The purpose of this study is to explore the relation between personality traits and the level of aspiration to acquire new skills and improve one’s competence in the midst of first employment. Although with mixed results, previous studies indicated that personality attributes influence goal orientation, both in the school and work settings. However, there have not been any studies that have specifically analysed this relation in the context preceding the first employment. The results of this research, on a sample of last-semester business administration students of an esteemed mid-European university, indicate that prior to the first employment, two personality traits—openness to new ideas and disposition to negative emotions—influence the level of motivation to acquire knowledge and novel modes of action. Insight into the antecedents of an individual’s orientation towards increasing and developing competencies prior to the first employment is an important topic for organizations who have the imperative to develop more sustainable knowledge management practices in an early stage of organizational socialization.

Information asymmetry between issuing firm, the investment bank and the various classes of investors brings about the problem of Initial Public Offerings (IPO) underpricing. The empirical research determined that the degree of underpricing is dynamic and various markets forces interact simultaneously in observing the variation in pricing the new equity issues. By covering the twelve-year period, this paper gives analytical evidence of underpricing of initial public offerings in Croatia. By identified determinants of IPO underpricing, which are explained with the help of agency theory, signaling and behavioral theories, the paper points out to the significance of regulatory framework in this corporate governance segment.

This paper empirically investigates the performance of Croatian initial public offerings (IPOs) throughout 20 years period. Besides financial benefit in the form of raising capital, IPOs also play a role in an increased public awareness of the company. By proving the comprehensive evaluation of reasons and consequences of IPO initiatives in Croatia we give analytic evidence on the influence of this corporate action on development of corporate governance. Furthermore, the paper discusses relation between internal and external corporate governance mechanisms in companies that initialize entering the financial markets for the first time, providing us with the analytical framework of understanding the impact on IPOs on corporate governance system in transition countries.

Action aggressiveness is considered as a firm response to the phenomenon of temporary advantage. Firms able to respond quickly to market demands strengthen their market power and generate advantages; but those that can be even faster, will generate even greater market power and advantage over its competitors. However, there is no guarantee that competitive advantage achieved today will remain unchanged in the long run. The focus is on being prepared to take an action, i.e. the extent to which the firm is willing to participate with competitors and act quickly in the involvement and participation. The dynamics of top management is a very important component of the ability of the firm competitive behavior. The top management team is the kingpin that coordinates and mobilizes organizational resources and efforts for firms’ aggressive competitive engagement. The assumption of being more aggressive at the market and collaborative with competitors is the integration of top management of the firm that depends primarily on compatible traits and members’ communication skills. With a special focus on top management teams, this paper explores the extent to which firms’ certain strategic behavior in hypercompetitive industry can be related to gaining temporary competitive advantage, measured through improving its firm performance. The central goal of this research is to theoretically and empirically define and examine firms’ strategic behavior in hypercompetition through defining new taxonomy of strategy patterns, i.e. firm specific strategic behavior that provides and raises the probability of gaining the competitive advantage in hypercompetitive industries. An important contribution of this research is also reflected in the development of the model that analyze the influence of specific characteristics of top management team (TMT) on pattern firm uses, as well as the relationship between firms’ market position on specific strategic behavior.

No abstract