The Importance of Human Capital as a Strategic Management Factor in the Banking Sector of the Republic of Serbia

Goran Pavlović – Metropolitan University, Tadeuša Košćuška 63, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Srdjan Milićević – Metropolitan University, Tadeuša Košćuška 63, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia

Abstract: Resources that are rare, valuable, difficult to imitate and substitute are a key factor of competitive advantage. Human capital, which includes unique knowledge, skills, abilities and employee experiences, is one of the most important resources of modern organizations and a key constituent of intellectual capital. Because the competition in the banking sector of the Re­public of Serbia is increasingly pronounced, as evidenced by the trend of fre­quent mergers and acquisitions of banks, it is clear that human capital is of particular importance, due to the fact that the performance of banking op­erations requires unique knowledge and competencies, as well as agility and willingness of employees to continuously learn and develop. Banks treat in­vestment in human capital as a strategic process that can provide long-term benefits and sustainable competitive advantage, especially when it comes to financial performance. Therefore, creating a competitive advantage for banks requires a strategic approach to human resource management, which will enable the development, improvement and use of human capital. Taking into account the above, the main goal of this paper is to examine the impor­tance of human capital, as a strategic factor, for bank performances in the Re­public of Serbia.

7th International Scientific Conference – EMAN 2023 – Economics and Management: How to Cope With Disrupted Times, Ljubljana, Slovenia, March 23, 2023, SELECTED PAPERS, published by: Association of Economists and Managers of the Balkans, Belgrade, Serbia; ISBN 978-86-80194-70-7, ISSN 2683-4510, DOI: https://doi.org/10.31410/EMAN.S.P.2023

Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission. 

REFERENCES

Barney, J. (1991). Firm resources and competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17(1), 99- 120. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639101700108 

Bontis, N. (2001). Assessing knowledge assets: a review of the models used to measure in­tellectual capital. International Journal of Management Reviews, 3(1), 41-60. https://doi. org/10.1111/1468-2370.00053

Bontis, N., Janosevic, S., & Dzenopoljac, V. (2013). Intellectual capital and corporate perfor­mance of Serbian banks. Актуальні проблеми економіки, 4, 287-299.

Buallay, A., Hamdan, A. M., Reyad, S., Badawi, S., & Madbouly, A. (2019). The efficiency of GCC banks: the role of intellectual capital. European Business Review, 32(3), 383-404. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBR-04-2019-0053 

Chen, D., & Dahlman, C. (2005). The knowledge economy. The KAM methodology and World Bank operations. The World Bank.

Field, A. (2000). Discovering statistics using SPSS for Windows. Sage Publication.

Kovjanić, M., & Vukadinović, P. (2021). Intelektualni kapital kao strateška performansa banke sa osvrtom na banke. Bankarstvo, 50(1), 90-107. https://doi.org/10.5937/bankarstvo2101090k 

Liu, G., Liu, Y., & Zhang, C. (2021). Human capital in the financial sector and corporate debt maturity. China Economic Review, 69, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chieco.2021.101652 

Milićević, S., Cvetanović, S., & Despotović, D. (2017). Competitiveness of industry in countries on different levels of development during the 1970-2015 period. Ekonomika preduzeća, 518-529. http://doi.org/10.5937/EKOPRE1708518M

Narodna banka Srbije. (2020). Bankarstki sektor u Srbiji. Izveštaj za IV tromesečje 2019. go­dine. Narodna banka Srbije.

Ousama, A. A., Hammami, H., & Abdulkarim, M. (2019). The association between intellectu­al capital and financial performance in the Islamic banking industry. An analysis of the GCC banks. International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Manage­ment, 13(1), 75-93. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMEFM-05-2016-0073 

Pavlović, G. (2018). The influence of human capital on the financial performance of enterprises. Fourth International Scientific Business Conference – LIMEN 2018, Belgrade, 293-298. https://doi.org/10.31410/limen.2018.293 

Peković, J., Pavlović, G., & Zdravković, S. (2020). The Influence of intellectual capital on finan­cial performance of commercial banks in the Republic of Serbia. Ekonomika, 66(2), 103- 111. https://doi.org/10.5937/ekonomika2002103P 

Pulić, A. (2000). VAIC – an accounting tool for IC management. International Journal of Tech­nology Management, 20(5), 702-714. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJTM.2000.002891 

Soeawarno, N., & Tjahjadi, B. (2020). Measures that matter: an empirical investigation of intel­lectual capital and financial performance of banking firms in Indonesia. Journal of Intel­lectual Capital, 21(6), 1085-1106. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIC-09-2019-0225 

Stojadinović Jovanović, S. (2013). Strane direktne investicije kao oblik finansiranja globalne ekonomije. Bankarstvo, 1, 34-57.

Stojmenović, M. (2021). Analiza tržišne koncentracije u bankarskom sektoru Republike Srbije. Bankarstvo, 50(1), 134-153.

Yilmaz, I., & Acar, G. (2018). The effects of intellectual capital on financial performance and market value: evidence from Turkey. Eurasian Journal of Business and Economics, 11(21), 117-133. https://doi.org/10.17015/ejbe.2018.021.07 

Živković, S., & Vojinović, Ž. (2017). Bankoosiguranje u Srbiji – trendovi i perspektive. Zbornik radova EkonBiz, 166-175.