that it is fy the needs of the enterprises, whereby the needs
unavailable to small businesses [3, 5]. However, of enterprises appear in the form of increased ac-
this would mean that small enterprises are in a vi- countability to customers, but also increase effi-
cious circle, bearing in mind that in the modern ciency, competitiveness, and, finally, the profit-
conditions without increasing quality and reduc- ability. This means that small enterprises do not
ing costs they do not have a chance for growth and have to fully emulate the successful large enter-
development, as well for survival. So, if one takes prises, if want to become successful. It is enough
into account the view that Six Sigma is not avail- to understand the essence of the Six Sigma con-
able to small enterprises, it would mean that they cept and to always bear in mind the demands of
are convicted to failure, while the large enterprises customers and own potentials, but also to work
will progress continuously. However, small enter- to prevent the problems by analyzing, monitoring
prises in developed countries have proved just the and controlling processes and activities, not just
opposite. Small enterprises can survive and thrive, the finished product.
despite the presence of large competitors.
Though it cannot be denied that the implemen- 4. The Six Sigma concept in small
tation of the Six Sigma concept and related proj- enterprises in Serbia: methodology and
ects for improving quality is really expensive [6] discussion
it can be implemented in small enterprises, at least
they can implement it informally, through the im- The Six Sigma concept is based on the philoso-
plementation of its principles and basic elements. phy that through changing the corporate culture and
Training and instruction for employees in small the implementation of specific tools and techniques
enterprises does not have to be at the same level managers can provide a significant increase of pro-
as in large enterprises, respectively the Six Sigma cess quality, particularly, in the sense of reduction
concept can be implemented in a manner which of variations and defects [8]. This concept originat-
adjusted to small enterprises. Implementing a Six ed in large enterprise (Motorola) and the first few
Sigma in small enterprises, instead of the DMA- enterprises that have accepted it were also large
IC process can be provided through six phases enterprises. Therefore, as it is already mentioned,
or steps, or through the method called Six Steps this concept usually is observed as the concept for
to 6σ, which means that through these six steps, improving the performances of large enterprises.
small enterprises can provide Six Sigma quality However, considering the philosophy and tools
performance. This method of implementation is promoted under this concept it may be noted that
much more economical and accessible to small there is no reason that this philosophy or tools may
enterprises, and includes the following [7, p. 20]: not be used in small enterprises. In order to check
1. Defining of desired level performance and weather small enterprises understand the signifi-
objectives, cance of quality management in modern conditions
2. Showing the importance of Six Sigma to all and weather they pay attention to competitiveness
employees through training and education factors promoted by the Six Sigma concept the re-
employees, search has been conducted among enterprises in
3. Understanding of the links between process Serbia. The research included not only small, but
and parts of process, also large enterprises, due to the fact that conclu-

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sion about small enterprises willingness to improve Since quality is considered the most impor-
quality may be made only through benchmarking tant for gaining competitive advantage, the fur-
with the situation in large enterprises. ther analysis has been performed with the aim to
Though it was reasonable to compose the sam- discover whether there is the difference between
ple stratums based on the data about the number of small and large enterprises concerning quality sig-
enterprises in each category in Serbia, stratification nificance for enterprise’s competitiveness.
was carried out in accordance with the ratio of num- Table 2. The data about quality significance eva-
ber of employees in small and in large enterprises, luation in small and large enterprises
since according to data from Serbian Chamber of Small Large
Commerce, large enterprises in Serbian economy Marks Total
enterprises enterprises
in 2010 represent only about 1% of all enterprises. 3.00 10 6 16
Therefore, the number of employees in mentioned 4.00 21 15 36
categories was used as criterion for stratification. In 5.00 40 32 72
small enterprises (with less than 250 employees) Total 71 53 124
there are 57% of employees and in large (with 250
employees and more) there is 43% of the total num- Data presented in Table 2 were used to calculate
ber of employees in Serbia. Therefore, this research Chi-square statistics. Chi-square test results point
was conducted on a sample of 124 enterprises in out that the marks related to the quality do not de-
Serbia, where 71 belongs to category small enter- pend on the size of the observed enterprises (p-val-
prises and 53 to category large enterprises. ue=0.869). This means that quality is equally domi-
The goal of this paper is to show that the Six nant factor of competitiveness in small and large
Sigma concept may be implemented in small en- enterprises, as it is stated in the first hypothesis.
terprises, but also to identify the main limitations Since data presented in Table 1 concerns the
of its implementation in small enterprises. In order whole sample, there is the need to analyse also
to achieve this goal, based on the collected data, only the data gained in small enterprises. In Table
few hypotheses were tested: 3 is presented descriptive statistics for the com-
– The quality is the dominant factor of enter- petitiveness factors evaluated in small enterprises.
prises competitiveness, regardless its size, Table 3. Descriptive statistics for competitiveness
– The Six Sigma concept elements are equally factors in small enterprises
valued in small and in large enterprises, Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error
– The main limitation to the Six Sigma
Price 3.4507 1.02523 .12167
concept implementation in small enterprises Service 4.2394 .66472 .07889
is insufficient fund for training and Quality 4.4225 .73020 .08666
development of employees. Promotion 3.4085 1.08992 .12935
Total 3.8803 1.00164 .05944
According to the data analysis, it may be con-
cluded that managers of the enterprises in Serbia According to the One-way ANOVA results
realize the importance of quality for gaining com- (Table 4) it can be concluded that the difference
petitive advantage in modern, dynamic environ- between average marks of competitive advantage
ment. This dimension of competitiveness has the dimensions is statistically significant in small en-
highest average mark (4.45) compared to the other terprises (p-value=0.000).
dimensions (Table 1).
Table 1. Descriptive statistics for competitiveness factors
Competitiveness dimensions Sample size Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation
Price 124 1.00 5.00 3.4516 1.04652
Service 124 2.00 5.00 4.2581 .67319
Quality 124 3.00 5.00 4.4516 .71403
Promotion 124 1.00 5.00 3.3871 1.07226

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Table 4. Null and alternative hypothesis

Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
Between Groups 58.944 3 19.648 24.452 .000
Within Groups 224.986 280 .804
Total 283.930 283
Table 5. Multiple Comparisons – connection between competitiveness dimensions in small enterprises
(I) (J) 95% Confidence Interval
dimension dimension Mean Difference (I-J) Std. Error Sig. Lower Bound Upper Bound
service -.78873* .15045 .000 -1.0849 -.4926
price quality -.97183* .15045 .000 -1.2680 -.6757
promotion .04225 .15045 .779 -.2539 .3384
price .78873* .15045 .000 .4926 1.0849
service quality -.18310 .15045 .225 -.4793 .1131
promotion .83099 *
.15045 .000 .5348 1.1271
price .97183* .15045 .000 .6757 1.2680
quality service .18310 .15045 .225 -.1131 .4793
promotion 1.01408* .15045 .000 .7179 1.3102
price -.04225 .15045 .779 -.3384 .2539
promotion service -.83099* .15045 .000 -1.1271 -.5348
quality -1.01408 *
.15045 .000 -1.3102 -.7179
*. The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.

Table 5 shows weather mentioned factors of whether the Six Sigma concept elements are
competitiveness are mutually connected in the equally important in small and large enterprises
small enterprises. According to the statistical anal- cluster analysis has been performed.
ysis quality, as a factor of competitiveness, is not Table 6. Final cluster centres
significantly connected to price and promotion. Cluster
This conclusion is made upon the significance of The Six Sigma concept elements
1 2
the mean difference at the 0.05 level. Between Business quality depends on products’
quality, on one hand, and price and promotion, on quality 4.52 4.50
the other hand, there is the difference in the av- Business quality depends on
erage marks, evaluated by managers. The mean processes’ quality 4.26 4.13
difference between quality and price is 0.97183 Business quality depends on creativity
and the mean difference between quality and pro- and innovativeness 4.39 4.00
motion is 1.01408. The significance level in both Business quality depends on process
cases is 0.000. This kind of results implies the realization speed 4.35 3.25
conclusion that quality and service can be used si- Business quality depends on delivery
multaneously for achieving competitiveness. speed 4.57 3.88
Despite its name, Six Sigma is not a statisti- Business quality depends on
cal tool, which is used for decades, but the busi- relationships with customers 4.83 4.13
ness concept or strategy to improve the quality of Business quality depends on
business. The Six Sigma concept assumes achiev- relationships with suppliers 4.52 4.25
ing the quality of business and not only quality of Business quality depends on
products and services. Beside quality, there are employees’ knowledge 4.57 3.63
other dimensions of competitiveness pointed un- Business quality depends on
der the Six Sigma concept. They usually concern employees’ development 4.30 3.50
employees, their creativity, relationship with cus- Business quality depends on business
tomers and suppliers and so on. In order to check culture 4.48 3.25

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There are a number of methods for grouping prises. This result points out that commitment of
objects into clusters. The basic classification of small enterprises to the Six Sigma concept elements
those methods is: hierarchical and non-hierarchi- is even greater, compared to the large ones, which
cal clustering methods. K-means cluster analy- leads to rejection of the second hypothesis.
sis, which is used in this research, belongs to the One of the research goals was to identify the
non-hierarchical methods of clusterization. Un- key factors that act as the constraints of the imple-
like hierarchical cluster analysis, which results in mentation of the Six Sigma concept in small enter-
successive connection objects into larger clusters, prises. As possible factors in the questionnaire are
K-means method is characterized by only one defined the following: insufficient investment in
solution for the predetermined number of clus- staff training, the lack of management support and
ters. Algorithm for this form of cluster analysis is employees’ resistance. The analysis has shown
method of nearest centroid sorting [9]. Through that the main limiting factor is insufficient invest-
cluster analysis all enterprises were grouped into ment in employees’ training and development.
two clusters (Table 6). Based on the results the percentage of this factor
The cluster centre is the mean of all variables, in the responses is 39.5%. This result further has
calculated on the basis of all units that consists the been validated through χ2 test. In χ2 test the initial
cluster. After the association all of new units, it is hypothesis was that the distribution of frequencies
possible to recalculate the cluster centres. These of limiting factors for the implementation of the
centres are called final cluster centres. Six Sigma concept was uniform. Specifically, the
By the Final Cluster Centres, shown in Table 6, null hypothesis is formulated as: the frequency of
it was found that cluster 1 has the higher values of answers is the same for all limiting factors, while
all dimensions. This means that in cluster 1 there the alternative is formulated in the following way:
are enterprises that pay more attention to the Six there is a statistically significant difference in an-
Sigma concept elements and therefore consider swer rates for these limiting factors. Testing was
them more important for providing business quality carried out at two levels of significance, first at
and competitiveness, compared to the enterprises the 0.05 level, and then at the 0.01 level. Realized
that belong to cluster 2. This cluster includes 92 value of χ2 test, which is 25.81, compared first
enterprises, while the second cluster includes 32
with c 32;0, 05 = 7,815, and then with c 32;0, 01 = 11,345,
enterprises. The significant fact is that 74.6% of all
leads to the conclusion that the difference in the
enterprises in the first cluster represent small enter-

Table 7. The distribution of the enterprises into the clusters

Enterprise size
Total
Small Large
Number 53 39 92
1
% within size 74.6% 73.6% 74.2%
Cluster Number of Case
Number 18 14 32
2
% within size 25.4% 26.4% 25.8%
Total Number 71 53 124
% within size 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Table 8. The distribution of responses concerning the factors that represent limitations of the Six Sigma
concept implementation
Limitations The frequency of answers Percentage
Insufficient investment in employees’ training 49 39.5
Resistance of employees 41 33.1
The lack of management support 16 12.9
All mentioned 18 14.5
Total 124 100.0

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structure of the obtained responses is statistically References

significant. The conclusion that can be drawn with 1. Đorđević V., Lepojevic V., Janković-Milić V., Kvalitet
a very high certainty is that the above limiting fac- – odgovornost svih jedinica poslovnog sistema,
tors do not have equal impact on the implementa- DQM 2008, Beograd, 2008; p. 436-441
tion of the Six Sigma concept in small enterprises.
2. Anđelković Pešić M., Kontinuiranim poboljšanjima u
susret potreba potrošača, Ekonomske teme, Ekonom-
Conclusion ski fakultet, Niš, 2005; 4:131-141.

Although it is considered that the Six Sigma 3. Brue G., Six Sigma for Managers, McGraw Hill,
concept can provide significant financial results in New York, 2002.
large enterprises, but also that its implementation
4. Stojković D., Đorđević D., Vasiljević M., Customer
is beyond the capabilities of small businesses, this relationship management concept modelling as func-
concept can play a major role in the implementa- tion of quality improvement, Technics Technologies
tion of improvements in small enterprises. Education Management – TTEM, 2010;
Under modern conditions, when the enterprises
5. 5( 1) :106-122.
fight for every customer, providing customers’ sat-
isfaction is the key factor for success. As customers 6. Douglas P. C., Six Sigma’s Focus on Total Customer
are more and more demanding and they do not for- Satisfaction, Journal for Quality & Participation,
give or forget the mistakes of enterprises, elimina- Mart/April, 2000; 23( 2).
tion of defects has become a task of every enterprise
7. Dusharme D., Got Six Sigma on the Brain?, www.
that wants to provide its place in the market, includ- qualitydigest.com (24.12.2009.)
ing small enterprises, whether they are fighting for
a particular niche, whether they want to become an 8. Davis A., Six Sigma for Small Companies, Quality,
important partner of other, large enterprises. Em- Novembar 2003; p. 20-21.
ployees in small enterprises must take into account 9. Anđelković Pešić M., Janković Milić V., Bojić B.,
the high cost of mistakes and try to reach perfection “Improvement of competitiveness at high education
in everyday activities they perform. market – case study”, Technics Technologies Educa-
The research results presented in this paper tion Management – TTEM, 2011; 6( 3): 663-672.
show that quality is the dominant factor of small
10. Anderberg M.R., Cluster Atralysis for Applications.
enterprises competitiveness. Also, on the contrary NY: Academic Press, 1973.
of believe that the Six Sigma concept is only for
large enterprises, the research has shown, through
cluster analysis, that in small enterprises managers Correspoding Autor
pay more attention to the Six Sigma concept ele- Marija Andjelkovic Pesic
University of Nis,
ments, compared to the large ones. Faculty of Economics,
The main problem of small enterprises when it Nis,
is about the Six Sigma concept implementation is Serbia,
the lack of financial resources. However, the good E-mail: marija.andjelkovic@eknfak.ni.ac.rs
thing is that financial resources, which are the main
limitation of the Six Sigma concept implementa-
tion, can be provided from some other sources (e.g.
banks, funds), but the quality culture and willing-
ness of managers and other employees, according
to the research results, lead to the conclusion that
the Six Sigma concept philosophy and basic postu-
lates are present in small enterprises, and even in a
greater extent compared to the large ones.

314 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

Striving for precision in Serbian management

terminology
Gordana Jakic, Jovan Filipovic
University of Belgrade – Faculty of Organizational Sciences, Belgrade, Serbia

Abstract A Harmonized Terminology for Harmonized

The paper describes how a methodology for the Communication – Is Serbia thoroughgoing?
production of newly generated terms has been devel- The need for harmonization is shown mainly
oped for a Serbian-English corpus of management in the globalization of businesses and services, as
terms. The objectives set in this study are to meet the well as in the increase in cross-border investments
criteria for factors of terminological relevance, word and borrowings, as it contributes to a more coor-
frequencies, and translation equivalents. dinated certification of products and the admin-
Key words: Communication, Management, istration of standards; it accelerates agreements
Terminology, Harmonisation on criteria for identifying potential undesirable
effects of a product or process and is ultimately,
beneficial for all.
Introduction
Language, as a major communication device, rep-
Current global communication has allowed for resents one of the greatest obstacles to global com-
the transcendence of borders and the formation of munication and a barrier that is manifested in every
a global community in which it must be admitted aspect of global communication. As a consequence
that unified and harmonized communication is of of ever-growing globalization in almost all aspects of
great importance in almost every field of human living, a series of changes and adaptations in the ma-
existence. Moreover, due to the ability to commu- jority of languages of the world has occurred. Along
nicate precisely, it is of primary relevance in sci- with other sectors of human life, languages are af-
entific fields and is a critical aspect of sharing sci- fected by at least three factors: the need for linguistic
entific results on a global basis, where the results improvisation, which introduces change; internal and
of various researches can be announced, commu- social pressures to preserve ethnic identity through
nicated, combined, and analysed as a whole. [1] preserving even small languages and language traits
Throughout the past decade, the Balkans has in the environment of larger language communities;
been undergoing a process of rapid economic and the importance of standardizing meaning in or-
and cultural transition, which invariably affects der to enable understanding. [2]
all aspects of communication, especially business Harmonized language requires uniform meth-
communication. In regard to Serbia, its economic ods to efficiently pursue and produce practical,
foundation has been changed and its former so- applied, comprehensible and consistent terminol-
cialist system of public ownership has been re- ogy because there is a constant need to establish
placed by a system of private ownership. As a re- consistency with other scientific fields, and to
sult, this transformation has initiated a number of therefore allow for easier access to various fields
other, subsequent activities in the development of of knowledge, improve the precision of data and
society and above all, promising inclusion into the help subject experts in achieving and sharing more
EU. For Serbia, the road towards the EU is viewed effective terminology. It remains impossible that
as a road towards achieving a modern society that without a harmonized methodology to gather ter-
has a stable democracy and developed economy. minology in order to create terminological data-
Political and economic requirements imposed by bases, which could be the first step towards the
the EU, being compatible with preconditions for a harmonization, and, if need be, terminology stan-
successful transformation of the country, are per- dardization. Therefore, in the process of striving
ceived to be a developmental means to this end. for language precision, the terminology of each

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language needs to be accurately defined, consis- Management terminology and its

tently used and harmonized with the newly ad- harmonization
opted terms, and accordingly, and in some fields, Management as a specialized business activity is
leading to its standardization. the act of bringing people together in order to accom-
Posing the question of whether Serbia is up to plish desired goals and objectives by using available
date with the recent developments, we must men- resources efficiently and effectively. Management
tion the fact that new international contacts, foreign terminology differs from and sometimes overlaps
investments as well as preparations for EU member- with terminology used in many scientific fields. The
ship accession have caused an enormous increase in current continuous overload and massive produc-
the volume of Serbian terminology for communica- tion of newly generated terms makes it impossible
tive purposes, not to mention a massive production for terminologists to maintain pace with linguistic,
of newly produced terms. In many scientific and technological and terminological developments in-
technological fields, the work on harmonization of side this field. Additionally, dissimilar terms very
Serbian terminology is still lagging behind, which often designate the same concept, which results in
causes problems and results in the inconsistent use amassed terminological reference works and some-
of terms in a number of specialized fields. [3] The times completely annihilates their usefulness.
linguistics community of Serbia has long recognized From the 1950s and for the next years or so,
the need for moving towards a harmonization with the term ‘management’ was used to denote the job
EU technical terminology, since it ensures reliable position of managing people. From the middle of
and high quality communication. Serbian linguists the 1980s on, under the influence of the USA this
and terminologists show their readiness and a will- new term was used more widely. This change in
ingness to participate in the further development and terminology which occurred, points to a change
improvement of all forms of cooperation, initiatives in the perception of the scope of work up to some
and proper language communication. degree. The management in organizations perform
Since numerous innovations and strategies in the some form of administration, handling routine re-
area of business entered Serbia from the English- quests from managers for recruitment, while in
speaking countries, it is no surprise that the prevail- others they are also involved in strategic planning,
ing terms used are anglicisms, either adopted in the developing long-term personnel plans and indus-
original form or adapted up to a certain extent by trial relations strategy. [5]
applying the rules of the Serbian language. Some All terminological work is based on the con-
existing terms were replaced by newly adopted ceptual system of the professional fields to which
anglicisms as well and in case of business termi- it refers. In non-specialized language use, two
nology, it is being even more rapidly and severely or more words having approximately the same
influenced due to its international character. This in meaning are reciprocally related. This is due to the
turn led to disharmonism and discord which cause fact that one expects some variety in the vocabu-
greater and greater confusion in this area. lary choice of common language. In such cases,
Owing to the fact that there is no control over harmonization does not appear to be that neces-
the adaptation of terms in this area, as well as no sary, since the use of terms which are different in
established set of rules and that terms sometimes formation shall not be the same. As opposed to
enter the Serbian language depending on the pref- unspecialized fields, terms having more or less the
erences of the users, we now have several terms same meaning should not be used interchangeably
for the same concept, or what is worse, confuse in specialized ones. In a highly specialized work,
anglicisms which already exist in Serbian but with the specialist must use the more precise term be-
a different meaning. cause the management field involves much wider
This involves further work on terminology in usage. In that, the terminology of a given field of
general and more detailed effort to be put within the knowledge is not an approximate collection of
scope of business communication, which should terms, but rather a system of terms expressing the
be distinct, accurate, concise, easily spelled, trans- members of a system of concepts and creating a
parent, and members of a term system. [4] single system of terms for their broader use.

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Harmonized terminology in management in- a. Business terminology in the area of

volves an understanding of and an agreement to management is present in organizations;
use specific definitions for terms and concepts. This b. Whether the management terminology is in
agreement ensures that data collected from different constant use in business communication in
studies, research centres, or other institutions carries organizations;
the same meaning. The development of a harmo- c. Whether the users, employees of the
nized terminology is a fundamental step towards en- organization know the meaning of the
abling data exchange, in order for it to be collected concepts that the terms stand for;
and compared. It also requires a consensus among d. Whether the management systems, if
its users as to ensure successful implementation. involved in the business system of the
However, practical limitations often do exist, organization, contributed to greater use of
and if these requirements cannot all be equally management terms in organization;
met, a careful selection of ‘given priority’ require- e. Which category of employees uses the
ments in each individual case must be carried out, terms from the management terminology in
in order to establish clear principles that lead to organization;
the development of a harmonious composition of f. On which basis employees complemented
terminology in this field. their knowledge by the use of management
terms in organization;
Valuing and using Serbian management g. Whether the employees, through the use
terminology - survey research of terms, widen their knowledge related to
Survey research management in organization;
Since management terminology is a huge field, h. How many employees were involved and
the study presented here has been restricted to rep- informed about the activities of management
resentative samples that form a corpus of English systems;
terms and their equivalents translations in Ser- i. How is management terminology used in
bian. The survey research is initiated by the find- the organizations that educate and prepare
ings of the experimental study conducted for the human resources for work in this area.
purpose of collecting data which would provide
basic guidelines for working on this subject and As its major focus, the results of this analysis
outline a general form and scale of the problem may help facilitate the mutual use and acceptance
in the treated area. Since the results we obtained of terms, save resources for both governments and
during the experimental study were not expected, industry (as they are the target groups for these
given that the starting point of our assumption was harmonized terms at all levels), and predominant-
that there was a greater level of knowledge and ly contribute to the harmonisation of management
use of the terms in this area, we started this survey terms used within EU countries.
research, which was aimed to obtain the response
from the sample made up of the respondents who Defining sources of survey research
were considered to be the source of education in The target sample under study consists of ques-
creating the system of management terminology tions posed to a poll of 163 full time and associate
in organization. professors, assistant professors, teaching assis-
tants, undergraduate students, and non-teaching
The aim of the survey research
staff of the Faculty of Organizational Sciences,
The overall aim of our survey research was to
University of Belgrade, Serbia. The main point of
provide more specific insight into the current state
interest has been to strive for examples of incon-
of terminology management in the organization
sistency in the use of terms in management and
and assist in defining the proposal of one of the
in organization. The terms were selected from the
possible models for its harmonisation.
ISO IEC 9000:2007.
The particular aims of our survey research was to
gain insight into the issues related to which extent:

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Data analysis and graphs When asked to list up to ten terms in the field
The questionnaire consisted of questions divid- of management that they most commonly use in
ed into block A and block B. Block A comprises business communication, respondents cited 1044
questions that directly relate to the personal infor- terms, which represents 8 terms per respondent.
mation about respondents, while block B exam- The terms that the respondents cited are: business,
ines their views and answers to the posed ques- effectiveness, efficiency, quality, quantity, man-
tions. The analysis was based on respondents’ agement, organization, process, resource, system,
answers from the questionnaires. standard, management.
Block A
The number and the structure of respondents
education were given in Pie-chart 1 and 2.

Pie-chart 1. Number, Profile and Level of Graph 1. Terms Used

Occupations of Respondents
b) Do you use the following terms in business
communication?
To the question of whether the respondents
use business communication terms and to select
which ones from the list of the offered terms [6]
that they use, i.e. activity, audit, examination,
supplier, competence, corrective action, quality,
quantity, metrological certification, parity, preven-
tive measures, resource, system, management sys-
tem, traceability, standards, standardization, ac-
quisition, compliance and validation, the offered
potential answers were: yes, no or partially.
Pie-chart 2. Level of Qualification and Education The frequency in the use of these terms is
shown in the following pie-charts:
Block B
Block B presents data regarding collection of
information on management terminology and pos-
sibilitieS for its harmonisation with existing EU
technical terminology. We used the technique of a
group administered questionnary for the purpose
of getting very specific information from a spe-
cific group in order to get survey results in one
space of time and ensure a very high response rate.
Pie-chart 3. Terms used regularly by more than
Some questions posed in the questionnaire 80% of the respondents
relevant for the topic of the article:
a) Specify management terms that you fre-
quently use in business communication:

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 technics technologies education management

Pie-chart 4. Between 40% and 80% of respond-

ents regularly use the following terms
Graph 2. Use of Terms and Information Sources

Pie-chart 5. Less than 40% of respondents use

the following terms

c) Do you know the meaning of the following

terms?
In the question of whether respondents knew
the meaning of the concepts that the terms stand Graph 3. Term Preference
for, 24 terms were offered with three options: yes,
no or partially. If the respondent’s answer was yes, This graph shows the relationship between the
they were asked to state the source of the infor- terms used and preferences of one term over an-
mation. The following sources were then offered: other. The first term is one of foreign origin, while
regulation, standard, lexicon, textbooks, profes- the second is an appropriate replacement with a
sional paper, or other source(s). It is notable that more appropriate Serbian meaning.
the respondents selected textbook (63.8% of the Some of the most statistically significant differ-
respondents believe that textbooks are the source ences in the use of most terms shall not be noted. It
of information for the term management), then is noteworthy that in most cases, respondents used
standard (the terms standard and certification Serbian terms except in the following where the
were selected by 19.6% of the respondents) and in first term is more prevalent: biznis (business) or po-
regulation (19.6% of the respondents selected the slovanje (28.2% - 71.8%), referenca (reference) or
term accreditation). preporuka (35.6% - 64.4%), iniciranje (initiation) –
Other opinions of the use of other sources are pokretanje (52.1% - 47.9%), kompetencija (compe-
differentiated, indicating openness to new forms tency) - sposobnost (50.9% - 49.1%), korespoden-
of gathering information. cija (correspondence) – prepiska (55, 2% - 44.8%),
kvantitet (quantity) - quantity (53.4% - 46.6%),
d) Which term do you prefer in use? Foreign pozicija (position) - položaj (63.8% - 36.2%), pro-
or Serbian? cedura (procedure) - postupak (71.8% - 28, 2%),
When asked which term the respondents give testiranje (testing) - ispitivanje (60.7% - 39.3%).
preference to in use, the results given in Graph 3
were obtained.

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 technics technologies education management

e) In your opinion, which body should deal – Active public participation prior to the
with harmonization of terminology (in Serbia)? adoption of the strategy of harmonisation
When asked which bodies should be dealing with EU terminology;
with the harmonisation of terminology in Serbia, – Making a decision or adoption of regulations
respondents were of the opinion that the follow- governing expert issues;
ing institutions should be addressed: The Institute – The use of the original Serbian terms in
for Standardization (58.3%), scientific institu- cases where they exist to denote the same
tions (55.8%), Universities (54.0%), government concept for the sake of perseverance of
bodies (23.3%), non-governmental professional original Serbian language.
organizations (8.0%) and other (1.8%). The cor-
relation of these institutions is closely related and Works cited
the respondents believed that the problem of ter- The aim of this paper is to highlight some
minology harmonisation should be separated from problems that arise or may arise from the present
the activity of any governmental organization. Re- chaotic state of Serbian management terminology
spondents believed that the Institute for Harmoni- and emphasize the need for its harmonisation and
zation must be the leading institution in the adop- standardization, but without opting for neither lin-
tion of regulations. guistic purity nor the creation of Anglo-Serbian
language. [7] Management terminology was cho-
f) In your opinion, please indicate which as- sen for analysis as one of business segments that is
pects of harmonization of terminology are not in- most receptive to the influences of English, but we
cluded in this survey. believe that the conclusions made can be applied
In response to the request to list the aspects of to other areas of business as well.
harmonisation that are not listed in this study, it By drawing attention to the ever growing num-
has been shown that the respondents have differ- ber of anglicisms, the authors of this paper agree
ent views on harmonisation of management ter- that only the English loanwords whose use is justi-
minology. Here are some most important aspects fied (i.e. those who do not have an existing equiva-
which they have proposed: lent in Serbian and are good for language economy
– Introduction of terminology as a subject in by helping to avoid paraphrasing) and which are
university studies; incorporated into the Serbian grammatical and or-
– Building of a management data dictionary in thographical system should be considered for stan-
which the entries will be described in detail, dardization. The creation of terminological diction-
with the original terms listed in parentheses; aries can be one of the steps towards the regulation
– Consistent use of terminology in all the of Serbian business terminology, having in mind
required forms of technical and scientific that this language segment is most susceptible to
communication; so-called language hybridization. [7]
– Foreign term over time slightly infiltrate in Firstly, when faced with a choice between two
the original language. Use them moderately; terminological synonyms - an anglicized term
– Presentation of the principles of formation of and its domestic equivalent denoting the same
the term at all language levels and describe concept from the field of management, students
in detail an agreed standard. If pursued for tend to use both equivalents, but are slightly more
„Europeanization“ of terminology, describe inclined to domestic ones. This opposes a com-
in detail the principles of the adoption of mon belief that anglicized terms prevail among
original English terms in accordance with business professionals since they are regarded as
the rules of the Serbian language, as well as prestigious (even more scholarly) alternatives to
their adaptation to the rules of phonological, plain domestic ones [8] (Silaški, 2009). The result
orthographic, morphological, syntactic and gained is due to the fact that anglicisms tested in
semantic level; the questionnaire have just recently entered the
– The use of the Cyrillic alphabet in official Serbian language, are not yet fully integrated and,
documents is required; according to terminology standardization experts,

320 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

redundant and unjustified since there is an already cism and the resulting terminological synonymy
existing Serbian equivalent. Secondly, The results and confusion. Secondly, terminological confu-
of the questionnaire imply that most respondents sion resulting from unjustified use of English
understand the concept behind the tested English loanwords in their adapted or non-adapted form
management terms and can provide Serbian trans- can be viewed in a historical perspective and by
lations, but when presented with an anglicized and considering some sociolinguistic factors.
a domestic equivalent for the same term, again Another possible study may include the com-
tend to use the domestic ones more often. Thirdly, parison of the state of a specialist language stan-
the results gained proved that Serbian language is dardization in Serbia and in the neighboring coun-
lacking terms for many newly created manage- tries, with the purpose of determining and com-
ment concepts and is therefore turning to angli- paring tendencies and trends, as well as suggest-
cisms as a quick solution for fulfilling the lexical ing solutions.
and/or conceptual void [8] (Silaški, 2009). Having
in mind that our respondents are not experienced Conclusions
professionals but students that still lack specialist
knowledge and are yet to enter the world of busi- The term harmonisation has been used very
ness, we tend to believe that they are unfamiliar loosely in literature related to the subject of this
with the semantic meaning of the English terms study; it extends from unification to legislative
tested in the third part of the questionnaire, which similarity or complementarities. Moreover, the
proves that the terms in question are not fully ac- term may be of legal instruments or standards, ad-
cepted and integrated into the language, and there- ministration, co-ordination, mutual recognition or
fore not yet adapted to Serbian grammatical and of principles, concepts, language and structures.
orthographical system. In order to harmonize management terminology
In short, the results confirmed parallel exis- in any particular field, an inventory of terms avail-
tence of domestic and anglicized terms for the able in the field must first be made; that is, the
same management concepts and pointed out to the terms of the field in question must be collected and
respondents’ preferences as to which equivalents recorded. Additionally, terms assigned to general
they tend to use. The questionnaire also proved the concepts of science and technology that might be
inability of the Serbian language to keep pace with useful need to also be included. Afterwards, the
ever growing development of terminology in the collected terms are to be examined with respect
field of management and business in general, and to their compliance with terminology principles.
is therefore adopting global, international terms It appears that successful harmonisation depends
that need time to be fully incorporated into the lan- alone on the significant commitment of the coun-
guage and often cause confusion in the process. try involved; not only in regard to harmonisation
Most importantly, a significant number of false as an objective, but to a better practice of harmo-
friends and synonyms indicated the urgency for nisation as well. Harmonization of terminology
harmonisation and standardization of terminology should not occur merely for its own sake. Rather,
in the field in question. it needs to occur for the sake of improving effi-
cacy overall, and this needs to be proven. What
Implications for further research appears clear from literature and survey research
Even though the research presented in this pa- is commitment to both the goal of harmonisation
per is a small scale one, it can be regarded as an of management terminology and evidence-based
initial step towards more detailed study of Serbian practice. The harmonisation of management ter-
management terminology and steps towards its minology of the impact of national terminology is
standardization. Namely, further research of the just one example of the critical need for a com-
topic in question may include corpus-based study mitment to better regulatory practice and a pre-
of other word classes (in addition to nominal loan- requisite for further actions regarding the con-
words presented in this paper) to determine which tribution to the European Union’s optimism and
word class is most susceptible to the use of Angli- commitment. Standardization of business (and

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 technics technologies education management

management) terminology should be a collabora- 3. Wadhva Charan D., Vekarić Vatroslav, INDIA AND
tive and multidisciplinary work that includes both SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO Re- Engagement
Regional and Bilateral Dimensions, Vukasović.,Vid,
linguists and non-linguists, i.e. business experts.
Role of Serbia and Montenegro in Environmental
The authors of this paper tend to believe that the Cooperation in South Eastern Europe, New Delhi,
current state of Serbian terminology for the most 2005; 211-222.
part resulted from the lack of linguistic awareness
among business experts. Therefore, the prescrip- 4. Department of English Language and Literature
Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade, Serbia,
tion of standards is not and should not be the final LANGUAGE & LITERATURE STUDIES VOLUME
goal of standardization process, but rather more 1, Bugarski R., English in European Institutions:
careful and consistent use of standardized termi- Some Observations, Belgrade, 2009; 1.
nology, which, after all, depends on its users.
5. Filipović J., Djurić M., Sistem menadžmenta kvalite-
Additional Considerations ta, Beograd, 2010.
Since it is recognized that national technology 6. ISO 9000:2007 - Quality Management Systems -
policy has deep impact on national economy, and Fundamentals and Vocabulary.
that standards, in this case, terminology standards,
play increasingly important role in national technol- 7. Prćić T. Kontaktna jezička kultura i nastava jezika
u svetlu nove funkcije engleskog kao odomaćenog
ogy, the author of this article is encouraged to sug-
stranog jezika. Pedagoška stvarnost, 2004; 50 (7-8):
gest that there seems to be some room for further 559-569.
investigation in terminology, to explore in which
extent the influence of the already infiltrated terms 8. Silaški N. Ka standardizaciji terminologije iz oblasti
from other foreign languages have contributed to the marketinga i menadžmenta. Ekonomske teme. Uni-
versity of Niš, Serbia, 2009; 3 : 111 – 125.
current state of the original language and in which
directions should its development to go ahead.
The paper presents a possible model of termi- Correspondence Author
nology harmonisation in one area and in one lan- Gordana Jakic,
guage. The data obtained in the survey research University of Belgrade,
Faculty of Organizational Sciences,
can be easily used for the purpose of exploring the Belgrade,
possibilities of harmonisation of terminology in Serbia,
some other languages as well. The author is en- E-mail: gordanam@fon.bg.ac.rs
coureged to believe that the findings of the survey
research of this and similar types can have some
practical implications on studies to be carried in
other languages. The examples mentioned in this
paper may likely encourage the linguists of other
languages to fully ponder into their own language
to the maximum extent possible, in order to pre-
serve their language and moderately accept bor-
rowings from foreign languages.

References
1. Jakić G. Novaković M., What Use is Knowledge if
There is no Understanding?, Management – časopis
za teoriju i praksu menadžmenta, Beograd, 2011; 60.

2. Wrigh S.E., & Budin G., Handbook of Terminology

Management, Basic Aspects of Terminology Manage-
ment, John Benjamins Publishing Company, Amster-
dam/Philadelphia, 1997; 1: 245-260.

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 technics technologies education management

Analytical model of the pressure variation in

the gerotor pump chambers
Lozica Ivanovic, Danica Josifovic, Andreja Ilic, Blaza Stojanovic
Faculty of Engineering, University of Kragujevac, Serbia

Abstract pump parameters to its output characteristics must

be considered. Therefore, the base of the investiga-
In this paper the operating characteristics of the
tion in this paper would be to identify the influence
gerotor pump with fixed gear axis are described.
of the change in the geometrical parameters’ pro-
Gerotors are used as motors, compressors and ex-
file of the gerotor pumps’ working elements to their
panders, as well as in the new ecological and eco-
operating characteristics. Due to the significant ad-
nomical star rotor engine. The subject of the inves-
vantages of the trochoidal gearing, the characteris-
tigation is the internal combustion engines lubricat-
tics of trochoid and their conjugate envelopes have
ing pump and the possibilities for the new construc-
been investigated by a number of scientists.
tion solutions with better characteristic with the aim
Ansdale and Lockley [1] derived closed-form
of increasing the pump energy efficiency. The basic
equations of the geometry for two types of con-
objective of this investigation is the definition of the
jugate envelope. Those authors demonstrated the
relation between the single geometrical parameters
value of the existing closed-form equations in the
and the values of the pressure variation in the pump
design of a Wankel rotary engine. Colbourne [2]
chambers as the consequence of the change of the
defined eight types of conjugate envelope for each
chamber’s current volume. On the basis of the
trochoid where the number of envelope lobes was
geometrical-kinematical model of the pump gear
either bigger or smaller by one than the number
profile, the determination formula of the chamber’s
of trochoid lobes. The same author [3] described
current volume and the corresponding pressure
a method for calculating the tooth contact stresses
variation are defined in this paper. The derived ana-
in internal gear pumps, and it has been shown that
lytical formulae and graphical interpretation of the
a considerable reduction can be achieved in the
obtained results which are given in the paper open
maximum contact stress by altering the propor-
the possibility for the analysis of the influence of
tions commonly used in existing pumps. Robinson
the gearing geometrical parameters on the variation
and Lyon [4] were able to modify the equations
of the instantaneous pressure. The obtained results
by introducing a constant which accounts for the
can be used for the calculation of the precise values
space that is required in the sealing design. Maiti
of the forces and torques affecting to the gear pair
and Sinha [5] developed a kinematic analysis that
of gerotor pump, as well as its volumetric losses.
has been carried out to investigate the pattern of
The objective of the solution choice is obtaining the
rolling and sliding in the load transmitting con-
best design of the gerotor pump with minimum en-
tact regions. The authors presented a generalized
ergy losses.
method developed to find out and analyze the flow
Key words: gerotor, trochoidal gearing, in-
rate, ripple, and speed variation in different kine-
stantaneous volume, pressure variation
matic models [6]. Maiti [7] presents the theoretical
guidelines for selecting the inlet-outlet port sizes,
1. Introduction their position and sequences of the flow distributor
The basic demands which are made on the valves used in epitrochoid generated rotary piston
pumps of the hydraulic systems are to ensure the machine type of hydrostatic units, which have
necessary fluid flow and pressure with durability been established in the presented analysis. Beard
at the pump’s minimum total weight and volume. et al. [8] derived relationships which show the in-
In the construction process of the pumps it is nec- fluence of the trochoid ratio, the pin size ratio, and
essary that the influence of the numerous different the radius of the generating pin on the curvature

Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013 323

 technics technologies education management

of the epitrochoidal gerotor. Shung and Pennock 2. Geometrical and kinematical model
[9] present unified and compact equations describ-
Gearing of the trochoidal pump’s gear pair
ing the geometric properties of the different types
where the external gear has one tooth more than
of trochoid and conjugate envelope. They present
the internal gear is considered in this paper. The
a simplified analytical model of a trochoidal-type
profile of the internal gear is described with equi-
machine in which friction and deformation at the
distance of epitrochoide and the profile of the ex-
contact points are neglected [10]. Mimmi and Pen-
ternal gear is described by the circular arc with
nacchi, [11] with a general method were showing
radius rc. Meshing of all the teeth is carried out
the analytical condition for avoiding undercutting
simultaneously in the trochoidal gear pairs with
by using the concept of the limit curve. Mancò et
theoretical profiles. For this reason, it is necessary
al. [12] present a general procedure for the com-
to derive general equations of the profiles’ points’
puterized design of gerotor lubricating pumps for
coordinates, which are applicable to all teeth. To
internal combustion engines. Vecchiato et al. [13]
derive the coordinate equations in any one of the
have developed the geometry of rotor conjugated
contact points, it was necessary to carry out the
profiles applying the theory of envelopes to a fam-
generalization of the geometrical relations be-
ily of parametric curves and analysis of profile
tween the angles of the trochoidal gear pair ele-
meshing. They discussed the determination of sin-
ments rotation. The model of kinematic pair with
gularities and computerized design of pumps with
stationary axis of the gears is accepted, with the
rotor profiles free of singularities. Paffoni [14]
driving shaft fixed to the internal gear [17].
used a vector analysis and derived equations for
The basic geometrical and kinematic relations
defining the precise geometry of a gear pump us-
for generating the equidistance of the epitrochoide
ing non-conventional profile. From this analysis,
and its conjugate envelope used for defining gear-
speed, normal force and pressure is deduced in
ing profile of the examined gerotor pump are
analytical closed form. Kim et al. [15] define the
shown in Figure 1.
geometry of the rotors starting from the design pa-
rameters and showed the process of choosing the
solution which is subject to some limitations in or-
der to limit the pressure angle between the rotors.
Those authors consider the design optimization.
The previously described investigations start
from the hypothesis that the pressure in all cham-
bers of one zone is the same, in other words, the
influence of the chamber volume variation on the
pressure variation in the gerotor pump chamber is
not considered. For this reason, the former theo-
retical analysis in the area of the trochoidal gear-
ing taken into consideration, the basic aim of this
paper would be to develop a mathematical model
of the operating characteristics of the pump with Figure 1. Schematic presentation of the gerotor
internal trochoidal gearing and simulation of the pump gear pair with basic geometrical dimensions
current pressure variation in the pump chambers.
For the calculation of the current area of the pump Different coordinate systems have been intro-
chamber section, the method described in refer- duced to derive the equations for the profile points,
ence [5] is applied and for the calculation of the and these systems are described in detail in refer-
pressure variation in the pump chambers the mod- ence [18]. During the relative motion of the kine-
ification of method described in reference [10], matic circles with radius ra i rt while the point Di is
[16] is used. generating an epitrochoid, the point Pi is generating
the equidistance. The angle indicated fi is the ro-
tation angle of the trochoid coordinate system and

324 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

δi is the leaning angle. The number of the external 3. Analysis of the pressure variation in the
gear teeth is indicated with z and it corresponds to pump chamber
the number of the pump chambers. Position vector
Conventional calculation methods of the pump
of the contact point Pi in the coordinate system of
load start from the hypothesis that the pressure in
trochoid can be defined in matrix form as:
all the chambers of the same zone (inlet and deliv-
e cos zji + l z cos ji - c cos (ji + d i )   ery) is constant. In this case, the force of fluid pres-
 t)   sure, which separates the inlet zone from the deliv-
rP(i =  e sin zji + l z sin ji - c sin (ji + d i )   ... (1)
ery zone, is a continual force that can be presented
 
 1  as an equivalent concentrated pressure force [19].
 
During the working process of the pump in every
In equation (1) λ is the trochoid coefficient, working chamber, due to fluid flow, the pressure is
λ=d/ez, where c is the equidistant coefficient, changing. It means that for the modeling of pump
c=rc/e. gear loading, the pressure in each of the chambers
On the basis of the geometrical relations shown must be known at any time. In addition, as the con-
in the Figure 1, it is possible to determine the an- sequence of the presence of production tolerance,
gle δi as specific geometry and working conditions of the
pump, the fluid leaking appears with the direct in-
sin ( z - 1)ji fluence to the volume losses. The fluid leaking out
d i = arctan .................. (2)
l + cos ( z - 1)ji through the gap between the teeth profiles is the
consequence of the pressure difference between
If the angle ψ formed by the axis xa and xf is the two neighboring chambers. For precise calcu-
taken as referent rotating angle, it is necessary to lation of pressure increase or decrease between the
express the angle fi in the function of the angle ψ two neighboring working pump chambers, pres-
sure variations in the pump chambers must be de-
y ,............................ (3) termined. At the meshing simulation, numbering
j=i τ i +
z -1 of the contact points is necessary, as well as the
numbering of all the teeth, and it must be estab-
where τi is the angle between the axe xa and the
lished which teeth are in meshing. During that, the
axe xi
teeth of the external gear are indicated with i = 1,
p ( 2i - 1) 2, …, z, while internal gear teeth are signed as j
τi = ............................. (4) = 1, 2, …, z-1. The pump chambers are indicated
z
with Ki and teeth contact points with Pi (Figure 2).
Analogous to that, When the pumps with the stationary shaft axis
are considered, the fluid distribution is done by
p ( 2i - 1) sickle form holes in the housing, as shown in the
τi = ............................. (5)
z Figure 2, which means that the open space area for
the fluid flow is changeable. With such construc-
and tions, the open space area for the fluid flow is the
p ( 2i + 1) y ..................... (6) same as the current chamber area. Starting from
=ji +1 + the given hypothesis and the energy preservation
z z -1 law Mancò S. at al. [12, 16] have defined the for-
mula for the calculation of the pressure variation
After the definition of the gerotor pump gearing
during the fluid flow in the chamber Ki in the fol-
geometry and the forming of the basic kinemati-
lowing form:
cal model, it is possible to determine the operating
characteristics of the pump.
..................... (7)

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 technics technologies education management

where the ρf is fluid density, b is gear thickness, ments (pistons), while the chambers correspond to
Ai is the current chamber area and dAi/dt is area cylinders. The chambers’ volume is periodically
variation of chamber Ki. increased and decreased, and they are in turn re-
lated to the inlet and outlet lead. To calculate the
instantaneous area variation of the pump working
chamber, the method presented in the reference
[5] can be used. In the Figure 1 the geometrical
relations to the determination of the area Ai(y) for
the kinematic model of a pump with the fixed axis
are given. The requested area Ai can be calculated
according to the following equation:
Ai = Sa - S t + S1 - S 2 , .................... (10)

where are: Sa is the segment of area limited

with the envelope profile, St is the segment of area
limited with the profile of trochoid, S1 is the area
of triangle and it is equal to:
1 2
=S1 e l z sin (τ i - y ) - c sin (τ i - y + d i ) 
2 
Figure 2. Schematic presentation of the gerotor ........................................(11)
pump with sickle distribution holes
The area of triangle is nominated as S2 and it is
equal to:
The pressure change in the inlet chamber can
be derived accordingly, the following formula: 1 2
= S2 e l z sin (τ i +1 - y ) - c sin (τ i +1 - y + d i +1 ) 
,............... (8) 2 
....................................... (12)
and for the outlet chamber
The area Sa is considered as the sum of the geo-
............................ (9) metrical elements area, calculated as follows
S a = S3 + S 4 - S5 - S6 + S7 - 2 S8 + 2 S9 - 2 S10 ,
During the inlet phase, the chamber volume in-
creases and the pressure decreases, while, in the ...................................... (13)
delivery phase, the chamber volume decreases and where S3 is the area of the circular section
the pressure increases.
rs2p
S3 = ............................... (14)
4. Analysis of the chamber volume variation z
of the gerotor pump
The area of triangle is nominated as S4 and it is
The volume variation of the chamber during calculated as
the working process of the gerotor pump will be
considered. With the gerotor pumps, due to specif- 1
S 4 = e 2 l c sin d i ........................ (15)
ic geometry of the gearing profile, continual con- 2
tact of all the teeth is realized, which enables the
The area of triangle is nominated as S5 and it is
necessary separation of the zones of the high and
equal to
low pressure in the working area of the pump. The
working chambers are the space between the pro- 1
S5 = e 2 l c sin d i +1 ....................... (16)
files of the external and internal gear, and during 2
working, the teeth have the role of the pushing ele-

326 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

The area of the circular section is nominated as

S6 and is calculated as
.
1 ....................................... (24)
S6 = e 2 c 2d i ........................... (17)
2 By the integral, formula is obtained:
The area of the circular section is marked as S7
 c2 
and is equal to S t= e 2p 1 + l 2 z + +
 z 
1
S7 = e 2 c 2d i +1 ........................... (18) l z ( z + 1)
ji+1
2 1  
+ e 2 c 2d - sin d + sin ( z - 1)j  -
S8 is the area of the circular section, which is
2  ( z - 1)  ji

equal to the area of the circular section 1

ji+1
- e 2 c f1 (j ) dj
∫
c 2 + l 2 z 2 - ( rs e )
2 2
1 2 2 ........ (19)
j i
S8 = e c arccos ....................................... (25)
2 2cl z
S9 is the area of triangle, which is equal to the where is:
area of triangle
f1 (j ) 2l z cos d + ( z + 1 + d ′ ) cos ( z - 1)j - d 
=
1
  2 
2 2 ....................................... (26)
c + l 2 z 2 - ( rs e )  
2
1 2 
=S9 e cl z 1 -    Relation between the angles fi and y has been
2    2 c l z  
  established using the formula (3), and certain
....................................... (20) transformations have been made, formula for cal-
culation the current area is obtained:
S10 is the area of the circular section, which is
p c2 + l 2 z 2 - s2
equal to the area of the circular section =Ai e 2 ( s 2 - z - l 2 z 2 - c 2 ) - c 2 arccos +
z 2cl z
( rs e ) + l 2 z 2 - c 2
2
1 2 ......... (21)
1
S10 = rs arccos   c 2 + l 2 z 2 - s 2  2  2
2 2l z ( rs e ) +cl z 1 -    -
  2cl z  
The area St is calculated as the area of the sec-
tion which has been marked with the curve line ji+1
s 2 + l 2 z 2 - c 2 l z 2e2
defined in the parameter form as 2
-rs arccos - sin ( z - 1)j +
2l zs z -1 j i
ji+1
1  dy t dx  ji+1 1

=St
2 ∫ x
j 
t
dj
- yt t  dj ,............ (22)
dj  +ce 2 z ∫ 1 + l
2
2

+ 2l cos ( z - 1)j  dj ,
i j i

with the coordinates of the trochoidal profile ....................................... (27)

points defined with the equations (1). Starting where is s=rs/e.
from the equations (1), by their differentiating and
putting in order of the formula under the integral, When the differential is done and expressed in
the following can be derived: the function of the referent angle y, calculation of
ji+1 chamber’ area variation is obtained:
1
St = e2
2 ∫ f (j ) dj ,..................... (23)
ji

where is

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dAi  p  2p i 
chamber K1 in position ja=120o has the greatest
= ωt e 2 z 2l sin sin  -y  - volume, the inlet phase is finished and is coming
dt  z  z 
to the delivery phase. After the angle rotation of
1 τ i+1  .......... (28)
c  180o in the chamber, the delivery phase is finished,
-  1 + l 2 - 2l cos (τ - y )  2
 the chamber has minimum volume and is coming
z 
τi
to the inlet phase.
As well as that of the flow rate
n
dAi ,............................ (29)
Q=b ∑ dt
i=m

where m, n are indexes of the beginning and final

chambers which can be found at the same time in
the thrust phase. With the substitution of the equa-
tions (27) and (28) in (7) it is possible to calculate
the pressure variation in the pump chambers.

5. Simulation of the pressure variation in

the pump chambers
The developed mathematical model has been
tested on the gear pairs of the pump models. One
of previously defined demands is external loading,
defined through the values of working pressure of Figure 3. Diagram of the chamber area for both
gear sets
0.6 MPa (6 bar) and pump volume of 1 4 ⋅1 0 - 6 m3/
rev. The geometrical characteristics which remain
constant, yet obtained with the necessary overall
dimensions of the gear pair are: b gear width, e
eccentricity and the radius of the external gear’s
root circle expressed by rs. The number of teeth
of the outer gear z is constant. It is necessary to
determine the values of coefficients l and c, which
define the optimal form of teeth profile. Two dif-
ferent gear sets are taken into consideration, com-
mercial one and the other gear set has the profile
form obtained on the basis of calculation given
in the reference [19]. Geometrical parameters of
the gear sets are: z=6, e=3.56 mm, b=16.46 mm,
rs=26.94 mm. For gear set GP-375 l=1.375, c=
2.75 and for gear set GP-575 l=1.575, c= 3.95. Figure 4. Diagram of the chamber area varia-
Other characteristics are: Dp=0.6 MPa, rf=900 kg/ tions for both gear sets
m3, nt =1500 rpm, ωt = 2pnt =50p s-1.
In the Figure 5 the diagrams of flow rate of the
On the base of the previously conducted anal-
gerotor pumps in relation of the rotation angle of
ysis, in the Figure 3, a diagram is shown of the
the external gear are shown. On the basis of the
instantaneous chamber area, and in the Figure 4,
geometrical interpretation of the pump flow rate
chamber area variation is presented. The reference
with the same parameter rs, it can be concluded that
angle is the rotation angle of the exterior gear,
in the pumps with the same number of chambers,
ja. The figures clearly show that the considered
there are minor differences in the flow pulsation.

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The Figure 6 shows the graphical interpreta- establish characteristic phases in the pump working
tion of the pressure variation in the pump cham- cycles, in the Figure 7 the parallel diagrams for all
bers in relation of the rotation angle, for the gear the chambers and two different gear sets are given.
sets with the different coefficient l. Through the In relation to the starting position, presented in the
mutual comparison of the diagrams a conclusion Figure 2, the chambers K6, K1 and K2 are in the inlet
can be made that with the increase of the coef- phase, and the chambers K3, K4 and K5 are in the
ficient l the value of the pressure change in the delivery phase. On the basis of the given graphical
chambers is also rising. The volume degree of the interpretation, it can be concluded that the greatest
pump performance is greater with the model that difference in the pressures between the neighbor-
has a smaller value of the coefficient l, smaller ing chambers is realized in the finish of the delivery
pressure changes in the pump chambers (Figure phase and on the entrance into the delivery phase
6), and thus the smaller volume losses. (between chambers K5 and K6), and thus the influ-
ence of the pressure change on the volume losses
will be the greatest in these chambers.

Figure 5. Diagram of the flow rate for gear

a) gear set GP-375
pumps with the both gear sets

b) gear set GP-575

Figure 7. Diagrams of the pressure variation in
Figure 6. Diagram of the pressure variations in the pump chambers for both gear sets
chamber K1 for both gear sets
The examinations of the two considered mod-
With the aim of better consideration of the pres- els of gear sets have been completed, with the
sure variation in the pump chambers, as well as to simulation of the real operating conditions of the

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 technics technologies education management

pumps, and the results of the measuring are given References

in the Figure 8. 1. Ansdale R.F., Lockley D.J. The Wankel RC Engine,
Iliffe Books Ltd., London, England. 1970.

2. Colbourne J.R. The Geometry of Trochoid Enve-

lopes and Their Application in Rotary Pumps, Mech-
anism and Machine Theory, 1974; 9( 3-4): 421-435.

3. Colbourne J.R. Reduction of the Contact Stress in

Internal Gear Pumps, Journal of Engineering for
Industry, Trans. ASME, 1976; p. 1296-1300.

4. Robinson F.J., Lyon J.R. An Analysis of Epitrochoi-

dal Profiles With Constant difference Modification
Suitable for Rotary Expanders and Pumps, Journal
of Engineering for Industry, Trans. ASME, 1976; p.
161-165.

5. Maiti R., Sinha G.L. Kinematics of active contact in

Figure 8. Diagram of volumetric efficiency modified epitrochoid generated rotary piston machines,
Mechanism and Machine Theory, 1988; 23: 39-45.
With the aim of illustrating the gear sets’ geom- 6. Maiti R., Sinha G.L. Limits on modification of epitro-
etry influence on the volume degree performance choid used in rotary piston machines and the effects
change, measuring of the pump with different of modification on geometric volume displacement
teeth geometry gear sets built in has been carried and ripple, Ingenieur-Archiv, 1990; 60: 183-194.
out. From the energetic efficiency aspect, the ade- 7. Maiti R. Distributor valve port sequences in epitro-
quate choice of a pump with a higher performance choid rotary piston machines type hydrostatic units,
level is of a great importance in the industrial use. Archive of Applied Mechanics, 1992; p. 223-229.

8. Beard J.E., Yannitell D.W., Pennock G.R. The ef-

6. Conclusion fects of the generating pin size and placement on the
curvature and displacement of epitrochoidal gerotors,
The aim of this investigation was to define cer- Mechanism and Machine Theory, 1992; 27: 373-389.
tain relations between the operating characteristics
of the trochoidal gear pairs, through the theoretical 9. Shung J.B., Pennock G.R. Geometry for Trochoidal-
consideration such as the flow rate, pressure varia- Type Machines With Conjugate Envelopes, Mecha-
nism and Machine Theory, 1994; p. 25-42.
tion in the pump chambers and the values of the
considered geometrical parameters. It has been 10. Shung J.B., Pennock G.R. The direct contact prob-
shown that, by the gerotor pump with the same lem in a Trochoidal-Type Machines, Mechanism
number of chambers and the same radius of the root and Machine Theory, 1994; 29: 673-689.
circle, the choice of the smaller values of the tro- 11. Mimmi G., Pennacchi P. Non-undercutting condi-
choid coefficient is changing the form of the gear- tions in internal gears, Mechanism and Machine
ing profile, but it does not significantly change the Theory, 2000; 35: 477-490.
pump flow. It has also been shown that, with the
new profile form, smaller pressure variation in the 12. Mancò G., Mancò S., Rundo M., Nervegna N.
Computerized generation of novel gearings for
pump chambers is realized. The developed math- internal combustion engines lubricating pumps,
ematical model and the obtained results can be of The International Journal of Fluid Power, 2000; 1:
use to the constructors of the gerotor pump and mo- 49-58.
tors for choosing the best constructive solutions that
13. Vecchiato D., Demenego A., Argyris J., Litvin
reaches higher coefficient of efficiency.
F.L. Geometry of a cycloidal pump, Computer
methods in applied mechanics and engineering,
2001; 190 : 2309-2330.

330 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

14. Paffoni B. Pressure and film thichness in a trochoi-

dal hydrostatic gear pump, Proc. IMechE Part G:
Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engi-
neers - Part G: Journal of Aerospace Engineering,
2003 ; 217( 4): 179-187.

15. Kim J. H., Kim C., Chang Y. J. Optimum design

on lobe shapes of gerotor oil pump, Journal of Me-
chanical Science and Technology, 2006; 20, 5 : p.
1390-1398.

16. Mancò S., Nervegna N., Rundo M. Critical issues

on perfomance of lubricating gerotor pumps at
high rotational speed, Proceedings, The 7th Scan-
dinavian International Conference on Fluid Power,
SICFP, Linköping, Sweden, 2001; 2: 23-38.

17. Josifović D., Ivanović L. Kinematical analysis

of trochoidal gearing by IC engines lubricating
pumps, in: Monograph, Mobility and Vehicles Me-
chanics, The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in
Kragujevac, (In Serbian). ISSN 1450-5304. 2005;
p. 119-132.

18. Ivanović L. Identification of the Optimal Shape of

Trochoid Gear Profile of Rotational Pump Ele-
ments, Ph. D. thesis, The Faculty of Mechanical
Engineering in Kragujevac, (In Serbian). 2007.

19. Ivanović L., Devedžić G., Mirić N., Ćukovic S.

Analysis of forces and moments in the gerotor
pumps, Proc. Instn Mech. Engrs, Part C: J. Me-
chanical Engineering Science, 2010; 224(10) :
2257-2269.

Corresponding Author
Lozica Ivanovic,
Faculty of Engineering,
University of Kragujevac,
Serbia,
E-mail: lozica@kg.ac.rs

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The Paris peace conference after World War I

Zoran Jerotijevic1, Srdjan Djordjevic2, Milan Palevic2, Dragan Bataveljic2
1
Faculty for Education of the Executives , Alfa University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia,
2
Law faculty, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia.

Abstract that they usurp people’s territory, its residents al-

lowed greater gains, bringing rivals in the difficult
Multilateral diplomacy makes significant steps
position. Tended to establish such a balance of
in international relations in the nineteenth century.
power in the world where they will be role of the
In the multilateral diplomacy the diplomatic rep-
judge. Great powers have to a large extent failed to
resentatives of a state act according to the rules
achieve their desires, with greater or less deviation.
of international law which applies to international
At the peace conference in Paris in 1919-1920. year.
organizations whose headquarters are on the terri-
major powers are more important tasks reserved
tory of another state, a member or not a member of
for themselves and make decisions that could only
the international organization.
body composed exclusively of the highest repre-
Great World War II ended in peace negotiations
sentatives of the United States, England, France, It-
which were conducted in 1919 and 1920 in Paris
aly and Japan. The most important issues of peace in
and its environs, and the main agreement was the
the Conference were those of the territorial nature.
Versailles Peace which was signed in the old Royal
Born from World War movements of national and
Court on 28th June 1919. The Versailles Peace from
social revolution, inter-war Europe has become an
1919 was a form of multilateral diplomacy and
area of peace, although they are victorious in battle
peace agreement that was ended by World War I
and the victorious nations in revolutions claimed
between the Central Powers and the Entente Allies.
that at the end of great bloodshed and the begin-
When war flag was down on the battlefield
ning of the period of peace is born a new world,
where World War I battles were fought, the hour
a world in which the strive for humane societies,
had come that the representatives of the winners
both politically and socially, in which there will be
i.e. Great Powers negotiate at the peace confer-
no armed showdown between people and between
ence and make decisions about the organization of
people. However, the historical development soon
the future world.
proved to be really going in a different direction.
Key words: War, Peace, Versailles, Europe
They have started to sprout modern tyranny, has
created a totalitarian state, international conflicts
Introduction were stronger hour, sometimes weaker, but con-
Peace Conference that followed the First World tinuous. One can say that it all ended in war more
War, countries, participants, included in the course of cruel than that from which it came out in 1918.
history, and the decisions of the conference became German, Russian, Austrian and Ottoman empires
the basis for future international life. Participating were gone and the European mainland from Scandi-
in the peace conference in Paris in 1919-1920. year. navia to Central Europe via the Balkan Peninsula to
Most states began its international political life. cover the range of medium and small states.
The Paris Peace Agreements 1919-1920. year.
establishing the Versailles Europe, were a real 1. The First World War
treat for the winners of the major powers, includ-
ing the final say by major powers United States, During the eighteenth and nineteenth century
Great Britain, France and Italy. Japan is some- leading Western European countries have seized
times included in discussions, usually when dis- large areas on the African and Asian continent.
cussing the German colonies in the Far East, for By creating their own colonial empire, where they
which he was interested. Each of them is trying soaked the vast wealth and used cheap labour,
to as much as possible to ensure their interests so these countries are rapidly developing the eco-

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nomic, military and political fields. Thus, inevita- men. [1] Victims and stress that brought about a
bly came into conflict with Germany and Austria- major war that the masses have made, on whose
Hungary, then the world’s leading powers. shoulders fell the burden of difficulty accepting the
German imperialism is to create a block expe- idea of ​​a future peace, those who want to become
rienced a loss of the Entente powers and surround- a reality as soon as possible. The revolutionary
ing homeland. Since 1905 Germany has constant- movement, all the more common, are also heavily
ly tried to break to the computer environment and influenced to such wishes and hopes of expanding.
the war on two fronts, up one front against the Facing the killing and destruction of a World War
French and the other against Russia. The first Mo- gave a strong emotional and intellectual desire to
roccan crisis of the 1905th and other 1906th was create a better world, more beautiful world, one in
considered for a good opportunity, because Russia which there will be wars. Feeling the policy aspi-
was occupied by the events in Asia, and France rations of the moment began to serve these ideas,
gave way to the challenge. Also as a favorable op- pass for their followers and to elaborate them,
portunity for the beginning of the war represented what are the reasons for war propaganda and the
the political crises and local wars such as the an- struggle for the masses played an important role.
nexation crisis and the Balkan wars. Yet the world Prominent individuals, whether they were revolu-
is out of the conflict, because they were created tionaries, responsible statesmen and prominent ac-
favourable conditions in Germany itself, and all tors in public life have given all this its part.
because of opposition of Social Democratic party. Although the idea of ​​eternal peace and eternal
World War I was the greatest war in human his- principles on which peace should be built spontane-
tory. It lasted four years and it was attended by ously created in the masses, who felt the horror of
36 countries. Seventy million people were under World War II effort, and in the psyche of individu-
arms, and more than ten million have died. Man- als, who are horrified at the senselessness of the
kind that this war has caused enormous damage world slaughter, they still had their centres where
and destruction. Causes of World War II are in the they are as formed slate in the world. [1] Among
development of international relations from the these centers, two were extremely important. The
end of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. first was in Moscow which was the first socialist
Germany after the unification of much economic revolutionary government and others in Washing-
and political strengthening its military and mili- ton that are judged to new ideas should be accepted
tary leaders, who stood behind the big businesses, in order to suppress the revolutionary propaganda
looking for a new redistribution Svera influence and for the purpose of gaining its own reputation in
and colonial empire. The most important German the world. The first is the strong influence exerted
ally was the Austro-Hungarian Empire. on the working class, the socialist movement, the
Europe long-exhausted by the war, needed army exhausted and tired people, while the other
a way to secure peace for a longer period. The makes an impact primarily on the minds of liberal
collapse of central power, and relations between and civil libertarian public world. Written sources
the victorious forces determine the direction and of these ideas became Deputies of the Soviet gov-
movement of further relations, a desire for an end ernment, especially those from 8 November 1917th
to war and peace treaty led to the Peace Confer- year. “Decree on Peace” and the letter of the United
ence at Versailles. States, especially those from 8 January 1918th year.
presented as the “Fourteen Points”.
2. Principles and concepts of peace policy Decree on Peace was written by Vladimir Ily-
ich Uly a nov Lenin-a n d accepted by the second
As World War I neared the end over all the All-Rus s ian Congres s of Soviets on November
more the masses captivated the public the idea that 8th meeting of the 1917th year. The decree called
the future peace must be based on new principles for the immediate c o nclusion of peace between
of how the war would no longer there. The “eter- the warring nations. The conduct of war to resolve
nal peace” and a “just peace”, they stopped talking issues that the strong and rich nation’s poor na-
and ordinary people and public figures and states- tions divided by those surveyed, the Soviet gov-

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ernment considered the greatest crime against hu- not want to have their hands tied. Hence the fact
manity and that it has decided to immediately sign that the U.S. foreign policy drawn up a program
the conditions of peace that would end the great of new ideas that are already living in public, and
war based on these conditions, both the righteous thus served as the ideological resources to secure
for all nations without exception. a leading place in Europe. Thus, the U.S. presence
They also proclaimed the equal rights of both in Europe has become not only financially, but also
undeveloped and developed, and the colonial peo- ideologically. This program was developed as a
ples in the cities, non-European and European. In- Washington, was the fruit of American study of Eu-
stead the state should have people to become sub- ropean conditions, but taking the categories that are
jects of international life, and the actual subject of already there and for whom she felt a need in the
international law. Desires for territory is opposed Old World.
to the unrestricted right of each people to decide In the letter dated 8 January 1918th The Wilson
what happens to him. These are the principles of proclaimed that the days of conquest and expan-
an entirely new world, a world that is born under sion of the past and that every nation must have the
the sign of idealism, expressed first in the rejection right to live his own life and that I have determined
of war, essentially declaring the rights of peoples. your institution. He was appointed to the require-
Secret diplomacy and confidentiality agreements ment to create a world in which all peace-loving
and negotiations between the representatives of people must be ensured justice and support of other
States on international issues decisively rejected people against violence and aggression. In order to
in the Decree on Peace. The Soviet government achieve this purpose are called upon all nations of
proclaimed that abolishes secret diplomacy and the world who seek peace with each other to con-
expressed the intention to keep all negotiations nect to an organization, to build relationships of
quite openly before the whole nation. In its com- mutual economic assistance, and to agree on the
position is contained in the ideal that people need achievement of general disarmament. Wilson also
to participate in foreign policy at least that’s what repeated condemnation of secret diplomatic nego-
will happen in the course of international nego- tiations and underlined the intention to do anything
tiations their governments. Word was in the belief to negotiation of peace, when the start, to be fully
that people do not want war and would control public and should not include or facilitate collusion.
foreign policy that will carry weight provide the According to this declaration the right of peoples to
world a lasting peace. According to this view, the self-determination did not mean only the freedom
Soviet government soon began to publish diplo- of each nation to decide in which country to live,
matic documents secret archives Empire. but in what state will live. Put forward the view that
The second statement, ie. Letter to President it is the duty of states to allow the community to
Wilson addressed Congress of the United States ensure conditions of peaceful development of na-
January 8 1918, known as the Fourteen Points, is tions that do not want war, and for that purpose and
another important document that has brought new making the required and relevant international or-
principles. The United States declared war on Ger- ganizations. What concerned the ways and means
many in April 1917, but were not included in Atan- of conducting international relations, the president
tu, but were, in order to emphasize, just joined this reiterated the U.S. demand for public diplomacy.
block of Warring States. Colossus is a big ocean to This entire system is striving to create principles
financial and material resources has helped the UK, of conditions that ensure a lasting peace, a condi-
France and Italy, and in the spring of 1918 he took tion that occurs disabling it was the war, which is
on the battlefield, an army of two million people primarily assumed the offensive reductions seem
against the Central Powers. However, Washington favourable mood states.
does not want to assume the legal obligation and These two declarations Decree on Peace and
allies, making it virtually retained the ability to act Fourteen Points had some common ground, and
completely independently of all questions posed recognize in them the idea spread to the public but
by the great war. President Wilson has opened the rather their occurrence. Common to both of these
way to the top of his state of world politics and did documents were the celebration of peace, appar-

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ently as a state that provides at least basic human- great people, and that small, that the capitalist
ity and an application for permanent removal from countries, and the Bolshevik. There is not even re-
the man’s world war, stamping condemn aggres- spected the right of equality of all people, no prin-
sion by the annexation of territory and the renun- ciple of public diplomacy. Any question regarding
ciation of secret diplomacy. the decision brought great powers to strictly secret
However, between these two documents, there meetings of their greatest representative. The most
were fundamental differences. The Soviet docu- important role was played by the interests of big
ment is the emphasis placed on preventing violent winner, and obligations to the secret agreements,
appropriation of territory, and the U.S. document signed during the war and acting rooted tradi-
is the emphasis placed on preventing aggression tion in international relations were not without
association with people. The first is the right of influence. These principles are not in all circum-
peoples to self-determination, understood as an un- stances and all the forces were equally rejected or
restricted, while in another the validity of this law betrayed, but their values ​​are challenged because
were excluded underdeveloped nations, primarily they were not consistently use when making deci-
those in the colonies, but also those in the European sions, as is often pulled for them to mislead the
multi-national empires. Washington was ready to public and opponents, as regards their entered us-
any major changes to comply with state grounds ing the confusion. However, these principles were
which existed at the end of the war, while Moscow present at the conference of peace and was some
has tended to the whole building political world kind of criteria for decisions and a system of ideas
changes radically. In a word may be said that Wil- with the mental and moral influence on the peace
son’s declaration recognized every nation to create conference participants.
the kind of social and state order what he wants,
while Lenin’s declaration in this regard did not 3. Principles that were exhibited at the
declare, but according to the program, other docu- peace conference
ments and the fact the practice is free to say that
according to the revolutionary ideal meant only one Collusion statesmen and diplomats throughout
option, namely a socialist state and society. Viewed the new century consisted of a basic mode of di-
theoretical principles stated in either document plomacy. When World War flared opponents of the
opened the possibility of far-reaching changes in war critics have been particularly focused on the
world. Fourteen points by their spirit of tended only pre-war diplomacy was born and request that the
to change the sorting order of international relations future of diplomacy under the control of the public.
through greater correction of the current situation, At the insistence of U.S. President Woodrow
and the Decree on Peace sought fundamental and Wilson Allied forces agreed to a starting program
revolutionary reorganization of the world, and and on the Peace Conference Fourteen Points taken
international life. All this has left only contained, and amendments thereto adopted by the U.S.
but not explicitly set out the need to carefully take Congress, 4th July, 27 September and 21 October
account of modern power relations. 1918th year. This program documents contain the
Practical policy is adopted deviations from the basic principles on which it rests should be “just
ideal, strain and return to the principles of respect and lasting peace” which the whole world sought
for narrow national interests. In the arena of a po- after four-year war effort, loss and exhaustion. The
litical arena, which really represented the Peace principles in question represented only the politi-
Conference, in the maelstrom of special interests cal expression of the corresponding sublimation
swollen after the war, in times of national ideology and the general mood of the world public, the gen-
of domination in civil countries, in such a volatile eral desire for peace and a just social and political
political scene as it was Europe’s 1919th year. de- relations in the world, which will exclude war as a
cisive reason could be a political reason. At the means of resolving conflict between states.
Paris Peace Conference, in spite of all the ideals Acceptance of Wilson’s ideas meant peace build-
and promises careful attention was paid to the ing programs in the following general principles on
victorious nations, and who conquered, who were which the U.S. president called for constant:

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1. The principle of public diplomacy that would All these principles are lived at the Peace Con-
exclude the backstage secrets of the game and ference, which means that they are intertwined,
the one bargain at the expense of other states. conflicted, used and abused in parallel.
2. The principle of equality of all peoples in
order to ensure equal rights of every people 4. Peace treaties
to decide their fate and the fate of world
peace in general, The Paris Peace Agreements 1919-1920. year.
3. The principle of self-determination and the establishing the Versailles Europe, a veritable feast
right of the creation of independent nation for the winners of the major powers, including the
states (the principle of nationality) that main trends United States, Great Britain, France,
would be finished era of national oppression Italy and Japan. Each of them tried to as much as
and enslavement, possible to ensure their interests: either directly
4. The principle of determining the strategic grabbing other people’s territory, either by ensur-
(natural) that would limit combined with ing that tangible gains to its residents and satel-
the principle of nationalities that each state lites, either by bringing in the difficult position of
should provide a safe and natural boundary their rivals, the establishment of such a Raetia bal-
conditions for the defence of its integrity, ance of power which will have a role arbitrary. Re-
5. The principle of vital economic interest duced to the essence, it was after the Vienna and
with the application provided that no Berlin Congress, the largest division of spheres of
serious violation of the previous two Prince interest in the history of modern time. [4]
preserve the basic economic conditions for Treaty of Versailles was signed with Germany
egzistenicju and stability of each country and defeated 28th June 1919th year. It led to the cre-
each people (as some have implied the right ation of the first international organization, the
of every country to have access to the sea), League of Nations (League of Nations), and the
6. The principle of historical rights whose task establishment of new states: Poland, Czechoslo-
was to facilitate the preservation of useful vakia, Hungary, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithu-
economic, political and cultural traditions ania, Albania and the Kingdom of SHS.
that would not conflict with other prominent In St Germain on 10 September, 1919. year.
principles and does not constitute an attack on signed a peace treaty with Austria. It reflects the
the right of peoples to self-determination. [2] established limits of Austria to the Kingdom of
SHS. It is anticipated that a definite distinction in
These principles are often stressed and happy, the field Celovca be made only after a plebiscite
but not always and consistently followed. of the population, which within three months af-
All participants are referred to the Peace Confer- ter the entry into force of the Agreement provides
ence declared the principles accepted, but at Ver- an opportunity to decide whether to belong to
sailles are not consistent at all times and without Austria or the Kingdom of SHS. The contract had
resistance applied. The main guiding motive of po- a special section on the protection of national mi-
litical behaviour of all participants of the conference norities. In Art. 66th provided for equality before
was not the principle but selfish class interest and the the law and the enjoyment of all civil and politi-
national bourgeoisie and the winning countries. [3] cal rights, any restriction of the use of language,
At the same time the group was realized in either in terms of religion, the press or publica-
practice the principles on which the public not tions of any kind, whether in public meetings. In
been addressed: Art. 67th provided the same procedures and enjoy
1. only taking care of their narrow national the same guarantees, legal and de facto, members
interests and the state; of national minorities, as well as other Austrian
2. Winning the right to a privileged position; citizens. In Art. 68th deals with the provision of
3. respect of secret agreements on the division suitable facilities in terms of public education to
of countries that were concluded during the children in primary schools provide education in
war. [4] their language.

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 technics technologies education management

In the 27th November 1919 was signed treaty 5. Peace conference

with Bulgaria. Bulgaria had to agree to annexation
By the end of October, the 1918th year. After
Bosilegrad and Caribrod Strumica districts and ar-
four years of bloody war, it became clear that the
eas of Yugoslavia, part of Thrace Greece, also lost
Central Powers will not long be able to resist, and
access to the Aegean Sea, Dobrudja Romania. She
the Trianon palace near Paris met representatives
had to admit the Kingdom of Serbs, accept pay-
of the Allied and Associated Powers to be higher
ment of reparations and some limitations of a mili-
on the new situation. There were two facts demon-
tary nature. The Trianon on 4 June 1920th year.
strated the utmost importance for the future. The
signed a peace treaty with Hungary. Hungary lost
first that decisions on the basis of international life
territory by forcibly held in the Austro-Hungarian
will remain the exclusive responsibility of the oth-
Empire. She had to hand over Slovakia and Car-
er great powers and that finding solutions to cur-
pathian Ukraine, Czechoslovakia, and Transylva-
rent problems must comply “Fourteen Points” and
nia and eastern Banat Romania.
secret agreements concluded during the war. This
The Sevres on 10 August 1920th year. signed a
is fully confirmed by the Peace Conference which
peace treaty with Turkey. Turkey has had to agree
met in Paris in January 1919th year. It was a set of
to the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits controlled
winning states in addition to which the vanquished
by a special committee and independent of the
could not engage a neutral country concerned. It is
Turkish government regulates navigation. She lost
significant that the Russian representatives were
Thrace, the Aegean islands, Armenia, Syria, Pal-
not desirable in the work of the Peace Confer-
estine, Mesopotamia and Arabia. Area of Smyrna
ence. It is important that the peace conference
went to Greece. Turkey had to recognize the pro-
and the participants divided into two groups. A
tectorate over Egypt, England and France over Tu-
large group, made up of small and medium-sized
nisia and Morocco. Hedžas became independent.
countries, has had only limited rights. Their rep-
Turkish military forces is limited, and finances
resentatives are only able to make proposals and
put under international control. The provisions of
give notice, to participate in plenary sessions and
this contract dictates not exercised in full. After
accept the decision. Moreover, they often were not
the changes in Turkey and the Greek-Turkish war,
informed of the problems for which they were im-
treaty of Lausanne 1922-1923. year. she returned
mediately interested. The second, smaller group
to Istanbul, an area to the river Marica in Evoro-
consisted of five major states of the USA, UK,
pi provinces and Smyrna in Asia Minor. Turkey
France, Italy and Japan. The leaders of the four
Time is reduced to its modern borders.
great powers at the conference of Great Britain,
Treaty of Rapallo 12th November 1920. year.
USA, France and Italy were known as the big
made the territorial delimitation of the Kingdom
four. These are the Lloyd-George, British Prime
of Serbs, Croats and Italy. The contract had nine
Minister, Vittorio Orlando-Italian Prime Minister,
members: Article 1 certain boundaries, and Italy
George Klemansoa-French Prime Minister and
recognized Zadar, Article 2 Cres, Losinj, Lastovo
the Woodrow Wilson American President.
and Italy were assigned Palagruza, Article 3es-
All solutions are really bringing representatives
tablished the independence of Rivers, Article 4
of the great powers, and most importantly kept the
boundaries are determined by the State of Rijeka,
final decision in the hands of only a handful of
Article 5 planned to convene a conference on bi-
prominent individuals of their delegations. Force
lateral economic and financial matters, Article 6
consisted of representatives of the highest body
provided for the concession and the right of citi-
of the Peace Conference, its Supreme Council
zens of Italian option, Article 7envisages the con-
in which the status of full members had only the
clusion of conventions on cultural relations, while
heads of delegations and foreign ministers. At the
Article 8 and 9 technical and procedural nature.
end of march 1919 representatives of the delega-
With this agreement, Italy has largely achieved its
tions are formed close to the body which can con-
expansionist goals in relation to the Yugoslav ter-
fer secretly. Since the Japanese were not interested
ritory. Kingdom of SHS under pressure from ma-
in all that was outside the Western Pacific, most of
jor powers had to accept the dictates of Rapallo.

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 technics technologies education management

the decisions rested with the “big four”. It is signif- principles highlighted as a programmatic basis for
icant that the Italian Prime Minister and Japanese the conference was entirely abandoned and with-
Representatives, according to his will included in out any impact on its work and decisions. They
the work, mostly only when they are on the agen- were present in the solution of all the important
da were issues of concern for their country. Secret issues of world peace, but in a collision with the
negotiations and agreements are made throughout interests of the great imperialist powers was most
the new century based on the work of diplomats, often winning pushed into the background, but
and critics were opponents of the war 1917-1918. also completely excluded. That’s why I can say
year. particularly directed against it. Hence the re- that the Peace Treaty of Versailles was also an im-
quirement that ministers placed under the supervi- perialist character, as he had a war that ended it.
sion of the public and to build the future world of This peace through it all is the most just peace that
inter-state colluding in the sight of all. Europe has experienced in its former history.
The composition of the conference was the 27 At the peace conference the great powers have
allied and associated countries who took part in held that it is necessary to guarantee the rights of
the First World War in the camp of the winners. national minorities in small states, as well as the
Vanquished countries have not played into the freedom of trade and transit traffic. The tendency
conference. They will be adopted for the peace of most participants Peace Conference was an im-
conditions that will no longer be modified, dis- perialist, and in the first place, the most powerful
closed on a “take it or spear.” Not putting Russia states. All strove for a new distribution of political,
in the Peace Conference explained by the fact that military and economic power in the world and at
she withdrew from the war separate Brest-Litovsk the Paris conference to grab more for themselves
peace. The presence at the peace conference only at the expense of others. Thus, to secure a hegem-
countries from one camp is, of course, mean that onic position in one or the other end of the earth
their interests were identical and agree a number ball. On that occasion, will create a number of dif-
of issues most of the historical and political signif- ficulties in the conference and will be the source of
icance. All countries, especially the most influen- many future international problems.
tial European powers Giant Great Britain, France
and Italy and eastern Japan came to the conference 6. Peace treaty with Germany
with their special, often very conflicting require-
ments and programs that are based on desires to Treaty with Germany was supposed to regu-
satisfy their own imperialist interests of the bour- late a number of important territorial, political,
geoisie and to its state and the nation obtain the military and economic issues of European history.
best possible economic, political and strategic po- Debates were held at the First Conference of the
sition in the world. At the same time to the inter- German borders with all its neighbours.
ests of other nations and states, not just opponents, Germany under the provisions of the Versailles
but also led the allied so little account that the con- Treaty of 28.06.1919. was signed in Versailles in
quering ambitions and appetites are not generally France had to return to the area of Alsace and Lor-
able to almost hide. The principles of the confer- raine, which was annexed after a successful war,
ence are so often ignored, distorted, and supple- 1870-1871. year. Saar area was put under the ad-
mented by other previously known principles of ministration of the company with the right people
international politics, emphasizing the state and to the population after 15 years plebiscite decides
national interests ahead of all others, the right fate of the territory. During those 15 years of Saar
winner, stronger law, respect of secret agreements, coal mines were handed over to the French to ex-
conduct secret diplomacy, and it can be said that ploit. Germany has pledged to demilitarize the
they are in practice conference served as a means right bank of the Rhine at a depth of 15 km. Left
of political propaganda, but as a real managerial bank of the Rhine were occupied by the victori-
motivation of its participants. This practice was ous army as security for the performance of the
common to all participants, both large and small contract terms, and on the right bank of three
as well. All this does not mean that the positive bridgehead established: in Cologne, Koblenz and

338 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

Mainz. Population and territory Ojpen Malmedi, goods destroyed, but also on disability pensions
the Belgian border, it is left to the right to declare and other war victims. Similar requirements is ap-
a plebiscite whether to remain in Germany or Bel- pointed and Belgium, noting that she as a direct
gium will be the incorporation. The area went to victim of aggression has an advantage in payment
Poznan Poland, and Germany national territory is of war damages. The UK is the repair of computers
cut a series of Vistula corridor to the Baltic Sea, to Germany they paid off their huge war debts, but
which the Slovenian state provided access to the thought it a great reparations requirements should
sea near the city of Gdansk (Dancing).Gdansk has not ruin the German economy and thus ruin the
gained the status of free city and placed under the best trading partner England.
administration of the League of Nations, but it
should serve as a port of Poland. Southern part of 7. Peace treaties with Austria, Hungary,
East Prussia and Upper Silesia was given the right Bulgaria and Turkey
to declare a plebiscite whether they want to belong
to Germany or Poland and Schleswig whether to By 6 May 1919th year. when most of the work
belong to Denmark or Germany. City of Memel on the peace agreement with Germany was over,
was put under the administration of the winning the Council has held four sessions of 67 total. Dur-
states. Small area Hulčin Germany and seized was ing that time, solving most of the issues related
given to Czechoslovakia. [1] to agreements with Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria
Treaty of Versailles was done in Germany lost and Turkey was postponed. These issues were the
its colonial imperia, which was distributed in the heads of delegations intensely devoted the great
form of mandates, including some victorious pow- powers after the formulation of contracts with
ers. Germany seized all the colonies. Cameroon Germany and discussing them maintain close an-
and Togo were divided among themselves, the other 80 sessions. Nevertheless, some important
United Kingdom, Belgium and Portugal. German issues that have been imposed the Paris confer-
South West Africa given the Union of South Afri- ence will remain unresolved.
ca, East Africa and Germany was given to the UK. Peace Conference was the sly for each state de-
German part of the island of New Guinea went veloped the special conditions of peace, but peace
to Australia and New Zealand, Samoa Isles. Ja- treaty with Germany, who first made and signed,
pan got archipelagos north of the equator, then the served as a model for all other contracts. Since the
Islander Kiya-Chao and the territory on the Chi- signing ceremony performed texts peace terms in
nese mainland shantung. German Army is limited various Parisian mansions, contracts were named
to sufficient power to maintain internal order, but after them. The 10th castle Saint-Germain , 1919.
anyone out there that could be jeopardized. Terres- year. contract was signed with Austria, with the
trial forces were able to count to 100 000 soldiers Bugarsom Nejiju 27th November 1919th year.,
and 4,000 officers, and the Navy no longer of 13, with Hungary in the Trianon palace fourth June
500 1 500 sailors and officers. The fleet was not 1920th year. and last, Sevres with Turkey in 10th
allowed to have more warships and submarines. August 1920th year. Vanquished state did not sig-
She was forbidden to hold air force and armoured nificantly affect the content of the peace agree-
land forces. [5] ment and they had to just accept and sign the text
Apart from territorial, participants solved a se- prepared by the winners.
ries of conferences of major political and econom- All the peace treaty came into force on legal
ic issues related to Germany. Treaty of Versailles contracts except in Sevres. National Movement in
was predicted that Germany pay reparations to the Turkey, led by Kemal Pasha, stood up to the dic-
great, and they had a right to all the state winners. tates of the Peace Conference and after the armed
France is at war suffered great human and mate- and political struggles, relations with Turkey are
rial sacrifices, and the entire French public opinion covered by the new contract was signed in Laus-
that is completely natural, “as a moral axiom” that anne in July 1923rd year.
Germany compensate for all damage and losses.
These fees would be related not only to material

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 technics technologies education management

8. Unresolved issues conference mittees. There are, first commissions were for the
demarcation commission plebiscite international
After the Peace Conference has remained un-
rivers for navigation, for the division of war booty,
solved question of the Italian-Yugoslav border.
for each territory, to control the occupied parts of
Since the peace conference throughout the 1919th
Germany and other defeated countries to control
and the beginning of the 1920th year. tried in vain
disarmament, reparations, etc.. All of the commit-
to find a solution to the problem in the spring of
tee work strictly within the jurisdiction of which
the 1920th year. left to direct negotiations between
they determined the peace agreements and instruc-
Rome and Belgrade. The result was an agreement
tions of their governments. As the Conference of
of two countries interested in Rapallo in 12th No-
Ambassadors and the Commission unanimously
vember 1920 by which Italy received Istria with
deciding or have sought arbitration of his Cabinet,
Volosko, the Kvarner islands, Zadar and the is-
or Supreme Council between allies.
land of Lastovo. River became an independent
city-states under the League of Nations, but still
remains a big problem in the Yugoslav-Italian re- Conclusion
lations, and finally went to Italy, the agreement be- The First World War was the greatest armed
tween the two countries signed in Rome on 27th conflict by then on the planet. Na peace confer-
January 1924thyear. ence participated winners and the defeated forces
of the opposing forces interesima. U the winner
9. Execution peace treaties also postijale high contrast. They could not solve
conflict that led to war, but the worst peace is better
Prior to his scattering Peace Conference in Par-
than any war. In order to ensure peace of all people
is did not arrive to resolve all issues in connection
must be equal in their rights, but it represented only
with the refurbishment of the world after World
an idea and a tool of politicians and diplomats in or-
War II poster. Even fewer were able to review and
der to win public and mass. Peace of Versailles was
monitor the implementation of peace agreements
an opportunity to achieve large and lasting world
because it had an obligation to take more time, in
peace, but because of the imperialist and egoistic
some cases, with regard to reparations, years and
aspirations of the great powers, which were woven
decades. For these reasons a peace meeting decid-
through the negotiations at Versailles, the treaty did
ed to appoint agencies to finish remaining work
not meet that goal, and peace was not permanent.
and take care of the execution of the peace trea-
The term Peace of Versailles, Versailles and the
ties. The most important such authority, which had
system is moved to the historical science. When
the highest political authority, was between allies
everything is added up it could be said that under
Supreme Council. It consisted of heads of govern-
this term means the balance of power in the world
ment and foreign ministers of the great powers,
and set international relations that was created in
and meet periodically to address the most serious
the first years after World War II.
international problems stemming from the First
These sources were located in the general
World War and the peace treaties. Another politi-
trends and directions of historical trends, such as
cal body, with too many great political powers,
economic, social, political and ideological move-
but only within the provisions of the contract and
ment, but also struggling to build a winning force
the decisions of their governments, the conference
in international relations system that will provide
was Ambassador in Paris. It was composed of the
them a long time versatile hegemony in certain
ambassadors of France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan,
regions of the world. Hegemonic aspirations of
and later Belgium, which has replaced the United
the great powers caused the discrepancy between
States. They were convened during 1920-1921.
the proclaimed desire to establish a democratic
year. under the presidency of the famous French
peace. This contradiction is left unresolved con-
diplomat Jules Kambona. Significant work on the
flicts among all war victorious and the vanquished
implementation of peace agreements carried out
countries and sparked a new focus among the win-
a number of technical, regulatory and other com-
ners. In the Versailles system was an important po-

340 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

litical strategy for the U.S. to Europe, which was Corresponding Author
reflected in its isolation. Zoran Jerotijevic,
Faculty for Education of the Executives,
A child of this system and the League of Na-
Alfa University of Belgrade,
tions, an organization for the preservation of peace Belgrade,
and security in the world, but primarily the interests Serbia,
of the victorious powers and the conditions of keep- E-mail: zoranjerotijevic@gmail.com
ing a larger portion of humanity out of its reach be-
yond the possibility of using it. This will make the
League in practice do not achieve the democratiza-
tion of international politics, not to be an effective
protector of peace and not turned into an instrument
for fostering political, racial, religious and other
forms of equality among peoples and nations.
The important item is the Versailles system
and a deep gap in international relations created
between the first and other socialist countries of
the capitalist world. There was a disagreement
with Russia capitalist countries and their political
orientation and politics of distrust, animosity and
hostility towards Russia is burdened with many
problems of international relations.
There were clearly see the differences and
conflicting interests between capitalism and com-
munism. Great hostility and resistance among the
dictates of a victor, unsatisfied appetite for con-
quest among the winners, bear a strong nationalist,
chauvinist, revanchist and invading movements in
many countries. All this will strongly influence
the direction of international politics. This repre-
sented an important component of the system of
relations created in the world built on the grounds
of the Versailles peace.

References
1. Andrej Mitrovic, Yugoslavia at the Peace Conference
of 1919-1920. Nolit, Belgrade1969; 7S.

2. Cedomir Popov, From Versailles to Danzig, Nolit,

Belgrade 1976; 104.

3. Mitrovic, Andrej, Yugoslavia at the Peace Confer-

ence of 1919-1920.god., Institute for the publishing
of textbooks Republic of Serbia, Belgrade 1969; 30.

4. Ranko Petkovic, “XX century in the Balkans Ver-

sailles-Yalta-Dayton”, Yugoslav Review ofInterna-
tional Law, Belgrade, 1996; 39.

5. Luis Navarro Garcia et al., A history of the world,

Pirot, 2007; 946.

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 technics technologies education management

Engineering profession in society in transition

Smiljana Mirkov1, Marija Runic Ristic2
1
Higher School of Technical Studies Zrenjanin, Republic of Serbia,
2
Faculty of Management Novi Sad, Republic of Serbia.

Abstract such as engineers’ work roles and resulting

positions in organisations, work satisfaction
Thematic scope of the paper refers to an over-
and commitment to the profession or
view of all relevant processes and causal relations
organisation.
revealing an impact of transitional trends in con-
4. On the basis of empirical data obtained by
temporary Serbian society on the engineering pro-
the study, the forth section presents Specific
fession. For this purpose, on the basis of results
professional activities of engineers in society
of an empirical study conducted in 2008, the fol-
in transition which include involvement
lowing indicators of the level of professionalisa-
of engineers in professional associations,
tion in the engineering profession in Serbia have
a number of published papers in scientific
been examined: indicators of economic trends in
magazines and inventive and innovative
the society in transition; young people’s interest
activities of engineers.
in engineering studies; engineers in organizations
in the society in transition; specific engineers’ pro-
fessional activities in contemporary Serbian soci- 2. Methodological framework of study
ety. Obtained results were compared to the results Transient trends of contemporary Serbian soci-
of the study from 1998, as well as to the results of ety, marked by the breakdown of socialism, eco-
the foreign research in this field. nomic crisis, wars and collapse of the economic
Key words: transition, professionalisation, en- system, greatly emphasised inherited socialist lim-
gineering profession, professional activities ited circumstances for the development of the en-
gineering profession. We examined the following
1. Introduction hypothesis in the paper:
1. Deprofessionalisation processes of the
The subject “Engineering Profession in Society
engineering profession are present in
in Transition’’ refers to an overview of a number
contemporary Serbian society
of important relevant processes and causal rela-
2. Reduced young people’s interest in
tions revealing the impact of transitional trends
engineering studies
in contemporary Serbian society related to the en-
3. Irregular privatisation and illegal enrichment
gineering profession. For this purpose, this paper
contributed to the devaluation of knowledge,
contains the following:
including engineering knowledge.
1. Indicators of economic trends in transition –
this section presents an overview of specific
Data were collected using the content analysis
indicators of conditions and processes in
and survey method and their processing was con-
Serbian industry in the period from 2000 to
ducted using the statistical and comparative meth-
2009, such as gross domestic product and
od. The sample of the survey represented civil,
industrial production volumes.
mechanical and electrical engineers. (Figure 1)
2. The section Young people’s interest in
The study was conducted in two periods, i.e. in
engineering studies contains an overview
1998 and 2008, on the total of 400 engineers from
of statistical data which points to the
the total of 146 companies/institutions. Collection
decreasing trend of young people’s interest
of data in 1998 included engineers from 50 large
in engineering university studies.
state/socially-owned companies with inherited so-
3. The third section Engineers in organisations
cialist workplace relations, and the second study
in society in transition deals with issues

342 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

in 2008 included 96 engineers from small, mostly respectively), and the lowest in 2003 and 2009
private companies. Results from all the sections (2,4% and 3,1% respectively). At the end of the
were compared to the results of the study from observed period, GDP increased by 4,2% in com-
1998, as well as to the results of foreign studies on parison to 2000, which is relatively modest aver-
this subject matter. age annual increase by about 4,04%. [1]
Processing and construction industry tradition-
ally engage most of the engineering workforce.
Their share in GDP records a steady decline. Thus,
the share of the processing industry fell from
20,5% in 2000 to only 16,3% in 2005. Similarly,
the share of the construction industry fell from 4%
in 2000 to 3,4% in 2005. [2]
Decline in the industrial production significantly
marks the process of transition in Serbia. In 2000 it
amounted to only 43,4% of the volumes from 1990,
whereas by the end of 2009, it did not reach the vol-
Figure 1. Structure of interviewed engineers umes of industrial production from 1998.
according to the type of engineering profession
4. Young people’s interest in engineering
3. Serbian industry in the transition period studies in the period of transition
Accumulated numerous internal negative Young people’s interest in engineering stud-
changes in Serbian industry and generally econ- ies, i.e. engineering profession is presently con-
omy and absence of appropriate measures dating siderably lower as comparison with the period
back to the period of socialism created a necessity of socialism. In the entire post-war era the engi-
to make major qualitative changes in a relative- neering profession had the largest increase after
ly short period of time. A set of these economic, the economics profession. In the academic year
social and political changes is related to the term 1987/88 the share of engineering students in the
transition. Implementation of transitional changes overall student population in SFRY represented
in Serbia is further complicated, i.e. delayed by 43,4%. Over the past fifteen years the number of
other external factors, primarily by the disintegra- engineering students has decreased dramatically.
tion of former SFRY and market reduction for Ser- In the academic year 1997/98 the share amounted
bian industry, by the civil war in territories of some to 16% which corresponded to the share from the
former Yugoslav republics, by sanctions imposed academic year 1938/39 in the Kingdom of Yugo-
by the International Community on Serbia and slavia, whereas in the academic year 2006/07 it
Montenegro, by physical destruction of numer- amounted to only 12,4%.[3]
ous industrial and infrastructure facilities during
the NATO intervention in Serbia and Montenegro.
5. Engineers in organisations
For this reason, in an attempt to describe transi-
tion trends in Serbian industry we decided to use This section presents results of the study in
indicators which characterise the nine-year period three main units: a) positions, b) opportunities for
(2000-2009) such as gross domestic product, in- career development in organisations and c) engi-
dustrial production volumes and employment rate. neers’ satisfaction with work.
One of key indicators of economic trends in In view of work roles and activities conducted
every country is Gross Domestic Product (GDP). by the interviewed engineers in their organisations
In the period since 2000, GDP has grown as a re- during the study, the obtained data indicate that
sult of increased economic activities. The growth the majority of respondents (60,5%) performed
rate is modest and variable. The highest values real engineering activities (4,5% - research and
were recorded in 2004 and 2007 (8,3% and 6,9% development, 12,5% - designing, 13% - engineer-

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 technics technologies education management

ing, 17% - maintenance, 9,5% technical prepara- interviewed in 2008 mostly by private small and
tion, 10% -production and 2% - structures). It is an medium enterprises in comparison to the opportu-
interesting fact that a significant number of engi- nities offered to the engineers interviewed in 1998
neers (13,5%) occupied managerial positions. The by state and socially-owned large and medium en-
differences between the engineers interviewed in terprises indicate the following:
1998 and 2008 are significant and they amount – A slightly larger number of respondents
to the level of p<0,01. Engineers interviewed in from 2008 (51,5%) said that they made
1998 were in most cases engaged in research and progress at their workplace, whereas in
designing units of their organisation, whereas in 1998 the number was 43,5%;
2008 the larger number of the surveyed engineers – A smaller number of engineers interviewed
was involved in activities related to management in the second round (36,5%) said that they
and maintenance. felt a professional setback if compared with
the results from 1998 (44,5%)
5.1. Engineers’ positions in organisations
These answers should not be surprising consid-
We studied engineers’ positions in the compa- ering that in small enterprises with relatively low-
nies/institutions in which they worked during the er professional competition it is easier to achieve
study with questions about the degree of their in- professional development than it is the case with
fluence on the policy related to the technological the engineers in large enterprises employing a
development of their company and its production large number of engineers.
program. Obtained answers point to the fact that a It is important to compare answers to these
significant number of interviewed engineers had questions for the entire sample of engineers (both
a central position in their companies/institutions: in 1998 and 2008) in view of the fact whether the
24,5% of them had a significant influence on the interviewed engineers occupied management po-
technological development of the company and al- sitions in their companies and what they were.
most as much (24, 3%) on the production program The results showed that a sense of professional
of the company. About 46% of respondents rated development was more typical for the engineers
their influence on the technological development on managerial positions, whereas a sense of re-
policy as “medium” and about 30, 5% said the gression was more typical for the engineers not on
same about the production program of the com- managerial functions, and a sense of professional
pany. However, 27,5% of the respondents said that stagnation was more typical for the engineers on
they had no influence on the technological devel- assistant manager’s positions in the company.
opment of the company, i.e. 41% on the produc- These findings are consistent with conclusions
tion program of the company, whereas 51,5% of made by Gouldner and Ritti [4] that engineers con-
the respondents said that they had no managerial sider they achieved success only if they had taken up
functions in the company. a managerial position. More closely speaking, leav-
The engineers interviewed in 2008 had signif- ing engineers work roles and assuming managerial
icantly more influence on the technological de- positions engineers do not perceive as abandoning
velopment policy and production program in the the profession for which they prepared for a long
company than the engineers interviewed in 1998. time, but as progress in their professional career.
This was viewed as a result of the fact that a sig- Comparative overview of criteria for profes-
nificantly larger number of engineers occupied sional development of engineers in the companies
managerial positions in companies/institutions. studied in 1998 and 2008 is presented in Table 1.
As presented in Table 1, the companies/institu-
5.2. Opportunity for professional develop- tions studied in 2008 in the criterion named pro-
ment of engineers in organisations fessional development which includes diligence at
work, professional knowledge, personal and profes-
Results of the study about opportunities for sional ethics, personal and professional experience
professional development offered to the engineers and number of approved patents, recorded a slightly

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 technics technologies education management

Table 1. Comparative overview of criteria for professional development of engineers in companies in

1998 and 2008.
Engineers 1998 Engineers 2008
No Criteria for professional development of engineers
% %
1 Professional knowledge 40,5* 35*
2 Director’s/Manager’s opinion 38* 27,5*
3 Diligence at work 23,5 15
4 Willingness to meet superiors’ requirements 21,5 15,5
5 Personal and professional experience 20,5 24
6 Personal and professional ethics 19 21,5
7 Family connections and friendships 19 16,5
8 Willingness to cooperate with colleagues 16 19,5
9 Years of service 14 10
10 Local government support 6,5 11,5
11 General culture 4,5 1,5
12 Number of approved patents 0 0
* The differences between the answers of the engineers interviewed in 1998 and 2008 are at a significant level
of p<0, 05.

weaker impact on professional development of en- With a set of two questions we tried to deter-
gineers than it was the case in the study from 1998. mine the level of engineers’ satisfaction with their
However, the other two criteria orientation towards professional work as well as the source of work
organisation (consisting of director’s opinion, will- dissatisfaction. Both questions are open-type
ingness to meet superiors’ requirements, willing- questions:
ness to collaborate with colleagues and years of “Specify characteristics of your workplace
service) and criterion related to non-professional that provoke a sense of satisfaction in you“, and
matters (family connections and friendships, sup- ”Specify characteristics of your workplace that
port of local authorities) in the study in 2008 proved provoke the sense of dissatisfaction in you“.
to be important for professional development. It is Most of the engineers (35%) in the first ques-
obvious that the larger number of the engineers in- tion pointed out creativity as a factor that makes
terviewed in 2008 (11, 5%) in comparison to those them feel satisfied with their work. In addition,
interviewed in 1998 (6, 5%) said that support of a smaller but still significant portion of the inter-
local authorities played an important role in pro- viewed engineers (19,5%) stated independence
fessional development of engineers. However, we at work. As the third most important factor they
are concerned about the fact that the number of ap- stated dynamics at work – 13,5%.
proved patents in private companies did not seem to In comparison to the engineers interviewed
be an important factor in professional development in 1998 (Table 2), it is obvious that in the second
of engineers, which means that the companies, like study a predominant portion takes up the creativity
those from the period of socialism, did not base their factor, however, the engineers interviewed in 2008
economic success on development and they did not considerably less than those interviewed in 1998
compete on the global market with innovations. pointed out factors like access to new knowledge
and achievements and job diversity. In addition, an
5.3. Work satisfaction important fact is that, generally speaking, the en-
gineers interviewed in 1998 were somewhat more
Although some authors came to the conclusion satisfied with their work than those interviewed in
in their empirical studies that work satisfaction 2008. This study also showed that the engineers
and dissatisfaction are influenced by cultural val- primarily pointed out creativity and independence
ues, we decided to look at only job situations in as work satisfaction factors, which means that
our study [5]. those role characteristics were the most impor-

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 technics technologies education management

Table 2. Workplace characteristics causing a sense of satisfaction with work in engineers – a compara-
tive overview of results from 1998 and 2008.
Answers from 1998 Answers from 2008
No Positive workplace characteristics
% %
1 Creativity 23** 35**
2 Independence 18,5 19,5
3 Access to new knowledge and achievements 15,5** 7**
4 Diversity 11,5** 7**
5 Impact on production 9 6,5
6 Dynamics 8,5 13,5
7 Good interpersonal relations 7 3
8 Frequent contacts with people 6,5 4
9 Work with cutting-edge technologies 4,5 4
10 Dissatisfaction 0 3
** The differences in answers from 1998 and 2008 are at a significant level of p< 0,05.

tant to them. Freedom in creativity and indepen- tunity to act professionally. Apart from this, in the
dence in decision-making related to engineering second study some other characteristics emerged
proved to be important sources of work satisfac- as important for generating engineers’ dissatisfac-
tion in other studies as well. Italian researchers [6] tion with work. First of all, this is the poor inter-
showed that the absence of these work character- personal relations factor which did not appear as
istics breaks engineers’ inner pride due to the work an answer of any of the engineers in the first study.
they perform and necessarily deprofessionalises In the whole sample (1998 and 2008) occurred
their work. The data from our continual study (Ta- the following regularity which depended on the fact
ble 2) show that the situation in our companies has whether the interviewed engineers were on mana-
only partly improved in terms of these characteris- gerial positions and of what kind. The engineers
tics. Creativity and independence in performance who at the time of the study occupied top manage-
of engineering works are still present only with a ment positions to a large extent expressed satisfac-
smaller number of engineers than it could be ex- tion with the opportunity to have an impact on pro-
pected considering the nature of the profession. duction. The engineers who were not at managerial
Other studies [7] showed that engineers’ dis- positions in the company to a large extent valued
satisfaction with work, particularly in the industry, good interpersonal relations at their workplace,
is on the increase. We obtained the following re- however, they were considerably more dissatisfied
sponses to the question related to sources of work with their own workplace than the engineers-man-
dissatisfaction. agers. The engineers at managerial positions in the
A salary, which was a dominant source of engi- company to a large extent complained about finan-
neers’ work dissatisfaction in 1998, lost its impor- cial constraints on business. The engineers at assis-
tance in the second study. Dissatisfaction with sal- tant managerial positions complained about heavy
ary also proved to be a strong demotivating factor workload, whereas other engineers predominantly
in other studies [6]. In addition, in comparison to complained about low salaries.
1998 when the engineers complained about great Interviewed engineers, in general, did not fulfil
responsibility they carried in their work, for which their expectations related to the engineering pro-
they were not properly paid, the respondents from fession, not because their expectations were too
2008 did not even mention this factor. However, high, but because as they said:
if we add factors like heavy workload, passive job – Engineers’ knowledge was insufficiently
and limitation in actions (the total of 36%) it can utilised by their organisations and they often
be seen that both engineers in companies/institu- performed routine jobs
tions in the society in transition and engineers in – Organisations offered little space for creative
socialist companies were deprived of a true oppor- work and professional development

346 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

– Technical equipment in organisations was in 6.2. Vocational training of engineers

poor condition
– Engineering profession was underrated and A comparative overview of answers to the
– Management’s attitude towards engineers question: “Have you attended postgraduate stud-
was unsatisfying. ies?” in 1998 and 2008 presents the following
findings: a significantly larger number of the en-
gineers interviewed in 2008 (87%) in comparison
6. Specific professional activities of engi- to those from 1998 (62%) was not engaged in any
neers in the society in transition of the stated forms of postgraduate studies (spe-
Specific professional activities of engineers in- cialist master and doctoral studies). Only 7% of
cluding a) involvement of engineers in the profes- the respondents from the second sample finished
sional association, b) vocational training of engi- some form of postgraduate studies, out of which
neers and c) innovative activities of engineers. 3, 5% were specialists, 3% Masters of Science and
only one engineer from the sample was a Doctor
of Philosophy in Engineering Sciences.
6.1. Involvement of engineers in the profes-
sional association
6.3. Innovative activities of engineers
Engineers interviewed in 2008 answered the
question: “Are you a member of a professional as- In terms of innovative activities, the study
sociation?” as follows: 32% replied affirmatively, showed that the engineers from 2008 were more
7% said that they had used to be members of an passive in comparison to those from 1998. The
association, 4,5% said that they intended to become vast majority of engineers from the second sample
a member in the future, whereas more than a half (79%) did not have any innovation (in comparison
(56,5%) replied negatively. In comparison to the to 69% from 1998), whereas only 17% of the en-
study conducted in 1998, no statistically significant gineers said they had one to five innovations (in
differences were noticed in answers to this question. comparison to 42 respondents (21%) from 1998).
By asking about proposals for the improvement of Only 2% of the respondents filed an application
work in associations, it was determined that there for a patent at the Intellectual Property Office,
were more disinterested respondents in 2008 than however, none of them was accepted. Similarly,
there had been in 1998. As much as 77% of respon- only 4, 5% received a cash prize for innovations,
dents did not answer the question, whereas others and only 2 respondents (1%) were satisfied with
proposed that the engineering association should the award. Creating some form of technical in-
change its organization of work (14%), improve novation at a workplace is the most common for
communication quality with its members (4,5%) electrical engineers, to a lesser extent for mechani-
and achieve greater impact on the state (4%). cal engineers, and it is usually not the case with
Low involvement of engineers in the profes- civil engineers.
sional association is not typical only for our engi-
neers. According to the findings of other research- 7. Conclusion
ers [8], 33% of engineers in the States had never
been members of a professional association, 35% In the period from 2000 to 2009, in the years
had been involved in one of them, and 34% had of intensive transitional processes, Serbian society
been involved in two or more professional asso- represented an unfavourable environment for the
ciations. Kemper and Sanders [9] state that ac- professionalisation of the engineering profession.
cording to the National Science Foundation in the Privatisation, as the key factor of the transition of
USA in 1988 only 27% of 2,4 million American Serbian society, was slowly and to a lesser extent
engineers had been members in one of the five en- than desired bringing expected benefits such as the
gineering associations. growth of domestic product per capita, employ-
ment growth, i.e. reduction of unemployment and
poverty, higher standards and general welfare of

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 technics technologies education management

citizens. All these reflected in strengthening effects Our study, therefore, provided evidence of a
of limiting factors for raising professionalism of specific kind of crisis in the engineering profes-
engineers in our society, which was accompanied sion, i.e. inabilities to obtain its constituent fea-
by a drastic decline in young people’s interest in tures. Results indicate that opportunities for the
the engineering studies. development of the engineering profession are
By studying positions of engineers in organi- closely related to development concepts of the
zations in the society in transition, we discovered economy in market conditions. Market economy
that in addition to engineers-managers, who in laws highlight company’s market competitiveness
their professional careers experienced develop- which may be obtained exclusively through quali-
ment, other engineers expressed a sense of profes- tative development programs based on sufficiently
sional setback. The criterion professional achieve- significant innovations. Results of the study show
ment for career advancement of engineers in pri- that professional roles of engineers in Serbia today
vate companies was far weaker than the results of are subordinated by inadequate work roles, pri-
the study in state and socially-owned companies marily due to poor technical conditions and lack
from 1998 showed. Interviewed engineers, in gen- of investments. This is the reason why engineers
eral, did not fulfil their expectations related to the did not apply innovative work and were not mo-
engineering profession. tivated by external factors either. Since engineers
Findings of the section related to engineers’ are, by their professional competence, creators
professional activities in the society in transition and holders of technical and technological innova-
unambiguously show that the process of depro- tions, it is necessary to create more efficient utili-
fessionalisation of the engineering profession is sation of human resources in Serbian companies,
still in effect, and that it has even grown stronger. i.e. system assumptions for their inventive and in-
This is supported by the following study results: a) novative work. On the other hand, raising the level
engineers are still in a limited number involved in of professionalism in the engineering profession
work of professional associations, b) a significantly requires amendments and additions to curricu-
smaller number of engineers interviewed in 2008, lums and syllabuses at the engineering universi-
as compared with the respondents from 1998, en- ties which could be achieved by adjusting them
rolled postgraduate studies and c) innovative activi- to the requirements of the economy, developing
ties of engineers are virtually non-existent. knowledge of more efficient career management,
All this once again confirms the existence of a developing an ability to enter management teams,
large number of engineers who lack commitment and introducing engineering ethics contents.
to their profession; however, there is also a lack of
mechanisms within the company which would en- References
courage engineers to specific professional activities.
Irregular privatisation processes and illegal en- 1. http://www.stat.gov.rs (accessed December 2009)
richment, which are also characteristics of contem- 2. Grkovic V , The Industrial Sector in the National
porary Serbian society, had an impact on knowledge Strategy of Serbia in the Approaching the European
devaluation - engineering knowledge in particular. Union of Serbia and Montenegro. Technology, Cul-
The interviewed engineers in their explanations of ture and Development proceedings of XIII scientific
conference in Subotica, 2006; 142-152.
reasons of non-fulfilment of expectations of the en-
gineering profession often pointed out that knowl- 3. http://www.statserb.sr.gov.rs (accessed 14 December
edge was not appreciated enough and that family 2009)
connections and friendships as well as political en- 4. Gouldner FH, Ritti RR. Professionalization as Ca-
gagement played more important part. In addition, reer Immobility. Am. J. Sociol., 1967; 72 (5): 489-
it is important to highlight that a significant source 502.
of their dissatisfaction with work stemmed from the 5. Bae K, Chung Ch , Cultural Values and Work At-
fact that their companies did not provide them con- titudes of Korean Industrial Workers in Comparison
ditions for vocational trainings and improvement of With Those of the United States and Japan. Work.
engineering knowledge. Occupation., 1997; 24 (1): 80-96

348 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

6. Bigliardi B, Petroni A Status, role and satisfaction

among development engineers. Eur. J. Innovant.
Manag., 2005; 8 (4): 453-470.
7. Patrinos H, Lavoie M , Engineers and Economic
Development in Greece. Int. J. Manpower, 1995; 16
(10): 39-56.
8. Perruci R, Le Bond WК, Hоwland WЕ , The Engi-
neering in Industry and Government. J. Eng. Educ.,
1966; 56 (7): 246 - 158
9. Kamper JD, Sanders BR , Engineers and Their Pro-
fessions, New York: Oxford University Press. 2001.

Corresponding Author
Marija Runic Ristic,
Faculty of Management,
Novi Sad,
Serbia,
E-mail: runic@famns.edu.rs

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 technics technologies education management

Analysis of the amount of communal waste

Zoran Janjus1, Aleksandar Petrovic2, Aleksandar Jovovic2, Predrag Ilic3, Slobodanka Pavlovic1
1
Independent University, Faculty of Ecology, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
2
University of Belgrade, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Belgrade, Serbia,
3
Institute of protection, ecology and informatics, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Abstract only cover the costs of collection and transporta-

This paper aims to represent functional depen- tion of waste, with leaving no resources for its safe
dencies of influential amounts which, based on the final disposal [4].
available data, enable assessment of waste amount Many researchers in various cities in develop-
in the following period. The analysis of the amount ing countries have shown improper MSW ([5],
of communal waste in the region of Banja Luka, [6] and [7]). Inadequate MSW in most cities in
Republic of Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina) developing countries leads to problems that con-
has been shown in this paper. These values rep- tribute to long-range pollution of the environment,
resent the amount of waste that is collected from thus compromising human health, and eventually
eight municipalities in this region (population of can cause economical, ecological and biological
444.200, which represents about 30% of popula- losses ([5], [8]). Amount of produced communal
tion in the Republic of Srpska, or about 10% of waste represents the basic information for selec-
population of Bosnia and Herzegovina) and dis- tion of waste management strategy.
posed at one landfill. The analysis of variations Estimated amount of MSW refers to Banja
of communal waste have been made according to Luka region, which is the most developed in the
the changes of function of population, national in- Republic of Srpska, and one of the most devel-
come and season. According to the facts and func- oped in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
tional dependencies, which were presented in this The research has a broader importance, since
paper, the estimate of the amount of communal it will provide relevant information useful for the
waste can be made for the next period. regions in the country and neighbouring countries
Key words: analysis, communal waste, esti- with similar level of development. The right se-
mate of the amount lection of MSW strategy will offer solutions to
problems of waste accumulation, environmental
protection and possible vulnerability of human
1. Introduction
health, and will bring economical effects through
Progress of modern civilization and cor- reprocessing of recyclable materials.
responding increase in population around the
world have an important contribution to in-
2. Description of the region and overview
creasing of both quantity and diversity of gen-
of the relevant data
erated waste [1]. Following the trend of rapid
economic development and population growth, Banja Luka region consists of eight municipali-
and because of its crucial role in protecting the ties (4 718 km2), which makes 19% of the Repub-
environment and public health, realization of ef- lic of Srpska territory.
ficient MSW (solid waste management) should Waste is disposed in layers, compacted by a
be a priority for cities in developing countries compactor and covered with a layer of suitable in-
[2]. In densely populated urban centers, MSW is ert material not taking into account the settlement
of the greatest importance for making a healthy during the entire duration of the landfill (second-
environment for people [3]. ary settlement) [9].
MSW system in developing countries encoun- Waste reuse and recycling are not organized
ters many difficulties, including poor technical ex- in the region although there are possibilities for
perience and financial resources which can often waste recycling.

350 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

Comunnal waste composition in Banja Luka

region is the following: textile - 4,6%, cardboard
- 5,7%, paper - 14,5%, other - 3,9%, packing
containers - 3,5%, waste smaller than 60mm -
36,3%, construction waste - 1,5%, metal - 2,3%,
glass - 2,9%, plastics - 3,5% and organic waste -
22,4% (data by Institute of protection, ecology and
informatics, Banja Luka). Mean values of density
of the analyzed produced communal waste are 200
kg/m3, and its humidity ranges from 40% to 60%.

3. Overview of the relevant data

Production of communal waste in Banja Luka Figure 1. Amount of produced comunnal solid
region from mid 2005. by the end of 2009. is waste in Banja Luka region for the given period
shown in Figure 1 (data by JP ‘’Dep-ot’’ Banja
Luka). Production of solid waste has a trend of Figure 1 and Figure 2 clearly show that the
steady growth, with stagnation in the second half amount of comunnal solid waste increases simul-
of 2009. During one year, amount increases in taneously with increasing income.
summer period, and decreases in winter.
Sudden increase of the amount in 2006. is re-
lated to the remediation of illegal landfills in the
region, which refers to amounts not related to reg-
ular production of comunnal waste, but anyway
being transported to the regional landfill, so this
analysis should not include their influence.
Daily production (d) of communal waste per
capita (sd) ranged between 0.4kg/(sd) in June 2005.
and 0.48kg/(sd) in December 2008, which is below
average compared to the available data for some
regions in the world: Calcutta (India) - 0.632 kg/d
[10], Denzil (Turkey) - 1.23 kg/(sd) [3], Kuwait -
1.4kg/(sd), UAE - 1.2kg/(sd), Bahrain - 1.3kg/(sd),
Oman - 0.7 kg/(sd), Egypt - 0.81 kg/(sd), Syria - Figure 2. Average salary of employees in the
0.33 kg/(sd), Tunisia - 0.41 kg/(sd), Morocco - 0.33 given period
kg/(sd), Jordan - 0.6 kg/(sd) [11]. The shown data
are related to the regions that can be compared to This trend of change in the number of employ-
Banja Luka region due to its geographic location ees in the region for the given period is graphically
(Mediterannean countries) or are similar regarding shown in Figure 3 [12].
economical development and population density. Population in the region, including vital and mi-
Income in the given period (2006 – 2009) in- gration statistics (www.rzs.rs.ba), did not change
creased to 2009, and stagnated in 2009. Distur- more than 0.36% in the observed period (446400
bance of income growth dynamics, observed annu- - 444000), and can be considered approximately
ally, was caused by global economic crisis, which is constant, so it can be concluded that increase of
graphically shown in Figure 2 [12]. Observed in one comunnal solid waste production is not caused by
year, it decreases only in January, which is probably the change in population.
the result of more nonworking days – holidays (for
developing countries, this can be due to higher sala-
ries paid in December, before the new year).

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 technics technologies education management

includes converting communal solid waste/per

capita (Qm) dividing it with the income per capita
(Ds) to the fourth grade (2).
Q ................................ (1)
Qm =
sd
Qm
V =10 4 ⋅ .............................. (2)
D s4

As it follows:

Q, kg, total amount of comunnal solid waste in

the current month,
Figure 3. Change in the number of employees in sd, - total population,
the region for the observed period
Ds, K M , income per capita (KM – convert-
sd
4. Proposed method of waste quantity
ible mark, national currrency in Bosnia and Her-
assessment
zegovina - 1euro = 1,95 KM),
3
Among others, the following factors influence V, k g ⋅ s d ⋅10 4 , reduced value of comunnal
quantity and composition of comunnal solid waste KM 4
in a region:
solid waste.
1. Degree of economic development – income
Set model given in equation (2) is increased by
per capita,
ten thousand times for easier analysis.
2. Specificity of location – geographical and
Data presented in diagrams in Figures 1 - 3
climatic,
were processed using equation (2), and new data
3. Demographic picture – birth rate and
base that is used in further analysis was formed.
migration,
Analyzing the changing relationship of V
4. Habits and level of education of population.
through the months of the observed year by apply-
The mentioned was stated based on the analy- ing the method of the least squares, it was found
sis of the data presented above. that the value of V is sufficiently well approximat-
Analysis presented in this paper represents one ed by exponential function (3).
of the ways in which it is possible to assess waste y (s, x ) = a s + bs ⋅ e - x ........................ (3)
quantity for the next multi-annual period. Income
per capita, as one of the crucial factors that affect Applying functional relationship (3) in data
MSW quantity and composition, was considered. mentioned in this paper, it follows:
In order to take the mentioned factor into ac-
count, it is necessary to statistically exclude the im- Vapr (mes , god ) = a mes + bmes ⋅ e - god ................ (4)
pact of communal solid waste amount transported
from illegal landfills from total waste amount (July where:
– October, 2006) in Banja Luka region. Following Vapr – Value V obtained by approximation,
the trend of change in comunnal solid waste amount god – year for which V is calculated, 0 rep-
in the observed period (July, August, September resents the first observed year, which is 2006 (0-
2006), and so on 1-2007, 2-2008. and 3-2009. etc,
and October) through 2007, 2008 and 2009. mes – month for which V is calculated,
For the observed period (2006-2009), total a,b – coefficients obtained by approximation.
amount of comunnal solid waste (Q) was calcu-
lated by reducing the amount of comunnal solid Functional dependence (4) has a universal
waste per capita (sd) (1). Further data processing character for the given region and it enables moni-

352 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

toring of changes in value V within one year. It is approximately constant for the period 2009-2010,
is assumed that, given the good agreement of the when the income per capita stagnates. Calculated
results obtained by approximation with the ones data for the period 2010-2012. offer the possibil-
obtained by good statistical analysis, applied form ity to assess the production of waste, provided that
(4) can also be applied to future years for which in the observed period demographic or economic
there is no statistical or field data. This methodol- picture of the region does not change substantially.
ogy can assess comunnal solid waste amounts in
the coming years, which can serve as a good base- 5. Verification of the model
line data for planning the construction of facili-
ties for storage and processing of comunnal solid Based on statistical data for 2010, model reli-
waste. Coefficients a and b for the months of the ability will be checked. The average salary data
year are presented in the following table 1. are obtained by Republic of Srpska Institute of
This enables us to, by choosing a year, automati- Statistics, while the data on population in the re-
cally get values of the obtained entity for the cho- gion (Sgod) form (5) and number of employees
sen month with sufficient accuracy for the four ob- (Zgod) form (6) were obtained by calculation based
served years, and forecast for the next three years. on their changes in the previous period.
Ratio V decreases per years when the income per
Sgod=446549.15-703.62345·G2+308.11804·G2.5
capita (and with it the amount of produced waste
(r2=0.9370901) ......................................... (5)
too) increased, i.e. for the period 2006-2009, and it
Table 1. Values of coefficients per months
Replacement Coefficients Coeff. det. Midle squared deviation
Мonth
value аmes bmes r2 σ2
January 1 0.2834402 1.2593247 0.86319486 0.181164
February 2 0.14488612 1.1570014 0.94574789 0.15292
Маrch 3 0.16417523 1.394734 0.96768305 0.222219
April 4 0.1470589 1.549005 0.98258911 0.274096
Маy 5 0.16118932 1.4127033 0.97471986 0.227981
Јune 6 0.14463778 1.20241 0.96019917 0.165159
Јuly 7 0.18717709 1.2112649 0.94488282 0.167601
Аugust 8 0.15590462 1.1653029 0.97588968 0.155123
September 9 0.14827522 1.0072681 0.9789852 0.115901
Оctober 10 0.14406915 1.0193996 0.98482122 0.11871
November 11 0.10704044 1.0933646 0.98478181 0.136561
December 12 0.10225579 0.78751926 0.98633594 0.070847
Table 2. Data for 2010.
Month Jan. Feb. Маr. Apr. Маy Јune July Aug. Sep. Оcт. Nov. Dec.
Income (KM) 778 772 771 786 774 789 786 785 794 779 791 798
Z2010 94721 94850 94979 95108 95237 95336 95495 95624 95753 95882 96011 96140
S2010 445214 445208 445202 445196 445190 445184 445178 445172 445166 445160 445154 445148
Vapr(mes,2010.god.) 0.307 0.166 0.190 0.175 0.187 0.167 0.209 0.177 0.167 0.163 0.127 0.117
Amount of SW
(Т) 5757 5329 6989 7441 7226 7403 7812 8259 7846 7877 7372 6375
Statistical data
Amount of SW
(Т) 10243 5410 6182 6208 6260 6046 7532 6379 6314 5830 4791 4583
calculation data
Deviation
43.79 1.53 11.55 16.56 13.37 18.32 3.58 22.77 19.52 25.98 34.99 28.12
percentage(%)

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 technics technologies education management

Z god = 85243.431 + 4868.8702 ⋅ G - 268.24171 ⋅ G 2.5 Production of communal waste in modern so-
ciety is increasing, and requires constant monitor-
(r2=0.97045297) ......................................... (6)
ing, analysis and systematic measures.
Using the same explanation as in form (4), and
replacing G with number 4 (which is for 2010) References
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waste in different time periods for the same and dif-
ferent regions, simpler processing of data collected 8. Gulec NB, Gunal, Erler A. Assessment of soil and
water contamination around an ash disposal site.
from the field and processed statistically, easier es- Environmental Geology 2001; 40: 331–344
timate of the amount of waste in terms of its com-
9. Rakic D, Caki L, Ljubojev M. Deformable charac-
position for the observed period, and gives the pos- teristics of the old municipal solid waste from Ada
siblity of qualitative assessment of the amount and Huja location, Belgrade – Serbia. Technics technolo-
composition in time periods in the past and in the gies education management 2011; 6: 52 – 60
future for which there are no statistical data. 10. Hazra T, Goel S. Solid waste management in Kol-
Analysis of the observed data shows that the kata, India: Practices and challenges. Waste Man-
trend of changes in production of communal agement 2009; 29: 470-478
waste can be expressed in function of change in 11. Al-Salem SM. Establishing an integrated databank
income per capita. Also, increasing of the amount for plastic manufacturers and converters in Kuwait.
Waste Management 2009; 29: 479-484
of produced waste does not have to be related to
the increase in population. 12. www.rzs.rs.ba: Bilteni-mjesečni statistički pregledi;
Posebna izdanja-Republika Srpska u brojkama,
The conducted analysis can be used to assess Saopštenja – Rad (plate i zaposleni), Stanovništvo
the amount of waste in similar regions in the world (vitalna statistika).
with a lower organizational level of the system for
collecting. They can also be used to assess the pro- Corresponding Author
duction of waste in the future, comparing it with Zoran Janjus,
Independent University,
higher-level analysis, conducted in similar regions. Faculty of Ecology,
Such analysis should include impacts of economic Banja Luka,
crisis, changes of demographic structure, changes of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
relationship between urban and rural population etc. E-mail: mrjzoran@teol.net,

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Key factors influencing the success of

knowledge management
Jelena Djordjevic-Boljanovic1, Branislav Masic2, Gordana Dobrijevic1
1
Singidunum University, Belgrade, Serbia,
2
Alfa University, Belgrade, Serbia.

Abstract nizations is gaining priority. Creation and diffusion

Purpose –The main purpose of this study was of knowledge within the modern organization is
to identify key factors influencing the creation becoming increasingly decisive factor in achieving
and implementation of knowledge management and maintaining its competitive advantage. In fact,
programme. We tried to establish the impact of the only sustainable advantage of a modern organi-
corporate culture, human resource management, zation comes from what the company knows, how
leadership, information technology, and control efficiently it uses that what it knows, and how fast it
on the success of knowledge management. acquires and uses new knowledge [1]. Contempo-
Design/methodology/approach – Based on rary organization in the knowledge era is one that
the review of contemporary literature and research learns, remembers and acts on the basis of informa-
of well-known consultancy companies, the au- tion and knowledge available in the best possible
thors identified five key factors that influence the way, in order to successfully change itself and to
implementation of knowledge management. Their create a sustainable competitive advantage.
influence was further investigated through a sur- Knowledge management is based on the idea
vey conducted among top and middle managers. that the organization’s most valuable resource is
Findings – The results have shown that corpo- the knowledge of its employees. The company is
rate culture, human resource management, leader- only as successful and good as the individuals in
ship, information technology, and control are the it. For this reason, the success of the organization
key factors influencing the effectiveness of knowl- and its business performance depends on the effi-
edge management programmes. ciency with which employees create their knowl-
Research limitations / implications – The re- edge, share knowledge with one another and use it
search results are limited by the nature of the orga- as efficiently as possible.
nizations surveyed, the level of knowledge man- Knowledge management is the process of acqui-
agement initiatives in these organizations, as well sition and use of organization’s collective experi-
as geographical scope of the research. ence anywhere in the business process - on paper,
Originality/value – This study seeks to contrib- in documents, databases (explicit knowledge –
ute to the literature on knowledge management in explicit, clear knowledge) or in the minds of em-
two ways. First, we analysed theoretical constructs ployees (so-called tacit knowledge - tacit, invisible
from the literature on knowledge management in knowledge). About 95% of the information exists
general, and identified five key factors that influence in the form of the so-called tacit knowledge. This
the implementation of knowledge management. is actually the driving force of innovation - the only
Second, we explored the application of knowledge competitive advantage that supports the company
management programmes in transitional economy. in an unpredictable business environment.
Key words – Knowledge Management, Critical The broadest approach to this concept is think-
success factors ing of knowledge management as a process that
represents the unity of the three components [2]:
people, processes and technology, which goes
1. Introduction
through phases: knowledge creation, capture, stor-
As the intellectual component of products and ing, sharing, and application, thus forming its life
services is increasingly gaining importance, the de- cycle. People, processes and technology are in-
velopment of knowledge management within orga- terdependent and equally important components.

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However, one has an advantage over the others - unpredictable business environment, organizations
that is, of course, human. Therefore, the primary adopt new paradigms, new patterns of behaviour
organizational focus must be the development of and views of the world, more flexible, sensitive and
culture and behaviour, which are positively ori- adaptable. Hence, today’s most successful compa-
ented towards knowledge, and supported by ap- nies are rich in invisible assets, i.e. information and
propriate processes and necessary technology. knowledge they possess, as opposed to raw materi-
As a strategic view of knowledge manage- als in the traditional sense, which lose their signifi-
ment, which considers the union between techno- cance. Such organizations, known as “all brains, no
logical and human factors as a basis for survival in body”, are in contradiction with the traditional or-
the changing environment, the definition of Dr Y. ganizations called “small brain, large body”, the or-
Malhotra [3] stands out. In his opinion, knowledge ganizations of the industrial age [7]. Only the brain
management encompasses the most important criti- produces an additional value for the company, and
cal issues of organizational adaptation, survival and that is why this part of the organization should be
competence in meeting the ever-growing and rap- further developed; so this kind of organization rep-
idly changing business environment. This is a con- resents knowledge management as a new manage-
cept of the collective knowledge of an organization, ment paradigm. In this sense it is not necessary to
whose ultimate goal is the effective application of further emphasize the importance of the knowledge
knowledge in decision-making situations. It should management in the knowledge economy.
be noted that this knowledge should be available
with little effort and be applicable as well. The con- 2. Literature review
cept of knowledge management is, therefore, the
ability to, in relatively short time, acquire informa- The purpose of this paper is to determine how
tion that will allow everyone in the organization to certain factors influence the successful implemen-
make the best decisions, whether it is the market tation of knowledge management. In defining the
conditions, product, service, process, planned activ- key factors and their impact on the creation of suc-
ities of competitors or other information important cessful knowledge management programmes, we
for the company’s success [4]. In short, knowledge were guided by the analysis of numerous theoretical
management is a process through which an organi- works on this subject and we began our research by
zation generates value from its intellectual property identifying a starting point of a number of authors
based on knowledge [5]. in this field. In this paper, we have selected various
The importance of knowledge management pro- theoretical approaches to defining the factors which
grammes in real life is best shown by numerous influence the successful implementation of knowl-
studies conducted by some eminent agencies and edge management programmes, and presented them
consulting companies. A KPMG survey conducted chronologically.Davenport et al. [8] defined eight
in 2002/2003 shows that knowledge management factors common to successful knowledge manage-
is reaching ever higher levels, and that greater in- ment projects, namely: support by higher levels of
volvement of management can be observed, with management, clearly defined knowledge manage-
the growing innovations and common strategies. In ment systems goals, connection to economic per-
this survey the respondents see knowledge as a stra- formance, multiple channels for knowledge trans-
tegic advantage and believe they have missed busi- fer, motivational incentives for users of knowledge
ness opportunities by not taking advantage of the management, knowledge management oriented cul-
knowledge that the organization already owns [6]. ture, strong technical and organizational infrastruc-
Many authors believe that knowledge manage- ture, and flexible knowledge structure.
ment, due to results achieved in practice, is not Ginsberg and Kambil [9] came to the conclu-
another scientific discipline, but a way of thinking sion that knowledge display, storage, search, re-
based on the understanding of today’s economy as trieval, visualization, and control are not only the
a knowledge economy, surrounded by trends such key technical issues, but also main challenges for
as globalization, the Internet revolution, and vir- sharing and use of knowledge in the successful
tualization. Under the pressure of a dynamic and implementation of knowledge management.

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Davenport and Prusak [10] believe that the key tion between the vision and architecture, leadership
factors that lead to success of knowledge manage- skills, culture of creating and sharing knowledge,
ment projects are: knowledge-oriented culture, continuous learning, well-developed technological
technological and organizational infrastructure, infrastructure, and knowledge process system.
support from top management, links to economic Based on careful analysis of these theoretical
values​​, emphasis on processes, clear vision, un- sources , we chose the following factors as the
derstanding of the language, considerable motiva- main de t erminants of the success of knowledge
tion, required level of knowledge, and diversity of managem e nt programme: corporate culture, hu-
channels for knowledge transfer. man resource management, leadership, informa-
As key f actors that influence the success of tion technology and control.
knowledge management programme, Skyrme [11] It seems that most of the resources that we have
emphasi z es the following: a clear and explicit used agreed upon the first four factors. Almost all
connection to business strategy, knowledge about authors agree that corporate culture, as the so-called
knowledge (real understanding of the advantages “mindset” of an organization, plays an important
that kn o wledge brings with it), connection be- role in implementation of any change and inno-
tween the vision and architecture (if the aspect of vation i n an organization, including knowledge
knowledge in business organization provides di- management programmes. Most of these authors
rection for decision-making), leadership, knowl- (Davenport, Skyrme and Amidon, Davenport and
edge pr o cess on a system level, well developed Prusak, Peter Heisig and Jens Vorbeck) emphasize
knowledge infrastructure, and an appropriate level knowledge management oriented culture, culture
of knowledge measurement (measurement of the of crea t ing and sharing knowledge, or culture
contribution of knowledge). turned towards knowledge as the factors critical to
A research conducted in 2001 by the authors the success of knowledge management. Even the
Peter H e isig and Jens Vorbeck [12] among the authors who emphasize the importance of infor-
German T op 1000 and the European Top 200 mation technology for the success of knowledge
companies, found that the key factors that influ- managem e nt, agree that human resources play
ence the successful implementation of knowledge an important role in the process of creating and
managem e nt programmes were: a distinguished sharing knowledge. We think that the role of hu-
corporate culture, structural factors (external con- man resources and human resource management
ditions), information technology, employee moti- is important because this factor, to a large extent,
vation, and promotion of knowledge management determines the success rate of implementation of
by the top management. knowledge management programme. There is an
Bixler [13] thinks that there are four pillars of almost u niform agreement by all mentioned au-
successful implementation of knowledge manage- thors a b out the importance of top management
ment programmes. These are: leadership, organiza- support to knowledge management programme,
tion, technology and knowledge, as a support to the the imp o rtance of leadership, and the necessity
expansion of knowledge management initiatives. of info r mation technology. We also agree with
Davenpo r t and Probst [14] point out that the this view. In this paper we will deal largely with
main factors that ensure a successful implementa- these very issues. A considerably smaller number
tion of knowledge management are leadership, abil- of authors mention control as a factor that influ-
ity to measure performance, organizational policy, ences the effectiveness and success of knowledge
knowled g e acquisition and sharing, information management programmes [16]. We shall particu-
structure, benchmarking and training. larly explore that very factor due to several rea-
In thei r literature review of the main success- sons: fi rst, control is crucial for the success of
ful factors of knowledge management, the authors knowled ge management because of the process
Skyrme and Amidon [15] revealed seven key fac- itself – knowledge management consists of sev-
tors th a t, in their opinion, affect the success of eral stages, and the success of one stage conditions
knowled g e management programme. These are: the success of all the others; second, the contrast
strong connection with business objectives, connec- between the strictly defined rules of control and

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the creative, innovative and, therefore, flexible degree of knowledge availability, dissemination,
process of creating and transferring knowledge is sharing, and storing in their operations.
a challenge and a unique characteristic of knowl- As we have already emphasized in the literature
edge management process; and third, control as review, the only sustainable advantage of a mod-
a factor that influences the performance of man- ern organization stems from what the company
agement, is particularly interesting for research of knows, how effectively it uses what it knows, and
organizations in Serbia, considering the currently how fast it acquires and uses new knowledge [18].
present general business conditions in the country In the knowledge economy, where the knowledge
(transition, privatization, etc.). of employees is the organization’s most valuable
Corporate culture, human resource manage- resource, knowledge management has the role to
ment, leadership, information technology, and ensure that people have the knowledge they need,
control are our starting points as the main factors where they need it and when they need it, i.e. right
that determine the success of knowledge manage- knowledge, in the right place and at the right time.
ment programmes. Theoretic background for this The basic question that needs to be addressed
opinion, in addition to previously mentioned and now is whether an organization recognizes knowl-
reviewed studies of prominent theorists and prac- edge as the key issue of modern business. We used
titioners of management, is given by the authors precisely this wording in our research to establish
K. Mertins, P. Heisig, and J. Vorbeck [17] that the attitude of organizations in Serbia towards
stated these five factors as critical for the success knowledge as the key competitive advantage. We
of knowledge management programmes. Their ar- actually tried to build on similar research done in
guments were a corner stone of our research. Western countries over the past few years. Thus, for
example, in the research called Knowledge Adviso-
3. Research design ry Services that KPMG conducted in 2002 and 2003
[19] among 500 leading organizations in the United
In accordance with the problem we defined as Kingdom, France, Germany and the Netherlands,
the focus of our research, based on information which used the method of benchmarking to deter-
that we obtained during the theoretical analysis of mine the state of knowledge management in Euro-
these issues, we set the following two hypotheses: pean organizations, the key question was whether
1. The key factors that influence the effectiveness the surveyed companies recognized knowledge as
of knowledge management are corporate a strategic advantage. The results showed that 80%
culture, human resource management, leader- of respondents answered yes to the question. Be-
ship, information technology, and control. sides this research, we were especially influenced
2. Corporate culture is the main factor in success by a study on knowledge management and the main
of knowledge management programme factors influencing this concept, carried out among
within an organization. German Top 1000 and the European Top 200 com-
panies, conducted in 2001 by Heisig and Vorbeck
Our goal is to examine how each of these fac- [20], as well as by a research V. M. Ribiere on the
tors can affect the success of knowledge manage- influence of organizational culture on success of
ment programme, and whether corporate culture, knowledge management [21]. There are numer-
as is the opinion of most authors dealing with this ous other studies about the key factors affecting the
problem, is the factor that has the most impact on implementation of knowledge management, which
the effectiveness of knowledge management. We show that it is one of the hot topics for the contem-
shall present the results of our research carried out porary authors. Among others, there is a study on
in order to determine whether and to what extent the implementation model of knowledge manage-
these factors play a decisive role in the success of ment, with a focus on the factors that enable its suc-
knowledge management programme in enterpris- cessful implementation [22], as well as a research
es in Serbia. We have in particular explored orga- that addresses the key factors that influence the
nizations whose main activities focus on the use success or failure of knowledge management initia-
of high technology, and therefore require a high tives in project organizations [23].

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3.1. Participants of knowledge management in companies in Serbia

is at a very low level. Hence the special approach
We chose a sampling strategy that would capture to the research which, with the help of appropri-
perceptions from different groups of managers. No ate instruments, should enable us to explore the
sampling frame was available. We used purposive possible elements of the factors cited above as es-
sampling, trying to have participants from private sential to the success of knowledge management.
and public sector, from national and international Other limitations are the scope and geographical
organizations, from Belgrade and the rest of Serbia, spread of our research. It was undertaken in Ser-
both men and women. There were 131 respondents, bia, a small country that is in the process of transi-
members of top management, middle management tion towards a market economy. That is why our
and operational management from 10 organiza- findings cannot be generalized.
tions in Serbia. When selecting the organizations,
we were guided by the high degree of the develop-
ment and use of modern information technology in 3.3. Findings
organizations. Therefore, most organizations that Following the example of research done abroad,
participated in the survey are focused on providing such as the research of KPMG Consulting in 2003,
services in telecommunications, postal services, in- we asked the respondents whether they thought that
formation technology and software, that is, activi- under-use of existing knowledge in their organiza-
ties that are closely related to the use of high tech- tions resulted in losses and missed opportunities.
nology. The starting point of this research is that the In accordance to the aforementioned survey, the
knowledge sharing, according to the experience of results of our study show that managers in Serbia
global companies that were pioneers in the applica- are aware that knowledge has value in modern busi-
tion of knowledge management, will first and fore- ness, as well as of the fact that it is underused in our
most be connected to the application and develop- companies. As many as 64% of managers respond-
ment of information technology. The research was ed affirmatively to the above question.
undertaken between May and September 2010. As for the knowledge management and its ap-
Regarding the industries of the organizations, plication in organizations in Serbia, according to
the highest percentage of respondents (55%), the results, 67% of the respondents do not have a
work in the organizations that provide postal ser- formal knowledge management programme, or
vices, and 27% work in telecommunications. The formal knowledge management strategy. However,
rest of the participants work in consulting (8%), it is encouraging to know that 67% of the respon-
transport and shipping services (5%), and IT / dents recognize some elements of knowledge man-
software (5%). Also please note that the core busi- agement in their organization, while 25% of the
ness activity of all these organizations is providing respondents recognize them in a small scale. These
services to customers. results show us that, although there are no formal
We used a quantitative approach based on In- knowledge management programmes in most com-
ternet-mediated self-administered questionnaires. panies we studied, there are still some indications
We chose purposive sampling in order to capture and elements of this programme, whose implemen-
perceptions of managers from different hierarchi- tation and application can be expected in the future.
cal levels. One of the main questions raised in our re-
search is what, according to the respondents, are
3.2. Limitations the main factors that influence the effectiveness of
knowledge management. Respondents were given
The early stage of knowledge management the opportunity to mark all correct answers. The
programme and rather low level of its develop- largest percentage - (30%) believe that the key
ment in enterprises in Serbia are limiting factors factor that influences the effectiveness of knowl-
of this research which, to a large extent, influenced edge management is organizational culture, which
the limitations of the results obtained. As already is one of the hypotheses of our research. 22% of
mentioned, the acknowledgement and application the respondents chose information technology,

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21% chose human resources management, 14% and Schulte believe that corporate culture should
opted for control of business processes, and 13% have the following characteristics: free sharing of
of respondents tagged leadership. Our findings information, joint work with others, teamwork,
fully support the H1 and H2. trust, fairness and job enthusiasm.
We emphasize the fact (that we consider ex- On the basis of the above mentioned, we have
tremely encouraging, given the topic of this re- reached the conclusion that a corporate culture that
search), that managers in organizations in Serbia, promotes knowledge sharing is the one in which
according to the results of our study, showed great the means for knowledge exchange and sharing
interest in knowledge. To the question “Do you are standardized, as to facilitate the transfer and ex-
think that your organization recognizes knowl- change of knowledge. It has a variety of ways to
edge as the key issue of modern business?” 63% share knowledge between experts and other mem-
of the respondents answered with “yes”, only 4% bers of the organization, the knowledge sharing is
answered with “no”, 26% with “to a small extent”, explicitly included among organizational goals,
and 6% “I don’t know”. trust prevails in all interactions, and communication
channels overcome geographical, temporal and the-
4. Discussion matic boundaries without difficulty. Only by pro-
viding those features of corporate culture, and with
In the following text we shall explain the indi- the help of modern technological and IT tools, it is
vidual five factors. possible to fully use the human capital and potential
that is the essence of every company’s success.
4.1. Corporate culture Based on the emphasized characteristics of
corporate culture, we set the questions in the sur-
Based on our literature review, as well as cur- vey to determine whether organizations that par-
rent research and studies on corporate culture as a ticipated have a culture with these attributes and,
factor influencing the success of knowledge man- therefore enhances the successful implementation
agement, we have reached a conclusion that the of knowledge management. Being aware of the
corporate culture that would support the imple- fact that the application of knowledge manage-
mentation of knowledge management would be ment in Serbian enterprises in not at a high level,
the one in which communication and coordination we tried to find those characteristics of culture that
among groups are emphasized. In it, experts do would, if not at the time of testing, then in the near
not jealously keep their knowledge; knowledge future, represent key drivers of knowledge man-
sharing is actively encouraged and rewarded at all agement. Therefore, our study provides the results
hierarchical levels of organization [24]. of the main characteristics of corporate culture of
To further define the desirable attributes that the companies in Serbia, and characteristics that
corporate culture should have in order to be an en- would accelerate the introduction and implemen-
couraging factor for the knowledge management tation of knowledge management programme.
initiative, we shall use a set of positive attributes Here are some of the most interesting findings:
presented in a literature review by V. Ribiere [25]. – In terms of affirmation or denial of the
In the opinion of Davenport and Prusak, the knowl- first statement in the survey, which reads:
edge management oriented culture should have “People are seen as the machines and they
the following attributes: of reciprocity, reputation, are expected to do exactly and only what
altruism and trust. According to Kinsey Goman they are told,” 56% of respondents answered
those attributes are: visible support from top man- with “I absolutely disagree,” 15% answered
agement, clearly defined and meaningful goals, “I strongly agree”, while 25% of respondents
high level of trust, leadership team, and employee do not have a definite opinion on this issue.
reward scheme. Hubert writes about cooperation, – 78% of the respondents expressed absolute
communication, creativity, strength, enthusiasm, disagreement with the statement that would
trust, synergy, sharing, openness, positive attitude define the characteristics of corporate culture
and involvement, while the authors Park, Ribiere in organizations as “Priority is given to the

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material things, and all that is intangible work, which is one of the main tasks of informa-
and invisible as knowledge, confidence, tion technology. The first approach gives employ-
connection, is not important,“ and 14% of the ees the freedom to access information, knowledge,
respondents absolutely agree with the above resources and tools, and assumes that workers will
statement. specify their work processes and needs, and cre-
– “People are encouraged, relationships and ate their own information environment. Another
team work are nurtured, individuals are approach involves a larger degree of structuring
motivated to innovate and create new ideas.” inside the organization in terms of supplying the
This statement was confirmed by 61% of employees with necessary information and knowl-
the respondents, while 18% absolutely edge, within the context of existing work, and in
disagreed. Slightly higher percentage of the accordance with their duties. In fact, it is necessary,
respondents (21%) has no definitive point of according to this author, to establish the right com-
view on this issue. bination of appropriate information technology and
– While 58% of the respondents absolutely structure, and provide adequate role for managers
agreed with the statement “Employees in order to increase the productivity of knowledge
are motivated to share their knowledge workers, which is not an easy task. Defining the ba-
with other employees, feel they belong to sic elements of knowledge management and calling
the organization, believe in their leaders them the DNA of knowledge management, Michael
who support them and encourage them Stankosky writes about four pillars of this concept:
to participate in decision-making, they leadership (management), organization, learning
constantly learn and evaluate themselves and technology. When explaining the use of tech-
and their colleagues,” 18% absolutely nology, the author emphasizes the importance of
disagree, and 24% have no definite point of technology, aimed at supporting and enabling strat-
view on this issue. egies and activities of knowledge management, es-
– For 60% of the respondents the statement: pecially those that support collaboration and codi-
“The organization is focused on the fication of strategies and functions of knowledge
development and exploitation of knowledge management [27].
that it has” is true. In setting the theoretical foundations of our re-
search, we were guided by the opinions of famous
4.2. Information Technology authors such as Thomas Davenport, Laurence
Prusak, and Karl Erik Sveiby. Thomas Daven-
When we talk about information technology port and Laurence Prusak argue that knowledge
as an element in management process that facili- management is much more than technology, but
tates the full implementation of knowledge man- technology (or “techknowledgy” as they call it)
agement, it is necessary to emphasize that human is an important part of knowledge management.
knowledge is still a social category. Only if we The authors emphasize that the role of people in
recognize the fact that the creator and instigator of knowledge management technologies is crucial
every innovation and creative knowledge is always to their success [28]. Expressing his view on the
exclusively the human, information technology can importance of information technology, but giving
fully contribute to the implementation of knowl- preference to the human in the process of creat-
edge management, knowledge dissemination, shar- ing knowledge, Karl Erik Sveiby believes that we
ing and improvement within organizations. Only in have begun to realize that people, not information
this way can we prevent the introduction of unsuc- systems, are the core of value creation. The real
cessful programmes of knowledge management, value for companies and the society is made only
which rely exclusively on information technology. by creating an environment that will allow people
It is necessary to mention the famous observation to create and share knowledge [29].
by Davenport [26], who believes that there are two Observing the companies in Serbia in this con-
divergent views of the improvement of access to text, we must conclude that the use of information
information that is the basis of a knowledge-based technology and sharing of organizational knowl-

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edge are at a relatively high level. Specifically, 62% Capital Institute [33], which deals with the orga-
of the respondents frequently use information tech- nizational skills that are relevant to talent manage-
nology to exchange and share knowledge. After a ment. The results show that organizations, mostly
detailed analysis of the results we have concluded large companies, which pay much attention to
that in addition to the usual information technology the strategic development, recruitment, motiva-
used in everyday work, such as Internet, Intranet, tion and development of employees, organization
e-mail, Chat On Line, the companies in Serbia and management, connectivity and ongoing trans-
are increasingly using the tools and technologies formation of the employees, actually in this way,
whose primary purpose is sharing and dissemina- invest in talent management and linking human
tion of knowledge among employees (Communi- resource management strategy with business strat-
ties of Practice, SAP, etc.). If the development and egy. The definition of knowledge management,
use of information technology continue, especially which indicates the relationship of this concept
technology connected with knowledge sharing, it with human resource management, implies that
will represent a sound foundation for the full imple- knowledge management is a means to acquire and
mentation of knowledge management. use resources in order to create an environment
that will enable individuals to access information,
4.3. Human resource management where they will be able to acquire, share and uti-
lize such information to develop their knowledge,
The key role of people as the creators of all that and where they will be encouraged to apply this
is innovative and creative in business in the knowl- knowledge to the benefit of the organization as a
edge economy was underlined several times in our whole [34]. What comes as an inescapable con-
work. For research purposes, we use a definition clusion is that the successful implementation of
that human resource management is a strategic knowledge management depends on properly de-
and coherent approach to management of the most signed human resource management. If properly
valuable asset in the organization, people, who, organized, HRM should be focused on continu-
working in it, individually or collectively, con- ous improvement and development of employees,
tribute to the achievement of its objectives [30]. their constant and proper motivation, creating a
The importance of human resource management work environment where employees have a sense
is reflected in the amount of research done on this of personal satisfaction and progress and where
topic. Thus, the Aberdeen Group in their research knowledge sharing will be properly awarded and
in 2007 [31] found out that adjustment to the busi- emphasized. According to the results shown by
ness and market changes, the complexity of rela- our research, human resource management in or-
tionships with employees, rising costs, employee ganizations in Serbia ceased to be a purely admin-
retention, and reduction in the workforce were the istrative function, with strict bureaucratic and for-
challenges of the human resource management. A mal characteristics, which sees people as just the
very interesting research is Performance & Tal- work force. If the concern for knowledge workers
ent Management Trend Survey 2007 [32], which and nurturing talents are primary tasks and roles
deals with the prospect of Talent Management as of HRM in the studied companies, then its impor-
a field in which connection between human re- tance in the implementation of knowledge man-
source management and knowledge management agement will grow every day. The results of our
is most evident. This research shows clearly that research show that the companies in Serbia, in this
the issues of development and retention of talent respect, are on the right track.
in the organization, as well as finding new talent, In most cases, the respondents in our study quite
are high-priority issues of strategic importance to positively assessed the human resource manage-
the organization. Another study that had an impact ment in their organizations, and the majority agreed
on our consideration of talent management issues with the offered statements. With the statement
are factors affecting the implementation of knowl- “My work gives me a feeling of personal satisfac-
edge management is the joint study conducted tion and fulfilment,” 69% of the respondents agreed
by IBM Institute for Business Value and Human fully; “My work is fully compliant with the level of

362 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

my knowledge, abilities and skills” - 63% of the re- 4.5. Leadership

spondents; “Full attention is paid to human resourc-
es, their improvement and continuous improvement Knowledge economy requires change in the
“- 45% of the respondents;” Various types of train- management of today’s most precious resource –
ing and acquiring new knowledge are available to human resource. This transformation requires the
the employees”- 50% of the respondents. function of leadership to change from traditional
command and control based function towards
linking, networking, and guidance. Speaking of
4.4. Control leadership in the knowledge economy, the authors
One of the basic principles that Peter Drucker Debra Amindon and Doug Macnamara [37], be-
emphasized during his long career, which is essen- lieve that modern leaders are those who are not
tial for the knowledge economy, is that knowledge afraid of fast changes, who cope with constant
workers must not be controlled, they have to be mo- learning, who understand that effective manage-
tivated [35]. In order to be utilized in successful im- ment is not a matter of having the knowledge, but
plementation of knowledge management, control knowing how to use it, who know that it is not
should be a balance between autonomy and control enough to be familiar with the concepts of modern
of participants in the programme [36]. In this way, management, but is necessary to implement them.
control would reflect the basic principles of knowl- In the opinion of these authors, despite the fact
edge-based economy - high level of autonomy of that leadership is more art than science, it is nec-
knowledge workers in their working environment essary to look for appropriate procedure that will
and established models of behaviour, where their allow us to measure profit, i.e. return on successful
creativity and innovation can be fully expressed, leadership (ROL, Return-on-leadership). There
and the existence of control as a guarantee of eco- are seven areas that make successful knowledge
nomic feasibility and appropriateness of the em- leaders, the so-called “7C” of knowledge leader-
ployees’ activities in the knowledge organization. ship [38]. Specifically, knowledge leadership is
The question is whether the above conclusion can the function of context, competence, culture, com-
be justified by research findings. In fact, according munities, conversations and a common language,
to the results that we obtained, although 47% of re- communications, and coaching.
spondents believe that managers control the work The results show that 54% of the respondents
of employees in accordance with strictly set rules, a expressed full agreement with the statement “Top
higher percentage of them (57%) believe that con- managers perceive knowledge as a major asset of
trol of the organization is, as mentioned above, the the organization and start initiatives and support for
balance between autonomy and control of employ- the processes of knowledge acquisition, creation,
ees. If we add the research results showing that em- storing, sharing and applying,” While 9% abso-
ployees themselves sometimes take the initiative to lutely disagree, 37% of the respondents don’t have
solve problems, which is not prescribed by the rules a definite point of view on this issue. The statement
and regulations of the organization (42%), and that “Organizational leaders have a clear vision on how
managers sometimes encourage employees to take to properly use the knowledge that the organiza-
action, again not prescribed by the rules and regula- tion has in order to create additional value for the
tions, we can conclude that, from the system point organization” is absolutely true for 57% of the re-
of view, control in companies in Serbia is still based spondents. 55% of the respondents agreed with the
on relatively rigid and strictly set rules. Neverthe- statement “The leaders of the organization clearly
less, there are some changes in terms of creative stimulate innovation and learning,” while 63% of
and innovative initiatives not only within the man- the respondents found the statement “Organiza-
agement, but amongst the employees as well. Talk- tional leaders in the use a clear, open, efficient and
ing about the future, control in the organizations in effective communication” to be true.
Serbia could be a stimulant, and not an obstacle to
the successful implementation of knowledge man-
agement.

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 technics technologies education management

5. Conclusion management implementation. It would also be in-

teresting to engage in a multiple case comparison of
Although the basic forms of knowledge sharing
Serbian organizations with other cultures.
in organizations are still limited to sharing among
We believe that it is extremely important for
colleagues and among experts in the same field,
modern managers to recognize knowledge as the
we can still hope that the knowledge sharing can
key issue in modern business, to identify the ele-
be improved in the future, and that its new forms
ments of knowledge management in their own orga-
and modalities will be developed. Given the re-
nizations, to recognize the problems that stem from
sults of our research, showing that 64% of the re-
the failure to share knowledge or from insufficient
spondents feel that insufficient use of knowledge
use of the existing knowledge, to maintain various
in their organizations leads to losses and wasting
forms of knowledge exchange and sharing at vari-
many business opportunities, and that the main
ous organizational levels, and, of course, to be aware
areas that can be improved with the use of knowl-
of the fact that the application of knowledge man-
edge management are quality of services (prod-
agement can enhance very important business areas,
ucts), R&D, marketing, communications, human
such as customer relationship management, quality
resource management, information technology
of services and products, research and development,
and control, we can conclude that managers in
marketing, etc. In this sense, it is necessary to con-
companies in Serbia recognize knowledge as the
duct the training of employees and managers in the
basis of competitive advantage in today’s econo-
use of knowledge management, to introduce the
my, and knowledge management programme as a
knowledge management programme as a part of the
way to achieve this competitive advantage.
everyday activities of all employees, to explain the
The results of our study confirm our assump-
benefits of successful implementation of knowledge
tion that the key factors which influence the ef-
management, to insist on the need for knowledge
fectiveness of knowledge management are orga-
sharing among employees, and to define the need
nizational (corporate) culture, human resources,
for knowledge within the organization. By adhering
leadership, information technology and control,
to these courses of action, we believe that it is pos-
Specifically, 13% of the respondents believe that
sible to improve the application of knowledge man-
the main factor that influences knowledge man-
agement and to make it more efficient and useful.
agement are leadership skills, 14% control of busi-
ness processes, 21% opted for human resource
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Corresponding Author
Jelena Djordjevic-Boljanovic,
Singidunum University,
Belgrade,
Serbia,
E-mail: jboljanovic@singidunum.ac.rs

366 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

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Profitability of the investment project of

introducing modern business information
systems
Nebojsa Denic1, Boban Dasic2, Jelena Maslovara3
1
Faculty of Information Technology, Belgrade, Serbia,
2
High Economic School of Professional Studies, Pec, Serbia,
3
Alfa University Belgrade, Faculty of Managment, Novi Sad, Serbia.

Abstract sharing to start with” [2]. This is especially expres-

This paper analyzes related economic and fi- sive for one simple reason that in our business sys-
nancial viability, deviation of actual costs from the tems engineers has traditionally been dominated by
planned project costs of implementing ERP solution technical problems of economic profitability. For
in the business system, establishing alternative deci- example when designing a project, engineer is the
sion for two independent investment projects, as well most interested in whether the project will begin to
as comparison values ERP solution or values license. live, work, not focusing on the economic feasibil-
The purpose of this study was to determine the effect ity and viability [3]. However: “economic viabil-
of cost-effectiveness of project implementation of ity is an important criteria for success of project
contemporary business information systems. implementation as for quality activities in terms of
Key words: Project Management, Information maintenance and for future system development
Systems, Management Information Systems and starting up the system” [4]. The results showed
that the respondents prefer process approach while
implementing projects, using experience in accor-
Introduction
dance with modern knowledge learn from practice.
This paper presents the related deviations of ac- For this purpose, in the further course work and
tual costs from the project value of implementing analyzed business case in practice we have a case
ERP solutions in the business system, establishing that service provider, who is very good technically
alternative decision for two independent investment and professionally knowledgeable, don’t know to
projects, as well as comparison values ERP solutions​​ define cost-effectiveness ratios, because they soon
or values license. The purpose of this study was to stop with their business. Indirectly, client of the
determine the effect of economic and financial vi- services is damaged. So one of the aims of this re-
ability of the implementation Management informa- search is to determine the correlation between the
tion systems. In order to test the theoretical model, deviation of actual costs from the projected values
in practice research was carried out about cost-ef- of implementing ERP solutions in the business sys-
fectiveness of project ERP implementation, aimed tem. It is a “new and powerful area of informational
to determine the economic viability of this project. expansion in organisations and “getting it right” of-
“The implementation of an ERP package is an ten makes the difference between a flourishing life
enormously complex task requiring specific project and a slow business decay” [5].
management skills and knowledge” [1]. The experi- Concepts of borderless enterprises have been
ence and expertise in ERP implementation projects discussed for years and highlight the increased rel-
tells us that most of the projects had problem with evance of collaboration among enterprises and their
the economic profitability. So many of these proj- business environment [6]. For the success of each
ects just for this reason was treated as unsuccessful investment project and its financing, very impor-
projects. “In order to implement these systems that tant is good and adequate assessment of economic
are aimed at improving the sharing of enterprise- viability of corporate funding. “Investment deci-
wide information and knowledge, organizations sions are one of the most important and difficult
must have the capability of effective knowledge management decisions that should not be made on

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 technics technologies education management

the basis of intuition and empirical experience, but ure and it is relevant minor compared to the more
only by appropriate scientific methods” [7]. On the important issues such as communication systems
other hand for external financiers the eligibility of and inefficient management.
investors or project company, as the holder of the For the purpose of this paper, as we mentioned
investment activity, is not less important. Metods in the introduction, we have conducted a research
and tools which engineers use to assess the eco- in practice, where company name is virtual for busi-
nomic efficiency of investment projects can vary ness reasons. The company “Bozur” is the general
from very simple to extremely complicated and agent and distributor of world leading products
complex. In practice it is often necessary to choose for Serbia. It has been active in the market since
from two or more projects, optimal, acceptable to 10.02.2004. through its head office in Serbia and a
us, then apply procedures where from two or more number of regional distributors across the country.
alternative projects the best one is selected while With experience in sales of oils and lubricants, its
others are rejected, using graphic symbols [8]. Proj- organization and personnel company “Bozur” guar-
ect management is an important part of the process, antee the safety and quality customer service and
from creation through the implementation phase to quality marketing approach ... All products fit into
the maintenance phase, in terms of project manage- the current European and international quality stan-
ment in a way that is planned and provided. Ex- dards or they exceed them. The program contains
perienced experts recommend that all projects are motor, transmission, brake oil and related lubricants.
treated in the same way regardless of whether it is a There are also special engine oils developed for the
smaller or larger project, or on whether you include modern demands of a prolonged interval changes
one or more phases of the creation and support. and reduced fuel consumption. The company “Bo-
Table 1. Alternative decisions for two indepen- zur” tries to provide its customers maximum logistic
dent investment project support in the service goods delivery using “just in
Alternative Description XC XR time” principle. This company employs 200 people,
1 Discard C 0 0 while business and trade enterprises is increasing.
2 Discard R 1 0 According to analysis by Robert Block [9]
Accept C there are 12 classified categories, which affect the
Discard R failure of system implementation. Some authors
Discard C [10] believe that the immediate causes of the proj-
3 0 1 ect failure are things listed in the following table:
Accept R
One of the useful tasks, based on the covered
4 Accept C 1 1 literature [11] is defining and establishing the re-
Accept R sponsibility on the project on one side and a risk
assessment on the other side. The first example is
In practice often happens that the poor viability easy to develop metrics of accountability. An ex-
or project profitability is automatically approved ample is given in the following table.
with the signing of the contract. For this reason In another example table is set, where we deter-
it is important that implementers and project con- mine the possible risks of the project. The table has
sultants participate in the preparation of contract, been confirmed in practice and is shown below.
like vendors do. Before contract signing and de- Evaluation of probability that problem will oc-
termining the project implementation value, it is cur is presented in the interval from 1 to 5, with 1
necessary to identify all possible project risks and being very unlikely and 5 very likely possibility.
to talk about them openly with the client. The proj- Consequences which are marked with 1 causes
ect profitability is necessary to evaluate, and based the least damage and consequences marked with 5
on that you can decide whether you are going to inflict the most damage. The risk result [12], also
sign a contract or not. In the literature a lot has known as risk factor, is result of multiplication
been written about failed projects of introduction probability of problem occuring and the evalua-
modern information system. Poor technical meth- tion consequence. Critical line is the project team.
ods are just one of the reasons for the design fail- This is common when a risk factor reaches the val-

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Table 2. The causes of project failure

Failures Reasons Results
Conflicts between people, time and
Incorrect system with poor reliability, maintenance
lack of resources scope of the project due to insufficient
difficulties and dissatisfaction of users
resources
Failures - Leads to poor system development with many
Poor specification of requirements
Requirements changes in requirements
Inadequate settings of system targets Leads to poor system development because they
Failures - Objectives
by managers are managed by bad requirements
Failures in the use of effective Cause of inadequate specification requirements,
Failures - Technical software development approaches poor reliability, high maintenance costs, problems
such as structural analysis and design with planning and budgeting
Cause of inadequate specifications and poor
Failures - Contact Inability to communicate with system
preparation for the adoption and use of the
with customers users
information system
Failures -
Poor organizational structure, lack of Leads to poor coordination of tasks, delays in
organizational
leadership planning and uneven quality
functioning
Cause delays in the planning and scheduling,
Failures - Unreliable products, defects and poor
problems of maintenance and dissatisfied system
Technology hardware and software
users
Failures - Project When a project is too extensive, its
Due to insufficient resources, inadequate
size and project complexity affects the development of
requirements, use of poor methodology
scope system organizational capabilities
Failures - Managing Insufficient work, loss of creativity Exceeding budget and time, poor design
people and opposed attitudes cause defects specifications, the system is difficult to maintain
Shortcomings in the exercise
Failures -
of necessary activities, while This form may be due to defects in the system
Methodological
unnecessary activities are carried out
The consequence of vague tasks,
Failures - Planning
inadequate project management and Assignments may overlap
and Control
tracking tools
Passive cooperation and hidden opposition to a
Failures - Personnel personal conflicts
possible act of revenge
Table 3. Metrics of responsibility on the project
PM CPL PS FPS
Definition of objectives P C
The requirements of the new information system CO PA C CO
Preparation of draft- document P CO C C
Establishing the project organization PA CO C
Determination of resources, team leader, motivation of project participants PA CO CO
Management and supervision of costs CO C CO
Taking action in case of deviation PA CO C CO
Project time monitoring CO CO C
Quality monitoring CO CO
Communication PA CO
Report on the project progress P CO
Project conclusion -report P C C
Legend:
PM - Project Manager, P - performance, CPL - contractor project leader, C - confirmation, PS - project supervisor, CO - coo-
perate, FPS - financial project supervisor, PA - provide answers

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Table 4. Rating work risks on the project

Project risks PP AC RF Possible solutions
Lack of resources 2 5 10 Check resources and possible alternatives.
Team work 3 4 12 Collaboration with team members.
Project representatives are involved in all, they can point out
Support for leadership 5 5 25 possible consequences of success or failure and the effect of
competition.
Further consultation with users to clarify all the doubts and
Undefined expectations 4 3 12
uncertainties.
Prepare an alternative selection of personnel, reserve personnel
Staff expertise 2 5 10
in anticipation.
The motivation of people Accurately define the individual tasks, clearly defined targets,
3 4 12
on the project an additional motivation in the form of financial assets.
Accurate function determination, need to provide the necessary
Resistance to change 4 4 16
consultants assistance
Appropriate management 2 5 10 Leader replacement.
Basic discussion and analysis of contractor, reference,
Suitable contractors 2 5 10
replacement contractors.
Increase of informal communication among team members,
Appropriate
3 3 9 determining the appropriate tasks to individual members on the
communication
project, listen to customers, know how to argue their decisions.
Non-national project Revision of business plan, verification of conformity with the
1 5 5
linking strategies objectives of performing activities.
Availability of planned Need to provide primary resources for people who are
3 5 15
staff responsible for assigning staff.
Thorough preparation of the school curriculum, listen to the
Inadequate training of recipients, to prepare them for active participation. Training
2 5 10
personnel to prepare for the real data in a particular company. Training
conducted in the form of symposia, whenever possible.
Whenever is possible need to customized business processes to
Changing business
4 5 20 be like ERP solutions, analyze the options, costs and risks by
processes
the adaptation of ERP solutions for business processes.
Hesitation people on the Well-defined partnership, talks about the problems and
4 2 8
project possibilities of solving them.
Urgent and effective decision-making, rapid approach to
Solving urgent problems 3 5 15
solving urgent problems.
Calling attention to the consequences of the implementation,
Implementation of ERP determining the scope of implementation, need to document
4 4 16
solutions implementation, need to show present costs to the client, that
directly carries implementation.
Legend:
PP - Probability that there is a potential problem, AC - Assessment of consequences (when problem occurs), RF - Risk factor.

ue of 15. risk factors need to monitored through all Analyzes of companies in practice gives us the
duration of the project. It is necessary to respond following results. The contract for carrying out
without delay. In that example, urgent meeting of the reconstruction of the information system with
the project supervisor and project leadership is company “Bozur” was made on the basis of poor
needed. At the meeting, they need to determine grades and lack of knowledge about details and cir-
possible solutions, which should be implemented cumstances, which appeared on the project. So we
as quickly as possible and put in operation. have brought into question, due to lack of time we

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have drop a large number of phases predicted by the decided to go to the restoration of information sys-
methodology. The end result of the sales phase was tem by buying newer version of ERP solution. A
unrealistic project price value. This study shows, newer version has more functionality, which were
with its analysis, that it is necessary to determine under the old system made by a customer orders
the act in contract, which will warn to it and define that eventually became difficult to understand.
that in the example of non-defined activities in the There were problems with the data of certain mod-
contract signing stage, additional activities can be ules within the system, because the standard func-
defined during the project execution. tionality of ERP sometimes did not work properly.
The contracting authority gives the contractor “Bozur” wants renewal of information system
an order form for each subsequent request, which by introducing a standard solution, which offers
is not defined at the very beginning of the project ERP system and with it to solve many problems
and defines it in the bargain. Such demands are that have emerged in recent years in the business.
later evaluated separately. Another approach in The company “Bozur” wants to improve access to
solving such problems is to develop a fee sched- the information which system offers, by switching
ule in the final period, while information on how, to a new system. The reason for re-engineering and
what and who was working, are still fresh. In the modernization of information system lies in lower-
final periods, for individual work invoices are is- ing the cost of doing business. Especially in our own
sued (weekly, monthy,...). production, as well as reduce the costs of maintain-
The following graphic (Figure 1.) shows a de- ing the old information system, which have recently
viation of the agreed value from the real value on grown a lot. The project ran from March 2006 until
the project implementation of ERP solutions in May 2006. In June, “Bozur” started to use ERP so-
company “Bozur”, which we named for profes- lution in the business. With the graphics you can
sional reasons, and competition, which are pro- see that the conditional value of the project is much
tected by trade secrets, business of real companie lower than the actual, the real project cost. In June,
analyzed in practice. we see that the introducing costs are the highest.
This is due to unrealized undocumented individual
training and operating procedures through the im-
plementation phase of ERP solution. Therefore, the
more energy and time was needed in the first month
after starting up the system. Trainings were per-
formed directly in the workplace with “live” data.
In July, we see that the costs are dramatically re-
duced, this refers to the fact that the client had to
Figure 1. Deviation of the actual costs from the choose another bidder for administration and main-
project value of implementing ERP solutions in tenance of information system, because the original
company “Bozur”, by the contract. company stopped selling and offering services for
ERP, which were introduced in the respective com-
The company “Bozur” currently has the largest panies. The following does not mean that in future
market share in Serbia, it is present in the market they will not have costs.
of former Yugoslavia, the Third World countries If you now look at the graph in Figure 2, you
and the European Union. Current information sys- can see that the value of the ERP solution (li-
tem is an ERP solution that was implemented nine censes) is increased without additional services.
years ago. During that time it served its purpose Through the implementation phase it was found
well. The solution is developed over time and up- that the client needed some additional modules in
grading itself. But the business time frames grew the basic solution. Due to the lack of a written con-
further and company can not upgrade ERP solu- tract in the sales activities phase, the services costs
tion in that way anymore. Database in time be- were covered by the bidder.
came too small and too slow for a large number of For business reasons (trade secrets) values in
transactions. Base on that Company Management both graphics are not displayed. It is important to see

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 technics technologies education management

what makes the difference in the incomplete access 3. Shtub A, Bard J, Globerson Sh. Project Manage-
of reconstruction information system or implement- ment: Engineering, Technology, and Implementation,
Prentice Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey,
ing ERP solution in an enterprise or organization.
1994; pp. 46.

4. Denić N. Menadžment informacioni sistemi, Viso-

ka tehnička škola strukovnih studija Uroševac u
Zvečanu, Kvark, Kraljevo, 2010; pp. 51.

5. Mrazek J. Robust Business Intelligence Solutions, in:

Knowledge Discovery for Business Information Sys-
tems, Editors: Abramovitz W, Zurada J. The Kluwer
International Series in Engineering and Computer
Science, Publisher: Kluwer Academic Publishers,
Figure 2. Comparison of ERP solution values Hingham, MA, USA; 2002;600: p. 251-273.

6. Hoyer V, Christ O. Collaborative E-Business process

Conclusion Modeling: A Holistic Analysis Framework Focused
on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, in: Busi-
This paper presents a thorough analysis of the ness Information Systems – 10th International Con-
economic viability of the project ERP implementa- ference BIS 2007, Poznan, Poland, Proceedings:
tion. We used modern methods of investment valu- Abramovicz W. Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg;
ation, which have found their practical application April 25-27, 2007; p. 41-53.
to business systems. The aim of the research is con- 7. Dašić B. Strane direktne investicije i regionalni raz-
firmed by analysis, which shows deviation of actual voj Srbije, Visoka ekonomska škola strukovnih studi-
costs from the project cost implementing ERP solu- ja Peć u Leposaviću, Neven, Zemun, 2011; pp. 11.
tion in “Bozur” by contract. Also we have tried to
8. Park Ch. Contemporary Engineering Economics,
pinpoint the factors that affect the viability of intro- Addison-Wesley Publishing Company,Reading, MA,
ducing a new management information system. It USA, 1993; pp. 651.
was confirmed that the assessment of the economic
viability for investment project includes consider- 9. Block R. The Politics of Projects, Yourdon Press,
ation the effects that an investor has. The research Prentice-Hall,Englewood Cliff, New Jersey, 1983.
and a substantial part of economic viability experts 10. Sumner M. Critical success factors in enterprise
show a critical attitude toward our practice, arguing wide information management systems projects,
for the higher degree of professionalism in this area. ACM SIGCPR Conference on Computer personnel
Investing is a dynamic process and use of selective research, New Orleans, 1999; p. 297-303.
criteria can lead to large errors in the economic 11. Aloini D, Dulmin R, Mininno V. Risk management
evaluation of the project cost for introducing mod- in ERP project introduction: Review of the litera-
ern management information system, and therefore ture, Information and Management, September,
the investment project approach needs to be seri- 2007;44(6): p. 547-567.
ous, with preparation and quality personnel.
12. Ngai E, Law C, Wat T. Examining the critical
success factors in the adoption of enterprise re-
References source planning, Computers in Industry, August,
2008;59(6): p. 548-564
1. Welti N. Successful Sap R/3 Implementation: Practi-
cal Management of ERP Projects, Addison-Wesley
Longman Publishing Co., Inc. Boston, MA, USA, Corresponding Author
1999; pp. 3. Nebojsa Denic,
ALFA University,
2. Vandaie R. The role of organizational knowledge Faculty of Information Technology,
management in successful ERP implementation proj- Belgrade,
ects, Knowledge-Based Systems, Elsevier Science Serbia,
Publishers B. V. Amsterdam, The Netherlands, De- E-mail: denicnebojsa@gmail.com
cember 2008;21(8): pp. 920.

372 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

The balanced scorecard vs. Total quality

management
Stevo Janosevic, Vladimir Dzenopoljac
Faculty of Economics, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia

Abstract Quality Management [2], introduced a similar set

This paper aims to provide a framework for study- of metrics. These quality awards were significant
ing the relationship between the balanced scorecard because they relied on criteria that together make
(BSC) and total quality management (TQM). Em- up a model of business excellence. However, stud-
pirical investigation suggests that numerous orga- ies during the 1990s showed that even those com-
nizations have adopted BSC and TQM. Both con- panies that had received these prestigious awards
cepts are a performance and strategic measurement could encounter financial difficulties. These results
and management tool. BSC appraises four dimen- suggest that the relationship between a process of
sions of organizational performance: financial, cus- continuous improvement and financial performance
tomer, internal business processes, and learning and is far from automatic [3, 4]. This can be seen in
growth. A section within the BSC part of this paper the case of Wallace Company of Houston, U.S.A.,
investigates the issue of intangible assets manage- which went bankrupt two years after receiving the
ment. The TQM component of the paper reveals Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 1990.
important elements of the TQM concept, its prin- The Florida Power and Light company received the
ciples, its effects, and how it may be implemented. Deming Prize in 1989, but afterward was forced to
The final part of the paper deals with the relationship remove its production line owing to employee com-
between BSC and TQM from various perspectives: plaints about excessive paperwork.
(1) linkage to the quality management system, (2) One of the basic principles of a quality manage-
conceptual framework and range of usage, (3) met- ment system (QMS) in an organization states that
rics used, and (4) complexity of feedback. the main objective is to ensure continuous improve-
Key words: balanced scorecard, total quality ment in overall performance. The ISO 9004 stan-
management, performance measurement, system dard is the guide for companies whose top manage-
quality management. ment wish to go further in implementing ISO 9001
regarding continuous performance improvement.
The application of quality management principles to
Introduction
all aspects of a business leads to the ultimate aim of
In 1987 the Malcolm Baldrige National Qual- achieving total quality management (TQM), which
ity Award was established by the U.S. government has as its foundation continuous improvement.
with the main purpose of promoting the importance The essential idea behind the balanced scorecard
of quality and the implementation of quality-based (BSC) tool is the integration of various business as-
strategies. This was also an attempt to integrate var- pects into one performance measurement system. At
ious dimensions of quality, such as financial, cus- its center is the well-known fact that modern man-
tomer, business processes, and employee perspec- agement cannot be successful if it is based solely
tives. The initial set of criteria included financial on tracking and monitoring company financial per-
metrics (net profit per employee), customer metrics formance. It is also necessary to use measures that
(delivery delay, market cycle), internal business reflect future performance and to take into consider-
processes metrics (production rejects, total produc- ation the relationship and effects of intangible assets
tion period, order implementation period, supply utilization in the value creation process [5]. A re-
shortages), and employee metrics (training and em- search study carried out by [6] showed that 46% of
ployee morale) [1]. In 1991 the European Quality organizations (359 out of 780) are using some type
Award, promoted by the European Foundation for of formal methodology for performance measure-

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 technics technologies education management

ment. Of this number, 75% apply a management The Basics of the Concept
system based on BSC. In addition, around 25% used The BSC provides a wider perspective on
some form of TQM as a conceptual framework for a achieving identified strategic objectives. It incor-
performance management system. porates not only financial but also nonfinancial
success indicators. BSC was created for various
The balanced scorecard hierarchy levels (corporate, smaller organizational
units, and individuals) and business functions.
In the early 1990s Robert Kaplan and David The concept links critical success factors with key
Norton introduced the concept of BSC as a result performance indicators by transforming critical
of their one-year study of 12 companies. Empiri- success factors into measurable objectives. The
cal research [7, 8, 9] reveals that a notable num- objectives are aligned not only from different per-
ber of companies worldwide use the BSC concept spectives but also in relation to current and future
(Great Britain 57%, U.S.A. 46%, Germany and performance. Lag indicators point to past results.
Austria 26%, 40% of Fortune 1000 company list). Market share, sales revenues, and employee satis-
BSC has also been successfully implemented in faction are types of lag indicators. Lead indicators
public and nonprofit sectors (primarily health and are the drivers of future performance and point out
education). The concept was initially intended as opportunities for value creation through various
a performance measurement system, but it later forms of investment such as in intangible assets in
evolved into a strategic management system and the first place. Time spent dealing with customers
a communication tool [10, 11]. and investment in new knowledge and skills are
typical lead performance indicators. Lead indica-
BSC: The context of origin tors and measures of future performance based
The primary motive for the emergence of BSC on these indicators need to be balanced with lag
was the increasing importance of intangible assets indicators and performance measures that are the
in the process of value creation. Intangible assets result of past activities. For example, timely deliv-
do not create value independently and are focused ery could be a lead indicator of customer satisfac-
on future value creation. Created value is indirect tion, seen as performance measure.
and potential in nature. In order to make intangi-
ble assets create value, it is necessary to integrate
and connect its different components with each
other and in relation to tangible assets. In contrast
to material resources whose value is reduced by
their exploitation, the value of intangible assets
increases when a company uses them. Moreover,
physical assets can be copied easily, but it is far
more challenging to create competitive advantage
through intangible assets management. The value
created by the use of intangibles is contextual.
Consequently, intangible assets must be connected
to strategy in order to create value, and intangible Figure 1. The balanced scorecard [10]
assets are therefore valued according to strategy.
Conventional financial reporting and perfor- The BSC concept has evolved from an advanced
mance measurements are not in line with the char- performance measurement system to a strategic
acteristics of the modern business environment management system [10]. The objectives are defined
in which intangible assets are significant creators on the basis of vision and strategy from the perspec-
of value. Investors are demanding a new perfor- tives of financial, customer, and internal business
mance measurement system that is based not sole- processes as well as learning and growth (see Fig-
ly on financial measures but also on nonfinancial ure 1). The conceptual framework of BSC relies on
measures, which are the drivers of future success. answering the following questions: (1) To succeed

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financially, how should we appear to our sharehold- The BSC concept places strategy at the center of
ers? (2) To achieve our vision, how should we ap- the management process. A range of performance
pear to our customers? (3) To satisfy our sharehold- measures are used in order to monitor the level to
ers and customers, what business processes must which strategic objectives are met. The interde-
we excel at? (4) To achieve our vision, how will we pendence of strategic objectives and performance
sustain our ability to change and improve? measures is also accomplished by taking into ac-
Financial perspective considers growth, profit- count the variety of perspectives. The idea of this
ability, and risk. The financial perspective describes interdependence led to the creation of a strategy
tangible strategy outcomes via traditional account- map, which is used to describe the value creation
ing measures relating to sales revenues, profit- process. A strategy map reflects the logical path-
ability, and assets utilization. These performance way through which the strategic objectives are in-
measures by their nature do not communicate with terlinked and enables a strategy to be visualized by
the drivers of future performances. Profitability, li- integrating and linking a large number of objectives
quidity, asset utilization, and market capitalization derived from differing perspectives [13]. Figure 2
are the most commonly used objectives within this shows the generic structure of a strategy map.
perspective. The customer perspective defines cus- Every perspective requires, in addition to stra-
tomer value propositions. Customer value propo- tegic objectives and performance measures, the
sition identifies the way in which a company may identification of targets and initiatives. BSC typi-
differentiate itself from competitors in terms of at- cally involves 20 to 25 measures, or 1 to 3 mea-
tracting, retaining, and strengthening good relation- sures per objective. The corresponding targets are
ships with identified customers. The introduction of defined on the basis of the selected measures and
new products, customer satisfaction, and customer represent the desired value of a certain measure.
loyalty are usually the most important business ob- The objective of marketing intensity may have the
jectives from this perspective. The most common percentage of revenues devoted to the marketing
measures for tracking whether objectives are met department as corresponding measure. The target
are market share, the contribution of new products would thus be a certain percentage expressed nu-
to sales revenues, customer retention rate, total merically. Initiatives take into consideration cer-
numbers of customers, and sales per customer. The tain internal business processes and are used for
perspective of internal business processes identifies defining adequate activities needed for the realiza-
the key processes that influence strategy and the tion of identified targets (e.g., promotional prices,
most appropriate measures to monitor progress. In bonuses for increased sales).
fact, customer and shareholder satisfaction depends The initial idea of Kaplan and Norton [5, 7]
on suitable internal business processes management is that a strategy represents a sum of hypotheses
and on achieving excellence in the performance of on causes and effects. The central notion is that a
certain activities. Appropriate measures of success strategy that cannot be described or measured can-
for production automation may be the percentage not be executed either. In order to progress from
of realized automation. The learning and growth the present to the desired state, one must under-
perspective stresses intangible assets as being the stand the existing interdependencies, which may
most crucial to a strategy. Intangible assets rep- be numerous. This sum of complex interactions is
resent the root of a tree as the source of support, primarily linked to activities (lead indicators) and
food, and growth for the canopy, thus enabling the wanted outcomes (lag indicators). Another con-
fruits. If the root is weak, the trunk will be unstable, dition that must be met is the ability to test and
the canopy will be small, and the resultant fruits, adapt to changes in environment needs. Through
if any, will be low quality [12]. Intangible assets these logical relations, the indirect correlation
are categorized into human, information, and orga- between intangible assets and tangible outcomes
nizational capital [7, 13]. Possible measures from can be understood. Moreover, the measurement
this perspective include investments in employees, system is used to establish clear relationships
days spent on training, strategic skills possession, (hypotheses) between objectives (and measures)
employee satisfaction, and work absence. from different perspectives, which makes their

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management and control possible. In addition, it inadequate competition and technology monitor-
is possible to create interdependencies between ing. The key advantage of BSC, which is under-
performance measures within the same perspec- standing, involvement, and support of everyone
tives. In this manner, employee understanding of within the organization, is also its drawback in
strategy is improved and a potential for learning terms of time consumption [19].
is generated. Applying BSC logic links the phase
of strategy formulation to that of execution, and Total quality management
makes this relation dynamic rather than static. The
nature of the contemporary business environment Although the ISO 9001 standard does not men-
makes strategy execution far more important and tion the concept of TQM, it is clear that the TQM
challenging than strategy formulation. According philosophy is an inseparable part of it. Moreover,
to [14] around 70% of all initiatives geared toward TQM is a model of a QMS that complies with ISO
change are not successful. Various studies [13, 15] 9001 and is also a business philosophy. The TQM
reveal that the percentage of strategy execution concept is based on eight principles of quality man-
failures is 70–90%. Top executives at the largest agement, which are described in the ISO 9000:2007
U.S. companies believe that fewer than 10% of all standard [20]. This standard describes an organiza-
strategies are implemented successfully. tion with the following characteristics: (1) customer
oriented, (2) focused on leadership, (3) engages em-
ployees on all levels, (4) applies a process approach,
(5) uses a system approach to management, (6) fo-
cuses on continuous improvement, (7) decisions are
based on facts, (8) creates partnerships with suppli-
ers. Measuring, monitoring, and improving system
performances within the ISO 9004 quality standard
depend on the ability to identify those areas in which
performance improvements are possible. The most
important methods that may be used for this purpose
are interviews on customer and other stakeholder
satisfaction, internal control, analyses of financial
measures, and self-assessment.

The basics of the concept

The essence of the concept of modern quality is
not solely about fulfilling identified standards and
Figure 2. Generic strategy map obtaining appropriate certificates. A quality sys-
tem is not static, and therefore it must be subject
Some authors [16] criticize the BSC concept to continuous improvements and advancements.
because the cause and effect chain lacks a time This is because competitive advantage represents
lag dimension. According to [17] BSC limitations a moving target, and in order to keep up with in-
include the absence of basic directions for selec- creasing quality demands in the age of hypercom-
tion of performance measures and the complexity petition, it is vital to raise the quality level and
of feedback between the perspectives of finance, level of customer satisfaction on a continual basis.
customer, and internal business processes. Kanji The new standards (ISO 9004:2009) significantly
and Moura [18] highlight the conceptuality of the alter the focus from managing quality to managing
model as its main weakness, since the concept the whole organization.
cannot be easily transformed into a measurement Top management should lead, motivate, and
model. Other weaknesses of the model include a improve activities relating to quality management.
lack of clear interpretation of criteria interactions Leadership, dedication, and active participation
and its insufficiently dynamic nature in terms of on the part of top management, as well as an un-

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derstanding of customer expectations, form the customer value creation, continuous quality im-
basis of improving quality. Total quality is not a provement, the precise measurement of every key
particular stage or some stable position; it is a way variable in the business process, a work climate
of doing business that has as its main prerequisites based on mutual trust, and teamwork. One useful
continuous improvement and flexible adaptation. description of the essentials of TQM [25] reveals
The key challenge is to improve company perfor- ten important elements of TQM implementation:
mance based on appropriate management of qual- (1) to define quality and customer value; (2) to de-
ity. In addition to the need for top management to velop a customer-oriented approach; (3) to focus
take on a leadership role in the process of TQM, on the company’s business processes; (4) to devel-
the involvement of every employee and ongoing op customer and supplier partnerships; (5) to take
efforts to further employees’ education are essen- a preventive approach; (6) to adopt an error-free
tial. The objective of management is to improve attitude; (7) to get the facts first; (8) to encourage
employees’ work at every stage of the value chain every manager and employee to participate; (9) to
and ensure continuous progress so that it perme- create an atmosphere of total involvement; (10) to
ates every part of the organization. strive for continuous improvement.
Although there is no generally accepted defini-
tion of TQM, most descriptions mention TQM’s Effects and potential for application
focus on continuous quality improvement. Dur- Empirical evidence corroborates that TQM im-
ing the last two decades, the principles of TQM proves company performance. Most studies show
have been broadly accepted as a means of improv- the positive impact that TQM has on business op-
ing the overall performance of a company [21]. erations [26, 27]. However, a number of empirical
Some definitions of TQM in particular stress the studies demonstrate that TQM does not contribute
importance of achieving business excellence; that to performance improvement or that results dif-
is, TQM must provide excellent product qual- fer depending on firm size or industry type [28].
ity. The most significant elements of a successful Empirical results vary when it comes to TQM’s
TQM strategy are customer orientation, a decision impact on financial performance. The studies rely
process based on facts, process orientation, con- on a large number of factors that are crucial to suc-
tinuous improvement, and the engagement of ev- cessful TQM implementation, and so any overall
ery employee [22]. Five principles describe TQM: improvement in competitiveness cannot be solely
leadership, customer and employee orientation, a attributed to TQM. Moreover, different TQM pro-
focus on facts, continuous improvement, and the grams do not provide success independently and
involvement of everyone. The Total Quality Fo- automatically. Most companies accept TQM as a
rum has defined TQM as a management system framework that delivers results, but there are also
that is people oriented with the objective of contin- some companies that do not consider the concept
ual increase the customer satisfaction along with to be good enough. This tendency arises because
continual decreases in real costs. TQM connects of a lack of commitment by management to apply
departments and sectors horizontally, includes the necessary changes in the company culture.
employees at all levels of hierarchy, and integrates In order to implement TQM, management must
the customer value chain with the value chain apply it when executing strategically important
of suppliers [23]. TQM advocates claim that the activities such as assigning tasks, setting objec-
concept can be applied in every organization (pro- tives, planning, informing and educating, assign-
duction, services, not-for-profit, or government) ing roles and responsibilities, requesting reports
and that it generates higher-quality products and and dedication, rewarding those who contribute to
services, lower costs, more-satisfied customers value creation, celebrating success, and renewing
and employees, and better financial performance. efforts. If any of these elements are not present,
TQM is viewed as a new organizational culture difficulties will arise [29]. It should be mentioned
and new way of reasoning. Certain elements of that many companies fail to execute TQM, for
the process are directly related to individual be- which there are many reasons. Specifically, Mc-
havior and the learning process [24]. It is based on Indoo [30] points to a lack of consistent customer

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orientation, inadequate comprehension, and inap- approach for altering behavior and performance.
propriate application of quality principles. Seven issues are commonly stressed [26]: 1) lack
Can TQM be imitated? At first, one might think of leadership from the top; (2) lack of overall di-
that this is possible and that the potential of the rection to guide the incremental improvements;
concept spreading is high. Based on comparisons (3) use of a generic model rather than adapting the
to an innovation adoption process, the conclusion model to the company culture; (4) quality metrics
that may be drawn is that a relatively small num- that were not focused on the customer; (5) training
ber of companies would be able to imitate TQM with a narrow focus; (6) lack of support for imple-
rationally. Potential adopters of TQM perhaps do menting the quality process after people have been
not realize that TQM success depends not only trained; (7) assigning quality to a separate depart-
on the adoption of its principles, but also on the ment instead of making it part of daily activities.
presence of complementary factors that may not According to [4], the impact of TQM on stra-
be directly related to TQM but are much harder to tegic management and practice is still unclear and
imitate than TQM itself. For example, it appears needs further study; empirical research dedicated
that TQM requires the following: a culture that to TQM effects and its efficient implementation
is susceptible to changes, motivation for promo- has little significance and theoretical support. The
tion, people capable of understanding and apply- results of research by various consulting firms and
ing specific TQM practices, people who possess societies for quality which conclude that TQM
corporate persistence and leadership qualities, creates value are not completely convincing, since
and perhaps a certain external factor that induces the authors of these studies are professional in-
change and learning. In addition, TQM often de- terested in the success of TQM. In addition, the
mands the transformation of organizational core studies are not executed according to generally
characteristics, particularly in terms of manage- accepted methodological standards, and they of-
ment styles and culture, and a complete restructur- ten do not incorporate progress in performance for
ing of social relationships within the company and those companies that do not implement the TQM
between the company and its shareholders. Many program.
companies resist changes in order to reduce risk On the other hand, TQM advocates claim that
and wait for the positive outcome of current strat- the critics fail to see TQM as a completely differ-
egies, or to avoid the uncertainty and turbulences ent management approach compared to conven-
of change, even if embracing them might improve tional management. Also, frequent quality man-
company performance. agement failures were appointed to contingency
Although there are many TQM followers, there or contextual factors, thus denying the universal
are also some critics who consider TQM to be very nature of quality [31]. Since it is viewed as an
costly and hard to implement [4]. The critics stress evolutionary process within the framework of the
the disadvantages of TQM: it induces excessive conventional management paradigm, its elements
retraining costs, consumes inordinate amounts are treated as a mixture of particular concepts,
of management time, increases paperwork and techniques, and principles that can be included
formality, requires extremely high levels of em- in an existing management system. According to
ployee commitment, emphasizes process over re- [32], TQM distinguishes itself significantly from
sults, and fails to meet the requirements of small conventional management theory and practice
firms, service firms, or nonprofits. According to and represents the transition to a new and different
the critics, empirical studies have not yet convinc- paradigm. Some authors treat TQM as a particular
ingly revealed that TQM firms outperform non- set of principles, rules, and regulations that creates
TQM firms. According to one report, written in boundaries and describes a method of operating
1993 for the Conference Board, TQM can be very in terms of achieving success, which means that
useful, but some approaches are better than oth- TQM is seen as a new contemporary paradigm.
ers. The consulting firm Booz, Allen & Hamilton It is therefore necessary to incorporate the TQM
investigated 30 service companies and concluded paradigm as a whole into business operations, in-
that TQM could be an appropriate management stead of accepting only certain pieces of it.

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Comparison of bsc and tqm and initiatives. The context of customer value cre-
ation and different measures derived from this per-
The relationship between BSC and TQM will
spective are correlated with other measures of per-
be analyzed from four perspectives: (1) the rela-
formance derived from the other perspectives. By
tion to QMS; (2) concept basics and scope of im-
analyzing these interdependencies, ways of increas-
plementation; (3) metrics used; and (4) the com-
ing customer satisfaction and improving the qual-
plexity of feedbacks.
ity of products and services are identified. A quality
(1) The Relation to QMS. Since TQM is a
program is one of the drivers of future performance.
model of QMS, and since the principles of quality
Thus, BSC and TQM represent two concepts that
management are related to the concept of BSC, it
differ in terms of available possibilities, their design
is vital to look at the relationship between TQM
process, and their implementation. BSC resembles
and BSC from the QMS point of view. Qual-
a blank slate, which should enable a better under-
ity management principles are used in leading an
standing of critical success factors. BSC answers
organization toward performance improvement.
the “why” question, and TQM answers the “how”
However, it is necessary to understand that QMS
question. BSC is based on dynamic and explicit
represents the part of an organization’s manage-
interdependent relationships. Business excellence
ment that is focused on achieving objectives re-
models contain a standard set of objectives based
garding quality. In other words, QMS may form
on generally accepted logic, in which interdepen-
part of a unique management system such as BSC
dent relations are generic. Thus, BSC may be said
and TQM. Consequently, the purpose of quality
to have a more dynamic and flexible nature com-
management is to achieve the desired objectives
pared to TQM.
in terms of quality and to guide the organiza-
Kaplan and Norton [13] point out that BSC
tion toward improvements in quality. It is widely
can increase TQM program value in four ways.
known that quality objectives are related to other
Firstly, BSC ensures explicit and causal linkages
strategic goals viewed from different perspectives.
through a strategy map and cascaded objectives.
It is therefore possible to link QMS to the BSC
Programs of quality improvement are only one
concept. Therefore, if BSC describes the strategy,
part of any successful strategy execution. Quality
then QMS describes the quality.
program results are often implicit and can rarely
(2) Concept basics and scope of implementa-
be tested. Creation of BSC assumes the presence
tion. BSC and TQM represent a strategic frame-
of an explicit strategy and appropriate objectives,
work with major intent of improving company per-
measures, tasks, and initiatives. Thus, BSC en-
formance. The framework for TQM is management
sures complete and focused TQM results track-
philosophy based on the importance of quality and
ing. Secondly, BSC establishes targets for break-
its continuous improvement. Quality is defined from
through performance. Many quality programs are
the customer perspective, and customer orientation
used for assessment of internal business processes
is the most important aspect of TQM. The frame-
performance compared to the practices and results
work of BSC is a management philosophy based on
of the best companies. In contrast, setting objec-
logic that focuses on existing interdependencies in
tives within the BSC concept begins with aspira-
a company whose role and status are determined by
tions that might be the breakthrough in terms of
intangible assets. BSC is a wider framework com-
company performance. Companies that apply
pared to TQM. Each of these concepts emerged
BSC are expected to become an industry bench-
from two different schools of thought: quality man-
mark. Thirdly, quality approaches tend to improve
agement and performance measurement. The de-
existing organizational processes in such a way
sign process of a BSC approach also describes the
that they operate faster, better, and at lower costs.
quality system. In other words, BSC integrates the
However, the application of BSC principles, par-
TQM principles and may therefore be used as a tool
ticularly when executing a new strategy, often
for executing TQM. Customer perspective within
reveals new processes that help in achieving ex-
BSC is one of four perspectives used to identify
cellence. For example, a company may trade off
specific objectives, performance measures, tasks,
a low-cost strategy against a differentiation strat-

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 technics technologies education management

egy based on customer relationship management. for improvement in every area, which is the basis
The critical process for this new strategy would of the BSC approach to performance measures in
be cooperation with a target group of customers terms of balancing objectives.
whose future needs must be anticipated. When a The main difference between the two concepts
strategic process is identified, an appropriate qual- is that BSC metrics are based on desired strategy,
ity program may be developed whose primary aim while TQM metrics (and the metrics of related
would consist of improving the performance of business excellence models) rely on TQM prin-
this process. Finally, BSC sets strategic priorities ciples. For example, the EFQM model of business
for process enhancements. Some processes have excellence uses nine criteria (leadership, employ-
greater significance than others. BSC identifies ees, strategy, partnership and resources, processes,
those processes that must be the same as or above employee related results, customer related results,
existing industry practice, or those processes that society related results, and key results), while the
are less critical in terms of strategic success. Iden- Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award has seven cri-
tification of critical and essential processes is a teria of business excellence (leadership; strategic
key quality management principle. planning; customer orientation; measuring, analy-
(3) Metrics used. Both BSC and TQM are sys- sis, and knowledge management; employee ori-
tems for measuring overall performance. Both entation; management process; and results). Each
concepts were developed with the objective of criterion has its own weighted coefficient, which
gaining a more complete insight into corporate per- determines the maximum number of points. These
formance and for the purposes of overcoming the business excellence models are frameworks cre-
limits of traditional performance measures. The ef- ated primarily for the purposes of continuous im-
fective impact of BSC and TQM implementation provement and benchmarking. British Telecom,
on corporate performance has been empirically NatWest Life, and European Communications
verified. Measuring and presenting results increases were companies that attempted to apply BSC to
the chances of these concepts’ success. Therefore, the EFQM business excellence model [33]. The
these concepts complement one another. However, use of business excellence models enables com-
the BSC concept uses different financial and non- panies to compare achieved results (number of
financial indicators to monitor the achievement of points) with other companies or with previously
strategic objectives, which are defined based on achieved results. These models therefore provide
strategy from different perspectives. Each perfor- an assessment of the current and competitive po-
mance measure is part of a chain of interdependent sition of a company, but they are not focused on
relationships. The measures should assist manage- how performance may be improved. Compared to
ment in balancing existing and future performance. TQM, BSC has more criteria. Within the context
Therefore, BSC gives a broader insight into under- of every BSC perspective a certain number of spe-
standing and improving performance. cial TQM criteria are also incorporated. Different
The QMS process approach is based on mea- organizations may use different measures depend-
surement, analysis, and improvement. The ISO ing on the chosen strategy. The central limitation
9001:2000 standard has reduced the number of re- of BSC is that it does not provide concrete funda-
quirements in terms of documentation, which has mental guidelines for selecting measures, unlike
enabled greater freedom and creativity in the design business excellence models. Table 1 illustrates
of systems overseeing quality. Changes made to this the relationship between TQM and BSC based on
standard are an attempt to incorporate the growing key activities and performance metrics relating to
need for continuous improvement in corporate per- TQM and various BSC perspectives.
formance. Demands for employee competence are (4) The complexity of feedbacks. BSC and
made clearer, since their work directly affects the TQM also differ in terms of the information feed-
quality of products and services. TQM contributes back methods used. BSC employs feedbacks that
to improving the management and performance are more complex. Interactivity is introduced into
system as a whole. In addition, it tends toward real- every phase of the management process, and the
izing customer satisfaction through gaining support effects of the company strategy are assessed con-

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Table 1. The relationship between BSC and TQM [34]

Key TQM-related activities TQM-related performance metrics BSC dimension
Employee opinion survey Learning and growth
Executive commitment and
Employee satisfaction Internal business
managementcompetence
New techniques introduction compared to competitors processes
Customer-satisfaction survey
Customer acquisition rate
Customer retention (or loyalty rate) Customer
Customer relationships
% of the industry market share Financial
No. of customer complaints
Warranty repair cost
Supplier-satisfaction survey Internal business
Supplier relationships
Supplier retention rate processes
Labor efficiency compared to competitors
Rework/scrap rate Internal business
Benchmarking Cost of quality (% of sales) processes
ROI Financial
Market share
Employee-satisfaction survey
Employee training Employee capabilities Learning and growth
Investing in employee development and training
Customer-satisfaction survey
Open, less bureaucratic culture Customer
Employee-satisfaction survey
and employee empowerment Learning and growth
The degree of decentralization in corporate governance
Incidence of product defects
Internal business
Monitoring quality programs Material and labor efficiency variances
processes
(Zero-defects culture) % of shipments returned due to poor quality
Customer
Warranty repair cost
Internal business processes Investment in high technology Internal business
improvement and Introduction of new management system processes
manufacturing innovation Sales growth Financial

tinually. BSC provides a feedback for learning and also focused on revealing mistaken assumptions
strategy improvement. Feedback has two levels – that were used as a basis for the formulation or
operational and strategic – and three types – oper- implementation of a strategy. BSC therefore has
ations control feedback (implementing corrective the role of a strategic control system.
measures in case planned results are not attained),
strategy implementation feedback, and strategic Conclusion
learning feedback. BSC aligns operational activi-
ties with strategic priorities, which are based on The nature of today’s business environment and
mission (why do we exist?) and vision (what do the increasing importance of intangible assets re-
we want?). The functioning of these feedbacks quire a new management philosophy and new per-
means that BSC is an operational system for stra- formance measurement system. Traditional financial
tegic management. In addition, because of the measures of performance provide better insight into
complexity of the feedback, BSC is far more suit- past events, while value in the information era is cre-
able compared to TQM for linking other compo- ated by investing in customers, suppliers, employees,
nents of strategic management systems (budget, processes, technology, and innovation. TQM, and
business plan, and rewarding). Not only do the other related business excellence models, are an at-
feedbacks have a correctional role, but they are tempt to establish quality metrics from different per-

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 technics technologies education management

spectives. The focus has therefore shifted from qual- ciple of BSC in terms of measuring performance
ity management to whole-organization management. and balancing objectives. The main difference is
However, the context of TQM remains quality man- that BSC metrics are based on desired strategy and
agement, which means that company performance TQM metrics rely on particular principles. BSC
improvement relies on quality alone. BSC is focused metrics are more complex: Each performance
on strategy, and various quality programs ensure the measure is part of an existing chain of interde-
successful execution of a strategy. BSC significantly pendent relationships, and each organization may
improves communication between vision and strat- implement its own unique BSC performance mea-
egy, and it provides priorities for tactical/operation- sures, depending on the chosen strategy. The main
al decisions. It may be compared to a GPS type of disadvantage of BSC is that it does not provide ba-
navigation, in that the modern organization relies on sic guidelines, unlike business excellence models.
strategy as a navigation tool, which is comprised of BSC and TQM also differ from the standpoint of
interdependent hypotheses. The “top” of a strategy feedback complexity. BSC uses feedbacks that are
map represents the desired destination. In contrast more complex, and interactivity is introduced into
to GPS, which uses information on directions and every phase of the management process, while the
methods in order to select an optimum route, manag- effects of strategy are continually evaluated. BSC
ers and employees must create a map for realizing a provides a feedback for improving learning and
strategy through projects, initiatives, and improved strategy. Since feedbacks are becoming more com-
business processes. plex in nature, BSC is better suited to linking bud-
The concepts of BSC and TQM may be ana- gets, business plans, and compensation schemes.
lyzed and compared from a number of perspectives:
the relation to QMS, the basics of the concept and References
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Digitized urban luminous ambiences

Tomaz Novljan
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Architecture, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Abstract rative“, a common denominator.The “elements” of
An ambience can be defined as a space with cer- the perception: light, shadow, transparency, color,
tain properties encompassing one or more persons texture, sound, materials, details and time all con-
or things. An architectural ambience is a space con- tribute to the experience of place [1]. Such place
taininga number ofspecial architectonic quantities. also has material and immaterial hierarchy.
Light is one among them.Lightis the most powerful A human, who should be thecentre of attention,
immaterial constructionmaterial; during both day is the primary measure of an architectural space
and night. Light reflects from various surfaces and and perceives his/hers surroundings through differ-
enters into a human optical perceptive system. The ent sensory organs; mostly through vision (approx.
expression Light Degraded Ambience designates 80%), hearing, and touch. Via these inherent senses
special spatial layersinside architecture where other- the relationship between urban space and its users
wise qualitative segments of space are negatively af- becomes established. Practical experience becomes
fectedby improper lightning. This paper delivers an comparable to already known spatial information.
explanation of 12 typical lighting aspects that should As previously mentioned, this paper asserts that
be considered when designing a quality ambience- light is the most powerful among the „building ma-
and furthermore, it introduces light as an essential terials“ in the natural and manmade environment.
tool in the process of teaching and later in the real It reflects from various surfaces and enters into a
process of refurbishing degraded urban ambiences. human nervous recognition system. Lightinggener-
Key words: ambience, architecture, education, ates illuminations, where not only the orientation is
lightning. projected, but also functional and aesthetic enrich-
ment of the space becomes possible.
At the Faculty of Architecture in Ljubljana a
1. Introduction
special system is being developed that will serve as
One can define an ambience as a space with a tool for the analysis and evaluation of the light
properties that encompass one or more persons ambiences. It is known fact that various standards,
or things, in other-words: surroundings. An ambi- also in virtual space design, have been established
ence can be natural or man-made, material or im- in the past to serve as a platform of quality assur-
material; it can be perceived through many differ- ance – as an application of the criteria from 2005
ent scales – from micro to macro; it can be defined EU Directive [2].The system being developed in
as a relative quantity. Ljubljana is based on the experience in dealing with
Architectural ambience is a space where ar- the most common errors that were made in several
chitectural quantities are accentuated, e.g.,the re- different cases of lighting concerning underground
lationship between certain Euclidian geometrical and aboveground urban architectural ambiences:
elements (points, lines, surfaces, bodies) and their – overdosed illumination of particular archi-
surroundings. Different materials are used to sup- tectural elements,
port diversity of architectural tasks. These materials – insufficient general illumination,
reflect the specific language of the ambience, artis- – glare,
tic expression or simply the wealth of the investor. – improper disposition of luminaries,
Various shapes, colours, textures and patterns are – unwanted shadows,
created during the design and construction process. – unwanted reflections,
All this is possible only through the presence of – insufficient consideration of the structure,
light. Light makes the ambience visually percep- texture and colour being illuminated,
tive, real and dynamic. Quality architecturalambi- – light »pollution« etc.
ence fits within the spatial context; it has a „nar-

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The term LIGHT DEGRADED URBAN AM- Even in the process of making accentuations it
BIENCE designates a special spatial level within is necessary to take into account both gradation
the architecture where improper lighting deterio- and hierarchy. Within an architectural composi-
rates otherwise quality segment of an architec- tion usually some elements are more important
tural ambience.All above stated viewpoints can than the others. Illumination intensity must fol-
also be closely related with the all-spread notion low this order. With the proper amount of light a
of sustainability especially with young popula- „lighting composition“ is established and as such
tion which Svetina et al.[3] finds more appreciated complements and even upgrades the“original” ar-
in urban than in non-urban environments. Just to tistic/geometrical intention.
point out one aspect: with the use of proper, so to
say sustainable lighting techniques, a significant 2.2. Insufficient illumination – generally and
amount of energy can be saved. The term LIGHT in detail
AMBIENCE DIGITIZING designates a special
(teaching) process within the luminous ambience This lighting aspect must address two items: per-
where thelatter is divided into 12 segmentswhat sonal safety and orientation in urban space, and the
enables us to look into the depth of every segment negligence and inconsideration of architectural ele-
of the urban luminous ambience. Every segment ments. One of people‘s basic necessities is that of
must be, first of all perceived than recognized and personal safety; it is perhaps one of the most impor-
classified and then related to other segments in or- tant, and adequate illumination is a vital factor in the
der to produce a holistic lighting solution for spe- manifestation of „safe“ spaces. Architectonic space
cific placesno matter what kind of specific proper- fundamentally consists of permanent components,
ties and specific functions they have. i.e. buildings and other, more or less static,exterior
and interior elements and,of variable components,
2. Evaluation criteria mostly human users of exterior and interior environ-
ments. A human, who lives and moves through an
2.1. Overdosed or too even illumination of urban environment,typically seeks other humans.
architectural details and elements This is particularly true at night when large amounts
of people have left urban places. Next is orientation
This kind of deficiency can lead to the over- in space. The human brain constantly seeks balance.
all degradation of architecture. It is a well-known If it is very hot we want it to be colder, in the case of
fact—in theory and in practice—that accented too bright an environment we want it to be darker.
illumination serves as visual amplifier of higher- Also, we want to be aware of our bearings – on a
value architectural elements. However, too many physical level as well as on a more abstract level.
accentuations at the same level can lead to the op- We can find ourselves in a certain place or space,
posite effect (Figure 1). which we know well from our experience, and as
such canframe it within a wider spatial context. In
the other instance we can find ourselves in a space/
room where we are able to locally recognize its
physical properties:tall, narrow, wide, clean, dirty
etc. We cannot frame the space within a broader spa-
tial context directly, but we can call upon our other
senses for help: our sense of smell and hearing.

2.3. Glare
Figure 1. Overdosed illumination of the Gaudi’s Glare is an optical condition where the differ-
famous Sagradafamilia cathedral towers in Bar- ence between a bright and dark object which are
celona killed most of the fine structure, textureand put close together is so extreme that a simultane-
colour of the façade. Novljan, T., Barcelona, 2007 ous perception of both objects is difficult or even

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impossible. It must be stressed that with glare, the the arrangement and position of lamps. Usually the
degree of impact depends highly on one‘s age.The disposition of lamps in certain ambience obeys the
higher one‘s age, the lower one‘sthreshold of tol- need of evenly illuminated surfaces or the need of
erance. Because of glare certain architectural ele- providing special lighting effects. To achieve evenly
ments or compositions or forms cannot be recog- illuminated (horizontal) surfaces the lamps are usu-
nizable. Glare is also an important factor when we ally positioned on relatively high poles (it is always
speak about traffic safety (Figure 2). a trade-off between the height of the poles and their
spacing) so vandalism does not represent a potential
risk. In this case the maintenance and exchange of
burned-out lamps have to be taken into consider-
ation. But when consideringlamps for special ambi-
ent effects (spotlights, lamps on short poles, lamps
encased inpavement, grass etc.) one must also con-
sider the possibility of vandalism. This problem
can be partly avoided by the proper selection of ad-
equate, more robust or built-in types of lamps.

2.6. Shadows
Shadow is an optical phenomenon that helps in
Figure 2. Unsuitable positioned floodlights illu-
the perception and orientation in 3D space. It helps
minating the Sagradafamilia cathedral in Barce-
us to determine the position of a particular surface
lona produced a lot of glare for pedestrians and
or body in relation to other surfaces and bodies in
for drivers. Novljan, T., Barcelona, 2007
space. Shadows as a “by-product” of natural illu-
mination help us with orientation during the day.
2.4. Shape and dimension of lamps related to Natural shadows are parallel and homogeneous.
their output Shadows that appear as the result of electrical il-
In most cases a lamp plays a significant role in lumination can be more heterogeneous and can be
co-designing an overall appearance of an architec- dynamically changed regarding the number, pow-
tural ambience. Until recently a luminous power er, position and colour of the light sources (Figure
was closely related to the dimension of the lamp: 3). Spatial orientation in this case becomes less
the higher the power,the bigger the dimension. Of certain; sometimes even causing disorientation.
course every shape and/or dimension of a lamp If shadows are too strong, too contrasting and/or
is not suitable for every architectural ambience. too large they can cause decreased perception of
Physically larger ambiences which are perceptible structure, texture and colour.
as a whole from greater distance can stand larger
and more robustly designed lamps. Smaller, less ar-
ticulated and minimalisticdesigned ambiences are
much more sensitive and require lamps which are
designed in the same manner. The scale of the space
is, together with its articulation and function, an es-
sential measure that determines whether a certain
lamp in the shape, dimension and even colour cor-
responds and fits into the specific spatial instance.

2.5. Arrangement and position of lamps Figure 3. Sharp-edged and contrast shadows
resulting from the illumination with only one,
Maintenance, exposure to vandalism and invest- very powerful light source – floodlamp. Novljan,
ment-costs must be considered too when planning T.,digital simulation, DIALUX 4.10, 2012

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 technics technologies education management

2.7. Adaptability of lighting for different spa- experience,advertisements change very frequent-
tial functions ly and so does the relation between brighter and
darker surfaces; however, the level of illumination
Among the essential properties of a contem- remains constant. As a result we sometimes have
porary urban ambience is that it is able to meet under-dosed illuminationand sometimes over-
the needs of different functions.The city and its dosed illumination, which results inunwanted il-
squares are transformed into a stage, the facades lumination of the surroundings and produces glare
form the – admittedly unchanging – backdrop[4]. etc. The simulation has been done with the light-
The reasonable disposition and flexibility of illu- calculation software DIALUX 4.9. Two flood-
mination arrangements can contribute to a faster lights of equal power (259 W) were used for the
and cheaper change to new temporary functions illumination of the two advertising panels. Aver-
within an ambience as well as bringing the origi- age calculated brightness was 39,0 Cd/m2 on the
nal situation back to its original state. left panel and 7,2 Cd/m2 on the right panel.

2.8. Reflected light

Reflected, indirect light is as important as di-
rect light. Considering the reflecting surface, indi-
rect light can have even stronger architectural sig-
nificance. It should be pointed out that reflections
from smooth, shiny and moving surfaces like wa-
ter, moving vehicles and glass façade elements are
of special importance. The most undesired result
of the reflected light is glare. A work of art, a mon-
ument for example, should be the brightest part of
the field of view, with gently graded brightness to
the surrounding visual field, but there must be a Figure 4. The left advertising panel has 5 times
total absence of glare, both direct and reflected[5]. higher luminosity than the right advertising pan-
el. Both panels receive equal illumination.Novl-
2.9. Brightness of illuminated surfaces jan, T., digital simulation, DIALUX 4.9, 2011

Brightness is another photometric quantity that

is directly perceivable with our eyes (reflected 2.10. Consideration of a structure, texture and
light), however, illumination that cannot be seen colour
directly can be measured with special instruments. Structure, texture and colour are basic prop-
Regardless of the level of illumination of a cer- erties of any architectural object. We distinguish
tain surface the level of brightness of this surface more and less structured surfaces and composi-
can be too high or too low. In architectural de- tions that need to be nocturnally illuminated. A
sign and expression this difference between the strongly articulated structure causes more shad-
perception and measurement is very important. ows, particularly if more light-sources are used
A “good” example is the large illuminated sur- to illuminate it. If the resulting shadows are too
facesused for advertising in urban areas and, in contrasting the “visual denial” of the intended
certain natural ambiences, too. In spite of their architectural expression can occur and the archi-
triumphant advance in many European cities, il- tectural object gains a new, usually unwanted and
luminated advertisements are subject to planning unpredicted image. Similarly, this applies to tex-
approval, and rightly so. They are even prohibited ture, which is a 2-dimensional visual property in
in some districts[6]. However, in such cases the architecture, somewhatsimilar to the structure it-
brightness of illuminated surfaces depends mostly self. An observer/occupant can thus traverse from
on graphic design (Figure 4). As understood by the structure to the texture and again to the struc-

Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013 387

 technics technologies education management

ture and again to the texture … It depends on the is designed and used in contemporary buildings.
scale or the distance of observation. The third ba- It is important to stress here that lighting of his-
sic property of all spatial elements is colour. The torical buildings must bedesigned in the context
relation between absorption and reflection of light of time when these historical buildings were built
from a surface generates colour impressions of and used. Modern lightsources are very powerful
this surface and affects both structure and texture. and cannot be compared to the artificial and na-
tural light sources of different technological eras.
2.11. Light pollution (obtrusive light) A too strong of a desire for bringing an old castle
ruin into every tourist guidebook often results in
The scattering of redundant light in the atmo- overdosed illumination that degrades both the his-
sphere causes so-called sky glow. This phenom- torical and ambient value of ahistoric site.
enon can disturb natural as well as human habitats. A fundamental, and perhaps the most impor-
Light pollution greatly depends on conditions in tant rule in the field of architectural lighting states:
the atmosphere (humidity, clouds, presence of par- What to illuminate is of the same importance as
ticles -natural as well as industry-produced). These what NOT to illuminate.
factors act as vast diffusers and amplifiers of light.
Such light can travel very long distances. One of the
obtrusive light by-products is also glare (Figure 5). Conclusions
The term Light Degraded Ambience, which
evolved as a part of educational process and rese-
arch at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Ar-
chitecture, designates a special architectural level
where improper lighting can damage the percep-
tion and use of a certain urban architectural am-
Figure 5. The most aggressive obtrusive light bience or element. The 12 points discussed above
is that within the 10-degree angle from the hori- can beused as tools in analysing urban luminous
zontal which produces the highest level of glare. environments prior to the start of any lighting
Novljan, T., 2008 design project. Research in this field is an ongo-
ing process. Each yearmore experience is garne-
2.12. Consideration of special ambience red,and if needed, these 12 „aspects“ will certainly
conditions be modified over time - primarily through various
workshops in urban spaces. The study and evalu-
Architectural ambiences of special historic ation ofdifferent ambient quantities and qualities
values,or national or cultural importance require will be used to propose solutions with the aim to
additional attention regarding illumination. The improve degraded urban ambiences through pro-
importance of proper lighting – both natural and per lighting methods. Properly illuminated spaces
artificial has played an important role through attract people and public programmes—culturally
the history of mankind. This can be particularly and commercially. In the past couple of years—via
stressed in the field of sacred architecture, where this project and in conjunction with The Lighting
sunlight has consistently played an important role Engineering Society of Slovenia— two pedestrian
as an element of worship and thus in its design. underpasses have been improved in the centre of
Stonehenge, Newgrange, the temples of Egypt, Ljubljana. They have changed from unpleasant
public buildings of antique Greece and Rome, and underground spots with poor maintenance and
Gothiccathedrals are just few among the most we- poor lighting to bright and friendly urban ambien-
ll-known examples of the utilisation of light as a ceswhere people like to go through, to sit down
means of psychological influence on humans. and chat and feel comfortable and safe. Proper
Currently these historical buildings general- lighting has become one of the important means
ly perform a documentary and educational role. for qualitatively improving any city’s “grey” ur-
Lighting design of the pastwas different from what ban areas. Opposite to daylight nocturnal lighting

388 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

can be used as a tool for building nocturnal am-

biences. Emphasizing those areas, buildings or
elements which are for different reasons disregar-
ded or neglected during the daytime. At the same
time here lies the danger of over-illumination and
to even illumination. At the moment the offer of
(mostly LED-based) luminaries on the market is
enormous which often causes the “need” to illu-
minate everybody and everything regardless to
the importance, hierarchy structure, texture and
colour. But as Vincent van Gogh said:” When ar-
ranging an artistic composition in a painting it is
necessary to insert some empty and calm fields
here and there, between all those strong impressi-
ons, to balance them properly”.

References
1. Zupancic-Strojan, T, Mullins, M.: The identity of pla-
ce in virtual design studios. Journal of. Architectural
Education, 2002; 561: pp. 19.

2. Juvancic M., Mullins M., Zupancic T., From projects

to joint study programmes in Virtual Space Design.
TTEM Technics Technologies Education Manage-
ment 2009; 2: pp.97.

3. Svetina M.. Istenič Starčič A.,Juvančič M., Novljan

T., Šubic Kovač M., Verovšek Š., Zupančič Strojan T.:
How Children Come to Understand Sustainable De-
velopment: A Contribution to Educational Agenda.
Sustainable development 2011;20 : pp. 1-10.

4. Brandi U., Light for cities, Birkhauser, Basel, 2007;

pp. 87.

5. Cuttle C., Light for art‘s sake. Elsevier, Oxford,

2007; pp. 8.

6. Brandi U., Light for cities, Birkhauser, Basel, 2007;

pp. 79.

Corresponding Author
Tomaz Novljan,
University of Ljubljana,
Faculty of Architecture,
Ljubljana,
Slovenia,
E-mail: tomaz.novljan@fa.uni-lj.si

Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013 389

 technics technologies education management

Correlation of water quality criteria of water

of the Danube in Serbia
Ivana Mladenovic-Ranisavljevic1, Ljiljana Takic1, Zvonko Damnjanovic2, Milovan Vukovic2, Nenad Zivkovic3
1
Faculty of Technology, University of Niš, Leskovac, Serbia,
2
Technical Faculty in Bor, University of Belgrade, Bor, Serbia,
3
Faculty of Occupational Safety, University of Nis, Nis, Serbia.

Abstract territory of Serbia is conducted by the Republic

Hydrometeorological Service of Serbia (RHSS)
This paper establishes a correlation of the cri-
[2]. For the purposes of this survey on the Danube
teria for the surface waters quality classification
water quality along its course through Serbia, data
in accordance with the current law regulations in
fund of the RHSS for the year of 2009 was used.
Serbia, by applying the Water Quality Index (WQI)
method and Directive 75/440/EEC. The assessment
of the Danube water quality was made on the basis 2. Serbian legislation on water quality
of data set provided by the Republic Hydrometeo- control
rological Service of Serbia (RHSS) for the year of In Serbian legislation, surface water quality con-
2009. The Danube on its course through Serbia was trol implies the enforcement of the Regulation on
classified as Class II and III, which is to some extent Watercourse Categorization and the Regulation on
a satisfactory degree of compliance with the num- Water Classification in Serbia [3]. All watercourses
ber of index points determined by WQI method at are classified into four categories and required class-
individual profiles, but not the real indicator of the es of water quality are defined at given watercourse
Danube water quality status. Determining the actu- segments. Surface water is then categorized, based
al water quality is based on a comparative analysis on threshold values of quality indicators, into class I,
of index values of the water quality parameters with IIa, IIb, III, IV and NC (not classified). Categoriza-
standard values of the parameters established by the tion is done based on the following indicators: sus-
Council Directive 75/440/EEC. pended matter, total dry residue, pH, dissolved oxy-
Key words: correlation, Danube River, Direc- gen, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD-5), degree
tive 75/440/EEC, WQI. of saprobity according to Liebman, degree of bio-
logical productivity, maximum number of coliform
1. Introduction bacteria (E. Coli), visible waste matter, noticeable
color and noticeable odor [3]. Class I surface water
The Danube is the second largest river in Eu- represents water in its natural state that can be used
rope, 2888 km long. It flows through ten countries for drinking, in food industry or for fish cultivation.
and connects the various political, economic, so- Natural class II water is used for swimming and rec-
cial and historical aspects. Because of its 817.000 reation, water sport and after being processed with
km2 large basin that extends to the territory of 17 conventional methods (coagulation, filtration, disin-
countries, with over 80 million people, the Dan- fection, etc.) it can be used for drinking and in food
ube is considered to be the most significant inter- industry. Class III water is used for agriculture and,
national river basin in the world. The length of the after standard processing, in industry, with the ex-
Danube River through Serbia is 588 km [1]. ception of food industry. Class IV water can be used
Special attention must be given to the evalua- only after it has been properly processed whereas
tion of the Danube’s water quality, pollution prob- NC represents unclassified state [4].
lems and protection, having in mind that it is one The law does not define precisely the proce-
of the most valuable natural water resources in dure for the final assessment of a summary class
Serbia. Systematic monitoring of quantitative and of watercourse quality, which opens the possibil-
qualitative characteristics of surface waters on the ity of numerous arbitrary assessments.

390 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

3. Water Quality Index (WQI) regulation to the Serbian legislation regarding the
legal framework for surface waters quality control,
According to the method of WQI [5] the ten
from the aspect of its suitability for drinking wa-
selected parameters (oxygen saturation, E.Coli,
ter supply, and it refers to the required quality of
BOD-5, pH value, total nitrogen oxides, ortho-
the surface water intended for drinking water ab-
phosphates, suspended matter, ammonium, tem-
straction in Member States [15]. According to this
perature and conductivity) aggregate in the com-
Directive, the surface waters are categorized into
posite indicator of surface water quality. These
three classes with respect to the limit values of the
parameters have the quality (qi). The share of any
quality parameters: A1 – Simple physical treatment
of ten selected parameters does not have the same
and disinfection; A2 – Normal physical treatment,
relative significance for the total water quality;
chemical treatment and disinfection; A3 – Intensive
therefore, each of them was allocated a specific
physical and chemical treatment, extended treat-
number (wi) according to their part in the menace
ment and disinfection [15].
to the water quality. By summing their products (qi
The quality of surface water corresponding
´ wi) index 100 is obtained as the ideal sum of all
to Category A1 of the Directive 75/440/EEC as-
parameters. Depending on the number of points of
sessed by WQI method matches 70-100 index
individual parameters achieved, given water will
points, A2 matches 44-70 points and Category A3
be allocated a number of index points ranging from
matches 0-32 index points.
0 to 100. In case of missing data for an individual
parameter, the value of arithmetically determined
WQI is corrected by multiplying the index value 5. Results and discussion
by 1/x, where x is the sum of arithmetically mea- The investigation of the state of the Danube
sured weights of available parameters [6]. water quality on its course through Serbia starts
The quality of surface water that suits I class in from the data fund of the RHSS for the year of
Serbian Regulation coincides with 84-85 points in 2009. It includes sixteen hydrological measuring
WQI method, class II coincides with 72-78 points, stations (Table 1).
class III with 48-63 points and class IV with 37- Based on the result analysis of the RHSS for
38 points. Values were adopted for the descriptive the year 2009, which gives the actual water qual-
indicators of the quality so that WQI = 0-38 is very ity of the river Danube, it can be ascertained that
bad, WQI = 39-71 bad, WQI = 72-83 good, WQI = the quality of the water, at all measuring points, did
84-89 very good and WQI = 90-100 excellent [6]. not meet the requirements of Class II water qual-
Assessment of surface water quality using WQI ity. More specifically, along the course of this re-
method has been widely studied [7,8,9,10,11]. H. cipient between Bezdan and Slankamen, there is a
Boyacioglu [12] for example, comprised modi- characteristic occurrence of oxygen super-satura-
fication of the Canadian Water Quality Index tion (Class III and NC status), as well as increased
(CCMEWQI) to obtain a tool in classification of values of BOD-5 (III) in some measurements made
surface waters according to quality defined by at Bezdan, Apatin and Slankamen profiles. At this
the European Legislation—75/440/EEC. The de- part of the course, pH value of the water ranged
scriptive water quality indicator and the calculated from 7.8 to 8.7, so that, at times, it corresponded
WQI numbers define the state of surface water and to Class III water quality. The values for suspended
realistically assess sustainability of its exploitation matter varied and often remained within the Class
for drinking water production [13, 14]. III water quality limits. As regards the harmful and
dangerous substances, increased values of phenol
4. WQI and Directive 75/440/EEC index (III/IV) were measured at profiles Beograd-
Vinča, Smederevo and Banatska Palanka. At these
Council Directive of 16 June 1975 (Directive
profiles increased concentrations of iron (Fe) and,
75/440/EEC) concerning the required quality of
only at Bačka Palanka in a single measurement, an
surface water intended for the abstraction of drink-
increased concentration of manganese (Mn), cop-
ing water in the Member States is a correlated
per (Cu) (NC status) and zinc (Zn) (III/IV) were re-

Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013 391

 technics technologies education management

corded periodically. At profile Bogojevo, there was Radujevac

372.6

0.983
0.200
15.5

93.2

0.12
in a single case a recorded concentration of chrome

636
7.7

1.9
9.8

88
16
(Cr) and copper (Cu) (NC status) and zinc (Zn)
concentration (III/IV and NC status). In the area
Palanka

370.6

0.934
0.056

6230
14.5

94.8

0.10
7.8

1.5
9.3

90
Zemun-Radujevac, during sampling, a change of
15 Brza
organoleptic indicator was observed, i.e., the color

12425
369.6

0.791
0.044
of the water at Dobra and Tekija corresponded in

15.5

93.6

0.07
14 Tekija

7.8

1.8
8.8

90
one series to Class III water quality. In certain series
of measurements at profiles Veliko Gradište, Do-

370.0
101.4

0.864
0.054

7050
14.1

10.8

0.08
13 Dobra

7.9

1.7

90
bra, Tekija, Brza Palanka and Radujevac, the per-
centage of oxygen saturation belonged to Class IV Gradište

377.7

0.905
0.058
quality and NC status. Higher BOD-5 values and

7360
14.6

91.3

13.2

0.09
7.7

1.7

87
12 Veliko
suspended matter at profiles Zemun and Pančevo
corresponded periodically to Class III water quality. Palanka

379.9

1.364
0.049

6848
Higher values of petrol hydrocarbons (III/IV) were

14.5

88.7

28.8

0.15
Banatska

7.9

1.5

86
recorded in one measurement at profile Raduje-
11
vac. In all investigation periods characteristic is the Smederevo

392.9 398.3 381.6

0.751 1.332 0.748

0.073 0.047 0.061

2400 18525 2400

14.9

96.7

17.3

0.13
dominance of silica algae, while in summer period

7.8

2.6

85
10
a significant presence of green algae is observed.
The obtained values of saprobity index correspond,

14.6

95.7

31.6

0.09
9 Pančevo

8.2

2.3

81
according to the categorization, to Class II water

85
quality. Deviation from Class II was only present 14.0

94.2

21.8

0.11
8 Zemun
7.8

3.1
in one measurement at profile Brza Palanka in au-

83
tumn, when an increased organic pollution was ob-
Table 1. WQI of the Danube River at 16 measuring stations in Serbia in 2009.

served and the water quality corresponded to Class

393.5

1.666
0.041
14.1

98.6

20.5

0.07
7 Čenta
8.3

2.2

85
/
II/III [2]. The exceedings of individual water qual-
ity parameters classify the water into a lower class, Slankamen
393.3

1.652

1200
13.9

97.5

25.8

0.04
0.07
8.3

2.3

85
which is not a real indicator of the water quality. 6
Available data show a great disproportion between
401.3 398.5

1.619 1.574
0.040 0.047
the law required and the actual state of water qual-
13900 1727
13.7

96.0

23.3

5 Novi Sad 0.06

8.3

2.5

84
ity of the Danube River. Therefore, focus on indi-
vidual water quality indicators suggests that water Palanka
14.1

92.5

24.9

0.07
8.2

2.0

82
class may differ, which implies that a summarized
4 Bačka
assessment of water quality based on the total effect
11350
100.3

1.789
0.038

of all indicators was not conducted.

13.2

31.9

0.09
411

3 Bogojevo
8.3

2.3

82

The selected parameters show physical, chemi-

cal and microbiological characteristics of the wa-
10300
401.7
100.9

1.713
0.046
15.9

27.1

0.04

2 Apatin
8.4

2.5

82

ter and all together they give a summary of the

River Danube water quality by calculated WQI
11498
1.891
411.8

0.044
13.2

97.7

32.4

0.08

value. The Danube is a subject of numerous in-

1 Bezdan
8.3

2.2

82

vestigations of various aspects. Our results are re-

flective of other results reported in the literature
Suspended matter (mg/l)

Orthophosphates (mg/l)

WQI average value

[16]. For instance, Milanović et al [17] point out

Oxygen saturation (%)
Conductivity (µS/cm)

Total Nitrogen (mg/l)

that the problem of the required quality of water is

Ammonium (mg/l)
E. Coli (u 100ml)
Temperature (°C)

a significant and one of the most limiting factors

BOD-5 (mg/l)

of the economic development of Serbia along the

Danube banks. The water quality at 16 measuring
stations on the Danube River for the year of 2009,
WQI
pH

expressed in WQI values is presented in Table 1.

392 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

Based on the above, it can be concluded that mg/l), but still remaining higher than A1 category.
according to the legislation and by applying the The total nitrogen oxides and orthophosphates as
Regulation [3], the River Danube was classified as an indicator of pollution by chemical industry are
Class II and III on its course through Serbia for the correlated showing a negative trend towards the
year of 2009, which is to some extent a satisfacto- exit profile of the river and a negligible deviation
ry degree of compliance with the number of index from A1 category. Phosphorus is considered to be
points determined by WQI method at individual the most critical growth factor in the water bod-
profiles, but not the real indicator of the river Dan- ies because the dissolved phosphate are absorbed
ube water quality status. Determining the actual by the plants and passed on to animals in the food
water quality is based on a comparative analysis chain. The increase of the phosphates concentration
of index values of the water quality parameters above the natural level brings about eutrophication,
with standard values of the parameters established which destroys the structure of the natural aquatic
by Council Directive 75/440/EEC. eco-system, and loss of bio-diversity. Ammonium
Temperature of the Danube in winter-summer ion strongly deviated from the limiting values for
period ranges from 3.2oC to 25.3oC, which does not concentration for A1 category, but due to mildly
represent extreme changes of this parameter as a acid character of the River Danube water it remains
condition of maintaining water life, so that the aver- within the A2 category. The presence of coliform
age value is lower than required one for A1 category bacteria (E.Coli) is the indicator of the highest sani-
as given by the Council Directive 75/440/EEC. The tary contamination of water at Pančevo, ranking it
Danube has pH value of the water from weak alkali into A3 category, but the values are significantly
(7.1 min Radujevac) to weak acid (8.7 max Bez- lower toward the exit flow of the Danube from Ser-
dan), which is common for river waters. The pH bia. The analysis of the results shows noticeably
value defines solubility and biological availability better quality at the exit profile as opposed to the
of chemical compounds of nitrogen, phosphorus, entry profile of the Danube into Serbia.
carbon and heavy metals. Waters that are very acid The actual, summarized water quality with
have an adverse effect on organisms in the aquatic the WQI = 85 and descriptive indicator of “very
eco-system. The average pH value determines the good” water, for the analyzed one-year period
measure of water acidity, indicating a certain level corresponds to class II according to legal regula-
of organic pollution of the water, but still within the tions in Serbia, i.e. to category A1 of the Directive
limits of A1 Category. The values for conductivity 75/440/EEC for surface waters quality.
show a low concentration of ions in the water, rang-
ing from 248 μS/cm (min Radujevac) to 518 μS/cm 6. Conclusion
(max Bezdan) and they are less than allowed for the
river water of A1 category. Based on the methods applied, the analysis shows
The low level of oxygen saturation is a sign of that despite the incompatibility of the parameters,
possible pollution, which is not the case of the Dan- water quality of the Danube through Serbia meets
ube because the values at all measuring stations are the required quality for surface water. The basic prin-
higher than 70%, which is the limit value for A1 ciples contained in the Directive will be applied not
category and the life sustainability of the water. The only in the EU Member States but, also, in candi-
results of BOD-5 determination at the measuring date countries. This means that Serbia has to initi-
stations Bezdan and Pančevo indicate a presence of ate the harmonization of national laws, regulations,
biodegradable organic matter and classify the water standards and institutes in the water and environment
into the A2 category, while the value of 1.9 mg/l at domain with those already in force in the EU.
Radujevac indicates a decreasing trend of biologi-
cal consumption of oxygen and an improvement of Acknowledgement
water quality. Suspended matter refer to the content
of organic and inorganic pollutants in the water, and This work has been funded by the Serbian Min-
they are plentiful at Pančevo (78 mg/l) with obvious istry for Science under the projects No. III-43014
tendency to decrease by the Danube exit profile (30 and TP 33034.

Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013 393

 technics technologies education management

References 14. Takić Lj., Mladenović-Ranisavljević I., Živković N.,

Vuković M., Water Quality trends of the Danube
1. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia. River in Serbia, 1st International Symposium on
org/wiki/Danube). Environmental and Material Flow Management,
Proceedings, Zaječar, 2011; p.80-84.
2. Republički hidrometorološki zavod, Hidrološki
godišnjak – 3. Kvalitet voda, Beograd, 2009. 15. EC Directive, Council Directive 75/440/EEC of
16 June 1975 concerning the quality required
3. Uredba o kategorizaciji vodotoka, “Službeni glasnik of surface water intended for the abstraction of
SRS 5/68”. drinking water in the Member States, OJ No L
194, 25/7/1975, 26-31,http://eur-lex.europa.eu/
4. Pravilnk o načinu uzimanja uzoraka i metodama za LexUriServ/site/en/consleg/1975/L/01975L0440-
laboratorijsku analizu vode za piće, “Službeni list 19911223-en.pdf). 1975.
SFRJ 33/87”.
16. Ilijević K., Gržetić I., Živadinović I., Popović A.,
5. Scottish Development Department, Development of Long-term seasonal changes of the Danube River
a Water Quality Index, Engineering Division, Edin- eco-chemical status in the region of Serbia, Envi-
burgh, 1976. ronmental Monitoring and Assessment,doi:10.1007/
s1066101121530. 2011.
6. Serbian Environmental Protection Agency, The Min-
istry of Environment and Spatial Planning, http:// 17. Milanović A., Kovačević-Majkić J., Milivojević M.,
www.sepa.gov.rs. Water quality analysis of Danube River in Serbia
- pollution and protection problems, Bulletin of
7. Alobaidy A.H.M.J., Abid H.S., Maulood B.K., Appli- the Serbian Geographical Society, TOME XC-N02,
cation of Water Quality Index for assessment of Do- 2010; 47-57.
kan Lake Ecosystem, Kurdistan Region, Iraq., Jour-
nal of Water Resource and Protection, doi:10.4236/
jwarp.2010.29093. 2010. Corresponding Author
Ivana Mladenovic-Ranisavljevic,
8. Banerjee T., Srivastava R.K., Application of water University of Niš,
quality index for assessment of surface water qual- Faculty of Technology,
ity surrounding integrated industrial estate-Pant- Serbia,
nagar, Water Science and Tehnology, 2009; 60 (8): E-mail: iva_mlxp@yahoo.com
2041-2053.

9. Lumb A., Halliwell D., Sharma T., Application of the

CCME Water quality index to monitor water quality:
a case study of the Mackenzie River Basin, Canada.
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment ,2006;
113:411-429.

10. Liou S.M., Lo S.L., Wang S.H., A generalised water

quality index for Taiwan. Environmental Monitor-
ing and Assessment ,2004;96:35-32.

11. Szep A., Kohlheb R., Water treatment technology

for produced water, Water Science and Tehnology,
2010; 62 (10): 2372-2380.

12. Boyacioglu H., Utilization of the water quality

index method as a classification tool, Environmen-
tal Monitoring and Assessment, 2010; 167(1-4):
115-124.

13. Takić Lj., Pejanović S., Krstić I., Ranđelović Lj.,

Analysis of water quality in the accumulation lake
Barje by use of WQI method, 1st International Con-
ference, ICDQM-2009, Life Cycle Engineering and
Management, Belgrade, 2010; p.181-186

394 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

Stabilization and solidification of lead and

Zinc ore processing waste deposit by using
Magnesium slag
Jelena Djokic1, Dusko Minic1, Zeljko Kamberovic2, Gordana Milentijevic1, Vladimir Malbasic3
1
University of Pristina, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Kos. Mitrovica, Serbia,
2
Univeristy of Belgrade, Faculty of Technology and metallurgy, Belgrade, Serbia,
3
University of Banja Luka, Faculty of Mining Prijedor, Prijedor, Bosnia and Hercegovina.

Abstract The WHO guidelines provide interim targets for

countries that still have very high levels of air pol-
The impact of the airborne pollution by lead
lution to encourage the gradual cutting down of
and zinc ore mineral processing is analyzed in dif-
emissions [1]. In Environment and Security Ini-
ferent climate conditions, and the system of this
tiative Project: Mining in South East Europe [2], it
impact mitigation is proposed. The characteriza-
is concluded that almost the full range of warning
tion of the mineral waste deposit and unhydrated
signals for environmentally damaging incidents
magnesium slag made by using X-ray diffraction,
of large scale and consequence are present in the
Scanning Electron Microscopy and Atomic Ab-
region. These include large (historical) milling
sorption Analysis. The tailing waste impact to the
and concentration plants with significant tailings
environment is analyzed by measuring airborne
impoundments, mountainous terrain; abandoned
TSP emission and by lead and arsenic concentra-
sites with little or no closure or control; lack of
tion in soil at 300 and 600 m distance from the
ongoing physical and/or biochemical monitoring
deposit. In order to stabilize tailing waste deposit
of operational and/or abandoned sites; lack of on-
and reduce the TSP airborne emission, the tail-
going maintenance, both proactive and reactive.
ing waste material is covered by the non-hydrated
The researchers efforts were targeted to the site
slag of silicothermic process of magnesium pro-
analysis, determining pollution levels and their im-
duction. The slag has reacted with tailing waste
pacts to the environment under different natural
and the surface layer showed solid structure, with
conditions and with the different human activities
very small amount of TSP emission under differ-
[3-6]. In the area of southwestern Serbia there are
ent weather conditions in laboratory.
several mines for lead and zinc exploitation and
Key words: Tailing waste, magnesium slag,
magnesium production. Lead and zinc ore process-
solidification, airborne pollution
ing waste deposit is situated on the right bank of the
river Ibar and it is located on the distance of 1200
1. Introduction m from the location of mineral processing plant.
The tailing waste deposit occupies 30 ha of mainly
Tailings are the waste products generated dur- agricultural land and so far there were deposited
ing the recovery of the minerals. Typically, the 3,340,000 t of waste. For its specific content of
ore is crushed or ground to a particle size of less heavy metals and non metals, toxic components and
than 0.1 mm in order to release the valuable con- other polluting substances originated from flotation
stituents. Water and small amounts of chemical process, these deposits are sources of the air, soil
reagents are usually added during this process to surface and ground waters pollution [7]. Floatation
enhance the separation of the minerals from the waste deposit has been exploited since 1980. The
ore. (UNEP/ICME, 1998). The tailings are usually major part of the landfill is bordering with the Ibar
dumped into tailings dams or erodable dumps. Air River, i.e. approximately 1km and has natural limits
pollution by fine solid particles from mining and by the hill on the eastern side. Landfill is character-
ore processing and metallurgy waste deposits are ized by the relatively steep dam slopes on the north-
notified in all regions with mining and metallurgy. ern and western sides with surface partly covered

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by sand and the rest is covered by oxidized pulp chemical analysis of the samples also the follow-
with deep erosion canals drills [8]. Landfill remedy ing techniques are used: Ca and Mg concentra-
has not been done so there are no plants or grass on tions are analyzed by using Volumetry-EDTA,
the surface. As a result, during the windy events the Si is analyzed by Gravimetry, HCL digestion, Al,
dust from the landfill is spread around and presents Na, K, Pb, Zn, Cd, Cu, Sb by AAS, equipment
potential risk for the town of Leposavić and sur- AAnalysist 300, Perkin-Elmer. Volumetry method
rounding villages. by oxi-reduction is used for Fe analysis.
Relatively close to this site there is also magne- SEM investigation was carried out on Scan-
sium production plant, having its own slag deposit ning Electron Microscopy instrument from JEOL
[9], influencing the ecosystem. The magnesium slag (JSM6460), with Energy Dispersive Spectrom-
is obtained by the reduction of dolomite by FeSi, eter, EDS by Oxford Instruments. XRD analysis
resulting in several oxides, that combine amongst was used for mineralogical investigation. Samples
themselves, being constituted, largely, of dicalcium were investigated using diffractometer Philips PW
silicate 2CaO⋅ SIO2) [10]. Even this slag can be 1710 under following conditions: radiation from
used as construction material for concrete and mor- copper anticatode with CuKα =1.54178 Å and
tars [11], the proposed application can also be inter- graphite monochromator, working voltage U=40
esting for tailing waste deposits remediation. This kV, current strength I=30 mA. Samples were in-
slag of the silicothermic reduction process is never vestigated in the range of 5 – 70º 2θ (with step of
used before for the stabilization of heavy and toxic 0.02° and time 0.5 s). Granulometric composition
metals migration. The general idea for this research is done on cyclosizer BXF type. The lead and ar-
is to obtain the stabilization of the tailing waste de- senic concentration in soil is analyzed by NITON
posit, so the surface layer is solid enough to prevent XRF Spectrum Analyzer.
airborne emission, by forming the gypsum film as a
temporary cover. As magnesium slag is also waste 2.2. Measurements of solid particles emission
to be managed, situated relatively close to the tail- within the given climate conditions
ing waste deposit, this may be the solution for the
tailing waste, which can be even valorized in future. Apparatus for the measuring of solid particles
The experimental procedure used here for dusting carried by the wind is composed by the fan type
measurement is reported for investigation of fly- ABVE-3,5 with flow of 3600m3/h, vacuum of 200
ing ash solidification by using lime and gypsum, in Pa, used for air flow simulation, gravimetric sam-
thermo-electric power plants [12]. They also used pler of the respiratory dust, the samples, weighing
literary sources that deal with the stabilization and 100 g each, are set in shallow metal plate, measur-
solidification of landfills in the solution of environ- ing scale for the residual solid particles on the fil-
mental problems from mining activities [13, 14]. ter paper and digital anemometer (DA-4000). The
measurements are performed with material set in
2. Experimental procedure the air flow direction from the fan, and before the
apparatus for polluted air vacuuming. The wind
For the purpose of determining the environ- velocity was changing by the distance between fan
mental impact of the tailing waste deposit, before and metal plate with sample. The measurements
and after the solidification, the samples were char- were performed in wind velocities of 5,7 and 10
acterized by chemical, physical and mineralogical m/s. The measurements for the wind velocities be-
investigations. The dusting factor is determined low 5m/s are not performed as the solid particles
in laboratory, and after that the climate conditions scattering is not significant for solidified samples,
are taken into consideration. and the wind velocity larger than 10 m/s is not
within the interval of wind velocities in this re-
2.1. Materials characterization gion. The humidity in the laboratory was within
the interval of 20-53%, and the dusting was 0%.
The chemical composition is determined by
using x-Ray fluorescence (ARL86480). For the

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3. Results and discussion position, neither by the concentration process. As

the deposit is not maintained properly, the byprod-
As the environmental impact of the tailing
uct of the lead refinery process from the metallurgy,
waste deposit “Bostaniste” before and after the
As2O3 is disposed here, and having small grain
solidification is the highlight of this research, the
sizes, and great vertical mobility in soil, this arsenic
first step was materials characterization.
three oxide has great influence on the environment.
As the mineral processing is the process of met-
3.1. Characterization of the Tailing waste al’s concentration, the ore is crushed, than milled
deposit “Bostaniste to the average grain size of 0.1 mm in diameter, so
the mineral grains are opened to be exposed to the
The tailing waste is bordered by Ibar river,
flotation agents. After the years of storage on the
about 1 km, and by natural border toward the hills
open air, some of the particles are aggregated, and
on the eastern side. The deposit is characterized
others are even smaller, being exposed to the wind
by relatively sharp slopes of the dam on the north
and rain. So, the granulometric composition is one
and on the south, which surfaces are covered by
of the initial elements for environmental impact as-
send, and the rest is oxygenated waste with deep
sessement. As shown in Figure 2. the most of the
faults from the erosive channels. The tailing waste
particles have 100-200 mm in diameter so they can
position is shown in Figure 1. For the purpose of
not be considered as P2,5 or P10 dust, but we use
detailed characterization the Chemical Analysis,
MAC for Total Solid Particles.
SEM-EDS analysis, X-ray diffractometry analysis
and granulometric analysis are performed.

Figure 1. Flotation tailing waste deposit „Bostaniste”

Figure 2. Granulometric composition of the tailing

3.1.1. Chemical composition and granulometric
waste deposit
composition
Chemical composition of the tailing waste is 3.1.2. Scanning Electron Microscopy
presented in Table 1. The chemical composition of
the tailing waste deposit “Bostaniste” id normal for SEM scans of the tailing waste deposit samples
this kind of deposit for all the elements, but arsenic. (Figure 3) are presented and there are clearly vis-
It can not be justified by the lead and zinc ore com- ible the non-homogenous nature of this deposit.
Table 1. Chemical composition of waste deposit Bostaniste
Element Pb As Zn Cu Ni Fe Mn Cr Cd Sb
mg/kg 2136 3566 1948 117.3 115.78 107587 8321.47 341.93 21.8 29.4
Table 2. Chemical composition of the tailing waste deposit Bostaniste based on SEM-EDS analysis
Element Mg Al Si S K Ca Mn As Fe O
weight % 0.6 1.41 7.93 0.35 0.59 2/15 0.77 3.80 32.38 39.11

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The overall composition of the sample 1, pre-

sented in Figure 3.a) is listed in Table 2.
In magnified presentation in Figure 3.b), there
are visible differences between aggregated par-
ticles of tailing waste deposit. The point composi-
tions are presented in Table 3.
The presence of Arsenic is proved by scan elec-
tron image in Figure 3.c). The dark surface repre-
sents arsenopyrite with 5.11 % of Arsenic, and the
lighter crystals are ferro-sulphates.

3.1.3. X-ray Powder Diffraction

a)
The sample of tailing waste is composed by
several crystallized phases, as shown in Figure 4.
There are minerals of quartz, ankerite, pyrite, and
there is some presence of clay minerals. As the con-
centrations of other metals compounds are small,
they could not be detected by XRD analysis.

b)

Figure 4. X-ray diffractometry of the tailing

waste deposit

As the X-ray diffractomery analysis showed the

presence of Ca, Mg, Mn, Fe in a form of carbon-
ates as, there are several peaks of Ankerite plotted,
it can be concluded that Ca, Mg, Mn, and some
amount of Fe, listed in Table 2. and 3. are actally
carobonates, as the Carbon can not be detected by
c) SEM-EDS. Also, the presence of quartz and clay
Figure 3. SEM-EDS analysis of the tailing waste minerals explains the amounts of Al2O3 and SiO2
deposit “Bostaniste” in the tailing waste deposit.
Table 3. The point compositions of the tailing waste
Element weight % Na Mg Al Si S K Ca Mn As Fe O
Point 1 - 0.96 0.79 1/1 13.39 0.38 - 1.81 - 45.34 36.22
Point 2 0.55 0.40 1.21 6.56 13.06 1.19 - 2.16 - 35.32 39.55
Point 3 - 2.05 1.60 6.97 9.63 0.39 1.11 2/77 - 38.11 37.37
Point 4 - 0.89 1.13 14.42 12.72 0.56 3.52 1/89 - 20.30 44.56

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The presence of Arsenopyrite is not confirmed This tailing waste was covered by 10 cm thick
by X-ray diffraction, as the concentration was layer of magnesium slag. Water was added drop
small and limited to this particular site of interest. by drop and the leachate was analyzed for 30, 60
and 90 days. The surface layer is solidified after
3.2. Characterization of non-hydrated slag of 10 days. The samples were than dried naturaly for
silicothermic magnesium production seven days, and then put in the oven with gradu-
ally increased temperature from 40 to 1000C. Sur-
The non-hydrated slag used for solidification face layer is white solid, mortar-like crust, and the
for its pozzolanic properties is characterized by interface layer was 20 cm thick hard composite.
chemical, granulometric, SEM-EDS and X-ray The surface layer and interface contact layer
diffraction analyze and presented in authors’ pre- between tailing waste deposit and non-hydrated
vious works [8,9]. Only the results showing the magnesium slag are investigated by SEM-EDS
possible application for tailing waste deposit so- and X-ray diffraction analysis.
lidification are presented here.
Chemical composition is done for 20 samples 3.3.1. SEM-EDS analysis of the surface layer
and average results are shown in Table 4. and interface
Table 4. Average chemical composition of the
non-hydrated magnesium slag As shown in Figure 5., the surface layer is hy-
Component Within the interval mass.% drated magnesium slag after one month of exposure
SiO2 23.43-25.25 to The chemical composition of the surface layer
Al2O3 11.16-13.61 obtained by SEM-EDS is presented in Table 6.
Fe2O3 0.18-0.62
CaO 51.59-54.84
MgO 7.02-8.82
SO3 0.00-trace
Sulfide S 0.08-0.15
Na2O 0.34-0.39
K2O 0.01-0.03

The non-hydrated slag granulation is very fine

powder 100 0/0 – 0.090 x 10-3m. The mineralogi-
cal composition is determined by using the results
of SEM-EDS and X-ray diffractometry, and pre-
sented in Table 5.
a)
3.3. Characterization of the surface layer and
interface between tailing waste deposit
and non-hydrated magnesium slag
The tailing waste deposit sample, weighning
100 g was set into glass column, 20 cm in depth.

Table 5. Mineralogical composition of non-hydrated slag

Mineral γ-2CaO SiO2 Periclase Mellilite Portlandite
mass % 70 18 9 3
Table 6. Chemical composition of the site in Figure 5.a
Element Mg Al Si S Ca Mn Fe O
weight % 4 3.86 4.76 2.14 27.71 22.51 2.1 32.92

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as shown at the point 3. In deeper layers at 10 cm,

the crystals of hydrated ferro-sulphates are in the
base of quartz, Figure 5c) or gypsum (CaSO4)
form dendrite structure (Figure 5d).

b)

Figure 6. X-ray diffractometry of the interface be-

tween tailing waste deposit and magnesium slag

From X-ray diffractogram, shown in Figure 6. it

can be seen that the dominant phase is gypsum. Far
less presence of quartz is recorded, and there is some
amount of the phase from the group of hydrated fer-
ro sulfates with no stoichiometric compositions. So,
the peaks at the diagram can be from the compounds
Fe2(SO4)2(OH)52H2O, or 4Fe2(SO4)3,5Fe2O327H2O.
There is also some small amount of clay minerals
c) shown at the beginning of the diagram.

3.4. Environmental Impact

In order to determine the environmental impact
of this tailing waste deposit, the measurements of
the TSP are performed, wind rose is plotted and
the concentration of lead and arsenic in soil is de-
termined.

3.4.1. Wind rose on site “Bostaniste”

The meteorological data for 2010. are taken
from the nearest Meteorology station. The data are
calculated and plotted by using WRPLOT 7.0.0.
d) software. As shown in Figure 7. The strong wind
Figure 5. SEM-EDS analysis of the modified waste 3.6-5.7 m/s is blowing to the North direction with
after the reaction with non-hydrated Mg slag 26.9 % frequency, although the frequency is larg-
est for the North-East direction, but the wind speed
That layer is very thin, and after three monts it is from 2.1 m/s to 3.6 m/s. This class of wind has
is replaced by solid layer shown in Figure 5b). The the largest frequency up to 70%, and very unsta-
crystals at points 1 and 2 are gypsum, submerged ble weather (wind class 5.7-8.8 m/s) is recorded to
in aggregated crystals of hydrated ferro sulphates have frequency of 3.1 %

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the untreated and solidified tailing waste and the re-

sults are shown in Figure 10.a), b) and c). It clearly
observed that MAC for airborne dust loading for
untreated tailing waste deposit is reached after 2000
m, and after the solidification process at wind speed
of 3.4 m/s the concentration of airborne dust is not
over the limit of 150 mg, Figure 10.a).

Figure 7. Wind rose plot for 2010.

The airborne dust emission is measured by in-

let probe for all direction at 100, 300 and 600 m
distance from the site. The airborne dust particle
concentration is presented in Figure 8.

Figure 9. Lead and arsenic concentration in soil

samples taken in North-South direction from de
deposit

Figure 8. Airborne dust emission in June 2010.

The lead and arsenic concentration is measured

along the North-South direction, considering the
wind rose. The results (Figure 9.) showed high ar-
senic concentration, due to the large As2O3 deposit
from the nearby lead refinery, disposed on the top of a)
the tailing waste deposit [7]. All the concentrations
are several times higher than MAC (250 mg/kg
for lead, and 20 mg/kg for arsenic) for unrestricted
land use. The laboratory tests for dust loading were
performed for the tailing waste before and after the
reaction with Mg slag. The results obtained for cli-
mate conditions of stable weather when the actual
measurements are performed are included as intial
data in SCREENVIEW software, and the diagram
showed reasonable agreement with measured val-
ues from the Figure 8, in given climate conditions
(wind speed 3.4 m/s, relative humidity 37% at dis-
tances 100, 300 and 600 m) (Figure10.a). Based on
that assumption the laboratory data are included for b)

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Aknowledgement
This research is conducted as a part of the proj-
ect III 43007 Global Climate Change Impact ti
the Environment: Adaptation, Mitigation, and TR
37016, Lead and zinc production impact to the en-
vironment, supported by the Ministry of Science
of Republic of Serbia.

References
1. WHO Air quality and health, Fact sheet N°313, 2008.
2. Peck Philip , Desk-assessment study for the Environ-
c) ment and Security Initiative Project UNEP Regional
Figure 10. TSP emission simulation before and Office for Europe & UNEP Division of Technology,
after solidification of the tailing waste deposit a) Industry and Economics, 2004; pp.35-38.
at wind speed of 3.4 m/s blowing to North-east 3. Dudka S. and Adriano D.C., Environmental impacts
direction, b)Simulated TSP concentration at wind of metal ore mining and processing: a review, Journal
speed of 5 m/s blowing to North direction, c) of Environmental Quality, 1997; 26 (3): 590–602.
Simulated TSP concentration at wind speed of 7
4. Jung M.C. and Thornton I. , Environmental contami­
m/s blowing to NE direction nation and seasonal variation of metals in soils,
plants and waters in the paddy fields around a Pb–Zn
The MAC concentration of 150 mg is reached mine in Korea, The Science of the Total Environment,
at very close distance from the tailing waste de- 1997; 198 (2): 105–121.
posit after the solidification is done, even in un- 5. Galiulin R.V., Bashkin V.N., .Galiulina R.R. and
stable weather conditions at wind speeds classes Birch P., A critical review: protection from pollution
of 5 and 7 m/s. The higher wind speed is not con- by heavy metals – phytoremediation of industrial
sidered, as very unlikely for this region. wastewater, Land Contamination & Reclamation,
2008; 9 (4) pp Critical review.
6. Stevanovic Z. O. , Antonijevic M. M. , Bogdanovic
4. Conclusion
G. D. , Trujic V. K., Bugarin M. M., Influence of the
The tailing waste deposit “Bostaniste” is char- chemical and mineralogical composition on the acid-
ity of an abandoned copper mine in the Bor river
acterized and proven to be a constant threat to valley (eastern Serbia), Chemistry and Ecology, DOI
the environment for its content of lead and ar- 10.1080/02757540.2011.575375
senic, but also for the small grained particles of
7. Nedeljkovic B., Milentijevic G., Lazic M., Environ-
quartz and carbonates. Airborne dust emission is
mental Protection in Passive Industrial Areas, The
measured and the results are over the Maximum first International Symposium of Environmental
Allowed Concentration. The surrounding soil is Protection in Industrial Areas, Kosovska Mitrovica,
exposed to this dust for more than 30 years, and 2007; Proceedings pp. 240-248
high values for lead and arsenic concentration is 8. Nedeljković B., Milentijević G., Đokić J., Petković
recorded. The tailing waste samples are covered D., The Characterization Of Flotation Waster De-
by non-hydrated magnesium slag in laboratory, posits In Leposavic-The First Step For Evaluation
and natural weather conditions are simulated for And Remediation, XXI International Symposium On
three months. The produced surface is solid, made Mineral Processing, 04-06 November, Bor, Serbia,
Proceedings, 2008; pp. 352-358
mostly of gypsum, quartz and clay. By simulation
in laboratory this surface showed very low dust 9. Minic D., Manasijevic D., Djokic J., Zivkovic D.,
emission, even in unstable weather conditions Zivkovic Z., Thermal Analysis and Characterization
of the Slag of the Silicothermic Reduction Process in
(wind speed 5 or 7 m/s).
Magnesium Production, Journal of Thermal Analysis
and Calorimetry, 2008; 93 (2) : 411-415 .

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10. Djokic J., Minic D., Kamberovic Z.,. Characteriza-

tion of the slag from silicothermic reduction pro-
cess, III International Symposium Light metals and
Composite Materials, 12-14 September, Belgrade,
Serbia, Proceedings, 2008; pp. 92-101.

11. Oliveira C. A. S., Gumieri A. G., Gomes A. M. and

Vasconcelos W. L., Characterization of magnesium
slag aiming the utilization as a mineral admixture
in mortar, International RILEM Conference on the
Use of Recycled Materials in Buildings and Struc-
tures, Barcelona, Spain, 8 - 11 November 2004; pp
919-924.

12. Knezevic D., Lazic P., Cvijetic A., Dust protection

by ash solidification, IMES Conference, Arandjelo-
vac, Serbia, 10-12 May, Proceedings 2000 ; pp.
377-384.

13. Ristovic I., Stojakovic M., Vulic M., Recultivation

and Sustainable Development of Coal Mining in
Kolubara Basin. Thermal Science, Publisher: Vinča
Institute of Nuclear Sciences, Belgrade, ISSN 0354-
9836, 2010; 14(3) : 759-772.

14. Ristovic I., Borisavljevic A., New Technology for

Prevention of Eolian Erosion of Ash on the Ash
Disposals in Power Plant Nikola Tesla in Serbia.
Global Change-Challenges for Soil Management–
Advances in GeoEcology 41. Miodrag Zlatic (edi-
tor). CATENA VERLAG GMBH, September 2010;
pp. 278-285.

Corresponding Author
Jelena Djokic,
Faculty of Technical Sciences,
University of Pristina,
Kosovska Mitrovica,
E-mail jeladjokic7@gmail.com

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Cartographic method and validity of computer

aided cartographic generalization of river flows
Ivan M. Filipovic1, Aleksandar Valjarevic2, Milan Djordjevic1, Mila Pavlovic3, Aleksandar Radivojevic1, Marija
Bratic1, Ljiljana Dimitrijevic1
1
Department of Geography, Faculty of Science, University of Niš, Niš, Serbia,
2
Departmant of Geography, Faculty of Science, University of Priština, Kosovska Mitrovica, Serbia,
3
Faculty of Geography, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.

Abstract Based on the foregoing, cartographic generali-

sation is a specific research method in cartography.
Cartographic generalisation is a process of se-
Line symbol represents a map feature that has the
lection and elimination of geospatial data during a
characteristic of length and one should aim to keep
map making. Problem with determing the lenght
its characteristic look even after generalisation. To
of watercourse, is produced by the fact that river
do so, good knowledge of mapped territory, geo-
course is a curved line, consisted of number of
graphic principles and cartographic generalisation
small, averaged and big meanders, which are par-
is essential. The reason for this is because there
tialy or complitely disappearing during the course
is a difference in line generalisation of coastline,
of decreasing proportions. Computer supported
waterflows, watershed or communications.
generalisation compared with analog or automatic
During map generalisation, compression of
generalisation has certain similarities, such as: iden-
quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the
tical procedures complied with the general form of
new map over the original is necessity. Total num-
generalization, general principles of generalization,
ber of signs and mapped geographic features is re-
special principles of waterstreams generalization.
duced. Some cartographic generalisation criteria
Key words: cartographic generalisation, map,
must be respected when generalising a map:
river, geospatial data.
– purpose of the map,
– map scale,
Introduction – mapped territory,
– cartographic sources (data),
Cartographic generalisation is the process of
– map visibility,
selection of geographic map elements depending
– map legibility.
on its purpose and scale and graphic generalisa-
tion. Cartographic generalisation is the action of
The problem of representing rivers length is
cartographic information reduction during a map
based on the fact that stream or river is a curved
content composition. It is conditioned by a pur-
line. It consists of a number of small, medium
pose, scale, character of the landscape and use of
and big meanders which totally or partly disap-
the newly made map.
pear during a process of cartographic generalisa-
Generalisation is used for deriving small-scale
tion. Decreasing a map scale, the size of curves
map from some large-scale map (source map).
which are being eliminated is rising. As a result
During data selection cartographer is striving to
of these removals, river length displayed at small-
choose the geographic features of mapped terri-
scale maps approximates the great circle distance
tory which will represent information of the real
(straight line) between spring and its mouth [2].
world in best way and eliminate unimportant data.
Analyzing the generalisation of drainage net-
Map author is trying to keep basic characteristics
work, some factors which could affect a level of
of the nature and objects that are generalised [1].
generalisation are considered:
To achieve this, the author of the map must pay
a) Hydrographic and orographic conditions
special attention to the scientific preparation, anal-
b) Types of curves according to its size
ysis and synthesis of observed geospace.

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A meandering is typicall for watercourses which K – Coefficient of watercourse development

flow across fine-grained sedimentation of wellde- L – Real length of river
veloped floodplains. It is a result of low average Lk – Shortest distance (straight line) between
river slope and weak vertical erosion. [3] This type spring and its mouth
of rivers has weak transport energy of eroded mate-
rial, they are slow and have shallow riverbed. Sitnica has well developed drainage system in
Courvinesses conditioned by hydrography are its upper part of the watercourse. Labas basin, Sit-
mostly arc shaped and ones conditioned by orog- nicas right-bank tributary, is especially well devel-
raphy are usually sharp edged (zagging of water- oped. Most of tributaries of higher ranks belong to
course). Courvinesses conditioned by orography Drenica and Lab. A drainage pattern of Sitnica Riv-
is result of geologic structure, tectonics and river er is rectangular drainage pattern where tributaries
water power. This type of curviness is charachter- make shape bends entering the main stream at high
istic for fast mauntain rivers or upper course which angles. Sitnica is right bank tributary of Ibar, which
descend down the mountain side. length is 110km and basin size of 3040 km2.
Since vertical erosion is superior then lateral
erosion in that part of watercourse and there is
strong water power because of great descend of
watercourse it results with slight curve.
Meanders formed by influence of underly-
ing geologic structure or tectonic movements are
sharp. It is possible to determine coefficient of wa-
tercourse development based on degree of water-
course length shortening. Degree of watercourse
length shortening (K) can be calculated by dividing
the real length of river (L) by length of the river
measured on a map of certain scale (Lk). The length
Lk will always be smaller than the L, because of
contraction of length due to generalization [2].
K=L/Lk Figure 1. River system of Sitnica
Table 1. Coefficient of watercourse development
River Length Coefficient of watercourse
Name of River Shortest distance Lk
(km) L development L/Lk
Sitnica 110 59 1,86
Table 2. Coefficient of watercourse development at different map scales
Ratio of actual river Ratio of actual river Ratio of actual river
Coefficient of
Name of length and its length length and its length length and its length
watercourse
River after generalisation on after generalisation on after generalisation on
development
map scale 1:500.000 map scale 1:1.000.000 map scale 1:2.000.000
Sitnica 0,68 0,56 0,53 1,86
Table 3. Degree of watercourse generalisation (ratio of actual river length and its length after genera-
lisation) presented with differences between different map scales
Difference of Difference of Difference of Difference of
Overall value
watercourse watercourse watercourse watercourse
Name of of the Degree
generalisation generalisation generalisation generalisation
River of watercourse
for scale between 1:500000 between 1:1000000 between 1:500000
generalisation
1:500000 and 1:1000000 and 1:2000000 and 1:2000000
Sitnica 0,32 0,12 0,03 0,15 0,47

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– World Wide Web. GIS works with geospatial

(georeferenced) data, integrates it to its system
and thus provides a framework for the analysis
of geographical data. GIS technology presents a
modern technological environment for dealing
with geospatial data.
Geospatial information is a result of collecting,
analyzing, summarizing, constructing a logical
scientific argument that explains geospatial data.
Data within GIS could be spatial and non-spatial
or attribute data. (Geo)spatial data are determined
with relative or absolute location. The six compo-
Figure 2. A drainage pattern of Sitnica River and nents of the GIS anatomy are: network, hardware,
sample of rectangular drainage pattern procedures, data software and people. Four basic
GIS functions are input, storage, manipulation/
Geographic information system, supported by spatial analysis and output/visualization. Informa-
tools for mapping and analyzing real world models, tion technology development enhanced the orga-
could be applied to cartographic data [4]. Visual- nizational ability and management of spatial data
ization and graphic displays of geospatial data has and creation of geoinformation infrastructure or
changed throughout history. Geographic space is a spatial data infrastructure. Spatial data infrastruc-
complex system which requires building a model ture should include sources, databases and meta-
of the real world. Paper maps have been used for data, data networks as well as final user.
centuries for visual display of geospatial data. At
the end of the twentieth century cartography has
changed significantly. Computer aided cartography
gradually evolved into digital cartography with its
fundamental objective od visialisation and work-
ing with geospatial data. Digital technology em-
phasized the map importance, not just as a source
of data and a form of display, but a tool for under-
standing and exploring geographical patterns.
There are different opinions about relation-
ship between cartography and GIS. For Kraak Figure 3. Spatial Data Infrastructure
and Ormeling, cartography is a subsystem of GIS
which serves for geospatial data visualization [5]. Final users, supported by specific GIS software,
According to Taylor, modern cartographic visual- acquire ready-made digital data. Location-based
ization presents great change of visual representa- services provide geospatial information over the
tion in real time, leading to better understanding Internet and other networks, accelerating the pace
of many spatial objects [6]. Digital maps could be of work.
overlapped with adequate satellite images simu- Computer assisted generalisation has certain
lating geospatial data interactions. Digital maps similarities comparing analog and automatic gen-
could be connected to database and presented eralisation such as: identity, general methods of
with different cartographic visualization methods. generalisation, general principles of generalisa-
Visualization of information, through geographic tion, special principles of water course generali-
information systems and geospatial representa- sation. The only defect which is manifesting is a
tions, leads to generating of hypothesis, different presence of stratified database within ASCII code.
alternative views and ways for solving problems. Then all attributes change so that the softwer could
The data could be presented on maps, images, detect them with a help of some general algorithm
cartographic animation and also on new medium like colors for example: what is the main water-

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Table 4. Vectorized drainage system of Sitnica river

Map scales - 1:25000,1:50000, 1:300000 (A-analog, D-digital)
Generalisation
Left Bank Length Length Length algorithm
Length
Tributary (L) 1:50000 1:50000 1:25000 errors for map
Name of River Tributary to Rank 1:300000
Right Bank А D D scales 1:25000,
D (km)
Tributary (R) (km) (km) (km) 1:50000 and
1:300000
Drenica Sitnica L I 41 42,9 39,2 42,1
Nameless Drenica L II 10 12,0 9,4 11,9 *
Klisura “ L II 6 6,2 5,7 5,8
Nameless “ L II 5 5,4 5,3 6,1 *
Nameless “ L II 10 10,5 10,2 10,1
Nameless “ L II 5 5,9 5,8 5,2
Vrbica “ L II 25 24,7 24,6 24,1 *
Klisura Vrbica R III 5 4,9 4,5 4,3 *
Nameless “ R III 5 5,4 5,2 5,1
Ljug i Kršit “ R III 7 7,7 6,8 6,9
Bog dalj “ R III 8 8,3 7,9 8,0
Nameless “ R III 8 8,4 8,3 8,2
Nameless Drenica R II 2 2.5 2,4 2,3
Nameless “ R II 5 5,6 5,4 5,2
Nameless “ R II 10 10,8 10,6 10,5
Nameless “ R II 6 7,4 7,2 6,9
Gladni potok “ L II 10 10,8 9,7 9,5 *
Nameless “ L II 4 4,8 3,8 3,9
Brosovačka Sitnica L I 12 11,8 11,9 12,1 *
Nameless Brosovačka R II 5 5,5 4,9 4,8
Nameless “ R II 5 5,4 5,8 5,3
Nameless “ R II 5 6,3 5,9 5,8
Nameless Sitnica L I 5 6,0 5,7 5,4
Nameless “ L I 5 5,6 5,3 5,2
Trstena “ R I 19 18,8 18,7 18,9
Prodanče “ R I 9 9,2 9,1 9,0
Nameless Sitnica R I 9 10,0 9,5 9,2
Smrekovnica “ R I 12 11,8 11,9 11,6
Barska reka “ R I 15 16,7 16,6 16,4
Vodovođa “ L I 10 11,8 10,9 10,7
Grika Vodovođa L II 8 8,8 8,6 8,4
Magurska reka Sitnica L I 9 9,4 9,4 9,1
Žegovka “ R I 22 23,0 22,5 22,3
Janjevka “ R I 16 17,8 16,9 16,5
Oklapska Janjevka L II 10 10,8 10,7 10,5
Gračanka Sitnica R I 17 17,8 16,6 16,9
Labljanska Gračanka L II 10 11,1 10,6 10,3
Mramorska “ R II 5 5,5 5,9 5,2
Androvačka “ L II 5 5,4 5,3 5,2
Prištevka Sitnica R I 20 20.8 19,8 19,9
Nameless Prištevka L II 5 5,8 5,6 5,4
Smrdan “ L II 5 5,8 5,5 5,3

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Kojilovačka “ L II 2 2,7 1,7 1,8

Crni potok “ L II 1 1,8 1,6 1,4
Baljevička “ R II 2 3,5 3,4 2,9
Šljivaštica “ R II 1 1,8 1,6 1,9
Lab Sitnica R I 57 58.5 58,2 59,1 *
Brnjička Lab L II 15 16,1 15,9 15,8
Nameless “ L II 5 5,6 5,2 4,9
Kaluđerica “ L II 5 5,9 5,6 5,2
Batlava “ L II 20 20,1 20,0 20,2
Trnavica Batlava L III 8 8,9 8,6 8,4
Šarbanska Trnavica L IV 6 6,7 6,8 6,4
Perovića “ R IV 6 7,0 7,1 6,9
Sponca Batlava L III 4 4,9 4,8 4,4
Balabanska “ L III 9 10,8 10,4 10,2
Kolićka Balabanska L IV 2 2,3 2,5 2,2
Pljeništa “ R IV 4 5,5 4,7 4,6
Kačikolska “ L IV 6 6,8 6,5 6,3
Brainska Batlava L III 6 6,9 6,7 6,2
Koljatička “ R III 6 6,6 6,5 6,2
Turučička “ R III 10 11,9 10,9 10,8
Nosovci Turučička L IV 3 3,8 3,6 3,4
Rakinička “ L IV 4 4,7 4,5 4,4
Dražnja “ R IV 2 2,9 2,7 2,4
Dubnička Lab L II 24 24,9 22,7 22,9
Mirovački potok Dubnička L III 3 3,9 3,5 3,3
Lauška “ R III 3 4,0 3,6 3,4
Pakaštička Lab R II 4 4,9 4,8 4,8 *
Nazurski potok “ R II 6 7,0 6,5 6,3
Bradaška “ R II 14 14,8 14,6 14,4
Nameless “ R II 15 15,6 14,7 14,8
Kačandolska “ R II 30 31,2 29,6 29,1 *
Lešnica Kačandolska L III 7 7,8 7,7 7,6
Bajgora “ L III 2 2,6 2,6 2,5
Stara “ R III 4 4,9 4,7 4,4
Kovačica “ R III 4 4,8 4,7 4,5
Nameless Lab R II 2 2,8 2,7 2,2
Nameless Lab R II 2 2,9 2,6 2,4
Nameless “ R II 2 2,3 2,2 2,1
Koskovik “ R II 6 6,8 6,6 6,5
Đelbište “ R II 10 10,9 10,5 10,5
Dubnica Sitnica R I 13 13,4 13,3 12,8
Crvena “ R I 15 16,9 15,5 15,9 *
Sudimljanska “ R I 10 10,8 10,7 10,6
Repski potok Lab L III 2 2,5 2,4 2,3
Slatina “ L III 10 10,9 10,8 10,5
Murgulska “ R III 17 17,8 17,6 17,5
Jezerski potok Murgulska R IV 3 3,9 3,8 3,4
Žitinjska “ R IV 6 8,9 7,3 7,2
Siljevička Lab R III 10 12,7 11,6 11,2

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course and on what base the lines (their sizes) can

be presented, so that the map is properly gener-
alised. Digital cartographic generalisation is very
active and fast when it comes to data processing,
but it is fully possible if the person who is doing
it well aware of all cartographic rules and regula-
tions. Softwer GeoMedia 6.1 is used for digitizing
of topographic map with scale 1:25000. All map
papers with rivers which belong to Sitnica river
system are treated in same way. Segmental line
generalisation was done on maps, and processed
later with OriPro 8.1 software. The processing of
all generalisation factors showed some deviations Figure 5. Standard errors in digital generalisa-
when it comes to generalisation algorithm. It fol- tion on the same maps, on the example of Sitnica
lows that if the scale is large error of generalisa- river system. (digital generalisation 1:50000)
tion will be smaller. There are some deviations
from Table 1. in Sitnica drainage system. Some
marked rivers have certain generalisation errors
that could make serious problems during the use
of map. There fore some comparative methods
were used to show that the best solution is to use
both analog and digital methods in corelation, be-
cause there is no softwer which can fully replace
human decisioning during generalisation process.

Figure 6. Differences of analogue and digital

generalisation in scale 1:50000, on the examples
of Sitnica river system

Figure 4. Standard errors on the same maps, on

the example of Sitnica river system (analogue
generalisation 1:50000)

Figure 7. All four types of generalisations on the

example of river systems Sitnica, scale of map
(1:25000,1:50000,1:300000)

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Figure 8. Standard error for three scale of gen-

Figure 11. Digitizing river Sitnica in ratio
eralisation, on the examples of Sitnica river sys-
1:100000
tem.(1:25000,1:50000,1:300000)
Analyzing the apperance of drainage system of
Sitnica, which is shown both analog and digital, we
notice that digital image presents all small mean-
ders as straight lines, in both scales 1:100000 and
1:300000. They are all presented with lines of same
thickness and it is impossible to distinguish the im-
portance of watercourse, which river is rich in wa-
ter or differentiate tributaries from main stream.

Conclusion
The conclusion based on analyzing graphics
1-6 is that a lenght difference as a result of digi-
Figure 9. The biggest mistake of generalisation tal cartographic generalisation on maps with scale
in all of three scale, the numbers indicate the 1:25 000 and 1:50 000 are between 0,027 and
number of river 0,035%. With a smaller map scales (1:300 000
and smaller) lenght difference of water course on
generalised maps grows, resulting in length bigger
than its real length.
In traditional map generalisation, decreasing of
map scale will make a watercourse shorter because
of simplification and smoothing of lines and loss of
certain amount of meanders. Based on the above
we can conclude that automated map generalisation
derived can be used for large scale maps because
the obtained values do not differ a lot and signifi-
cantly speeds up the process of generalization

Acknowledgment
This work was funded by Ministry of Educa-
Figure 10. Digitizing river Sitnica in scale tion and Science of Republic of Serbia within the
1:300000. project OI176008

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References
1. Filipović I., Milojković B. Osnovi kartografije sa
topografijom, Prirodno-matematički fakultet, Niš.
2010.

2. Filipović I. Kartografsko generalisanje vodotoka,

Univerzitet u Nišu, Prirodno-matematički fakultet –
Institut za geografiju, Niš. 2008.

3. Filipovic I., Radivojevic A., Dimitrijevic Lj. Regu-

larities of cartografic generalization of the density of
river basin and proportion of the degree of different
scales, Glasnik Srpskog geografskog društva, Beo-
grad, ISS2, 2011; 91: pp. 113 -121.

4. Kukrika M. Geografski informacioni sistemi, Geo-

grafski fakultet, Beograd. 2000.

5. Kraak M.J. & Ormeling Cartography – Visualization

of spatial data, LONGMAN, London. 1996.

6. Taylor D.R.F.:Perspectives on Visualization and

Modern Cartography. In: MacEachren, A.M., Fraser
Taylor, D.R. (eds.): Visualization in Modern Car-
tography. Pergamon, Greath Yarmouth, 1994; pp.
333-341.

Corresponding Author
Ivan M. Filipovic,
Department of Geography,
Faculty of Science,
University of Nis,
Nis,
Serbia,
E-mail: filipovic@pmf.ni.ac.rs

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Critical evaluation of elite sport system in a

transition country
Izet Radjo1, Mile Sadzak1, Patrik Drid2, Dejana Sadzak1
1
Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
2
Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Novi Sad, Serbia.

Abstract reflected and included comparisons within fed-

eration, between different federations and com-
The aim of this paper is to present the prelimi-
bined separated descriptions on the analysis of the
nary evaluation of the elite sport system in Bos-
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
nia and Herzegovina conducted by investigating
related to previously identified crucial components
the position of sports against the SPLISS “nine
of the elite sport system, this evaluation helped to
pillars”1 [1] - critical success factors, which is at-
clarify the understanding about the position and
tempting to explain the reasons that lay beyond
problems that the federations are facing and as-
the lack of success in Bosnian sport and attempt
pires to give an essential basis for future strategic
to analyze (without necessarily comparing) the re-
planning processes.
sults with those identified in the literature.
Key words: elite sport system, sporting structure
Due to the nature of the research objectives, a
mixture of methods has been applied; document
analysis, statistics and interviews in order to col- 1. Introduction
lect a comprehensive amount of information. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country with a
The SPLISS analytical model provided the basis strong sporting culture and tradition. This tradi-
for the research protocol and its simplified analyti- tion is related to the heritage of the previous Yugo-
cal framework with minor changes specific to our slavian sports system. It is evident that the newly
nation’s context. Four case study federations were formed surrounding countries continued to follow
selected in order to extended the knowledge about the path of success in the Yugoslavian legacy, but
elite sport and conduct an in-depth exploratory anal- Bosnia and Herzegovina appears to be underper-
ysis by providing a comprehensive assessment and forming in relevant international elite sporting
tease out the experts critical opinion concerning the competitions. What are the main reasons and what
diverse aspects of federation overall sports policy. could be done to change this fact are the key ques-
Although the findings are tentative and are in- tions upon which this paper is based.
tended to become the subject of further scrutiny, The aim was to undertake a critical evaluation
the results of the conducted study depict a rather concerning aspects of the elite sporting system in
negative general picture of the current state of Bosnia and Herzegovina by analyzing the data of the
sport in the country and an absolute requirement sporting structure with a special focus on elite sports.
for comprehensive planning in order to introduce This analysis attempted to provide an essential basis
the possible and realistic changes. The results un- inside of the sporting structure. Although the path to
veil clear areas which call for most urgent actions success is complex and diverse from nation to na-
of development and a significant lack of strategic tion, which makes it quite difficult to be understood,
approach in all the system’s segments. the recent findings demonstrate that the different ap-
By illustrating the major structural aspects proaches have similar characteristics and the key el-
displayed in the form of SWOT analyses, which ements that contribute to international sporting suc-
cess are alike and are based around a near standard-
1 For more information see: De Bosscher, V., Bingham, J., ized model of elite development system with certain
Shibli, S., Van Bottenburg, M., De Knop,P. (2008). The global local variations specific to a given nation’s context.
Sporting Arms Race. An international comparative study
on sports policy factors leading to international sporting
This paper attempts to synthesize the obtained find-
success. Aachen: Meyer & Meyer. ings and corroborate it with the results of other coun-

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tries in order to contribute to the development of the Brčko District of B&H has a special department for
sports in Bosnia and Herzegovina. economic development and sports within the Gov-
From the first inception of the idea for the re- ernment of the Brčko District of B&H. The Federa-
search, the basic goal was to investigate the posi- tion of B&H consists of 10 cantons. Each canton
tion of sports in Bosnia and Herzegovina against has a ministry responsible for sports. The Federa-
the “Pillars” - critical success factors identified in tion of Bosnia and Herzegovina has 79 munici-
the SPLISS study, explain the reasons that lay be- palities and the “Republika Srpska” 63, and these
yond the lack of success and perhaps attempting municipalities have an important role in supporting
to analyze (without necessarily comparing) the re- local sports clubs and building infrastructure.
sults with those identified in the literature. Another The Olympic Committee of Bosnia and Her-
feature of the research was to provide an adequate zegovina plays a significant part in the country’s
contribution to the practice by learning from similar sporting system and represents the umbrella orga-
successful nations and adopting certain elements, nization of the sports movement. The NOC brings
which are meant to lead to systems improvement. together 33 sports; National Sport Federations: 22
The research findings will provided significant ma- summer Olympic sports, 6 winter Olympic sports,
terial which can be used as guidelines for the neces- and 5 non-Olympic sports.
sary recommendations in the future. The sports structure follows the political struc-
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s complex postwar ture meaning that one national sport federation
political and administrative system creates signifi- exists at the national level, and one at each Entity
cant problems in regards to the basic functioning level. The sports federations at the Entity level are
of all segments of society, including sports. As a responsible for coordination of the sports develop-
consequence of this unique political structure, the ment with municipalities for certain branches of
country has multiple organizational levels with re- sports (with cantons in the Federation of B&H) and
sponsibilities for sports, making their work com- sports clubs. According to the most recent informa-
plicated and less efficient with no clear concept for tion, there are 1221 sports clubs within the Federa-
sharing of responsibilities and competencies. This tion of B&H, 603 sports clubs within the “Repub-
fact inevitably leads to noticeable dissipation and lika Srpska” and 75 in Brcko.
considerable overlap of efforts. Although prior to the 1992, Bosnian athletes
On the national level, the ministry with primary showed a remarkable performance at the most im-
responsibilities is the Ministry of Civil Affairs of portant international competitions, either as mem-
Bosnia and Herzegovina. This Ministry shares sev- bers of the national teams of the former joint state of
eral competencies with entities and the district, on Yugoslavia or as individuals, there has not been any
the cantonal or municipal levels. Furthermore, there major sporting achievements in the “post-war” era.
are other authorities responsible for sports at the In fact, the number of athletes at the Olympic Games
Entity level, the Ministry of Culture and Sports of has been decreasing since 1992. Tables 1 and 2 dem-
the Federation of B&H and the Ministry for Fam- onstrate an overview of participation of the Bosnian
ily, Youth and Sport of the “Republika Srpska”. The athletes at the summer and winter Olympic Games.

Table 1. Overview of participation of the Bosnian athletes at the Summer Olympic Games
Year 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012
Number of athletes 10 10 9 9 5 6
Number of sports 6 7 4 8 4 4
Medals / / / / / /
Table 2. Overview of participation of the Bosnian athletes at the Winter Olympic Games
Year 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010
Number of athletes 12 8 2 6 6
Number of sports 5 2 1 3 3
Medals / / / / /

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The relevant international acheivements Bosni- on this phenomenon hasn’t been extensively inves-
an athletes have had are linked to individuals and tigated, it is clear that out of the elite performing
just a few sports. It is evident that these results are athletes of several countries (especially Serbia and
not a product of the system, rather they are just the Croatia) there is a significant percentage of Bos-
product of dedication of few enthusistic coaches nian athletes. This is a multidimensional problem
and their athletes. and the reasons range from the macro - national
Should we compare the differences of the two economy and political dynamics to the micro level
“eras” and analyze the previous system, we would (individual motivation, absence of highly skilled
undoubtedly come to the conclusion that the “pre- coaches and other psychological factors). Sadly,
war” sports movement in Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina has done very little in
was integrated into the social and political system, terms of responding to this fact and of putting in
therefore it has been an important instrument of the place adequate policies and practices to prevent tal-
government policies of Ex-Yugoslavia. This tight ent drain. The problem of talent drain is of the out-
connection with the government, a high degree of most importance for increasing the results and the
organization of the sports federations and clubs, overall development of sports in the country.
the presence of experienced coaches and training
methods resulted in international success and large 2. Methodology
number of medals at the international competitions.
Structurally, the previous system was based upon Due to the nature of the research objectives, a
sports societies at municipal levels comprising the mixture of methods has been applied; document
network of clubs with the mission to implement the analysis, statistics and interviews in order to col-
state policy in the field of sport. lect a comprehensive amount of information. The
Unfortunately, unlike other Ex-Yugoslavian research design emerged from the ultimate goal of
countries which came through the transition relative- the study which primarily attempted to increase the
ly quickly, Bosnia and Herzegovina is still passing knowledge about the existing elite sporting system
trough the changeover of systems and is not follow- in Bosnia and Herzegovina. As reasoning derived
ing the trend of good results as the region countries data leads to generalization, this involved an induc-
(table 3 - Overview of participation of the Croatian tive, theory testing approach based upon a thorough
athletes at the Summer Olympic Games). There are and information-rich review of existing literature
a variety of explanations why, and a part of them lies followed by data collection and analysis. Although
in other countries problems which extend beyond the approach adopted in this research was meant to
sports and have political background. The nature of be predominantly descriptive, the attempt was to
the problems which are afflicting sports lie within move beyond the descriptive level to the subsequent
the lack of a proper system and adequate laws. analysis of all the contextual factors that affect the
One important and possibly crucial factor which elite sporting structure and which are in direct cor-
ultimately has a negative effect on Bosnian sports relation with the success or the lack of success.
is the talent drain. Considering the number of Bos- Prior to defining what might be done to change
nians competing for other nations, one would sus- this fact, it was essential to increase knowledge
pect that this rate of talent drainage is significantly about the existing elite sporting system and get in-
higher than in the other nations. The chances for side information into the system of the key bodies
success seem to be considerably higher when the – national sporting federations of Bosnia and Her-
Bosnian athletes find themselves in a more favor- zegovina. Therefore, it was necessary to collect a
able sporting environment. Although the research comprehensive amount of data about the subjects
Table 3. Overview of participation of the Croatian athletes at the Summer Olympic Games
Year 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012
Number of athletes 39 84 91 81 105 111
Number of sports 12 14 12 14 15 15
Total medals 3 2 2 5 5 6

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in question. Based on the literature reviewed, the least tentative, conclusions to be drawn regarding
adequate method for data collection was identified the position of Bosnian sports against the pillars.
to be an interview with a selected number of sport These were as follows:
directors which would address the way in which I. Judo – the federation with best international
sports policy is managed in their federations. results
The “nine pillar” analytical model derived from II. Tennis – the federation with best recent
the “SPLISS study of sport policy factors that lead results and most growth among Eastern
to international sporting success” provided the Europe countries (according to the results of
basis for the research protocol and its simplified Tennis Europe)
analytical framework with minor changes specific III. Athletics – one of the base sports with
to our nation’s context. relatively poor international results
Therefore, the interview protocol was developed IV. Wrestling – one of the traditionally
around nine main themes that have been previously developed sports, but poor international
identified in the literature. It provided a comprehen- results in the “post-war” era.
sive assessment of certain identified federations and
teased out the experts critical opinion concerning Obviously, some pragmatic concerns were also
the diverse aspects of federation overall sports pol- taken in consideration: availability of the candidates,
icy with particular focus on the nine pillar factors their despondency and willingness to cooperate.
that make the most significant contribution to the The data obtained was systematically sorted
sporting success and their main strengths and weak- and synthesized to provide an easy understandable
nesses, opportunities and threats, as well as the sug- analysis. Data analysis implicated the process of
gestions for their improvement. moving from raw interviews and subjective opin-
The questions were highly structured, de- ions to classified evidence based interpretations.
termined before the interview and served for a This included observation, interview examination,
deeper exploration, understanding of the underly- document analysis and data reduction. Data reduc-
ing issues behind the phenomenon in question. In tion included the clustering of information by pillars
order to understand what is being asked, prior to by comparing, finding similarities, and contrasting
the interview the respondents were provided with quotes from the interviewees. This process allowed
an “interview guide”, which introduced them to gathering insights into the identified topics, writing
the SPLISS study and the SWOT analysis. The summaries and discarding irrelevant data.
interviews were conducted in spirit of openness In order to illustrate some structural aspects in-
and transparency, lasted between 80 to 120 min- formation was displayed in form of OVERALL
utes and addressed all the relevant aspects of sport SWOT, with the main purpose to reflect and in-
policy in their organization. All interviews were clude a comparison within interviews and between
recorded with consent and subsequently partially interviews and combine separate descriptions to
transcribed (with the exception of interview num- formulate a coherent interpretation. Given the
ber 2. which was transcribed verbatim). complexity of the corroboration of obtained data
The selection of candidates represented a pur- the OVERALL SWOT allowed to combine what
posive sampling strategy since the federations different interviewees have said about the same
were selected on the basis of specific variability of concept and made it possible to draw broader the-
such organizations in the B&H context, and the oretical summaries and conclusions.
Secretary General’s broad knowledge of the mat- Besides the broad implication of the what we
ter in question (expertise, experience and personal have learned about the NF’s, significant feature to
involvement) was taken into consideration. Four the research was to provide an adequate contribu-
case study federations were selected in order to tion to the practice by providing the realistic sug-
progress an in-depth exploratory analysis. It is not gestions and necessary recommendations of cer-
claimed that four federations are representative, tain elements which are meant to lead to systems
but it is suggested that they have been drawn from improvement in the future. The methodological
a sufficiently broad range of contexts to allow, at procedure is shown in the table 5.

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Table 4. Four case study

Participation in Participation in
Federation Last year’s achievements
Beijing O.G. London O.G
European Championship – 2 Gold and 2 5th places
University Championship – 2 Gold, 2 Silver and 8 Bronze
Judo 1 1
World CUP-s – 1 Gold, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze
European CUP – 2 Silver
European CUP Winter Throwing – 1 Gold
Athletics EYOF – 1 Bronze 2 2
Balcan Championship – 4 Gold, 1 Silver, 4 Bronze
Date Points
31.12.2008. 96
31.12.2009. 156
Tennis NO NO
31.12.2010. 334
26.12.2011. 644
27.02.2012. 743
Wrestling None NO NO
Table 5. Methodological procedure

3. Limitations was being able to weight, combine, summarize and

provide a systematic combination of the different
One of the limitations of the study was to limit
versions and separate explanations without adding
the personal interpretation of the interviewees re-
the researcher’s own personal interpretation.
garding the matter in question. Another limitation

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 technics technologies education management

4. Results The research on this particular pillar included

the general observations of the federations regard-
Beside the SWOT analyses which are self-explan-
ing changes that could be done in the current situ-
atory, in order to formulate broader theoretical sum-
ation. Although the main suggestions would be to
maries and conclusions that might prove instructive
increase the funding for sport and introduce some
in regards to the overall comprehensive evaluation
structural and organizational changes (in order to
of the state of sport in the country, the paper includes
make the process of grants allocation in line with
some preliminary remarks, overall conclusions and
the sporting results, to make it transparent and
the implication that the findings might have in regard
available to all the federations according to estab-
to the suggestions for policy improvements.
lished privileges and strict criteria), the interview-
It needs to be emphasized that the intention of
ees demonstrated major concern regarding the
the project was not to determine whether there is a
possibility of introduction of such changes.
relationship between the performance in the given
The results of the analysis seem to suggest that
sport and the ratings of the ten pillars, but to estab-
the chances for major changes would appear to be
lish and make some preliminary remarks about the
minimum, therefore the federations have to focus
implication and the nature of the problems that the
on their ability to attract resources by reinforcing
Bosnian sport is facing.
marketing and exploiting all the available resourc-
It would be more insightful and prove more in-
es that the International Federations offer through
structive to see it opened up to a greater number of
their programs.
Bosnian sports federations in order for more compre-
hensive statistics to be collected and more definitive
conclusions to be made. In addition to the prelimi-
nary remarks regarding all of the factors that influ-
ence sporting success, an attempt at “problem solv-
ing” will be made through the identification of gen-
eral suggestions for the practice for all the 10 pillars.

4.1. Financial support

It is evident that Bosnia and Herzegovina,
when compared to the similar surrounding coun-
tries, has an insufficient amount of financial in-
come from public funds devoted to the national
sports federations and sport in general.
The results of the analysis demonstrate that
there is a significant variation in the financing sys-
tem of each of the federations taken into account
in this study. The general revenue includes several
sources of income among which the most impor-
Figure 1. Positive and negative aspects of financial
tant are marketing, state and International Federa-
support
tions. The percentage would seem to depend on
various factors and the most important one is the
ability of the people in charge of leading the fed- 4.2. Organization and structure of sport policies
eration to attract funds either by lobbying at all
Findings about the financial issues are consider-
state levels or through marketing. Furthermore,
ably related to the findings about the second pillar
some external factors such as the tradition and at-
- integrated approach to sport policy. As mentioned
tractiveness of the sport significantly contribute to
in the introductory chapter, in addition to the scarce
the general position of the given sport within the
resources devoted to sport in Bosnia and Herzegovi-
country and the marketing income.
na and the lack of political will to increase the fund-

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 technics technologies education management

ing dedicated to sport, the Bosnian system is char- 4.3. Foundation and participation
acterized by a complex multi-level financing and
administrative system. In such system, the compe- Although the results would point out that there
tences and the responsibilities have not been clearly is a distinction in regards to organized sport par-
and transparently delineated in order to ensure sim- ticipation among different sports, it appears that
plicity of purpose and coordination between various despite the difficult position of sport in the coun-
sporting bodies. This fact is significantly influencing try, most sports have a relatively wide base with
all the other aspects of the sport system. thousands of registered athletes.
An inappropriate approach to the sports policy Nevertheless, increasing the sport participation
and its structure would appear to provoke the most on a national level would be necessary to estab-
problems considering that all fundamental constit- lish a solid foundation among the pupils at schools
uents and determinants of the systematic approach that regularly participate in school sports and af-
would seem to be in deficit. There is no delineated terschool activities. For that purpose, it would be
distribution of responsibilities between different necessary to enhance the cooperation between
sporting bodies, which do not even have an effec- schools and federations/clubs and introduce qual-
tive communication among themselves. The com- ity stimulation projects in schools and in clubs.
plexity of administration additionally enhances
the lack of an integrated approach to sports policy.
The results would suggest that the fact of having
several levels of organization with imprecise com-
petences and no coordination between each other
inevitably leads to noticeable dissipation and con-
siderable overlap of efforts.
It is evidently clear that the Bosnian sports
system inevitably requires major modification in
order to introduce the change of the complicated
structure with no clear sharing of competences
and responsibilities.

Figure 3. Positive and negative aspects of Foun-

dation and participation

4.4. Talent identification and development

system
The results of the 4th pillar investigation sug-
gest that currently in Bosnia and Herzegovina
there are no coordinated talent identification and
development activities. The process of talent spot-
ting in Bosnian NF’s varies according to the spe-
cific sport. The majority of talent identification is
Figure 2. Positive and negative aspects of done in clubs and among children who are already
organization and structure of sport policies practicing sport. Further selection is based on

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 technics technologies education management

sporting results; best athletes are being recruited 4.5. Athletic and post-career support
in the national teams via standardized systems of
competition operated by the clubs and federations. It is evident that any sports career in Bosnia
The results suggest that both in-clubs and schools and Herzegovina, due to a lack of an appropriate
talent spotting is mostly based on visual inspec- funding, is not being considered a career. For this
tion and this process of identification depends on reason, athletes are often forced to pursue a sec-
the experienced eye of a teacher or a coach. ond occupation track alongside the sporting career
Establishment of a proper identification system and often renounce sports due to the inability to
and the further development of the best young ath- earn enough by following a sports career.
letes would appear to be atop priority in further Although, post career support programs are not
development, since it was identified as a priority considered to be important and have not been de-
provided the federations had more funds at their veloped in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it would seem
disposal. This fact points to the requirements for a that athletes, regardless of the inadequate compen-
systematic and strategic approach to talent identi- sation they have during their active career, do have
fication and talent development. an interest in pursuing their sports careers as coach-
The lack of clear criteria, standards and ori- es, referees, administrators or starting their own
ented realistic goals which could help the identi- club and continuing to work with youth both for the
fication of talent from a wide base of participants benefits of their respective sport and their own.
and the development of the emerging talents, is None of the federations taken in consideration
certainly one of the major inhibitors of Bosnian have specific programs in place for athletes dur-
sport and a trigger for talent drain. Therefore, ma- ing and after their active career in sport, but they
jor coordinated effort is required by Bosnia and would seem to be trying to include the former
Herzegovina to raise its international sporting am- athletes in the training processes. The general re-
bitions and stop the negative trend of talent drain marks concerning this pillar relate to the necessity
by providing more support to the emerging talents of development of specific coordinated support
and their development. programs for the elite athletes and their assistance
in the transition period.

Figure 4. Positive and negative aspects of talent Figure 5. Positive and negative aspects of ath-
identification and development system letic and post-career support

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 technics technologies education management

4.6. Training facilities quirements for the coaching job in most sport fed-
erations. The ones who do have a license system
The findings about questions dealing with in place do not have the capacity of executing the
sports facilities in the country would seem to re- controls and the state is not interested in introduc-
late to a relatively positive picture in terms of a ing one. Thirdly, only a small percentage of existing
number of facilities and the availability of these coaches are considered to be at an adequate level to
for the elite athletes. Major concerns have been be considered to be qualified elite coaches and ca-
expressed about the state (material situation) of pable of training top athletes. Bosnian coaches, due
these facilities and whether they have appropriate to nonexistent budget for this purpose in the federa-
equipment which meets the needs of elite athletes. tions, do not have enough opportunities to educate
and develop the personal coaching skills, learn new
technologies, follow the world trends and become
elite coaches.
Certainly, the commitment and contribution of
these volunteers should be recognized, but in order
to empower the coaching systems, build the com-
petence and increase the knowledge related to their
sport, the coaches should be able to expand their
knowledge by attending adequate national and in-
ternational seminars. Therefore, more effort should
be invested into professionalizing the coaches in
order to achieve better sporting results. It is abso-
lutely clear that more funding is needed in order to
develop a better coaching system which would be
based not just around enthusiastic volunteers and
part time workers, but around competent and edu-
cated high professionals specialized in their sport.

Figure 6. Positive and negative aspects of training

facilities

4.7. Coaching provision and coaching

development
The data collected in this study regarding the
commonly regarded essential ingredient of a suc-
cessful sport system – coaching, point out several
aspects related to the coaching structure in the coun-
try. Firstly, the results would suggest that coaching
in Bosnia and Herzegovina is considered a non-prof-
it career. With the exception of the Tennis Federa-
tion, the Bosnian coaching system is based around
enthusiastic people who are working on a voluntary
basis or because they would like to contribute to the
development of their sport, have some personal in-
terest in coaching or are athletes who intend to pass Figure 7. Positive and negative influence on
their experience to the next generations. Secondly, coaching provision and coaching development
it has been noted that there are no certification re-

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4.8. International and national competitions the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the re-
sults of the study would suggest that no significant
The scope of the section 4.8 was to determine link between elite athletes and the sport has been
the position of the federations regarding domes- accomplished. In effect, the interviewees stated
tic and international competitions. Although there that the unused potential of universities and diag-
are no exact data about the organized international nostics research centers is considered a signifi-
events in the country so far, the experience indicates cant limitation to the further development of this
that, the federations taken into account in this study particular pillar and the overall development of
have outstanding results and represent the positive elite sport. It is evident that in order to change the
view of this pillar within the country. In fact, all the current situation it would be necessary to enhance
federations taken in consideration in this analysis the cooperation link between sports and university
organize national championship on regular basis. centers and seek to promote applied research in
They would seem to be respectably satisfied with sport and exercise science to which all sides could
the opportunities available since they all have his- contribute and all sides could benefit from.
tory of hosting major international events.
The benefits gathered out of organizing these
events were multiple, but certainly the most im-
portant are related to significant financial income,
successful organization, promotion of domestic
athletes and several other direct and indirect ben-
efits. This is the main reason for the requirement
of increasing the number of competitions and de-
veloping a long term strategy on a national level.

Figure 9. Positive and negative aspects of

Scientific research

4.10. Media
In terms of providing a necessary satisfaction to
the athletes, considering that the financial rewards
are inadequate, it seems that media attention is
Figure 8. Positive and negative aspects of considered to have a massive effect on elite sport
International and national competitions and its representation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
When analyzing the results of the federations’ opin-
ions regarding the media, it was noted that, with
4.9. Scientific research
the exception of the Tennis Federation, all the other
Despite the broad acceptance of potential ben- federations taken in consideration have an unsatis-
efits of science in sport development and the ex- factory experience of cooperation with the media
istence of a large number of Faculties of Sport in which hasn’t always had a positive impact on the

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 technics technologies education management

promotion of sport and the athletes. It would ap- also evident that the system could not be consid-
pear that the media often concentrate on negative ered as such because in many cases the link be-
aspects and tend to focus on criticism of the athletes tween the various sporting bodies would appear to
and federations rather than supporting them. be non-existent. Although in some cases it could
Major concern has been expressed in relation to be difficult to achieve given the political situation;
the introduction of a different approach and chang- cohesion and dialogue among the leaders of sport
ing the perspective of the sport journalists towards activities would appear to be essential in order
local athletes and their promotion. Certainly, in to improve and develop a functioning system of
order to change this practice, major effort needs to sport in the country.
be invested in the cooperation and education of the A discouraging fact is that the authorities have
journalists, but also in raising the awareness among not yet taken any significant action or expressed
coaches, athletes and clubs of their role in provid- any concern to address national sport performance
ing the information to the media and developing a and create an action plan for trying to improve the
stronger relationships. Although comparisons are situation. Nevertheless, without serious involve-
impossible to be made, since tennis is in a different ment of the authorities it is improbable that the
position in terms of number of dedicated followers initiatives and energy invested into sport by in-
and in terms of recent excellent results; perhaps the dividuals will significantly influence the path to
case of the Tennis Federation could serve as an ex- success on international level and contribute the
ample of positive practice and should be followed overall development.
among the other Bosnian sport federations.
References
1. De Bosscher, V., Bingham, J., Shibli, S., Van Bot-
tenburg, M., De Knop,P. (2008). The global Sporting
Arms Race. An international comparative study on
sports policy factors leading to international sport-
ing success. Aachen: Meyer & Meyer.

Corresponding Author
Izet Radjo,
Faculty of Sport and Physical Education,
University of Sarajevo,
Bosnia and Herzegovina,
E-mail: piramida33@hotmail.com

Figure 10. Positive and negative aspects of Me-

dia involved into sport activities

5. Concluding comments
Having seen all of the above mentioned aspects
of the Bosnian elite sport system we may conclude
that it is absolutely necessary to introduce changes
in order to improve the system. The necessity for
more funding devoted to sport is evident, but it is

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Integrated treatment of waste water and

solid mining waste
Mile Bugarin, Radojka Jonovic, Ljiljana Avramovic, Milenko Ljubojev, Zoran Stevanovic, Vladan Marinkovic
Mining and Metallurgy Institute Bor, Serbia
Abstract ment which revolutionized the copper production
Integrated treatment of waste industrial and all over the world and enabled to introduce the hy-
mining water and off-balance parts of deposit, drometallurgy for industrial scale.
dumped on the Oštrelj waste dump from the Min- Beginnings of SX-EW technology, aimed to the
ing and Smelting Basin Bor, is aimed to prevent purification and concentration the leaching solu-
the pollution caused by water from specified area. tions, date from the late 60s of the twentieth cen-
A detailed physical-chemical characterization of tury. Long before this period, the solvent extraction
waste water, generated in the copper production process had been applied on very small plants in
processes as well as mining waste water and char- the field of analytical chemistry [2], and on large
acterization of overburden material dumped on the plants to extract uranium [3] from the sulfuric acid-
Oštrelj waste dump, was carried out. Testing of the ic leaching solutions.
copper leaching process from the overburden ma- Mining and copper production in Bor in the past
terial samples, with acidic waste water, was car- hundred years, has had a huge impact on the envi-
ried out with the achieved leaching degree of 67%. ronment pollution of the town, but also in a wider
Copper was separated from the leaching solutions region. In the area of ​​ Bor, in the zone of RTB activ-
by the solvent extraction processes and electro- ity, over 29,000 ha of land under forests and fields
winning. The achieved degree of copper extrac- is degraded while the area of ​​degraded agricultural
tion is 96% Cu. After the process of re-extraction, land in the Bor municipality is over 60% of total
the aqueous phase was used for re-leaching pro- agricultural land. It is estima t ed that in Bor and
cess of overburden material. Based on the results surrounding in the previous period, more than 750
of realized laboratory tests, ​​the proposal of a tech- x 106 t of open pit overburden material and flota-
nological process for integrated treatment of waste tion tailings were dumped with the content of over
water and solid mining waste was made. Beside 900,000 t copper.
the ecology effect there is also the economic effect The Oštrelj waste dump, with the accumulation
of copper valorization from off-balance materials. “Robule” in its foot, was formed from the dumped
Key words: overburden, wastewater, leaching material from the Old Bor Open Pit. The amount
of deposited open pit overburden waste material on
the Oštrelj waste dump, according to the the avail-
Introduction
able data on recorded dumped amounts in the op-
Hydrometallurgy has been used for copper re- erational part of RTB, is estimated at 56,000,000.00
covery for more than 300 years. Hydrometallurgy tons, with the average copper content in tailings of
consists of crushing, leaching (no oxidative leach- 0.21%. Based on the present average content and
ing, atmospheric leaching and pressure leaching), total amount of deposited overburden material on
solvent extraction and electro winning. Hydro- the Oštrelj waste dump, it is estimated that total
metallurgical methods are used in the countries copper amount in tailings is 117,600.00 t. This cop-
having readily available deposits with low copper per amount cannot be recovered using the classic
content and surplus of oxidized forms at the same processes, but it requires studies in order to apply
time (USA, Chile, Australia, and Peru). The most the hydrometallurgical methods. Present copper in
important development in copper hydrometal- tailings is an important economic resource if it is
lurgy, with respect to the growing number of its adequately recovered with adoptable and sustain-
applications as well as for its future potential, was able technology. In contrast, it is the major genera-
the solvent extraction [1]. It became the achieve- tor of polluted mine water that directly flow into the

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 technics technologies education management

Bor River basin, with a significant impact on the technological process for integrated treatment of
water quality downstream to the river Timok, and waste water and solid mining waste was done.
further to Danube.
The open pit overburden material present a com- Experimental
posite of rough rock mass while the flotation tailings
are fine fragmented material, and their common Mineralogical composition of the Oštrelj waste
characteristic is that they contain the certain amount dump was carried out and 3D model of the Oštrelj
of sulphide and increased part of oxide mineraliza- waste dump was developed in the program pack-
tion of metal [4]. Present mineralization in contact age Gemcom 6.1 as well as a depression in which
with the air and atmospherics is the major cause of the accumulation “Robule” is situated [10,11].
generation the acid mining water with pH value in Physical-chemical characterization of mine water,
the range of 3 to 4, which carry dissolved Cu, Fe, accumulated in the “Robule” lake (Figure 1) was
Mn, Zn, Pb, Ni, Bi, Cd, etc., what mainly depends carried out. The lake, even during dry periods, has
on the chemical and mineralogical composition of a constant overflow, indicating that it does not col-
the primary rock mass. The Bor River, into which lect only leachate water resulting from the atmo-
all waste water flows from tailings, flotation plants spheric precipitation, but also the existing water
and other sites for copper production and process- sources that were located on the site of the lake
ing, is one of the most polluted rivers in the world. and upstream of it [12].
Analyzing of river sediments from the Bor River on
a content of heavy metals has found higher copper
concentrations up to 30 times than limit value con-
centration prescribed by the legal regulations of the
Republic of Serbia.
This paper gives the physical-chemical char-
acterization of waste industrial water, generated
in RTB Bor in the copper production process and
waste mining water, generated in the accumula-
tion “Robule”. Detailed qualitative and quantita-
tive analysis of waste water samples, carried out
from these production processes and high content
of heavy metal ions (Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn, Pb, Ni, Bi,
Cd, etc.) has established that highly exceeds the Figure 1. “Robule“ lake with a natural water
limit values defined in the legal regulations of the overflow to the Bor River
Republic of Serbia. Also, the chemical character-
ization of a composite sample from the Oštrelj Sampling of solid samples from the Oštrelj
waste dump was carried out, from which the wa- waste dump was done according to the accredited
ter gravitates to the accumulation “Robule”. The method for sampling of metallic and nonmetal-
aim of research is an integral treatment of waste lic raw materials BMK E.nj.1: 2007. Composite
water and solid mining waste. The conditions per- sample was formed for physico-chemical charac-
colation leaching of a composite sample from the terization of the Oštrelj waste dump the following
Oštrelj waste dump with waste water and treatment characteristics were determined:
of leaching solutions were investigated to the aim – volume and bulk density (VMK E.b.11:
of copper recovery. After leaching process, the en- 2007),
riched copper bearing solution of favorable quali- – particle-size distribution (SRPS ISO 2591-
tative- quantitative characteristics was obtained 1:1992),
for laboratory testing the solvent extraction [5,6]. – chemical composition according to the
Based on the attained experience in treatment the accredited analytical methods.
similar raw materials [7,8,9], as well as the results
of carried out laboratory test, the proposal of a

424 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

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Sampling of wastewater was carried out once tics: mixer volume - 85 ml, settler volume - 175 ml
a day from the following plants: the production of and flow 10-10 dm3/h. After separation phase, the
sulfuric acid, copper sulfate production, electrolytic content of copper and iron were analyzed from the
copper refining and plant for anode slime treatment. aqueous phase using the method of atomic absorp-
All parameters and spatio-temporal dynamics of tion spectrophotometry (AAS).
sampling are defined by the standards ISO 5667-1
and 5667-2. Sampling was done continuously for Experimental research with discussion of
two weeks. Data were summarized by days and results
place of sampling. The quantities of waste water,
temperature of sample at time of sampling and pH Hydrogeological investigations in the Bor area
values were measured​​. Based on the obtained data, showed that the main aquifers have relatively poor
a daily composite sample was formed from all ana- hydraulic properties. The quaternary layer zone,
lyzed industrial wastewater and its physico-chemi- aquifers lie over fractures, massive rocks. Hydrau-
cal characterization was made: lic permeability is low. The “Robule” lake was cre-
– elements: Ca, Cu, Fe, Bi, Na, Mg were ated in a natural depression that is closed on the
analysed using the AAS - Atomic Apsorption upstream side by the open pit overburden material.
Spectrophotometer (Perkin-Elmer – 100), The Oštrelj waste dump was formed from the
– elements: Sb, Al, As, Pb, Cd, Co,Cr using overburden material that was excavated from the
the Atomic Emission Spectrometer with Old Bor Open Pit, so that the geological structure
Inductively Coupled Plasma-AES-ICP of this waste dump is identical to the geological
(Spectro Ciros Vision), structure of the open pit from which the material
– H2SO4 using the V- Volumetric method was deposited [13]. Basic rock mass of the Old Bor
– Cl- using the T- Turbidimetry method, Open Pit consists of fresh, unaltered andesites as
– SO42- using the G –Gravimetric method, the waste rocks and hydrothermally altered andes-
– Hg using the CV-AAS – Cold vapour atomic ites as mineralization carriers. The present copper
absorption Spectrophotometer (Perkin- minerals are: covelline, chalcopyrite, chalcocite,
Elmer FIMS - 100), and bornite and enargite; it was observed that a part of
– SiO2, CaO, Fe2O3 using the XRFA - X-ray copper sulphide minerals is transformed into sul-
fluorescent analysis on apparatus NITON phate minerals (chalcanthite and broshantite), teno-
XL3t-900 according to the program Mining rite is present from copper oxide, and malachite and
mode - AutoCat file. azurite are present from carbonate. Chloritization is
the most widely distributed from hydrothermal al-
The formed composite sample from the Oštrelj terations, then kaolinization, pyritization, silicifica-
waste dump was treated by the percolation leach- tion, sulphatization and sericitization.
ing method. The waste mining water from the “Ro- Model 3D of the Oštrelj waste dump was de-
bule” lake was used as the leaching solution solu- veloped in the program package Gemcom 6.1 as
tion, mixed in a volume ratio with industrial waste well as a depression in which the accumulation
water from the process of sulfuric acid production “Robule” is situated. Development of such model
(1:3) after adjusting pH with sulfuric acid. Leach- made possible more accurate determination of the
ing experiments were carried out on type of labora- material volume, which made up the waste dump
tory equipment consisting of two columns for per- as well as determining the catchment areas of the
colation leaching, made of plexiglass size: DxL = accumulation “Robule” (Figure 2).
90 x 900mm, DxL = 150 x 900mm and accessories. Based on the topographic maps 1:25 000, Leaves
For copper extraction from leaching solution, Bor 483-3-3 and 483-3-4, the 3D terrain digitizing
the extractants LIX 984N and LIX 622N, dissolved of wider surrounding of Bor was done in the pro-
in kerosene (MCT Redbook, Solvent Extraction gram package AutoCAD. Also, the 3D digitizing of
Reagents and Applications), were used. Testing of paleorelief of the Oštrelj waste dump were done in
solvent extraction (SX) process was done in Mixer the same program package (Figure 3).
- Settler Polux C Type of the following characteris-

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was carried out (sulfuric acid plant, copper sulfate

production, electrolytic copper refining and plant
for anode slime treatment) and mine waste water
from the “Robule” accumulation (Table 3).
Table 2. Chemical composition of a composite
sample from the Oštrelj waste dump
Element Content, % Analytical method
Cu 0.457 XRFA
Fe 3.864 XRFA
Mn 0.167 XRFA
As 0.014 XRFA
Figure 2. Model 3D of the Oštrelj waste dump
Si 9.752 XRFA
and its relationship with paleorelief in the pro-
Al 1.681 XRFA
gram package Gemcom 6.1
Ca 15.25 XRFA
Sr 0.303 XRFA
Se 0.0098 ICP-AES
Sb <0.0050 ICP-AES
Sn <0.0010 ICP-AES
Mo <0.0010 ICP-AES
S 0.860 S
As 0.0087 ICP-AES
Te <0.0040 ICP-AES
XRFA - X-ray fluorescent analysis
ICP-AES - Atomic Emission Spectrometer with Inductively
Coupled Plasma
S - Gas volumetric method
Figure 3. Position of the “Robule” lake in rela-
tion to the Oštrelj waste dump Mine waste water from the “Robule” accumu-
lation contains higher content of heavy metals well
Characteristics of a composite sample from the above the allowable limits for the safe release into
Oštrelj waste dump were determined after crushing the Bor River. Waste water from the technological
and milling. Bulk density of the sample is 1014 kg/ processes for copper sulfate production, electro-
m3. Particle-size distribution is given in Table 1. lytic copper refining, anode slime treatment and
Table 1. Particle-size of a technological sample sulfuric acid production gives a picture of compo-
mm % R% D% sition the waste industrial water from the complex
-0.425+0.300 2.00 2.00 100.00
copper production and processing in the mining
-0.300+0.212 1.00 3.00 98.00
complex RTB Bor. The amount of copper in the
-0.212+0.106 7.00 10.00 97.00
waste water in the present conditions of copper
-0.106+0.075 4.50 14.50 90.00 production is also a serious environmental prob-
0.075+0.053 5.00 19.50 85.50 lem and economic loss.
0.053+0.038 4.00 23.50 80.50 Based on data in Table 3, the increased cop-
0.038+0.00 76.50 100.00 76.50 per content was found out in waste water in the
processes of electrolytic copper refining, copper
Chemical characterization of a composite sam- sulphate production and anode slime treatment,
ple from the Oštrelj waste dump is given in Table 2. what allows a direct use of the solvent extraction
The presence of copper in the quantity that in- method for concentration and evaluation of cop-
dicates the possibility of its usage. A detailed qual- per from this water.
itative-quantitative analysis of samples of waste Series of experiments were carried out on a lab-
water from the metallurgical production processes oratory level in order to investigate the possibility

426 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

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Table 3. Chemical characterization of waste water

Mining waste
Industrial waste water
water
Waste Waste
Waste Waste
water water
Parameter Unit water water Waste water Analytical
from the from the method*
from the from the from the
production plant of
electrolytic production Robule
process of anode
copper of copper accumulation
sulfuric slime
refining sulfate
acid treatment
Quantity m3/day 156.68 24.72 6.76 8.45 484.00
pH 2.36 1.66 0.10 0.81 3.16
Total solids dried
g/dm3 464.23 7.90 35.56 3.41 15.67 G
at 105°C
Content of H2SO4 g/dm3 1.76 4.13 190.18 37.41 0.05 V
Aluminum (Al) mg/dm3 129.65 6.30 28.94 7.18 352.50 AES-ICP
Antimony (Sb) mg/dm3 <1 1.75 68.05 1.22 <0.1 AES-ICP
Arsenic (As) mg/dm3 81.34 13.30 549.54 28.45 <0.1 AES-ICP
Cadmium (Cd) mg/dm3 4.59 <1 <1 <1 <0.1 AES-ICP
Calcium (Ca) mg/dm3 571.09 84.64 39.27 43.45 430.00 AAS
Chromium (Cr) mg/dm3 <1 <1 <1 1.11 <0.1 AES-ICP
Cobalt (Co) mg/dm3 1.10 <1 2.87 <1 1.20 AES-ICP
Copper (Cu) mg/dm3 93.41 1312.18 7121.82 725.64 61.80 AAS
Iron (Fe) mg/dm3 5858.18 28.89 243.05 49.63 780.00 AAS
Lead (Pb) mg/dm3 2.86 0.91 1.19 5.34 <0.1 AES-ICP
Magnesium(Mg) mg/dm3 153.45 20.96 35.18 13.27 1430.00 AAS
Manganese (Mn) mg/dm3 6.37 <1 <1 <1 108.80 ICP
Nickel (Ni) mg/dm3 0.72 25.88 879.18 5.61 0.68 ICP
Selenium (Se) mg/dm3 1.48 1.52 49.39 1290.09 <0.15 ICP
Sodium (Na) mg/dm3 40.80 11.09 28.43 12.14 140.00 AAS
Vanadium (V) mg/dm3 2.23 <1 <1 <1 ICP
Zinc (Zn) mg/dm3 173.74 3.25 34.52 1.85 23.40 ICP
Silver (Ag) mg/dm3 <1 <1 <1 <1 ICP
Bismuth (Bi) mg/dm3 1.70 1.45 13.37 2.45 <1 AAS
Mercury (Hg) mg/dm3 0.0348 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.001 CV-AAS
Chloride (Cl-) mg/dm3 78.15 33.78 45.20 191.49 T
Sulphate (SO42-) mg/dm3 35365.75 31315.01 216413.91 100211.43 G
* G - Gravimetric method
V - Volumetric method
AES-ICP - Atomic Emission Spectrometer with Inductively Coupled Plasma (Spectro Ciros Vision)
AAS - Atomic Apsorption Spectrophotometer (Perkin-Elmer – 100)
CV-AAS - Cold Vapour Atomic Apsorption Spectrophotometer (Perkin-Elmer FIMS - 100)
T - Turbidimetry Method

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 technics technologies education management

of copper separation from the collective sample of

the above waste water using the solvent extraction
method. The effect of type of extractant, contact
time of phases and ration of organic and aqueous
phase were investigated. The best results of cop-
per extraction were achieved using the extractant
LIX 622N [6] in the following conditions: the ratio
of aqueous/organic phase: 1/ 1, aqueous phase: a
collective sample of waste water containing 2.1 g/
dm3 Cu, pH = 1.2; organic phase: LIX -622N (5%) Figure 4. Proposal of integrated treatment of
in kerosene and the contact time: 10 min. waste water and solid mining waste in RTB Bor
Under these conditions, the degree of copper ex-
traction amounted to 97.4% Cu and confirmed high The proposed method for integrated treatment
degree of selectivity in relation to the iron content involves copper recovery from waste water and
from solution. Saturated organic phase was re-ex- solid mining waste what has a positive econom-
tracted in two stages. Conditions of development the ic effect and also prevents further environmental
re-exctraction process: the ratio of aqueous/organic pollution.
phase: 1/5, solution for re-extraction: 2M H2SO4.
Degree of copper re-extraction was 95% Cu. Summary
Separated water phase, formed in the process
of copper extraction containing about 200 mg/dm3 The Oštrelj waste dump was formed from the
Cu together with the waste mine water from the overburden material that was excavated from the
“Robule” accumulation and waste water from the Old Bor Open Pit. Basic rock mass of the Old Bor
production process of sulfuric acid, was used as a Open Pit consists of fresh, unaltered andesites as
reagent for leaching the dumped open pit overbur- the waste rocks and hydrothermally altered andes-
den material. A series of laboratory tests of the per- ites as mineralization carriers. The present copper
colation process of copper leaching was carried out minerals are: covelline, chalcopyrite, chalcocite,
the following technological parameters of leaching bornite and enargite; it was observed that a part
were defined: Cu leaching rate 750 mg/l/day, pH of copper sulphide minerals is transformed into
value of leaching reagent: 1.5, pulp density: 10wt%, sulphate minerals (chalcanthite and broshantite),
sample size: 100% - 12.5 mm, temperature: 20°C, tenorite is present from copper oxides, and mala-
total time of one leaching cycle into smaller (larger chite and azurite are present from carbonates. Hy-
column): 120 +120 h; under these conditions the drogeological testing has found that the Oštrelj
degree of copper leaching of 67% Cu was realized. waste dump is water permeable what presents a
After the leaching process, the solution with of favorable circumstance for percolation leaching.
1.5 g/l Cu was obtained, which was treated using Model 3D of the Oštrelj waste dump was devel-
the solvent extraction process with the following oped in the program package Gemcom 6.1 as
conditions: pH = 1.2; organic phase: LIX-622N well as a depression in which the accumulation
(5%) in kerosene and contact time: 10 min. Using “Robule” is situated, in order to more accurately
the re-extraction process, the obtained solution is determining the volume of material which made
sent to the electrochemical process of copper ex- upthe waste dump as well as the catchment area
traction. Based on the results of carried out labora- of the accumulation “Robule”. Characterization of
tory tests, the proposal of a technological process industrial waste water, generated in RTB Bor in
for integrated treatment of waste water and solid the copper production process as well as the waste
mining waste was made (Figure 3). mine water from the Robule accumulation, formed
by the atmospheric effects on the flotation tailing
dumps and delayed open pit overburden, was car-
ried out.. The increased content of heavy metal
ions (Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn, Pb, Ni, Bi, Cd, etc.) was

428 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

confirmed which highly exceed the limit values, and Associated Technology” TMT 2007, Hammamet,
defined in the legislation of the Republic of Serbia. Tunisia, 2007; pp.1363-1367.
A proposal for treatment the industrial waste water 6. Avramović Lj., Jonović R., Bugarin M. , Marković
was given with the increased copper content using R., Stevanović Z., Solvent Copper. Extraction from
the method of solvent copper extraction. Testing the Obtained Solution After Integral Treatment of
of copper extraction process was carried out at the Mining Water and Off-balance Parts of Deposit in
laboratory level and the achieved degree of copper the Copper Mine Cerovo I, International Congress:
“Engineering, Materials and Management in the
extraction was 96% Cu. After the copper extraction Processing Industry”, Jahorina, Republika Srpska,
process, the separated aqueous phase with copper (in Serbian);2009; pp. 293-296 .
content of 200 mg/dm3, combined with industrial
waste from the production process of sulfuric acid 7. Stevanović Z., Antonijević M., Jonović R., Avramović
and mine water, was used for experimental inves- Lj., Marković R., Bugarin M., Leach-Sx-Ew Copper
Revalorization from Overburden of Abandoned Cop-
tigations of the copper leaching process from the per Mine Cerovo, Eastern Serbia, Journal of Mining
solid mining waste. The proposed integrated treat- and Metallurgy 2009; 45 B (1) : 45-57.
ment of waste water in the mining complex RTB
Bor allows the closed circular flow of waste water 8. Jonović Radojka, Avramović Ljiljana, Dr. Bugarin
Mile, Šteharnik Mirjana, Mr. Marković Radmila,
that result in protection of watercourses from the
Characterization of Industrial Waste Water Gener-
presence of heavy metals in the Bor municipality, ated in the Copper Production Process, 11th Interna-
and thus the Republic of Serbia. Advantage of the tional Multidisciplinary Scientific Geo-Conference &
proposed integrated treatment of waste water and EXPO SGEM 2011, Albena, 2011;215-220.
solid mining waste is to achieve, in addition to
9. Avramović Lj., Jonović R., Bugarin M., Stevanović
ecological, also a significant economic effect by Z. , Gardić V., Kovačević R., Purification of Waste
separation the present copper from the waste wa- Water Generated in the RTB Bor, International Con-
ter and mining waste. ference on Innovative Technologies IN-TECH 2011
Bratislava, Slovakia, 2011; 30-32.

Acknowledgements 10. Ljubojev M., Popović R., Avdić M., Ignjatović L.Đ.,
Ljubojev V., Defining the legality of gray sandstone
The authors are grateful to the Ministry of Sci- rock strength testing in a complex state of stress,
ence and Technological Development for the fi- TTEM Journal, 2010; 5( 3): 437-443.
nancial support (Project TR: 37001)
11. Milentijević G., Nedeljković B., Hydrogeology
characteristics of the thermo-mineral water Vuča
References and its effect on human health, Journal Mining En-
gineering, 2011; 1/2011, Bor : 21-29
1. Rotuska T. Chmielewski, Growing Role of Solvent Ex-
traction in Copper Ores Processing, Physicochemical 12. Lekovski R., Vaduveskovic Z., Obradovic Lj., Deter-
Problems of Mineral Processing, 2008; 42: 29-36. mination the impact zone of open pits on a level of
ground water in the Cerevo environment, Journal
2. Morrison G., Freiser H., Solvent Extraction in Ana- Mining Engineering, 2010; 1/2010 Bor :121-127.
lytical Chemistry, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New
York, 1957. 13. Rajković R., Kržanović D., Mitić D., Quantity of
water and pump system for drainage at the open pit
3. Ross A.M., Solvent Extraction Newcomer to the Col- of the coal mine „Potrlica“-Pljevlja, Journal Mi-
orado Plateau, Mining Engineering, 1957; 9: 21-25. ning Engineering, Bor, 2010; 1/2010: 95-103.
4. Dragišić V., Hydrogeological Characteristics of
Volcanic Rocks of the Timok Volcanic Area, Proceed- Corresponding Author
ings, VII Yugoslav Symposium on HG and IG, Novi Mile Bugarin,
Sad, (in Serbian); 1982; 1: 253-270 . Mining and Metallurgy Institute Bor,
Bor,
5. T. Marković Radmila, S. Dragulović Suzana, Serbia,
K.Trujić Vlastimir, 11th International Research/Expert E-mail: mile.bugarin@irmbor.co.rs
Conference ”Trends in Development of Machinery

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 technics technologies education management

Measuresto improve the energy performance

of buildings in Slovenia
Martina Zbasnik-Senegacnik1, Manja Kitek Kuzman2
1
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Architecture, Slovenia,
2
University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty, Department of Wood Science and Technology, Slovenia.

Abstract then from Algeria (14%), and more than 10%

from Qatar, Libya, Nigeria and Egypt. Crude oil
In the past decade a variety of measures has been
comes from OPEC (35%), the Russian Federation
implemented in the EU to improve the energy per-
(33%) and 9% from Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.
formance of buildings: tightening legislation, aware-
Securing uninterrupted supply of raw sources in-
ness-raising, education and promotion, state finan-
volves increasing difficulties and even extortion.
cial aid and demonstrating above-standard quality
Given that energy products come from politically
of components and buildings through certificates.
unstable environments, similar difficulties can be
In Slovenia the active promotion of increased
expected in the future.
energy efficiency in buildings began in 2008. The
The EU’s dependence on energy imports is
National Action Plan 2008-2016 was a basis for
therefore constantly growing (Figure 1). Currently
the allocation of subsidies for the new construc-
more than 50% of energy needs are covered by
tion of energy efficient buildings. The new Rules
imports, placing it at the top on the global scale.
on the Efficient Use of Energy in Buildings served
If the envisaged measures are not introduced and
to tighten up national legislation. Running parallel
observed, by 2030 the share could rise to 67% [2].
to this was the education of experts and lay persons.
Energy dependence represents an economic, so-
The results of the research show that in Slovenia,
cial and environmental risk.
legislation, environmental education, public infor-
mation and awareness-raising in the area of energy
efficiency and renewable energy sources in build-
ings, and state financial support are having a posi-
tive effect on the energy performance of buildings.
The number of energy-efficient houses in Slove-
nia is growing each year. From 2008 to 2011 more
than 100 passive houses received subsidies, the ma-
jority of them have already been built. The survey
among recipients showed that subsidies are an ap-
propriate instrument for promoting energy-efficient
buildings, and their level is a sufficient incentive.
Key words: energy dependence, energy-effi-
Figure 1. The EU’s energy dependence on imports
cient buildings, subsidies, ecological conscious-
2005 – 2030 [2]
ness, environmental education
The import dependence of Member States var-
1. Introduction ies (Figure 2). In 2009, Slovenia’s energy depen-
dence was slightly below the European average,
The European Union, like all developed parts
standing at 49% [1].
of the world, is grappling with increasing energy
Ensuring the necessary quantities of raw sourc-
needs. Only a small portion of its energy prod-
es for power generation is not the only problem
ucts are domestic, with the majority coming from
of fossil fuels. Their combustion involves emis-
various countries outside the European area [1]:
sions of greenhouse gases that cause global cli-
natural gas from the Russian Federation (34%),

430 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

mate warming. Under the Kyoto Protocol [3],

which Slovenia signed in 1998, signatories agreed
on CO2 emission quotas that individual countries
are permitted to reach. There are 16 EU Member
States that do not exceed the agreed quotas (Fig-
ure 3). Slovenia is one of nine European countries
where CO2 emissions exceed the permitted levels
(Figure 4). In 2008 it was already 14.52% in ex-
cess of the quota permitted for 2012 [1].

Figure 4. EU Member States ABOVE Kyoto target

2012 (in 2008) [1]

A large proportion of the energy obtained is

used in European households. Total final energy
consumption in EU households amounted to 307
Mtoe in 2010, or 26.6% of the total [4]. Heat-
ing accounts for 70% of consumed energy, and
contributes around 14% of the total emissions of
greenhouse gases [5]. In Slovenia total final ener-
gy consumption amounted to 5.1 Mtoe in 2010, of
which 1.3 Mtoe was used in households (25.5%).
A total of 0.8 Mtoe are used for heating household
spaces in Slovenia (61.5%). The share of solar and
geothermal energy – which cause no CO2 emis-
sions – is negligible: heat from geothermal sources
amounts to 757 toe (0.9%), and from solar power
it is much less, at 212 toe (0.25%) [6].
Figure 2. Energy import dependence of EU The facts indicate, therefore, that European and
Member States in 2009 [1] Slovenian households have great energy poten-
tial – with reduced energy consumption for heat-
ing and an increased share of renewable energy
sources. The purpose of this paper is to seek out
measures contributing to the start of improved en-
ergy efficiency in Slovenia. The paper highlights
subsidies, which have been shown to be a most
effective measure in Slovenia.

2. Methodology
Hypothesis: In Slovenia, legislation, educa-
tion programmes, public information and aware-
ness-raising in the area of energy efficiency and
renewable energy sources in buildings, and state
Figure 3. EU Member States UNDER Kyoto target financial support are having a positive effect on
2012 (in 2008) [1] the energy performance of buildings.

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 technics technologies education management

The investigation of the situation and measures Slovenia is pursuing the European require-
in the EU and Slovenia made use of statistical data ments with all the aforementioned measures,
from European and national institutions [1, 2, 4, 5, which have been shown to be successful. The re-
6, 19], statutory regulations [8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, sults can be seen in the successful completion of
15] and relevant literature [16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23]. energy-saving buildings – albeit with a delay of
A survey was also carried out among recipients several years relative to the situation in Germany,
of subsidies in Slovenia. In verifying the effects Austria and Switzerland, but in advance of the ma-
of subsidies we analysed primary data collected jority of other Member States.
through surveys by Eko sklad, j.s. (Eco Fund, Slo-
venian Environmental Public Fund), on a sample 3.1. Legislation
of subsidies paid out under three public calls in
2008 to 2010 [7]. The purpose of the survey was The European Commission has adopted an Ac-
to determine how well-known the Eco Fund is, tion Plan for Energy Efficiency (2007-12), which
how rational subsidies are and how users respond includes measures to improve the energy perfor-
to them. Data collecting was carried out through a mance of products, buildings and services, to im-
postal survey, with 2000 questionnaires sent out, prove the yield of energy production and distribu-
and 900 subsidy recipients responded to the sur- tion, to reduce the impact of transport on energy
vey. The survey was conducted between 24 June consumption, to facilitate financing and invest-
and 2 August 2011. The survey questionnaire was ments in the sector, to encourage and consolidate
developed by a research group at the Eco Fund. rational energy consumption behaviour and to step
Respondents were asked 6 questions. The first up international action on energy efficiency [9].
question related to the purpose of the subsidies, Energy consumption to heat buildings is lim-
the second to the recognisability of the Eco Fund, ited by EPBD Directive 2002/91/EC [10] and par-
the third and fourth questions covered the role of ticularly by the recast EPBD Directive 2010/31/
the state in providing information on subsidies, the EU [11], which lays down further significant stric-
fifth related to the level of subsidies and the sixth tures on certain requirements:
to repeat applications. – 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions
(relative to the base year 1990)
3. Measures to reduce energy consumption – 20% reduction in primary energy
in buildings consumption through increased energy
efficiency
In the EU as much as 40% of final energy con- – 20% share of renewable sources in the
sumption is tied to buildings that are responsible primary energy balance
for as much as 35% of CO2 emissions into the
environment [4]. Energy saving measures in the The two directives envisage restrictions on en-
construction sector are therefore logical, neces- ergy consumption for the entire building, which
sary and above all extremely effective. in addition to the building shell includes specific
The trend of promoting energy efficiency be- technical systems in buildings such as ventilation,
gan more than a decade ago in the EU through heating, air conditioning, cooling, hot water and
various measures and mechanisms[8]: lighting.
– more stringent statutory restrictions, The recast EPBD Directive 2010/31/EU envis-
– promotion and education of professionals ages an increase up to 2020 in the energy perfor-
and the lay public, mance of buildings and introduces the concept of
– financial support for energy-saving the nearly zero-energy house:
technology and – by 31 December 2020 – all new buildings
– highlighting and demonstrating successful must be nearly zero-energy
cases of energy-saving technology and – by 31 December 2018 – all new publicly
state-of-the-art certified buildings. owned buildings must be nearly zero-energy,
since they must serve as a model for others

432 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

The anticipate results of the recast EPBD Di- Energy Performance Certificate not later
rective 2010/31/EU are a 5% to 6% reduction in than by 2015.
the EU’s end-use energy, 160 Mt – 210 Mt a year
in CO2 savings and 280,000 to 450,000 new jobs The ultimate deadlines for introducing Energy
by 2020 [12]. Performance Certificates have already been ex-
In 2008 the Slovenian Government adopt- ceeded several times. Slovenia has started training
ed the National Energy Efficiency Action Plan up independent experts who will produce them.
2008–2016 [13]. The objective of the Plan, in ac- Training licences will be issued when a certain
cordance with Directive 2006/32/EC [14], is to number of candidates have completed the course.
achieve a 9% saving of end-use energy through Then they will begin formulating and issuing En-
implementation of the planned instruments, which ergy Performance Certificates.
cover measures for efficient energy consumption,
energy services and the development of energy- 3.2 Environmetal education
efficient technologies and products.
In 2008, in accordance with directives EPBD In addition to the progress made possible by sci-
2002/91/EC and EPBD 2010/31/EU, Slovenia ad- entists through the invention of ever new energy-
opted national construction legislation – the Rules saving technology, a particularly important factor
on efficient use of energy in buildings, which were is the level of education and awareness of all citi-
amended and republished in 2010 [15]. The Rules zens regarding the importance of environmental
lay down the minimal technical requirements and responsibility. The tendency towards greater en-
guidelines for constructing low-energy houses ergy efficiency is gradually becoming part of the
today (energy consumption for heating approxi- personal behaviour of individuals, who adopt this
mately 40 – 50 kWh/(m2a)) or nearly zero-energy through the education system (Bologna process,
houses in the future. E-Learning, joint curriculum development [17])
and through legislation, more than through tech-
- Energy Performance Certificate nological advances [18]. Environmental education
Directives EPBD 2002/91/EC and EPBD on technology, programmes and strategies on all
2010/31/EU lay down the introduction of the En- levels (including education for children, adults,
ergy Performance Certificate, which will show the experts and so on) yields rewards [19].
energy consumption in the individual building. The fact is that environmental education has to
The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) must be incorporated as an effective part of environmen-
be made available to the new owner or prospective tal management programmes. Also on an interna-
buyer/tenant when a home is sold or let. Essentially a tional scale there are various examples showing a
tool of communication, the EPC must not only state growth in such a trend [20]. Agenda 21 suggests that
the amount of energy consumed with a standardised all students and their teachers shuold be exposed to
use of the building, but, most crucially, must also concepts and methods of ecollogically sustainable
include cost-effective recommendations suggesting development as part of their formal education [18].
how energy performance might be improved [10]. Environmental awareness is continually grow-
In Slovenia the Energy Performance Certificate ing among people. In the Eurobarometer survey,
was introduced with the Energy Act [16]. Energy which included almost 27,000 people from all EU
Performance Certificates are issued for: Member States, a full 95% of them state that envi-
– buildings or building units that are ronmental protection is important for them (58%
constructed, sold or rented out to new tenants very important + 37% important). The survey in-
– buildings where the total useful area of cluded 1,047 Slovenians. As much as 80% agree
more than 500 m2 (from 9 July 2015 more that for them, environmental protection is very
than 250 m2) is used by public authorities or important, and 18% that it is quite important, giv-
frequented by the public ing a total of 98%. The survey results show (Fig-
– each multi-apartment building with at ure 5) that environmental awareness is even above
least four floor units, which must obtain an the European results [21].

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 technics technologies education management

construction of energy-saving buildings. The

commercial fair events also feature various
lectures on passive houses for professionals
and the general public.
– The Passive House Consortium – established
in 2008 under the aegis of the Faculty of
Architecture at the University of Ljubljana.
In addition to the Faculty, the members
of the Passive House Consortium include
manufacturers of prefabricated houses,
construction companies, suppliers of high-
Figure 5. How important is protecting the quality materials, products and the latest
environment to you personally? [21] technology for building passive houses
– heat insulation materials and systems
Environmental awareness is not just about of construction, ecological materials and
separating waste, it also involves familiarity with products, fixtures and glazing, ventilation
the energy performance of buildings. In Slovenia devices, heating devices, solar systems
considerable attention has been focused in recent etc. – and two Slovenian banks, which are
years on educating the public in the form of vari- also included through their provision of
ous activities: environmental loans [22].
– Articles in the professional and popular – Passive House Days – each November
press familiarised people with the concept there is an all-European three-day action
of energy efficiency, ecological houses and to promote passive houses. At this time
so forth. numerous passive houses in Slovenia also
– The monograph Passive House – in 2007 the open their doors. In addition to tours of
first book on passive houses was published in passive houses, this event involves talks
Slovenian, and featured an easily accessible presenting the standard of energy-efficient
presentation of the concept of the passive houses and the possibility of their financing,
house. The first print run was bought up in a aimed at the public and experts alike.
very short time by investors, who wanted to – Passive house open days – component
build passive (or energy-efficient) houses. manufacturers and passive house builders
Today the greatest knowledge of passive show houses under construction or on
houses still lies with investors, who have completion to the general public and
been learning via the printed media, while potential investors.
the necessary knowledge is still insufficient
in the architectural profession.
– Professional education for experts 3.3. Financial support
(architects, mechanical engineers) – in The technologies that enable the greater en-
Slovenia additional training is currently ergy performance of buildings are more expen-
still not laid down in law for maintaining sive than conventional technologies, so they take
a licence, while despite this certain experts a long time to break through in the market. One
discovered quite early on the deficiencies method of promoting environmentally friendly
in their knowledge and opted for further technologies is to tax outmoded, energy-wasting
training. Currently, however, the problem is technologies that cause pollution. Numerous writ-
still finding a design team for planning and ers analyse the effect of the Pigouvian Tax [23]
executing the energy efficient houses. and taxing market activities that negatively impact
– Construction fairs – each year Slovenia the environment (Pollution Tax, Carbon Tax etc).
hosts two construction fairs, which Many writers oppose them [24], since supervis-
feature increasing services offered for the ing and punishing companies is problematic and

434 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

in particular very expensive [25]. They see greater technologies to opt for more expensive but more
sense in state aid [26]. environmentally friendly technologies. Financial
Certain countries in Europe are increasing the aid in the form of subsidies usually comes from the
energy performance of buildings by encouraging state budget, but can also be allocated by individu-
investors or buyers of conventional technologies als or non-governmental organisations. Subsidies
to buy more energy efficient technologies through improve the environmental quality of products. It is
measures that make them more price-competitive highly suitable for wealthy governments to use this
– through low-interest loans or subsidies. tool because it requires sufficient financial support.
If financial support is insufficient or the subsidy rate
- Loans with low interest rates too low, governments need to use a minimum en-
In Slovenia investors can build passive and very vironmental quality standard as a supplement [22].
low-energy houses with loans from two banks in- In Slovenia the National Action Plan 2008-2016
volving interest rates that are lower than for other introduced subsidies for various measures to im-
lending on the market. In addition to these two prove energy efficiency, including for the construc-
banks, lower-interest loans are also offered by the tion of passive and very low-energy houses and for
Eco Fund, which has an even more prominent role comprehensive renovation of existing residential
in this [27]. Loans are intended for the construction buildings. The allocation of subsidies is something
or renovation of passive or very low-energy houses that was also taken on by the Eco Fund [13].
or for partial measures (installation and replacement Subsidies can have a major impact in terms of
of solar collectors, biomass boilers, heat pumps, improving energy efficiency, something we have
ventilation with recuperation, external building fix- seen in Slovenia. There were five passive hous-
tures, heat insulation of the facade and roof). es built in 2005, and the owners were young en-
From 2008 to 2011 the Eco Fund allocated thusiasts who for the most part built the houses
EUR 21,832,400 in soft loans. This led to sav- themselves, but with major difficulties owing to
ings of 85,262.7 MWh in energy and 12,875.3 t the inadequate supply of components. Despite ex-
CO2(Table 1). An important fact is that in recent tensive media activity upon the building of these
years, funds have been increasingly limited. The structures and numerous measures (soft loans, ar-
reduction in the amounts of loans allocated is ticles, seminars, etc.) that have been in place since
therefore not a reflection of reduced interest, but 2005, it was not until subsidies that there was a
of limited possibilities. drastic increase in the number of passive houses
Table 1. Effects of loans with low interest rates [28] and very low-energy houses.
Amount Energy savings Savings of CO2 From June 2008 (when the first public call was
EUR 1,000 MWh t issued) to 31 December 2011 the Eco Fund issued
2008 12,164.6 37,536.7 5,681.1 321 decisions for the renovation and construction of
2009 5,531.9 22,658.1 3,410.5 low-energy and passive houses or the purchase of
2010 2,365.6 10,608.1 1,598.6 dwellings in multi-dwelling passive houses(Table
2011 1,730.3 14,453.0 2,184.1 2). A total of EUR 3,954,400 were allocated. En-
total 21,832.4 85,262.7 12,875.3 ergy savings amounted to 3088.9 MWh, and CO2
emissions fell by 463.4 t (Table 3) [28].
- Subsidies The level of subsidies depends on the energy
Subsidies are incentives in the form of grants, class of the renovated or new house and the type of
intended to reduce barriers in introducing new heat insulation material. The highest subsidy, EUR
technologies that improve the environment and in- 125 per m2 net of heated area, can be allocated for
crease the energy performance of buildings. These the construction of a residential house in the lowest
technologies are more expensive than conventional energy class of less than 10 kWh/(m2a), heat-insu-
ones, and are therefore not commercially attractive lated with a volume share of at least 75% heat in-
enough to be left to the laws of the market, so sub- sulation material of natural origin (cellulose flakes,
sidies are needed here. The level of subsidies is set wood fibre, etc.). Subsidies can cover a maximum
so that they stimulate those buying conventional of 200 m2 of net heated area in the building, in other

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 technics technologies education management

Table 2. Number of subsidies received from 2008 – 2011 by energy class[28]

Energy class kWh/(m2a) 2008 2009 2010 2011 total
less than 10 0 1 1 9* 11
10 – 15 4 33 15 42 94
15 – 20 4 19 6 45 74
20 – 25 2 15 12 50 79
25 – 30 6 29 21 0* 56
30 – 35 0 3 4 0* 7
total 16 100 59 146 321
* Since 2011 an additional energy performance classhas been in use (less than 10 kWh/(m2a), and the classes from 25 to 30
kWh/(m2a) and 30 – 35 kWh/(m2a) have been scrapped.

words the investor may receive subsidies amounting In the Slovenian market there are already a large
to EUR 25,000. With optimal construction design number of components bearing the Passive House
and components, this amount may cover entirely the Certificate. Components with this certificate are
difference in price between a passive house and a most commonly manufactured by large foreign
house built to the currently valid regulations. companies that have representatives in Slovenia,
Table 3. Effects of subsidies [28]. but also by a number of Slovenian companiesthat
Amount Energy savings Savings of CO2 is growing each year [34]. Currently there are two
EUR 1,000 MWh t houses in Slovenia built with the Passive House
2008 185.4 146.0 21.9 Certificate and with the Minergie P certificate.
2009 1,323.1 959.2 143.9
2010 637.9 515.8 77.4 - Passive House Consortium Certificate
2011 1,808.0 1,467.9 220.2 For some Slovenian companies the Passive
total 3,954.4 3,088.9 463.4 House Certificate is hard to attain: partly owing
to the costs, but mainly owing to the technical de-
mands and the extensive nature of the materials that
3.4. Certificates
need to be prepared. The fact is that in the Slovenian
In recent decades several methodologies have market there are many providers of components and
been developed to assess the quality of buildings: services that do not achieve the quality of the pas-
in the UK there is BREEAM (BRE Environmental sive house standard, even though they declare them-
Assessment Method [29]), in France HQE (Haute selves as such. For this reason the Passive House
Qualite Environmentale [30]), the USA has LEED Consortium issues its own Certificate for its mem-
(Leadership in Energy and Environmental De- bers. The criteria for obtaining the Passive House
sign[31]), Germany has DGNB (Deutsche Gessel- Consortium Certificate are the same as those for
schaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen [32]) and so on. These the Passive House Institute, while companies have
certificates demonstrate the environmental and ener- the option of certification in a smaller scale, which
gy indicators of buildings, as well as the economic, eases the preparation of material and the necessary
socio-cultural and technical aspects of construction. evidence. Certificates are issued for the construction
For those buildings in the highest energy class, parameters of the passive house thermal envelope,
for instance passive houses, special systems of windows and for passive house execution [22].
certification have been developed: in Switzerland
the Minergie P [33] and in Germany the Passive 4. Assessment of the success of allocating
House Certificate [34]. In some countries (Germa- subsidies in Slovenia
ny, Austria and Switzerland), the two certificates
are the basis for allocating subsidies for passive In the few years since the start of promoting
houses. Within the profession they are highly val- energy efficiency up until the more than 100 pas-
ued – as a good promotional tool representing a sive houses constructed, a certain amount of ex-
market advantage. perience has been accumulated in Slovenia about

436 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

which measures have been the most effective. It recipients agree that within Slovenia, the Eco Fund
is certain that the flourishing of construction and is sufficiently well recognised in the area of sub-
renovation in the standard of passive and very sidy allocation for citizens making environmental
low-energy houses has been facilitated by all the investments in the area of using renewable energy
measures and their synergy effect. Nevertheless, sources and increasing the energy performance of
one distinctly effective measure has been the allo- residential buildings (Figure 7).
cation of subsidies, since this has helped environ-
mentally aware and technically far-sighted inves-
tors to make decisions assisted by subsidies. Sub-
sidies have achieved an extraordinary effect, and
have proven to be the best promotional measure.
In order to verify the theory regarding the ap-
propriateness of this measure, a survey was con-
ducted among subsidy recipients, which served to
ascertain the opinion of beneficiaries concerning
the effectiveness of subsidy allocation.
The Eco Fund allocates subsidies for various Figure 7. The Eco Fund is sufficiently well rec-
measures. The majority of the 900 respondents ognised in the area of subsidy allocation for in-
who returned the questionnaire received subsidies vestments in using renewable energy sources and
between 2008 and 2010 for partial measures (e.g. increasing the energy performance of buildings
replacement of windows, heating systems, facade (N=126)
insulation, roofing, installation of solar systems
and ventilation systems). Special attention was Respondents were asked the question whether
given to 126 completed surveys from respondents the state is doing much in the area of providing in-
who had received subsidies for the construction formation and education to the general public on the
or complete renovation of a residential building advantages and effects of using renewable sources
to the low-energy or passive house standard. Of and of the greater energy performance of buildings.
these recipients, 74% received funds for complete A total of 55% of subsidy recipients agree that the
renovation (insulation of building shell, installa- Slovenian state is doing a lot (Figure 8).
tion of building fixtures, ventilation and heating
systems), and 26% for the construction of a new
residential building (Figure 6).

Figure 8. The Slovenian state is doing much in

the area of providing information and education
to the general public on the advantages and ef-
fects of using renewable sources and of the great-
Figure 6. For which measure did you receive a
er energy performance of buildings (N=126)
subsidy (N=126)
In the fourth question, respondents stated where
The recognisability of the Eco Fund in subsidy
they obtained information about the possibilities of
allocation was verified. A total of 79% of subsidy
applying for Eco Fund subsidies. The survey results

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 technics technologies education management

show that recipients obtained information on the

possibilities for obtaining subsidies in various ways
(not only one possibility), mainly via the Eco Fund
website (69), 39 each from the print media and con-
tractors that built or renovated the house and 33 via
friends and acquaintances (Figure 9).

Figure 11. Would you apply again for a subsidy?

(N=126)
Figure 9. How did you find out about Eco Fund
subsidies (N=126) 5. Discussion

In the fifth question, respondents had to give The fact is that reducing dependence on fos-
their opinion on whether the level of subsidies was sil fuels is essential, and that a large proportion of
sufficient incentive. A full 62% agree that the level energy savings can be made in the buildings sec-
of subsidies is sufficient incentive in opting for an tor. Efficient use of energy in buildings is required
energy efficient building (Figure 10). both by European and national legislation.
In recent years various measures and mecha-
nisms have been set up to promote the energy
performance of buildings. These involve statutory
limits on energy consumption in the form of rules
and directives, promotions and education, finan-
cial support and certification of high-quality tech-
nology. Each of these measures has its own share
in the current situation and number of successful
projects. The hierarchical distribution of these
measures by success is most probably different in
each country – depending on the strictness of law
Figure 10. Do you believe that the level of Eco enforcement, the financial capacity of the country,
Fund subsidies is an incentive/disincentive? the intensity of promotion and education for tar-
(N=126) get audiences and the success of adherence to the
systems of certification in the market. In Slovenia
In the last question, respondents had to state it has been a combination of all measures that has
their position on whether despite the relative com- been successful – with the relatively high input of
plexity and scope of the application, they would the state in the form of subsidies.
apply once again for subsidies. A full 93% of re- One of the first measures in Slovenia was leg-
spondents would once again apply for subsidies, islation that tightened the requirements for energy
if they opted again to implement the same kind efficiency. The energy performance of buildings
of measure as the one for which they obtained a constructed under the new legislation has gradu-
subsidy (Figure 11). ally started approaching the passive house standard.
The difference in the price of a low-energy house
(40 – 50 kWh/(m2a)) and passive house (less than 15

438 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

kWh/(m2a)) has become very small, so many inves- highlights four measures that make a significant
tors are opting for a slightly more expensive house contribution to improving energy efficiency in
that would function in the future with minimal costs. the country: statutory restrictions, promotion and
Promotion of the passive house standard and education of experts and lay persons, state finan-
education of experts and lay persons (potential cial support and highlighting and demonstrating
investors) began 2008 in Slovenia, and this has successful cases of energy-saving technology and
met with extraordinary success. Each such event state-of-the-art certified buildings.
(seminar, conference, article, TV and radio show What has proven to be successful in Slovenia
etc.) featured a presentation of the possibilities for is a combination of stricter legislation, promotion
obtaining subsidies from the Eco Fund. Results of of energy efficiency standards, education and in
the survey show that the method of promotion was particular the possibility of obtaining subsidies for
appropriate. The procedure for obtaining subsidies the construction and renovation of passive or very
is relatively complicated. Investors must present low-energy houses. For the most part, subsidies do
appropriate evidence to demonstrate the adequacy not cover the difference in the price, yet (according
of projects, installed components and execution to the survey results) they are still a sufficient in-
(PHPP, certificates, Blower Door test). Neverthe- centive for investors to opt in increasing numbers
less there is major interest in subsidies, since their for houses in the highest energy class. This is not
level is sufficient incentive. The majority of inves- just because they are environmentally enlightened,
tors would opt once again to apply. but also because in recent years through education
The results of a survey carried out in Slovenia (articles in the daily and professional print media,
among recipients of subsidies for complete renova- lectures, seminars, Passive House Days and more)
tion and new construction of passive houses, show they have gained sufficient technical knowledge
that subsidies are an appropriate mechanism to pro- to recognise the advantages of an energy-efficient
mote the energy performance of buildings. Their house. For this reason the measures carried out
number started to grow only with the possibility of in Slovenia in recent years have been appropriate
obtaining subsidies, which certainly would not have and successful.
been so successful without the other measures.
Loans with low interest rates have been of help References
to investors in Slovenia in concluding the financial
construction. Owing to funding constraints they do 1. Europe‘s Energy Portal, http://www.energy.eu/#top
(Accessed September 2012).
not represent the main measure for improving the
energy performance of buildings, but they are cer- 2. Europe‘s dependence, http://www.energetska-ucinko-
tainly an important link in the chain of all measures. vitost.si/energetska-odvisnost/evropska-odvisnost/
Among all the measures, the least effective at (Accessed August 2012).
the moment in Slovenia is the quality certificate.
3. Kyoto protocol to theUnited Nations Framework
Slovenian companies that have obtained certifi- Convention on Climate Change, http://unfccc.int/
cates use them to compete successfully abroad. In resource/docs/convkp/kpeng.html (Accessed August
the Slovenian market, certificates that demonstrate 2012).
a certain level of quality do not yet represent any
competitive advantage. 4. Eurostat, Energy balance sheets 2009-2010, Statisti-
cal books,http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/
ITY_OFFPUB/KS-EN-12-001/EN/KS-EN-12-001-
6. Conclusion EN.PDF(Accessed August 2012).

Changes in the area of the energy performance 5. Market Observatory for Energy, Report 2009, Eu-
of buildings will require shifts in numerous ar- rope’s energy position – markets and supply. doi:
10.2768/20104.
eas: among owners of buildings and investors,
contractors, manufacturers, planners and so on. 6. Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Slovenia 2011,
The state and other institutions can provide in- http://www.stat.si/letopis/2011/19-11.pdf(Accessed
centives through numerous measures. This article August 2012).

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 technics technologies education management

7. Eco Fund, Slovenian Environmental Public Fund, 21. Eurobarometer (2011): Attitudes of European Citi-
Call for applications, http://www.ekosklad.si/html/ zens Towards the Environmenthttp://ec.europa.eu/
razpisi/main.html. environment/pdf/ebs_365_en.pdf(Accessed Septem-
ber 2012).
8. Cansino J.M., Pablo-Romero M. del P., Roman R.,
Yniguez R. Promoting renewable energy sources 22. Passiv House Consortium, http://www.fa.uni-lj.si/
for heating and cooling in EU-27 countries, Energy konzorcijph(Accessed September 2012).
Policy 39 ,2011; 3803-3812.
23. Baiardi D. Pigouvian tax, abatement policies and
9. Action Plan for Energy Efficiency (2007-12), http:// uncertainty on the environment. Journal of Eco-
europa.eu/legislation_summaries/energy/energy_effi- nomics 2011; 103 ( 3) :221-251-251.
ciency/l27064_en.htm(Accessed August 2012).
24. Jian-bing, H., Tax/subsidy Model of Environmental
10. Directive 2002/91/EC of the European Parliament Differentiation Competition of Products. 2008.
and of the Council of 16 December 2002 on the
Energy Performance of Buildings. Official Journal 25. http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&ar-
of the European Union, L1/65:168-173. number=4669083(Accessed September 2012).

11. Directive 2010/31/EU of the European Parliament 26. Deacon, R. Assesing the relationship between
and of the Council of 19 May 2010 on the Energy government policy and deforestation. Journal of
Performance Of Buildings. Official Journal of the Environmental Economics and Management, 1995;
European Union, L153/13.2010. 28(1): 1-18.

12. Energy efficiency, http://www.energetska-ucinkovi- 27. Stranlund, J., Public technological aid to support
tost.si/energetska-ucinkovitost-v-stavbah/evropske- compliance to environmental standards. Journal of
direktive/(Accessed September 2012). Environmental Economics and Management, 1997;
34(3): 228-239.
13. National Energy Efficient Action Plan 2008-2016
(NEEAP), Ljubljana, 31.01.2008. 28. Eco Fund, Slovenian Environmental Public Fund,
http://www.ekosklad.si(Accessed August 2012).
14. Directive 2006/32/EC of the European Parliament
and of the Council of 5 April 2006 on energy end- 29. Eco Fund, Slovenian Environmental Public Fund,
use efficiency and energy services and repealing Annual Reports 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011.
Council Directive 93/76/EEC, Official Journal of
the European Union, L 114/64, 27.4.2006. 30. BREEAM, http://www.breeam.org/ (Accessed Au-
gust 2012).
15. Regulationson Energy Efficiencyin Buildings
(Pravilnik o učinkoviti rabi energije v stavbah) 31. HQE, http://www.interfaceflor.co.uk/web/sustain-
(Ur.l. RS, št. 52/2010). ability/green_building/hqe(Accessed August 2012).

16. Energy Law, (Ur.l. RS, št. 27/2010). 32. LEED, http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.
aspx?CategoryID=19(Accessed August 2012).
17. Juvančič M., Mullins M., Zupancic T. From projects
to joint study programmes in Virtual Space Design, 33. DGNB, http://www.dgnb.de/(Accessed August 2012).
TTEM, 2009; 4(2).
34. Minergie P, http://www.minergie.ch/(Accessed Au-
18. Zografakis N., Menegaki A.N., Tsagarakis K.P. gust 2012).
Effective education for energy efficiency, Energy
Policy 36, 2008; 3226-3232. 35. Passivhaus Institut dr. Wolfgang Feist, www.passiv.
de(Accessed August 2012).
19. Leal Filho W. Integrating environmental education
and environmental management, Environmental
Management and Health 8/4, 1997; 133-135. Corresponding author
Martina Zbasnik-Senegacnik,
20. Leal Filho W. (ed.) World Trends in Education for University of Ljubljana,
Sustainable Development, Peter Lang, Frankfurt Faculty of Architecture,
am Main, Berlin, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Ox- Slovenia,
ford, Wien.2011. E-mail: martina.zbasnik@fa.uni-lj.si

440 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

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Customer knowledge management business

model
Maria Th. Semmelrock-Picej
eBusiness Institute biztec, Klagenfurt University, Klagenfurt, Austria

Abstract Sheremata, Gebert, Boerner and Kearney [2] state

Innovation is a critical issue in sustaining com- that for enhancing innovation in an organisational
petitive advantage. Therefore speedy availability context two main knowledge processes are needed;
and a high transfer and reusability of knowledge namely knowledge generation and knowledge in-
as a basis for innovation is urgently needed in or- tegration, whereby knowledge generation refers to
der to enable customer knowledge management the creativity-oriented process of generating new
innovation teams to enable efficient, effective in- ideas, and knowledge integration refers to the pro-
novative work in specific knowledge-intensive e- cess of evaluation and selection of ideas leading to a
business processes. In this context learning from customer solution. In addition the model of Gebert,
the customer is of primary interest. Boerner and Kearney [1], [1] explains how the be-
Starting from the presentation of an ambidex- haviour of knowledge workers in these knowledge
trous leadership model of teams we will discuss processes should be influenced through leadership.
some limitations of the model. As this current ap- They apply this idea to four leadership dimensions:
proach cannot truly demonstrate the possibilities distribution of decision-making power, time con-
of fostering team innovation there is a need for an straints, interpretation of knowledge and the leader’s
improved approach. To address this problem we facilitation of communication (see figure 1, [1]):
will broaden the ambidextrous leadership model
of teams and combine it with the author’s recent
research in customer knowledge management. In
detail three aspects will be discussed, namely the
characteristics of knowledge, the involved knowl-
edge processes and finally a customer knowledge
management model, the so called TOMI-customer
knowledge model, for fostering team innovation
Key words: Innovation, eCollaboration, Elabo-
ration of customer knowledge, Information system
Figure 1. Taxonomy of basic assumptions,
1. Introduction corresponding action strategies, outcomes and
their desired and undesired effects
Team innovation as a result of learning processes
has been identified as a topic of high managerial in- The main statement of this approach is that
terest for innovation-oriented customer knowledge successful knowledge generation and knowledge
development in a dynamic and complex ebusiness integration requires the simultaneous application
economy. In this context and aiming at fostering of opposite leadership strategies. The new attempt
team innovation activities, Gebert, Boerner and of the model to search for the right degree of a bal-
Kearney [1] developed an ambidextrous leadership anced leadership between simultaneously applied
model of teams which combine seemingly opposing, opposite strategies in general seems to be of a high
but complementary leadership strategies in order importance but nevertheless we have identified at
to compensate the negative effects of the opposite least four key limitations which have to be men-
strategy and finally lead to a predominance of the tioned and are discussed in following chapters:
positive over the negative effects. In detail following

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 technics technologies education management

– Although the ambidextrous leadership aspects and influences in order to bridge

model is embedded in a knowledge organizational boundaries, to integrate the
management topic, the discussion of the customer’s knowledge and in turn to foster
model is lead unbalanced from a leadership team innovation.
and organizational viewpoint. In chapter II.A
we will therefore discuss this organizational 2. Theoretical conceptualization
limitation and will try to advance the model
to give new insights from the perspective of A. Managerial views and implications
customer knowledge management We have proposed that the ambidextrous lead-
– The next limitation of the ambidextrous ership model [1], [2] is discussed purely from
leadership model is that the nature of an organizational perspective. If knowledge as a
knowledge itself has not been considered source for innovation and knowledge processes,
in the model at all. In prior literature [3] as stated in the model of Gebert, Boerner and Ke-
many scholars have pointed out that the arney, represent the key usage where leadership
characteristics of knowledge affect the is applied to team innovation, it is insufficient to
success of knowledge transfer processes as a discuss the approach only from an organizational
basis for managing complexity, for learning viewpoint. Leadership is a really important factor
and for innovation. There is a need for a for enabling knowledge and intensive team inno-
better understanding of the characteristics of vation, and for supporting these core processes,
knowledge and in turn their interdependence but there are other influences which are triggered
and implications on leadership. through the knowledge-intensity and interplay
– The key role of knowledge processes to with leadership. Therefore we have tried to intro-
handle complexity has not been analyzed duce a customer knowledge management oriented
and discussed to the best for our knowledge viewpoint in order to raise new insights.
and we need to better understand According to Bullinger et al [4], in order to
the interactions and find appropriate successfully apply knowledge management three
possibilities for action. Therefore the aim of components are required: human aspects, organiza-
chapter II.B is to develop an understanding tional aspects and information and technology ori-
in terms of a process model for analyzing entated methods and aspects. From the viewpoint
relevant knowledge which occurs within the of customer knowledge, management leadership is
organisation, the relevant interdependencies one part of the organizational aspect as shown in
and enabling learning processes. figure 2. The figure provides an overview of the di-
– The lack of attention to the integrated mensions of customer knowledge management and
treatment of customer knowledge shows the major challenges in the area of knowl-
management (chapter II.A) and the edge intensive processes for reaching company
learning focus (chapter II.B) as a method specific goals. In addition, in prior literature [5],
for managing complexity, for example [6], there is evidence that the integration of technol-
for improved innovations and higher ogy is a central key factor for success. Since infor-
customer satisfaction leads us to propose mation technology aspects are not involved in the
the ambidextrous leadership model with ambidextrous leadership model, the influence and
our research understanding of customer impact on specific organizational actions and team
knowledge management. Accordingly in innovation activities which are triggered by infor-
chapter III we will try to develop a model, mation technology has not yet been identified. This
the so called TOMI Customer Knowledge could have been included and discussed as a fifth
Management Model, which broadens leadership dimension.
Geberts approach [1], [2] from the viewpoint
of customer knowledge management, and
builds the necessary foundation for an
integrated view of all interrelated underlying

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 technics technologies education management

Figure 2. Three dimensions of customer knowledge

management
Figure 3. Knowledge action levels
Finally Hansen, Noria and Tierney [7] state
empirically that only by the integrated application Only through the integrative treatment of all
of all three dimensions of customer knowledge levels can the relevant knowledge be analyzed and
management (see figure 2), the best results con- structured holistically in order to derive appropri-
cerning the formulated goals are achieved in the ate actions. Astonishingly, in reality knowledge
field of knowledge intensive processes in complex stickiness is resolved by actions of information
environments. and communication technologies (level 1) [13].
The reliable, easy and quick support of informa-
B. Some characteristics of knowledge and their tion technology in searching for relevant informa-
implications for leadership tion and the successful support of communication
Scholars [8], [9], [10] have pointed out that the contributes to the development of trust, commit-
characteristics of knowledge affect the success of ment and feelings of possession that enhance
knowledge transfer. In this context a main charac- knowledge sharing [11]. Zhang and Zhu [14] ex-
teristic of knowledge is its stickiness which refers plain that if knowledge is insufficiently, untimely
to difficulties in the knowledge transfer process and inappropriately provided or even incorrect it
caused through inability or unwillingness to be is impossible to innovate. The unanswered ques-
transferred which result in fewer innovative activi- tion is the role of the leader, and his ability to in-
ties [11]. Stickiness of information can refer to dif- fluence the interdependencies between the differ-
ferent levels: the characteristics of knowledge itself ent levels and the importance of technology. Since
(figure 6 level 4); the human aspect, which refers to the ambidextrous leadership model [1], [2] does
the characteristics of communication, and informa- not cover technology at all, up to now there is still
tion behaviour and internalization ability or behav- research needed to empirically find out the right
iour of staff (figure 6 level 3). Internalizing means basic approach of leadership. Further research is
to interpret information in a certain context (see required to analyze all relevant factors needed to
also figure figure 6: TOMI Customer Knowledge increase the understanding of knowledge charac-
Management Model and the explanations) whereas teristics and their interdependencies on leadership.
the context refers to organizational aspects (level 2) With respect to the three customer knowledge
and the way it is codified (figure 6 level 1). management dimensions (see figure 3), the rele-
Internalization means acceptance of knowledge vant knowledge has to be managed and organized
transfer and, based on Kostova [12], is determined on various levels, on the human side, the organi-
by two important factors, namely commitment zational level and on a technology base in order to
and psychological ownership. enable an integrative management of implicit and
explicit knowledge [15], and the sharing of this
knowledge in personal and codified [9] collabo-
ration and communication. Technology is needed

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 technics technologies education management

because learning taking place in collaborative dis- lation of all knowledge categories, thus enabling
tributed environments without face-to-face con- knowledge flow from the customer to individual
tact and without technology knowledge transfer is knowledge workers within the company, [20] thus
time consuming, expensive and laborious [16]. encouraging team innovation.
Collaborative learning from customers means
integrating knowledge directly gained from the cus-
C. Learning implications in knowledge tomer from face-to-face contact to storage on differ-
processes ent multi-media in order to reach a real understand-
Knowledge development occurs in an organi- ing of customer preferences. Klamma [21] for ex-
zational context, especially in a process context ample, proposes using the story-telling method for
[17] and this plays an important role in determin- externalizing customer knowledge. Through the use
ing the efficiency and effectiveness of the overall of stories, a complex content is transported in a sim-
process. As can be seen in figure 4 we differentiate ple way and due to the visible transported emotion
between three main knowledge categories which of the story teller (customer), the learning process is
have to be dealt with to appropriately support enhanced. On the basis of lessons learned from pre-
learning processes: vious failed or successful applications and experi-
ments and the resulting customer feedback, learn-
ing processes can aim at reducing the repetition of
failures and lead to new insights of customer needs.
Studies have revealed that experiences from
previous activities and extensive testing on a trial-
and-error basis are the key to reducing problems
and failures in new product development projects
and are far more important than organizational ac-
tivites such as more manpower or changes in man-
agerial activities. As this learning takes place in an
organizational context , and in order to increase
the efficiency of the learning process, the relevant
knowledge from all involved knowledge catego-
ries (see figure 4) should be organized on differ-
ent process levels (see figure 5). Is is important
to mention that according to Stauss [22] primarily
the knowledge from processes has to be integrated
Figure 4. Essential knowledge categories and on different knowledge levels:
their desired effects

Learning can take place in these processes

through knowledge sharing between individuals
[18], who internalize knowledge and create new
knowledge through a trial and error process that
provides access to sticky knowledge. Knowledge
sharing is the most important knowledge process
for enabling team innovation [19], [18].
A recent study revealed that customer knowl-
edge is the most desirable knowledge category to
be managed, whereas only 5 % of those questioned
answered that knowledge about employees should
also be managed [19]. Innovation takes place in Figure 5. Customer knowledge process categories
the context of collaborative application and circu- and learning levels

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 technics technologies education management

If the knowledge is prepared in accordance The traditional organizational structure is charac-

with the knowledge levels (see figure 3) and the terized by clear processes, schemes and structures
knowledge levels of the employees and the in- with a high density of regulation and a risk pre-
dividual types of knowledge are linked, the base vention strategy. This is a top-down approach.
knowledge system for process oriented learning In addition, a bottom-up approach completes
from customer experience can be established. the TOMI-Model which is characterized by mini-
mal hierarchy, openness, direct integration of the
3. TOMI Customer knowledge management customer and where the possibility of risky trial-
model and-error learning processes for finding new solu-
tions, alternative generation, task partitioning and
The TOMI Customer Knowledge Management iteration are allowed.
Model (see figure 6) serves as a theoretic-mana- These two contradictory considerations lead
gerial construct to systematically build the body to the TOMI customer knowledge management
of basic knowledge is necessary for understanding model illustrated in Figure 6: a dual organiza-
the core concept of customer knowledge manage- tional structure allowing cost-orientation and in-
ment. It is about the novation in a company at the same time. This du-
– management of explicit customer knowledge ality is missing in other models. TOMI combines
(knowledge orientation); a top-down approach and a bottom-up approach
– management of processes, the so called, to bridge the concept of the dilemma between the
embedded knowledge (process orientation); requirements of flexibility for knowledge workers
– management of people and their tacit versus standardized requirements of the organiza-
knowledge (communication orientation) and tion. This is made possible through the integrated
– focusses on managing innovation through consideration of the core features of a knowledge
creativity (learning orientation). management system, namely ‚Technology‘, ‚Or-
ganization‘, ‚Man (involved people)‘ and ‚Inno-
vation‘. Innovation requires creativity for three
reasons [23]: Firstly, creativity motivates the
generation of new ideas, which is one of the key
determinants of innovation. Secondly, innovation
is conceptualized as the successful development,
adoption and implementation of creative ideas and
thus, creativity is a necessary antecendent of inno-
vation. These core features shape the term ‘TOMI’
to reflect the key knowledge management dimen-
sions. These features are listed on the ordinate (see
Figure 6). Until now TOMI is the first approach
which lists technological, organizational and hu-
man aspects explicitly in one model and in addi-
tion, emphasizes the creativity aspect.
Also the explicit integrative consideration of
Figure 6. TOMI customer knowledge management the knowledge conversion processes of Nonaka
model and Takeuchi [15] on the abscissa and the con-
sideration of interdependencies among them, the
The TOMI-Customer Knowledge Manage- model contains unique features compared with
ment Model is designed to increase innovation, existing knowledge management approaches. The
customer focus and efficiency, in order to support knowledge loops in the figure immediately express
a cost-traditional organizational structure and, si- the linked and linking knowledge as an ongoing
multaneously support an innovation-facilitating process as it takes place in the knowledge conver-
flexible project and/or problem-focused structure. sion processes. Innovation requires open space and

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 technics technologies education management

cannot be forced into a framework which is con- creation and knowledge retention. Gebert, Boern-
strained by the fact that the knowledge flow in the er and Kearney [1], [2] proposed just two main
area of knowledge conversion ,combination’ is knowledge processes, namely knowledge genera-
beyond the scope of the knowledge model and the tion and knowledge integration.
dynamic level of innovation. This model also dem- The TOMI-customer knowledge management
onstrates that the semi-matured knowledge of in- model also differs from existing models especial-
dividual employees can be developed and matured ly because of the great meaning which is given to
through collaboration in the sphere of a so-called the ‚context‘ (in the middle of figure 6). The con-
‚collective or collaborative creativity‘ (see figure text provides the meaning of information which
6: Collaboration) on the human side. Therefore the derives from the specific knowledge process, in-
semi-matured knowledge must be connected to the dividual knowledge of knowledge worker and
thinking-paths of workers’ knowledge workers for information demanded of the knowledge worker
a better understanding for other employees. Due to who interprets information. Therefore, the context
this dynamic, which is taken into account, the pre- is the linking element between people and tech-
dominant criticism of a sequential innovation mod- nology and is so positioned as a unifying element
el in prior literature [24] is weakened. in the middle of the figure. In order not to restrict
In addition to the top-down approach, the bot- the creativity of knowledge workers but to support
tom-up approach emphasizes the aspect of tech- them, the technologically generated attributes are
nology based collaboration. There are established supported through an automated attribute recom-
virtual networks that focus on promoting the social mendation derived from the process.
processes of knowledge development and knowl- The aspect ‚Communication‘ (see figure 6: Com-
edge sharing as a basis for learning, for example munication) ultimately focuses on the technology
by using semantic approaches. The tagging as a based retrieval of others to access the tacit knowl-
bottom-up approach is ideal and popular because edge of experts which can be used for innovation.
the challenges and associated problems of stan- To conclude it is essential to mention that
dardized metadata creation and the creation and knowledge is created directly in the process and
establishment of ontologies does not arise. on the knowledge worker side. This results in an
In order to promoting extensive and inten- increase of competency (in figure 6 marked with
sive knowledge flows within the TOMI customer (1), and in addition, the end of the knowledge loop
knowledge management model, appropriate con- in the figure, ’Competency’ is on a higher level
cepts, methods and technologies of social com- than at the beginning of the process of knowledge
puting can be integrated which, on the one hand Creation) which shows what the knowledge work-
enables a process-oriented knowledge discovery ers have learned. The individual knowledge defi-
based on context-oriented information provision cits decreased and a new knowledge creation pro-
in distributed environments to ensure effective cess starts beginning with externalization.
and efficient interdisciplinary knowledge process-
es while on the other the enabling the creation and 4. Conclusions
implementation of process models such as the bot-
tom up process by using social tagging methods. With the increasing importance of new leader-
On the third axis the knowledge processes ship and management concepts in complex and
are listed. The criticism of the provision of a too knowledge-intensive environments, the need for
great a number of knowledge processes is tak- an integrative treatment of these concepts with
en into account in that the number and type of customer knowledge management within orga-
knowledge processes are not defined in advance nizations is evident. However, there is as yet no
but can flexibly be well-chosen according to the effective approach that has been accepted by aca-
specific requirements. In prior literature [25] four demics and practitioners alike.
main knowledge processes achieve greater impor- This paper began with the presentation of an
tance: knowledge identification, knowledge shar- ambidextrous leadership model of teams which
ing combined with knowledge search, knowledge has been discussed accordingly to three aspects:

446 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

the nature of knowledge itself, the interdepen- 8. von Hippel E., „Sticky information and the locus of
dencies with knowledge-intensive processes and problem solving: Implications for innovation“, Man-
agement Science, 1994;. 40(4): pp. 429–439.
managerial implications. With respect to the ana-
lyzed limitations, it has been observed that there 9. Szulanski G., „Unpacking stickiness: an empirical
is a need for an improved approach. To address investigation of the barriers to transfer best practice
this problem the ambidextrous leadership model inside the firm“, Academy of Management Journal,
of teams has been broadened and has been com- 1995; 17: p. 437.
bined with the author’s recent research in custom- 10. Szulanski G., Cappetta R. and Jensen R., „When and
er knowledge management. This leads to a short how trustworthiness matters: knowledge transfer and
presentation of the TOMI customer knowledge the moderating effect of causal ambiguity“, Organi-
management model. zation Science, 2004; 15(5): pp. 600-613.

11. Lee H. and Choi B., „Knowledge management en-

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Customer Satisfaction”, in Proc. of the 2009 IEEE
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4. Bullinger H.-J., Warschat J., Prieto J., and Wörner 15. Nonaka I. and Takeuchi H., „Organizational knowl-
K., „Wissensmanagement – Anspruch und Wirk- edge creation“, in J. Henry, (eds.) Creative Man-
lichkeit: Ergebnisse einer Unternehmensstudie in agement, 2nd ed. London, 2001; pp. 64–82.
Deutschland”, Information Management, 1998; 1:
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Schweighofer, H., Liebwald, D., Kreuzbauer, M., 17. Remus U., Prozessorientiertes Wissensmanagement,
Menzel, H. (eds.) Informationstechnik in der juris- Dissertation, Universität Regensburg, 2002.
tischen Realität, Schriftenreihe Rechtsinformatik,
Band 9, Wien, 2004; pp. 185-188. 18. Reychav I. and Te’eni D., „Knowledge exchange
in the shrines of knowledge: The „how’s“ and
6. Hermann Th., Jahnke I., „Work Process Oriented „where’s“ of knowledge sharing processes“, Com-
Introduction of Knowledge Management: Reconsi- puters & Education, 2009; 53: pp. 1266-1277.
dering the Guidelines for SME“, in K. Tochtermann
and H. Maurer (eds.) Proceedings of 7th Internation- 19. Tochtermann K. and Schachner W., Knowledge
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TRIPLE-I, 2007; pp. 136-143. ment, [Online] Available: www.know-center.at. 2009

7. Hansen M. T., Nohria N. , and Tierney T. , “What’s 20. Nissen M. E., „Transcontinental Knowledge Flows:
your strategy for managing knowledge?” Harvard Bridging our International Understanding of
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Professional Knowledge Management – Experi-

ences and Visions, Potsdam, 2007; pp. 3-16.

21. Klamma R., „Virtual Campfire – A Hero’s Journey

into Multimedia Storytelling“, [Online] Available:
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22. Stauss B., „Kundenwissensmanagement“, in H.

Böhler (eds.), Marketing-Management und Un-
ternehmensführung, Stuttgart, 2002; pp. 273-295.

23. Buganza T., Gerst M. and Verganti R., “Adoption

of NPD Flexibility Practices in New Technology-
Based Firms”, Jounal of Innovation Management,
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‚Front Ends‘ in New Product Development“, Jour-
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25. Franz J., “Effiziente interdisziplinäre Wissens-

schöpfungsprozesse für die Produktentwicklung
mittels eines eScience Semantic Desktop”, in N.
Gronau, P. Pawlowsky, P. Schütt and M. Weber, M.
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Verwaltung, München, 2006.

Corresponding Author
Maria Th. Semmelrock-Picej
eBusiness Institute biztec,
Klagenfurt University
Klagenfurt,
Austria,
E-mail: maria.semmelrock-picej@aau.at

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A comperative study of model-based framework

for the AEC competency evaluation ofbuilding
tenders
Tomaz Slak¹, Tomo Cerovsek², Tadeja Zupancic1, Vojko Kilar1
1
Faculty of Architecture, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia,
2
Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Abstract tect, and the linkage between virtual and physical

environments in terms of context, form, function
The paper presents applied study of model- and technical solution of the designed artefact.
based competency management framework for Key words: architecture, construction, design
the evaluation of competencies of in AEC build- evaluation, building tenders, competencies, digital
ing tenders. We explore competencies in the de- models, AEC
sign process for physical worlds by examining
design input, process, and outcome. The study is 1. Introduction
based on three real-life tendering projects of high-
rise buildings in central Europe. Providing a consistent, repetitive, and above
Summary: This paper presents applied study all, professional evaluation of the competencies
of model-based competency management frame- in the AEC (Architecture, Engineering and Con-
work for the evaluation of competencies of in AEC struction)public building tenders is a demanding,
(Architecture, Engineering, and Construction) yet challenging task. Public tenders that are com-
building tenders. We have developed and applied mon in the AEC sector require from decision mak-
the competency management framework on a se- ers to select the best project based on conceptual
lected case study in order to evaluate multimillion solutions. This early pre-construction phase of the
tenders through documented design results, e.g., project offers fairly limited amount of information
building information models, which were used to to make informed decision on construction and
serve as a reference for the evidence of applied post-construction phase. The decision for a wrong
skills, knowledge and expertise in the collabora- project may negatively affect environment, exist-
tive design. ing urban space for several decades, end-user sat-
We explore competencies in the design process isfaction, construction and life-cycle costs. These
for physical worlds by examining design input, are solutions about how effectively and efficiently
process, and outcome. As the design process starts spend hundreds of millions of Euros in terms of
in virtual environment (which simulates real-life requirements of end-users, constructability, sus-
physical conditions design features and method- tainability and many more. Therefore, there is a
ologies), its migration to physical environment great responsibility on the shoulders of decision-
evaluation is a critical point for realization of the makers to select the most competent AEC experts.
building, where decisions in the early stages have As professional domains develop, the need for
a long term affect on the built environment. The a competitive workforce advantage requires bet-
study is based on three real-life tendering projects ter competency management, the same is true for
of high-rise buildings in central Europe. the AEC industry. In our previous work [1] we
The presented results show that proposed have focused on the competencies management
methodology enables reasonably accurate evalu- for the design of virtual and physical worlds. The
ation of design results of an individual or of the approach is based on the AEC design results docu-
group where multiple, interacting criteria enable mented through Building Information Modelling
evaluation of competencies of the authors. All es- (BIM) environment. This work addressing AEC
sential parameters, which define competent archi- profiling and competencies is based on research,

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 technics technologies education management

which brought to attention experts in the field of

human resources (HR), employment and train-
ing on one side, and different domain experts on
the other side. The objective of our work was to
use competencies for the evaluation of job per-
formance, rating, impact, development of training
and employment to meet critical competencies for
specific roles in the AEC industry.
The focus of this paper is evaluation and/or as-
sessment of the competencies framework through
validation of building tenders entries’ competen-
cies, which can be further used for the selection
of most competent building designer – individual, Figure 1. Individuals’ abilities and knowledge
group or organization. The aim of the paper is to feed professional and generic competencies
assess developed evaluation methodologies on a
set of real-life building tender projects. We ob-
serve the competencies of the authors of designed
solutions (in virtual environment) with a specific
focus on the realization of project ideas (in physi-
cal environment).The results might be observed
from two points of view:
1) Analysis and evaluation of the design
solution (architectural parameters like
function, form, context and technology) and
2) Analysis and evaluation of the author’s
competencies through architectural design Figure 2. Competencies research and development
which provides the best project team for areas (derived from [3])
the investor covering pre-construction and
construction phases. Unique individual competencies must be uti-
lised in a broader, organisational context, which
requires deeper studies(see e.g. [4],[5]). Figure 2
1.1 The role of competencies in the AEC illustrates related research topics on the develop-
design evaluation ment, use and benefits of competencies. The ob-
Most frequently competencies are used and jective of PCMS is to identify, assess, measure,
managed through ‘profile and competency man- and monitor competencies.
agement systems’ (PCMS) that aim to increase The core of PCMS is a competency framework
companies’ levels and utilisation of knowledge, for management of human resources (HR), knowl-
special talents and skills into overall competencies edge and communication in business/design opera-
of individuals, groups and organisations. Compe- tions. Organisations use competencies to improve
tencies can be understood as those characteristics the performance and/or to extend current business-
that underlie a successful performance or behav- es/design operations. The business/design process-
iour at work[2]. As illustrated in Figure 1, only es in different domains require different competen-
some, actionable (arrow), abilities and knowledge cies, which must be managed adequately. There-
can be transformed into generic and profession- fore, PCMS should meet specific business/design
al competencies, which contribute to the unique characters, subjects, processes, and artefacts.
competencies of an individual that turn a profes- In our previous work [1]we developed a spe-
sional into a key player[3]. cific competency management framework that has
been in this paper further tested on a set of real-life
tender projects.

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Figure 3. The taxonomy of transformation of individual potentials to organisational competencies

Individual, group and organisational compe-

tencies (Figure 3) lead to results that are realised
by the design process, which leads to design solu-
tions that can be documented and finally realized
in the physical form.
Our interest is in the AEC design competencies
in BIM environment (Figure 4), which are needed
to translate design specification (design problem)
into satisfactory design results (design solutions).
We are interested in specifics and commonalities
in design process (DP) in physical worlds (final
result in real space) as well as in virtual worlds
(simulation of the design solution). In this case Figure 5. The hierarchy and intersection of
virtual world simulates the physical one. Greater competencies for the design of physical and
overlapping of both worlds makes more feasible virtual worlds
results in realistic physical form(Figure 5).
Additionally we are also interested in objective 1.2 Problem statement
evaluation of design competencies of an individu-
al, group or organisation from the first conceptual The research questions, addressed in this paper,
design (subject of the virtual world) of a building are:
to final realization in the physical world. – How can design competencies for real-
world project be identified and classified?
– Can competencies be assessed and measured
in an objective, repeatable and efficient way?
– Is proposed framework for competency
management appropriate to achieve above
goals?
Figure 4. Design competencies are needed in the – Does the proposed framework match experts
process of translation of design problems to design view (independent per s) on the tendering
solutions design solutions?
– Is proposed framework ready for software
implementation system and is graphical
representation appropriate?

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2. Methodology which indicates the competence and quality of the

architect. That is why general architectural evalu-
The methodology was conducted in 3 main
ation was analysed and basic groups of parameters
steps: (1) literature survey, (2) review of design
were indicated. The main goal of the investors is
success indicators, and (3) validation through case
not just to get the best blueprint or virtual model
studies from project tender competitions.
of future building but also (and more important) to
get the most competent architect or project group.
2.1 Literature survey This is also indicated in the connectivity between
virtual design and physical realisation (see Figure
The literature review covered three main top-
5). Migrating from virtual model to physical reali-
ics: competencies, design theories, architectural
sation is less marked but one of the key parameter
evaluation and the connectivity between virtual
of the competencies of an architect.
design and physical realisation.
The study of competencies focused on compe-
tency frameworks, use of competencies and best 2.2 Study of design success indicators
utilisation of competencies. We studied competen- We have examined conditions and criteria for
cies within specific applications, especially in the the selection of candidates and evaluation of the
field of AEC, and in particular, design processes in design solutions in competition entries.
real-life projects. We studied the design requirements and results
Design theories are directly connected to the in terms of urban context, effect of architectural so-
architectural evaluation as reversible process of lutions, functionality and technical solutions. We
creation. The basis of our literature survey lies collected design specifications and results from pub-
in evaluation of proposed architectural solutions, licly available tender documentation for 3 projects.
Table 1. Issues in ‘physical world project’
General Specific
Urban plan
Building plot
Environmental an urban limits
Height and footprint limits
Traffic and other infrastructure connections
Input Program
Functionality and interconnections
Direct requirements for a building
Accessibility
Flexibility
Cost
Urban plans and spatial specifications
Observing and evaluating the site
Process Information and material
Investors requirements and expectations
Questions and answers of the tender committee
Report of the tender reporters
Achievement of program
Placement in environment
Infrastructure issues
Whole-building design issues
Control Functionality and interconnections
AEC health and safety standards
Structure and safety of the building
Project team and office standards
Feasibility and cost
Sustainability and ecological view
Architectural evaluation (composition, relations, volumes, views, …)
Context and urban result
Output Facility inhabited by users Functionality of specific parts of the project
Structural design
Quality of interior design and light

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2.3 Validation through case studies tant to be aware that design solutions generate new
problems in the same domain or in other domains.
The study is supported with a selection of de- Any realization of design that involves more
signed artefacts from selected winning tender than one person requires externalisation to com-
projects of high-rise buildings in Ljubljana, Slo- municate design to other project stakeholders.
venia. The projects were assessed against the de- Kroes [11]observed the design process and termed
sign success criteria, as set by jury experts[6]. The design input and output as ‘functional descrip-
information processes that result in models and tion’ and ‘structural description’ respectively. Ac-
in our case exclusively support material process cordingly, digital models are used to externalise,
[7]can be also used for the analysis of competen- structuralize and realise project ideas that travel
cies. Using the IPO (input design process), Table through virtual to physical worlds (Figure 6).
1 summarises important criteria for the evaluation The realization of AEC design connects virtual
of design processes and related competencies. and physical worlds through the following steps:
(1) a designer responds to project design specifica-
3. Design competencies for physical and tion with design ideas; (2) digital models are used
digital environment to externalise design ideas; and (3) digital models
are further used to support realisation of materi-
3.1 Digital environments and models indesign alized building in a physical environment. Fourth
step (4) is not in the scope of this paper, however a
There are many design theories; however, re-
digital model can be in final step actualised to as-
searches cannot agree what exactly design is [8].
built model, which can be used (e.g. augmented)
We use two definitions of design that are important
in mixed realities. The paper is focused in thethird
for our further exclusive focus on AEC design:
quadrant of the schema (Figure 6) whereas design
Galle [9]described design as a rationalisation
competencies of individual, group or organisation
of decisions that lead to the design solution. As
can be assessed and evaluated in quality of object/
long as the design idea remains in the mind, it can-
design actualisation in the real world. The ap-
not be evaluated.
proach is in detail explained and illustrated in [1].
Lawson [10]said that design is as much as about
finding problems as it is solving them. It is impor-

Figure 6. The realization of project ideas from human imagination to real worlds (source: [1])

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3.2 Design competencies and learning Table 2. Classifies generic competencies that
opportunities can be attached to an individual, to a group and to
an organisation.
The design competencies can be observed through Table 2 focuses exclusively on the generic com-
the following viewpoints (see e.g. [12] and [13]): petencies for individual and collaborative work.
Context: surrounding affecting design and vice However, the extent of collaboration differs in AEC
versa. design projects and can be measured with circum-
Form: visual appearance. ference of the collaboration, which must be ob-
Function: user needs and other requirements. served through the process and process results[15].
Technical solutions: Technical solutions that Identification of creativity and skills emerged
match desired form, function and context. from the competencies chain (learning-knowing-
We assume that every design is a learning pro- doing) of an individual are the basis for the suc-
cess. The learning processes can be steered in- cessful selection of particular group of authors for
dividually, in a group or institutionally [14]. In a given project task. Competitive tender call is the
the learning process of design, we can distinguish most adequate way to get the best design solution
three main steps to competencies: learning, know- of the building design problem (individual com-
ing and doing (Figure 7). petencies), the most efficient management of the
realisation of the winning project (group compe-
tencies) and ability of an organisation to lead the
process of planning, supervising and constructing
the building (organisational competencies).
Figure 7. The connection between learning, We can identify three main areas of evidences
knowing and doing in the design process (source: for design competencies:
[1]) –– Organisation: the organisation depends on the
project team, institutional and organisational
For the implementation of competency manage- boundaries and specific project requirements.
ment in AEC design, we must be able to capture –– Design process: the process depends on
the gaps in the design competencies that prevent the design problem and interdisciplinary
individuals or groups to successfully cope with the teamwork in problem solving. However,
design problem. In the case of soliciting for tenders, a good design process is not necessarily
appointed committee is able to evaluate the authors needed for a successful design results.
in two different ways: 1) with invited competition, –– Design results: models, as design process
where in the first step competitors are evaluated results, can provide essential information on
through their(realised) references from real world the processes and organisation that utilized
and 2) with evaluation process of the competitors design competencies.
work in virtual environment (plans, models, draw-
ings, descriptions etc.). Competencies in case of Table 3 gives an overview of overall competen-
competitions refer to (mostly unknown) group of cies, which were established on the basis of review
authors, rarely to an individual. of the design theories, educational programs, profes-

Table 2. Design competencies for individual, group and organisational work for physical environment project
Individual work Group Organisation
Independence Team building Knowledge transfer
Analyses Lead / manage team Business operation
Synthesis Collaborative teamwork Critical core competencies
Creativity Communication skills
Quality Social networking
Standard procedures Interpersonal skills
Error level and frequency Time management

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sional qualifications and success criteria for compe- Figure 8 graphically presents the evaluation of
tition projects(see References). While Table 2 pro- competencies from the Table 3. The circle is di-
vides criteria that can be attributed generically, Table vided into four quadrants or issues: (1st) Context,
3 provides criteria that can be attributed to design re- (2nd) Form, (3rd) Function, and (4th) Technical
sults and also implicitly judge the design competen- solutions. Each quadrant comprises 5 competen-
cies of designers (see also Figure 8). Hence, areas of cies that are presented with their individual radial
evidences may link individual criterion from Table axes. The score line connects the evaluations of
2 to the design competencies in Table 3. different competencies and illustrates the whole-

Table 3. The overall design competencies

Issue Physical world project competencies Graphical representation

Placement in environment (socio-physical)

Context Height and footprint limits (physical-fixed)
Inclusion of surroundings
(1st quadrant) Segmentation of volumes
View axes

Composition
Form Sculpture-space interrelation
Diversity level
(2nd quadrant) Light and material selection
Transparency

Accessibility and activity model

Function
Flexibility
Connectivity & organisation of spaces
(3rd quadrant)
Communications
Technical domain function (a)

Structural efficiency
Technical solution Constructability and maintainability
Energy efficiency
(4th quadrant) Cost efficiency
Time efficiency

Also covers technical problems, structural engineering, mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP)
(a)

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ness, or coverage of the solutions. The overall 7) EXCELLENT. A higher evaluation mark
wholeness of the design result (competencies) is also means a higher level of competencies.
represented with the dashed circle (radius is total The results can be numerically presented as
average from Table 3). percentages or numerals from 1 to 7 [17].

Graphical presentation of the competency eval-

uation is shown in the form of a radial diagram
(Figure 8), where quadrants present relevant issues
from Table 4: 1) Context, 2) Form, 3) Function
and 4) Technical solution. Each competency from
Table 3 is presented with a marked radial axis. The
line that connects evaluations for all competencies
forms a radial score line that illustrates the whole-
ness as interpretation criteria (Table 4). The over-
all wholeness (dashed line) is presented as a circle
with the radius equal to evaluation average.
Table 4. The interpretation criteria
Physical world project
Issue
(competition project)
Architectural language
Figure 8. Competency evaluation quadrants Aesthetic expression
Wholeness
(solid line: score line, dashed: average score) Presentation communications
Inter-relationships
(source: [1]) Design originality
Cultural sustainability

4. Validation through case studies

4.1 A case study: evaluation of design com-
As competencies are observed throughout the petitions for physical environments
design process, we also obtain valuable informa-
tion on design competencies for future projects. We A case study studies three prize-winning archi-
shall address that through design evaluation. The tectural solutions from an international competition
goal in real world building process is to get the most for the design of a six-storey commercial building
competent group of designers to form and design in Ljubljana (Slovenia) we have found suitable
the building and to supervise the whole process. for a demonstration of the proposed approach of
Study in Section 3 supported with methodology in competency management. The competition tender
Section 2 supports the objectives. The approach to was carried out in 2006[6]. The competition jury
achieve this goal is tested with three representative awarded three elaborates which have been used as
case studies from physical environments projects. our test examples. The building includes a commer-
The objective is to manually test the approach prior cial ground floor of above-average height, a mixed
to implementation in software systems. In order to business-commercial mezzanine, and at the top ad-
achieve adequate objectivity[16], a two-iteration ditional four business floors in the shape of small
evaluation process has been used: towers (urban origin). In the underground storeys
1st iteration: each competency is classified as there are three garage and/or service levels. All
poor, sufficient or excellent. three conceptual solutions are shown in Table 5.
2 iteration: the evaluation is corrected with
nd The decision of the jury was based on differ-
‘-‘and‘+’ intermediate values resulting in a ent criteria (function, program and cost efficiency,
final scale for evaluation marking from 1 to technical adequacy, design and form… which was
7: 1) POOR, 2) Poor +, 3) Sufficient -, 4) additionally more in detail analysed); of which, the
SUFFICIENT, 5) Sufficient +, 6) Excellent -, competency of the project teams were not explic-
itly addressed. Using the proposed competency

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Table 5. Three prize-winning competition conceptual solutions for commercial and residential buildings
Competition entry Visualization

Elaborate N° 1: 1st prize winner

Elaborate N° 2: 2nd prize winner

Elaborate N° 3: 2nd prize winner

management approach, it is nevertheless possible Evaluation summary (wholeness/interrelation):

to quantify the competencies of design experts as – The architectural response follows the
well as their expertise in the AEC (Architecture, tectonic load paths of the massive lower base,
Engineering and Construction) domain. supporting apparently light glass volumes.
For all three selected competition solutions, the – The design proposal follows the directions
overall design competencies were carefully evalu- given in strategic spatial regulation plans
ated based on extensive competition documenta- and other urban conditions which govern
tion by examining the design input, process, and the geometry of the whole location. The
outcomes. All three buildings are comparable, business objects are aligned parallel to the
placed in the same context and have the same ori- highway and serve as a barrier for residential
gins and design requirements given in the tender programs behind. Their design and concept
documentation. is related to the business character of the
In the evaluation process, we explored dif- buildings on the other side of the highway.
ferences and commonalities in competencies for – Attractively formed business complex
the design as well as established several specific is composed of ground floor spreading
advantages and disadvantages that significantly along the highway and topped with four
influenced the final scores. The detailed presenta- transversely positioned four-storey business
tion and argumentation of the selected parameters blocks. The given solution also indicates the
is out of the scope of this paper; in the following possible solution of the corner of the nearby
paragraphs, only the short summary of the evalua- highway crossing with additional business
tion results will be presented. lamella (flexibility).
Every design solution reflects competencies – Dynamically designed façades and
of an individual. Individual competencies may be composition of volumes positioned on
used at individual work, in a group or organization. common ground floor lamella give the
observer the sequential experience of the
4.1.1 Competition entry N°1 objects and preserves the appropriate scale of
the complex in relation to the perception of the
Competition entry No. 1 (Figure 9) has the objects from highway or from the downtown.
small towers constructed just above the passages – On the protected north side of the complex
of the lower (commercial) part of building. is developed a higher quality ground floor

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Figure 9. Concept and characteristics of competition entry No. 1

Table 6. The overall design competencies for competition project N°1
Issue Physical world project Score Average
Placement in environment (socio-physical) 7
Height and footprint limits (physical-fixed) 7
6.2
Context Inclusion of surroundings 5
(- Excellent)
Segmentation of volumes 6
View axes 6
Composition 7
Sculpture - space interrelation 5
5.8
Form Diversity level 4
(- Excellent)
Light and material selection 6
Transparency 7
Accessibility and activity model 7
Flexibility 6
Function 6.4
Connectivity & organisation of spaces 7
(-Excellent)
Communications 6
Technical domain function (a) 6
Technical Structural efficiency 6
solution Constructability and maintainability 4
4.4
Energy efficiency 2
(Sufficient)
Cost efficiency 4
Time efficiency 6
5.7
Total average
(-Excellent)

space with the main pedestrian access road – The objects are designed as reinforced
connecting semi-public residential part concrete frame structures with central RC
with public program in ground floor of the cores (located eccentrically). The structure
complex. The intense mixture of different of competition entry No.1 is simple, with
functions enables the development of the clear continuity in elevation, and has an
footpath in the main urban living corridor adequate arrangement of the most important
inside the complex. Appropriate installation load bearing structural elements, with
of volumes and lighting enables high quality smaller, manageable cantilevers. Façade
living conditions. of the upper part is made completely from

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glass which could mean less efficient energy directions given in strategic spatial regulation
consumption. plans with its individual interpretation
– The traffic solution follows the suggestions of the concept of the “garden city”. The
of the investor, which requires that all traffic urban concept requirements are respected
is organized in the underground storeys. and treated in the manner which enables
recognisable architectural-urban solution.
4.1.2 Competition entry N°1 – The proposed architectural-urban solution
is an essentially flexible multi-layered
The concept proposed by competition entry No. 2 intertwined and overlapped system and
(Figure 10) consists of five equal compact buildings, due to its pragmatism also an economically
which are ‘L’ shaped both in plan and in elevation. feasible one. The spatial organization is made
Evaluation summary (wholeness/interrelation): by repeating of business block elements.
– The design proposal demonstrates high urban – The traffic solution is based on intelligently
and architectural quality by combining the organized cohabitation of different traffic

Figure 10. Concept and characteristics of competition entry No. 2

Table 7. The overall design competencies for competition project N°2
Issue Physical world project Score Average
Placement in environment (socio-physical) 7
Height and footprint limits (physical-fixed) 7
6.6
Context Inclusion of surroundings 6
(+ Sufficient)
Segmentation of volumes 6
View axes 7
Composition 7
Sculpture - space interrelation 6
5.6
Form Diversity level 5
(Excellent)
Light and material selection 5
Transparency 5
Accessibility and activity model 6
Flexibility 4
Function 5.2
Connectivity & organisation of spaces 5
(+ Sufficient)
Communications 6
Technical domain function (a) 5
Structural efficiency 4
Constructability and maintainability 6
Technical 4.2
Energy efficiency 3
solution (- Sufficient)
Cost efficiency 4
Time efficiency 4
5.4
Total average
(Sufficient)

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system including going on foot, by bicycle, – The facades are made entirely of glass
by car or by public transport using different which also could mean less efficient energy
entering access points. consumption but enables more attractive
– An additional proposal of alternative view axes and open wide views.
exchange of public vertical blocks and
public piazzas oriented internally has also 4.1.3 Competition entry N°3
been given by the authors. This proposal
is even less fragmented and as such more Competition entry No. 3 (Figure 11) similarly,
flexible in the sense of dynamic response on as in the case of the first competition entry, presents
different demands of potential users. a long, two-storeyed commercial lamella, which
– The structure consists of external perimeter supports the four four-storey business volumes.
curtain wall reinforced concrete frames and Evaluation summary (wholeness/interrelation):
internal RC wall cores in the centre of the – This proposal emphasis the parcelling
floor plan of every vertical block. L-shaped out in the direction toward the Sava river,
irregular form in elevation might cause the which is implemented in urban solution as
problem of irregularity in elevation. fan-shaped distribution of business blocks

Figure 11. Concept and characteristics of competition entry No. 3

Table 8. The overall design competencies for competition project N°3
Issue Physical world project Score Average
Placement in environment (socio-physical) 6
Height and footprint limits (physical-fixed) 6
5.4
Context Inclusion of surroundings 4
(+ Sufficient)
Segmentation of volumes 5
View axes 6
Composition 6
Sculpture - space interrelation 4
4.8
Form Diversity level 5
(Excellent)
Light and material selection 4
Transparency 5
Accessibility and activity model 3
Flexibility 5
Function 3.6
Connectivity & organisation of spaces 4
(+ Sufficient)
Communications 2
Technical domain function (a) 4
Structural efficiency 1
Constructability and maintainability 2
2.6
Technical solution Energy efficiency 4
(- Sufficient)
Cost efficiency 3
Time efficiency 3
4.1
Total average
(Sufficient)

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which are placed on common ground floor solutions(3rd and 4thquadrant (see Figure8.)), Com-
pedestal. Such solution is also proposed in petition No.2 is stronger in context and form (1st
the recent strategic spatial regulation plans. and 2ndquadrant), while the third solution doesn’t
– The geometrical rotations of the objects are reach the first two in any field, most closest to them
more or less coincidental. They form three new is in context (1st quadrant).
directions which act dynamically and fresh. The averaged wholeness of first two solutions
– Large opened surfaces in the ground floor have is approximately the same (see dashed lines in Ta-
been recognized as a good solution, because ble 9), while the third one is lower. If necessary the
they increase the flexibility of the complex. average of the individual quadrants can also ease
– The green roof is covering the ground floor the comparison between particular issues of solu-
level which improves the living environment tions. The competition jury recognised these three
and naturally cools down whole ground solutions quite similar as they were evaluated in
floor level. this example. The winning competition was the
– The traffic solution explicitly separates solution (No.1) which therefore renders the high-
the pedestrian and car traffic into different est competency marks for its authors.
levels. The visitors, the delivery service in
the underground storage rooms and residents 5.2. Conclusions and future work
vehicles are mixed in one enter and one exit.
– The reinforced concrete structural system in The presented research results indicate that
this proposal is from the structural point of competency management approach can be a valu-
view less favourable as previous ones. The able tool for AEC practitioners and other stake-
floor plans of the upper vertical blocks do holders in physical projects – building tenders.
not coincide with layouts of the columns Furthermore, AEC company, its management, and
in the lower part of the structure. The main human resources departments, could use the pro-
structural wall cores, although with enforced posed solution to identify, track, and plan develop-
continuity in elevation, are misplaced at ment of core competencies.
the corners of the upper volumes, or even It should be pointed out that competencies can-
outside of them. Because of the rotation of not be assigned a priori to an individual, team or
these volumes, the main structural directions organization without a detailed understanding of
do not coincide with the main load-bearing the background and relationships between roles and
directions of the cores and of the ground floor. processes that lead to design results. The interpreta-
There are also several wide cantilevered tion of the models that are used for the identifica-
elements, which are inadequately connected tion of competencies is not absolute, but also de-
to the rest of the structure. Such structural pends on the presentation of the model, its interpre-
system might be less favourable in the case tation and attention of the evaluator. Design process
of strong earthquake loading. workflow and its results can be used as evidence of
– Facades are partially made as curtain walls design competencies for realization of the projects.
and partly covered with glass and enables For the selected case study of tender designs
variable compositions regarding views, it has been shown that the design competencies
energy efficiency, privacy etc... can be assessed objectively and efficiently for all
more technical aspects of the evaluation circle
5. Discussion and conclusions (Technical solution & Function). Proposed two
step evaluation proposal, however, enables a more
5.1. A discussion through comparison effective and repeatable competency evaluation of
the other, more artistic aspects of the evaluation
A side-by-side comparison of the three competi- framework (Context & Form).
tion entries is shown in Table bellow. A quick visual The proposed framework matches experts view
inspection indicates that the first solution (Competi- only in the case where several independent qualified
tion No. 1) is stronger in functional and technical evaluators assessed the proposed design solutions.

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Table 9. Comparison of competition entries

Competition entry Visualization Competency evaluation

Elaborate N° 1:
1st prize winner

(solid line: score line, dashed: average score:5.7)

Elaborate N° 2:
2nd prize winner

(solid line: score line, dashed: average score: 5.4)

Elaborate N° 3:
2nd prize winner

(solid line: score line, dashed: average score:4,1)

On of comparison of evaluations it can be conclud- is useful for research purposes, comparative stud-
ed that the proposed AEC competency evaluation ies (among similar buildings or groups of build-
framework provides a widely useful instrument for ings) and as an aid in arguing competency evalu-
revealing the AEC competences where used digital ations, whenever the architectural/aesthetic value
models provide valuable, even essential source, for must be evaluated in combination with the tech-
the evaluation of competencies. nical requirements and guidelines. We claim that
Graphical representation of competencies the framework also has educational value, as it can
proved to be very efficient for the individual eval- contribute to the identification and improvement
uation of designs as well as in terms of compara- of interdisciplinary knowledge that is required for
tive comparison between more solutions. Further- successful collaboration in the modern competi-
more, the division of competencies into four quad- tive architecture and in the engineering world.
rants and the intuitive sense of wholeness and bal- The future work will focus on the refinements
ance of the design solutions surprisingly match the of the method that are required for the implemen-
concerns that arise from the experts view, though tation in software systems and its introduction in
they may not use our approach at all. The method practical use in academia and in the industry.

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References 13. Nijkamp P., Quantity and quality: evaluation indi-

cators for our cultural–architectural heritage. In:
1. Cerovšek T., Zupančič T., Kilar V. Framework for Coccossis H, Nijkamp P, Editors. Planning for our
model-based competency management for design in cultural heritage. Aldershot: Avebury; 1995; p.p.
physical and virtual worlds. ITCON, 2010; 15 . 17–37.
2. Slivinski et al, 1996: 14. Schmidt A. &Kunzmann, C. Towards a Human Re-
source Development Ontology for Combining Com-
3. Strebler M., Robinson D., & Heron P. Getting the petence Management and Technology-Enhanced
Best Out Of Competencies. Institute of Employment Workplace Learning. On the Move to Meaningful
Studies Report 334, Brighton, 1997. Internet Systems 2006: OTM 2006 Workshops.2006.
4. Dainty A. R. J., Cheng M.-I. & Moore D. R. J. 15. Cerovsek T.& Katranuschkov P. Active process re-
Competency-Based Model for Predicting Construc- use model for collaboration, ITcon Vol. 11, Special
tion Project Managers’ Performance. Journal Mgmt. Issue Process Modelling, Process Management
in Engrg. 21, 2, DOI:10.1061/(ASCE)0742-597X, and Collaboration , pg. 467-488, http://www.itcon.
2005; 21: 1(2) org/2006/35.
5. Fruchter R. (1999). A/E/C Teamwork: A Collabora- 16. Slak, T. & Kilar, V. (2008a). Assessment of earth-
tive Design and Learning Space. Journal of Comput- quake architecture as a link between architecture
ing in Civil Engineering, 13:261-269. and earthquake engineering. Prostor (Zagreb),
2008;2(36): pp. 155-167.
6. ZAPS (2006). Competitions/Completed “Poslovno-
stanovanjskonaseljeStožice(Business and residential 17. Slak T. & Kilar V. (2008b).Simplified ranking
settlements Stožice)”, completed 11th December system for recognition and evaluation of earth-
2006, International anonymous invited competi- quake architecture. V: 14th World Conference on
tion, by Stanovanjskopodjetjed.o.o Ljubljana in Earthquake Engineering. Conference proceedings
cooperation with Slovenian Chamber of Archi- :proceedings: Beijing, China, 12-17, 2008. Beijing:
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Slovenia. www.zaps.si, http://www.zaps.si/index. International Association for Earthquake Engineer-
php?m_id=27&year=2006&m_name=natecaji_ ing. 2008.
izvedeni&lang=2, 2006.

7. Björk B.-C. Information technology in construction: Corresponding Author

domain definition and research issues. In: C. J. An- Tomaz Slak,
umba, (ed.), Computer Integrated Design in Construc- University of Ljubljana,
tion, vol. 1, SETO, London, UK, 1999; pp. 3-16. Faculty of Architecture,
Ljubljana,
8. Love T. Philosophy of design: a meta-theoretical Slovenia,
structure for design theory, Design Studies, Volume E-mail: tomaz.slak@fa.uni-lj.si
21, Issue 3, May 2000, Pages 293-313, ISSN 0142-
694X, 10.1016/S0142-694X(99)00012-5, 2000.

9. Galle P. Design rationalization and the logic of de-

sign: a case study. Design Studies, 1996; 17: 253-275.

10. Lawson B. Sketches of thought :VinodGoel, MIT

Press, Cambridge, MA, 279 pp, ISBN 0-262-07163-
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11. Kroes P. Design methodology and the nature of tech-

nical artefacts. Design Studies, 2002; 23:287-302.

12. Saunders William S., From Taste to Judgement.

Multiple criteria in the evaluation of architecture.
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sign, Cambridge, MA. http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/
research/publications/hdm/ 1999.

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xA comparative analysis of priority rules for

different job shop scheduling problem classes
Mustafa Batuhan Ayhan, Serol Bulkan
Marmara University, Industrial Engineering Department, Goztepe Campus, Ziverbey/Kadikoy, Istanbul, Turkey

Abstract problems. The studies about the job shop schedul-

ing problems are well organized and summarized
This research analyzes 35 different priority rules
in a study as well as enlightening the future steps
over 82 job shop scheduling problems according
[4]. There are different attempts to find the best so-
to 6 different objectives. Consequently, the result-
lution for the job shop scheduling problems such
ing comments are evaluated by using paired t test
as Branch and Bound algorithm at one end and
analysis. The main motivation of this study is to
heuristics at the other end of the spectrum or com-
compare the priority rules for the benchmark prob-
bining meta-heuristics like genetic algorithm and
lems which are classified according to two criteria;
tabu search [5]. Moreover, variable neighborhood
“Size” and “Variance Level” of the problems. Due
search algorithms are also applied to solve these
to first criterion, the scheduling problem is denoted
problems in integration with parallelization policies
as a “Simple” one if the number of jobs is less than
and performances are tested [6]. In another study,
or equal to the number of machines, or a “Tough”
results of particle swarm optimization and differ-
one otherwise. The second criterion separates the
ential evolution algorithms applied to these prob-
problems into three classes “Low”, “Medium”, or
lems are compared and the former found is found
“High” according to the variance of the total pro-
to provide slightly better results with respect to the
cess times of the jobs in the problem. According to
latter one [7]. In a recent study a general approach
these 6 (2*3) categories; best resulting rules have
for optimizing different objective criteria for job
been found out regarding 6 different objectives.
shop scheduling problems [8]. Moreover, in an-
Key words: Job Shop Scheduling; Priority
other study particle swarm optimization algorithm
Rules; Benchmarking; Evaluation; Comparison;
is combined with genetic operators to find optimal
Paired t-Test; Ranking.
solutions for a bi-objective (weighted mean flow
time and total penalties of tardiness and earliness)
1. Introduction job shop scheduling problem [9]. Accompanying
Scheduling is a decision making process that with the developments of agent based control sys-
exists in most manufacturing and production sys- tems, some studies performed on job shop schedul-
tems. Basically, it concerns with the allocation of ing problems using learning agents or agent teams.
limited resources to tasks over time [1]. The details of these approaches can be found in the
Scheduling problems vary widely according literature [10]. However, the problem properties or
to specific production tasks but most of them are the classifications are not taken into account in most
NP-hard (Non-Polynomial) problems [2]. There of the studies. That is, according to problem size
are various kinds of shop scheduling problems and type the best method can vary. Hence, in this
in real life; flow shops, job shops, and open shop study, 35 dispatching rules are tested over 82 job
problems. These are the ones, which are widely shop problems according to 6 different objectives
used in the modeling of industrial production pro- and also they are tested within each class of prob-
cesses and are receiving an increasing amount of lems. The resultant objective is to determine some
attention from researchers [3]. Since the job shop- rules to be best for each class of problem.
scheduling problem is one of the most general and The mapping of this study is structured as fol-
difficult of all traditional scheduling problems, the lows. Section 2, explains the properties of the se-
aim of this study is to analyze and evaluate differ- lected job shop scheduling problems, which are
ent priority rules for different job shop scheduling taken from the OR Library, as well as categorizing

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them into 6 classes. Section 3, states 35 promis- nal problems have neither machine setup times nor
ing priority rules and also gives a general notation the sequence dependent set up times. In addition
used in this study. In section 4, general performance to these restrictive properties of the problems, they
measures of any scheduling system are explained do not possess holding costs. However we can as-
and six objectives are picked up to continue the sign a one unit (1) of holding cost same for all jobs
analysis. In section 5, computational results, which in order to use some recently developed rules.
are taken from a program –MATLAB 6.5- by run- Due dates are important parts of any job shop
ning the selected 35 rules over 82 problems, are scheduling systems. But these 82 problems do not
elucidated. Section 6, gives an example of Paired t possess due dates. In order to make a rational com-
Test Analysis for a single problem class. This sec- parison for rules regarding different objectives,
tion also lists the results of all other Paired t Test due dates for jobs are essential. Hence, TWK (To-
analysis and states comments about these results. tal Work Content) method is used to assign due
Finally, Section 7 concludes this study by stating dates for each job. The general formulation of this
the best existing rules for 6 objectives for the se- due date setting method is given as;
lected problems and the priority rules.
di = ri + k * TPi ............................ (1)

2. Job shop scheduling problems where, ri is the release time of job i and di is the
due date. The important actor of this method is the
At a general job shop environment, there are a set due date coefficient, k, which will be multiplied
of jobs and a set of machines with different specifi- by the total processing time of the job (TPi) to find
cations. Each job consists of a series of operations, its due date. These due date coefficients are ran-
and each operation has certain processing time and domly assigned within a logical range. Also, these
processed by a certain machine. In most cases, these ranges differ for the problems according to their
jobs have certain due dates and operations have se- complexity. Problem complexity denotes the ratio
quence dependence constraints. The distinguishing of the number of jobs to the number of machines.
property of job shop scheduling from other sched- These due date coefficient ranges according to dif-
uling problems is that, at least one of the jobs has ferent problem complexities are given in the fol-
different machine routing from others. lowing Table 1,
Table 1. Due date coefficient ranges according to
2.1. Problems problem sizes
Due Date
In fact, problem sets, which are tested in this Problem Size
Coefficient Range
study, are taken from the OR_Library [11]. In this # of jobs £ # of machines [1.2-1.6]
site there exists a text file including 82 different # of machines < # of jobs £
job shop problems with varying job and machine [1.4-1.8]
2* # of machines
numbers. Each of which is denoted as the names 2 * # of machines < # of jobs
of the initiator researchers. abz5-abz9 are from [1.8-2.2]
£ 3* # of machines
Adams, Balas and Zawack [12], ft06, ft10, and 3 * # of machines < # of jobs
ft20 are from Fisher and Thompson [13], la01- [2.2-2.6]
£ 4* # of machines
la40 are from Lawrence [14], orb01-orb10 are 4 * # of machines < # of jobs
from Applegate and Cook [15], swv01-swv20 are [2.6-3.0]
£ 5* # of machines
from Storer, Wu and Waccari [16], yn1-yn4 are
from Yamada and Nakano [17]. This differentiation is performed since the due
date coefficients for lower-complex problems would
not be proper for higher-complex problems. That
2.2. Problem properties
is, a range of [1.2-1.6] for the due date coefficients
These 82 problems do not have arrival times. It would not be enough for a 10 machine 50 jobs prob-
is assumed that all jobs in each problem are ready lem. In that case, whichever the rule is employed, no
for the operation at time zero. In similar way origi- more than 2 jobs would be on time. Hence different

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ranges are generated in order to achieve at most ap- 3. Rules

proximately 50% of the jobs as tardy.
Furthermore, these 82 problems should be clas- 3.1. Nomenclature
sified in some groups, to evaluate the rules in dif-
The first step to analyze the JSS problems is to
ferent groups of problems. Two factors are used in
learn the notations used in this analysis. Although
this classification. First one is checking the equality
there are some tiny variations in description, most
of number of jobs and number of machines, named
of the notations are defined with the similar logics
as the ‘Size Group’. Second one is the ‘Variance
in the literature.
Level’ of problems. Total process times for each job
T: Scheduling horizon
in a problem form a discrete distribution. Variance
t: The time at which a decision is to be made
of this distribution becomes the variance of this
I: Cardinality index for jobs
problem. Then 82 variances of all problems make a
J: Cardinality index for operations
series of numbers, in which 3 parts are selected for
M: Cardinality index for machines
low, medium, and high variance factors. The related
TOi: Total number of operations on the ith job
notation for this classification is;
ROi(t): Remaining number of operations on the
Size Group:
ith job at time t
Simple= If the number of jobs is less than or
TPi: Total processing time of the ith job
equal to the number of machines
RPi(t): Remaining processing time of the ith job
Tough = If the number of jobs is greater than
at time t
the number of machines
ri: Release (arrival) time of job i
Var_Level:
Rij: The time at which the ith job becomes
Low_Var Level = [0-5000)
ready for its jth operation
Medium_Var Level = [5000-8000)
di: Due date of job i
High_Var Level = [8000-18000]
mi: Number of required operations for job i
Depending of the fact that
Pij: Processing time of jth operation of the ith job
Minimum Variance for all problems = 64.567
Wi: Weight of job i. Priority factor of job i, de-
Maximum Variance for all problems = 17677.895
noting the importance of job i relative to other jobs.
Ci: Completion time of job i. The time at which
These variance levels are not equally spaced
the ith job is completed and leaves the system.
in order to locate approximately equal number
Cij: Completion time of job i for operation j.
of problems in each class. The problem numbers
Fi: Flow time of job i. The time that job i
within each class are depicted in Table 2;
spends in the workshop. Thus; Fi = Ci - ri
Table 2. Problem numbers within each class
Si : Static slack of job i. Thus; Si = di – ri - TPi
Size
Si(t):Dynamic slack of job i. Thus; Si(t) = di –
Simple Tough
Group Var_Level
Rij - RPi(t)
Nij(t):The set of jobs in the queue correspond-
High 10 19
ing to the jth operation of ith job at time t.
Medium 7 20
Low 11 15
3.2. Priority Rules
It is clear that, it is impossible to balance the
Although many different rules have been de-
groups in rows. Because Size Group = “Tough”
veloped in the literature, 35 of them are investi-
has 54 while Size Group = “Simple” has only 28
gated in the following classification due to com-
problems.
plexities of the rules.

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3.2.1. Simple Rules NINQ: Selects the job whose next operation is
on the machine with the fewest number of opera-
Although the following 24 simple rules exist tions waiting
in many researches and studies, it is better to ag- WINQ: Selects the job whose next operation is
gregate the most important ones as the following. on the machine with the least workload
SPT : Selects the jobs with the shortest process-
ing time, Pij
LPT: Selects the jobs with the longest process- 3.2.2. Weighted Rules
ing time, Pij In fact, weighted rules are not so much differ-
LTWK: Selects the jobs with the least total ent from the simple or combined rules. They are
work, TPi located at the mid-way between simple and com-
MTWK: Selects the jobs with the most total bined rules. The logic behind the weighted rules is
work, TPi assigning priority factors to jobs; higher factors for
SRPT: Selects the jobs with the shortest re- more important jobs and lower factors for less ones.
maining processing time, RPi
LRPT: Selects the jobs with the longest remain-
ing processing time, RPi 3.2.3. Combined Rules
SDT: Selects the jobs with the smallest ratio of A composite dispatching rule is a ranking ex-
Pij/TPi pression that combines a number of elementary
LDT: Selects the jobs with the largest ratio of dispatching rules [1]. Simple rules are useful
Pij/TPi for finding a reasonably good schedule regard-
SDR: Selects the jobs with the smallest ratio ing a single objective, although in real life most
of Pij/RPi situations comprise several basic objectives and a
LDR: Selects the jobs with the largest ratio of function of time or a function of the set of jobs
Pij/RPi waiting for processing. Therefore more elaborate
SMT: Selects the jobs with the smallest value dispatching rules, which take into account several
of Pij*TPi different parameters, are required to address more
LMT: Selects the jobs with the largest value of complicated objective functions. In this section,
Pij*TPi the most important combined rules and recently
SMR: Selects the jobs with the smallest value developed ones will be dealt to understand the ba-
of Pij*RPi sic of combined rules.
LMR: Selects the jobs with the largest value of
Pij*RPi
FRO: Selects the jobs with the fewest number CoverT Rule:
of remaining operations, ROi This rule regards the waiting times of jobs at
LRO: Selects the jobs with the largest number queues at each workstation. Although jobs have
of remaining operations, ROi total processing times before due dates, they may
FIFO: Selects the job, which comes to related be overdue since the long periods of waiting times.
machine first In order to prevent this contradiction at 1960’s a
LIFO: Selects the jobs that come to the related time-based rule was developed [18].
machine last
EDD: Selects the jobs with the earliest due date
Slack: Selects the jobs with the least amount of
slack, Si (t) = di – t – RPi (t) ,....... (2)
Slack/RPT: Selects the jobs with the smallest
ratio of Si (t) / RPi (t)
Slack/RO: Selects the jobs with the smallest ra-
tio of Si (t) / ROi (t) ,........ (3)

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 technics technologies education management

Critical Ratio (CR):

...............(4) This rule simply looks for the ratio of remain-

ing available time over remaining processing time.
The job with the smallest CR value has the highest
priority in the sequencing process. Its formulation
The expected wait time for a job can be con-
is very simple and given in the following.
sidered as the summing up the “Expected Work-
ing Time” for the remaining machines. Expected
(DueDate - Current Time) ..........(11)
working time for machines can be formulized as; CR =
Remaining Processing Time

Critical Ratio and Shortest Processing Time

(CR+SPT) Rule:
m = 1, 2, 3, …., M.......................... (5)
This rule is the combination of Critical Ratio
Now we can modify the E(Wait Time) for jobs as and Shortest Processing Time rules. The following
formulation indicates the running method of this
mi
combined rule. The jobs with smaller CR+SPT
E (Wait Time)i = ∑ ( E (WorkingTime)
q = j +1
q )
values take higher priorities according to this rule.
i = 1, 2, 3, …, I ........................... (6)  d i - t 
C R + S P T = Pi , j * M a x  1;  ......... (12)
According to the resultant CoverT function, the  R Pi 
job, which has the highest CoverT value, will take
the highest priority and will be first sequenced at
Slack/Remaining Processing Time and Shortest
the related machine.
Processing Time (S/RPT+SPT) Rule:
........... (7)
This rule is the combination of two simple
rules; Slack/Remaining Processing Time and
Shortest Processing Time. The formulation of this
Modified Due Date (MDD) Rule: rule is given as;
According to this function, the job, which has
The modified due date is a job’s original due
smallest S/RPT+SPT values, takes the highest pri-
date or its early finish time, whichever is larger
ority.
[19]. The job that has the minimum MDD value
will have the highest priority for next assignment.
...... (13)
MDDi = Max {di , t + RPi} .................. (8)

Modified Operational Due Date (MOD) Rule: Modified Feasibility Function (MFF) Rule:
MOD is the operations original due date or the There is a recent study for the job shops using
operation’s early finish time; whichever is larger Modified Feasibility Function [21]. A new func-
[20]. The operation, which has the minimum tion called Feasibility Function, is formulated and
MOD value according to following formulation, given in the following.
will have the highest priority for next assignment.
∞ t = di
gi
MODij = Max {dij , t + Pij} ................... (9)
FF= ∑P
j =k
i, j .............. (14)
else
dij = di,j-1 + Pij * di / TPi di,0 = 0 ............ (10) (d i - t ) 2

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According to this Feasibility Function, in the set The job, which has the earliest di,k value takes
of overdue jobs, the job, which has the lowest FF the highest priority and sequenced as the first job
value, will have the highest priority. Similarly, in in the scheduling process.
the set of waiting jobs; the job, which has the high-
est FF value, will have the highest priority. This Weighted Flow Due Date (WFDD) Rule:
logic is denoted in the following representation.
The flow due date of job i, for operation j, de-
Max [FFi (t, ki)], i e W if /L/ = 0 noted by FDDi,j, is defined as follows [22].
W: Set of Waiting Jobs j
FDDi , j = ri + ∑ Pi , k ................... (19)
Min [FFi (t, ki)], i e L else L: Set of Late Jobs k =1

In addition, the following component of Bak- By considering the weight for flow time, the
er’s modified operation due date (MOD) algorithm priority index of job i for operation j is computed
is implemented. This component is described in as follows.
the following;
...... (20)
gi

∑P i, j

a i (k) =
j =k
..................... (15) where;
Pi , k
hi= Per unit time of cost of holding job i.
This equation gives higher priority to a job hav-
ing a short operation task at stage k with a long In fact the holding cost of this formulation des-
remaining process time. Due to the behavior of the ignates the weights for jobs. However, to use this
FF giving decreasing value to a job spending time rule for the problem sets, holding cost is taken 1 for
in the shop as overdue, for the set of overdue jobs all jobs. According to this rule, the job, which has
the reciprocate formula of ai(k) is applied. As the the minimum value of Zi, takes the highest priority.
last step, the final form of MFF is created and de-
fined in the following. PT + PW (WF + WT) Rule:
PT + PW (WF + WT) is developed to minimize
the weighted mean flow time of jobs, and to mini-
....................................... (16) mize the weighted mean tardiness of jobs. The pri-
ority index is computed as follows [22].

Allowances with Critical Ratio and Shortest

Processing Time (ALL+CR+SPT) Rule:
According to this rule, the queue of the already ...................................... (21)
overdue jobs has priority over the others. For this where ;
queue the SPT rule is employed, but if this queue j
is empty the CR+SPT rule with allowance factors ODDi , j = ri + k * ∑ Pi ,k ................... (22)
is used for secondary queue [21]. The operating k =1

scheme of this rule is given in the following.

k: due date allowance factor
di,k = Max { t + b(t)*Pi,k; t + Pi,k }........... (17)
In order to modify this rule to the problem sets,
where the holding costs are taken 1 for all jobs. The job
gi
with minimum value of Zi will be chosen as the
b(t) = ai(t) / ∑P
j =k
i, j and ai(t) = di – t......... (18)
next job for loading.

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WATC Rule: 4.1. Completion time based performance

measures
Under the WATC rule, every time the machine
becomes free, a ranking index is computed for each The main criteria in this category are the Flow
remaining job. The job with the highest-ranking Time and the Completion Time.
index is selected to be processed next [23]. This Flow time is the time between the departure
index is computed as the following Equation 23. and arrival time of the related job. On the other
hand Completion time designates only the depar-
ture time of the job. Although mean, maximum,
variance, and weighted factors of both criteria can
...................................... (23) be used, C_Max and F_Bar are picked up to test
the performance of the dispatching rules over the
Wi is simply the weight of the job i. E(Wait selected problems. C_Max states that how long
Time)iq is calculated as the same way with Co- the processing system is devoted for the entire set
verT rule. TBar is the average processing times of of jobs. F_Bar is simply the mean flow time of all
the jobs, competing for the free machine. For ex- jobs. Moreover it points out the on hand inventory
ample, if machine 1 is freed and 2 jobs (2nd and level of the system.
3rd jobs) are competing for it, then TBar is the aver-
age processing times of these 2 operations corre- 4.2. Due date based performance measures
sponding to related jobs. Lastly, a value of k=2 for
static shops and a value of k=3 for dynamic shops The main criteria in this category are the Tardi-
have been recommended as the parameter values ness and Lateness measures. It is better to recall
to be used in the rule [22]. what these values are, before analyzing them.

4. Performance measures Lateness: Li = Ci - di ..................... (24)

The modern manufacturing market of high Tardiness: Ti = Max {Li, 0} ................ (25)
standard requires a variety of objectives to be
achieved. We can list these objectives as the fol- Again various forms of these criteria can be
lowing [21]. used, L_Max (Maximum Lateness), Var_L (Late-
– Qualitative Products ness Variance), and Per_T (Percentage of Tardy
– On-Time Delivery Jobs) are selected for the ongoing analysis. L_Max
– Minimum Work in Process measures the lateness of the latest job. Var_L is an
– Short Customer Lead Times important criterion when the balancing the system
– Maximum Utilization of Resources near to due dates is required. It is also important
if completed jobs accrue holding costs until due
In general there are a number of tools that can dates. Per_T is a general performance measure to
measure the performance of the scheduling sys- monitor and rate the manager’s performances [1].
tem. We can list them as, Flow Time, Completion
Time, Tardiness, Lateness, Idleness, and Utiliza- 4.3 Utilization based performance measures
tion. Furthermore, we can use mean, maximum,
and variance factors of these measures according Idle Time and Utilization are the main perfor-
to our objective’s requirement. It is better to clas- mance measures in this category. Only U_Bar
sify these tools in 3 sections with respect to what (Mean utilization time of machines) is selected
they measure. from this category since I_Bar (Mean Idle Time of
jobs) is very similar to U_Bar. U_Bar can be calcu-
lated as adding up the working times over the total
scheduling horizon for each machine and taking the
arithmetical average of these individual utilizations.

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It states the average utilization of all machines in 42 tests, only the C_Max objective for the “Low-
system. If it is very low, then some machines are Simple” class of problems is explained.
idle for most of the scheduling horizon. “Low-Simple”: There are 11 problems in
“Low-Simple” class. SDR gives best results in 3
5. Computational results of them, and LRO gives best results in 2 of them.
So a paired t test analysis is performed with these
In this study, MATLAB 6.5 (Full Version) is 2 rules. The ranking of these rules in each problem
used to analyze 35 dispatching algorithms over 82 is given in the Table 3.
problem sets regarding 6 different objectives. All Table 3. Ranking of best 2 rules for Low_Simple
of these factors are explained comprehensively in problems
previous sections. The most important reason to Problems Rank of LRO Rank of SDR Difference
employ MATLAB 6.5 is the proper matrix nota- abz5 1 13 -12
tion. It can take all input files as matrix forms and ft06 1 6 -5
give the results again in matrix notations. la19 35 10 25
However program gives a brief summary for orb05 3 6 -3
each rule and for each problem class regarding orb07 14 1 13
each objective, there is still a missing part of this orb08 33 3 30
analysis. Due dates are assigned randomly to jobs orb10 26 2 24
by using different due date coefficients ranges, al- yn1 4 2 2
though the original problems do not have any due yn2 2 1 1
dates. To decrease the effects of this random due yn3 13 2 11
date assignments, this program is run for 30 times. yn4 21 1 19
In each run different due dates are assigned to jobs
depending on the ranges of due date coefficients. We will check if there is a significant difference
Objective values of each rule for each problem in between the ranking of LRO and SDR rules with
each run are averaged over 30 runs regarding for a level of 0.05.
each objective. After this, ranking of each rule for H0: aD = 0 (There is no difference between ranks)
each problem is found out and the final outputs Ha: aD ≠ 0 (There is a significant difference
give this information, which is required for the on- between ranks)
coming Paired T Test analysis.
Decision Rule: Reject H0 if T ≥ ta/2, n-1 or
T ≤ - ta/2, n-1
6. Paired T test analysis
d -D0 9,63-0
In Paired t Test analysis, Di’s (Di = Xi - Yi) are T=s / n
= 1 3 , 9 7 / 11
= 2,287 ........ (26)
employed since they are independent of one anoth- d

er. Xi and Yi denote the first and second rules ac- ta/2, n-1 = t0,025, 10 = 2,228
cording their rankings, respectively. Best existing
two rules can be tested over 82 problems by Paired Decision: Since 2,287 is greater than 2,228 we
t Test. In fact, this test is not so much meaningful, reject H0. That means; at 0.05 significance level
because a rule can be best for a class of problem there is a significant difference between the rank-
(i.e. Low-Simple) but it may not be good for other ing of LRO and SDR rules. In order to find out
classes. Therefore, we have to execute this test for which is better, a new hypothesis test is performed
every class of problems for each objective. This with one sided.
brings a burdensome for 36 (6 for each objective H0: aD = 0 (There is no difference between ranks)
* 6 for each class of problems) paired t tests. In Ha: aD < 0 (Ranking of LRO is better)
addition, to check the general performances of
rules, this test can be carried out over 82 problems Decision Rule: Reject H0 if T ≤ - ta, n-1
for each objective, which bears 6 more analysis. T = 2.287
Hence, to diminish the explanation parts of these t0,05, 10 = -1.812

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Decision: Since 2.287 is greater than 1.812 Table 6. Best Resulting rules for L_Max Objective
we do not reject H0. That is we reject that ranking in each class of problems
of LRO is better than SDR. Consequently, with # of
above 2 inferences, ranking of SDR rule is better Problem Type 1st Rule(s) 2nd Rule(s)
Problems
than ranking of LRO in level of a = 0.05 S_RO_
Slack=4
This Paired t test analysis is executed for all Low_ Simple ALL_CR_
Ratio=1
11
problem classes –also for the general case- for all CoverT=1
SPT=1
best existing two rules for each of the objective CRatio=1
WFDD=2
values. Following tables (Tables 4 - 9) show the Low_ Tough SMT=2 15
Slack=7
first and second rules according to their ranks in
each class of problems for each objective. If there SMT=1
Medium_ MFF=2 LTWK=1
is more than 1 rule in a single cell, then there is 7
Simple SPT=1 WFDD=1
no significant difference between the related rules. CoverT=1
Table 4. Best Resulting rules for C_Max Objecti-
Medium_ WFDD=6
ve in each class of problems Tough
Slack=6
SMT=4
20
# of Slack=3
Problem Type 1st Rule(s) 2nd Rule(s)
Problems High_ Simple ALL_CR_ MFF=2 10
Low_Simple SDR=3 LRO=2 11 SPT=2
LRO=2 High_ Tough Slack=11 SMT=3 19
Low_Tough SDR=9 15
WFDD=2
Medium_ Simple SDR=3 LRO=2 7 SMT=11
General Slack=31 82
WFDD=10
Medium_ Tough SDR=16 LRO=5 20
LRPT=3 Table 7. Best Resulting rules forVar_L Objective
High_ Simple SDT=2 10
SDR=2
in each class of problems
High_ Tough SDR=8 LRO=3 19
# of
General SDR=41 LRO=15 82 Problem Type 1st Rule(s) 2nd Rule(s)
Problems
ALL_CR_
Table 5. Best Resulting rules for F_Bar Objective S_RO_
Low_ Simple SPT=4 11
in each class of problems Ratio=1
CRatio=6
# of ALL_CR_
Problem Type 1st Rule(s) 2nd Rule(s) Low_ Tough CRatio=3 15
Problems SPT=9
SMT=2 Slack=1
SRPT=3 Medium_ CoverT=2
Low_Simple PT_PW_ 11 S_RO_ 7
SMR=2 Simple CRatio=1
WF_WT=2 Ratio=1
SMT=4 Medium_ ALL_CR_
Low_ Tough SMR=4 15 WFDD=6 20
SRPT=2 Tough SPT=8
PT_PW_ Slack_RPT_ ALL_CR_ CoverT=2
Medium_ High_ Simple 10
WF_WT=2 SPT=1 7 SPT=1 CRatio=2
Simple
SMT=3 LTWK=1 ALL_CR_
SMR=5 High_ Tough SPT=9 MFF=1 19
Medium_
SRPT=7 MDD=3 20 WFDD=9
Tough
SMT=3 ALL_CR_
LTWK=3 General WFDD=18 82
High_ Simple SMR=3 10 SPT=31
SPT=2
SMT=3 Each class of problems are checked to prevent
High_ Tough SMR=8 19
SRPT=6 getting misinformation from the general 82 prob-
General SMR=22 SRPT=18 82 lems. Since there may be a rule, which performs
well in a class but cannot be seen in general case.
The results are not very surprising for 3 of the 6

472 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

objectives. In C_Max, Var_L, and U_Bar objec- Note that, the best resulting tables (Table 4, Ta-
tives, best resulting rule in general is again the best ble 9) for U_Bar and C_Max objectives resemble
for all classes. In other words, SDR rule is best for each other. From this similarity, it is implied that
all classes and for the general case for C_Max ob- rules result in similar ways with C_Max and U_
jective. In similar explanation, ALL_CR_SPT and Bar objectives. Depending on this implication, it
SDR rules are best for all classes and for the general can be stated that, minimizing C_Max objective
case for Var_L and U_Bar objectives, respectively. cooperate with maximizing mean utility
On the other hand, although SMR is best for the
general case, it does not provide the best solution 7. Conclusion
in some classes for F_Bar objective. This explana-
tion is valid for Slack and SRPT rules according to In order to make a comparative analysis of the
L_Max and Per_T objectives, respectively. priority rules for different classes of job shop sched-
Table 8. Best Resulting rules for Per_T Objective uling problems, the original benchmark problems,
in each class of problems which are taken from OR_Library, are explained
# of and classified into 6 classes according to Size and
Problem Type 1st Rule(s) 2nd Rule(s)
Problems Variance level at first. Then the selected promising
FRO=3 PT_PW_WF_ 35 priority rules are briefly explained with their no-
Low_ Simple 11
SRPT=3 WT=3 tations. To make a valid analysis 6 objectives are
PT_PW_WF_ set as the performance measures. By the help of
SRPT=3
Low_ Tough WT=2 15 MATLAB 6.5 computer program, we handled the
SMR=5
WATC=2 results of 35 priority rules on 82 job shop sched-
Slack_RPT_ uling problems regarding 6 different objectives in
FRO=1 SPT=1 accordance with 6 classes. As the last a paired t test
Medium_
Simple
WATC=1 SMT=1 7 analysis is performed to find the best existing two
SRPT=2 MTWK=2 rules according to each objective. According to this
LDR=1 analysis -for the selected problems and for the se-
Medium_ FRO=3 lected rules- the following table (Table 10) summa-
SRPT=5 20
Tough SMR=3 rizes the best rules for each objective.
SDT=2 Table 10. Best rules for each objective
High_ Simple FRO=2 10
MTWK=2 Objective Best Rule(s)
FRO=6 C_Max SDR
High_Tough WATC=3 19
SRPT=6
F_Bar SMR
General SRPT=20 FRO=16 82
L_Max SLACK
Var_L ALL_CR_SPT
Table 9. Best Resulting rules for U_Bar Objective
Per_T SRPT and FRO
in each class of problems
U_Bar SDR
# of
Problem Type 1st Rule(s) 2nd Rule(s)
Problems Although there are various studies about the job
Low_ Simple SDR=3 LRO=2 11 shop scheduling problems including meta heuris-
WFDD=2 tics, agent based systems, particle swarm optimiza-
Low_ Tough SDR=9 15
LRO=2 tion techniques and etc., the main novelty of this
Medium_ SDR=3 SPT=1 study is to provide a new concept about the bench-
7
Simple LRPT=1 LRO=2 mark problems. That is the properties of the prob-
Medium_ lems are crucial to determine which rule is the best.
SDR=16 LRO=5 20
Tough Hence this paper attempts to fulfill this requirement
SDR=2 by categorizing the benchmark problems accord-
High_Simple SDT=2 10
LRPT=3 ing to their size and variance levels. Moreover,
High_ Tough SDR=8 LRO=3 19 instead of dealing only one objective – makespan
General SDR=41 LRO=15 82 is widely used in literature- 5 additional objectives

Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013 473

 technics technologies education management

are included in this analysis. So, due to the problem 10. Aydin, M.E. ‘Metaheuristic agent teams for job
classes the best dispatching rules are found for each shop scheduling problems’, Lecture Notes in Com-
puter Science 2007; Vol. 4659, pp. 185-194
objective. As the further investigations and studies,
11. OR Library, [online] Available at: http://people.
more promising rules for specific machine environ-
brunel.ac.uk/~mastjjb/jeb/orlib/jobshopinfo.html
ment systems can be handled. Likewise, some other (Accessed: 02 December 2011)
shop scheduling problems (not necessarily to be a 12. Adams, J., Balas, E. and Zawack D. ‘The shifting
JSS problem) can be implemented to analyze these bottleneck procedure for job shop scheduling’,
rules. In addition, it will be a good work and ben- Management Science 1988; Vol. 34, pp. 391-401
eficial to develop a new dispatching rule which pro- 13. Fisher, H. and Thompson G.L. Probabilistic Learn-
vides better solutions for at least some special cases ing Combinations of Local Job-Shop Scheduling
or classes. Moreover, an expert system, which can Rules, Industrial Scheduling, 1st Edition, Prentice
Hall, New Jersey, 1963.
match and list the best rule for each class of prob-
14. Lawrence S., Resource constrained project sched-
lems, would be helpful to increase the efficiency of uling: an experimental investigation of heuristic
the scheduling systems. scheduling techniques (Supplement), Graduate
School of Industrial Administration, Carnegie-Mel-
lon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1984.
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9. Moghaddam, R.T., Azarkish, M. and Barkousaraie, Mustafa Batuhan Ayhan,
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2011; Vol. 38, Issue 9, pp. 10812-10821 E-mail: batuhan.ayhan@marmara.edu.tr

474 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013

 technics technologies education management

Comparison of dimension reduction

techniques on high dimensional datasets
Kazim Yildiz1, Ali Yilmaz Camurcu2, Buket Dogan3
1
Univesity of Marmara, Faculty of Technical Education, Dept. of Electronic-Computer, Istanbul, Turkey,
2
University of Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vaqf, Faculty of Architecture&Engineering, Istanbul, Turkey,
3
University of Marmara, Faculty of Technology, Istanbul Turkey.

Abstract also clustering operation takes a long time espe-

High dimensional data becomes very common cially in data that have high number of attributes.
with the rapid growth of data stored in data ware- It can be applied to the dimension reduction
houses or other kinds of information stores. Thus methods in order to get more realistic and faster
clustering process became an urgent problem. The results.
well known clustering algorithms are not adequate Dimensionality reduction techniques offer so-
for high dimensional space because of the problem lutions that both improve the computation time,
that is called curse of dimensionality. These algo- yield accurate results in some high dimensional
rithms may be insufficient on high dimensional data analysis [1].
space. Dimensionality reduction techniques offer So it is highly desirable to reduce the dimen-
solutions that accurate clustering results and im- sionality of a high dimension dataset before clus-
prove the clustering time in high dimensional data tering in order to maintain tractability.
analysis. In this paper different dimensionality This study aimed to compare Principal Compo-
reduction techniques were combined with Fuzzy nent Analysis (PCA), Laplacian Eigenmaps, Fast
C-Means clustering algorithm in order to reduce Maximum Variance Unfolding (FastMVU), Iso-
the complexity of high dimensional datasets and metric Mapping (Isomap), Landmark Isomap (L-
to generate more accurate clustering results. The Isomap), Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (SNE)
results were compared in terms of cluster purity, and t distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding
cluster entropy and mutual info. Dimension re- (t-SNE) methods in the dimension reduction of
duction techniques are compared by current Cen- Abalone, Milliyet and BBC datasets before the
tral Processing Unit (CPU), current memory and clustering process.
elapsed CPU time. The experiments showed that This paper is organized as follows. A number
the proposed work produces promising results on of researches, which have been made with the
high dimensional space. dimension reduction techniques, can be seen in
Key words: High Dimensional Data, Cluster- related work, then the general system of dimen-
ing, Dimensionality Reduction, Data Mining sion reduction process, clustering algorithms and
dimension reduction methods which are used in
this study have been told. Finally experimental re-
1. Introduction
sults on high dimensional dataset and conclusion
In many application areas, such as information are reported.
retrieval, image processing, computational biol-
ogy and global climate research, analysis of high
2. Related Work
dimensional datasets are frequently encountered.
Classical clustering algorithms become inef- Cluster analysis is one of the difficulties of high
ficient when they apply to the high dimensional dimensional clustering. Clustering [2, 3] divides
data, because of increasing amount of data. Devel- data into meaningful or useful groups. Clustering
oping effective clustering methods to handle high has been widely studied in several disciplines [2, 4].
dimensional space is a challenging problem. The In most applications, dimension reduction is
result of clustering process is not qualitative and carried out as a preprocessing step. It mitigates

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undesired properties of high dimensional space. that gave a weighted graph attempts to find a se-
Simply, it retains the most important attributes in a ries of dimensions that are linear combinations of
dataset and removes the noise [5]. the old dimensions [24].
The selection of the dimensions using PCA [6, Omran [25]b used the PSO clustering algorithm
7] through singular value decomposition (SVD) for clustering image data. In [26], a K-Means+PSO
[8] is a popular approach for numerical attributes. clustering algorithm was proposed and evaluated
In information retrieval, Latent Semantic Indexing on the standard UCI clustering test datasets. This
(LSI) uses SVD to project textual documents rep- k-means+PSO clustering algorithm uses k-means
resented as document vectors [9]. SVD is shown to pre-process and initialize the PSO positions. In
to be the optimal solution for a probabilistic model [27] Latent Segment Indexing (LSI) and Random
for document/word occurrence [10]. Projection (RP) applied to data as preprocessing
Random projections to subspaces have also for the PSO clustering algorithm in order to reduce
been used [11, 12]. the complexity of the high dimensional dataset and
In a previous study which was done by Bilgin speed up the clustering computation time.
and Camurcu, the performances of Opossum, Gra- Ture and friends compared classical principal
clus, PSpace+Graclus algorithms were compared component analysis (PCA), generalized principal
in Milliyet and BBC data[13]. Lee and friends component analysis(GPCA), linear component
used PCA algorithm for dimension reduction pro- analysis using neural networks (PCA-NN) and
cess [14]. It was found that the clustering process non-linear principal component analysis using neu-
was obtained with this study was more certain ral networks(NLPCA-NN) with patient satisfac-
and more decisive compared to one in Euclidean tion data [28]. Results show NN which have higher
space. Bilgin and Camurcu made filtering outliers, percentages of explained variances than classical
density based clustering and visualizing on high methods could be used for dimension reduction.
dimensional datasets [15]. According to the results Jinlong Shi and Zhigang Luo compared the
that have been taken, the algorithms are effective performance of PCA and Isomap for visualization
on high dimensional dataset. and clustering of cancer tissue samples [29]. Iso-
Fern and Brodley, used PCA and Random Pro- map produces much better visualization of expres-
jection for building cluster assembly on high di- sion data than PCA and reveals different subcat-
mensional dataset [16]. The cluster assembly that egories of cancers.
was built by Random Projection was more satis-
fied than by PCA. 3. General System of Dimension Reduction
Teng and friends compared Local Tangent Process
Space Analysis and PCA algorithms on datasets
in the way of visualization [17]. Results that were The block schema that is used in this study
obtained by the work, nonlinear dimension reduc- can be seen in figure 1. After the choice of data,
tion techniques have influence on microarray da- the first way is clustering data without dimension
tasets. Ding and Li combined Linear Discriminant reduction process. Another way is, dimension re-
Analysis (LDA) and K-means clustering into the duction technique applies to data then the reduced
LDA-Km algorithm for adaptive dimension re- data is clustered by clustering algorithm.
duction. K-means clustering is used to generate
class labels and LDA is utilized to perform sub-
space selection [18]. Tang and friends compared
four well-known dimension reduction techniques,
Document Frequency [19], Random Projection
[20], Latent Semantic Indexing [21], Independent
Component Analysis [22] for the document clus-
tering task using five benchmark datasets [23].
Davidson propose the graph-driven constrained Figure 1. General system of dimension reduction
dimension reduction by linear projection approach process

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In this paper, we apply Fuzzy C-means algo- 3.2. Dimension reduction

rithm on high dimensional datasets for clustering.
On the first step the data dimensions were reduced Dimension reduction is an algorithmic technique
by the dimensional reduction techniques. After- for reducing the dimensionality of data. From a
wards they were clustered by this algorithm on programmers point, a d-dimensional array of real
them. The clustering result was compared by us- numbers, after applying this technique, is repre-
ing the cluster purity, cluster entropy and mutual sented by a much smaller array. With the increase
information values. Also the quantity of the mem- of dimension of a data, generally only a few number
ory and CPU that is used during the dimensional of dimension is related to the directly clusters. But
reduction process, and the time that passed on the irrelevant dimension of data can cause to very much
dimension reduction process were determined. noise and this also causes to conceal the data that
will be discovered [36]. Hence so far the important
one is data to become sparsed when the dimension
3.1. Clustering increases. A data set which has a certain number of
Cluster analysis group of objects (observations, data points, becomes sparse in an exponential way
events) based on the information in the data de- as the dimension number increases [37]. A large
scribes the objects or their relationships. The goal number of new methods for dimensionality reduc-
is that the objects in a group should be similar (or tion have been proposed. A review of dimension re-
related) to one another and different from (or un- duction techniques has been presented in [5].
related to) the objects in other groups. Clustering
is a descriptive task that seeks to identify homo- 3.3. Overview of dimension reduction
geneous groups of objects based on the values techniques
of their attributes (dimensions) [2, 3]. Clustering
techniques have been studied extensively in statis- In this section, details of seven different dimen-
tics [30], pattern recognition [31, 32] and machine sionality reduction techniques, Principal Compo-
learning [33, 34]. In this study, the information nent Analysis, Laplacian, Fast Maximum Variance
can be given about traditional clustering algorithm Unfolding, Isometric Mapping, Landmark Isomet-
that is Fuzzy C-Means. ric Mapping, Stochastic Neighbor Embedding, t
distributed Stochastic Embedding are introduced.
Pca, [38] constructs a low-dimensional repre-
3.1.1. Fuzzy C-means sentation of the data that describes as much of the
Fuzzy C-means (FCM) algorithm is the most variance in the data as possible. This is done by
known and commonly used form of fuzzy parti- finding a linear basis of reduced dimensionality
tioning clustering techniques. FCM algorithm was for the data, in which the amount of variance in
proposed by Dunn in 1973 and was developed by the data is maximal.
Bezdek in 1981 [35]. FCM method allows objects Laplacian Eigenmaps, find a low-dimensional
that could belong two or more clusters. Due to data representation by preserving local properties
fuzzy logic principle, each data is assigned to each of the manifold [39]. In Laplacian Eigenmaps, the
cluster with a membership value that is between 0 local properties are based on the pairwise distanc-
and 1. The total affiliation values of a data, which es between near neighbors. Laplacian Eigenmaps
belongs to the all classes, should be “1”. The prob- compute a low dimensional representation of the
ability of belonging to a cluster is related to the data in which the distances between a datapoint
distance between the object and cluster. So the and its nearest neighbors are minimized.
probability of an object belonging to a closer clus- FastMvu defines a neighborhood graph on the
ter is higher than the distant one. data and retains pairwise distances in the result-
ing graph. FastMVU differs from Isomap in that it
explicitly attempts to ’unfold’ data manifolds [40].
Isomap is a graphic based dimension reduc-
tion technique. In this technique the points that are

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close to each other, remain close again after the BBC dataset is gathered from BBC internet ar-
dimension reduction process. And the points with chive and class names are business, entertainment,
far distances protect their distances again [41]. politics, sports and technology [47]. This dataset
L-Isomap is identical to Isomap, except that it contains 9635 terms from 2225 complete news ar-
uses a randomly selected subset of points to build ticles from BBC news web site.
the map. Samples that are not selected as land- Table 1. Features of Data Sets
marks are then placed on the map by utilizing the Dataset Class
derived embedding vectors [42]. Instances Attributes
Name Number
SNE, is an iterative technique that (similar to Abalone 4177 7 3
MDS) attempts to retain the pairwise distances Milliyet 1455 1695 3
between the data points in the low-dimensional BBC 2225 9635 5
representation of the data [43].
t-SNE, is effective on getting the local struc- The results obtained without dimension reduc-
ture on high dimensional data and also preparing tion process on datasets are shown in the Table 2.
then demonstrating the clusters that have different It can be seen that Fuzzy C-Means algorithm is
scales on global structures [44]. not so much efficient on high dimensional space.
The results obtained by using clustering algo-
4. Results and Discussion rithms after dimension reduction process on data-
sets, are shown in the Table 3. According to the re-
This study was presented on Intel(R) Core(TM) sults, it can be concluded that the clustering results
2 Duo CPU P8700 3.0 GHZ 64 bit operating sys- are more successful when the clustering process
tem and 4 GB RAM computer. For the software is made on datasets, obtained by using dimension
environment MATLAB software was used. In the reduction methods. And also it can be seen that
application, Abalone, Milliyet and BBC datasets all clusters on datasets are predicted almost in an
were used. Dataset features were given in Table 1. accurate way by using Fuzzy C-Means algorithm.
Abalone dataset has features about oyster which The highest mutual information values were
are formed under three classes; female, male and obtained by applying the combinations that are
asexual shell [45] that consists of 4177 instances shown in Table 4.
and 8 attributes.
Milliyet dataset has 3 classes; economy, poli-
tics and sports that are gathered in Milliyet news-
paper internet archive [46] that consists of 1695
terms in turkish from 1455 news articles.
Table 2. Clustering Results without Dimension Reduction
Data Sets
Abalone Milliyet BBC
Mutual Mutual Mutual
Purity Entropy Purity Entropy Purity Entropy
Information Information Information
0.0000 1.0000
0.7712 0.1823 0.8495 0.1261 0.0947 0.1387
K-Means

0.5065 0.3135 0.1569 0.0936 0.2051 0.1084 0.9705 0.0180 0.2885

0.3075 0.3300 0.0217 0.0757 0.0119 0.0325
0.9882 0.0072
1.0000 0.0000
0.6954 0.2298 1.0000 0.0000 0.5203 0.2111
C-Means
Fuzzy

0.9940 0.0054 0.7966 0.0113 0.0462 0.4366 0.0000 1.0000 0.5481

1.0000 0.0000 1.0000 0.0000 0.2954 0.2238
0.8079 0.1070

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 Table 3. Clustering Results after Dimension Reduction
Data Sets
Abalone Milliyet BBC
Purity Entropy Mutual Info Purity Entropy Mutual Info Purity Entropy Mutual Info
0.9080 0.0544
0.5026 0.3147 0.7950 0.1659 0.4436 0.2240
0.2751
0.7712 0.1823 0.1550 0.0169 0.0630 0.0452 0.5784 0.1967

K-Means
0.3106 0.3305 0.0217 0.0757 0.2743 0.2204

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0.0051 0.0169

PCA
1.0000 0.0000
1.0000 0.0000 1.0000 0.0000 0.8561 0.0826
0.6691 0.2446 0.7852 0.1841 0.2836 0.4699 0.0000 1.0000 0.6720

Fuzzy
C-Means
1.0000 0.0000 1.0000 0.0000 0.4716 0.2202
1.0000 0.0000
0.0051 0.0169
0.3106 0.3305 0.7950 0.1659 0.9021 0.0577
0.7712 0.1823 0.1550 0.0169 0.0630 0.0452 0.4244 0.2260 0.2545

K-Means
0.5026 0.3147 0.0217 0.0757 0.2743 0.2204
0.4803 0.2188
1.0000 0.0000

ISOMAP
1.0000 0.0000 1.0000 0.0000 0.6243 0.1827
0.6713 0.2434 0.7289 0.3626 0.3348 0.5059 0.6882 0.1597 0.6375

Fuzzy
C-Means
1.0000 0.0000 0.7065 0.2234 1.0000 0.0000
0.2967 0.2239
technics technologies education management

0.4738 0.2198
0.3075 0.3300 0.0434 0.1240 0.6834 0.1616
0.7749 0.1798 0.1540 0.8128 0.1532 0.0428 0.8882 0.0654 0.2049

K-Means
0.5039 0.3143 0.0084 0.0386 0.0077 0.0234
0.0000 1.0000
0.9215 0.0467
0.6908 0.2325 1.0000 0.0000 0.1683 0.1863
0.9940 0.0054 0.7289 0.1473 0.2568 0.4577 1.0000 0.0000 0.7069

Fuzzy
C-Means
1.0000 0.0000 1.0000 0.0000 0.4344 0.2250

LANDMARK ISOMAP

479
1.0000 0.0000
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Table 3. (Continue) Clustering Results after Dimension Reduction

K-Means 0.0078 0.0236
0.1392 0.2498 0.0169 0.0630 0.9921 0.0048
0.5685 0.2922 0.1245 0.7950 0.1659 0.0447 0.0149 0.0390 0.0067
LAPLACIAN

0.7526 0.1946 0.0217 0.0757 0.0233 0.0544

0.0167 0.0426
1.0000 0.0000
0.9892 0.0096 0.9762 0.0213 0.1269 0.1627
C-Means
Fuzzy

1.0000 0.0000 0.8640 0.1149 0.4988 0.2155 0.7611

0.8517 0.8154
0.8671 0.1125 1.0000 0.0000 1.0000 0.0000
0.9825 0.0107
0.4524 0.3266 0.0000 1.0000
K-Means

0.4307 0.3302 0.4135 0.3323 1.0000 0.0000

0.3822 0.3346 0.8478 0.1273 0.0058 0.0187 0.0045
0.0539 0.1040
0.5215 0.3090 0.0049 0.0164
FASTMVU

0.0095 0.0276
0.9078 0.0545
1.0000 0.0000 0.5594 0.2958 0.9870 0.0079
C-Means
Fuzzy

0.9947 0.0047 0.9433 0.0500 1.0000 0.0000 0.8826

0.9415 0.4446
0.9659 0.0304 1.0000 0.0000 0.9178 0.0489
0.9376 0.0375
0.9490 0.0308
K-Means

0.4142 0.3323 0.4673 0.3235 0.0259 0.0588

0.3733 0.3348 0.8130 0.1531 0.0156 0.0404
0.0114
0.5163 0.3106 0.0534 0.4217 0.3314 0.1717 0.0537 0.1018
0.0287 0.0634
SNE

0.0941 0.1381
1.0000 0.0000 0.0000 1.0000 0.0000 1.0000
C-Means
Fuzzy

0.8248 0.1445 0.4831 0.3199 1.0000 0.0000

1.0000 0.0000 0.8266 1.0000 0.0000 0.4837 0.0000 1.0000 0.1522
0.1147 0.1543
0.2289 0.2097
K-Means

0.5195 0.3096 0.5580 0.2962 0.2086 0.2031

0.3304 0.3330 0.3534 0.3345 0.2046 0.2017
0.4441 0.3281 0.0884 0.1630 0.2691 0.0476 0.1995 0.1998 0.0024
t-SNE

0.2392 0.2126
0.8725 0.0739
C-Means

0.9846 0.0138 0.0000 1.0000 0.9792 0.0127

Fuzzy

1.0000 0.0000 0.6376 0.2641 1.0000 0.0000 0.8665

0.9378 0.0547 0.9001 0.9546 0.0403 0.5315 0.8610 0.0800
1.0000 0.0000
Table 4. The highest mutual information values according to the dimension reduction and clustering
Data Set Dimension Reduction Clustering Algorithm
PCA, Isomap K-Means
Abalone
FastMVU Fuzzy C-Means
SNE K-Means
Milliyet
Laplacian Fuzzy C-Means
PCA K-Means
BBC
FastMVU Fuzzy C-Means

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As can be seen in Table 4, on Abalone data-

set FastMVU dimension reduction technique was
applied on Abalone data set then clustered with
Fuzzy C-Means.
On Milliyet data set Laplacian dimension re-
duction technique was applied on Milliyet data set
then clustered with Fuzzy C-Means.
On BBC data set, FastMVU dimension reduc-
tion technique was applied on BBC data set then
clustered with Fuzzy C-Means. Figure 3. Used memory in dimension reduction
In Figure 2, the CPU values (%) that are used in process
dimension reduction process on three data sets are
shown. On Abalone data set, the dimension reduc- Elapsed CPU time, that are passed during the di-
tion technique that uses the highest CPU value is mension reduction process on datasets are shown in
t-SNE and the lowest one is PCA. On Milliyet data Figure 4. The longest elapsed CPU time is Isomap
set, the dimension reduction technique that uses the and the shortest elapsed CPU time is PCA algorithm
highest CPU value is t-SNE and the lowest one is on Abalone dataset. The longest elapsed CPU time
PCA. On BBC data set, the dimension reduction is SNE and the shortest elapsed CPU time is La-
technique that uses the highest CPU value is t-SNE placian algorithm on Milliyet data set. The longest
and the lowest one is PCA. All of the data set, the elapsed CPU time is t-SNE and the shortest elapsed
dimension reduction technique that uses the highest CPU time is PCA algorithm on BBC dataset.
CPU value is t-SNE and the least one is PCA.

Figure 4. Elapsed CPU time

Figure 2. CPU Values (%) that are used in di-
mension reduction process 5. Conclusion
We have presented experimental results on PCA,
Isomap, L-Isomap, Laplacian, FastMVU, SNE and
The amount of used memory in dimension re-
t-SNE algorithms in dimensionality reduction of
duction process on three dataset is shown in Figure
high dimensional real-world datasets. When com-
3. On Abalone data set, the dimension reduction
paring different methods for dimensionality reduc-
technique that uses the highest memory is Isomap
tion, the criteria are the cluster purity, cluster en-
and the lowest one is PCA. On Milliyet dataset,
tropy and mutual info. Also these techniques were
the dimension reduction technique that uses the
compared on behalf of CPU usage, memory usage
highest memory is Isomap and the lowest one is
and the dimension reduction process period.
PCA. On BBC dataset, the dimension reduction
From the experimental results, it was observed
technique that uses the highest memory is Lapla-
that, the most efficient algorithms among the dimen-
cian and the lowest one is SNE.
sional reduction algorithms are Laplacian, FastMVU
and t-SNE algorithms. In addition when the datasets

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References
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484 Volume 8 / Number 1 / 2013