Mind the Gap: Citizens’ and Companies’ Views of Business Culture in Croatia

Abstract

This paper is an investigation of the various aspects of business culture in Croatia. The existing literature is focused mainly on the significance of cross-country cultural differences in doing business, whereas this research explores the specifics of the national business culture from a different angle. Using original survey data, it provides comparative insights into how Croatian citizens and companies assess business culture. The main research questions were whether there is a common understanding of business culture and whether there are differences in assigning importance to 16 elements of business culture between citizens and the business sector. We have further analyzed how respondent companies evaluate their business culture performance compared to the rest of the business community. The results of the survey enable us to derive policy recommendations for the business sector as well as for policy-makers in improving the business culture in Croatia.

Keywords

• business culture
• public perceptions
• business opinion survey
• Croatia