MANAGEMENT IN THE SERBIAN IT SECTOR – SPECIFICITIES AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Abstract

Following the initial assumptions, we present the structural analysis of the Serbian IT/Tech sector. While some of the Tech companies are global, we have seen the emergence of local Serbian tech companies in recent years. Further, we analyze the specificities of the Serbian Tech sector in terms of motivational drivers, applicable management techniques, and the employee evaluation process.  We conclude – from the country perspective, local tech companies are more beneficial than global companies and employees are more beneficial than entrepreneurs. We identify paradoxes related to knowledge transfer, non-transparent top management decisions, and spoiled working force. We conclude – the benefit of the tech sector to a national economy depends on two key factors: the ratio of local vs global companies and legal treatment of workforce – employees vs. entrepreneurs. Most important part of this paper are recommendations: the regulator shall increase stimulation for the local tech companies, the company shall acknowledge identified paradoxes as incurable, and focus on curable issues. The curable issues to be focused on are: modification of the management style to adjust for the cultural differences, acknowledge salary as a primary motivation driver, and modify scrum methodology.  Scrum should be altered to introduce weekly instead of daily scrum meetings, limit the time for team members to report to one minute per person, increase the control of estimates (story points).  Also, rank employees without offending them and modify the compensation criteria to be more driven by job complexity/skill requirements and less by the employee position.