UTJECAJ PANDEMIJE COVID-19 NA RAZVOJ VIRTUALNE EKONOMIJE S POSEBNIM OSVRTOM NA DIGITALNE NOMADE

master's thesis

• Title (english): IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE VIRTUAL ECONOMY WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO DIGITAL NOMADS
• Author: Danijela Kuprešak
• Mentor: Marko Kolaković (mentor)
• Committee member: Mladen Turuk (predsjednik povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Mihaela Mikić (član povjerenstva)
• Granter: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Economics and Business; (Department of Managerial Economics); Zagreb
• Defense date and country: 2022-09-21, Croatia
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: SOCIAL SCIENCES; Economics; Economics of Entrepreneurship

Abstract

Virtualna ekonomija tijekom posljednjih godina se ubrzano razvija, a ujedno je na globalnoj razini pandemija COVID-19 uvelike potaknula ovakav oblik poslovanja, budući da je virtualna ekonomija identificirana kao jedna od mogućnosti za transformaciju poslovanja u smjeru koji neće ili će u manjem obujmu biti pogođen djelovanjem pandemije. Pandemija COVID-19 na globalnoj razini dovela je i do rapidnog razvoja poslovanja digitalnih nomada te tako danas sve veći broj poslodavaca prepoznaje dobrobiti ovakvog modela poslovanja. Posebice se to ističe budući da su istraživanja pokazala kako slanje zaposlenika na rad od kuće uvelike smanjuje troškove poslovanja, ali može utjecati i na rast učinkovitosti zaposlenika. Temeljni cilj ovog rada je utvrđivanje utjecaja pandemije COVID-19 na razvoj virtualne ekonomije s posebnim osvrtom na digitalne nomade. Iz tog razloga provedeno je anketno istraživanje na uzorku od 55 poduzeća u RH.

Na temelju rezultata anketnog istraživanja moguće je zaključiti kako je pandemija COVID-19 uvelike utjecala na poslovanje ispitanika, a što je ponajprije moguće povezati s činjenicom kako je riječ o mikro i malim poduzećima koje imaju manje financijske kapacitete te stupanj otpornosti na djelovanje kriza u odnosu na velika poduzeća. Samo trećina ispitanika poslovanje je transformirala na način da je zaposlenike poslala na rad od kuće, što je i razumljivo budući da veliki broj ispitanika posluje u djelatnostima u kojima nije moguć ovakav vid transformacije poslovanja. Zabrinjavajuće je uočiti kako veliki dio ispitanika smatra kako zaposlenici nisu efikasniji kada rade od kuće te kako rad od kuće negativno utječe na timski rad. Ujedno, 40% ispitanika prepoznaje mogućnost smanjenja troškova poslovanja ukoliko implementiraju mogućnost rada od kuće. Veliki broj ispitanika ističe kako je intelektualni kapital vrlo bitan za razvoj poslovanja poduzeća, a posebice konkurentskih prednosti. Pritom čak 87,3% ispitanika smatra kako je potrebno ulagati u razvoj osobnog i profesionalnog razvoja zaposlenika iz razloga jer je to ujedno i investicija u razvoj poslovanja poduzeća. Kao zanimljivost je moguće istaknuti i samu činjenicu kako ispitanici smatraju da je potrebno ulagati i u formalno te neformalno obrazovanje zaposlenika te kako su vaučeri za obrazovanje HZZ-a jedan od odličnih instrumenata za razvoj intelektualnog kapitala poduzeća.

Abstract (english)

The virtual economy has been developing rapidly in recent years, and at the same time, at the global level, the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly encouraged this form of business, since the virtual economy has been identified as one of the possibilities for transforming business in a direction that will not be affected or will be affected to a lesser extent by pandemics. The global COVID-19 pandemic has also led to the rapid development of the business of digital nomads, so today an increasing number of employers recognize the benefits of this type of business model. This is particularly noteworthy since research has shown that sending employees to work from home greatly reduces business costs, but can also affect the growth of employee efficiency. The main goal of this paper is to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the development of the virtual economy with a special focus on digital nomads. For this reason, a survey was conducted on a sample of 55 companies in the Republic of Croatia.

Based on the results of the survey, it is possible to conclude that the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the business of the respondents, which can primarily be connected to the fact that it is a question of micro and small businesses that have less financial capacity and a degree of resistance to the effects of crises compared to large companies. Only a third of respondents transformed their business in such a way that they sent employees to work from home, which is understandable since a large number of respondents operate in industries where this type of business transformation is not possible. It is worrying to note that a large part of respondents believe that employees are not more efficient when they work from home and that working from home negatively affects teamwork. At the same time, 40% of respondents recognize the possibility of reducing business costs if they implement the possibility of working from home. A large number of respondents point out that intellectual capital is very important for the development of a company's operations, and especially for competitive advantages. At the same time, as many as 87.3% of respondents believe that it is necessary to invest in the development of the personal and professional development of employees for the reason that it is also an investment in the development of the company's business. As an interesting point, it is possible to point out the very fact that the respondents believe that it is necessary to invest in both formal and informal education of employees and that vouchers for CES education are one of the excellent instruments for developing the intellectual capital of companies.

• Keywords: pandemija COVID-19; virtualna ekonomija; digitalni nomadi; intelektualni kapital
• Keywords (english): COVID-19 pandemic; virtual economy; digital nomads; intellectual capital
• Language: croatian
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:148:961443
• Study programme: Title: Economics of Entrepreneurship; Study programme type: professional; Study level: specialist graduate; Academic / professional title: stručni specijalist/specijalistica poduzetništva (stručni specijalist/specijalistica poduzetništva)
• Type of resource: Text
• File origin: Born digital
• Access conditions: Open access
• Created on: 2022-09-21 11:24:22