1. Collaborative leadership for quality assurance : a case study on developing a strategic quality manual in higher educationKarin Širec, Maja Rožman, 2025, original scientific article Abstract: Higher education institutions face growing pressure to demonstrate excellence and strategic alignment in quality assurance, particularly to meet international accreditation standards. This paper presents a case study of a business faculty that undertook a leadership-driven initiative to develop a comprehensive Quality Manual aimed at continuous improvement and accreditation readiness. The project was structured as a multi-phase, collaborative effort involving broad stakeholder engagement, benchmarking of best practices, and alignment with international accreditation frameworks and the European Standards and Guidelines (ESG), as well as relevant national quality assurance requirements. The resulting Quality Manual provides a unified framework for quality assurance (QA) across all key areas—governance, academic programmes, research, student support, partnerships—linking institutional strategy to daily processes. Key outcomes of the case include clarified roles and procedures, integrated feedback loops, and enhanced readiness for accreditation. The development process highlighted the critical role of educational leadership in fostering a quality culture; by engaging faculty, staff, students, and external partners, the leadership built shared ownership of QA goals. The study is guided by two research questions: (1) How can collaborative and distributed leadership support the development of a strategically aligned Quality Manual at the faculty level? (2) How does the process of designing and implementing a Quality Manual contribute to strengthening internal QA and fostering a quality culture? The study discusses challenges and lessons learned in leading such change, emphasising the importance of stakeholder collaboration, strategic alignment, and change management. The findings contribute theoretically by illustrating how faculty-level leadership operationalizes QA frameworks into concrete institutional tools, and practically by offering a structured model for developing a strategic Quality Manual in higher education.
Keywords: educational leadership, quality assurance, strategic alignment, accreditation, higher education, quality culture, stakeholder engagement
Published in DKUM: 23.12.2025; Views: 0; Downloads: 0
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2. Travel writing as an instrument of cultural heritage promotionJasna Potočnik Topler, Charlie Mansfield, Hugues Séraphin, Philipp Wassler, 2024, original scientific article Abstract: This study contributes to the research literature through its approach to equipping tourism content creatives who are entering the professions of destination image communication with platform expertise alongside cooperation and co-creation leadership. Productive skills for travel writers and social media content producers in tourism are significant in the co-creation of sustainable tourist experiences since they are interactive and participative. The two purposes of this study are to implement and improve the dialogue journaling process as a re-usable methodology. The new 3-step processual research methodology is explained through a case study with stakeholders and project leaders in Brežice, Slovenia. The paper contributes to pragmatic tourism management concerns and practice by reporting findings from a real-world process project on cultural heritage that provides a re-usable solution.
Keywords: tourism development, stakeholder engagement, dialogue journaling, cooperation, co-creation, cultural heritage promotion, travel writing
Published in DKUM: 11.11.2025; Views: 0; Downloads: 1
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3. Unlocking the power of socially assistive robotic nurses in hospitals through innovative living lab methodologyUmut Arioz, Božidar Bratina, Izidor Mlakar, Nejc Plohl, Suzana Uran, Igor Robert Roj, Riko Šafarič, Valentino Šafran, 2024, original scientific article Abstract: Objectives: Pilot 5 utilizes AI and robotics to develop a robotic nurse assisting hospital staff in
response to workforce shortages and rising care demands due to an aging population. This project
aims to optimize resources, reduce errors, and improve patient satisfaction through personalized
care. Methods: The Living Lab approach was implemented to split the study into sprints. The first
split involves working with project partners and stakeholders to define the problem, brainstorm
functionalities, and identify limitations (24 participants). The second split focuses on further requirement gathering, exploring real-world use cases, and considering ethical and privacy concerns
(51 participants). Results: The project used iterative development cycles (5-8 months) to continuously improve the solution. Surveys revealed high satisfaction rates, with average scores of 4.0 and 3.6 for Sprints 1 and 2, respectively. Similarly, a team morale survey indicated a positive trend, with average scores of 7.6 and 8.18 for Sprints 1 and 2, respectively. Conclusion: Pilot 5 offers a promising solution to the evolving needs of modern hospitals. This study explores the integration of a social robotic system into nursing care to enhance quality and emphasizes stakeholder engagement, participatory design, and user-centered approaches in AI healthcare
solutions.
Keywords: co-creation, stakeholder engagement, socially assistive humanoid robots, living lab, hospital care
Published in DKUM: 03.02.2025; Views: 0; Downloads: 8
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4. Enhancing the performance of high-growth small- and medium-sized enterprises through effective project- management processes and stakeholder engagement : a systems perspectiveIgor Vrečko, Polona Tominc, Karin Širec, 2023, original scientific article Abstract: This study examines the impact of project management practices on high-growth Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (HG SMEs) from a systems perspective, utilizing Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and data from a diverse SME sample. It investigates the intricate relationships among project management system support, project management processes, stakeholder involvement, project management success, project success, and HG SME growth. Our findings highlight the substantial positive influence of project management processes and stakeholder engagement on project management success. These factors subsequently contribute significantly to both project success and the overall growth of HG SMEs. Notably, project management system support does not exhibit a substantial influence on these success factors. Furthermore, our research uncovers important indirect effects. Project management processes indirectly impact both project success and HG SME growth, underscoring their central role. Similarly, stakeholder involvement indirectly influences HG SME growth through its impact on project success, emphasizing its significance. This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by emphasizing the critical roles of project management processes, stakeholder engagement, and project success as drivers of SME growth. These insights have valuable implications for SME managers, project leaders, and policymakers, highlighting the essential nature of effective project management in shaping the growth trajectory of SMEs.
Keywords: project management, project success, SME growth, stakeholder engagement, projectmanagement processes, high-growth SMEs, systems perspective, SEM
Published in DKUM: 13.12.2023; Views: 455; Downloads: 39
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