Scholars have emphasised the importance of green settings in today’s business paradigms. Studies on green behaviour have produced a plethora of noteworthy discoveries, whether focused on financial success, individual capabilities, or development. However, despite significant growth in interest in green business practices, the relationship between individuals’ willingness and green competencies has received little attention. This article used the customised green competencies conceptual model to investigate how green skills influence organisational performance and their relationship with the willingness moment. This article developed an innovative human resource management approach to address these difficulties. A questionnaire was used to perform empirical statistical research with 516 respondents from Serbian universities. Different mathematical and statistical methodologies were used to analyse the results. The findings corroborate the suggested theoretical model, and they suggest that green competencies will influence people’s willingness to participate in green activities. This article gives new information on human behaviour and organisational effectiveness in a green atmosphere. It includes managerial and practical consequences and recommendations for businesses looking to improve their social responsibility and environmental sustainability.

In this paper, we assess the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the bankruptcy risk of a sample of 100 hotel companies and, consequently, on the hotel industry in the Republic of Serbia. The assessment applies to the period, 2019–2026, with the use of the data on the financial indicators for 2015–2020. Five novel structural time-series models, which have the indicators derived from Altman’s EM Z″-score model as predictors, were used, and a new conceptual framework for assessing bankruptcy risk is provided. The framework expands the applicability of credit-risk-scoring models to multiyear predictions, and it takes into account the dynamism of the transitions of the firms among Altman’s risk zones. The predictions that were obtained when the Springate and Zmijewski scores were applied along with the Altman Z″-scores demonstrate the fair applicability of the scores for the models that are introduced here. The results of the models were confirmed by 270 artificial neural networks and they were compared to the results of the classical time-series models. The crisis started to have a negative effect on bankruptcy risk in 2020, and this effect is expected to rise until 2023; currently, in 2022, the highest number of hotel companies may be headed for bankruptcy. Amelioration in the position of the companies cannot be expected before 2024; however, even in 2026, the risk of bankruptcy will remain high when compared to the pre-COVID-19 period and, thus, the surviving companies will become more fragile to any further exogenous changes. These results provide a basis for the adaption of state-supported measures and business policies in order to withstand the crisis and to ensure sustainability.

Background/Aim. Along with the great impact of 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on physical health, social functioning, and economy, this public health emergency has significant impact on mental health of people as well. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of outbreak-related information and public trust in the health system and preventive measures during the COVID-19 outbreak in Serbia in 2020 on levels of anxiety and depression in education, army and healthcare professionals. Methods. An anonymous questionnaire was disseminated to skilled professionals working in fields of education, army, and healthcare. The questionnaire included the Beck Anxiety Inventory, Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale, as well as the section assessing the perceived disturbance by the outbreak-related information and the trust of participants in healthcare system and preventive measures proposed by the crisis team. Results. Out of 110 subjects enrolled in this study (mean age 35.25 ? 9.23 years), 59.1% were women. Among healthcare workers, the frequency of perceiving outbreak-related information available in public media as disturbing, as well as the average level of anxiety, were higher compared to the group of army professionals (p < 0.05). Women also perceived outbreak-related information available in public media as disturbing in a higher percentage compared to men (p < 0.01), and had higher levels of anxiety (p = 0.01) and depression (p < 0.05). The lack of public trust was associated with higher levels of depression, and the perception of outbreak-related information as disturbing with higher levels of both anxiety and depression. Conclusion. Significant perception of outbreak-related information as disturbing among healthcare workers, as well as the lack of trust in healthcare system and preventive measures proposed by the crisis team are important factors influencing the mental state. This finding has the guiding purpose for competent institutions to make efforts to increase public trust, as one of the important preventive measures, in order to preserve and improve the mental well-being of the population in outbreak conditions.

This study aims to investigate the influence of leadership on the self-efficacy of healthcare professionals. Additionally, it seeks to explore whether stress mediates the relationship between leadership and self-efficacy. Specifically, our study is focused on both transactional leadership and laissez-faire leadership, which are commonly practiced by healthcare professionals due to the settings of healthcare environments. This study utilized a structured questionnaire for measuring the leadership, stress, and self-efficacy of healthcare professionals. Data collection involved respondents rating these statements on a Likert scale. The sample consisted of 395 participants employed in healthcare organizations in Serbia. The analysis employed partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The research findings indicate that laissez-faire leadership is positively associated with stress, while no significant negative impact on self-efficacy was observed. Transactional leadership did not demonstrate a significant relationship with reduced stress but was found to positively influence self-efficacy. Moreover, stress was identified as negatively impacting self-efficacy and mediated the association between laissez-faire leadership and self-efficacy, although no mediating effect was found for transactional leadership. This study underscores the critical role of leadership style in shaping the well-being and self-efficacy of healthcare professionals. By understanding how different leadership approaches impact employee stress and job satisfaction, healthcare organizations can tailor their management practices to foster a supportive work environment and enhance overall performance. The results emphasize the need for leaders to balance organizational objectives with employee needs, demonstrating effective communication and adaptability to promote a positive workplace culture.

Adequate financial management is of great importance to the health care system. In the contemporary state of affairs, health care is facing numerous limitations due to drastic costs and growing pressures to provide quality health care. In such appalling conditions, the managers of health organizations must build skills and knowledge that go beyond the comfort zone of their clinical competencies. It is necessary to develop their leadership skills. Bearing in mind the importance of financial competencies, the general aim of this paper is to determine the competencies of the managers of Serbian health institutions (private and public sector) in this area. Insufficient attention has been given to how health care organizations’ financial literacy affects their sustainability. For the purpose of this prospective research, a questionnaire was created that surveyed the managers of various health care institutions. The results of this study indicated that managers of health organizations have a relatively modest level of financial knowledge. However, they participate in financial activities to a large extent. This gap between the function they perform and the knowledge they have can potentially harm the well-being of the health care organizations they lead. Managers of organizations in the public sector showed a more active role in the development of business plans and more frequent independent decision making, while managers of organizations in the private sector gave more importance to financial control, negotiation, and internal financial reporting, for the improvement of the management process.

As an important topic in the field of corporate governance, the influence of the board of directors’ characteristics on the profitability of corporations is examined here. This paper examines the influence of the board of directors’ and chief executive officers’ (CEO) characteristics on the profitability of banks in Serbia. In this study, the characteristics of boards of directors were examined in terms of size and the participation of women, and the characteristics of CEOs were examined similarly in terms of women’s participation. The research was conducted on a sample of 23 commercial banks from Serbia in the period from 2017 to 2021. Profitability was measured by the rate of return on operating assets (ROA) and the rate of return on equity (ROE). The results of the panel regression analysis indicate that the size of the board of directors had a positive impact on bank profitability during the COVID-19 pandemic period, while this impact was not statistically significant before the pandemic. The participation of women on the board of directors did not have a statistically significant impact on bank profitability before or during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been found that the participation of women as CEOs had a negative impact on bank profitability before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.