Opis
About the Book
This book is not without consequence—it carries the power and strength to lead to conversion. Should it fall into the hands of someone who doubts or does not believe, they may well find themselves transformed by the end, even though, after reading this foreword and the first few pages of Grebenar’s writing, they never would have imagined such a possibility. Therefore, I congratulate Vladimir Grebenar on this spiritual guide for entrepreneurs. I also congratulate you, the reader, for taking the courageous step of reading it. In doing so, you are embarking on a unique spiritual journey—one that will not only make you a better person but also transform the world around you. This is exactly what the Gospel expects from each of us—especially from entrepreneurs, to whom God has entrusted an abundance of talents that they have no right to bury in the ground.
Darko Pavičić, journalist and publicist
This book is, at its core, a practical handbook for anyone who feels called to start or lead a venture. Such ventures can take many forms: founding or managing a business, offering services, or taking on leadership roles in associations, organizations, the Church, or even within the family. In simple and accessible language, the author illustrates—through numerous examples from Sacred Scripture and personal experience—how God has already blessed us with natural talents and abilities. Even more, He has given each of us supernatural gifts and charisms. We are encouraged to discover these spiritual gifts and to rely on them practically, so that we may be fully led and guided by God.
Fr. Fränz Muller
From the Author
I gave my promise to the Lord Jesus Christ that I would not publish any book before publishing the one in which I would connect the Incarnate Word with the field of knowledge about entrepreneurship, management, and leadership. I have fulfilled that promise, and this is the first book I am publishing, although I have written other scholarly works that await their release after this one. Some of them have already received reviews or are being used as teaching material for postgraduate students, such as my book on project management. How successful I have been in my intention to make the Person of Jesus Christ the very center of all business activity will be judged by the readers. The creation of this work has been a true, years-long adventure with the Lord, for which I am grateful to my Savior.
Many books have been written with the aim of linking the Holy Scriptures and the business world. Yet, I have not found a work that brings together contemporary knowledge from entrepreneurship, management, and leadership with Scripture and the teaching of the Church in a way that is critically irrefutable by scientific methodology. In other words, I have not found a work that is scientifically grounded in the integration of the biblical revelation of Jesus Christ, theological interpretation of truth, and the academic disciplines of entrepreneurship, management, and leadership. During my lifelong journey with the Lord and listening to His will, I felt a strong call in my heart to begin writing, in 2020, a book that would connect what seems unconnectable. I began writing this book in my home in Vinkovci (Republic of Croatia), but when I prayed and asked the Lord when I would finish it, I received a prophecy: “You will finish the book in Medjugorje!” This prophecy of the Holy Spirit was fulfilled, and the book was indeed completed—by God’s will and decision—in my new family home in Medjugorje, without my influence on the place or time of its completion. The spirituality of Medjugorje and the intercession of the Queen of Peace played a key role in the writing of this book.
I believe I have succeeded in my intention to synthesize the essential truths of Holy Scripture concerning business activity with the fundamental insights of contemporary science on entrepreneurship, management, and leadership, bringing them together in one work. My professional career as a consultant for the most complex organizational challenges requires constant personal and professional growth—personal growth in faith, and professional growth in expertise.
I believe that I have managed to write a work that has scholarly value, while at the same time being readable, understandable, and of great benefit to all who in any way manage business organizations or contemplate starting their own business. I was guided by the principle of placing the Person of Jesus Christ at the beginning, the middle, and the end of this work. This book is a guide to genuine business success, and to the ultimate business success which, according to biblical criteria, is the only acceptable form of success in business. And that success is not possible unless the Person of Jesus Christ is placed at the beginning, the middle, and the end—for Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, and everything that exists and is created must glorify the Lord! In the light of faith and trust in Jesus Christ, I have addressed topics such as work, work motivation, creativity and innovation, leadership, entrepreneurship, management, competitiveness, business success, and I have explained the biblical model of the seven-day week as a set of principles that lead to genuine business success and fulfillment in God.
Therefore, dear reader, I encourage you to be brave and bold in listening to God’s voice in your heart and to start some business initiative for the Lord—individually, in a team with others, or in your workplace. Only with such an attitude will you be able to understand how much our God loves business activity and entrepreneurship, and then this book will be of great value to you. Bear in mind, before you begin reading, that the Lord Jesus Himself, before beginning His public ministry, was a worker and an entrepreneur with St. Joseph, creating in their workshop and contracting various construction works outside of it. Moreover, Jesus chose as His co-worker and the first Pope of the Church St. Peter, who was likewise an entrepreneur—a fisherman. The other two privileged apostles, John and James, were also entrepreneur-fishermen who had hired laborers. Jesus’ words: “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working” (Jn 5:17) and “Behold, I make all things new!” (Rev 21:5) are clear indicators of the Lord’s great creative mission. In the language of science, such behavior of Jesus would be described as highly entrepreneurial, for entrepreneurship is a creative activity for the benefit of others, constantly seeking new and better solutions.
Dear reader, keep in mind that God the Father is the first Creator of all creation and therefore the first Entrepreneur. And I wish for you to discover during your reading of this book just how enterprising God truly is. The scientific discipline of entrepreneurship has proven that all human beings are born with entrepreneurial behavior, and this is so because “So God created mankind in his own image” (Gen 1:27).
Topics
The Purpose of Human Work
Work Motivation from a Christian Perspective
Creativity and Innovation in the Light of Faith
Leadership
Entrepreneurship
Management
Competitiveness
Business Success
Models of Success from Nature, Revelation, and Science
Seven Biblical Stages of Growth and Development of a Business Venture toward Ultimate Success
Publisher: Holspico d.o.o. for Business Consulting and Training
Kneza Mislava 26, 32100 Vinkovci, Croatia
www.holspico.hr
www.oraetlabora.eu
Author: Vladimir Grebenar
Language: Croatian
Year of Publication: 2024
Format: 135 x 205 mm
Binding: Hardcover
Number of Pages: 312
About the Author
He graduated in Marketing Management and completed a postgraduate university program in Entrepreneurship at the Faculty of Economics in Osijek. He earned his doctorate at the International Interuniversity Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the International Centre for Entrepreneurial Studies (ICES), in cooperation with five universities in the European Union and the United Kingdom (EFOS Osijek, University of Turku, Finland; Durham University, UK; University of Maribor, Slovenia; and University of Klagenfurt, Austria). The National Committee for Social Sciences of the Council of Polytechnics and Colleges in Croatia, under the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports, elected him to the teaching rank of Lecturer in Higher Education. He is a Certified Investment Project Designer (OIP) and Secretary of the Croatian Association of Investment Designers (HDIP). He holds the world’s most prestigious project management certification, Project Management Professional (PMP), and is a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI), headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. During his professional training in the USA, he obtained the Balanced Scorecard Master Professional (BSMP) certification at the Balanced Scorecard Institute (Cary, North Carolina, USA) and the Balanced Scorecard Professional (BSP) certification at George Washington University, College of Professional Studies (Washington, DC, USA). The international association Strategy Management Group (Cary, North Carolina, USA) granted him certification as a Key Performance Indicator Professional (KPIP). He successfully passed all exams required for the Black Belt in Six Sigma process improvement methodology at Global Six Sigma USA, LP (Austin, Texas, USA), and received a Lean & Six Sigma Black Belt certification in Operations Management.
He has many years of top management experience in leading large and complex business organizations in construction manufacturing and trade. He is the owner and director of the consulting company Holspico d.o.o. and has long-standing international consulting experience. He is a specialist in designing business organizations according to responsibility center theories and integrating organizations into the Balanced Scorecard strategic management model, linking strategy with production and support operations, and achieving a level of business in which all company operations are integrated with corporate strategy. He is also a specialist in designing project-based work organizations, holistic marketing organizations, management accounting systems (controlling), reward systems, integrated job classification systems aligned with quality management, and creating permanently learning organizations. He has strong expertise in change management and in business analysis for achieving excellence in processes and digital transformation, as well as experience in organizational modeling for the dissemination of knowledge among employees.
He lectures on subjects in the fields of marketing, entrepreneurship, accounting, strategic and operational management, retail business, business communication, family entrepreneurship, project management, and risk management at the professional study program of the European Business School (EBUS). He has also lectured as a guest at other professional and university institutions. He developed a comprehensive program of contemporary management entitled Modern Management Programme, through which he delivers professional training in eight areas of management. He collaborates with other institutions on lifelong learning programs. He has published more than 20 papers in conference proceedings and symposia, and authored books on project management, leadership, the Balanced Scorecard model, entrepreneurial management, and marketing management, which are used both as literature for students and as training material for participants of the Modern Management Programme.
He has designed several software solutions for strategic, project, and operational management; for measuring business performance in production, sales, and procurement processes; for quality management systems; for supporting human resource management and compensation systems; and for measuring organizational knowledge, skills, and competencies. He provides interim management services in business organizations facing complex organizational challenges. He is the author of a holistic cost management method and a model for precise calculation of business performance by company segments in short intervals.
His greatest personal joy is the time spent with his family—his wife and seven children. His greatest success is the knowledge and complete trust in Jesus Christ the Lord, “for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil 3:8).
Recenzije
Još nema recenzija.