AKADEMIJA I MM A PREFACE TO THE 14th AKADEMIJA MM The fact that theory and practice are inseparable for development and progress of economies and societies has been accepted in science as well as in ordinary practice and life. This inseparable nature has been emphasised in the scientific articles of the 14th issue of Akademija MM. The selection of scientific articles is the result of the third international conference Marketing Theory Challenges in Transitional Societies, which took place in September 2009 at the Faculty of Economics in Maribor. On the one side, these articles arose from a deep understanding of company needs and scientific curiosity and, on the other side, from scientific inquiries of researchers and academics. The research areas covered by articles are thus closely connected to everyday marketing practice: the relationship between marketing and sales on the company level; the relationships between suppliers and buyers; characteristics and differences between customers in SE Europe; consumer lifestyles; the impact of economic crisis on business activities of multinational companies in the region, etc. The selection of up-to-date topics that can easily become the source for new knowledge. Many thanks to the authors of interesting articles as well as to the editors for the selection they have made. 14. AKADEMIJI MM NA POT Da sta teorija in praksa neločljivo zavezani v soustvarjanju razvoja in napredka gospodarstva in družbe kot celote, smo, upam, sprejeli tako v znanosti kot v vsakodnevni praksi in življenju. Prav tovrstno soustvarjanje ponuja tokratna, že 14. Akademija MM. Znanstveni članki, ki so rezultat tretje mednarodne konference Marketing Theory Challenges in Transitional Societies Conference, ki je potekala septembra na EPF v Mariboru, so namreč nastali prav iz razumevanja potrebe podjetij ne eni in znanstvene radovednosti in preverbe raziskovalcev in akademikov na drugi strani. Od tod tudi področja raziskovanja, ki so blizu vsakdanji trženjski praksi: odnos trženje in prodaja na ravni podjetja; odnosi med dobavitelji in odjemalci; značilnosti in različnosti kupcev JV Evrope; življenjski stili porabnikov; vplivi gospodarske krize na poslovanje multinacionalnih podjetij v regiji itd. Zbir tem, ki je še kako v času in iz katerega lahko črpamo nova, aktualna spoznanja. Hvala avtorjem za zanimive raziskave, urednikoma pa čestitke za njihov izbor! Prof. dr. Maja Makovec Brenčič Predsednica DMS Prof. dr. Maja Makovec Brenčič MAS President 7