CREATIVITY AND DECISION-MAKING TECHNIQUES IN THE CROATIAN HOTEL INDUSTRY

Vještine kreativnog mišljenja imaju osobitu važnost za svako stvaranje. Njihova primjena u modemom menadžmentu ima presudnu ulogu. Današnje poslovanje karakteriziraju brze promjene, jako razvijena konkurencija i sve veća informatiziranost. Svaka konačna odluka uključuje i suradnju intuitivne strane naše svijesti. Kako bi se kreativno rješavali problemi, dizajnirane su posebne metode za poticaj kreativnog mišljenja i prevladavanje zapreka kod samog rješavanja problema. Iako su kreativnost i inovativnost individualni fenomeni, unutar grupnih metoda ideje i misli djeluju kao okidači, pa se smatraju kao kooperativni fenomeni. Obzirom na njihovu znakovitost modemom menadžmentu uopće, važno je ustanoviti, imaju li i u kojoj mjeri te metode svoje mjesto u menadžmentu hotelijerstva kao okosnice turističke djelatnosti. U tom smislu, uz ispitivanje opće uloge tih metoda u hotelijerstvu, provedena sa dva empirijska istraživanja sa ciljem ustanovljavanja stupnja kreativnosti menadžera u dijelu hotelske ponude. Jednim istraživanjem ispitano je kakav je stupanj primjene tehnika odlučivanja kod menadžera u hotelijerstvu, a u drugom mišljenje zaposlenika o stupnju kreativnosti njihovih nadređenih menadžera. Istraživanja su pokazala izrazito nizak stupanj inovativnosti menadžmenta i slabu primjenu tehnika odlučivanja u hrvatskom hotelijerstvu.The skills of creative thinking are crucial to all processes of creation. The application of these skills in modern management plays a pivotal role. Business today is characterized by rapid changes, highly developed competition and a growing degree of access to information. Every final decision made involves the participation of the intuitive side of our consciousness. Special methods for stimulating creative thinking and overcoming obstacles in problem solving have been designed that can help in solving problems in a creative manner. Even though creativity and innovation are individual phenomena, ideas and notions can act as triggers within group methods, and are considered cooperative phenomena. Given their significance in modem management, it is of importance to determine whether and to which extent these methods are present in hospitality management as the backbone of tourist activity. Hence, in addition to examining the general role of these methods in the hotel industry, two empiric studies have been carried out with the purpose of determining the degree of creativity displayed by managers as a part of the hotel offer. The first study deals with the level of application of decision-making techniques by managers in the hotel industry, whereare the second study focuses on the opinion of employees on the degree of creativity displayed by their managers. Studies have shown that there is a very low degree of innovation exhibited by management, and that the application of decision-making techniques in the Croatian hotel industry is poorly developed