With this paper we show how the natural “science of control and communications in the animal and the machine” identified by Wiener in 1948 can be applied to social organizations to establish a science of governance. Evidence is provided that current practices are  not consistent with the laws of nature or the practices of living things that must become self-regulating and self-governing to exist in dynamic unknowable complex environments. Case studies of stakeholder mutual firms with hundreds of boards show how an ecological form of polycentric decision-making provides: (a) division of powers; (b) checks and balances; (c) distributed intelligence to reduce information overload, and (d) decomposition of decision-making labour to introduce tensions  of challenge; (e) a requisite variety of cross checking  communication and control channels from stakeholder engagement to improve their integrity; (f) integration of management and governance to further self- regulation and self-governance with: (g) operating advantages such as resiliency, sustainability and wellbeing for firm, its stakeholders and society. The case studies illustrate how ecological governance could reduce the size, scope, cost and intrusiveness of government and their regulators while improving economic efficiency and enriching   democracy with widespread citizen stakeholder engagement.

More than ever before, success or a failure of a modern company is the result of managers’ ability to adopt his/her way of managing everyday changing circumstances. The organizational environment demands effective managers with the ability to make effective decisions which will shape business performance. So, it could be acknowledged that among several different factors that can determine a company’s progress, the key factors are managers - their qualities and skills. This paper considers similarities and differences among managers in two companies in Croatia - family owned and nonfamily owned - analyzing eight essential skill areas where they should focus their efforts: understanding team dynamics, selecting and developing the right people, delegating, motivating, managing conflict, communicating, decision making and problem solving, and avoiding common managerial mistakes. Qualitative research was conducted and interesting and somewhat puzzling results were found. Results indicated that ownership made a difference concerning managerial skills. Based on the overall findings, the research offers foundation for future research in this area. The implications of the findings are discussed in terms of value for managers and their companies due to the improvement and development of all essential areas of managing.

With regard to both the consumer behavior and the overall competition structure, the retail industry is constantly changing. Each industry has its peculiarities, retail is no exception. The customer loyalty levels are decreasing, therefore, the retail management at large has to decide which effective measures to take, in order to simultaneously gain new customers and retain the existing ones. At present, the average buyer is educated, experienced, and keenly self-aware of his/her importance, as well as of the entire purchasing process. Consequently, it is essential to obtain access and keep the buyer satisfied. The changes required, with regard to the management of retail chains, should thus cover all the stages of the  process, ranging from the procurement to sales. In this particular paper, we examine the corporate governance process and its’ requirements of competing on the retail market. The overview of the entire organizational structure and the processes required to operate under current retail management conditions will be analyzed. The findings will prove to be quite beneficial to Croatian retail companies and aid in overcoming the major threat of EU competitors, laying out the changes necessary for  survival within this particular industry branch.

The paper analyses influence of global economic crisis on enterprises from developing countries. Analysis is conducted with the goal of determining the reason of crisis and imposing recommendations for mitigation of effects arose from crisis. Main assumption is that irresponsible behaviour of decision makers is the main cause of economic crisis. Due to this, standards and good practice of corporate governance in OECD countries and the Republic of Srpska are analyzed with goal to indicate the omissions in their implementation. Also attitudes of OECD action plan for improvement of corporate governance are presented and recommendations for improvement for state of corporate governance in the Republic of Srpska are imposed.