MANAGERIAL ECONOMICS WITHIN THE CROATIA’S INSURANCE INDUSTRY

Abstract

Modern companies need to operate in constantly changing conditions and uncertain changes. Changes started from the fundamental way of doing business, which nowadays is becoming more and more based on digital tools, where new technologies are constantly being implemented, where care for the environment is a necessity, where is a constant striving towards doing green and sustainable business. The production factors labor and capital, which used to be the most important in production, are complemented by knowledge as a production factor that leads all changes in the company. The economy erases its national borders and becomes globally spread. Before business was based on profit, but now business is changing according to socially responsible principles and rules. The previously mentioned changes are taking place in parallel with climate changes, natural disasters that have affected Croatia as well as some other parts of the world, the COVID-19 pandemic (2020.-2021.) and the crisis it has brought, rising inflation (2022.), the war in Ukraine (2022.) and numerous other uncertainties that tomorrow will bring. People realize that it is necessary to be insured, but sometimes just after the accident occurred. All modern companies, including those within the insurance industry, must adapt their operations to all these new challenges and changes. It is the management that plays an important role in enabling business adaptation to new circumstances and further development of the same. Insurance as such has an important role in all of this, because from insurance industry it is required to become more than ever guarantee of stability and economic growth. Although insurance began as an activity based on goodwill and mutual assistance of participants in an informal communities, nowadays it has developed into an extremely complex and demanding activity that protects people and their property. The basic task of insurance companies is distribution of risks from one insured, to all that are insured, and compensation payment of money based on concluded insurance contracts. Profit is still goal by which a company is run, but only profit is not enough, because the interests and needs of wider social communities are also important and needs to be satisfied. The role of managerial economics, which is the core focus in theoretical sense of this paper, is in identifying and predicting possible changes and accordingly suggesting to management how to adapt business to new challenges. Croatia osiguranje as a company with the largest market share in the Croatia’s insurance industry was in focus in the whole paper. With inductive and deductive methods are drawn conclusions about management aspects of contemporary companies, as well as the measurement of the business result of insurance companies using the example of Croatia osiguranje company.