Croatian National Bank

This study explores the relationship between Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) quality and team cohesion within the Croatian banking sector. Drawing from relationship-based leadership theories, we investigate how the quality of dyadic relationships between leaders and team members influences team cohesiveness in a hierarchical, regulated organizational environment. Using validated instruments (LMX-7 and adapted Group Environment Questionnaire), we surveyed 76 employees across 10 teams. Results demonstrate a strong positive correlation between LMX quality and team cohesion (r = 0.854, p = 0.002). Our findings contribute to understanding how relationship-based leadership practices can foster stronger team dynamics in knowledge-intensive organizational contexts, with implications for leadership development in banking and similar professional services sectors.

Abstract Background Digital payment systems have already become the key to transforming financial services in emerging markets, but their usage remains highly dependent on user trust, perceptions of usefulness and convenience, and the availability of favourable conditions. Objectives This research sought to investigate how consumer trust and adoption of digital payment platforms depend on variables, drawing on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), and a multidimensional trust theory. Methods/Approach A quantitative survey of 500 respondents across four emerging-market regions was conducted. The relationship among performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, and the three trust dimensions was analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM). Results Performance expectancy, facilitating conditions, and trust-related constructs proved to be strong predictors of behavioural intention to use digital payments, and actual system utilisation was strongly predictable by behavioural intention. Trust was identified as mediating the users’ technological perceptions and their intentions to adopt. Qualitative implications revealed issues of security, data privacy, and infrastructural inconsistency that continued to influence user reluctance and perceptions of risk. Conclusions The results highlight the roles of trust-building mechanisms, effective user support systems, and regulatory assurance in promoting digital financial inclusion in emerging markets.

ABSTRACT This article estimates the effect of Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP) on fiscal consolidation for EU member states between 2005 and 2019. Using the quarterly data which enables more time granularity and the recent advances in the difference-in-difference literature which allow for differently timed, non-absorbing treatments with dynamic effects, we estimate the causal effect of EDP on cyclically adjusted primary balance. Our findings point to a strong fiscal consolidation effect in the EU under the EDP, measuring to 1.69% point improvement in fiscal stance. While the improvement of fiscal stance under the EDP acted as a counter-cyclical measure during economic expansion, we descriptively show that fiscal consolidation due to the EDP directed policymakers towards a restrictive pro-cyclical stance, especially during the global financial crisis. Finally, we contextualize these findings within the new EU’s fiscal rules, which emphasize the medium-term fiscal adjustment.

Information systems in the business domain use databases to store data. Depending on the design pattern, information systems can use one or more databases. In the case of multiple databases, the purpose of each database instance can be different. Regardless of configuration, databases contain the data necessary for all operations. To reduce the number of reads to the databases and to reduce the number of recalculations, solution architects and developers use caching. In the information system based on the Command Query Responsibility Segregation design pattern, there are more options per component for implementing caching. The Command Query Responsibility Segregation design pattern plays a crucial role in caching. It allows for the separation of read and write actions, facilitating the creation of distinct cache mechanisms and the storage of different values for each type of action or component. This paper presents a practical implementation of caching in an information system based on the Command Query Responsibility Segregation design pattern. The presented caching solution allows the usage of multiple cache storages for various modules of the information system and facilitates data synchronization between modules and simplifies the process of adding or modifying features, enhancing the system's flexibility and scalability.

During the process of digitalizing Croatian State Administration bodies, an appropriate information system had to be chosen. Every administration body had to decide from which software provider to purchase the software. This paper describes an information system based on the Command Query Responsibility Segregation design pattern. A Croatian software company created the chosen information system, which is constantly updated with new features. The paper describes how the design pattern was implemented and the benefits of the selected implementation. The core concept of the Command Query Responsibility Segregation design pattern, as applied in the chosen information system, is the separation of read and write commands to the database. This separation facilitates the creation of modular microservice applications. These applications, designed to better utilize modern high-load systems, enable a high number of concurrent user requests, thereby enhancing the system's overall performance. The Command Query Responsibility Segregation design pattern offers significant advantages in the context of the Croatian State Administration bodies. It enables the scalability and customization of the information system to meet the unique needs of customers and their work environments, thereby enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of their operations.

Information systems based on Command Query Responsibility Segregation utilize the separation of read and write operations to the database. This separation enables the use of multiple databases and their configurations to further separate read and write operations. In the case of multiple databases, it is essential to implement synchronization between databases. Regardless of the chosen database configuration, the bottleneck remains. Bottleneck are write operations to the database. To minimize the impact of the bottleneck, developers must choose the appropriate solution. A strong consistency database model guarantees that all changes will immediately be written in the database. Another database consistency model is eventual consistency, which guarantees that all changes will eventually be written in the database with a delay. This delay in the information systems can result in inconsistent information in the user interface if more users simultaneously work with the same data. This paper aims to describe the use of strong and eventual consistency in the database for write operations in the information system based on Command Query Responsibility Segregation. The presented solution enables the use of two database consistency models for write operations and improves system performance. This paper presents a practical application of the described database consistency models.

In July 2020, the European Central Bank (ECB) has established close cooperation with the Croatian National Bank (cro. Hrvatska narodna banka, hereafter CNB) welcoming for the first time an ‘inbetweener’, i.e., a Member State outside the euro area to the Banking Union and the ECB Banking Supervision family. Inbetweeners add to the complexity of BU governance, as close cooperation necessitates the ECB exercising bespoke supervisory powers, prompts the development of innovative regulatory and administrative solutions at Member State level to ensure the coexistence of different integration spheres, and demands institutional fine-tuning of national supervisors essential for reaping the benefits of SSM governance. In light of this, the paper examines the most significant changes to the CNB's institutional and legal framework, such as legislative and administrative amendments to empower its sanctioning role, the (ongoing) organizational overhaul in line with SSM's internal structure, and the CNB's institutional re-positioning within the national economic policy sphere in response to the narrowing of its monetary policy toolkit as a result of ERM II participation. The paper argues that inbetweeners add to the complexity of BU governance and suggests there is still much to learn about the legal and institutional implications of this agreement, lessons that can only be assessed from the perspective of an inbetweener.

U radu je analizirana poveznica između Smithovih načela i odgovornoga vođenja poslovanja suvremenih gospodarstvenika te strateških odrednica suvremenih globalnih poslovnih procesa i modela. Smithova važnost u neiscrpnom je izvoru postavki koje danas predstavljaju konkurentsku prednost i očituju se u konceptima holističkoga upravljanja, društveno odgovornoga poslovanja uključujući okolišne, društvene i upravljačke standarde, etičkim kodeksima te modelima cirkularne ekonomije i ekonomije dijeljenja.

In the last few decades image processing has become the focus of research in different fields. It can be used to extract information from images, improve their quality and make it easier for computers to understand them. Some of the challenges that pose a great problem for working with images are detecting modified images or detecting similar images. In order to address those challenges, image hashing can be used. Hashing is calculating a digest value from images and perceptual hash algorithms are a type of hash algorithms with the main idea that similar data has similar hash values, which means that the hash values remain approximately the same if the content is not significantly modified. This paper will compare different perceptual hash algorithms, apply them to differently modified images and analyse the impact of those modifications on perceptual hash values provided by different algorithms. The obtained values will be compared and advantages and disadvantages of different algorithms will be discussed.