Depopulation of rural areas as a global process has not bypassed our country either. Demographic changes in the structure of the population have especially affected the rural population and the village in our society. Depopulation of a number of villages, especially in South-eastern Serbia, means that some villages are almost empty or with older people and a minor share of young people. The aim of this paper is to analyze the availability of services, social participation contents and the quality of infrastructure in rural settlements. Therefore, the research was conducted on the basis of a survey questionnaire in 176 rural settlements in the municipalities of Bojnik, Crna Trava, Medveđa, Surdulica and Trgovište. The findings indicate the extent to which negative indicators of the number of inhabitants in rural settlements are related to available services, social participation contents and infrastructure based on the correlation analysis.

This paper considered the phenomenon of social exclusion and the period of its introduction by numerous participants in Serbia. The research of this phenomenon is accompanied by the analysis of unemployment, poverty and exclusion, regarding the access to education and health services in rural areas, as a quality indicator of the situation in Serbia. The aim of this research was attained by over viewing the position of social exclusion in the scientific and institutional frameworks, as well as its presence in Serbia. The survey was conducted both on the basis of official statistics in Serbia together with official statistics of European institutions with consideration of documents, official statements and previous researches. The results are presented through a number of indicators of social exclusion in rural areas, which are in some segments compared with urban areas.

Organizational culture as a complex phenomenon has been subjected to numerous researches in the economic science and corporate practice, among which the analysis of the influence of organizational culture on financial performance has an important place, with the basic goal of understanding the link, but also potentially developing “the optimal culture" whose adoption would contribute to achieving optimal financial effects of economic entities. The subject of research of this paper is thus the connection between organizational culture and financial performance, while the goal is to understand the relationship as well as the nature of the influence. Therefore, organizational climate and subcultures were also considered as relevant aspects of organizational culture, but also as a basis for understanding the classifications, as well as its general influences on company business. Based on the review of the most important results of a significant number of researches on this topic, it was concluded that there currently isn’t a generally accepted view on the existence of a relationship between different types of organizational cultures and financial performances. Thus this paper was designed as a review of the topic and could be used as a theoretical basis for future research or for the development of alternative approaches in the analysis of causality between the observed phenomena.

The share of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is largely present in forestry, especially in the segment related to non-wood forest products (NWFPs) in Europe. They are also a dominant category in entrepreneurship in Serbia. Therefore, the subjects of this research were the companies operating in the sector of NWFPs, within specific statistical regions of Serbia. The database of SMEs was obtained from 119 SMEs and the share of surveyed SMEs was 81.5%. The main research method was two-step cluster analysis. Questionnaire was used for the purpose of the research. The aim of the research was to identify clusters in order to establish similarities within the defined clusters and the differences among them. Spatial distribution of specific categories of NWFPs in nature (mushrooms, medicinal and aromatic plants, honey and wild berries), contributed to the portfolio of the companies. This largely influenced clusters that are created by categories of products that are typical for certain statistical regions in Serbia.

This paper presents the determinants of poverty and unemployment in rural areas of Serbia. The work includes a number of indicators that can present status and trends of two tendencies analyzed phenomenon, poverty and unemployment. Attention is primarily paid to rural areas, which have for many years been disregarded and stood in the shade of cities and urbanization, which are increasingly gaining importance in the context of integrated rural and sustainable development. All countries in the world, whether developed or not developed, fighting against poverty. Today, poverty is considered a multi-dimensional phenomenon that in addition to insufficient income to meet basic needs, means lack of employment opportunities, disabled access to health, education... Dividing the territory of the Republic of Serbia to the regions at the NUTS-2 level, have been established the conditions in the regions of Vojvodina, Belgrade, Šumadija and Western Serbia and the Southern and Eastern Serbia region and the disparities between them. There are significant differences in the development of the region. Residents of rural areas are facing with the phenomenon of poverty. This phenomenom is especially pronounced in the region of Southern and Eastern Serbia. Inevitability is to influence the balanced regional development and rural to, and thus to reduce poverty and unemployment, which will affect the improvement of the living standards of the population, the development of rural areas, the economy and society.

Human resources include overall human potential within an organization: the available knowledge and experience, usable skills and abilities, possible ideas and creations, the level of motivation and interest in the achievement of organizational objectives, etc. The objective of this paper is to highlight the role and importance of human resource management (HRM) in achieving business success, based on the analysis of the most important theoretical and practical aspects of human resource management at the 'Imlek' Company. This study required the use of different methods and techniques such as: content analysis, case study, observation, testing and systemic approach. The study showed that sale of the Imlek Company products was widespread in the country and the region. An ongoing market advantage is achieved due to a high quality standard of products, and primarily due to an effective management of human resources. Company management should make formalization and unification, and implement a set of measures in order to improve discipline of the employees. Top workers should be motivated through incentives for performance and innovation.