Theory and practice of management concepts: Slovenia's experiences

Purpose The purpose of this article is to look at the authors' own definition of systems thinking, which is applied to investigate management concepts. These are the most influential management concepts in Slovenia, a new EU member. Design/methodology/approach Between 1999 and 2003 a letter survey was used in Slovenian organisations. In 1999 about 300 organisations and in 2003 more than 400 were addressed. The authors tested their questionnaire on a pilot sample of organisations, all items being closed qualitative questions. Data from questionnaire were entered into Lotus Notes database and from it into excel and SPSS for a statistical analysis. The management concepts were analysed by the factor and discriminatory analysis. Both of them enabled the authors to comprehend innovation of management concepts in the Slovenian economy. Findings Management innovation is the crucial precondition for innovation management, where innovation has not yet become the prevailing culture. Practical implications In Slovenia, the authors came across no research on this topic, theoretical and applied at the same time. The governmental support gives the research a broader societal importance and a chance of a rather active impact over transition in Slovenian economy. Originality/value This paper offers broader possibilities for researchers and business people in order to better understand different management concepts and differences among them. This will help the reader to make better judgements while deciding to introduce the appropriate one.