Objectives: This study aims to measure the impact of graduate skills on job challenges in the labor market in Kosovo and also to measure the relationship between graduates' challenges at work and demographic characteristics (age, gender, educational level, and training). Methods: Quantitative methods were used to conduct this research, using a structured questionnaire. The study population was graduate students in the last five years in Kosovo, and the sample included 400 students according to Slovin's formula. Findings: Based on the research results, the acquired skills were inversely proportional to the challenges of the graduates in the labor market. According to the multiple linear regression, it turned out that the students' skills negatively affected their challenges. Also, the T-test and ANOVA showed significant results concerning gender, age, and training. Novelty/improvement: Through this research, higher education institutions receive feedback on what needs more attention to better prepare students to face the job market. Hence, the research will contribute to improving the quality of teaching and reducing the challenges graduates face in the labor market. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2022-06-02-014 Full Text: PDF

The purpose of this article is to explore the status and challenges of human resources and development in Kosovo. Literature review suggested that government intervention, vocational and technical education, social network, and organizational structures are the key factors that influence human resources and development practices in the country. Beyond that the paper aims to compare the evaluation of performance in other sectors of well and then through comparison has a purpose to promote value-added production and skilled workforce in the organizations via developing various national labor enhancement policies, strategies and regulations and providing a set of training subsidies for employee in all sectors. Human resource development has become an essential component the development process. This is due to the fact that any development process is driven by the human factor. It is further urge, that policy formulation is a journey with challenges. The strength of the policy implementation lies in identifying such challenges, and finding ways of overcoming them. Lastly, the discussion reveals that human resource development is closely linked to other human resource factors that pertain at a given period, such as recruitment policies, labor market patterns, the age and experience of staff etc. Human resource development policies therefore must be reviewed from time to time to keep in step with the changing environment. It also highlights the key challenges faced, the lessons learnt and the way forward in enhancing sustainable human resource development in the country.

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In this paper we will discuss the role of management in development of Human resources in Kosovo. Which are the problems that are faced by management, which are resources that need management, how are the human resources treated and how it should be treated. How management affects the development of Human Resources, while in the second part of this paper will collect primary data about the current situation in Kosovo respectively in the company which will be used as a sample. We will analyze the data and come to conclusions, which will bring the recommendations, which should undertake the management of Human Resources in the future.

The primary factors that were initially assumed to contribute to a decline in household income were job losses, which affect the decrease in consumption (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2020; Doerr & Gambacorta, 2020). Kosovo’s government has taken measures of social distancing, having a major impact on households such as the impact of dismissal due to the closure of businesses indefinitely. This regime is continuing from the different waves of COVID-19 variants and the family income as it goes and decreases. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to measure the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on household income including household consumption and savings for the years 2020–2021. The study uses a quantitative research method, thus, for primary data collection, the online questionnaire is used. The latent variable in this paper is the COVID-19 pandemic, while the factors that determine the latent variable are: savings, job loss, family income before the pandemic, and consumption expenditures. The study concludes that COVID-19 has a negative and significant impact on family income, saving, job loss, and consumption expenditures. The results from the structural equation modeling (SEM) are significant and the likelihood ratio (LR) test is 47.46. These findings and those of Martin, Hallegatte, and Walsh (2020), Dossche, Kolndrekaj, and Slacalek (2021), and Bundervoet, Davalos, and Garcia (2021) are consistent.

Recent studies have highlighted the positive correlation between total quality management (TQM) and the performance of manufacturing companies (Sahoo & Yadav, 2018), which has been proven, specifically that the achievement of better operational performance is enabled by the application of TQM. This research aims to measure the impact of TQM through the components: organizational leadership, customer relationship, human resource management, strategic planning development, and supplier management in the operational performance of manufacturing enterprises in Kosovo. The research was carried out using the quantitative method, where 308 managers were part of the sample. Referring to the ordinary least squares (OLS) model, it turned out that organizational leadership and supplier management had the greatest impact on operational performance, while strategic planning development had the least impact. Also, based on the Mann–Whitney U test, it was found that there is a difference in the operational performance of manufacturing enterprises by categorizing them according to the implementation of ISO standards, where the enterprises that implement ISO standards had better operational performance.

Objectives: This research aims to measure the impact of continuing education on employee productivity and that of the latter on the financial performance of commercial banks in Kosovo. Methods: A quantitative approach was employed to achieve the research objectives and questions. The statistical population comprised 3636 employees working at commercial banks operating in Kosovo. We obtained data from the Central Bank of Kosovo (CBK). A sample of 360 employees was then determined using Slovin's formula to include the representative sample. Findings: The Ordinary Least-Squares (OLS) model demonstrated that continuing education affects employee productivity, and the latter affects the financial performance of commercial banks in Kosovo. The findings indicated that 40.2% of employee productivity is explained by continuing education, while 20.4% of financial performance is explained by employee productivity. Novelty/improvement:This research showed that commercial banks could receive feedback on the importance of employees’ continuing education in increasing their productivity and, subsequently, the bank's financial performance. This can improve effectiveness and productivity at work and the organization's financial results, especially cost optimization and income generation. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-04-09 Full Text: PDF

This study aims to analyze the effect of marketing strategies on creating competitive advantage through strategies such as customized products strategy, pricing strategy, distribution strategy, promotion strategy, and innovation orientation strategy. The study was carried out on the basis of primary data, where part of the quantitative research were 15 categorized dairies, with low capacity (300-3,000 liters per day), with medium capacity (5,000-100,000 liters per day), and with high capacity (over 100,000 liters per day). From these dairies, 150 workers in leadership positions were surveyed, from which the marketing strategy with the greatest impact on creating competitive advantages was identified. Questionnaires were physically distributed and data were processed through Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 26. Based on the multiple regression analysis, it was found that there is a statistically significant correlation that marketing strategies affect the creation of competitive advantage based on the value of R-square = 0.787, where customized products strategy, price strategy, and distribution strategy were found as important strategies. While innovation strategy and promotion strategy left the model due to the increased value of significance p > 0.05. Through this study, the dairy industry receives feedback on the type of strategy that should be used to create a competitive advantage, more so in the specific case where imports are very high and competition is very fierce.