The term sustainable development is used in many areas and spheres of life and is becoming a modern phenomenon determining the direction of progress of every society. Sustainable development implies continuous economic development with respect to environmental principles and focuses on overcoming conflicts between economy and ecology. The aim of this paper is to evaluate sustainable development management in EU countries through selected indicators characterizing sustainable development and its core dimensions. We present the results of an evaluation of the sustainable development of EU countries using cluster analysis. Countries that are similar in terms of sustainability are identified by cluster analysis. Four clusters were separated, the affiliation of each country to a particular cluster was determined, and the characteristics of each cluster were defined. The goal of sustainability management is to create an adequate approach to development of the economic and environmental performance, and therefore achieve sustainability. The achievements of most developed countries should be an incentive for those that are at a lower level of development. In addition, this research provides insight into some specific goals of sustainable development where some countries are lagging behind. This could be the basis for directing efforts in specific areas of sustainable development to improve their own position in such an important global issue.

Development of small and medium enterprises (SME) represents primary goal of every modern economy. It is complex challenge which includes great number of directly concerned parties in every sector of the state and economy. SME stimulate private ownership and entrepreneurship. Their characteristic is that they are flexible and can easily adjust to changes in supply and demand on the market. At the same time they open possibilities for increase of employment, promote diversification of economical activities, support sustainable growth and give significant contribution to export, trade and increase the competitiveness of the entire economy. Importance of SME for economy is undisputable. All research show that globally, more than 90% of all business activities are realized by SME. SMEs employ two thirds of total labor of European Union. Approaching to European Union presumes harmonization of the systematic environment and improvement of the climate of entrepreneurship, private initiative, development of SME. This determination has strongpoint in current world processes that prefer the development of SME, utilizing their profit efficiency and established advantages relating to the adaptability of small business to dynamic changes in economy. Problem of Human resources management is very sensitive issue in SMEs. Namely, in big companies there are entire teams of agencies or consultants are hired for selection and education of new employees, whereas in SMEs this work is done by owner or manager. Therefore, in this paper several facts were pointed out which need to be considered in selection of new employees, since every mistake in this activity can cause far-reaching consequences on functioning of SME.

Aims: The selection of cv. Merlot clones performed in the Grocka winegrowing region, Republic of Serbia, and the study of agrobiological and technological traits of three selected clones and Merlot standard.Methods and results: The selection of clones was done using the method of individual clone selection in four phases over 15-20 years (Cindrić, 2003). O.I.V. methods were used in determining the most important agrobiological and economic-technological traits of grapes. The results of studied traits of grape and wine suggest that the quality of the clones surpassed the quality of the standard. Although the highest values for most of the studied traits were obtained for clone 025, there was no statistically significant difference between the clones. Indeed, the significant distinction between the clones was obtained for total polyphenol content (TPC) and total anthocyanin content (TAC) in wines: the wine of clone 025 had the highest TPC and TAC values. According to the tasting scores, wines of the clones may be classified as "quality wines with geographical indications".Conclusion: The selected clones were characterised by good quality grapes and wines. Improved viticultural parameters, versus the mother vine, indicate the need for further research work on the chemistry of both grapes and wines, aiming to better understand the characteristics of the selected clones and their market potential. Significance and impact of the study: The development of new clones (namely 022, 025 and 029) of better quality than the mother vine will, in the long term, lead to the introduction of the best clone(s) in viticultural practices and production. Until today, the clonal selection of Merlot has not been done in the Republic of Serbia and there are no recognised clones.

Systematic and continuous process of measuring and comparing business results of companies regarding to business results of leaders, in order to obtain information that will help the company to take action to improve its performance, is in a function of improving business operations. Accordingly, the first objective of this paper is, based on the coefficient of separability, to determine which indicators of business conditions and business results have the greatest impact on differences in the business operations of the observed SMEs operating in the food industry. The second objective of this work is to make the ranking of companies based on the business conditions and business results using discriminant analysis (I-distance), and then, to determine the overall rank of companies using general ranking coefficient (Ker). The results show that companies are significantly separated according to business results rather than to business conditions, and in addition, the business results also had a crucial impact on the overall rank of each company.

The territory of the Republic of Serbia is highly heterogeneous due to large differences in climatic, geo-morphological and socio-economic factors. In Serbia, there are big regional differences, and addressing the problem of balanced regional development and its financing is the question that will be actualized with the opening of negotiations for accession to the European Union. The objective of this paper is to present the methodology for the classification of administration districts of the Republic of Serbia based on their selected characteristics in order to perceive the similarities between regions in a way to provide the basis for the regional development policy. The classification of 25 Serbian districts was performed using the factor and cluster analysis, based on the eighteen selected socioeconomic, demographic and agricultural indicators. The factor analysis resulted in the extraction of factors which represent the main dimensions of the achieved development. The cluster analysis was performed based on these dimensions. The resulting clusters are homogenous and consist of districts with similar characteristics. The paper demonstrates that applying of appropriate statistical methods can provide an analytical tool for the separation of districts into groups with similar characteristics, which represent more appropriate framework for the creation and implementation of the regional development policy measures.

A significant segment within the sustainable development of agricultural production and economic prosperity is production in controlled conditions, such as production in greenhouses and glasshouses. In the Republic of Serbia, vegetable production is almost entirely concentrated on family farms. Considering the importance of family farms, the subject of this study is a comparative analysis of vegetable production on family farms and vegetable production in greenhouses, as well as open-air vegetable production. In this context, the paper presents two models for optimising the vegetable production structure, using the method of linear programming and the software package LINDO. The first model refers to vegetable production in greenhouses (variant I) and the second one is formulated for open-air vegetable production (variant II). The analysis and solving models have pointed to differences in the optimal sowing-planting structure, in the number of independent variables or vegetables included in models, but also in realised net income, wherein variant I achieves both higher net income per hectare and higher production economy.