“PRACTICE AND RESEARCH IN PRIVATE AND PUBLIC

Transcription

ISSN 2029-7378
MYKOLAS ROMERIS UNIVERSITY
INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE
“PRACTICE AND RESEARCH IN PRIVATE
AND PUBLIC SECTOR – 2012”
Conference Proceedings
Vilnius, 2012
International Scientific Conference Practice and Research in Private and Public sector – 2012. April 26 – 27, 2012.
ORGANIZED BY
MYKOLAS ROMERIS UNIVERSITY
Faculty of Economics and Finance Management
IN COOPERATION WITH
BELARUSIAN STATE UNIVERSITY
Faculty of International Relations
TALLINN UNIVERSITY OF
TECHNOLOGY
Tallinn School of Economics and
Business Administration
WARSAW SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS
KROK UNIVERSITY (UKRAINE)
Economics and Entrepreneurship Faculty
RIGA TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY
Faculty of Engineering Economics and
Management
CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS CONTAIN FULL PAPERS FROM SECTIONS:
Business and Finances;Public Economy and International Relations; Economics and Financial Markets;
INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
Chairman
Prof. Dr. R. Ņitkienė (Lithuania)
Co-Chairs:
Prof. Habil. Dr. T. Dołęgowski (Poland)
Prof. Dr. N. Lace (Latvia)
Prof. Dr. I. Radionova (Ukraine)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. T. Polajeva (Estonia)
Assoc. Prof. Dr.V. Ostroga (Belarus)
All papers are peer reviewed.
Language is not edited.
Members
Prof. Habil. Dr. K. Angelov (Bulgaria)
Prof. Habil. Dr. O.G. Rakauskienė (Lithuania)
Prof. Dr. F. Garcia (Spain)
Prof. Dr D. Jurevičienė (Lithuania)
Prof. Dr. E. Kazlauskienė (Lithuania)
Prof. Dr. A. Laurinavičius (Lithuania)
Prof. Dr. I. Mačerinskienė (Lithuania)
Prof. Dr. A. Mińkinis (Lithuania)
Prof. Dr. F. Reganati (Italy)
Prof. Dr .N. Volgina (Russia)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. A. Dobravolskas (Lithuania)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. G. Fragidis (Greece)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. J.Kuzmina (Latvia)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. A. Nikolova (Bulgaria)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. A. Temichev (Belarus)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. I. Ńimberova (Czech Republic)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. E. Ńubertova (Slovakia)
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Chairmans:
Prof. Dr. D. Jurevičienė (Lithuania)
M. Laurinaitis (Lithuania)
Members:
Prof. Dr. R. Kanapickienė (Lithuania)
Prof. Dr. R. Tamońiūnienė (Lithuania)
Dr. J. Seiranov (Lithuania)
R. Aleknavičiūtė (Lithuania)
G. Aleknavičiūtė (Lithuania)
Ņ. Savickaitė (Lithuania)
V. Skvarciany (Lithuania)
S. Survilaitė (Lithuania)
BOARD OF REVIEWERS
A. Damulienė (Lithuania)
G. Davulis (Lithuania)
A. Dobravolskas (Lithuania)
G. Gipienė (Lithuania)
A. Ergeneli (Turkey)
I. Mačerinskienė (Lithuania)
A. Kanapickas (Lithuania)
I. Panovas (Lithuania)
A. Laurinavičius (Lithuania)
J. Cetkovic (Montenegro)
A. Tarabanov (Russia)
J. Mačerinskas (Lithuania)
A. Velihorsky (Ukraine)
J. Seiranov (Lithuania)
A. Ņvirblis (Lithuania)
J. Vijeikis (Lithuania)
D. Černius (Lithuania)
M. Zatrochová (Slovakia)
D. Daujotaitė (Lithuania)
N. Lace (Latvia)
D. Dimova (Bulgaria)
N. Markevičius (Lithuania)
D. Jurevičienė (Lithuania)
O.G. Rakauskienė (Lithuania)
D. Lukin (Ukraine)
R. Kanapickienė (Lithuania)
D. Teresienė (Lithuania)
R. Mrówka (Poland)
E. Bikas (Lithuania)
R. S.Basu (India)
E. Freitakas (Lithuania)
R. Tamońiūnienė (Lithuania)
E. Gaile-Sarkane (Latvia)
R. Ņitkienė (Lithuania)
E. Kazlauskienė (Lithuania)
S. Taraila (Lithuania)
E. Martinaitytė (Lithuania)
T. Bilevičienė (Lithuania)
G. Abuselidze (Georgia)
T. Mazylo (Ukraine)
G. Černiauskas (Lithuania)
CONTENT
BUSINESS AND FINANCE
G. Abuselidze
FINANCIAL AND BUDGETARY FEDERALISM AND ITS ROLE IN ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY
12
T. Bileviĉienė
OPPORTUNITIES AND DEVELOPMENT OF IMPLEMENTATION OF MULTIPLE
STATISTICAL METHODS IN MARKETING
22
F.G. Bozkurt, A. Ergeneli
THE EXAMINATION OF THE DELEGATION OF THE AUTHORITY WITH
PYSCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT AND SUPERVISOR‘S SOCIAL LOAFING
AND AN APPLICATION IN A PUBLIC SECTOR
31
J. Ćetković, M.Ţarković
THE GLOBALIZATION OF WORLD ECONOMY – DILEMMAS AND
CHALLENGES
36
M. E. Ĉernikovaitė
46
THE MANAGING THE BRAND TRUSTS IN LITHUANIAN COMPANIES
A. Denina, J.Zvanitajs
54
OBSTACLES TO GREEN ELECTRICITY GENERATION BUSINESS
A. Ergeneli, A. Boz
WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS‘ PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS AND
PARENTS‘ PARENTING STYLES PROFILE
61
A. Ergeneli, S Mutlu
EXTENDED TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTANCE MODEL AND THE EFFECTS OF
ESPOUSED NATIONAL CULTURAL VALUES ON ELECTRONIC-MAIL
ACCEPTANCE: AN APPLICATION IN A TURKISH IRON AND STEEL COMPANY
70
4
M. Išoraitė
JAUNIMO VERSLUMO TYRIMAS TARPTAUTINĖJE TEISĖS IR VERSLO
AUKŃTOJOJE MOKYKLOJE
78
RESEARCH OF YOUTH ENTERPRENEURSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF
LAW AND BUSINESS
E. Kazlauskienė, L. Aidukienė
SVV ĮMONIŲ PARAMOS FORMOS IR JŲ ĮSISAVINIMAS
96
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SUPPORT FOR THE SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZE
ENTERPRISES
A.Kriţanová, Ľ. Štefániková
BRAND INFLUENCE ON CUSTOMER BUYING DECISION IN THE SLOVAK
REPUBLIC
105
P. Lindemanis, E. Gaile-Sarkane
112
PRODUCT PLACEMENT ASSESSMENT IN COMMERCIAL AREA
J. Maĉerinskas, M. Morkūnas
VERSLO GRUPIŲ KONCEPCIJA
124
CONCEPT OF BUSINESS GROUPS
I. Maĉerinskienė, I. Bartuševiĉienė
ĮMONĖS INTELEKTINIO KAPITALO ĮTAKOS VEIKLOS EFEKTYVUMUI
VERTINIMO MODELIO TAIKYMO GALIMYBĖS
135
APPLICATION POSSIBILITIES FOR A MODEL FOR ASSESSING THE
INFLUENCE OF A COMPANY‘S INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL FOR EFFICIENCY OF
ITS ACTIVITIES
I. Maĉerinskienė, S. Survilaitė
THE MODEL OF INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL INFLUENCE OVER THE
COMPANY'S VALUE ADDED
144
5
R.Mrówka
152
DECISION MAKING IN HYPERARCHICAL ORGANIZATION
L. Pilelienė, A.Šimkus
DETERMINATION OF TOUR OPERATORS‘ SERVICE QUALITY PERCEPTION IN
LITHUANIA
162
M. Pindelski
172
SALES RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT DIRECTIONS IN ORGANIZATIONS
J. Spiridonovs
IMPACT EVALUATION NEEDS AND POSSIBILITIES FOR WATER SECTOR
INFRASTRUCTURE
183
D. Šĉeulovs, E.Gaile-Sarkane
190
IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
D. Štreimikienė
THE IMPACT OF ELECTRICITY MARKET REFORM ON INVESTMENTS IN
RENEWABLES IN LITHUANIA
201
PUBLIC ECONOMY AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
G. Ĉerniauskas, I. Panovas
210
THE FORECAST OF LITHUANIAN ECONOMY FOR 2011-2020
A. Damulienė
ŃIUOLAIKINIAI MIGRACIJOS PROCESAI LIETUVOJE IR JŲ POVEIKIS
EKONOMIKAI
218
CONTEMPORARY MIGRATION PROCESS IN LITHUANIA AND ITS IMPACT ON
THE ECONOMY
6
G. Davulis
FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN LITHUANIA: ANALYSIS OF SITUATION
AND PERSPECTIVES
228
G. Davulis
INTERNATIONAL IMPORTANCE OF EURO AND THE STRATEGY OF
ADOPTION OF EURO IN LITHUANIA
237
J. Dobiš, A. Víghová
DEPRECIATION UNDER THE LAW OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC AND ITS
RECENT CHANGES IN RESPONSE TO THE ETHICAL ASPECT OF PUBLIC
FINANCE
246
S. Gultekin, A. Ergeneli, A. Boz
CRITICIZING KOHLBERG'S MORAL DEVELOPMENT STAGES FROM FEMALE
PERSPECTIVE
254
L Jasutienė
UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON CONTRACTS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL
CARRIAGE OF GOODS WHOLLY OR PARTLY BY SEA - A CLEAR AND
REASONABLE ADVANCE FOR MODERN TRADE
260
A. Jurgeleviĉius, G. Davulis
268
THE STATE PROGRESS STRATEGY AND ECONOMY OF LITHUANIA
S. Kavaliūnaitė
279
EUROPEAN UNION SOFT SECURITY POLICIES: A COST-BENEFIT APPROACH
N. Markeviĉius, A. Wrzesinski
THE INFLUENCE OF RESEARCH ON IMPROVING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF
PRODUCTS MANUFACTURED BY THE POLISH COMPANY BOCHEM
290
7
L. Mutaliyeva, M. Smikova, L. Baitenova
278
STATE REGULATION OF TOURISM IN KAZAKHSTAN
N. Paresashvili, A. Abashishvili
ADMINISTRATION OF DEEP AND COMPREHENSIVE FREE TRADE
AGREEMENT (DCFTA)
303
A. Paţėraitė, M. Krakauskas
312
CENTRALIZED HEAT MARKET LIBERALIZATION MISSION (IM)POSSIBLE?
A. Puksas
HARDCORE RESTRAINTS IN AGREEMENTS: FROM PROHIBITION TO
LIMITATION
321
O. G. Rakauskienė, O. Ranceva
329
EMIGRATION PROBLEM IN LITHUANIA
J. Samuleviĉius
ACADEMIC AND BUSINESS COLLABORATION: A STARTING POSITION FOR
LITHUANIA‘S MOVE TOWARDS RADICAL ECONOMIC CHANGES
341
J. Seiranov, R. S. Basu
THE PROSPECTS OF INDIA AND THE EUROPEAN UNION ECONOMIC
COOPERATION
353
V. Shatrevich, J.Zvanitajs
363
INDUSTRIALIZATION LEVEL AND EXPORT PERFORMANCE
A Velihorskyy, I. Panovas
SOME TRENDS IN THE UKRAINIAN-LITHUANIAN ECONOMIC RELATIONS IN
THE CONTEXT OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION
373
8
ECONOMICS AND FINANCIAL MARKETS
D. Ādmīdiņš, J. Zvanītājs
384
THE EFFECT OF LENDING ON THE HOUSING MARKET IN LATVIA
E. Bikas, M. Buta
396
STRUCTURED SECURITIES PHENOMENA IN LITHUANIA
T. Gudaitis
„GYVENIMO CIKLO― IR „GYVENIMO STILIAUS― FONDŲ SISTEMŲ
INVESTAVIMO STRATEGIJŲ VERTINIMAS PRIVAČIŲ ANTROS PAKOPOS
PENSIJŲ FONDŲ SISTEMOS KONTEKSTE
406
―LIFE CYCLE‖ AND ―LIFE STYLE‖ FUNDS‘ INVESTMENT STRATEGY
EVALUATION IN THE FULLY FUNDED 2ND PILLAR PENSION SYSTEM‘S
CONTEXT
R. Jasinaviĉius, V. Ganiprauskas
LIETUVOS PAGRINDINIŲ PAJAMŲ IR SOCIALINIŲ IŃMOKŲ VERTĖS KITIMO
TYRIMAS
417
RESEARCH OF LITHUANIAN MAIN INCOME AND SOCIAL BENEFITS VALUE
CHANGE
D. Kurtinaitytė – Venediktovienė, E. Zupkaitienė
INDIVIDUALIOS VEIKLOS PROBLEMATIKA
431
THE PROBLEMS OF INDIVIDUAL ACTIVITY
A. Lezgovko, D. Jablonskienė
LIETUVOS GYVYBĖS DRAUDIMO SEKTORIAUS PLĖTROS PERSPEKTYVOS
441
LOOKOUT OF DEVELOMPMENT OF LIFE INSURANCE IN LITHUANIA
R. Liepina, I. Lapina, J.Mazais
453
ROLE OF CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT IN GLOBAL MARKET
9
D. Lukin, T. Mazylo
ETHICAL AND CONFESSIONAL BANKING: WORLD EXPERIENCE AND
PERSPECTIVES OF DEVELOPMENT
462
R.Tamošiūnienė, N. Dobrovolskienė
470
EFFECTIVENESS OF INVESTMENTS TO THE REAL ESTATE IN LITHUANIA
A. Tarabanov, V. Tarabanova
479
GLOBAL FINANCIAL IDEOLOGY: NARRATOLOGICAL ANGLYSIS
M. Zatrochová, R.Stejskal
HISTORY ASSUMPCTIONS AND THE EXPECTED DEVELOPMENT OF THE
FINANCIAL MARKET IN THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC
489
J. Kuzmina
498
EVALUATION OF GUARANTEE RISK IN INDIVIDUAL SAVING PLANS
10
SECTION
BUSINESS AND FINANCE
11
FINANCIAL AND BUDGETARY FEDERALISM AND ITS ROLE IN ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY
George Abuselidze
Shota Rustaveli State University
Saakadze str.16, Batumi, Georgia - 6010
E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract. To optimize the financial system is particularly important to achieve an effective
balance between revenues and expenditures of the central, regional and local budgets. Socioeconomic development of regions cannot be achieved without financial relations. "Financial and
budgetary federalism" multilateral and, respectively complex mechanism, which describes the
financial device of rights and obligations between the "center" and "region", the rules of their
relationship at all stages of the budget process, regulatory and legislative methods of budgetary
resources redistribution. In the process of formation, distribution and use of public finances socioeconomic relations between the State, legal entities and individuals are formed and at the same time
subjective interests are realized.
Keywords: Financial and budgetary federalism, foreign models of interbudgetary relations,
budgetary alignment
Introduction
After achievement of independence of one of the most difficult and considerable problems
was and is a state budget, questions of optimization of its incomes and expenses and its
transformation into the most powerful tool of restoration and country development. For
optimization of a financial system of the country especially the great value has achievement of an
effective balance between incomes and expenses of the central, regional and local budgets. Social
and economic development of regions of the country is impossible without perfection of financial
relations by which economic development of separate territories and regions should be provided.
The financial history of the developed countries obviously shows that all three levels of the
budget should be distributed so that the expense and the income of means of structure have been as
much as possible provided by financial resources. The civilized mankind throughout a centuries-old
history of the development has created capable system of mobilization and the expense of financial
resources which for today name financial-budgetary federalism.
The object of this paper is the financial and budgetary federalism.
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The aim is to analyse the foreign models of intergovernmental relations, focusing on the
issue of budget balancing through a system of transfers.
Methods of research: Deduction, synthesis, comparative analysis of scientific literature,
statistical analysis, Historical approach.
Literature Review
"The financial and fiscal federalism and multi respectively, complex mechanism, whose
essence consists in the unit cost of the rights and duties between the" center "and" region ", the rules
of their relationship at all stages of the budget process, regulatory and legislative methods of
redistribution of the device of budgetary resources, so and in the socio-economic relations existing
between the State and legal entities and individuals that are formed in the process of formation,
distribution, disposal and use of public money and resources while at the same time, there is a
realization of belonging to this system of subjective interests." (Abuselidze, 2006, p. 110).
Under the influence of political, historical and national factors in the world has developed
many budget systems, significantly differing from each other. Organization of budget management
is directly related to the model of government. In unitary countries, budgetary systems,
characteristic of a high level of centralization of budgetary resources and a minor amount of the
budget of the rights and responsibilities of local budgets, with a high proportion of financial
assistance from the central budget. In states with a federal structure is part of the fiscal management
of relations of fiscal federalism, involving a more balanced distribution of power and
responsibilities between levels of budget system, the relative independence of the budgets of their
equity in the state budget system, the organization of budgetary redistribution that is downstream of
financial aid budgets in different ways (Pronin, 2004).
An interesting and useful for the analysis of models of fiscal federalism is produced by
British experts G. Hughes and C. Smith, grouping countries of the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) in accordance with such features as the similarity of
approaches to the management of intergovernmental relations, particularly the philosophy of fiscal
federalism is used, the ratio of Role of central and sub national governments. As a result of 19
OECD countries were divided into 4 groups:
Group 1 - 3 of federal - Australia, Canada and the United States and the two unitary - Britain
and Japan of the state;
Group 2 – the Nordic countries - Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland;
Group 3 – Federated Western European countries - Austria, Germany, Switzerland;
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Group 4 – southern and western European countries - Belgium, France, Greece, Italy,
Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.
Despite the arbitrariness of this division, budget systems are grouped into certain common
features. The first group is characterized by relatively high autonomy of regional and local
authorities, based on broad tax powers. The second group - especially the high proportion of noncentral government involvement in the financing of social spending. The third - a substantial degree
of autonomy of the budgets of different levels, in combination with a developed system of cooperation. Fourth - a large regional financial dependence on central government.
It is assumed that in the future are different models of fiscal federalism will find their names,
there will be new classification. Meanwhile, in very general terms one can distinguish two types of
models - the decentralized and cooperative.
Survey
Upon further consideration of foreign models of intergovernmental relations focuses on the
issue of balancing the budget through the transfer system as example foreign countries such as
USA, Canada, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. Share of transfers from the center to the regions of
the gross national product in these countries differ significantly. Thus, in the U.S., with a model
based on competition, the figure is 3.7%, slightly lower than in Germany - 4.3%, using a model of
cooperation. Switzerland, turning to the federal model of organization based on competition, has a
slightly higher rate of inter-regional transfers - 4.4%, whereas in Canada the figure is about 3.5%.
Qualitative characteristics of each national system of regional equalization cannot be described by
the size of transfers between local and regional levels of government. It is therefore necessary to
consider how transfers are distributed.
In all the systems of the federal budget relations correspond to the principles of subsidiarity
(as close as possible to the authorities of the cost to consumers of services) and fiscal independence
of the federal level and the subjects of the federation. The main differences are, on the one hand, in
the target fiscal equalization, on the other hand, the tax policy.
In the U.S., the alignment of the tax capacity of the state is not the purpose of transfers
between the states. Thus, there is no horizontal fiscal equalization between strong and weak states
in financial terms. Vertical channels of financing are also loosely connected with the financial
capacity of the State - the recipient. Financial differences are likely amplified under the influence of
transfers from the federal government: the majority of transfers are allocated on the condition that
states and municipalities provide its share of funds. In fact, the states with the largest tax potential
and also receive the largest transfers from the federal government. The level of state spending, so
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closely associated with their own tax base, which results in higher costs prosperous state for
education and social security.
A characteristic feature of the American model is the absence of a federal program budget
alignment. It is included as a component in some targeted programs, such as, for example, grants to
school boards. Support state and local governments through the federal budget is also due to tax
expenditures, by which is meant the loss of the federal budget, resulting from exclusion from the tax
base for federal taxes of its individual elements. In the first place, graduating to such elements
include amounts paid by taxpayers to the budgets of state and local governments in the form of
income tax and property tax, as well as funds received by them in the form of interest payments on
the bonds of state and local governments. Thus, if a state decides to increase the income tax rate
coming into the state budget, the tax base will decrease federal income tax and the federal budget
will receive less money. Such loss of the federal budget is in fact financial assistance to states.
Estimating the size of financial assistance that will be passed through such channels in the federal
budget in 2009, 98.7 billion dollars (Ministry of Finance USA, 2012).
In contrast to the U.S., Germany, the horizontal and vertical transfers lead to almost
complete equalization of differences in the financial security of the Federation. Here, too, there are
common problems, as the co-financed by the federal center and the federation. But a regional
budgetary alignment plays a major role in determining the ability of the subject to offer a
comparable level of federal services. In Germany, for fiscal equalization of land taken for a basis is
not necessarily exactly the calculated expenditure need of each land. Based on the fact that the lands
which have at their disposal the average per capita income, unable to finance the average cost per
capita. Additional expenditure needs should be considered in the case of land with very high or very
low population density means a higher estimated proportion of the population.
The total budget alignment land is held in three phases. In the first phase, 25% of revenue
from VAT, from which nearly half is attached to the land, shall be apportioned among the lands in
need of financial assistance, and the remaining 75% interest in land - in terms of population. In the
second phase, followed by transfers to the "rich" lands "poor." Weak land transfers are carried out
stepwise as follows: the amount required to achieve 92% of their budget Mittelland level of per
capita income comes through the redistribution of sales tax, to achieve a mark of 95% through the
provision of compulsory transfers without any conditions, and from 95 to 100 % - through the
provision of transfers, differentiated according to the specific financial needs.
In the third phase of the per capita income of land in need of financial assistance, through
transfers aligned to the average level of per capita income for the country. For lands with very low
population and the so-called "new" land of East Germany recognized the special needs of
consumables, which are financed in the form of the Federation of special transfers. Align the
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budgetary provision of land is mostly indirect, i.e. through the distribution of income from the VAT
directly through federal transfers, and to a lesser extent by transfers between the lands. Of the
approximately 50% of total revenues from the VAT payable to the budgets of land, 75% are
distributed per capita. The rest is distributed among the lands that have a per capita tax revenue
lower than 92% of the average per capita tax revenues in all countries.
Federal Ministry of Finance acts as a clearing center for the implementation of the direct
horizontal equalization schemes through transfers between the lands. First, on the basis of
preliminary estimates of tax revenues have preliminary estimates of transfer payments, and then
these data are the sum of the quarterly transfer payments is constantly updated. Later predicted data
on tax revenues are replaced by data on actual income for the year equalization schemes and
accordingly adjusted the amount of transfers. Thus, the changes are recorded in the tax capacity of
the land due to unforeseen structural events or sharp fluctuations in the economy. Any land,
experiencing financial difficulties, immediately receives the financial assistance from the federal
budget (Ministry of Finance Germany, 2012).
The system of fiscal equalization of the federal government, Canada has its own
characteristics due to the fact that the budget areas - the provinces, in addition to tax and nontax
revenues are transfers from the federal budget. Total revenue and expenditures are determined by
the transferred financial assistance.
It uses two types of transfers: fiscal and monetary. Money transfer is a transfer of funds
from the federal budget to the budgets of the provinces. The tax transfer occurs when the
government reduces the federal tax rates, while providing the right of provinces to raise their bets
on the relevant taxes the same amount.
The volume of transfers and the method of distribution is usually set at 5 years, and funds
transfers are reviewed annually. The Government of Canada transfers to provincial transfers in three
main programs:
1) on health care and social assistance. This transfer is intended and used to support health
care, higher education, social assistance and services to the territories and provinces. Financial
assistance for this program is transmitted in the form of tax and cash transfers;
2) to equalize the less affluent provinces in terms of providing public services to the public.
This transfer is inappropriate. The transfer is determined by the procedure established by federal
law. Originally based on estimates of its income per capita is estimated fiscal capacity of each
province. Next, the standard per capita fiscal capacity taking into account the capacity of the five
provinces of "middle income". Provinces with a per capita are below the standard potential of
transfer for pulling up the average. The procedure for calculating equalization transfers is set for 5
years, the standard potential is calculated annually;
16
3) the financing of the territorial program. Under this program, a special transfer passed the
northern territories (not province), which differ from the provinces that they have much higher costs
of providing public services, high rates of population growth and poorly developed tax base. This
transfer is non-earmarked and allocated to improve the fiscal capacity of territories (Ministry of
Finance Canada, 2012).
One of the countries to take in 80 - 90 years, significant efforts to reform the centralist
model of financing sub central budgets and which had had some success in this case is Italy. In this
country there are four levels of government: central, regional, provincial and municipal. Sub central
government formed in 20 regions, 99 provinces, and 8100 municipalities. Management sub central
authorities by the Ministry of the Treasury (for regions) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (for the
provinces and communes).
Feature of government is to give Italian regions of the country's Constitution the status of
"autonomy" and giving them legislative powers in some areas of socio-economic development. This
is to some extent closer to the subjects of the Italian federation in federal states, although the legal
status of the Italian regions are not identical to the legal status of states in the United States lands in
Germany, Canada and the provinces cantons in Switzerland (Ministry of Finance Italy, 2012).
Despite the relatively high degree of decentralization of government functions, in Italy there
is a highly centralized financial and budgetary mechanism for income generation sub central
transfer redistribution authorities and government revenue through the central budget. In general,
through the channels of the consolidated state budget is distributed in Italy to 48% of GDP.
Office of nationwide tax in Italy is entirely run by the central administration. Local income
tax is no exception. Funds from the last budget sent to the central administration and only then
transferred sub central authorities through the mechanism of transfer of budget reallocation of
funds.
Sub central Italian authorities are in a strong financial dependence on central government
budget. According to statistics, in the Italian sub-budgets depend on the budget of the central
administration of current income by an average of 25%.
To finance sub central authorities in Italy in the central budget are formed specialized,
centralized funds, such as the "National Fund for Health Development," "The National Transport
Development Fund", "General Fund", "compensation fund", "equalization fund".
In addition to the funds of central funding, there are several different types of transfers,
which are listed sub central authorities of the respective funds. These include: "not due" or
"ordinary transfers," "conditional transfers" or "subvention," "governing transfers", "additional
transfers", "special transfers" and "emergency transfers."
17
In Australia, where the Finance higher centralized, are used to align the system of
centralized payments identified by the uniform distribution and equalization formula, which aims to meet the budget requirements of all states to provide uniform nationwide standards for public
services. During the 80s in France, was introduced so-called automatic allocation of grants for
which funds local teams sent automatically, according to the developed criteria, the same for all
teams. Thus, in the field of public transfers has used the principle of a universal approach. Another
important feature of the French experience in determining budgetary flows associated with their
separation in two directions: on the operation and investment.
The process of allocation transfers between funds and regions in Italy is subject to certain
rules. Under current law, the main role in the allocation of central transfers belongs to the central
administration. The mechanism of the distribution of transfers is quite complex. In order to obtain
the necessary funding for each region in the framework of participation in the budgetary process of
the country should at a certain time to develop and submit to the ministry budget package of
sectored programs of the regional nature. These programs should be tailored to the goals and
priorities of national economic policy, to consider the possibility of their implementation at the
regional level. During program development, consultations with experts of the central government
are held. If you agree with the government financing programs for them is "the list" that is, in turn,
occupied in the list of the government.
Implementation of the concept of fiscal federalism is based on a combination of two
complementary trends - competition between the regional authorities in the market of social
services and aligning conditions of this competition, and ensuring the entire country national
minimum standards.
Results
As international experience shows the financial and budgetary practices and provide berkety
formation of a unified purpose and a common idea of individual regions and provinces, cities and
districts, the whole population. Based on this today, when Georgia violated the integrity of the
country, the most effective and efficient means for combining the regions is to carry out economic,
in particular, such financial, budgetary, tax, customs, credit, payment, etc. policies that encourage
all areas, regions, cities, districts, villages, the population of Georgia to the association, including a
dance center, will create a unified political, social, economic, cultural, spiritual, and ultimately a
national space.
For Georgia, at this stage, the integrity of the country's "classic" of financial and fiscal
federalism is the best premature, and such a model, which provides unity and the maximum
18
satisfaction of people's material and cultural well-being. We think that, given this principle should
take root in Georgia financial and fiscal federalism. What is the "center" at this stage, again to
maintain dominance and should not happen, not only the transfer of financial berkets, but touching
them as all tier member of the main stem of economic stability in the country - well-known
"financial Trinity" (the national currency, the national Bank, State budget present in its unity and
separately one of the biggest and most powerful berkets unity and creativity. So there should not be
allowed no initiative in implementing cash flow, banking policy and the budget process, nor by the
"regions" and not from the "center" (Abuselidze, 2004).
So Georgia must necessarily have a single powerful Ministry of Finance, which will be in
the tax, customs and official life, to be perceived in the same section the system of financial and
fiscal federalism, which will be built on the principle: "Financial and fiscal federalism is needed for
the future of Georgia and the transfer of a single fiscal rights of the parties is necessary for their
normal functioning and organic connection with the center."
Everyone knows that Georgia through a variety of climatic conditions in their regions is a
unique country in the world, what would envy, and the country owning vast territories, but it puts
its stamp on the national economy of different regions, the development of regional economies. In
such circumstances, with the help of local finance State may equate levels of economic and social
development of territorial units, which are compared with other regions due to certain historical and
natural conditions were among the retarded.
In our opinion, to the regional (local) budget work with the appropriate rights to his device
on the principle of fiscal federalism, since this central and regional budgets, distribution of tasks to
be undertaken, taking into account your own income send their budgets and take responsibility for
the preparation, approval and implementation of the budget.
Based on the foregoing, the socio-economic development of the territorial units of the
country is impossible without perfect financial units, which should ensure the economic balance of
individual parties.
Conclusion and Recommendations
In the socio-economic development of the territorial units of the most important is the
division of competences between the center and the regions. We believe competency should be
solved in three ways: a) special competence center, and b) issues relating to the special powers in
the region (territorial units), and c) issues relating to a single management. Here as it should be
noted that the Constitution of Georgia clearly formulated questions, relating to a special central
19
government, but said nothing about the competence of national and its territorial units (Abuselidze,
2006).
In our opinion, such a model is acceptable demarcation of competencies, which will provide
the definition of specific competences of central and local authorities, and those powers that are not
within the purview of any one of them, refer to the issues of unified management.
In our opinion, the basis for demarcation of the financial powers of the center and regions,
we can put two basic principles: according to the first principle must delimit the financial center and
the ratio of the region, which is primarily meant for each of them the existence of an independent
budget and stable sources of replenishment orders and the possibility of an independent their own
finances. But the problem of maintaining the economic balance, which is the guarantor of national
independence and the main factor in the socio-economic development, should not fall out of the
daily routine. It previa ideology is the basis of the second principle of delimitation of central and
regional finance, according to which the state within its territory have to ensure that financial
equalization of territorial units, starting with low development, with the average of the country.
References
1. G. Abuselidze, Features of Formation and Functioning of Budgetary System of Georgia at the
transitive stage, ―Publishing House of Science‖, tb. 2006, pg. 104-154. ISBN 99928-0-900-X.
2. G. Abuselidze, South-Western Georgia of Tbel Abuseridze Epoch (Economical Situation),
―Publishing House of Science‖, tb., 2004. pg. 7-86. ISBN 99928-0-811-X.
3. Babich A.M. Pavlova L.N. State and the Municipal finance, М. 2002
4. Bogachyov O.V.Amirov V.B.Problemy of strengthening of budgets субьектов federation and
local government. The finance, 1997, №9.
5. Granberg A. N. The state and regions, M.Urss. 2000.
6. V.Ljubimtsev, Budgetary federalism of a problem and prospect, the economist, 1996, №1.
7. Lekcin B, V.Shvetsov. Budgetary federalism in crisis and reforms, economy questions, 1998,
№3.
8. Podporina I.Transferty and Budgetary alignment, Rosiisky economic Magazine, 1995, №12.
9. Rubinin S.K.financial the policy and perfection of Interbudgetary relations, Z.Finansy, 1994,
№3
10. Laurels A. N. Budgetary federalism and financial stabilization, Z.Voprosy of economy, 1995,
№8.
11. Leksun V. N. Shvecov L.N. State and regions. M.Urss. 2000.
12. Pronin L.I.budgetary and reform of federal relations//the Finance 2004. - № 3 With. 19.
13. Сomenko A.D.State regulation of budgetary relations in the conditions of integration//the
Finance, 2004. - № 1.
14. Federal Laws on the Federal budget on 2002-2007
15. Finance. The textbook: — St.-Petersburg, TK Velbi, the Prospectus, 2009 - 640 with
16. Federalism and regional development in modern Russia. Methodological and institutional
aspects: — Moscow, the St.-Petersburg academy of management and economy, 2006 2007with.
17. Alla Grjaznova, Elena Markin, Finance, Publishing house: Infra Th, the Finance and statistics,
ISBN 978-5-279-03455-0, 978-5-16-004030-1; 2010 г
18. L. M.Podjablonsky, the Finance, Publishing house: It juniti-is given,2010
19. Ministry of Finance Italy, official site: http://www.mef.gov.it/en/#
20
20. Ministry
of
Finance
USA,
official
site:
http://www.treasury.gov/resourcecenter/sanctions/Pages/default.aspx
21. Ministry of Finance Germany, official site: http://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de
22. Ministry of Finance Canada, official site: http://www.fin.gc.ca/fin-eng.asp
21
OPPORTUNITIES AND DEVELOPMENT OF IMPLEMENTATION OF MULTIPLE
STATISTICAL METHODS IN MARKETING
Tatjana Bileviĉienė
Mykolas Romeris University
Ateities 20, LT-08303 Vilnius, Lithuania
Abstract. Marketing success depends on how accurately the market was analysed and
manage to focus their efforts. In order to understand the consumer and be able to assess the target
market, capturing of the market strategy towards which will be directed, you need to know what
influence the some kind of consumer‘s behaviour. Well done research of the market is the basis for
successful marketing. The abundance of firms that conduct market research shows the importance
of these studies. Modern statistical analysis program provides multiple methods of statistical
chance. By help of statistical programs the company can carry out the qualified market research
without employment of special investigators. This article examines the implementation in marketing
opportunities and development of multilevel statistical methods.
Keywords: market analysis, cluster analysis, factor analysis, market segmentation,
customer, marketing.
Introduction
Competition is growing rapidly in today's globalized world. Economic growth is largely
driven not by demand, but by oversupply. For understanding of the possible threats and
opportunities representatives of businesses are seeking for the most accurate information about their
area of the market, potential customers and competitors. The market has not only a specific
structure, but there are many market participants (consumers, competitors, supply agents).
Marketing is the process of needs‘ clarification, and for they satisfaction the necessary decisionmaking process, contributing to human or organizational goals. In order to understand customers
and be able to evaluate the target market, which will be directed to the capturing of the market
strategy, you need to know what factors determine some kind of user behaviour. This can be done
through the integration research of market, customer needs, market segmentation analysis,
competition, pricing and competitors' pricing policies clarifying, marketing services, advertising
analysis.
22
Evaluating the user behaviour, it is important to understand that the market consists of
different group of people with different interests. For participation in the market you need to know
the consumer‘s tastes, habits, financial opportunities. Only in that case you will be successful in
exercising the options and make a profit. Segmentation is the division of the market into different
groups (users or organizations) that have similar needs. Purpose of market segmentation is the best
possible way to ensure that resources are directed to those users or organizations from which we can
expect the highest returns.
In modern competitive environment, the companies seeking to be successful in business
must know how to manage the large-scale commercial information, understand and analyse the
market behaviour. For this purpose and to substantiate their marketing and other management
decisions, they are often carried out market research. Market research - is one of the most powerful
business tools, the most important and widespread component of marketing research. Market
research is a very important for business decisions in the development of new commercial
opportunities as well as maintaining and improving the situation. A well conducted study is the
basis of successful market segmentation. Each company that carries out market research must
comply with the rules, defining the behaviour of researchers. Members of European Society for
Opinion and Marketing Research (ESOMAR) must comply with the International Code of
Marketing and Social Research Practice. This document sets out the basic principles that the market
researchers and research customers must follow.
In recent decades, even small companies are carrying out the market research and the
received information are using in deployment of market size, competitive environment assessment,
marketing strategy (product, price, distribution, marketing, etc.). Popularity of market research
shows the large number of companies that offer this service. For example, the Lithuanian
www.118.lt directory provides a list of 116 companies with market research activities (see Figure
1). You can see that most of these companies registered in Vilnius (71%) and Kaunas (17%), i.e. in
cities with a high scientific potential.
Birţai
1%
Vilnius
71%
Kaunas
17%
Klaipėda
6%
Panevėţys
1%
Plungė
1%
Rokiškis
1%
Šakiai
1%
Šiauliai
1%
Figure 1. Geographical distribution of Lithuanian market research companies
23
Market Research Role in Marketing Process
The market usually defined as a set of existing and potential customers seeking to meet their
needs, their ability and willingness to allow the purchase money. In order to meet consumer
expectations and needs the company make decisions and perform actions related to the production
of the good, price, distribution and promotion. Marketing is an integrated strategy aimed at - to
meet consumer needs (Smith, 2009). Social norms strongly affect the people's behaviour. By
changing norms and behaviours can be changed. Market research can establish how those norms are
formed and influenced (Southgate, 2011). Customers always expect to receive the best goods, and
the globalization of world markets provides a much greater choice. In order to understand
customers and be able to evaluate the target market, which will be directed to the capturing of the
market strategy, you need to know what influences consumer behaviour. Therefore, the special
attention in the marketing system is given to market segmentation. Market segmentation is a widely
accepted concept in marketing research and planning. Market segmentation leads to the following
assumptions:

each market is not homogeneous, it consists of concrete segments, reflecting the
different categories of users' specific demands, which results in multiple nature of the market;

there is possible to identify the essential features of the demand, which may be called
basis of differentiation of goods and selling them methods (Tuma at al., 2011).
The main tool for market segmentation is the market research. Market research is collection
and analysis of qualitative and quantitative information about the demand and actual and potential
supply of goods and services, and presentation of the findings obtained by summarizing the
strategic and tactical business decisions (Lee, Bradlow, 2011). The essence of market research
consists of special techniques, ranging from the simplest to the latest and sophisticated research
methods, based on complex mathematical calculations, which are practically impossible without
modern computer equipment.
Market research models‟ innovation
Nowadays, marketing activities are becoming an inseparable component in the
organizational context (Tavares at al., 2010). Marketing effectiveness by default covers marketing
tools effectiveness definition, this is hypothetically due to the marketing essence which is realized
when using marketing tools. Marketing effectiveness depends on: differences in forms of marketing
tools, unknown antecedents of customer behaviour, marketing tools specificity in aspect of time,
natural existence of threshold points in a curve of customer loyalty, inability to quantify marketing
24
tools, complexity in measuring synergy of marketing tools (Daukńevičiūtė at al., 2011). Market
researchers will serve their organisations and customers better if they take an active role in updating
the customer experience measurement commensurate with advances in the conceptualisation of that
which firms offer customers (Maklan, Klaus, 2011).
Social and economic environment changes in the global financial crisis time prompted the
scientists interested in the research reflect the real environment as selves to theoretical and practical
research priorities. In the field of market segmentation these issues are particularly relevant given
evidence of the role of segmentation tools and techniques in tackling recessionary pressures (Quinn,
Dibb, 2010; Kayaly, 2011). Lee Quinn and Sally Dibb (2010) say that the focus on research has
decreased, because despite the importance of market research for business success, market research
effectiveness is still questionable. Deborah Roberts and Richard Adams (2010) in their article
examine the problems of modern market research, summarizes the views of scientists and
practitioners. The authors believe that research should examine the set of points of contact with
providers and consumers can interact to innovate and build enduring relationships. A modern
consumer behaviour‘s and market research‘s models are needed. A modern approach, unlike
traditional, doesn‘t settle by users purchase analysis, and focused on continuous process of thinking
and consumer product or service before purchase, and purchase decision-making during and after.
Diana Plantić Tadić and Maja Dawidowsky Mamić (2011) in their article deal with market
research as a tool to collect information about how the company's products can meet customers'
needs. The authors argue that companies that collect information about users' needs and satisfaction,
have the better management and business processes. Behavioural economics is going to have a huge
impact on market research. They looked beyond the preferences and rationality of the individual to
find a different, and rather more human, outlook. It will be by looking in these same places that
market research will learn from behavioural economics. Behavioural economics justifies the
importance of the small. That is what has made it so influential (Southgate, 2011).
Klaus M. Miller at al. (2011) made a comparison of four commonly used approaches to
measure consumers‘ willingness to pay with real purchase data (REAL): the open-ended (OE)
question format; choicebased conjoint (CBC) analysis; Becker, DeGroot, and Marschak‘s (BDM)
incentive-compatible mechanism; and incentive-aligned choice-based conjoint (ICBC) analysis.
The authors found that when the OE format and CBC analysis generate hypothetical bias, they may
still lead to the right demand curves and right pricing decisions (Miller at al., 2011).
Ordering market research, the company must know the specifics of the study and the
diversity of methods and opportunities (Guyon, Petiot, 2011). Considering the future of market
research, Ian Lewis (2012) argues that in the future, scientists have become business advisers to
25
help navigate the information. Successful collaboration requires specialists of three disciplines:
management consultants, conceptual analysts, and specialists in the some particular field.
Multivariate Statistical Analyses Methods
Multivariate statistics in a broad sense is defined as part of mathematical statistics, which
investigates the phenomenon of different patterns of not one, but of many of the variables and their
mutual dependence and interaction analysis. Basically it is the methods to help understand large
data arrays. The most commonly used multivariate statistical analysis methods are factor analysis,
cluster analysis and discriminate analysis (Kėdaitis, Pańkevičiūtė, 2007).
Factor analysis is widely applied in economics, marketing, and in other applied sciences that
deal with large amounts of data. The main idea of factor analysis can be described as follows: in the
light of the correlation between, the observed variables are divided into groups. It appears that each
group brings together some variables that are not observed directly (latent) factors. What is this
factor, the investigator, in the context of their constituent variables, decide by him. Factor analysis
helps to analyse and identify patterns and structures of the phenomenon. By application of the factor
analysis, the question arises, - how reliable and objective is this method (Kėdaitis, Pańkevičiūtė,
2007).
Factor analysis does not have a single solution. Correlation matrix elements can be
represented in different ways. In addition, factor analysis consists of different models based on
weighting factors for the calculation of the matrix. The best method of choice often leads to the
calculation methods friendliness, as well as the opinion of the investigator.
The cluster analysis is called a wide range of numerical data analysis methods to identify
and interpret objects in groups or clusters that are homogeneous and different. The variety of
dealing with problems determines the variety of clustering methods. Cluster analysis methods are
successfully applied to the analysis of socio-economic problems. Basic concepts of cluster analysis
are the similarity and dissimilarity (distance): distance indicates how many objects are distant from
one another (different), and the similarity shows how close are objects. Similar objects belong to the
same cluster, remote sites - for different clusters.
When there is a large number of variables, cluster and factor analysis are combined.
Sometimes observations are clustered before the application of factor analysis and the reduction of
the data set, sometimes common factor sought in separate clusters (Kėdaitis, Pańkevičiūtė, 2007).
Cluster and factor analysis methods require the complex mathematical calculations and therefore a
broad application of these methods have become available only in specialized statistical software
packages‘ (eg. Statistica, SPSS) assistance.
26
Opportunities of Factor and Cluster Analysis Methods‟ Implementation in Market
Research
Socio - economic processes always take place at a particular time and place, so they can‘t be
considered in isolation from them formed the economic, social, technological, ecological, cultural
and political factors. For the analysis, interpretation, prediction and insights of these processes it is
necessary the theoretical background and conceptual models that help to simplify observed reality.
This analysis is necessary to assess the full complexity of the process of exploration and
multidimensional, the strict application of mathematical methods of analysis and systematic
thinking, but at the same time, the analytical results must be submitted in form that is
understandable to the target audience (Rudzkienė, Kanopka, 2011). A full investigation requires the
multivariate analysis. This analysis can be performed only by means of multivariate statistical
analyses methods.
Many specialists consider that market segmentation is a key strategic marketing concept
today. Cluster analysis is one of the most widely used methods of market segmentation. It seeks to
identify homogeneous structures in the data by analysing the (dis-)similarity of the objects to be
clustered. Marketers use cluster analysis in separation of isolated groups of consumers, which
created a separate marketing program. Although cluster analysis has been extensively applied to
segment markets in the last 50 years, the ways in which the results were obtained have often been
reported to be less than satisfactory by both practitioners and academics (Tuma at al., 2011).
A marketing researcher intending to use cluster analysis to segment markets must decide on
several critical issues and problems that highly influence the outcome and, more importantly, the
quality of the derived market segments for further action (Dibb 2009). It is important not only to
determine the correct number of clusters, to describe each cluster, but also to assess the quality of
the segments. Tumas at al. (2011) argues that the quality of the segments can be assessed using the
criteria proposed by Wedel and Kamakura (2000), namely identifiability, substantiality,
accessibility, stability, responsiveness and actionability.
Then it is believed that the data collected (reporting data, the answers to the questions,
personal qualifications or consumption patterns) can be related to a variety of complex
relationships, factor analysis techniques can help to unravel these connections, to distinguish them
and to evaluate changes in the templates. A separate pattern occurs as a factor in identifying a
cluster of interrelated data. Factor analysis let reduce the amount of data, which often complicates
the process of market analysis. Applying factor analysis methods there is identified a number of
general patterns, in which information is concentrated and it with no loss replaces the information
recorded in dozens of signs. Factor analysis is one of the topology between empirical measures.
27
Inter-related features are grouped into different categories (product characteristics, consumer habits,
quality of life, stability, the rule base) that can be applied to groups of objects with similar
characteristics conclusion, evaluation and comparison of relations. Factor analysis allows obtaining
one or more variables, as summarized in a few dozen or a similar sense of its variables. Multivariate
analysis can reduce the number of variables in question.
Some companies carrying out the market research declare on their sites the multiple
statistical metdods‘ approaches. For example, the company Eurotela states: "We are not limited
market segment by one single criterion, but also take into consideration the whole set of variables in
order to provide you the broadest possible view of the market. By using cluster analysis mathematical - statistical method we are creating the groups of customers based on only their
common features, called clusters‖. Company Market Research Centre says: "We can do a statistical
analysis of the different levels of complexity: from simple distributions and cross-tables, the
statistical significance of differences tests, correlation coefficients, factor, cluster, regression
analysis to correspondent, multidimensional, discrete choice, and other analysis‖.
Conclusions
The modern enterprise for successful business must know how to manage large-scale
commercial information, understand and analyze market processes. The new marketing is a set of
strategies and techniques that can encourage potential customers to believe in the services and
products. The company's success and profit depends on how company accurately manages to
correctly analyze the market and direct their efforts.
Consumers have different tastes, preferences and financial capabilities. In order to
understand customers and be able to evaluate the target market, which will be directed to the
capturing of the market strategy, you need to know what factors determine some kind of users‘
behavior. This can be done through the integral market research.
Market segments can be formed in many ways; specialists of different countries use
different marketing segmentation techniques. Multivariate and cluster analysis methods let quickly
analyze the set of variables and identify market factors and targeted market segments. Some market
research companies involved in its emphasis on sites the multiple statistical approaches. This is
evidence of the popularity of following methods‘ development.
The accomplished analysis shows that the scientific research successfully reflects a real
environment, if the leaders of companies manage to present exactly the direction and purpose.
Ordering, market research the company must know the specifics of diversity of the study methods
28
and opportunities. In the future, scientists have become business advisers for purpose to help
navigate in the information ocean.
References
1. Daukńevičiūtė, I., Valainis, A., Vilkaitė, N. (2011). Conceptualization of the Effectiveness of
Marketing Tools. Intellectual Economics, 5, 2(10): 200–211.
2. Dibb, S. (2009) Bridging the segmentation theory/practice divide. Journal of Marketing
Management, 25(3-4): 219-225.
3. Gill, J., Johnson, P., Clark, M. (2010). Research methods for managers (4th ed.). London: Sage
Publications.
4. Guyon, H., Petiot, J. F. (2011). Market share predictions. A new model with rating-based
conjoint analysis. International Journal of Market Research, 53(6): 831-857.
5. Kayaly, D. E. (2011). Revolution in Market Research practices in Egypt – Viewpoint.
International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2(22): 133-137.
6. Kėdaitis, V., Pańkevičiūtė, D. Lietuvos regionų ekonominio-socialinio ińsivystymo skirtumų
vertinimas daugiamatės analizės metodais. (2007). Lietuvos statistikos darbai. Lithuanian
Statistics: articles, reports and studies. Statistikos ņurnalas. 46: 4-41.
7. Lee T. Y., Bradlow, T. (2011). Automated Marketing Research Using Online Customer
Reviews. Journal of Marketing Research, XLVIII: 881 –894.
8. Lewis, I. (2012). The future of market research. International Journal of Market Research,
54(1): 11-13.
9. Maklan, S., Klaus, P. (2011). Customer experience. Are we measuring the right things?
International Journal of Market Research, 53(6): 771-792.
10. Miller, K. M., Hofstetter, R., Krohmer, H., Zhang, Z. J. (2011). How Should Consumers‘
Willingness to Pay Be Measured? An Empirical Comparison of State-of-the-Art Approaches.
Journal of Marketing Research, XLVIII: 172 –184.
11. Plantić Tadić, D., Dawidowsky Mamić M. (2011). Market Research in Function of Business
Process Management. International Journal of Management Cases: 279-285.
12. Ofir, C., Simonson, I., Yoon, S. O. (2009). The Robustness of the Effects of Consumers‘
Participation in Market Research: The Case of Service Quality Evaluations. Journal of
Marketing, 73: 105–114.
13. Quinn, L., Dibb, S. (2010). Evaluating market-segmentation research priorities: Targeting reemancipation. Journal of Marketing Management, 26(13-14): 1239–1255.
14. Roberts, D., Adams, R. (2010). Agenda development for marketing research. The user‘s voice.
15. Rudzkienė, V., Kanopka, A. (2011). Tinklinių verslo ir informacinių sistemų modelių
konstravimo ir derinimo metodologiniai aspektai. XV kompiuterininkų konferencijos mokslo
darbai.
Klaipėda,
2011
September
22-24.
Retrieved
(12.02.2012),
from
http://www.lnb.lt/stotisFiles/uploadedAttachments/3_VX_kompiuterininku_konferencijos_mok
slo_darbai2011112321821.pdf.
16. Smith, P. (2009). Survey research: two types of knowledge. International Journal of Market
Research, 51(6): 719-721.
17. Southgate, N. (2011). Why behavioural economics should only make market research stronger.
18. Tavares, S., Cardoso, M., Dias, J. G. (2010). The heterogeneous best-worst choice method in
market research. International Journal of Market Research, 52(4), 533-546.
29
19. Tuma, M. N., Decker, R., Scholz, S. W. (2011). A survey of the challenges and pitfalls of
cluster analysis application in market segmentation. International Journal of Market Research,
53(3): 391-414.
20. Wedel, M., Kamakura, W. A. (2000). Market Segmentation: Conceptual and Methodological
Foundations (2nd Ed.). Dordrecht: Kluwer.
30
THE EXAMINATION OF THE DELEGATION OF THE AUTHORITY WITH
PYSCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT AND SUPERVISOR‟S SOCIAL LOAFING AND
AN APPLICATION IN A PUBLIC SECTOR
F. Gamze Bozkurt¹, Azize Ergeneli²
Hacettepe University
Business Administration Department
06800 Ankara, Turkey
E-mail: ¹[email protected], ²[email protected]
Abstract. The main aim of this study is to make it clear whether the subordinates view the
delegation of authority as a psychological empowerment or as a superior‘s social loafing tool. The
research was been conducted in a public organization which was performed as a group work in
Ankara. Results indicated that a significant positive impact of delegation on the perception of
psychological empowerment and a significant negative impact of delegation on the perception of
supervisor‘s social loafing
Keywords: Delegation of the authority, psychological empowerment, social loafing
Introduction
Delegation of authority is a process that covers assignment of important tasks to
subordinates, giving them authority and responsibility to make decisions with or without getting
prior approval (Ansari, Aaafaqi, Ahmad 2009, p.3). It is widely accepted as the essential element of
effective management. Delegation of authority is mentioned as enabling supervisors in using time
effectively by means of reducing work load, as raising subordinate‘s motivation, as improving their
leadership skills and aslo as enriching their job and helping provide subordinate‘s self-confidence
(Yukl and Pu, 2009).
Delegation of authority is an application became effective with the movement of human
relations in management literature. In 1920s, with the Hawthorne Studies revealing the effect of the
workforce participation on the efficiency, the importance of the participation became prominent.
The tendency of the management literature in this manner was tracked by the friendly behaviors of
the supervisors towards their subordinates in 1950s, management sensitivity on human motivation
and needs in 1960s, participation of employees in 1970s and finally teamwork among employees
and collaborative work environment in 1980s (quality management). The continuation of these
31
themes in the 1990s suggested that supervisors should empower employees (Whetten, Cameron,
Woods, 1996).
In all approaches focusing on individual participation, delegation of authority becomes a
administrative tool for the management and it is accepted as a method of employee participation.
This period beginning with the delegation of authority, even improved a long with the idea of
sharing with the empowerment studies.
Firstly, as Conger and Kanungo (1988) brought the term ―psychological empowerment‖,
how the employees perceive the administrative tools of management for empowerment began to
gain interest. Conger and Kanungo (1988) suggested that only if individuals feel the power, the
need for power will be met. In this case, it‘s important that employees perceive these administrative
applications as empowering.
The notion of empowerment has been described by Thomas and Velt (1990) as the task
motivation explained by four cognitive variables ant they are meaning, choice, impact and
competence.
Besides, when literature dealing with the individual and organizational results of the
delegation of authority is analyzed, in some studies (Leana, 1986, Schriesheim, Neider, Scandura,
1998) it has been proved that the delegation of authority increases the job satisfaction and
performance of the subordinate‘s whereas in others (Webber, Morgan and Browne, 1985, Pellegrini,
Scandura, 2006) it has been proved that it has a negative effect or no effect on performance and
satisfaction.
Studying the delegation of authority in terms of leadership, Bass (1990) affirms that
transformational leaders use the delegation of authority to improve their employees and laissez-faire
leaders use it to avoid blame for possible failure.
Nelson (2004) puts forward that some supervisors refrain delegation of authority because
they are afraid of employees‘ getting more powerful or some managers practice delegation of
authority too much, even do not know what is going on in their departments or shirk their duties by
forcing employees to do everything. This situation proves that the delegation of authority can be
used as social loafing tool by the supervisors. Social loafing has a negative effect in organizations.
After employees compare their own contributions to those of ‗‗perceived loafers,‘‘ they become
motivated to reduce their own efforts or they slack off (Hung, Chi and Lui, 2009).
Thus the inconsistency in previous findings prompted us to search the perception of
subordinates regarding the delegation of authority. In the light of these approaches, it‘s important to
understand how employees perceive the delegation of authority performed by their managers.
32
The main aim of this study is to make it clear whether the subordinates view the delegation
of authority as a psychological empowerment or as a superior‘s social loafing tool. Given these
purposes, the study tested two major hypothesized relationships:
H1: Delegation will be positively related to psychological empowerment.
H2: Delegation will be positively related to supervisor‘s social loafing.
Methodology
Sample
The research has been conducted in a public organization which performed a group work in
Ankara. In this study, the data was from the group members (subordinates), by means of survey
questionnaire forms. We distributed our survey questionnaires to the whole organization consisting
of 300 employees. In order to protect the confidentiality of the respondents, completed
questionnaires were returned directly to the researchers in sealed envelopes. 243 of the employees
returned their questionnaires. The response rate was %81.
Measures
Psychological empowerment was measured using a 12-item instrument developed by
Spreitzer (1995). (Coefficient alpha for the scale score was 0.90). Social loafing was measured
using a 13-item instrument developed by Ülke (2006). (Coefficient alpha for the scale score was
0.88). Perceived delegation was measured using a 6-item instrument developed by Schreism (1988).
(Coefficient alpha for the scale score was 0.80). All survey items had a five-point response format.
Subordinates rated their level of agreement with each item.
Results
The hypotheses concerning main effects were tested by conducting regression analyses.
Table 1 Regression Analyses
Unstandardized
Standardized
Model
Coefficients
Coefficients
B
Beta
1(a)
(Constant)
3,433
Delegation
,188
,227
2(b)
(Constant)
2,691
Delegation
-,130
-,142
a Dependent Variable: P. Empowerment
b. Dependent Variable: S. Social Loafing
*p<0,001
Sig.
,000
,000
,000
,026
It suggested that there was a significant positive impact of delegation on the perception of
psychological empowerment (β =0.227 p<0,001) and a significant negative impact of delegation on
33
the perception of supervisor‘s social loafing (β =-0.142 p<0,001)(See Table 1). (Hypothesis 2 was
supported, Hypothesis 1 was rejected)
Discussion
This study suggested that a significant positive impact of delegation on the perception of
psychological empowerment and a significant negative impact of delegation on the perception of
supervisor‘s social loafing. This conclusion supports the Knock‘s and et. all. (2000) study which
emphasizes a positive relation between the delegation of authority and psychological empowerment.
According to this conclusion, the delegation of authority can be proposed that managers should
delegate more authority to their subordinates. It can be pointed that one of the reasons which lead to
positive delegation of authority and psychological empowerment is close to the relationship
between the employees and the managers. In the literature, some of the studies (Liden, Wayne,
Sparrowe, Pellegrini, Scandura, 2006) have been conducted to show the positive link between
leader-member exchange and delegation (Ansari, Bui, Aafaqi, 2007). In future research, it can
propose to investigate the moderation effect of the subordinate-supervisor relationship on the
perception of delegation of authority as a supervisor‘s social loafing tool or psychological
empowerment. On the other hand, this is the first field study on deciding whether the delegation of
authority is a tool for social loafing of the supervisor or not. It is supposed to be helpful for future
studies as a practical source.
References
1. Ansari M. A., Bui L.B., Aafaqi R. (2007). Leader- Member Exchange and Work Outcomes: The
Mediating Role of Perceived Delegation in the Malaysian Business Context, Presented at the
Academy of Management (International Management Division), Philadelphia.
2. Ansari M. A., Bui L.B., Aafaqi R. (2009). Perceived Delegation and Work Outcomes: The
Moderating Role of Cultural Orientations in the Malaysian Business Context, Academy of
Management, and Chicago.
3. Bass, B. M. (1990). Bass and Stogdill‘s Handbook of Leadership (3 nd ed.), New York: Free
Press.
4. Conger, J. A., Kanungo, R. N. (1988). The Empowerment Process: Integrating Theory and
practice, Academy of Management Review, 3: 471-482.
5. Nelson R.B. (2004). Çalışanlara Yetki Verme, Çeviri: E. Sabri Yarmalı, Hayat Yayıncılık,
İstanbul.
6. Hung T. K., Chi N. W., Lu W. N. (2009). Exploring the Relationships between Perceived
Coworker Loafing and Counterproductive Work Behaviors: The Mediating Role of a Revenge
Motive, Journal of Business Psychology, 24: 257–270.
7. Konczack, L.J., Stelly, D.J. and Trusty, M.L. (2000), Defining And Measuring Empowering
Leaders Behaviors: Development of Upward Feedback Instrument, In Educational and
Psychological Measurement, 60: 301-313.
8. Leana, C. R. (1986). Predictors and Consequences of Delegation. Academy of Management
Journal, 29: 754-774.
34
9. Pellegrini E. K., Scandura T. A. (2006). Leader- member Exchange (LMX), Paternalism and
Delegation in the Turkish Business Culture: An Empirical Investigation, Journal of International
Business Studies, 37: 264-279.
10. Schriesheim C.A., Neider L. L., Scandura T. A. (1998). Delegation and Leader-member
Exchange: Main Effects, Moderators and Measurement Issues, Academy of Management
Journal, 41: 298-318.
11. Spreitzer G. M. (1995). Psychological Empowerment in the Work Place: Dimensions,
Measurment and Validation, Academy of Management Journal, 38: 1442-1465.
12. Thomas K V., Velthouse B. A., (1990). Cognitive Elements of Empowerment: An Interpretive
Model of Intrinsic Task Motivation, The Academy of Management Review, 15(4): 666-681.
13. Ülke H. (2006). Investigating the Role of Personality and Justice Perceptions on Social Loafing,
A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate School of Social Sciences of Middle East Technical
University, Ankara.
14. Webber, R. A., Morgan, M. A. and Browne, P. C. (1985). Management--Basic Elements of
Managing Organizations. Chicago, IL, Richard D. Irwin.
15. Whetten D., Cameron K. And Woods M. (1996). Effective Empowerment& Delegation, Harper
Collins Publishers, USA.
16. Yukl G., Fu P. P. (1999). Determinants of Delegation and Consultation by Managers, Journal of
Organizational Behaviour, 20: 219-232.
35
THE GLOBALIZATION OF WORLD ECONOMY – DILEMMAS AND
CHALLENGES
Jasmina Ćetković
University of Montenegro
Faculty of Economics
Jovana Tomańevića, 37, Podgorica, Montenegro
Milos Ţarković
NLB Montenegrobanka
Ulica bratstva jedinstva, 2/4, Podgorica, Montenegro
Abstract: In this document are presented political, economic, social and cultural aspects of
globalization. Positive and negative effects of globalization on the economic and overall social
welfare will be explored. This document contains successful examples of global economies, as well
as impact of globalization on countries in transition. Since the increase of multinational companies
is one of the essential features of economic globalization, part of the document is devoted to the
consideration of their role in this process. At the end this document, there will be presented
challenges which will expect us in that process in future.
Key words: globalization, global economy, aspects of globalization, the effects of
globalization, dilemmas and challenges.
“If you are fast at saying yes, you will be fast at saying no” (German saying)
Introduction
Global events lead us to search for possible answers: What is globalization, global,
worldwide recognized...? Also, the question is what are the political, economic, social, cultural
visions and interests that carry the current development of society in the future on. These are just
some of the questions asked, and that is not easy to answer, or even do not have it.
Like all things and phenomena, and globalization has its positive and negative sides. It is
therefore both difficult and easy to talk about the process. The essential characteristics of this
process are the duality, bipolarity, comparative progress and regress, "light" and "dark" side.
36
What is indisputable is that globalization is a phenomenon that has become reality that
touches our lives and causes strong debates about whether it brings more benefits or vice versa.
Also, there is no doubt that globalization in economic terms (but not only economic), reduces or
abolishes the barriers to international economic exchange, increasing economic integration among
countries. The fact is that so called "Second round of globalization" (Friedman, 1999) in form and
intensity of globalization fundamentally differs from the "first round of globalization" (prior to
1914).
Although it was not easy to classify the leading theories of globalization and to cover all the
different approaches to this phenomenon (Mittelman, 2002), we can say that two general trends of
globalization have separated, in which many variants are present. Even though, it is generally
accepted and widely used and provides an easier theoretical orientation of the phenomenon called
globalization, this division in any case cannot serve as a rigid, rough division with strict boundaries
(Held and McGrew, 2000). Many authors who have dealt with this issue cannot be classified in one
direction, it would be, given the attitudes and understanding of certain issues related to
globalization, could equally divided into two and even three directions.
The first direction includes authors who see globalization as an ideological mask that
conceals real processes occurring under the auspices of the transformation of the capitalist system
and that are crystallized in the literature and named "skeptics". It should be noted sociologist
Wallestrein's view (Robinson, 2011) who stressed that "the discourse (globalization) is actually a
huge lack of understanding of contemporary reality – deception imposed by powerful groups"
(Wallerstein, 2000). In the Wallestrein‘s opinion a discourse of globalization leads to
misunderstanding of the real crisis the world is in. This direction belongs to all the authors who
believe the myth of globalization, the authors of the traditional school of international relations, as
well as the authors arguing that globalization is not an unprecedented phenomenon, since similar
integration of the world economy was before.
The second direction is in the theoretical, methodological and even ideological part of the
more versatile. It consists of authors who emphasize their stance width, depth and intensity of the
changes that have occurred in recent times no doubt in all spheres of social life. Their interpretation
is known as globalization, given the exclusivity of the attitudes and approaches, they are known as
"hyper globalists". This direction was marked by Levitt, Ohmae, Strange, Friedman and others. The
essential difference between them is expressed through the division of the supporters of this
movement on so called "positive" and "negative" hyper globalists. Proponents of theory
modernization and the classical Marx‘s approach perceive the concept of globalization, on the one
hand, as a continuation of imperialism, Westernization or even Americanization of the world, on the
other hand, as a continuation of imperialism and colonialism. Both concepts are present in those
37
who are positively related to globalization, as well as those who "attack" it. We point out that
supporters of traditional theoretical concepts have more dominant influence in the scientific sense,
but this effect is present and has a strong impact on the layman's understanding of contemporary
global processes.
This theoretical understanding of globalization belongs to the authors who deal with
international relations which have tried to correct some shortcomings of the classical model of
modernization. This progress has come to the fore through the redefinition of international relations
map that occurred after the end of the Cold War. However, the classic edition of this movement
insists on the national state as the basic analytical unit, and whether supporters of this line belong to
the "skeptics" or "hyper globalists", they all belong together to the international relation.
Theoretically, the most diluted direction is the consisting of authors who, despite of all the
differences, like the fact that they accept the concept of globalization as a concept that can best
describe the relationship with the late twentieth and early twenty-first century. It is far more
moderate option (so-called "golden mean"), known in the theory as "transformationists".
Globalization, according to the authors who belong to this direction and repugnant contingency
process (Held et al, 1999), which is characterized by ambiguity and uncertainty, and cannot be
treated as a state of complete and stable order (that is treated by the "hyper globalists").
Different Aspects of Globalization
Intense process of political integration of sovereign community board is present in the so
called political globalization. This process was intensified by the fact that a growing number of
issues of economic, military, ecological, cultural character are to be dealt with outside the national
boundaries of individual states. In that way number of ―horizontal networks‖ is increasing, while
the "vertical networks" are strengthening as networks of supranational political institutions globally
resolve certain issues. The theory is treating largely redefined the role of government and some are
prone to consider the ultimate end state and its role (Douglas, 1998).
Developments in the modern world strongly delete the boundaries between countries, often
denying them, making them blurred and propulsive. Responds to the current common problems,
such as ecology, human rights, terrorism, drugs, etc., increasingly require cooperation among
countries through various forms of political connections, such as bilateral agreements, international
regimes, agencies, cooperation, and various other forms of networking.
We are witnessing a process of creating transnational "para-state" in the form of a
supranational political governance that creates a unique global space. It is therefore, the intricate
symbiosis of politics and the economy are getting stronger globally.
38
The most intense and most obvious aspect of globalization is the economic aspect. The
globalization of economic flows was first associated topic of the globalization. There is no doubt
that this aspect of globalization has led to growing economic integration and obtained the global
connections and ideological grounding of economic development to neoliberalism and market
fundamentalism. Three regional blocs in the world economy have been created (USA, EU and Asia)
and three international economic institutions (IMF, WB and WTO) that have a strong influence on
international economic relations. This aspect of globalization limited the role of sovereign nationstate, market expansion over the entire planet without visible boundaries of the process, the
accumulation of wealth in fewer and fewer countries, and growing disparities between rich and
poor. More than 20 years ago, "farsighted" economists have predicted the creation of new, global
economy, which is obviously different in many ways compared to the widely accepted international
economy.
Also, it is obvious that transnational capital does not have much understanding for social
policy, equal care for all population layers, especially for those who are not able to generate profit.
No matter on the remarkable economic prosperity to which the economic aspect of globalization
led, it is obvious that the benefits are not even close to fairly distributed (Arifovic, 2010).
However, globalization is not an option (alternative), it is inevitable. Certain issues must be
resolved through such international order in which the powers and freedom of the state,
corporations and individuals will be more clearly defined, so that by the state could provide
adequate protection. After global economic crisis it is more than clear that the basic attitudes and
concepts of neo-liberal economists have to be modified and amended, and the role of the state
restored and strengthened, especially in certain spheres of social life.
Apart political and economic aspects of globalization, it is no less important and interesting
to consider relationship between social policy and globalization, and social aspects of globalization
(Świątkowski, 2011). The liberalization of the economy at the macro level has led to increasing
inequality between and within countries, the growth of poverty, increased level of vulnerability of
people due to social risks (crime, unemployment). In the pre-globalization period, the autonomy of
managing national economies gave states the option to determine their own destiny. However, the
process of globalization in many ways had an impact on this situation. Popularity in over-budget
spending declined (due to the withdrawal of foreign capital), ability of states to create their own tax
policy was reduced (due to significant competitive low tax rates), possibility of independent
development of certain strategic sectors and industries declined, TNCs are heavily infiltrated with
capital, technology and management in many countries, creating the economic environment.
At the end of this review the cultural aspects of globalization will be discussed. Culture,
discussed in the context of globalization means the awareness of belonging to the world
39
community. All this leads to homogenization of tastes, lifestyles, languages, etc. In this way,
cultural differences disappear (Kirmse, 2010), and the brands are treated as "own". On the other
hand, the same process leads to the formation of powerful monopolies in the production of technical
and technological means to produce the world's cultures. The concentration of power is expressed in
the world's news agencies, and about 90% of total world production of information the press, radio
and television is the product of a few international news agencies. The vast machinery of media
monopoly and create awareness of reality and shaping public opinion (Mitu, 2011), and no doubt
create awareness of hyper-reality and artificial reality. Unlimited possibilities of information
technology and the Internet (Borghoff, 2011), have extended the dispersion of culture. We can
conclude that the cultural dimensions of globalization (Ghosh, 2011) as a powerful global industry
have become a key lever of the global order of power.
Positive and Negative Effects of Globalization
Bearing in mind that globalization is repugnant process (Pichler, 2012), we believe that the
objective can only be considered by examining the positive and negative effects of this process.
Certainly, the current world economic crisis has demonstrated the advantages, and the boundaries
(limits) and the weaknesses of globalization. Simultaneously, this crisis has confirmed the thesis of
the increasing interconnectedness and interdependence of the developed countries and developing
countries and transition economies in addressing key development issues of the world economy.
Obviously, the extent of the crisis overcomes capabilities of one country. So, "global response" to
open the perspective for a dynamic and sustainable economic growth and development in the world
is needed.
Even the existence of numerous dilemmas, the positive effects of globalization on the
economic and social prosperity are indisputable. Some of the main positive economic impacts of
this process are:

the growth of international integration of markets of goods, services and capital,
which is achieved due to the unprecedented scope and intensity of world trade, global financial
flows and the production of transnational corporations (Held and McGrew, 2000);

the encouragement of a new global division of labor, which is due to a number of
manufacturing processes to reallocate global scale (Dicken, 1998);

greater freedom of movement of goods (lowering barriers to international flows of
goods and services, which resulted in increased interest in international specialization has led to
rapid expansion of international economic transactions);
40

strengthening the intensity of international competition the radical reduction of
transport and communication costs (Strange, 1996) due to significant investments in infrastructure
(road networks, ports and airports, warehouses, modern equipment and technology, etc.);

the efficient allocation of savings, and greater mobilization of savings through a
more open approach to the increasing number of financial instruments in different markets financial globalization (International Economy, 2011; Singh, 2012);

easy access to foreign products allows to opt between a wide quality range at lower

the strong integration of national economies into the world economy through trade;

the higher education level (Hickman and Olney, 2011; Koirala-Azad and Blundell,
cost;
2011).
On the other hand many negative effects of this process are acknowledged (Andreas, 2011,
Dewhurst et al, 2011). Some of the most important are:

globalization, in the opinion of many brings many benefits that are not allocated
either automatically or evenly across countries

globalization promotes deregulation, and reduces the role of nation states (Chase-
Dunn, 1999; Scholte, 2001), which opens a real danger to enter into the zone of laissez-faire
capitalism, which can lead to riots;

intensification of speculative activities lead speculators to make money by switching
certain factors of production from countries where they are cheaper into countries where they are
more expensive, while producers locate their factories where it is cheapest (Soleyman, 2010; Plut,
2008) and labor - underage workers, extended working hours;

the threatened political and economic sovereignty and the creation of globalism as an
ideological concept that brings a universal standard for the whole world;

the pandemic spread of the economic crisis and other negative areas in the whole
world, such as organized crime (Das and DiRienzo, 2009), terrorism, drug addiction ...
Like any other process, globalization certainly has both positive and negative effects.
Regardless of what some theorists are inclined to a preference of one or other effects, we believe
that this process most objectively viewed in the light of both effects (Irani et. al., 2011; Schuller,
2011).
Also, many problems are attributed to globalization, although the source of these problems
is away from the globalization process. We can speak of how globalization should contribute to this
solution, if it wants to carry the characteristics of universality and integrity on.
41
The Effect of Globalization on Countries in Transition
All factors of globalization have much stronger effect on "small" country, than on the big
one. Smaller countries are typically dependent on foreign trade than larger, which makes any
change in the world economy to have a significant impact on the economies of small countries.
Some authors have tended to emphasize the generally negative effects of globalization on
developing countries in transition, such as the "brain drain", the increase in poverty and inequality
and high levels of corruption (Ńliburytė, Masteikienė, 2011).
However, for countries in transition, globalization is an additional challenge, given that there
is a dilemma of whether to engage in this process or not, the question is just how to do it. Proper
identification of causes and effects of the globalization process is letting transition countries to
successfully implement the transition process. One of the key transition elements of the transition
economies is certainly their reintegration into the global economy. The data show that these
countries had GDP per capita at the level up to two thirds of income earned in the most developed
countries of Western Europe, and after several decades long stage of socialism and centrally
planned economic management remained far behind them. In the last years of transition progress
has been made in liberalizing trade and financial arrangements, although there are significant
differences between countries in the volume of commercial transactions. The largest number of
countries has removed restrictions and took steps to liberalize financial flows. Reintegration of
transition economies into the global economy is well underway. The success of this process varies
from country to country. According to the World Bank's data higher results were achieved in trade
in relation to financial flows. It is inevitable integration of transition countries into the global flows
in a manner which will formulate its strategy of national development and to determine their
comparative advantages in terms of the "new economy".
The Role of Transnational Companies (TNCs) in the Process of Globalization
The presence of transnational companies in the global economy is highly significant (Costea
et. al, 2011). Their distinctive development is marked by strong economic growth in the postwar
period. Most Western economists and politicians with the right support the important role of TNCs.
At the same time these companies represent a serious threat to social and economic well-being of
employees, small businesses and local communities. From the other side, it can be heard just the
opposite: the increase in exports, the growth rate of employment and high earnings.
TNC host countries are interpreting two ways and contrary to its role. These countries
realize that foreign direct investments attracted capital and valuable technologies in the country,
42
but, on the other hand, there is a real risk of exploitation and domination by these powerful
companies.
What is indisputable is an evident large influence of transnational corporations in shaping
today's political and economic. Also, these companies lead to increase the world's wealth (through
better allocation of resources and higher productivity) and have a great impact on the global
distribution of wealth and economic activities among national economies. It is hard to say how their
work contributes to the increase in overall welfare. Just because the global system, you might say,
favors the realization of the objectives of transnational companies, the rules and regulations that are
fair and just, devote equal attention to the poor and the powerful, and that reflects feelings of social
justice. How to realize such an idea? On the other hand, governments of developed countries need
to establish more effective mechanisms for monitoring TNCs to make them more accountable for
their actions in developing countries.
Conclusions
Globalization has become a usual topic in analyzes of contemporary social processes.
During its treatment many "fall" into a trap on the fact that globalization is a "magic wand" that is
the cure for many diseases and problems. However, it is true that globalization and economic
liberalization, bring some positive effects, but also certain social and political issues that are the
result of the global functioning of the world economy. In this regard, a number of authors rightfully
view globalization as a controversial phenomenon (Nayak, 2011).
What is the only sure is that globalization cannot be stopped. However, there are number of
those who believe that should do it functional (Brown, 2008). It is an open question how to affirm
its positive effects, and limit or stop negative ones. International financial institutions should show
its active role in addressing development, stabilization, financial, monetary and similar problems of
member countries in the upcoming period. Time will tell whether financial institutions in managing
the process of globalization succeeded in achieving its founding mission or not.
On the other hand, the global economic crisis, is now certainly, opened space for the
regulation of economic trends at the national level, where necessary and where it is not possible to
regulate it with classical and efficient economic institutions (especially in the use of global,
financial, human, organizational innovation, and resources). This is perhaps one way of preserving
globalization as a process (Rodrik, 2007).
However, it is quite wrong to conclude that the current relativization of neo-liberal doctrine
and effort to establish it will lead to the end of globalization which represents inevitable and
unstoppable process of modern economic developments and the overall social trends.
43
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28. Schuller, Bernd-Joachim (2011), The impact of globalization on living standard, quality of life
and international competitiveness - the Baltic States, Applied Economics: Systematic Research,
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Development, Perspectives on Global Development & Technology, 9(1/2).
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Transformations Reader: An Introduction to the Globalization Debate, Cambridge: Polity Press.
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environment to economic globalization, Current Issues of Business & Law, 6(2).
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Transition Economies, Economics & Management, 16.
45
THE MANAGING THE BRAND TRUSTS IN LITHUANIAN COMPANIES
Migle Eleonora Ĉernikovaitė
Ateities str. 20 LT-08303 Vilnius; Lithuania
Abstract: The post-recession period leads to the changes in the market, where the
consumers tend to be more critical to the companies and expressing their trust views towards brands
of the companies. The brand trust research studies world-wide has showed that strongest position of
trust has the technology sector, while the financial services experienced the dramatic decrease in the
consumers trust in the past few years The business, which is lack of consumer confidence, forced to
ask themselves the question – how to behave, that brand trust could be returned to the previous
position. Therefore, aim of this article is to analyse the brand trust situation in Lithuania and to
prepare the proposals how to manage the factors, influencing brand trust of Lithuanian companies.
Keywords: Trust, Reputation, Research studies, Social Responsibility, Post-recession
period.
Introduction
Previous financial crisis have changed the whole business world. Private and public sector
now faces a high level of scepticism from the society today. According to Edelman Trust Barometer
study, which was carried out in 23 countries, has showed the decrease of common level of trust in
business this year up to 56 percent. But it can vary from country to country depending on the
country's economic situation and development. (Edelman, 2011)
Recent trust and reputation research studies in Lithuania have showed that Lithuanians
values the business honesty and transparency, constant and open communication. However, only 4
percent of respondents believe that business in Lithuania is fair, 15 percent thinks – the business is
more honest than dishonest, 42 percent believes that business more dishonest than honest, 31
percent agrees that business is unfair, 8 percent have no opinion (Zukauskas, 2009). In conclusion,
the trust study in Lithuania has showed important factors of brand that are: honesty and
transparency, good financial performance and the social responsibility.
Aim of this article is to analyse the situation of brand trust in Lithuania and to propose how
to manage the brand trust in business companies in post- recession period. Objectives of the article
is to analyze the theoretical concepts of brand trust and the influencing factors, to overview the
46
situation of the trust in Lithuania and foreign countries and submit the proposals for the brands
trust management.
Research methods used in this article: the systematic, comparative, logical synthesis and
analysis of scientific literature.
Literature Review
The concept of trust usually associated with the company's openness and honesty to the
society and it‘s supported with good quality of goods and services and financial performance of the
companies. This supports the importance of maintaining good reputation of the company, also the
competence of contact persons and the social responsibility. According to Sztompka (1999), the
most common definition of trust includes two main components: the extraordinary expectations and
belief in the company‘s actions whatever they do.
The concept of brand trust was also examined by many authors:, Putnam (2001), Hooghe,
Stolle (2003), Koca (2007), Matzler and others (2008). Continuing with brand trust the main
research was made by Papadopoulou et al. (2003), Chaudhuri and Holbrook, (2005) DelgadoBallester (2007) and others has formulated the concept of brand trust there is extremely important
for increasing customers' loyalty towards brands. As a result, a low brand trust may counterbalance
high brand satisfaction to reduce the probability of purchase of a product or service. In contrast, a
high level of brand trust may ultimately convert a satisfied customer into a loyal one, which lead to
the company profits and better market position.
The main goal of building brand trust in the market is to achieve a sustainable competitive
advantage and enhance a business performance. Many researchers have a consensus that brand trust
could be established through a combination of good reputation, offering good quality of goods and
services, and communication through the word-of-mouth, advertising, and brand image (DelgodoBallester and Munuera-Alemán, 2007, Chaudhuri et al., 2005).
By creating a culture of trust in the company it is likely needed to ensure effective and
positive interaction between people, groups and institutions. Many researchers have investigated the
behaviour of social groups: Putnam and Goss 2002, Ņiliukaite, 2004, Hong-Youl Ha, 2007, Matzler,
2008 and others. And came to the conclusion that trust is created through long-term relationships
between different social groups.
An analysis of the theoretical aspects of brand trust, explains the fact that the more we trust
the company the more visible consumers faith in the good business performance, quality of goods
and services, social responsibility and it might be transformed to the long term brand loyalty (Ha,
47
2007). Also may be added, that the major indicator of trust in company‘s management is reputation
estimates and brand equity which is the total assets in general (Hahn and Kim, 2009)
World vs. Lithuania Companies‟ Situation Analysis
The business confidence studies showed the critical results in 2009, when global financial
crises have reached its highness. Edelman trust barometer research study in 2009 has showed that
62 percent of respondents trust less the business companies than 2008. The study indentified a
strong correlation between trust in the company and its sales. 77 percent respondents admitted about
their critical opinion about the distrust companies to their friends and colleagues. 66 percent
respondents admitted that business should cooperate with governments in solving problems: as
energy consumption, global warming and access to health care services. (Edelman, 2011) The same
study held in 2010 showed the stabilized situation of people's trust attitudes to various
organizations. This study revealed the increased confidence in the business from 54 percent to 56
percent, but also smaller, but growing confidence in the authorities' actions since 47 percent up to
52 percent. According to the research, the world's consumers tend to rely on non-governmental
organizations in post-crisis period. The levels of trust are very unequal across countries (Figure1).
The so-called developing countries - Brazil, India and China - the people's business confidence has
been holding up relatively well during the year continued to increase. In advanced industrial
countries - Britain, U.S., France and Germany - trust for the private sector is much lower.
100
Trust ratio in different countries,
2010-2011, % 2010 2011
80,5
61
68 70
58
65 61 60
56 53
40
50
52
36
48
55
47 49 44 42
40
0
Brazil
India
Italy
China
Japon Germany France
USA
UK
Russia
Figure 1. Trust ratio in business activities in different countries in 2010-2011
Source: Edelman Trust Barometer 2011
48
The brand trust is strongly influenced by social and economic factors. According to
Edelmans study, businesses today face with such indifference and skepticism that never before. For
example, for people to have confidence in any message, it must be repeated 10 times. The reason
for that were the financial crisis in 2009 and the corporate fiscal scandals in some large European
countries in 2010.
Lithuanian place according to Edelmans Trus Barometer study, 2011, would be at
somewhere between Russia, Poland and Sweden, which the trust in business is likely to be one of
the smaller ones. This rate determines the overall trends and economic situation- the weak
consumption, unsafety (Matuliauskas, 2011).
The Edelman‘s quantitative research study results showed that the financial sector has
experienced the biggest drop in trust. The respondents tend to trust the technology industry the most
(Figure 2). Also the car industry is starting to regain confidence, lost during the economic crisis the trust in the sector increased by 17 percent points in 2 years.
Figure 2. Trust dividends in different industries, 2011
Source: Edelman Trust Barometer 2011
According to Edelmans trust barometer survey, the major obstacles of business development
are the budget deficit, unstable economic growth, over-regulated business and growing
unemployment rate. (ekonomika.lt, 2011).
As for Lithuania, a few quantitative and no one qualitative research are made to show the
brand trust situation in Lithuania. The few are made by Lithuanian Department of Statistics. The
first one is the customer confidence indicator, that show the material situation of the households and
49
their future expectations and the second is the economic confidence indicator that focus on the
situation characterized by prices, unemployment and general economic factors of the country.
According Lithuanian Department of Statistics, the economic confidence indicator in 2011,
compared to 2010, increased by 16 percentage points. Industrial confidence indicator rose by 8
percentage points in the service sector - 27, construction - 25, consumer and retail trade - by 16
percentage points. The customer confidence indicators rose by 3 percentage points according to the
survey, because the respondents were optimistic about the prospects of unemployment rate, their
household financial situation and the prospects of economic growth over the next 12 months.
However, the confidence indicator has been affected by the change in the economy and more
optimistic than a year ago the financial situation of the household projections (investar.lt, 2011)
Confidence between the commercial banks, businesses and households declined
significantly fast at the end of 2008. The economic downturn influenced the general distrust in the
market, the first who has experienced the outcomes were the entrepreneurs who were banned from
access of loans from banks and many went bankrupt and forced to dismiss workers. Some business
which was trusted as good employees a year ago, during the crisis were closed and contributed to
grow of global distrust. (Sedlauskiene, 2011).
The second big decline in brand trust, especially in banks sector was observed at the end of
2011, then the Bank Snoras went bankrupt, and thousand of depositors and SME companies were
cuted from their deposits before Christmas. The impact was observable in the whole market, retail
business, and fuel market and energy sector.
The brand trust building factors
The reputation survey held in by Harris Poll Reputation Quotient, in 2012 has measured
brand trust ratio in business performance and presented the factors of building brand trust, which
are: vision and leadership, financial performance, product and services quality, workplace and
environment; social responsibility, emotional appeal (Figure 3).
50
Six brand reputation dimensions
Vision and
leadership
Social
Responsability
Emotional
Appeal
Financial
performance
Product and
services
quality
Workplace
and
environment;
Figure 3. Six brand trust and reputation dimensions, 2012
Source: Rachlevičius, 2012
The study is being held by making qualitative research on different global brands. The study
stated that quality service is the foundation of band trust. The study showed that brand reputation
and its factors plays the key role of brand trust as a variable that generates customers‘ commitment.
This effect is can be observed especially in situations of high involvement of customers, in which
its effect is stronger in comparison to overall satisfaction. According to the study, Apple is major
brand which has the most trust from the consumers in 2012.
Managing of Brand Trust in the Companies
Lithuanian companies could adopt the best experience of the international companies by
managing brand trust.
Managing the brand trust of the company, it means to encourage customers the
confidentiality in business performance, the quality of goods, extensive exchange of information
and experience, also to create the stability and to take care of social responsibility. The good
business performance indicator of trust in every company is total assets. If growing managed asset
in the company, so trust is definitely persist. The trust and cooperation can be affected by the
information about the company‘s reputation and brand equity which are the non-material element of
company‘s assets. The other indicator of quality of goods and services is willingness to recommend
them to the others and wow-of mouth, especially in social media.
The Lithuanian companies should think of the social responsibility, where special emphasis
should be made on society and ecological problems by encouraging the cooperation of the
scientific, education and training, promoting public participation, regional authorities, business and
51
non-governmental organizations and private organizations. The developed partnerships should
support various public projects and non-governmental organizations. And the local authorities
should provide information on existing international sources of funding for community initiatives.
The studies of brand trust proposed to improve and promote the public image of Lithuanian
companies, because if the company has a good image, it becomes visible in the market, gaining
higher confidence of customers and partners. Creation of good image and reputation is one of the
key business objectives of communication activities. Incorrectly selected the company's imagebuilding strategy and poor communication activities may damage the reputation of the company.
The more people interact, the more trust and mutual understanding is built. The return on
investment to shareholders is 3 times high in the trust organizations than the low-trust
organizations.
Conclusions
Analysis of the theoretical concepts of brand trust has showed the fact - the more we trust
the company the more visible consumers faith in the good business performance, quality of goods
and services, social responsibility and it might be transformed to the long term brand loyalty. The
more we trust each other, the closer we can work together. Brand trust is initiated when the
company have collaborative efforts with consumer rather than individual goals
According to the international research, the people trust business and government less after
the global financial crisis which affected global economic crises. The levels of trust are very
unequal across countries and the industries. The so-called developing countries - Brazil, India and
China - the people's business confidence has been holding up relatively well during the year
continued to increase. In advanced industrial countries - Britain, U.S., France and Germany – trust
in business is much lower. The most trusted industries are technology and car manufacturing, the
less trusted- the financial sector and banking, which has a lot of to regain in the post recession
period.
A few customers‘ confidence surveys have showed that the brand trust is very low in
Lithuania. None of the corporate sector can boast of very high level of consumer trust indicators.
And after the bankruptcy of Bank of Snoras in 2011 it is even worse. The large businesses and
famous brands can‘t regain the trust in couple of years. The studies showed that Lithuanians prefer
the smaller service providers, because of their flexible adaptation for market changes.
Although the article provides some insight into the way in which factors affecting consumer
perceptions on brand trust and reputation interact to influence brand trust outcomes, it has certain
limitations because it. The future studies should be taken by focusing on banking, financial services,
energy or media business sectors which is showed the biggest drop in brand trust. Next step is
52
intended to make a field research to identify the perception of the customers about the brands that
take place in those sectors and also identify the main factors of brand trust in different sectors in
Lithuania.
References
1. Delgado-Ballester E., Munuera-Alemán J., (2001),"Brand trust in the context of consumer
loyalty", European Journal of Marketing, 35(11): 1238 – 1258.
2. Grįņta pasitikėjimas verslu [The trust in business is back] (2011). [Accessed 17/02/2012]
http://www.ekonomika.lt/naujiena/grizta-pasitikejimas-verslu-4085.html?page=1
3. Edelman Trust Barometer (2011). [Accessed 17/02/2012] http://www.edelman.com/trust/2011/
4. Hong-Youl Ha, (2004) "Factors influencing consumer perceptions of brand trust online",
Journal of Product & Brand Management, 13(5): 329 – 342.
5. Matuliauskas A. (2011). The trust capital/ Pasitikėjimo kapitalas. [Accessed 07/01/2011]
http://iq.lt/titulinis/pasitikejimo-kapitalas-2/.
6. Pasitikėjimas
verslu
sumaņėjo
62%.
(2009).
[Accessed
17/02/2012].
(http://www.verslokryptis.lt/lt/naujienos/lietuva/pasitikejimas-verslu-sumazejo -62-percent /).
7. Putnam R.D. (2000). Bowling Alone. The Collapse and Revival of American Community, N.Y.
London, Toronto, Sydney, Singapore, Simon & Schuster, 2000.
8. Putnam R. Goss A. (2002). Bowling alone: the collapse and revival of American community.
N.Y.: Simon.
9. Rachlevičius
V.
(2012).
Geriausia
reputacija-„Apple―
[Accessed
12/02/2012]
http://poziuris.eversus.lt/naujienos/2374
10. Sedlauskienė A. (2011). The evaluation of trust in the company [Pasitikėjimo verslo įmonėje
vertinimas] Verslo nuosavybės ekonomikos magistro baigiamasis darbas. Vadovas prof. Dr. I.
Mačerinskienė. – Vilnius: Mykolo Romerio universitetas, Ekonomikos ir finansų valdymo
fakultetas, 2011. 90 p.
11. Sztompka P. (1999). Trust. A Sociological Theory, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press,
1999.
12. Vartotojų pasitikėjimas 2011 m. balandį padidėjo 3 procentiniais punktais (2011). [Accessed
17/02/2012]
http://investar.lt/ekonomika/tendencijos/4525-vartotoju-pasitikejimas-2011-mbalandi-padidejo-3-procentiniais-punktais/
13. Ņukauskas
G.
(2009).
The
speed
of
trust.
[Accessed
17/02/2011].
http://www.slideshare.net/TimeForLeaders/giedrius-ukauskas-pasitikjimo-greitis-6208736)
53
OBSTACLES TO GREEN ELECTRICITY GENERATION BUSINESS
Arta Denina¹, Janis Zvanitajs²
Riga Technical University
Faculty of Engineering and Management
Meza str. 1/7, Riga, LV-1048, Latvia
Abstract. Investment in green electricity generation is normally associated with certain risk.
There are several risks that have to be taken into account and seriously analyzed before the
investment decision. Typically one can distinguish risks related to technology, risks related to
electricity market, risks related to legislative and political frameworks. Many authors distinguish
public support as an important risk category. Often risks transform into real obstacles to start-up and
operation of green electricity generation business. The paper particularly looks into investment
capital and electricity generation costs as key obstacles to competitiveness of green electricity
generation business. Investment costs and operation costs of green technologies are compared
against those of fossil fuel technologies. The paper concludes that only in certain cases green
electricity generation can compete with electricity generation from the traditional energy sources
such as gas, coal or nuclear power.
Keywords: renewable energy sources, investment and operation costs, competitiveness, risk
Introduction
Investment in electricity generation is associated with certain risk and uncertainty.
Investment security is a concern for all investors. There are many factors that influence investment
security and that have to be taken into account and seriously analyzed before the investment
decision can be made (Kramina, 2012). The economic performance of a specific energy source
determines its ability to establish market place (ECOFYS, 2010). Electricity generation from
renewable energy sources (RES) is different from electricity generation in its traditional meaning.
These sources represent variable output which makes it difficult to plan cash flow since producers
cannot run their plants at maximum capacity. Nevertheless, today electricity generation landscape is
undergoing significant change. Transformation from electricity generation based on fossil fuels
such as gas and coal to electricity from renewable energy sources (RES-e) is evident (Ministry of
Economy, 2010). Installed RES capacities are increasing (European Commission, 2010). Many,
54
including IEA, EWEA, EURELECTRIC and others believe that this trend will continue in the
future. Technology learning curves and global energy policy change will support this development.
There is an evident interest in investment in green electricity technologies due to economic, social
and environmental gains (National Academy of Sciences, 2009). Despite the fact that it is often
very difficult to compare electricity generation costs of different power technologies because of
very complex financial structures of power projects, in general one can say that RES-e generation
costs per unit of electricity are higher than those of a fossil or a nuclear power plant (Royal
Academy of Engineering, 2008; National Academy of Sciences, 2009). There is no single set on
electricity generation cost. Electricity generation costs differ from technology to technology on a
global scale and are influenced by many factors, including operation mode, efficiency, fuel price,
capacity factor, etc. However, there are not many
When looking at electricity generation costs, it is important to mention their structure, since
the cost structure influence the cost of electricity. The cost structure of electricity generation is
different from technology to technology. Investment and operation costs, on one hand, and revenues
from selling the produced electricity, on the other, are key elements in the analysis of economic
sustainability of a RES-e generation business project. Data on investment and operation costs help
to calculate RES-e generation costs. In economic theory the concept of levelized costs of electricity
is commonly used to assess competitiveness of different electricity generating technologies.
Levelized cost of electricity shows the average cost to generate one unit of electricity during the life
cycle of a power plant. It takes into account capital costs, fuel costs, O&M costs and CO2 costs.
The concept of levelized cost of electricity helps an investor to calculate time to recover investment
when there are no specific market or technology risks (IEA, 2010).
Literature Review
The number of publicly available sources on electricity generation cost is very limited.
There are only few sources that provide comprehensive information on electricity generation cost
data. This explains why only few authors have looked into this aspect in detail.
In order to compare electricity generation costs of different technologies, the authors have
used the 2010 edition of the report The projected costs of generating electricity
from the
International Energy Agency and 2011 study from VGB Powertech Investment and operation cost
figures – generation portfolio since they represent the most reliable information on electricity
generation costs available. The IEA report is a global reference for electricity generation costs and
features compiled data from the most recent publications of different organizations. Since the data
presented in this report vary from country to country, the authors in this article provide ranges of
55
electricity generation costs of different technologies. The VGB study gives an overview about
electricity generation costs from a point of view of engineering competence.
Methodological Approach
The objective of this paper is to identify the main risks to RES-e generation business and
assess RES-e generation cost per unit as the major competitiveness risk. In order to achieve the
objective the following tasks have been defined:
-
To classify risks related to RES-e generation business;
-
To present electricity generation cost structures for RES-e and fossil and nuclear
power technologies;
-
To compare electricity generation cost per unit of RES-e and fossil and nuclear
power.
The paper has the following structure:
First, the risks related to RES-e generation business are presented. Then, electricity
generation cost structures of different electricity generating technologies are looked at. Analysis of
electricity generation costs of power technologies follows. Finally, conclusions of the discussed
material are provided.
Electricity Generation Cost as the Major Competitiveness Risk
Risks to Electricity Generation
One can distinguish four groups of risks. These include risks related to technology, risks
related to electricity market and risks related to legislative and policy frameworks. Technology
related risks include investment and operation costs, construction time, efficiency, etc. Market risks
include fuel costs, demand, competition, electricity price. Legislative risks deal with market
organization, competition regulation, licensing, decommissioning, etc. Risks related to policy
include environmental standards, CO2 emission limits, support framework, etc. (IEA, 2010). The
authors believe that public support to green electricity projects is often the decisive factor and
therefore should be considered as the fifth group in the risk classification.
Electricity Generation Cost structure
Risks often transform into real obstacles to start-up and operation of green electricity
generation businesses. Investment and operation costs are two the most important cost aspects for
56
RES-e technologies, and only for few RES-e technologies, such as biomass, fuel cost is an issue.
Compared to traditional electricity generating technologies and fuels, such as fossil fuels or nuclear
power, fuel is not relevant since the resource is naturally available. The same applies for CO2 costs.
Since RES-e technologies do not emit, there is no CO2 cost. In order to better understand
competitiveness aspects of different electricity generating technologies it is important to look at the
structures of generation costs. Figure 1 demonstrates structure of electricity generation costs of
different electricity generating technologies at 5% (first bar) and 10% (second bar) discount rates.
The total electricity generation cost is broken down into 5 groups: investment costs, operation and
maintenance (O&M) costs, fuel and CO2 costs, and decommissioning costs.
100
5,2 3,6 12,3 11,4
7,3 4,9
16 9,5
16
14,5
22,7
14,9 36,8 29,9 21
80
15,1
25,2
60
22,8
27,9
40
75,6
58,6
Decommissioning
71,3 66,4
7,5
76,5
66,8
9,2
20
39,8
25,9
0
21,9
51,6
83,8
91,7 94,9
CO2 costs
Fuel costs
4,9
5,2
11,1 17,3
Figure 1. Structure of electricity generation costs, %
Source: Own construction based on IEA, Projected costs of generating electricity, p.112
In general investment cost of RES-e technologies accounts for the largest shares in the
structure of electricity generation costs of different technologies. For example, in case of
photovoltaics this share is even above 90%. O&M costs vary from 5-7% in case of photovoltaics to
16-23% for wind power plants. Traditional electricity generation technologies represent similar
shares, varying from 5% for gas power plants to 25% for nuclear power. RES-e technologies have
no fuel costs. In case of the fossil or nuclear power plants fuel costs vary from 10% for nuclear
power to 71% for gas power plants. Coal power plants demonstrate the largest share of CO2 costs.
In the future when carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology becomes commercial, this cost can
drop to 4-5%.
57
Electricity Generation Costs
The IEA study on projected costs of generating electricity is a global reference for electricity
generation costs. This study presents electricity generation cost data for different technologies in
different countries. The authors have identified the cost ranges for different technologies. These
ranges prove that conditions in which different power plants operate vary from country to country;
however, this variation is clearly evident for RES-e technologies particularly.
The authors have used the data from IEA and VGB on levelized electricity generation costs
to construct Figure 2.
400
350
EUR/MWh
300
Highest value, EUR/MWh, IEA
estimates
250
Lowest value, EUR/MWh, IEA
estimates
208
200
VGB estimates, EUR/MWh
150
100
50
99
91
70
92
115
112
63
31
0
Figure 2. Levelized electricity generation costs of different power technologies
Source: Own construction based on IEA and VGB
For nuclear power the VGB estimates are given for nuclear technology EPR 1600 expected
to come into the market after 2015. For wind onshore the cost estimates are given assuming that
investment cost is 1100 EUR/kW. For wind off-shore close and wind off-shore far the cost
estimates are made on assumption that investment cost is 2000 and 3000 EUR/kW accordingly.
In general RES-e generation costs are higher than electricity generation costs from the
traditional power technologies. RES-e technologies represent large cost ranges as one can see in
Figure 2. The large cost ranges indicate that RES-e technologies are yet not economically mature.
Hydropower is the only RES-e technology that can be considered as mature. Great variation in
electric capacity from several kW to several thousands of MW and in power potential explains the
large cost ranges for hydropower. Besides weather conditions significantly influence hydropower
production.
58
Solar photovoltaics have the highest electricity generation cost per unit. This technology
represents the largest cost ranges from 158 EUR/MWh to 345 EUR/MWh. Electricity generation
cost per unit at hydropower plants ranges from 36 EUR/MWh to 170 EUR/MWh. In general this
cost range is larger than for nuclear power; however, in certain cases hydropower generation cost
per electricity unit can compete with that of nuclear power. Electricity generation cost per unit of
nuclear power is in the range from 21 EUR/MWh to 59 EUR/MWh. Also onshore wind power can
be competitive with the traditional electricity generating technologies. Electricity generation cost
per unit of onshore wind power is from 35 EUR/MWh to 107 EUR/MWh. Electricity generation
cost per unit of off-shore wind power is significantly higher and is in the range from 74 EUR/MWh
to 138 EUR/MWh. Electricity generation cost per unit of electricity produced in biomass power
plants represents the third largest cost range among the RES-e technologies and is from 40
EUR/MWh to 143 EUR/MWh.
Conclusions
Financial structures of power generation projects are very complex and therefore it is
difficult to compare electricity generation costs from various energy sources. The very limited
number of available reliable sources is an important barrier to analysis of competitiveness risks of
the green electricity technologies.
Investment cost and operation cost are key components of electricity generation cost which
represent a competitiveness risk in electricity generation. For some technologies fuel cost and CO2
cost are also important cost factors. RES-e technologies demonstrate large share (up to 90%) of
investment cost in the total generation cost structure. This is followed by O&M costs up to 23%.
The traditional electricity generating technologies account for up to 75% of investment cost, 25% of
O&M costs, 28% of fuel costs and 37% of CO2 costs.
In general RES-e generation costs per unit of electricity are higher than electricity
generation costs from the traditional power technologies. The large cost ranges of RES-e
technologies indicate that RES-e technologies are yet not economically mature and only in certain
cases can be competitive with the traditional power technologies. In the future the learning curves
of RES-e technologies and global energy policy change will enhance competitiveness of RES-e
technologies.
References
1. ECOFYS (2010). Financing Renewable Energy in the European Energy Market. Retrieved
(March 29, 2012) from
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/renewables/studies/doc/renewables/2011_financing_renewable.pdf.
59
2. European Commission (2010). EU energy and transport figures. Retrieved (March 29, 2012)
from http://ec.europa.eu/energy/publications/statistics/doc/2010_energy_transport_figures.pdf.
3. International Energy Agency (2010). The projected costs of generating electricity. Paris: OECD.
4. Kramina, I. (2012). Approved and planned amendments in the legislation – how will they
influence investment security in renewable energy sector? Unpublished materials from
Renewable Energy Conference 2012, Riga, Latvija, March 15 2012.
5. Ministry of Economy of Latvia (2010). National Renewable Energy Action Plan (in Latvian).
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ction_plan_latvia_lv.pdf.
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and Impediments. Retrieved (March 20, 2012) from
http://sites.nationalacademies.org/xpedio/groups/energysite/documents/webpage/energy_05451
8.pdf.
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8. VGB Powertech (2011). Investment and operation cost figures – generation portfolio. Retrieved
(February 21, 2012), from https://www.vgb.org/index.php?site=vgbmultimedia&id=5414z.
60
WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS‟ PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS AND
PARENTS‟ PARENTING STYLES PROFILE
Azize Ergeneli ¹, Anıl Boz²
Business Administration Departmet
Abstract. As the recognition of the importance of entrepreneurship to the economy has
increased, the profile of entrepreneurs became an interesting issue to discuss. In order to encourage
the women entrepreneurship it seems to be necessary to clarify the profile of those entrepreneurs by
investigating their personality characteristics and their parents‘ parenting styles as motivating
factors. In this study 104 women entrepreneurs and 108 women who are not entrepreneurs but
working in public sector filled out the questionnaires. The study is in analyzing process, suitable
analysis will be applied and the results will be discussed accordingly.
Key Words: Entrepreneurship, women entrepreneurs, parenting styles, personality
characteristics
Introduction
The role of entrepreneurship in today‘s economy is attracting the researchers‘ attention,
because big business has become less important leading economic force than in the past. Countries
have discovered entrepreneurship as a promising source of economic vitality and its popularity has
increased dramatically during the past two decades. One of the reasons for this popularity is the
downsizing practice of big firms due to economic crisis many unemployed individuals tried to
consider entrepreneurship to become independent in pursuing their economic needs as organizations
no longer provide them careers opportunities they once did.
As the recognition of the importance of entrepreneurship to the economy has increased, the
profile of entrepreneurs became an interesting issue to discuss. Entrepreneurs are known for what
they do: they create new products, processes, and services for the market. In general, entrepreneurs
can be defined as individuals who bring about an improvement, both for other individuals and for
society as a whole (Hisrich & Peters, 1989). Although some researchers think that entrepreneurs are
born with some special entrepreneurial personality and they tend to have similar personality
61
characteristics, some others believe that entrepreneurship can be taught and especially parents form
entrepreneurial spirit at home by teaching children responsibility, risk taking, self-confidence in
their abilities, and internal locus of control and so on.
Meanwhile, the number of women-owned business grew at a rapid scale throughout the
world as well and despite the obstacles they face, and they are mostly small businesses some of
them become large and profitable.
It is estimated that by the year 2020, 40 to 50 percent of all businesses will be owned by
women.
A research reported that some women-owned businesses generated revenues of more than
$1 million per year. Also, research observations points out that very often the enterprises started by
women are influenced by the decisions and desires of their family members.‘ It is understood that if
these women involve themselves in various managerial decisions it would have a positive impact on
both their enterprises and on them too. In addition to personality traits, several additional individual
difference variables have been found to predict entrepreneurship. Demographic factors affecting
entrepreneurship are age, sex, education, work experience and role models.
In this study; women entrepreneurs and women who are working in public sectors will be
compared related to their personality and parents‘ parenting styles. It will help us to see; will the
parenting styles of their parents‘ and their personality traits effect their job selection?
Literature Review on Parenting tyles & Personality
Research on the relationship between entrepreneurship and personality has been a subject to
several criticisms. Personality is made up of the characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings and
behaviors that make a person unique. In the discussion of the personality traits, this study only
focus on the five dimensions of the Big Five which are neuroticism, extraversion,
conscientiousness, openness and agreeableness. Neuroticism refers to the degree to which an
individual has emotional stability. Individuals high on neuroticism tend to experience a number of
negative emotions including anxiety, hostility, depression, self-consciousness, impulsiveness, and
vulnerability (Costa & McCrae, 1992). Extraversion illustrates the extent to which people are
assertive, dominant, energetic, active, positive emotions and enthusiastic. People who score high on
extraversion tend to be cheerful, like people and large groups, and seek excitement and stimulation.
(Costa & McCrae, 1992). Openness is the tendency to be creative, curios, adventurous and
receptive to new experience (Singh & DeNoble, 2003). Agreeableness assesses one‘s tendency to
be compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious towards others. Individuals high on
agreeableness can be characterized as trusting, forgiving, caring, altruistic, and gullible.
62
Conscientiousness indicates an individual‘s degree of organization, persistence, hard work and
motivation in the pursuit of goal accomplishment (Barrick & Mount, 1991).
Entreprenurial intention is effected by lots of factors such as personality, culture,
educational background and role models. The family is the first social group that one comes into
contact with and from which the individual learns the basic values of living. Therefore, parents
become the most important actors in individuals‘ life. Parents‘ belief, attitudes, behaviours and
expectations on child care is called ―parenting styles‖ (Darling & Steinberg, 1993).
Categorizing parents according to whether they are high or low on control and
acceptance/involvement creates a typology of four parenting styles: authoritarian, authoritative,
permissive/neglecting and permissive/indulgent. Authoritarian parents are highly demanding and
directive, but not responsive. ―They are obedience- and statusoriented, and expect their orders to be
obeyed without explanation‖ (Baumrind, 1991) Authoritative parents monitor and impart clear
standards for their children‘s conduct. They are assertive, but not intrusive and restrictive.
Permissive/neglecting parents are low in both control and acceptance/involvement. It is like
opposite of authoritative style. (Maccoby & Martin, 1983) Permissive/indulgent parents
nontraditional and lenient, do not require mature behavior, allow considerable selfregulation, and
avoid confrontation (Baumrind, 1991) Indulgent style is sometimes referred as democratic parenting
style.
The individuals that have permissive/indulgent families are expected to have much more
entrepreneurial intention and characteristics than the individuals in authoritarian families. In this
study both personality characteristics and parents‘ parenting styles are expected to be different
between entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs group.
Research Methodology
Sample
The data is collected from women entrepreneurs and women who are worker in a public
sector. To make valid and reliable comparison, two samples‘ number is tried to keep equal or close
to equal. 104 data is from women entrepreneurs and 108 data from women who are working in
public sector was collected.
Data Analysis
Big five Inventory and Perceived Parenting Style Questionnares were used. The parenting
styles: authoritarian, authoritative, permissive/indulgent and permissive/ neglecting which were
constructed by crossing perceived parental acceptance/involvement and strict control dimensions of
parenting. There are 22 questions for parents‘ parenting styles. The questionare has two dimensions;
63
acceptance/involvement and control and according to scores from these dimensions there are four
styles. The other variables under investigation in this study were agreeableness, extraversion,
conscientiousness, openness, neuroticism, entrepreneurial abilities and perceived society value on
entrepreneurial activity. Also demographic questions like education level of respondents‘ parents or
their job were asked.
The main research problem of the study is to determine the difference of personality
characteristics and their parents‘ parenting styles between entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs.
Therefore hypothesis in the study can be formed as;
H1a= There is a significant difference between entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs
regarding their mothers‘ parenting styles
H1b= There is a significant difference between entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs
regarding their fathers‘ parenting styles
H1c= There is a significant difference between entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs
regarding their big five personality characteristics. (neuroticism, extraversion,
conscientiousness, openness and agreeableness)
The analysis of
variance (ANOVA) was performed to compare these two
groups.(entrepreneurs & non-entrepreneurs)
Results
Table I gave the descriptive data about entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs‘ perceived
mother-fathers‘ parenting styles. Table II showed that there are no significant differences between
entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs related to mothers‘ parenting styles. The Anova table
(Table.II.II) shows us the no significance difference and F (1,210) = 0.55, p > .05. Both women
entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs perceived their mothers as permissive/indulgent.
The fathers‘ parenting styles change significantly between entrepreneurs and nonentrepreneurs, F(1,210) = 7,94, p < .05.(Table III.II) Entrepreneurs perceived their fathers‘
parenting style as permissive/indulgent but according to non-entrepreneurs their father was
authoritarian and this difference is significant.
64
Table 1. Descriptive Statistics about Parenting Styles & Mothers‘, Fathers‘ Parenting
Styles Percentage Table
Descriptive Statistics about Parenting Styles
Non-
Entrepreneurs‟
Entrepreneurs‟
Mothers
Fatthers
Mean
2,3654
2,2500
2,3981
2,6481
Median
2,0000
2,0000
2,0000
3,0000
2,00
2,00
2,00
3,00
1,01501
1,01206
1,01337
1,04403
1,030
1,024
1,027
1,090
Mode
Std. Deviation
Variance
Entrepreneurs‟
Mothers
Non-Entrepreneurs‟
Fathers
Table 2. Mothers‘ Parenting Styles
Mothers‟ & Fathers‟ Parenting Styles Percentage Table
Non-entrep.
Entrep. Mothers
Entrep. Fathers
Non-entrep. Mothers
%24.0
%27.9
%19.4
%16.7
%30.8
%32.7
%40.7
%27.8
%29.8
%26.0
%20.4
%29.6
%15.4
%13.5
%19.4
%25.9
Authoritative
Fathers
Permissive/
indulgent
Authoritarian
Permissive/
neglecting
Table. II.I Test of Homogeneity of Variances
Mothers‘ parenting styles
Levene Statistic
df1
df2
Sig.
,036
1
210
,850
65
Table. II. II ANOVA
Mothers‘ parenting styles
Sum of Squares
df
Mean Square
F
Sig.
,057
1
,057
,055
,814
Within Groups
215,995
210
1,029
Total
216,052
211
Between Groups
Table 3. Fathers‘ Parenting Styles
Table. III. I Test of Homogeneity of Variances
Fathers‘ parenting styles
Levene Statistic
df1
df2
Sig.
,477
1
210
,491
Table. III. II. ANOVA
Fathers‘ parenting styles
Sum of Squares
Between Groups
df
Mean Square
8,399
1
8,399
Within Groups
222,130
210
1,058
Total
230,528
211
F
Sig.
7,940
,005
The big five personality characteristics dimensions‘ reliabilities are extraversion %78,2
(cronbach alpha=,782), agreeableness % 72 (cronbach alpha=,72), conscientiousness % 76,7
(crobach alpha=,767) ,neuroticism %78,9 (cronbach alpha=,789) and openness % 70 (cronbach
alpha =,701)
Table 4. Big Five Personality Characteristics Difference between Entrepreneurs &
Non-entrepreneurs
Table. III.I Test of Homogeneity of Variances
Agreeableness
Levene Statistic
df1
df2
Sig.
,049
1
210
,824
df2
Sig.
Openness
Levene Statistic
df1
66
Table. III.I Test of Homogeneity of Variances
Agreeableness
Levene Statistic
df1
2,706
1
df2
210
Sig.
,101
Table. III.II ANOVA
Agreeableness
Mean
Sum of Squares
df
Square
F
Sig.
Between Groups
1,846
1
1,846
,047
,009
Within Groups
54,997
210
,262
Total
56,843
211
Openness
Mean
Sum of Squares
df
Square
F
Sig.
Between Groups
5,455
1
5,455
16,212
,000
Within Groups
70,660
210
,336
Total
76,115
211
When we compared entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs regarding to big five personality
characteristics Table III showed us that there is significant difference in agreeableness
F(1,210)=7,047 p < .05 and openness to experience F(1,210)=16,212 p < .05
Conclusions
Entrepreneurs rate in economy of Turkey is lower than the other OECD countries. Until
1980,politicians and economists are trying to develop entrepreneurship by some regulations.These
regulations include some credits support, tax reduction or others contributer factors. However, these
political regulations are important factors for private sector, since enrepreneurship is not only
economical value, they were not display enough impulsion.
Entrepreneurship is not only an economic also a social and cultural value. Although some
social structures encourage entrepreneurial spirit and culture, and others prevent. In this study,
firstly we tried to show the important effect of the smallest social group,parents, on entrepreneurial
intention.Family is the key point in cultural transition from one generation to others. Although
todays this is changing, the lots of studies showed that Turkey has had patriarchal culture.
(Kagıtcıbası, 2010; Ecevit, 2007; Sumer & Gungor, 1999) In Turkey, the roles of family members
67
were categorized according to their gender. Fathers work outside and earn money; mothers do
indoor works (cooking,washing dishes or laund..e.t.c.) and child care. Our study showed that there
is significant difference between entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs‘ fathers‘ parenting styles and
while
entrepreneurs
perceived
them
permissive/indulgent,
non-entrepreneurs
perceived
authoritarian. The important point in this study is the significance difference of fathers parenting
style and non-significance difference in mothers‘. The daughters perceive their fathers as an
economic role model and fathers‘ parenting styles shape their preferences about job. In recent years,
the number of women who are working outside home is increasing rapidly in Turkey. Therefore; the
role models, identity that society put on individuals and preferences are changing.
The personality characteristics of entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs were differed in
significantly on agreeableness and openness.As expected, entrepreneurs are much more creative,
curios, receptive to new experience and cooperative than non-entrepreneurs.
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69
EXTENDED TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTANCE MODEL AND THE EFFECTS OF
ESPOUSED NATIONAL CULTURAL VALUES ON ELECTRONIC-MAIL
ACCEPTANCE: AN APPLICATION IN A TURKISH IRON AND STEEL COMPANY
Azize Ergeneli¹, Savas Mutlu²
Business Administration Department
E-mail address: ¹[email protected], ²[email protected]
Abstract. Aim of the study is to test Extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM2) for
Electronic-mail (E-mail) acceptance in a Turkish iron and steel company and to investigate the
moderation effects of Espoused Natıonal Cultural Values-ENCV (i.e. Individualism/CollectivismIC, Masculinity /Femininity-MF, Uncertanity Avoidence-UA and Power Distance-PD) between
Subjective Norm (SN) and Usage Intention (UI). Research included 286 white-collared
partricipants. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Structural Equation Modelling (i.e.
Analysis of Moment Structures-AMOS) programs were used for statistical analysis. As the results
of the study, Perceived Ease Of Use (PEOU) and subjective norm found as the determinants of Email usage intention, PEOU found as a strong determinant of Perceived Usefulness (PU) and power
distance moderated positively the relation between subjective norm and usage intention.
Keywords: Espoused National Cultural Values, Extended Technology Acceptance Model.
Introduction
Use of computer mediated communication (CMC) systems in organizations grows rapidly
and most of those systems are conveying E-mail. People usually evaluate use of those systems from
technical point of view. But use of such systems in an organisation should be investigated from
other (i.e acceptance and organisational behaviour) aspects. In this study it has been aimed to look
at e-mail acceptance in a Turkish company from different aspects.
Literature Review
Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) has been adapted from Theory of Reasoned Action
(TRA) by Davis (1989). TAM offers a sound explanation about user acceptance and use behavior
70
(Venkatesh and Morris, 2000, p.116). There are four determinants of TAM which are perceived
usefulness, perceived ease of use, usage intention and usage (Lee et al., 2003, p.759). Perceived
usefulness is the degree, one‘s believed that using a system will improve her/his work performance.
Perceived ease of use is the degree; one's believe that using a system doesn't require much effort
(Davis, 1989, p.320). By adding subjective norm, Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) has been
extended to TAM2. Subjective norm is related with one's perception about referent people's
opinions on her/his performing behaviour (Huang et al., 2003, p.93).
Espoused National Cultural Values are defined as "The degree to which an individual
embraces the values of his or her national culture" (Srite and Karahanna, 2006, p.681). National
cultural values are explained by Hofstede's famous study (Hofstede, 1980) and this study is a
pioneer of that era in which not many cultural studies performed (Jones, 2007, p.5). National
cultural values can be espoused at different levels by the members of a nation. For example
individualism and collectivism studies performed in different cultures showed that in societies both
idiocentric and allocentric people exist in different ratios (Triandis, 2004, p.90). So, cultural values
can be measured at individual level (Dorfman and Howell, 2004, p.129). Espoused national cultural
values are described as follows (Srite and Karahanna, 2006, p.682):

Power distance is the accepted inequality of power distribution by the individual,

Individualism is individual's emphasize on her/his own needs instead of group needs,

Uncertainty avoidance is individual's tolerance to ambiguous situations,

Masculinity is domination of the individual's values such as assertiveness, competitiveness
etc. and femininity is related to good relations, quality of life etc.
Survey
Hypothesis of the research are given below:
H1: Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) has a direct positive effect on E-mail Usage
Intention (UI). Usage of a system, besides other factors, is dependent on PEOU (Davis, 1989,
p.320). PEOU is a potential factor that may increase user acceptance (Venkatesh and Morris,
2000, p.118).
H2: Perceived Usefulness (PU) has a direct positive effect on E-mail Usage Intention (UI).
People tend to use a system more as they believe that using that system enables them to do their
work better (Davis, 1989, p.320). An important part of technology acceptance model research
shows that PU is an important determinant of usage behavior (Venkatesh and Morris, 2000, p.117).
H3: Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) has a direct positive effect on Perceived Usefulness
(PU). Assuming all the other factors are equal, if a technology is easier to use, it is perceived as
more useful (Venkatesh and Davis, 2000, p.192).
71
H4: Subjective Norm (SN) has a direct positive effect on Perceived Usefulness (PU). If a
superior or a peer describes a system as useful, a person also may perceive that system as useful
(Venkatesh and Davis, 2000, p.189).
H5: Subjective Norm (SN) has a direct positive effect on E-mail Usage Intention (UI).
People may wish to perform a behavior even if they do not tend to do it, in case of they think the
others want her/him to do that behaviour (Venkatesh and Davis, 2000, p.187).
H5a: Collectivisim (C) has a positive moderation effect between Subjective Norm (SN) and
E-mail Usage Intention (UI). People that espouse individualist cultural values are less sensitive to
other people's opinions in their environment and people that espouse collectivist cultural values
obey to reference groups norms (Srite and Karahanna, 2006, p.687).
H5b: Power Distance (PD) has a positive moderation effect between Subjective Norm (SN)
and E-mail Usage Intention (UI). People that have higher power distance are more careful about
compromising with their superiors (Srite and Karahanna, 2006, p.687).
H5c: Femininity (F) has a positive moderation effect between Subjective Norm (SN) and Email Usage Intention (UI). People that espoused feminine cultural values are more concerned with
cooperation and those people's behaviour are more influenced from the other people (Srite and
Karahanna, 2006, p.686).
H5d: Uncertainty Avoidance (UA) has a positive moderation effect between Subjective
Norm (SN) and E-mail Usage Intention (UI). When superiors or peers mention about their
experience and perceptions regarding the system, the uncertainty about the use of the system
diminishes.
H6: E-mail Usage Intention (UI) has no effect on Usage (U). In literature, relation between
usage intention and usage found mostly statistically non- significant (Lee et al., 2003, p.760).
Conceptual model of the hypothesis is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Conceptual model
PU: Perceived Usefulness
72
PD: Power Distance
UI: Usage Intention
PEOU: Perceived Ease of Use
IC: Individualism/Collectivism
MF: Masculinity/Femininity
SN: Subjective Norm
UA: Uncertainty Avoidance
U: Usage
Scale
For extended technology acceptance model, the scale that was improved by Davis (1989)
and extended by Venkatesh and Davis (2000) is used. Subjective norm and behavioral intention are
two-item constructs in that scales. But, Hair et al (2005, p.783) recommended that in Structural
Equation Modeling (SEM) minimum three preferebly four items per construct should be used. Also
Bayram (2010, p.50) recommends to use three or more observed variable for one latent variable.
For that, two items for social influence from Venkatesh et al.(2003) and two items for behavioral
intention from Srite ve Karahanna (2006) were added to the scale and PU (4), PEOU (4), SN (4)
and UI (4) items were used in the scale. For espoused national cultural values, Dorfman and
Howell's (1988) scale IC (6), PD (6), MF (9) and UA (5) items were used.
Analysis
Correlation coefficients, reliability analysis (Cronbach Alpha), average and standart
deviation values are seen at the Table 1 below:
Table 1. Correlations, reliability, average and standard deviation values
Var.
Ave.
Std.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Name
(/5.00)
Dev.
IC
PD
UA
MF
PEOU
PU
SN
UI
1.IC
3.88
0.76
(0.76)
2.PD
2.08
0.69
-0.67
(0.6)
3.UA
4.26
0.65
0.48**
-0.10
(0.87)
4.MF
2.61
0.91
0.08
0.18*
-0.06
(0.82)
5.PEU
4.15
0.69
0.28**
-0.12
0.42**
0.06
(0.71)
6.PU
3.94
0.83
0.23**
-0.15*
0.38**
0.10
0.60**
(0.93)
7.SN
3.65
0.68
0.18**
-0.05
0.21**
0.06
0.50**
0.42**
(0.79)
8.UI
4.25
0.63
0.27**
-.22**
0.39**
-0.02
0.58**
0.57**
0.47**
(0.87)
* Significant at the 0.01 level
** Significant at the 0.05 level
73
Since minimum 0.60 Cronbach Alpha value confirm the reliability of the scale (Kalaycı,
2008, p.405) and considering Dorfman ve Howell's (1988) original scale had 0.57 Cronbach Alpha
value for power distance (Taras, 2008, p.25), Cronbach Alpha value for power distance (0.64) is
acceptable in Table.1. Also there is no correlation coefficient greater than 0.85 that shows the lack
of multicollinearity problem (Kline, 2005, p.56).
Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) using a structural equation modeling program (i.e.
Analysis of Moment Structures-AMOS 16.0) performed for TAM2 and ENCV independently. In
CFA, a high Modification Indices (M.I.) value indicates a cross-loading (Byrne, 2010, p.108). In
TAM 2 model, totally 3 items [PU(1), PEOU(1) and UI (1)] and in ENCV model totally 9 items
[IC (2), PD (2), MF (4) and UA(1)] deleted because of high M.I. values.
After CFA, structural regression model analysis performed for testing some hypothesis
(i.e.H1-H5 and H6). Model fit indices of CFA and structural regression models are given in Table 2.
Table 2. Model fit indices of CFA and structural regression models
MODEL
CMIN/DF
GFI
AGFI
CFI
RMSEA
TAM2
2.220 < 3
0.938>0.90
0.903>0.90
0.971>0.95
0.065 (0.05-0.08 )*
ENCV
1.537 < 3
0.933>0.90
0.910>0.90
0.961>0.95
0.043 <0.050
STR.REG.
MODEL
1,906< 3
0,923>0.90
0,89 (0.85-0.89)*
0,962>0.95
0,056 (0.05-0.08 )*
* Acceptable Fit (Meydan and Şeşen, 2011, p.37)
According to analysis results, there is a strong (Beta=0,800) relationship between PEOU and
PU. Also, UI is mostly dependent on PEOU (Beta=0,558), and SN (Beta=0,248). The other
regressions at the model are statistically insignificant. Variables explained %59,5 (R square) of UI ,
and %63,9 of PU.
Moderation analysis
Moderation effect of a variable can be explained as its effect on dependent variable by
interacting independent variable (Baron and Kenny, 1986, p.1174). Hypothesis regarding a
moderation (i.e.H5a-d) were tested by using hierarchical regression analysis, and only hypothesis
H5b was supported. According to that hypothesis, power distance (PD) has a positive moderation
effect between subjective norm (SN) and usage intention (UI). In other words, as power distance
increases, the effect of SN on UI also increases.
74
Methods
Data was collected by using questionnaire. Participants were white-collared workers who
have access to e-mail system for work purposes in a Turkish iron and steel company. Totally 320
questionnaires distributed via e-mail and paper form. 295 (%92) of those returned back and 286
were usable. According to descriptive statistics 206 (%72) of the participants were men and 80
(%28) were women. Average age was 34 and 233 had at least a bachelor degree from a univesity.
Results
Test results of the hypothesis are summarized in Table 3.
Table 3. Results of hypothesis tests
Hypothesis Number
Description
Result
H1
PEOU-UI
Supported
H2
PU-UI
Not Supported
H3
PEOU-PU
Supported
H4
SN-PU
Not Supported
H5
SN-UI
Supported
H5a
SN X C-UI
Not Supported
H5b
SN X PD (+)-UI
Supported
H5c
SN X F-UI
Not Supported
H5d
SN X UA (+)-UI
Not Supported
H6
UI-U (No relation)
Supported
Discussion
According to Hofstede's research, Turkish people are collectivist, close to femininity, have
high power distance and high uncertainty avoidance. In that sample, it is found that national cultural
values are espoused by individuals except power distance. The reason for having a low power
distance may stem from high education level of the participants.
Perceived ease of use of e-mail cause direct and positive effect on usage intention. When
people perceive a system as user-friendly they tend to use the system more. Also there is a direct
and positive relation between subjective norm and usage intention. It as an expected result for this
research, because during interviews, participants told that even CEO of the company use e-mail
effectively and sent and receive e-mails from his subordinates.
75
Power distance has a positive moderation effect between subjective norm and usage
intention. A reason for that may be people who have high power distance care more about what
their superiors and peers want them to do.
This research has been realized in only one organization. The reason for that was to fix the
variables such as organizational culture and e-mail infrastructure. So, the results of this study may
not be generalized. Similar surveys should be done in various companies, in various sectors, and
possibly in various countries to reach a general conclusion.
Conclusions
In our sample, people tend to use e-mail if they perceive it as "easy to use" system, and this
perception brought together perception of usefulness. In that company when establishing a
computer mediated communication system, easy usage should be the first criteria to be taken into
account.
Also in societies that have strong social pressures on individuals such as Turkey, at the
acceptance of a communication technology, other people's (especially superior's and peer's) ideas
are very important and this effect is stronger for the people that have higher power distances.
Acknowledgments: Authors wish to thank Mr.Kemal OK for his valuable support in data
collection phase of this research.
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77
JAUNIMO VERSLUMO TYRIMAS TARPTAUTINĖJE TEISĖS IR VERSLO
AUKŠTOJOJE MOKYKLOJE
Margarita Išoraitė
A.V.Graičiūno aukštoji vadybos mokykla
Traku g. 9/1, LT- 01132 Vilnius
E- paštas: [email protected]
Anotacija. Jaunimo verslumas - tai jauno ņmogaus poņiūris, įgūdņiai ir ņinios, kurie leidņia
kurti pridėtinę vertę ir veiksmai, skirti ńiai galimybei panaudoti. Ńiame straipsnyje analizuojamas
jaunimo verslumo ugdymas. Nagrinėjama verslumo samprata, jaunimo verslumo ugdymas ir jo
įgyvendinimas bei jaunimo verslumo tyrimas Tarptautinėje verslo ir teisės aukńtojoje mokykloje.
Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad jaunimo verslumą skatintų ńie mokymo metodai: pristatymas,
paskaita, seminaras, proto ńturmo bei grupinio darbo metodai, diskusijos darbo grupėse, uņduočių
sprendimas. Verslus ņmogus turėtų pasiņymėti sekančiomis savybėmis: pilietińkumu, imlumus
naujovėms, sugebėjimu patraukti, suburti ņmones bendrai veiklai, mokėjimu planuoti laiką,
sugebėjimu prognozuoti, matymu į „priekį―, intuicija, sugebėjimu priimti sprendimus, pasverta
rizika, geromis teorinėmis ņiniomis, praktiniais įgūdņiais, bendravimo menu, loginiu mąstymu,
kritińku poņiūriu, sugebėjimu „parduoti― save, pozityviu mąstymu, aktyviu veikimu, gyvenimo
būdu, kuomet planuoji pats, savirealizacija, vadybiniais įgūdņiais. Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad
verslo pradėjimo galimybes ribotų baimė bankrutuoti, baimė prarasti turtą, baimė, kad reikės skirti
daug laiko ir energijos bei galimybė patirti asmeninį pralaimėjimą. Jaunimo verslumą skatintų ńios
priemonės: palankesni įstatymai verslui, verslumo įgūdņių ugdymas, tobulinimas, palankesnis
visuomenės poņiūris į verslą: prieinamumo prie finansinių ńaltinių gerinimas. Priemonės, kurios
padėtų ugdyti verslumą būtų: praktika verslo įmonėse, dalyvavimas projektinėje veikloje,
bendravimas su patyrusiais verslininkais, seminarai su praktinėmis uņduotimis, dėstytojų teorinių
ņinių patirtis, dėstytojų praktinių ņinių patirtis, studentų mokslinės konferencijos, studijos pagal
ERASMUS mainų programą.
Raktiniai ţodţiai: verslumas, verslumo ugdymas, verslininkas, jaunimo verslumo ugdymas
Įvadas
Privataus verslo reikńmė ir indėlis į ńalies ūkį didėja, kuriamos naujos darbo vietos,
smulkusis ir vidutinis verslas prisideda prie valstybės surenkamų pajamų, todėl uņ verslo politiką
78
atsakingoms institucijoms svarbu visokeriopai skatinti naujų įmonių steigimą ir sudaryti kuo
palankesnes sąlygas jau veikiančioms įmonėms plėtoti savo veiklą. Lietuvos vykdomai verslo
politikai įtakoja maņos ir vidutinės įmonės, sukuriančios daugiau kaip 60 proc. visų verslo įmonių
kuriamos bendrosios pridėtinės vertės. Maņoms ir vidutinėms įmonėms tenka svarbiausias vaidmuo
įgyvendinant Lisabonos strategijoje nustatytus tikslus, skatinančius naujovių diegimą, partnerystės,
konkurencingumo ir uņimtumo plėtrą. Pagal Nacionalinio plėtros instituto sufomuluotą verslumo
koncepciją verslumas – tai viso komplekso jauno ņmogaus turimų savybių ir įgūdņių nukreipimas į
savo idėjų realizaciją, kuriant savo verslą, įsijungiant į aktyvią visuomeninę veiklą arba surandant
motyvaciją ieńkoti galimybių kelti savo kompetenciją vykstant studijuoti ar semtis praktinių ņinių ir
įgūdņių Lietuvoje ir kitose ńalyse. Jaunimo verslumas – tai ne tiktai siekis, kad būtų plėtojamos
įvairios pelno siekiančios verslo idėjos. Pateikiamas platesnis poņiūris. Jaunas ņmogus yra aktyvus
ir norintis keisti aplinką, realizuojant savo idėjas, nebijant suklysti ir taisyti situaciją. Verslumo
sąvoką savo darbuose nagrinėjo eilė Lietuvos ir uņsienio mokslininkų, tokių kaip Stripeikis (2008),
Adamonienė (2009), Schumpeter (1934), Stonienė, Martinkienė ir kt. (2009), Mets (2010). 2007
metais jaunimo verslumo klausimus nagrinėjo savo tyrime Lietuvos studentų sąjunga kartu su
Vilniaus miesto ir apskrities verslininkų darbdavių konfederacija. Remiantis tyrimo duomenimis
(2007)1 absoliuti dauguma apklaustų Lietuvos universitetų III ir IV kurso studentų (53,1 proc.) linkę
manyti, kad verslumas – tai įgimtos (pvz., intuicija, azartińkumas, reakcija, karjerizmas,
avantiūrizmas ir kt.) ir įgytos (specialios ņinios ir praktiniai įgūdņiai) ņmogaus savybės, leidņiančios
jam novatorińkai mąstyti ir aktyviai bei rizikingai veikti. Maņiausiai studentų (6,1 proc.) linkę
vertinti verslumą kaip veiksnį, jungiantį komercinį verslumą ir visuomenės interesus, siekiant
sukurti socialinę vertę. Ńiame tyrime dalyvavę respondentai nurodė, kad verslumas, vadybos
įgūdņiai, pilietińkumas, gebėjimas įvertinti riziką ir planuoti savo laiką – tai savybės, kurių reikia,
tačiau jos Lietuvos aukńtosiose mokyklose arba visai neugdomos, arba ugdomos nepakankamai.
Tyrimo objektas – jaunimo verslumas Tarptautinėje teisės ir verslo aukńtojoje mokykloje.
Tyrimo tikslas – įvertinti ir ińtirti jaunimo verslumo ugdymą Tarptautinėje teisės ir verslo
aukńtojoje mokykloje.
Tyrimo uždaviniai:
-
atlikti verslumo sąvokos analizę;
-
ińanalizuoti jaunimo verslumo ugdymo priemones.
-
ińtirti Tarptautinės verslo ir teisės aukńtosios mokyklos studentų poņiūrį į jaunimo
verslumą.
1
Lietuvos studentų sąjunga, Vilniaus miesto ir apskrities verslininkų darbdavių konfederacija (2007). Lietuvos aukńtųjų
mokyklų ir verslo bendradarbiavimas – verslaus jaunimo ugdymui. Studija, Vilnius.
79
Tyrimo metodai – mokslinės literatūros analizė, anketinė apklausa, teisinių dokumentų
analizė, palyginimo metodas, antrinių ir pirminių duomenų analizė.
Verslumo sampratos teoriniai aspektai
Verslumas suprantamas, kaip ņmonių polinkis ir gebėjimas imtis ekonominės veiklos
sujungiant kapitalą, darbą ir kitus ekonominius ińteklius, siekiant gauti pelno ir prisiimant visą su
ńia veikla susijusią riziką Schumpeter (1934) verslumą traktuoja kaip „naujų verslo kombinacijų
kūrimą―. Ńios kombinacijos gali būti penkių rūńių: 1) naujų, vartotojams iki ńiol neņinomų,
produktų sukūrimas; 2) naujo gamybos metodo įdiegimas; 3) naujos rinkos „atradimas―; 4) naujų
tiekimo ńaltinių uņvaldymas; 5) naujas gamybos organizavimo būdas. Wennekers ir Thurik (1999)
teigia, kad verslumas - individų sugebėjimas ir noras, patiems, grupėse, esamose arba naujose
organizacijose: pirmiausia pastebėti ir sukurti naujas ekonomines galimybes (naujus gaminius,
gamybos metodus, organizavimo schemas ir gaminių rinkų kombinacijas); antra įgyvendinti idėjas
rinkoje esant neapibrėņtumo sąlygomis ir įveikiant kitas kliūtis, priimant sprendimus dėl resursų ir
institucijų vietos, formos ir panaudojimo. Adamonienė (2009) verslumą suvokia dviem
pagrindiniais aspektais. Iń vienos pusės verslumas yra iniciatyva, tai įgimtos ir įgytos ņmogaus
savybės, leidņiančios jam novatorińkai mąstyti ir aktyviai veikti bei rizikuoti. Iń kitos pusės, nors
verslumas daņnai suvokiamas kaip ņmogaus savybių ir gebėjimų raińka veikloje, tačiau ne maņiau
svarbūs ir ińoriniai verslumą skatinantys veiksniai. Esant didesniems verslo uņmojams, vieno
asmens savybių, profesinių ņinių bei patirties nepakanka. Verslas ir jo sistema egzistuoja tam tikroje
aplinkoje, kurioje vyksta tam tikri procesai. Verslumas didele dalimi priklauso ir nuo to, kaip
ņmonės skatinami imtis verslo.
Stripeikis (2008) teigia, kad terminą „verslininkas― XVIII a. pradņioje aprańė anglų
ekonomistas, bankininkas ir demografas R. Cantillon (1680-1734). Jis pirmasis nurodė
verslininkińkos funkcijos egzistavimą ekonominėje sistemoje. Ńis mokslininkas verslininką supranta
kaip ņenkliai prisidedantį prie visuomenės ekonominės vertės kūrimo. Jo nuomone, ekonominėje
sistemoje veikia trijų rūńių veikėjai: ņemės savininkai (kapitalistai), verslininkai ir samdomi
darbininkai. Pasak Stripeikio, Schumpeter verslininką mato kaip novatorių ir lyderį. Jis pabrėņia,
kad „verslininkystės― sąvoka siejama tik su verslu. Verslininkas suprantamas kaip verslininkystės
proceso centrinė ańis, o smulkaus ir vidutinio verslo įmonės įkūrimas ir valdymas – kaip
verslininkystės proceso etapai. Siekiant įmonėje formuoti verslumą, turi būti ińskiriamos keturios
pagrindinės antreprenerio veiklos kryptys organizacijoje:
-
verslios komandos formavimas;
-
verslumo kultūros diegimas įmonėje;
80
-
ińorinės verslo aplinkos stebėjimas ir galimybių atpaņinimas;
-
įmonės strategijos priderinimas prie verslo aplinkos.
Pasak Mets (2010) verslumas ir verslumo aplinka UPV (Universitetas – Pramonė – Valdņia)
sistemoje buvo įvardyti kaip svarbūs sėkmės faktoriai ņinioms kurti ir technologijoms perduoti
universitete. Nepriklausomai nuo institucinio įgyvendinimo, ņinių perdavimo ir universitetų
verslumo srityje veikiantis verslo modelis atlieka ńias funkcijas:
1. Ņinios daugiausia skleidņiamos moksliniais ir populiariausias leidiniais, standartais,
stiprinant universiteto absolventų gebėjimus – perduodant naujų privačiojo ir vieńojo sektoriaus
darbuotojų naujas ņinias savo darbe, mokantis visą gyvenimą (baigus universitetą), taip pat, iń dalies
ņinios skleidņiamos naudojantis kitais (personalo) vieńaisiais ir asmeniniais ryńiais, naudojant
naujus produktus ir paslaugas, į rinką pateiktus per universiteto papildomą naudą. Tai reińkia, kad
kuriami ir socialinio kapitalo bei dalijimosi ņiniomis tinklai. Verslumo vaidmuo daugiausia yra
ńvietėjińkas – mokomi universiteto studentai ir skatinama verslumo kultūra regione.
2. Ņinių kūrimo sąvoka - savoka – pirmiausia patentuojama nauja technologija, vėliau
pateikiamos publikacijos, licencijos patentams, parduodami, kiti saugomi IN (vidaus) pramonės
partneriams. Iń dalies ńi funkcija atliekama investuojant savo IN į atsiskyrusias nuo universitetų
bendroves ir rizikos kapitalą įmonės kapitale. Verslumas labiausiai yra skirtas papildomos naudos
(angl. ) procesams ir mokslo darbuotojų verslininkińkam poņiūriui bei kompetencijai, įskaitant
verslo aplinkos plėtojimąsi, verslo inkubavimą, konsultavimą ir mentorystę, finansavimą pradiniu ir
rizikos kapitalu ir t. t.
3. Ņinių ryńiai apima dotacijas ir bendrą mokslinių tyrimų projektų rėmimą bei postų ir
stipendijų
finansavimą,
mokymo
paslaugas,
tyrimus
ir
konsultacijas
pagal
sutartis,
bendradarbiavimą moksliniuose tyrimuose, verslo ir mokslinių tyrimų partnerystes, įskaitant
pramonės (transdisciplininių) mokslinių tyrimų centrus ir institutus, bendras laboratorijas, įrangą.
4. Ņinių „įdarbinimas― yra kilęs iń trečiosios universitetų misijos ir reińkia sąveiką tarp
universitetų, pramonės (verslo) ir vyriausybės sprendņiant sudėtingas visuomenės problemas.
Poreikis kyla iń inovacijų proceso netiesińkumo, kuriam reikalinga UPV partneriams aktyviai
bendradarbiauti sprendņiant strateginius ņinių ekonomikos plėtros klausimus, įskaitant ir MTTP ir
ņinių perdavimo politiką ir paramos priemonių įgyvendinimą valstybės lygiu.
Dicevičienė (2006) verslumą apibrėņia – kaip įgimtas ir įgytas ņmogaus savybes. Tai yra:
1. Tikėjimas savo sėkme ir uņsibrėņtų tikslų siekimas: ņiūrėjimas į ateitį; optimizmas;
siekimas įvykdyti uņduotis; energingumas; pasitikėjimas savimi; atkaklumas; atsidavimas darbui.
2. Noras būti nepriklausomam: turėjimas savo nuomonės; gebėjimas pačiam priimti
sprendimus; mokėjimas dirbti savarankińkai; netradicinių sprendimų pomėgis.
81
3. Kūrybingumas: sugebėjimas formuluoti naujas idėjas; ińradingumas; smalsumas; naujovių
ir permainų pomėgis.
4. Apskaičiuota rizika: gebėjimas dirbti ir priimti sprendimus, neturint visapusińkos
informacijos; savo galimybių įvertinimas, uņsibrėņiant sunkius, bet pasiekiamus tikslus.
5. Verņlumas ir ryņtingumas: sugebėjimas pasinaudoti gyvenimo duotomis galimybėmis;
tikėjimas, kad pats esi savo likimo kalvis.
Lietuvos jaunimo organizacijų taryba (2006)2 verslumą apibrėņia kaip pilietińkumą, imlumą
naujovėms, sugebėjimą patraukti, suburti ņmones bendrai veiklai, laiko planavimą, prognozavimą,
„matymą― į priekį, intuiciją, sugebėjimą priimti sprendimus, pasvertą riziką, teorinių ņinių ir
praktinių įgūdņių pusiausvyrą, bendravimo meną, loginį mąstymą, kritińką poņiūrį, sugebėjimą
„parduoti― save, pozityvų mąstymą – pozityvią reakciją į nesėkmes, pasitikėjimą savimi, aktyvų
veikimą, aktyvią poziciją gyvenime, gyvenimo būdą, kuomet planuoji pats, savimotyvaciją,
savirealizaciją bei kitus vadybinius įgūdņiius.
Apibendrinant galima teigti, kad verslumas yra naujų produktų kūrimas Schumpter (1934),
Wennekers ir Thurik (1999), įgimtos ir įgytos ņmogaus savybės Adamonienė (2009), Dicevičienė
(2006), leidņiančios ņmogui novatorińkai mąstyti ir aktyviai veikti bei rizikuoti. Verslumas
reikalauja imtis atsakomybės uņ savo sprendimus, pasverti riziką, apibrėņti tikslus (Lietuvos
jaunimo organizacijų taryba (2006)3. Stonienė,
Martinkienė, Ńakienė, Romerytė – Ńereikienė
(2009) pabrėņia, kad verslumas reikalauja imtis atsakomybės uņ savo sprendimus, pasverti riziką,
įvardinti strategines vizijas, apsibrėņti tikslus ir jų siekti suburiant ņmones bendrai veiklai. Skatinant
gyventojų profesinį tobulėjimą, diegiant suvokimą apie būtinybę mokytis visą gyvenimą, ieńkant
naujų verslumo ugdymo būdų - siekiama kiekvieną ńalies gyventoją padaryti konkurencingą
naujojoje Europos darbo rinkoje ir suteikti jam gebėjimus bei galimybę sėkmingai dirbti bet kurioje
Europos Sąjungos ńalyje.
Jaunimo verslumo ugdymo priemonės
Jaunimo verslumas – tai ne tiktai siekis, kad būtų plėtojamos įvairios pelno siekiančios
verslo idėjos. Pateikiamas platesnis poņiūris – jaunas ņmogus yra aktyvus ir norintis keisti aplinką,
realizuojant savo pozityvias idėjas, nebijant suklysti ir taisyti situaciją. Jaunimo verslumo plėtra
reikalinga ekonominio potencialo didinimui, plėtros planų įgyvendinimui, migracijos problemų
sprendimui,
uņimtumo
problemų
sprendimui,
jaunimo
nedarbo
problemų
sprendimui,
nusikalstamumo problemų sprendimui, tarptautinio bendradarbiavimo didinimui. Lietuvos
2
3
Lietuvos jaunimo organizacijų taryba (2006). Verslumas jaunimo organizacijose. Nr.1(64). ISSN 233-52410, Vilnius.
Lietuvos jaunimo organizacijų taryba (2006). Verslumas jaunimo organizacijose. Nr.1(64). ISSN 233-52410, Vilnius.
82
Respublikos Vyriausybė 2008 m. balandņio 2 d. nutarimu Nr.332 (Ņin., 2008, Nr.46 – 1728)
patvirtino Nacionalinę jaunimo verslumo ugdymo ir skatinimo 2008 – 2012 metų programą. Ńis
nutarimas buvo priimtas remiantis Lietuvoje atliktais tyrimais ir faktiniais duomenimis, uņsienio
ńalių (ypač Europos Sąjungos, Jungtinių Tautų Europos ekonominės komisijos) rekomendacijomis
ir valstybių, turinčių didelę jaunimo verslumo skatinimo praktiką, patirtimi, skiriamos trys
problemų grupės:
1. nepakankamas jaunimo ir visuomenės supratimas apie verslą, jo galimybes, ņinių ir
įgūdņių jį pradėti stoka;
2. tinkamos pagalbos jaunimo verslo pradņiai ir plėtrai stoka;
3. veiksmų, skatinančių verslumą, koordinavimo ir prieņiūros nebuvimas.
Pagal Nacionalinę jaunimo verslumo ugdymo ir skatinimo 2008 – 2012 metų programą4 yra
numatyti trys pagrindiniai uņdaviniai, skatinantytys jaunimo verslumą:
1. Sukurti, įdiegti ir tobulinti verslumo ugdymo priemones;
2. Skatinti jaunimo ir jaunųjų ūkininkų verslo pradņią ir plėtrą;
3. Vykdyti jaunimo verslumo situacijos ir verslumo skatinimo stebėseną, informuoti
valstybės
institucijas ir visuomenę apie verslumo skatinimą Lietuvoje.
Socialinės apsaugos ir darbo ministerija koordinuoja ir kontroliuoja ńios programos
įgyvendinimą ir kas dvejus metus, iki kovo 1 d., nustatytąja tvarka teikia Lietuvos Respublikos
Vyriausybei priemonių įvykdymo ataskaitą. Ńi programa įgyvendinama iń Lietuvos Respublikos
atitinkamų metų valstybės biudņeto ir savivaldybių biudņetų finansinių rodiklių patvirtinimo
įstatyme atsakingiems vykdytojams patvirtintų bendrųjų asignavimų, Europos Sąjungos
struktūrinių fondų ir kitų teisės aktų nustatyta tvarka gautų lėšų.
Duomenys apie programos vykdymą pateikti uņ 2008 – 2009 metus 1 lentelėje.
Kaip matyti iń 1 lentelės daugiausia lėńų gavo VńĮ Nacionalinės plėtros institutas, kuris
įgyvendino projektą „Jaunimo verslumo galimybės Lietuvos savivaldybėse―. 2008 – 2009 metais iń
viso buvo įgyvendinta 10 projektų, kurie padėjo ugdyti jaunimo verslumą.
Lietuvoje nėra visa apimančio poņiūrio į jaunimo verslumo skatinimą, t. y. ńvietimo, darbo
rinkos, ņemės ūkio, profesinio orientavimo, smulkiojo ir vidutinio verslo skatinimo priemonės nėra
suderintos taip, kad galėtų stiprinti viena kitos poveikį – valstybės institucijos dirba skirtingomis
kryptimis. Jaunimo verslumas turi būti skatinamas nuosekliai: nuo ńvietimo, profesinio orientavimo
iki konsultacijų. Todėl skirtingos valstybės taikomos priemonės turi būti kryptingos ir suderintos.
4
Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausybės 2008 m. balandņio 2 d. nutarimas Nr. 339 „ Dėl nacionalinės jaunimo verslumo
ugdymo ir skatinimo 2008 – 2012 metų programos patvirtinimo―.
83
1 lentelė. Nacionalinės jaunimo verslumo ugdymo ir skatinimo 2008 – 2012 metų
programos vykdymas 2008 – 2009 metais
Eil.
Organizacijos
Nr.
pavadinimas
1.
Zarasų
jaunųjų
verslininkų asociacija
2.
VńĮ Darnaus vystymo
projektai
VńĮ Nacionalinės plėtros
institutas
VńĮ PROFAT
3.
4.
Projekto pavadinimas
Skirta suma
Informacijos sklaida visuomenei ir jaunimui apie verslo
situaciją ir gerąją Zarasų bei Ignalinos rajonų jaunųjų
verslininkų patirtį ugdant teorinius ir praktinius jaunom
verslumo gebėjimus
Kuriu verslą Panevėņyje
10 000 Lt
12 800 Lt
Jaunimo verslumo galimybės Lietuvos savivaldybėse
15 000 Lt
Jaunimo verslumo konkursas PROFAS
10 000 Lt
Zarasų jaunimo vandens
sporto klubas
VńĮ Verslo angelas
Idėjų poligonas vandenyje,ant vandens, virń vandens
Anykńčių ir Ńvenčionių rajono socialiai paņeidņiamo jaunimo
verslumo įgūdņių ugdymas
Ne verkńlenk, bet daryk
4 600 Lt
9.
VńĮ Anykńčių jaunimo
verslumo centras
Kretingos
rajono
saviraińkos klubas „Mes
tik―
AIESEC Lietuva
12 400 Lt
10.
Sedos bendruomenė
Verslumo, kaip pridėtinės vertės kūrimo suvokimo skatinimas
jaunimo terpėje
PVM pradėkim verslą miestelyje
5.
6.
7.
8.
Būk aktyvus
8 300 Lt
10 000 Lt
7 600 Lt
9 300 Lt
Šaltinis: Lietuvos Respublikos Socialinės apsaugos ir darbo ministerijos 2010 geguţės 7 d.
raštas Nr.. (17.2-42) SD -3085 Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausybei „Dėl jaunimo verslumo ugdymo
programos įgyvendinimo 2008 – 2009 metais“.
Viena iń praktinio verslumo ugdymo metodikų – verslo praktinio mokymo firmos, kurios
Lietuvoje pirmą kartą įkurtos 1993 metais, įgyvendinant Danijos Karalystės ńvietimo ministerijos ir
Lietuvos Respublikos ńvietimo ir mokslo ministerijos finansuotą projektą. 2006–2007 metais
Lietuvoje veikė 48 Lietuvos verslo praktinio mokymo firmos 32 skirtingo tipo mokymo
institucijose: universitetuose, kolegijose, profesinėse ir vidurinėse mokyklose. Dar viena praktinio
verslumo ugdymo metodika – mokinių mokomosios bendrovės, kurios Lietuvoje pirmą kartą
įkurtos 1994 metais. 2006–2007 metais veikė 76 tokios mokinių mokomosios bendrovės 60-yje
Lietuvos mokyklų. Lietuvos mokinių mokomosios bendrovės veikia 28 mokymo institucijose.
Ekonomikos mokymas ir su tuo bene glaudņiausiai susijęs verslumo ugdymas yra sąlygojami ir
visos aplinkos, pirmiausia mokyklos bendruomenės.
Ūkio ministerijos atlikti tyrimai rodo (Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausybės
2008
m.
balandņio 2 d. nutarimas Nr.332), kad smulkiojo ir vidutinio verslo atstovai dar nesuvokia verslumo
ņinių stokos, kaip vienos iń svarbių kliūčių verslo plėtrai. Bankai paņymi, kad smulkiojo ir vidutinio
verslo kreditavimo galimybės panaudojamos tik 50 procentų daņniausiai dėl to, kad smulkieji
verslininkai nesugeba parengti verslo planų. Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausybė 2002 m. birņelio 12 d.
84
nutarimu Nr. 853 „Dėl Lietuvos ūkio (ekonomikos) plėtros iki 2015 metų ilgalaikės strategijos―
(Ņin., 2002, Nr. 60-2424) pritarė Lietuvos ūkio (ekonomikos) plėtros iki 2015 metų ilgalaikei
strategijai. Ńioje strategijoje nurodoma: nors ir daugėja turinčių aukńtąjį ir specialųjį vidurinį
ińsilavinimą ekonomińkai aktyvių gyventojų, ńalies verslumo potencialas nėra pakankamas, nemaņai
verslininkų neturi atitinkamo ińsilavinimo ir būtinos patirties (Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausybės
2008 m. balandņio 2 d. nutarimas Nr.332).
Valstybėje sukurta verslo informavimo sistema, tačiau nėra duomenų, kiek jaunų ņmonių
pasinaudoja verslo konsultavimo ir inkubavimo paslaugomis, vis dar labai stokojama informacijos
apie pagalbą verslui ir lengvatas.
Verslo paslaugų tinklas Lietuvoje skirtas labai maņoms, maņoms ir vidutinėms įmonėms,
taip pat pradedantiesiems verslininkams. Jį sudaro 42 verslo informacijos centrai ir 6 verslo
inkubatoriai, 7 mokslo ir technologijų parkai. Ńios institucijos yra vieńosios įstaigos, kurių viena iń
dalininkių – valstybė, o jai atstovauja Ūkio ministerija. Finansinė parama įstaigų verslo paslaugų
projektams teikiama iń Ūkio ministerijos Smulkiojo ir vidutinio verslo plėtros ir skatinimo
strategijos įgyvendinimo specialiosios programos lėńų (LR ūkio ministro 2007 m. kovo 1 d.
įsakymas Nr. 4-70 ,,Dėl Lietuvos Respublikos ūkio ministerijos ir įstaigų prie Lietuvos Respublikos
ūkio ministerijos 2007–2009 metų strateginių veiklos planų patvirtinimo―).
Verslo informacijos centrai veikia vienos ar kelių savivaldybių teritorijose, lengvatinėmis
sąlygomis teikia verslo informacijos, konsultavimo paslaugas, organizuoja informacijos sklaidos
renginius ir mokymą įvairiomis verslo valdymo ir plėtojimo temomis. 33 verslo informacijos
centrai turi interneto svetaines, kuriose galima rasti informacijos apie jų veiklą ir teikiamas
paslaugas. Verslo informacijos centrai, kurie dar nėra susikūrę interneto svetainių, ńią informaciją
teikia telefonu arba elektroniniu pańtu.
Informaciją verslininkams teikia vieńoji įstaiga Lietuvos ekonominės plėtros agentūra, yra
sukurtas interneto puslapis www.verslovartai.lt, kuriame įmonės gali rasti informacijos.
Pradedantieji verslininkai ņinių apie verslą Europos Sąjungoje gali gauti Europos verslo
informacijos centruose Kaune, Vilniuje ir Klaipėdoje. Inovatyviam verslui patalpas ir įrangą
nuomoja, verslo informacijos, konsultacijų, mokymo paslaugas lengvatinėmis sąlygomis teikia 6
verslo inkubatoriai ir 7 mokslo ir technologijų parkai. Verslo inkubatorių paslaugos yra orientuotos
į tuos verslininkus, kurie turi gerų verslo idėjų.
Ńvietimas ir mokymas yra esminiai veiksniai siekiant įgyvendinti Lisabonos strategijos
ekonominius ir socialinius tikslus. Kaip 2006 m. pabrėņė Taryba, vienodas dėmesys ńvietimo ir
mokymo sistemų efektyvumo, kokybės ir teisumo tikslams yra „būtina sąlyga, norint įgyvendinti
Lisabonos tikslus stiprinti Europos socialinį modelį.―. Ņinios ir naujovės sudaro persvarstytos
Lisabonos augimo ir uņimtumo skatinimo darbotvarkės pagrindą, o siekiant paskatinti naujovių
85
diegimą būtina stiprinti ryńius tarp ńvietimo ir naujovių. Ńvietimas suteikia naujovėms diegti
reikiamų įgūdņių ir gebėjimų, kuria naujas ņinias ńvietimo, mokslinių tyrimų ir naujovių „ņinių
trikampyje.―
Lietuvos kolegijos ir universiteto studentų studijų pagrindinis skirtumas yra tas, kad studijos
kolegijose yra orientuotos į praktiką, praktinius darbus, praktikas įmonėse bei organizacijose, todėl
yra didesnės sąlygos ugdyti jaunimo verslumą. Kolegijos Lietuvoje buvo įkurtos aińkiai teigiant jų
studijų programų orientavimą į profesinius verslo pasaulio poreikius. Aukńtosios neuniversitetinės
mokslo įstaigos norėdamos kaip galima tenkinti ńiuolaikinio verslo pasaulio reikalavimus, turėtų
stebėti, analizuoti vykstančius darbo rinkos pokyčius ir keistis kartu su aplinka, ieńkoti naujų
galimybių studijų kokybės procesui uņtikrinti
(Stonienė,. Martinkienė, Ńakienė, Romerytė –
Ńereikienė, (2009)).
Komisijos komunikate Europos Parlamentui, Tarybai, Europos ekonomikos ir socialinių
reikalų komitetui bei regionų komitetui „Nauji gebėjimai naujoms darbo vietoms arbo rinkos ir
gebėjimų poreikių numatymas ir derinimas (SEC(2008) 3058)― numatyta, kad tam kad ugdyti
verslumą turi būti ugdomi nauji gebėjimai naujoms darbo vietoms.
Komisijos komunikate 2020 m. Europos paņangaus, tvaraus ir integracinio augimo strategija
numatoma septynias pavyzdines iniciatyvas, skirtas paţangai pagal kiekvieną prioritetinę temą
paskatinti:
– „Inovacijų sąjunga“: sudaryti geresnes pagrindines sąlygas ir finansavimo sąlygas
moksliniams tyrimams ir inovacijoms, kad būtų uņtikrinta, jog novatorińkos idėjos virstų prekėmis
ir paslaugomis, kurios skatintų augimą ir naujų darbo kūrimą.
– „Judus jaunimas“: gerinti ńvietimo sistemų rezultatus ir sudaryti geresnes sąlygas
jaunimui patekti į darbo rinką.
– „Naujų įgūdţių ir darbo vietų kūrimo darbotvarkė“: modernizuoti darbo rinkas ir
ņmonėms suteikti daugiau galių sudarant galimybes tobulinti įgūdņius bet kuriuo gyvenimo etapu,
kad būtų didinamas darbo jėgos aktyvumas, darbo pasiūla labiau atitiktų paklausą, taip pat
pasitelkiant darbo jėgos judumą.
Jaunimo verslumo empirinis tyrimas
Tyrimas buvo atliktas Tarptautinėje verslo ir teisės aukńtojoje mokykloje. Tyrimo tikslas
ińtirti, kokios priemonės taikomos jaunimo verslumui ugdyti ir skatinti Tarptautinėje verslo ir teisės
aukńtojoje mokykloje. Tyrime dalyvavo 120 respondentų, kurių tarpe 72 (60%) respondentai buvo
vyrai ir 48 (40 %) respondentų buvo moterys. 69 proc. respondentų buvo 20 – 25 metų amņiaus, 21
proc. – 26 – 30 metų amņiaus, 9,2 proc. – 31 – 35 metų maņiau, 1 proc. 36- 40 metų amņiaus. 20
86
proc. respondentų teigė, kad jie tik studijuoja, 73 proc. , kad jie yra įmonių darbuotojai ir 7 proc.
respondentų teigė, kad jie yra darbdaviai. 65 proc. respondentų teigė, kad jie dirba privačiame
sektoriuje, 15 proc. respondentų teigė, kad jie dirba vieńajame sektoriuje.
Pagal ńeimos pajamas respondentai pasiskirstė taip: 22 proc. respondentų teigė, kad jų
pajamos yra iki 1000 Lt. 19 proc. – 1000 – 1500 Lt, 19 proc. 1501- 2000 Lt, 18 proc. – 2001 – 3000
Lt, 13 proc. – 3001 – 4000 Lt, 6 proc. – 4001 – 5000 Lt ir virń 50000 Lt uņdirba tik 3 proc.
respondentų.
Verslumą repondentai apibūdino taip: 22 proc. respondentų teigė, kad verslumas – tai pelno
siekimas vykdant ekonominę veiklą ir sukuriant kapitalą verslo savininkams, 15 proc. verslumą
supranta, kaip jauno ņmogaus poņiūrį, įgūdņius ir ņinias, kurie leidņia atpaņinti galimybę kurti
pridėtinę vertę (tiek socialinę, tiek ekonominę) ir veiksmai, nukreipti ińnaudoti ńią galimybę, 61
proc. – teigė kad verslumas yra asmens gebėjimas idėjas paversti veiksmais ir 2 proc. verslumą
apibūdino kaip ņmogaus asmeninį ir dalykinį potencialą, laiduojantį naujovińką ir aktyvią veiklą
nuolatos besikeičiančioje aplinkoje (ņr.2 lentelę).
2 lentelė. Respondentų apibūdinimas sąvokos „verslumas―
Verslumo sąvoka
Tai pelno siekimas vykdant ekonominę veiklą ir sukuriant kapitalą verslo
savininkams
Jauno ņmogaus poņiūris, įgūdņiai ir ņinios, kurie leidņia atpaņinti galimybę kurti
pridėtinę vertę (tiek socialinę, tiek ekonominę) ir veiksmai, nukreipti ińnaudoti
ńią galimybę
Verslumas yra asmens gebėjimas idėjas paversti veiksmais. Jis reińkia
kūrybingumą, naujoves ir pasirengimą rizikuoti bei gebėjimą planuoti ir valdyti
projektus siekiant tikslų
Tai ņmogaus asmeninis ir dalykinis potencialas, laiduojantis naujovińką ir
aktyvią veiklą nuolatos besikeičiančioje aplinkoje
Daņnumas
26
Proc.
22
18
15
73
61
3
2
Jaunimo verslumą skatintų ńie mokymo metodai: pristatymas, paskaita , seminaras analizės
metodas, proto ńturmas, grupinio darbo metodai, diskusijos darbo grupėse, interaktyvi diskusija,
uņduočių sprendimas (ņr.3 lentelę).
Respondentams
buvo
uņduotas klausimas
apie mokymo
medņiagos
vertingumą.
Respondentai paminėjo kad labai vertingi yra baziniai gebėjimai, verslo psichologija, verslo teisė,
inovacijų valdymas.
Respondentų taip pat buvo klausiama, ar jie pritaria , kad verslumą sudaro tam tikri
elementai (ņr. 4 lentelę). Dauguma respondentų visińkai pritarė ir pritarė, kad tai yra pilietińkumas
(55 proc. ), imlumas naujovėms (83,5 proc.), sugebėjimas patraukti, suburti ņmones bendrai veiklai
(82,9 proc.), laiko planavimas (74,2 proc.), prognozavimas, matymas į „priekį―, intuicija (73,4
proc.), sugebėjimas priimti sprendimus (87,5 proc.), pasverta rizika (77, 5 proc.), teorinės ņinios
(70,9 proc.), praktiniai įgūdņiai (91 proc.), bendravimo menas (84,2 proc.), loginis mąstymas (86,7
87
proc.), kritińkas poņiūris (76,7 proc.), sugebėjimas „parduoti― save (66,7 proc.), pozityvus
mąstymas (76,7 proc.), aktyvus veikimas (81,8 proc.), gyvenimo būdas, kuomet planuoji pats (70,9
proc.), savirealizacija (79 proc.), vadybiniai įgūdņiai (82,5 proc.).
3 lentelė. Respondentų nuomonės apie tai, kokie mokymo metodai skatintų verslumą
mokykloje, pasiskirstymas
Mokymo
metodai
1. Pristatymas
2. Paskaita
3. Seminaras
4. Analizės
metodas
5. Proto ńturmas
6. Grupinio
darbo metodai
7. Diskusijos
darbo grupėse
8. Interaktyvi
diskusija
9. Uņduočių
sprendimas
Visińkai
pritariu
Daņn.
30
24
27
18
Pritariu
Daņn.
Proc.
Nei pritariu,
nei nepritariu
Daņn Proc.
28
23
19
15,8
22
18
28
23,3
26
20
23
15
58
74
65
70
Proc.
48
61,7
54
58,4
19
38
15,9
31,7
53
59
44.2
49,2
39
16
50
42
53
44
33
27
50
38
32
53
Nepritariu
Daņn.
Visińkai
nepritariu
Daņn.
Proc.
1
0,8
-
4
3
5
4
Proc.
3
2,5
4,2
3,3
32,5
13,3
7
7
5,8
5,8
2
-
1,6
-
15
12,4
1
0,8
1
0,8
42
34
28,5
3
2,5
-
-
44
23
19
5
4,2
1
0,8
4 lentelė. Respondentų atsakymo į klausimą „ar jūs pritariate, kad verslumą sudaro ńie
elementai?― nuomonės pasiskirstymas
Verslumo elementai
1. Pilietińkumas
2. Imlumas naujovėms
3. Sugebėjimas patraukti,
suburti ņmones bendrai
veiklai
4. Laiko planavimas
5. Prognozavimas, matymas į
„priekį―, intuicija
6. Sugebėjimas priimti
sprendimus
7. Pasverta rizika
8. Teorinės ņinios
9. Praktiniai įgūdņiai
10. Bendravimo menas
11. Loginis mąstymas
12. Kritińkas poņiūris
13. Sugebėjimas „parduoti―
save
14. Pozityvus mąstymas
15. Aktyvus veikimas
16. Gyvenimo būdas, kuomet
planuoji pats
17. Savirealizacija
18. Vadybiniai įgūdņiai
Visińkai
pritariu
Daņn. Proc.
18
15
30
25
33
27,4
Pritariu
Daņn.
48
70
70
Proc.
40
58,5
58,5
Nei pritariu,
nei nepritariu
Daņn. Proc.
35
29
16
13,3
16
13,3
Nepritariu
Daņn.
13
2
1
Proc.
11
1,6
0,8
Visińkaineprita
riu
Daņn. Proc.
6
5
2
1,6
-
30
39
25
32,6
59
55
49,2
45,8
29
19
24,2
15,8
2
6
1,6
5
1
0,8
52
43,3
53
44,2
12
10
3
2,5
-
-
35
26
53
49
45
38
32
29,2
21,7
44
40,9
38,4
31,7
26,7
58
59
56
52
58
54
48
48,3
49,2
47
43,3
48,3
45
40
24
31
10
16
15
23
27
20
25,8
8,2
13,3
12,5
19,2
22,5
3
1
3
3
9
2,5
0,8
2,5
2.5
7,5
1
2
4
0,8
1,6
3,3
38
40
38
31,7
33,5
31,7
54
58
47
45
48,3
39,2
23
19
26
19,2
15,8
21,7
3
1
7
2,5
0,8
5,8
2
2
2
1,6
1,6
1,6
37
39
31
32,5
58
60
48
50
19
17
15,8
14,2
6
3
5
2,5
1
0,8
88
-
Kokiomis gi savybėmis pasiņymi verslus ņmogus?. Kaip matyti beveik ties kiekviena savybe
ties visińkai pritariu ir pritariu paņymėjo daugiau kaip 70 proc. respondentų (5 lentelė). Kaip matyti
iń 5 lentelės verslus ņmogus yra atkaklus, motyvuotas, atsakingas, tolerantińkas, kuriantis darbo
vietas, iniciatyvus, energingas, savarankińkas, komunikabilus, aktyviai veikiantis, stebintis situaciją,
kūrybingas, inovatyvus, turintis tam tikrų įgūdņių, darbńtus, sąmoningas, įgyvendinantis idėjas
rinkoje, siekiantis pelno, gebantis konkuruoti, gebantis parudoti save, savo idėjas, gebantis
sugalvoti verslą ir jį plėtoti, verņlus, gebantis priimti sprendimus, lyderis, gebantis įvertinti riziką.
5 lentelė. Respondentų nuomonė apie tai, kokiomis savybėmis pasiņymi verslus ņmogus
Verslaus ņmogaus
savybės
Visińkai pritariu
Pritariu
Daņn.
51
50
50
34
24
Proc.
42,6
41,8
41,7
28,4
20
Daņn.
61
61
52
58
56
Proc.
50,8
50,8
43,3
48,3
46,7
43
50
42
56
35,8
41,7
35
47
59
56
56
53
49,2
46,6
46,6
44
17
11
18
10
14,2
9,2
15
8,2
1
3
4
1
0,8
2,5
3,4
0,8
-
-
10. Aktyviai
veikiantis
11. Stebintis
situaciją
12. Kūrybingas
13. Inovatyvus
14. Turintis tam
tikrų įgūdņių
15. Darbńtus
16. Sąmoningas
17. Įgyvendinantis
idėjas rinkoje
18. Siekiantis
pelno
50
41,2
58
49
10
8,2
2
1,6
-
-
46
38
58
49
13
10,6
2
1,6
1
0,8
38
43
36
32
36
30
53
60
61
44
50
51
27
17
20
22,4
14
16,5
2
3
1,6
2,5
-
-
48
45
50
40
37,6
41,6
54
55
59
45
45,8
49,2
15
20
11
12,6
16,6
9,2
1
-
0,8
-
2
-
1,6
-
45
37,6
57
47,5
15
12,5
2
1,6
1
0,8
19. Gebantis
konkuruoti
51
42,5
58
48,5
10
8,2
1
0,8
-
-
20. Gebantis
parduoti savo
idėjas
46
38
47
39
21
18
5
4,2
1
0,8
21. Gebantis
sugalvoti verslą ir
jį plėtoti
22. Verņlus
61
50,8
51
42,5
7
5,9
-
-
1
0,8
48
40
55
45,8
15
12,6
1
0,8
1
0,8
23. Gebantis
priimti
sprendimus
57
47,5
50
41,7
13
10,8
-
-
-
-
24. Lyderiavimas
25. Gebantis
įvertinti riziką
44
57
37
47,5
59
49
49
40,8
16
11
13,2
9,3
1
2
0,8
1,6
1
0,8
1. Atkaklus
2. Motyvuotas
3. Atsakingas
4. Tolerantińkas
5. Kuriantis darbo
vietas
6. Iniciatyvus
7. Energingas
8. Savarankińkas
9. Komunikabilus
Nei pritariu, nei
nepritariu
Daņn.
Proc.
7
5,8
7
5,8
17
14,2
24
20
35
29,2
Nepritariu
Daņn.
1
2
1
3
4
Proc.
0,8
1,6
0,8
2,5
3,3
Visińkai
nepritariu
Daņn. Proc.
1
0,8
1
0,8
89
Respondentų buvo paklausta, „kas, Jūsų nuomone, ńiandien ribotų verslo pradėjimo
galimybes?―. Visińkai pritarė ir pritarė, kad tai būtų baimė bankrutuoti (83,4 proc.), darbo garantijų
nebuvimas (78,3 proc.), baimė prarasti turtą (77,6 proc.), baime, kad reikės skirti daug laiko ir
energijos (35 proc.) bei galimybė patirti asmeninį pralaimėjimą (46,7 proc.) respondentai.
Verslo vystymąsi pasak respondentų skatina komandos verslumo įtaka verslo vystymui
(90,8 proc.) bei mokslinių tyrimų taikymo įtaka verslo vystymui (68,4 proc.).
Respondentai paņymėjo, kad Lietuvos įmonėse trūksta ńių verslumo įgūdņių: atsakingumo,
aktyvumo, sugebėjimo priimti tinkamus sprendimus, reklamos netikslingumo, trūksta verslo etikos,
tinkamo personalo valdymo, darbuotojų apmokymo ir naujų technologijų, jaunų, novatorińkų
vadovų, įgūdņių, noro, savirealizacijos, komandinio darbo, saviraińkos, patirties, motyvacijos, ryņto
didesnėms inovacijoms, investicijų iń uņsienio, taip pat trūksta ņinių ir informacijos iń ņmonių, kurie
sukūrė jau gerus verslus.
Atsakydami į atvirą klausimą „kokiais būdais galima būtų skatinti jaunimo verslumą
Lietuvoje?―, respondentai ińdėstė savo mintis ir nuomonę sekančiai:
- nemokamos paskaitos su verslininkais, kurie turi gerąją praktiką;
- Lietuvoje tokių galimybių jaunimui nėra, jaunimu turi labiau pasitikėti ir mokyti;
- reikėtų pagerinti mokesčių sistemą, t.y. pirmus metus nemokėti mokesčių;
- kurti virtualias firmas, sudominti jaunimą pasilikti Lietuvoje;
- suteikti galimybę parodyto savo sugebėjimus, skirti paskolas su palankesnėmis sąlygomis;
- sumaņinti politinius, teisinius apribojimus;
- kurti versso mokyklas, kurios būtų orientuotos į praktiką, o ne į teoriją.
Respondentų paklausius „kokios Jūsų nuomone yra pagrindinės jaunimo verslumo kliūtys?―,
jie teigė, kad tai būtų netinkama prieiga prie paramos verslui (87,5 proc.), blogas verslo paramos
galimybių supratimas (85 proc.), rinkodaros, pardavimo, vadovavimo patirties stoka (69,2 proc.),
įėjimo į rinką sunkumai (77 proc.), netinkami teisės aktai (69,2 proc.), biurokratiniai apribojimai
(76,5 proc.), paramos verslo pradņiai (89,2 proc.), pradinis kapitalas (86,8 proc.).
Jaunimo verslumą respondentų nuomone skatintų ńios priemonės: palankesni įstatymai
verslui, verslumo įgūdņių ugdymas, tobulinimas, palankesnis visuomenės poņiūris į verslą:
prieinamumo prie finansinių ńaltinių gerinimas (ņr.6 lentelę).
90
6 lentelė. Respondentų atsakymo į klausimą „kokios priemonės Jūsų nuomone skatintų
jaunimo verslumą― nuomonės pasiskirstymas
Jaunimo verslumą
skatinančios
priemonės
1.Palankesni
įstatymai verslui
2.Verslumo įgūdņių
ugdymas,
tobulinimas
3.Palankesnis
visuomenės poņiūris
į verslą
4.Prieinamumo prie
finansinių
ńaltinių
gerinimas
Visińkai pritariu
Pritariu
Daņn.
58
Proc.
48,3
Daņn.
42
39
32,6
60
50
19
29
24
60
50
46
38
57
48
Proc.
35
Nei pritariu, nei
nepritariu
Daņn.
Proc.
17
14,2
Nepritariu
Visińkai
nepritariu
Daņn.
Proc.
-
Daņn.
3
Proc.
2,5
15,8
2
1,6
-
-
28
23,4
2
1,6
1
0,8
13
10,7
3
2,5
1
0,8
Respondentų nuomonė priemonės, kurios padėtų ugdyti verslumą TTVAM būtų (labai
įtakoja ir įtakoja): praktika verslo įmonėse (82 proc.), dalyvavimas projektinėje veikloje (76,8
proc.), bendravimas su patyrusiais verslininkais (79,2 proc.), seminarai su praktinėmis uņduotimis
(78,4 proc.), dėstytojų teorinė patirtis (74 proc.), dėstytojų praktinė patirtis (82 proc.), studentų
mokslinės konferencijos (64 proc.), studijos pagal ERASMUS mainų programą (63,4 proc.)
respondentų.
Išvados
Apibendrintai galima teigti, kad verslumas yra naujų produktų kūrimas, įgimtos ir įgytos
ņmogaus savybės, leidņiančios ņmogui novatorińkai mąstyti ir aktyviai veikti bei rizikuoti.
Verslumas reikalauja imtis atsakomybės uņ savo sprendimus tai pasverta riziką, apibrėņti tikslai ir
jų siekimas suburiant ņmones bendrai veiklai.
Jaunimo verslumas - tai jaunam ņmogui sudarytos galimybės, gebëjimai tiek savo idėjomis,
tiek praktinėmis, teorinėmis ņiniomis prisidėti prie tam tikro produkto sukūrimo, apibrėņtai subjektų
grupei naudingo gėrio suformavimo. Verslumas- siektina ir svarbi bet kurio individo ar jų grupės
savybė.
Lietuvoje nėra visa apimančio poņiūrio į jaunimo verslumo skatinimą, t. y. ńvietimo, darbo
rinkos, ņemės ūkio, profesinio orientavimo, smulkiojo ir vidutinio verslo skatinimo priemonės nėra
suderintos taip, kad galėtų stiprinti viena kitos poveikį – valstybės institucijos dirba skirtingomis
kryptimis. Jaunimo verslumas turi būti skatinamas nuosekliai: nuo ńvietimo, profesinio orientavimo
iki konsultacijų. Todėl skirtingos valstybės taikomos priemonės turi būti kryptingos ir suderintos.
Lietuvoje skatinti jaunimo verslumą priimta Nacionalinė jaunimo verslumo ugdymo ir
skatinimo 2008 – 2012 metų programa. Ńi programa patvirtinta remiantis Lietuvoje atliktais
91
tyrimais ir faktiniais duomenimis, uņsienio ńalių (ypač Europos Sąjungos, Jungtinių Tautų Europos
ekonominės komisijos) rekomendacijomis ir valstybių, turinčių didelę jaunimo verslumo skatinimo
praktiką, patirtimi. Programoje paņymimos kelios probleminės grupės, tarp kurių nepakankamas
jaunimo ir visuomenės supratimas apie verslą, jo galimybes, ņinių ir įgūdņių jį pradėti stoka,
tinkamos pagalbos jaunimo verslo pradņiai ir plėtrai stoka, veiksmų, skatinančių verslumą,
koordinavimo ir prieņiūros nebuvimas.
ES mastu jaunimo verslumą ugdyti ir skatinti vadovaujamąsi Bolonijos deklaracija ir
vėlesniais iń to ińplaukiančiais dokumentais, Tarybos ińvadomis 2009 m. geguņės 12 d. dėl Europos
bendradarbiavimo ńvietimo ir mokymo srityje strateginės programos („ET 2020―), 2009 m.
lapkričio 26 d. Tarybos ir Taryboje posėdņiavusių valstybių narių vyriausybių atstovų ińvadose dėl
ńvietimo vaidmens plėtojimo visapusińkai veikiančiame ņinių trikampyje numatančiose septynias
prioritetines veiksmų sritis, Komisijos komunikate Europos Parlamentui, Tarybai, Europos
ekonomikos ir socialinių reikalų komitetui bei regionų komitetui „Nauji gebėjimai naujoms darbo
vietoms
Darbo
rinkos
ir
gebėjimų
poreikių
numatymas
ir
derinimas
(SEC, 2008) 3058)― numatyta, kad tam kad ugdyti verslumą turi būti ugdomi nauji gebėjimai
naujoms darbo vietoms.
Atlikto tyrimo Tarptautinėje verslo ir teisės aukńtojoje mokykloje (TTVAM) rezultatai
parodė, kad:
Verslumas TTVAM studentų poņiūriu – tai pelno siekimas vykdant ekonominę veiklą ir
sukuriant kapitalą verslo savininkams, jauno ņmogaus poņiūris, įgūdņiai ir ņinios, kurie leidņia
atpaņinti galimybę kurti pridėtinę vertę (tiek socialinę, tiek ekonominę) ir veiksmai, nukreipti
ińnaudoti ńią galimybę, asmens gebėjimas idėjas paversti veiksmais, ņmogaus asmeninis ir dalykinis
potencialas, laiduojantis naujovińką ir aktyvią veiklą nuolatos besikeičiančioje aplinkoje.
Jaunimo verslumą skatintintų ńie mokymo metodai: pristatymas, paskaita , seminaras,
analizės metodas, proto ńturmas, grupinio darbo metodai, diskusijos darbo grupėse, interatkyvi
diskusija, uņduočių sprendimas.
Studentų poņiūriu verslus ņmogus turėtų pasiņymėti sekančiomis savybėmis: pilietińkumu,
imlumu naujovėms, sugebėjimu patraukti, suburti ņmones bendrai veiklai, mokėjimu planuoti laiką,
sugebėjimu prognozuoti, matymu į „priekį―, intuicija, sugebėjimu priimti sprendimus, pasverti
riziką, geromis teorinėmis ņiniomis, praktiniais įgūdņiais, bendravimo menu, loginiu mąstymus,
kritińku poņiūriu, sugebėjimu „parduoti― save, pozityviu mąstymu, aktyviu veikimu, gyvenimo
būdu, kuomet planuoji pats, savirealizacija, vadybiniais įgūdņiais.
Verslo pradėjimo galimybes, pasak respondentų, ribotų baimė bankrutuoti, prarasti turtą,
baimė, kad reikės skirti daug laiko ir energijos bei galimybė patirti asmeninį pralaimėjimą.
92
Jaunimo verslumą respondentų nuomone skatintų ńios priemonės: palankesni įstatymai
verslui, verslumo įgūdņių ugdymas, tobulinimas, palankesnis visuomenės poņiūris į verslą:
prieinamumo prie finansinių ńaltinių gerinimas
Lietuvos įmonėse trūksta ńių verslumo įgūdņių: atsakingumo, aktyvumo, sugebėjimo priimti
tinkamus sprendimus, reklamos netikslingumo, trūksta verslo etikos, tinkamo personalo valdymo,
darbuotojų apmokymo ir naujų technologijų, jaunų, novatorińkų vadovų, įgūdņių, noro,
savirealizacijos, komandinio darbo, saviraińkos, patirties, motyvacijos, ryņto didesnėms
inovacijoms, investicijų iń uņsienio, taip pat trūksta ņinių ir informacijos iń ņmonių, kurie sukūrė jau
gerus verslus, todėl reikėtų mokymo programas tobulinti.
Priemonės, kurios padėtų ugdyti verslumą TTVAM būtų: praktika verslo įmonėse,
dalyvavimas projektinėje veikloje, bendravimas su patyrusiais verslininkais, seminarai su
praktinėmis uņduotimis, dėstytojų teorinė patirtis, dėstytojų praktinė patirtis, studentų mokslinės
konferencijos, studijos pagal ERASMUS mainų programą.
Literatūra
1. Adamonienė, R. (2009). Valstybinės ińteklių formavimo prielaidos ir galimybės. Vadybos
mokslas ir studijos – kaimo verslų ir jų infrastruktūros plėtrai. Mokslo darbai (socialiniai mokslai,
vadyba ir administravimas. Kauno technologijos universitetas, Lietuvos ņemės ūkio universitetas,
16 (1).
2. Dicevičienė, L. (2006).Verslumo įgūdņių ugdymo pagrindai.
3. Lietuvos jaunimo organizacijų taryba (2006). Verslumas jaunimo organizacijose. Vilnius, 1(64).
4. Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausybės 2008 m. balandņio 2 d. nutarimas Nr. 339 „ Dėl nacionalinės
jaunimo verslumo ugdymo ir skatinimo 2008 – 2012 metų programos patvirtinimo―.
5. Lietuvos Respublikos Socialinės apsaugos ir darbo ministerijos 2010 geguņės 7 d. rańtas Nr.
(17.2-42) SD -3085 Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausybei „Dėl jaunimo verslumo ugdymo programos
įgyvendinimo 2008 – 2009 metais―.
6. Lietuvos studentų sąjunga, Vilniaus miesto ir apskrities verslininkų darbdavių konfederacija
(2007). Lietuvos aukńtųjų mokyklų ir verslo bendradarbiavimas – verslaus jaunimo ugdymui.
Studija, Vilnius.
7. Mets, T. (2010). Entrepreneurial Business Model for Classical Research University. Inţinerinė
Ekonomika-Engineering Economics, 21(1): 80–89.
8. Schumpeter, J. (1934). The Theory of Economic Development. Cambridge, Massachusetts,
Harvard University Press.
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kompetencijų tobulinimas verslo praktinio mokymo firmose. Vadyba. Journal of Management,
14(2): 89–98.
10. Stripeikis, O. (2008). Antreprenerińkumo formavimas Lietuvos smulkaus ir vidutinio verslo
įmonėse. Vadybos mokslas ir studijos – kaimo verslų ir jų infrastruktūros plėtrai. Vytauto Didņiojo
universitetas, 15(4): 19-28.
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business economics, 13(1): 27-56.
93
RESEARCH OF YOUTH ENTERPRENEURSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
OF LAW AND BUSINESS
Margarita Išoraitė
Summary
Youth entrepreneurship - a young person's attitude, skills and knowledge, which allows you
to create added value and action for this option. Entrepreneurship can be defined as a value-added
creation. Certain entrepreneurial characteristics are innate, and others - Acquired: inherent features
of intuition, career and desire to honor, self-confidence, acquired properties of the formation of
entrepreneurial learning, studying, the knowledge and practical experience, the formation of multipurpose and business skills. Lithuania there is no general systematic approach to the promotion of
youth entrepreneurship as education, labor market, vocational guidance measures are not in balance
with each other. This article analyzes the youth entrepreneurship. Also analyze concept of
entrepreneurship, youth entrepreneurship and youth entrepreneurship, and implementation of
research and international business law in higher education. The results showed that youth
entrepreneurship training promote following methods: presentation, lecture, seminar method of
analysis, brainstorm, group work methods, discussions in working groups, interactive discussion of
the task. Business man should possess successive characteristics: citizenship, receptivity to
innovation, the ability to move it, bring people together for joint activities, the payment plan period,
the ability to predict the vision to "forward", intuition, the ability to make decisions, weighed the
risk of good theoretical knowledge, practical skills, communication art of logical thinking, critical
perspective, the ability to "sell" yourself, positive thinking, and active operation of a way of life,
when you plan itself, self-realization, managerial skills. Start-up of a limited fear of bankruptcy,
fear of losing assets, the fear of having to spend a lot of time and energy and the opportunity to
experience a personal defeat. Promote youth entrepreneurship in the following measures: laws
favorable to business, entrepreneurship, improvement of favorable public perceptions of business:
access to financial resources improvement. Lithuanian companies have lack the entrepreneurial
skills: responsibility, activity, ability to make the right decisions, advertisement, unviability lack of
business ethics and proper personnel management, staff training and new technology, young,
innovative leaders, skill, desire, self-realization, teamwork, self-expression, experience of
motivation, determination greater innovation and investment from abroad, as well as a lack of
knowledge and information from people who have already created a good business, and educational
programs should be developed. Tools to develop entrepreneurship are: practice of business
94
enterprises, participation in project activities, contacts with experienced entrepreneurs, study
according Erasmus exchange program.
Keywords:
entrepreneurship,
entrepreneurship
education,
entrepreneur,
youth
entrepreneurship education.
95
SVV PARAMOS FORMOS IR JŲ ĮSISAVINIMAS
Eglė Kazlauskienė¹, Laura Aidukienė²
Mykolo Romerio universitetas
Ekonomikos ir Finansų valdymo fakultetas
Verslo ekonomikos katedra
Ateities st. 20, LT–08303, Vilnius, Lithuania
El. paštas: ¹[email protected], ²[email protected]
Santrauka. Lietuvoje smulkiojo ir vidutinio verslo plėtros sprendimų valdymas uņima
svarbią vietą ńalies ekonomikoje, kuriant rėmimo ir skatinimo programas, formuojant SVV paramos
ńaltinius. Nors SVV įmonės gali naudotis įvairiomis paramos priemonėmis, tačiau svarbu įvertinti,
kaip įvairių paramos priemonių apimtys daro įtaką ńių įmonių veiklos rezultatams, jų pokyčiui ir
plėtros galimybėms. Straipsnyje teoriniame lygmenyje analizuojamos SVV taikomos paramos
formos, kurių įsisavinimo laipsnis vertinamas praktiniu tyrimu, grindņiamu teisiniais, statistiniais,
ekonominiais duomenimis ir respondentų apklausos tyrimu.
Reikšminiai ţodţiai: smulkus ir vidutinis verslas; parama verslui; finansinė parama.
Įvadas
Auganti smulkiojo ir vidutinio verslo svarba bei įtaka ekonominiam pasaulinio ūkio
vystymuisi lemia didesnį mokslininkų ir valstybės valdymo institucijų dėmesį analizuojant SVV
plėtros procesus, tendencijas ir perspektyvas bei ieńkant efektyvių SVV naudos nacionalinei
ekonominei ir socialinei plėtrai didinimo būdų (Adamonienė, Trifonova, 2007). Smagurauskienė
(2009) atkreipė dėmesį į tai, kad visos Europos Sąjungos ir daugelis pasaulio valstybių vienokia ar
kitokia forma remia verslo vystymąsi ypatingą dėmesį skirdamos smulkiam ir vidutiniam verslui,
kuris sudaro ekonomikos pagrindą ir uņtikrina jos stabilumą. Parama tam tikro dydņio įmonėms
pripaņįstamas kaip pagrindinis SVV politikos instrumentas.
Straipsnio tikslas – identifikuojant svarbiausius SVV plėtrą ribojančius veiksnius, ińskirti
tinkamiausias valstybės paramos formas.
Tikslas suponavo ńiuos uţdavinius:

apibūdinti valstybės paramos SVV subjektams formas

įvertinti finansavimo galimybių prieinamumą.
96
Tyrimo metodai: mokslinės literatūros analizė (siekiant atskleisti Smulkaus ir vidutinio
verslo paramos formos), anketinės apklausos metodas (siekiant gauti duomenis apie informacijos
pakankamumą bei skirtingų paramos formų efektyvumą). Anketinė apklausa atlikta 2011 m.
gruodņio – 2012 vasario mėn. Taikyta atsitiktinė nekartotinė atranka.
Smulkaus ir vidutinio verslo parama
Valstybės pagalba smulkiojo ir vidutinio verslo subjektams teikiama pagal Vyriausybės,
apskričių ar savivaldybių smulkiojo ir vidutinio verslo plėtros programas. Smulkiojo ir vidutinio
verslo plėtros programų rengimas ir įgyvendinimas finansuojami iń valstybės ar savivaldybių
biudņetų bei piniginių fondų lėńų. Rengiant ir įgyvendinant smulkiojo ir vidutinio verslo plėtros
programas, finansuojamas iń valstybės biudņeto, pirmumas teikiamas SVV įmonėms, siekiant
paskatinti verslumą, uņtikrinant palankesnes verslo plėtros sąlygas.
Ekonomistai ińsako skirtingas nuomones SVV paramos atņvilgiu, kadangi atskiros verslo
sritys yra remiamos, o kitos ieńko savarankińkai sprendimų verslo plėtros galimybės padidinti.
Ńiame procese svarbus vaidmuo atitenka ńalies vyriausybei, kadangi anot Smagurauskienės (2009)
paramos SVV plėtrai formos bei metodai yra labai įvairūs, o valstybės politika ńioje srityje yra
svarbus ńalies vidaus politikos uņdavinys. Valstybė siekia sudaryti stabilias ekonomines ir
socialines ūkio raidos sąlygas, kadangi nuolatinis jų gerinimas yra vienas iń svarbiausių valstybės
valdymo tikslų, todėl vienu svarbiausiu įrankiu sprendņiant ńiuos klausimus tampa SVV verslo
sąlygų gerinimas.
Ńtreimikienės, Dapkaus ir Ńivicko (2007) nuomone, siekiant nustatyti, kaip valstybė turi
remti SVV, būtina įvertinti valstybės paramos efektyvumą. Jis apima tiek gyventojų uņimtumo
didėjimą, tiek kitus ekonominius, socialinius ir aplinkosauginius rodiklius. Vienas pagrindinių jų
esamoje ekonominėje situacijoje yra naujų darbo vietų kūrimas. Anot Hallberg (2000)
ińsivysčiusiose ńalyse, SVV įmonėse sukuriama didņioji dalis darbo vietų ir uņtikrinamas aukńtas
produktyvumo lygis.
Ińsakomi trys pagrindiniai principiniai poņiūriai į smulkaus verslo plėtrą ir valstybės
vaidmenį ńiame procese:
1. Įvairios lengvatos, ińimtys yra nesuderinamos su rinkos dėsnių funkcionavimu. Ńiuo
poņiūriu, nepritariama SVV verslo sąlygų gerinimui, finansavimui, manant kad ńie veiksniai lemia
nenatūralius santykius, neuņtikrina konkurencĳos, neskatina tobulėti, todėl teigiama, jog valstybės
kińimasis yra nepageidautinas (Smagurauskienė, 2009).
2. SVV turi būti sudaromos ińskirtinės sąlygos. Remiantis ńia nuomone, įvertinamas
smulkaus verslo vaidmuo ūkio subalansavime, tiek socialiniu poņiūriu ir jo formavimosi ypatumus
97
(Smagurauskienė, 2009). Ńiam poņiūriui vis daugiau pritariama, teigiant, kad SVV yra lankstus ir
gali greitai adaptuotis prie besikeičiančios rinkos paklausos ir pasiūlos situacijos, jis sukuria naujas
darbo vietas, padeda diversifikuoti ńalies ekonominę veiklą ir ņymia dalimi prisideda prie eksporto
ir prekybos vystymo (UNECE 2003).
3. SVV turi ińnaudoti savo galimybes įsiterpti į verslo sritis, kurios didelėms įmonėms yra
nepatrauklios dėl maņų gamybos apimčių, gilios specializacĳos ir didelio darbo imlumo (Sūdņius,
2001), kas leistų uņsitikrinti savo poziciją rinkoje.
Atliekant SVV plėtros sąlygų vertinimo tyrimą, akcentuojamas ińsakytas antrasis poņiūris į
SVV reikńmingumą ńalies ūkyje ir pritariant ekspertų nuomonėms5, kuriose paņymima, kad
maņinant ińorės reguliavimo sąlygų ir konkurencini spaudimą, didinant paramos smulkioms ir
vidutinėms įmonėms institucijų infrastruktūros efektyvumą, galima labai sustiprinti SVV sistemos
laidumą ir taip padidinti klestinčiu SVV įmonių skaičių, jų kuriamą pridėtinę vertę ir pačios
visuomenės turtus.
Autoriai Ńivickas, Simanavičius ir Pukis (2010) paņymi, kad ekonominio nuosmukio
laikotarpiu, dėl rinkos nesėkmių SVV tampa labiausiai paņeidņiama ekonomikos grandimi, todėl
paramos SVV klausimai yra ńiuo metu kaip niekad aktualūs ir, dabartinių deficitinių ńalių biudņetų
sąlygomis, būtin įvertinti paramą SVV ir parinkti geriausias paramos SVV formas, kurios būtų
nukreiptos į ilgalaikės darnios plėtros tikslus, nes valstybės teikiamos subsidijos ir kita parama SVV
neturėtų virńyti gaunamos naudos visuomenei dėl SVV rėmimo. Todėl prie būtiniausių SVV plėtros
sąlygų yra priskiriamos ņinios, lėńos ir atitinkama aplinka, skatinanti įmones augti ir stiprėti (ņr. 1
pav.). Kalbant apie ņinias, akcentuotina informacijos apie verslą sklaida ir mokymo bei
konsultavimo paslaugų prieinamumas. Gerinant SVV subjektų finansines galimybes, svarbų
vaidmenį turėtų vaidinti gerai organizuota ir būtiniausia finansinė valstybės parama. Aplinkos
tobulinimas – tai pirmiausia – SVV teisinės ir ekonominės aplinkos gerinimas, atsiņvelgiant į
Europos Sąjungos ńalių patirtį. Tų trijų būtiniausių sąlygų įgyvendinimas, siekiant paminėtų tikslų,
ir sudaro SVV strateginės raidos esmę.
Ekonomińkai ińsivysčiusiose pasaulio valstybėse smulkiosios ir vidutinės įmonės sudaro
apie 90 – 95 % visų nacionalinių įmonių, joms priklauso didņioji dalis sukurto ńalies nacionalinio
produkto. Tokios įmonės sparčiai stiprina regionų ekonomiką. Todėl ES valstybės siekia
pradedantiesiems smulkiesiems verslininkams sukurti vienodas, o daņnai ir palankesnes
konkurencijos rinkoje sąlygas nei stambioms kompanijoms (Tamońiūnas, Lukońius, 2009).
5
Ekspertų nuomonės ińsakytos: taikomajame moksliniame tyrime „Efektyviai smulkiojo ir vidutinio verslo veiklai
Lietuvoje taikomu ńakniniu apribojimu nustatymas ir jų įveikimo strategija.
98
I
Ţinios
II
III
Lėšos
SVV
plėtros
sąlygos
Verslo
aplinkos
sąlygos
1 pav. SVV plėtros sąlygas uņtikrinantys veiksniai
Įvertinant smulkiojo verslo vaidmenį tiek ūkio subalansavimo procese, tiek socialinėje
aplinkoje, galima teigti, kad valstybės vykdoma smulkiojo ir vidutinio verslo rėmimo politika
padeda spręsti verslo ir ekonomikos problemas ir dėl ńios prieņasties skiriant paramą SVV siekiama,
kad kuo didesnė dalis SVV įsisavintų ńias lėńas, panaudojant jas verslo plėtrai. Dėl skirtingų
aplinkybių, paramos gavimo procesas bei panaudojimas tampa problematińku, kas skatina atlikti
tyrimą ir apibūdinti ńiuos prieņastinius ryńius tarp įstatymais parengtos SVV paramos sistemos, jos
teikimo ir įsisavinimo galimybių. Įstatymu numatytos smulkiojo ir vidutinio verslo subjektams
taikytinos valstybės paramos formos, pateiktos 2 paveiksle.
Valstybės paramos SVV subjektams
formos
Mokesĉių
lengvatos
Finansinė
parama
Viešųjų paslaugų
verslui teikimas
Paskolos
Išlaidų kompensavimas
Subsidijos darbo vietoms kurti
2 pav. Valstybės paramos smulkiojo ir vidutinio verslo subjektams formos
1) mokesčių lengvatos (jei jos nustatytos įstatymų), rinkliavų lengvatos. Viena pagrindinių
yra Lietuvoje numatytos mokesčių lengvatos įmonėms, kurios investuoja į mokslinius tyrimus ir
eksperimentinę plėtrą. Kitos rinkliavų lengvatos yra nustatomos atskirų miestų savivaldybių
iniciatyva, atskiroms verslo sritims (pvz: skatinančioms turizmą (Klaipėdos savivaldybės atveju
sumaņintas nekilnojamo turto mokestis); fiksuoto pajamų mokesčio dydņiai verčiantis individualia
veikla));
99
2) teisės aktų nustatyta tvarka finansinė parama: lengvatinių paskolų teikimas, labai maņų
paskolų teikimas, dalinis ar visińkas palūkanų dengimas, garantijų teikimas, kreditų draudimas,
rizikos kapitalo investavimas, tam tikrų ińlaidų (steigimo, tyrimų, garantijų mokesčių, kreditų
draudimo įmokų, sertifikavimo (registravimo), atitikties įvertinimo ir kitų) kompensavimas,
subsidijos darbo vietoms kurti;
3) vieńųjų paslaugų verslui teikimas vieńojoje įstaigoje „Versli Lietuva―, verslo
inkubatoriuose, verslo informacijos centruose, mokslo ir technologijų parkuose ir kituose
juridiniuose asmenyse, kurių steigimo dokumentuose nustatytas ńių paslaugų teikimas (SVVĮ
plėtros įstatymas).
Atskiruose ńaltiniuose SVV paramos būdai grupuojami į juos priskiriant tiesioginiai
paramai, kuri teikiama per subsidĳas, dotacĳas ar kompensacĳas ir netiesioginei paramai –
vieńosios paslaugos lengvatinėmis sąlygomis, mokesčių lengvatos, paskolų garantĳos ir t.t.
Pagrindiniais valstybės paramos SVV finansiniais ńaltiniais Lietuvoje įvardijami nacionalinis
biudņetas, savivaldybių biudņetai, ES ir kiti fondai.
Rezultatai
Analizuojant smulkaus ir vidutinio verslo sąlygas ńalyje, pasitelkti statistiniai rodikliai,
leidņiantys apibrėņti SVV skaičiaus svyravimą, SVV skaičiaus dedamųjų ir darbuotojų skaičiaus
pokyčius.
Lietuvos statistikos departamento duomenimis 2012 metų pradņioje smulkaus ir vidutinio
verslo įmonių skaičius siekė 62586 (LR statistikos departamentas, 2012), kuriuo remiantis
įņvelgiama SVV skaičiaus maņėjimo tendencija. Galima pastebėti, kad SVV skaičius nuo 2008 m.
sumaņėjo 601 įmone (kas sudaro 1%). Pagrindinėmis prieņastimis įvardijamos: eksporto uņsakymų
ir vidaus vartojimo sumaņėjimas (ņr. 3 pav.).
67000
66534
66000
65232
65000
64000
63000
63187
63447
62586
62000
61000
60000
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Veikiančių SVV skaičius metų pradžioje
3 pav. Veikiančių SVV įmonių skaičius metų pradņioje
100
SVV yra itin prisitaikantis prie ekonominių sąlygų bei uņimantis neuņpildytas nińas rinkoje.
Ńį platų veiklos mastą atspindi 4 paveiksle pateikti duomenys. Galima paņymėti, kad per
analizuojamąjį 2009-2012 m. laikotarpį, (2012 metų pradņiai) veikiančių SVV įmonių struktūra
pagal ekonominės veiklos rūńis kito tik labai neņymiai.
A Ţemės ūkis
B Kasy ba
2012
6432
21077
6021
6664
C Apdirbamoji gamy ba
D Elektros, dujų
E Vandens tiekimas
F Staty ba
2012
6921
22316
6241
7154
G Didmeninė ir maţmeninė preky ba
H Transportas ir saugojimas
I Apgy v endinimo ir maitinimo
J Inf ormacija ir ry šiai
2010
6830
21417
5908
K Finansinė ir draudimo v eikla
6243
L Nekilnojamojo turto operacijos
M Prof esinė, mokslinė
N Administracinė ir aptarn. v eikla
2009
7197
22143
6000
O Viešasis v aldy mas ir gy ny ba
6295
P Šv ietimas
Q Ţmonių sv eikatos prieţiūra
R Meninė, pramoginė
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
S Kita aptarnav imo v eikla
4 pav. Veikiančių SVV įmonių skaičius metų pradņioje pagal ekonominės veiklos rūńis
2012 m. pradņioje didņiausia dalis SVV 34 proc. veikė didmeninėje ir maņmeninėje
prekyboje (tokia procentinė reikńmė buvo per visą 2009-2012 m. laikotarpį) bei apdirbamojoje
gamybos srityje, 10 proc. (2009-2010 m. 11 proc.). SVV teikė transporto ir saugojimo paslaugas,
kurios sudaro 10 proc. (2009-2011 m. 9 proc.), statybos paslaugas – 9 proc. (2009-2010 m. 11
proc.) ir profesinė ir mokslinė veikla 2012 m. pradņiai sudarė daugiau nei 11 proc. Visos kitos
veiklos atitinkamai uņima 26,34 proc.
SVV įmonių steigimasis ir jų konkurencingumo didėjimas yra ńalies ekonomikos augimo
pagrindas ir vienas iń pagrindiniu darbo vietų kūrimo ńaltinių, kas tampa svarbiu kriterijumi esant
aukńtam nedarbo lygiui ńalyje (2011 m. 15,4 proc.). Analizuojant maņų ir vidutinių įmonių ir
darbuotojų skaičių metų pradņioje, nustatyta, kad 2012 m. pradņiai fiksuotas 608232 darbuotojų sk.
buvo 3,5 proc. maņesnis lyginant su 2011 m., kas sudaro 2203816 darbuotojų maņiau ir net 16 proc.
maņesnis lyginant su 2010 m. kas sudaro 112257 maņiau dirbančiųjų SVV įmonėse.
Remiantis šiais duomenimis galima teigti, kad SVV įmonės sunkiai prisitaiko prie
pasikeitusių verslo sąlygų, siekdami išvengti veiklos sąnaudų maţina darbuotojų skaičių, taip
neatitikdami formalių kriterĳų, kuriuos turi atitikti įmonė, pretenduojanti į paramą (uţsiimti tam
tikra veikla, neturėti skolų valstybei, turėti nuosavybėje turtą, naudojamą projektui, nebūti atleidus
darbuotojų per paskutinius metus ir kt.).
101
Pagal UAB „Investicijų ir verslo garantijos― (INVEGA) pateiktus oficialius duomenis, per
2011 metus uņ smulkiojo ir vidutinio verslo (SVV) atstovų paskolas kredito įstaigoms suteikė 37,9
proc. daugiau garantijų nei per 2010 metus. 2011 m. SVV paskolų garantijų skaičius siekė 619.
Paskolų garantijų per 2009 metus buvo suteikta 519, per 2010 metus – 455. Garantuotų paskolų
suma daugiau kaip trečdaliu virńijo ankstesnių metų duomenis ir siekė 233,71 mln. Lt, o garantijų
suma – 166,1 mln. Lt (24,1 proc. daugiau nei 2010 m.).
Metodai
Neesant statistikos departamente SVV būklę padedančių įvertinti finansinių rodiklių uņ 2010
ir 2011 metus, norint ińsamiau atskleisti ńių įmonių plėtros sąlygas ir atlikti jų vertinimą, pasirinktas
asmeninės anketinės apklausos tyrimo metodas, kurio metu apklausti 124 smulkių ir vidutinių
įmonių atstovai. Asmeninės apklausos anketinis modelis buvo pasirinktas, dėl aukńto grįņtamumo,
galimybės instruktuoti bei ińaińkinti respondentams kylančius klausimus. Taip buvo uņtikrinta
pildomų anketų kokybė. Didņioji dalis respondentų (54 proc.) buvo apklausti VŃĮ „Verslo
iniciatyva― verslumo renginių, kita dalis respondentų buvo pasirinkti pagal apklaustų verslininkų
rekomendacijas. Visos anketos buvo platinamos tiesiogiai, uņpildytos 124 anketos.
Pagal apklausos rezultatus nustatyta, kad iń 124 apklaustųjų įmonių, SVV parama
pasinaudojo 62 proc., o 38 proc. SVV parama nepasinaudojo. Maņiausiai parama skirta SVV
pasinaudojo mikro įmonės (61 proc.).
Analizuojant, kokiomis paramos rūńimis pagal skirtingą paramos formą pasinaudojo SVV
respondentai, atskleista, kad finansinė parama pasinaudojo tik pasinaudojo tik 14 proc. respondentų,
vieńosiomis paslaugomis 64 proc., o mokestinėmis lengvatomis 22 proc. Populiariausia SVV
respondentų ińskirta vieńoji paslauga – tai mokymai, seminarai bei konsultacijos ir dokumentų
rengimo. Nepopuliarios tarp SVV įmonių patalpų nuomos bei biuro paslaugos, kadangi ńiomis
paslaugomis pasinaudojo tik 2 proc. SVV respondentų.
Daņniausiai įvardinta prieņastis, dėl kurios SVV įmonės nepasinaudojo finansine parama yra
nebuvimas garantijų, kad pateikus paraińką, parama bus suteikta (36 proc.).; 24 proc. respondentų
paņymėjo per ilgą paramos gavimo procesą; informacijos trūkumą (12 proc.) ir neatitikimą paramos
sąlygoms (28 proc.).
Diskusija
SVV paramos pokyčiai, kurie skatintų SVV kūrimąsi bei plėtrą. Į anketos klausimus įtraukti
teiginiai apibrėņti Vilniaus miesto ir apskrities verslininkų darbdavių konfederacijos vykdytose
102
apklausose ir ES direktyviniuose dokumentuose, kurie įvardijami kaip pagrindinės problemos
trukdančios SVV plėtrai ir jo efektyvumo augimui verslo pradņioje ir esamu metų jau vykdant
veiklą. Verslo pradņioje SVV atstovai paņymėjo itin stokojantys finansinių ińteklių (34 proc.) ir
esant per didelei administracinei (20 proc.) ir mokestinei nańtai (26 proc.). Per didelį stambiojo
verslo spaudimą SVV įmonėms konkurencingumo atņvilgiu paņymėjo vykdantys veiklą esamu
metu respondentai (18 proc.).; pritarė teiginiui dėl per didelės mokesčių (26 proc.) ir
administracinės (24 proc.) nańtos.
Išvados
Tyrimu nustatyta, kad didņiausia paskata, kuriantis naujiems SVV subjektams bei plečiant
veiklą esamiems, būtų palankesnė SVV įmonėms mokestinė sistema, apimanti ir pagrindinius
mokesčius ir mokestines lengvatas. Maņesnis dėmesys skiriamas finansinės paramos gavimui,
kadangi jos gavimo galimybes maņina nepakankami finansiniai ińtekliai ir ņmogińkieji resursai
susiję su projektų rengimu ir administravimu.
Sudėtingos kreditavimo sąlygos įvardijamos kaip atskira kliūtis verslo finansavime, siekiant
finansinės paramos, nors remiantis oficialiais duomenimis 2011 metais uņ smulkiojo ir vidutinio
verslo (SVV) atstovų paskolas kredito įstaigoms suteikta 37,9 proc. daugiau garantijų nei per 2010
metus.
Tęsiant tyrimą tikslinga būtų pasitelkti finansinius SVV įmonių veiklos rezultatus, kurie
statistikos departamento yra pateikiami tik iki 2009 m. ir atlikti sisteminį tyrimą, kuriuo atskleisti
ńalies savivaldybių teikiamas mokestines lengvatas SVV įmonėms ir valstybės lygmeniu nustatytas
mokestines lengvatas susijusias su įdarbinimu subsidijuojant, mokesčio lengvatas investicijoms į
mokslinius tyrimus ir eksperimentinę plėtrą.
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8. Tamońiūnas T., Lukońius S. (2009). Possibilities for Business Enterprise Support. Engineering
Economics, 1(61): 58 – 64.
9. Lietuvos Respublikos smulkaus ir vidutinio verslo plėtros (Valstybės Ņinios, 1998, Nr. 1092993; Aktuali redakcija nuo XI-1168 2010-11-23 Ņin., 2010, Nr. 145-7425).
10. Invega. UAB „Investicijų ir verslo garantijos―. Prieiga internetu: http://www.invega.lt/.
11. Lietuvos statistikos departamentas. Prieiga internetu: www.stat.gov.lt/.
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SUPPORT FOR THE SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZE
ENTERPRISES
Eglė Kazlauskienė, Laura Aidukienė
Summary
In most countries, the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are often the driving
force behind a large number of innovations and contribute to the growth of the national economy
through employment creation, productive investments and value-added exports. The article deals
with the financial support for SME promotion in Lithuania. The major forms of state support, such
as tax exemptions; financial support: credits on easy terms, guarantee reassurance, credit insurance,
subsidies for the creation of workplaces; trainings, qualification improvement and reskilling for
firms owners and employees and employers and their offered services: INVEGA (Investment and
business Guarantees). The research of support for SME, helped to identify the main problems of
these enterprises and allow foreseeing some possible methods for the current situation
improvement.
Keywords: Small and Medium Enterprises; Support to Small and Medium Enterprises;
Financial support.
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BRAND INFLUENCE ON CUSTOMER BUYING DECISION IN THE SLOVAK
REPUBLIC
Anna Kriţanová¹, Ľubica Štefániková²
University of Ţilin
Faculty of Operations and Economics of Transport and Communications
Univerzitná 1, 010 26 Ţilina, Slovakia
Abstract. With regard to the important role of brand, which is currently at a higher rate of
customer perception, was the research of the brand influence on customer buying decision
conducted at the Department of Economics at the University of Ņilina. The paper deals with the key
attributes, brand features and brand value by Customer Based Brand Equity (CBBE). The paper
presents results of research which was performed during January to June 2010 at the Department of
Economics, Faculty of Operations and Economics of Transport and Communications, University of
Ņilina. The research was conducted in a sample of 814 respondents in Slovakia. It` s main function
was to determine what proportion of respondents decided under the brand influence in buying
decisions and which of the researched factors show a correlation with making decisions under the
influence of the brand.
Keywords: brand, brand management, brand value, research of brand influence
Introduction
The concept of brand is now becoming quite often discussed topic. Even in the Slovak
Republic - in terms of business practice - brand management is not new managerial discipline.
Despite of there are missing traditions and experiences with Brand management in the enterprises
without participation of foreign capital.
The present trend in this area may be designated as positive, enterprises are increasingly
aware that brand is not only product designation but it has far more functions. All these functions
can be summarized and then we can identify their basic effect and that is influence on customer
buying decisions.
The first mention of the product labelling has come from ancient. Characters are preserved
on bricks, the clay jars, which marked their origin. In the Middle Ages marks were used for
105
labelling of craft guilds, porcelain, ceramics, goldsmith and blacksmith products. The function of
the marks was to identify the manufacturer. The Europeans brought the practice of using brand to
America during settlement. First manifestation of the brand in the United States was the brands of
patented medicament and tobacco.
The English word brand comes from an Old Norwegian word BRANDR. It means to burn.
At that time, the brand was really used to identify animals from one herd owner. In the literature
there are many definitions. They always associated the brand with the name, with a visual
indication or even with a marketing strategy.
We consider the following definition as accurate: The brand is the text, character, design, or
a combination of them and serves to identify the products of one or more subjects and to their
differentiation in the market competition.
Brand elements are used to identify and differentiate the product and brand. Brand elements
may be in the form of text as a name, allocation of address on the Internet, title, slogan or in the
form of character as a logo, symbol and person or in the form of design as trailer, cover, colour
rendition. They are especially important to extend the product life cycle.
The brand elements play the role of product identification, but also differentiate the brand
from other brands, only if the brand element is:

memorable - establishment of a permanent place in the consumer mind (short
names),

transferable - easy transfer to a foreign language without loss of meaning,

unique - easily discriminability from the competition,

relevant - an element that expresses consumer benefits,

aesthetic - an element which is enjoyable for every occasion,

flexible - with regard to product development and brand extension the element should
be modifiable,

protective - this ensures that the brand will be able to be a registered trade mark.
Brand in addition to the identification function contains much more - associations and
position in people's minds. These association and the positions are created by brand through the
information. This means that we can understand the brand as a collection of information (see Fig.
1).
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Figure 1. Brand as a collection of information
Source: authors

Brand – The System of the basic and additional benefits: benefits in people's minds
have to rise to associations (BMV brand is perceived very expensive car, but safe, durable and
prestigious and many people buy it in order to include in certain social layer).

Brand - The value system of the producer: through the brand the customer learns the
value system of the manufacturer. In the future customer can expect the reflection of this system in
the product.

Brand – The non-commercial value: brand provides information about the country of
origin, the mentality of its people, culture and so on. (BMW is a symbol of precision, quality, and
high organization typical for Germany).

Brand – The personality: brand features are personalized with the factual person
(Bill Gates and Microsoft).

Brand - The user of the product: very important information for market
segmentation.
Brands therefore provide many valuable functions for the company. They are used for
identification purposes they facilitate treatment of product and help on operational level to organize
the supply and accounting records. Brand alongside their all already placed functions provides
especially legal protection of unique product features for a business entity. Brand name after the
registration can be protected by trademark, manufacturing processes by patent packaging by
copyright, etc. We could therefore say that the registered mark is an extremely valuable property for
the enterprises because has the ability not only to influence customer behaviour, but it is also
possible to buy or sell it and it provides relative certainty of future sustainable profits.
107
Survey
The associations with the brand are considerably supported by the psychological value of the
brand, which is reflected in consumer reactions to marketing activities associated with the brand.
The most commonly used model for determining the psychological value is the model of brand
value from a consumer perspective:
Customer Based Brand Equity (CBBE) by Kevin Keller which defines brand value as a
different effect of brand knowledge on consumer response. The consumer creates this value to all
marketing activities associated with the brand.
There are three key components of this definition:
a)
different effect
b)
brand knowledge
c)
response to marketing
Different effect of brand knowledge is reflected in how consumers react differently in a
situation, if the consumer knows this brand or the product is without brand so the consumer
perceives it only as a commodity.
Brand knowledge is the recognition rate in different conditions. It means, whether the
consumer only identifies the brand or also he recalls it in buying decisions. The highest degree is
dominance when he recalls that brand as the first. If memory is positive, brand value is increasing.
Response to marketing is reflected in perception and creation of attitudes to all activities
which the company uses in connection with the brand (choice of brand elements, the
implementation of advertising, etc.). If the attitude is positive, brand value is increasing.
This model of the brand value says about how the consumer perceives the product, its
quality and functional properties also depend on the position of the brand in his conscious and
unconscious. (Clothes of known brands fit better, the car is better quality and so on.)
Brand elements, brand as a set of information and brand value, perceived by consumer are
factors that affect the customer's decision to buy the product. We performed the research during
January to June 2010 at the Department of Economics, Faculty of Operations and Economics of
Transport and Communications, University of Ņilina. The research was conducted in a sample of
814 respondents in Slovakia. It` s main function was to determine what proportion of respondents
decided under the brand influence in buying decisions and which of the researched factors show a
correlation with making decisions under the influence of the brand.
Methods
 The purpose of the research: Identify the potential brand influence on buying behaviour,
as well as the relationship between selected statistical variables
 The nature of the research: descriptive
108
 The method of the research: personal questioning
 Used tool: questionnaire (18 questions)
 Character of the questions: closed questions, the ordinal, nominal and dichotomous
variables
 Sample A: consumers with priority testing - 417 respondents
 Sample B: consumers with priority employment - 397 respondents
 Size of the sample: calculated using an electronic calculator of Creative Research System
Company. The minimum number determined by this method: 384 respondents by population 5
million state residents, what is the population in Slovakia
 The function of the research:
a)
to identify what percentage of the samples is determined by the brand influence
b)
to evaluate the correlation between selected statistical variables

The evaluation of correlations:
a) the relationship between age and the brand influence on buying behaviour (age range
was: 13-77 years)
b) the relationship between sex and the brand influence on buying behaviour
c) the relationship between school, respectively education and the brand influence on
buying behaviour
d) the relationship between family income and the brand influence on buying behaviour
e) the relationship between the character of the domicile and the brand influence on buying
behaviour
f) the relationship between the disappointing in quality of the product and the brand
influence on buying behaviour
g) the relationship between psychographic segmentation and the brand influence on buying
behaviour
To evaluate the correlation of variables was used Pearson's Chi-Square Tests. To evaluate
the correlation of variables was used Pearson's Chi-Square Tests, there was for monitoring of
individual correlations calculated so called "P-value". It is the probability that the test statistic
(assuming the veracity of the null hypothesis) will reach at least the extreme value that will equal to
the value the sample. ―P-value‖ is the lowest value of significance level under which the null
hypothesis is rejected.
Results
Based on Pearson's Chi-Square Tests were found the following results of correlations:

in the sample A (consumers, whose priority is studying - 417 respondents) 61.9%
was decided by the brand
109

in the sample B (consumers whose priority is careers - 397 respondents) 65.2% was
decided by the brand
Null hypothesis of research:

There is no correlation between sex and the brand influence on buying behaviour in
the sample A. Result of correlation: young men are more influenced by brand.

There is no correlation between monthly income and the brand influence in the
sample A and in the sample B too. Result of correlation: people with monthly income 1000-1500
EUR are influenced by brand in purchasing.

There is no correlation between education and the brand influence in the sample B.
Result of correlation: university-educated people are influenced by brand in purchasing.

There is no correlation between psychographic segmentation and the brand influence
in the sample B. Result of correlation: middle class is influenced by brand in purchasing.
Psychographic classification was carried out according to the study "Vals" (Value and
Lifestyles) by company SRI International, which ranks the average paid officers, teachers, owners
of small and medium-sized companies, so-called ―white collar―, to the middle class group.
Discussion
From the customer perspective is the brand perceived either as a quality assurance or as a
part of the image and purposeful stylization of member of a social group which is represented by
that brand while the latter clearly dominates at present.
It is evident that the results of the research confirm that even in the Slovak republic, is more
than half of customers affected by the brand. In Slovakia more as 4% of people decide by brand
over those who do not decide under the influence of the brand. It is not a big difference. Even this
small difference is important for companies to build and develop their marketing strategy with
regard to the brand. The results of the research may be biased. Because even today many people in
Slovakia understand the term "brand product" only as products from reputable international
companies. People do not realize that every product that has a name already bears the brand
although the products are national.
Satisfaction and appreciation of the benefits from buying products of a particular
brand leads to a shift away from other brands of the same product. In order to stabilize the
relationship, it is necessary to build the brand in the minds of customers. Company to build the
brand must know the tools that will affect this activity. Choice of tools depends on the brand
influence on the customer buying decisions and the factors that increase this influence. This was the
goal of the presented research - to know the factors that will increase brand influence of customer
buying decision in order to their implementation into marketing strategy of enterprise.
110
Conclusion
In Slovakia there is compiled ranking list of Slovak's most successful brands. The last time
in 2009 brand Matador (company manufactured pneumatic tires) won first prize in the category of
companies and beer and brand Zlatý Baņant (the original Slovak brand which is licensed
manufactured abroad in company Heineken) won in the category of products. The jury takes into
account the following factors: reputation, competitiveness, representativeness, that the brand ―was
born‖ in Slovakia, tradition, quality, brand positioning by consumers and brand value.
Companies should not only understand their work as production and sales, but as providing
value to consumers. In this aspect it is necessary to look at the marketing strategy rather than the
traditional process of game plan, where at the end must be selling a product but as a process of:

identification of the product value for customers,

providing value to customers,

customer` s information about providing value.
In all the separate processes we can register a role of brand. We cannot separate out the
brand from a strategic decision.
References
1. Douglas, A. (2008). El secreto de las marcas. Barcelona: Ediciones Robinbook.
2. Keller, K.L. (2003). Strategic Brand Management. Pearson Education Limited.
3. Keller, K.L. (2007). Strategické řízení značky. Praha: Grada Publishing.
4. Kirk, J. and Miller, M. (1986). Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research. London: Sage.
5. Kotler, P. (1995). Marketing Management (2nd Ed.). Praha: Victoria Publishing, a.s.
6. Kotler, P., Wong V., Saunders J. and Armstrong G. (2005). Principles of Marketing Fourth
7. European Edition. Pearson Education Limited.
8. Kotler, P. (2007). Moderní marketing. Praha: Grada Publishing.
9. Kotler, P. and Keller, K. (2007). Marketing Management (12th ed.). Praha: Grada Publishing.
10. Kriņanová, A. a kol. (2012). VEGA n. 1/0473/12: Integrated model of building of brand value
as a tool of business marketing mix.
111
PRODUCT PLACEMENT ASSESSMENT IN COMMERCIAL AREA
Pāvels Lindemanis
Riga Technical University, merchandising specialist in “Zenner” BV
Skolas Street 13-38, LV 1010
Elīna Gaile-Sarkane
Meţa Street1/7-408, LV 1007
Abstract. The decision of a consumer to buy a particular product is being influenced by
various factors: advertisement, brand or public relations; however, the final decision is being made
when the consumer is at the place where the product is sold. Taking into account the limited range
of products and the parameters of retail space, products are placed so as to facilitate the search and
to encourage unplanned purchases. According to the Marketing Theory the term for methods of
selling the product in retail stores is called merchandising. Due to the development of trade and
technology these methods are more frequently applied to other commercial areas, such as direct
sales, catalogue sales and e-commerce. Moreover, this sort of commercial distribution applies not
only to products, but also to various services. By analysing the merchandising manifestations in
four separate commercial areas, the authors have concluded that product placement principles
match in all the areas, but their efficiency differs. The authors presume that merchandising is the
placement of products in commercial area and the efficiency of merchandising can be as well
evaluated outside the boundaries of classic sales.
Keywords: merchandising, product placement, e-commerce, electronic marketing
Introduction
Under the conditions of contemporary economic recession businessmen and merchants have
to face the problem of increasing the volume of product distribution. The development of market
and technologies goes hand in hand with the development of new methods that help to catch the
attention of customers. Advertising, which up to now has been considered the main marketing
instrument, has lost its efficiency. The satiety creates customer confusion when they must choose
112
between two or more similar products. In the course of time the attitude towards advertising started
to become more negative and sometimes even caused the opposite effect.
It would be wrong to claim that advertising is not necessary; however, the use of
advertisements in business is being considered as a self-evident action, not as an innovation that
leads to the increase of turnover.
The statement that consumer will notice quality products has become outdated. The market
of goods and services is satiated to such an extent that merchants are trying to find new ways how
to attract customers‘ attention.
―Taking into account the fact that approximately 60-70% of customers make their final
decision shortly before purchasing the product, every businessman wants the customer to make this
decision in favour of his products‖ (Богачева, 2011). Consequently, it is necessary to increase the
chance of the product being noticed and decrease hesitation before making the decision.
That is why the attention of the customer should be attracted without influencing the
customer directly, i.e., without the use of advertisements, brands, staff and other methods which
create a sense of pressure.
Many merchants have come to a conclusion that product placement in retail places has a
significant role in successful sales. ―Assortment of goods which can be easily looked through
facilitates the making of the decision and stimulates customers to make impulsive purchases which
can amount up to 50% of sales revenue‖ (Славянская, 2007).
Nowadays this method is widely known as merchandising – the set of measures to be taken
to prepare the products for sales area. Merchandising, just like any other marketing activity, has
developed in the course of time. It is being influenced by both internal and external trade factors.
Along with the development of technologies and the change of consumer generations, new ideas
and opportunities of product promotion appear. Innovations in the field of merchandising increase
the competitiveness of enterprises and become the key to success more and more often. In future
merchandising can progress as a marketing instrument and provide fresh results for businessmen in
new spheres of commerce, for example, in e-commerce. However, up to now not much research has
been carried out to assess the efficiency of merchandising outside the traditional retail place.
The purpose of the article is to assess the efficiency of product placement principle outside
retail business environment.
Research methods which have been employed in the process of investigations are as
follows: assessment, comparison, grouping, quantitative and statistical methods, tables. The
theoretical and methodological background of the article is based on scientific research,
publications in mass media and professional literature; statistical information from official sources
as well as information obtained by the authors during the research process.
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Product Placement Assessment in Commercial Area
―The development of merchandising can be traced back to the end of the 18th century when
business rapidly shifted from small shops to large stores‖ (Marie, 2011). New methods of product
placement were developed and improved, which lead to the increase of the turnover.
The contemporary concept of merchandising can significantly differ from the concept of
merchandising which was in use two, five or more years ago. This is the main reason why different
definitions of merchandising can be found in economic literature. Studies on the term
―merchandising‖ have been carried by such researchers as Geipele (2007), Farfan (2011), Doug
(2011), Baraba (2011) Chando, Hutchinson, Bradlow and Scott (2011). According to the authors of
this paper, one of the most appropriate definitions for practical purposes is as follows:
―Merchandising is the display of products which makes them appealing, attractive, accessible,
engaging, and enticing to shoppers in a retail store. Visual merchandising utilizes displays, colour,
lighting, smells, sounds, digital technology and interactive elements to catch customers‘ attention
and persuade them to make purchases. Visual merchandising helps convey the image of the brand
and reflects the personality of the target markets that the retail store wants to attract‖ (Farfan, 2011).
The authors of this article have focused on investigating the use of merchandising in retail
shops. All the applied methods have been viewed in three dimensions – height, width and length.
Shop equipment, product layout planograms and other instruments that help to catch customers‘
attention were analysed. All these instruments are used in order to influence the customer and
encourage him or her to notice particular products or product groups.
During the investigation it was discovered that the sales of product, depending on its
placement in the shop, is being influenced by such factors as the size of the product, amount,
testing, political economics, seasonality and brand. For example, ―if tooth brushes are placed next to
tooth paste, the turnover increases by 8%‖ (Заржецкая, 2005). However, ―after carrying out the
corporative modification of vertical placement (separate section of shelves, where the products of a
particular manufacturer or product group are placed) the turnover increases by at least 25%‖
(Богачева, 2011). According to statistics, ―people pay 50% more attention to the products which
are placed at their eye level‖ (Заржецкая, 2005).
Consumers‘ psychology and physiology has a significant role in merchandising. ―85% of
people that enter the sales area move forward with an inclination of going left, whereas 40-60% turn
into the central part‖ (Заржецкая, 2005).
Each gender browses products in a different manner. ―Men are more likely to notice
products which are placed on the top shelves as they are used to looking in the distance and do not
114
notice objects that are nearby. Women, on the contrary, pay detailed attention to the objects which
are near and are less likely to notice products in the distance‖ (Богачева, 2011).
By knowing the human psychology, it is possible to affect the senses – hearing, smell and
sight. ―Approximately 70% of visitors pay attention to music which is played in the shop and 50%
of visitors admit that good music makes shopping more pleasant and provokes the desire to make a
purchase‖ (Заржецкая, 2005). Calm music can slow down the walking speed of the buyer,as a
result consumers can make more purchases. However, it can also cause drowsiness and
indifference. On the other hand, ―fast and aggressive music encourages to move faster, which
reduces the number of impulsive purchases but can cause annoying feeling‖ (Удалова, 2003). ―The
first studies on the use of scent in business in USA showed that after the use of scent the number of
shop visitors increased by 16%‖ (Терщенко, 2009). By decorating the shop in certain colours it is
possible to affect the human blood pressure and behaviour activity. For example, the dominance of
warm colours causes activity and consumers can make more purchases, which is seemingly good.
Yet, warm colours speed up the consumer flow which decreases the time spent in the shop, thus,
decreasing the turnover. Cold colours can slow the pace of consumers which increases the time
spent in the shop, maximizing the chance of more purchases. However, there is a disadvantage –
―cold colours influence the consumers in a way that makes them react to the products more
passively and also make the consumers more hesitant‖ (Geipele, 2007, p. 133).
Depending on the number of clients and the characteristics of product which is being sold,
the product can be placed in fixed places to form a habit and to create a comfortable shopping
process (e.g. in food retail), or the opposite – the location of the product can be changed regularly,
so that the consumer would pay attention to goods which might have been left unnoticed during the
last visit to the shop (e.g. in clothing retail). Another key element of merchandising is the sales area.
―Shop equipment, which is effectively placed in a restricted space, increases the turnover by 3040%‖ (Блохин, 2007). Designation of different shop areas provides an additional 2-3% of turnover
(Сысоева, 2011).
―Approximately 1/3 of turnover can be lost, if there are any difficulties looking for a specific
product in the showroom‖ (Богачева, 2011).
However, it is important to note that shop equipment cannot occupy too much space.
―Approximately 60% of sales area must be left to the consumer flow. Goods, which are placed in
the entrance zone that occupies only ¼ of the shop, ensure approximately 40% of the total turnover‖
(Крестова, 2007). When planning the size of shop departments, it is important to take into account
their return, for example, ―cash-desk zone may provide 20% of the total turnover‖ (Евневич, 2007).
115
By summarizing all the previously mentioned theoretical aspects and the conducted practical
investigations, the authors have classified the elements of merchandising in three groups – product,
people and place [see Figure 1].
Merchandising elements
Product
Size
Amount
Testing
Political
economics
Brand
Placement
People
Interested
groups
Physiology
Psychology
Comfort
Sensory
perception
Habits
Place
Geographic
location
Room
parameters
Size of the
department
Consumer flow
Figure 1. Merchandising elements and their influencing factors
Each of merchandising element groups has many sub-elements which explain and
particularize their significance. The authors of this article presume that this classification can be
used to analyse product placement not only in shops, but also in other commercial areas. By
employing the previously mentioned classification the authors have conducted the analysis of
product placement in e-commerce and have substantiated the essence of the proposed
merchandising definition.
Product Placement and its Classification
Contemporary merchandising theory merely recognizes retail shops as its only field of
operation. The authors of the article consider this assumption rather narrow as trade has existed long
before the first shops were opened. Taking into account the fact that one of the three elements of
merchandising is the sales place (see Formula [1]), the authors have come to a conclusion that
merchandising can be applied to other commercial areas as well (see Formula [2]). Due to the fact
that in classic sales place, i.e., in the shop, goods are placed taking into account the height, width
and length of the room, the shop can be defined as a three-dimensional commercial area.
Consequently, all the other commercial areas can be classified according to the number of their
dimensions. Thus, catalogue can be characterized as a two-dimensional commercial area which
consists of height and width. One dimension corresponds to direct sales, whereas electronic
dimension corresponds to e-commerce.
116
M
 P1

 P2 ,
 P3

Where:
M – merchandising (in its former understanding);
P1 – place (retail shop);
P2 – people (interested groups: consumers, sellers, producers).
P3 – product.
Formula 1. Merchandising elements.
 P1'  1D  2 D  3D  ED; P1  P1'

,
M' 
P 2'  P 2  G; P 2  P 2'

P3'  P3  S ; P3  P3'

Where:
M‘ – broader merchandising concept;
P1‘ – commercial area;
P2‘ – interested groups;
P3‘ - products;
1D – one-dimensional commerce (direct sales);
2D – two-dimensional commerce (catalogues);
3D – three-dimensional commerce (retail shops);
ED – electronic dimension (e-commerce);
G – generations of interested groups;
S – services.
Formula 2. Merchandising elements in other commercial areas.
The essence of the concept ―merchandising‖ varies along with the changes in base elements
of merchandising elements and their interaction. Thus, the authors of this article offer the following
definition of merchandising: ―Merchandising is the product placement principles in commercial
area.‖
Unlike the former definitions, this definition implies that the commercial area of
merchandising is not only a shop, but also direct sales, catalogues and e-commerce.
To confirm the developed definition of merchandising, in January-February 2011 the
authors of this article conducted a survey of trading enterprises. The survey was carried out
electronically. The number of participants-trading enterprises was 136. Both genders participated in
the survey. The results showed that, similarly to classic commerce, product placement principles are
being employed in other commercial areas as well. 89% of respondents acknowledged that
electronic environment must be considered as commercial area. Thus, it can be concluded that
particular merchandising principles can be attributed to the product placement in e-commerce.
117
Product Placement Assessment in Electronic Commercial Area
By classifying merchandising in three additional commercial areas, it is important to note
what product placement principles exist in these areas and what their economic efficiency is. After
studying each of the four proposed commercial areas, the authors have come to a conclusion that all
merchandising theories are based on the theories that can be applied to classic retail business, i.e.,
equal methods are being used, taking into account the specifications of alternative commercial
areas.
In order to assess the increase of turnover which is influenced by the use of merchandising
outside the classic commercial area, the authors of this article have analysed the merchandising
principles of the Internet shop ―mojo-jojo.lv‖, which belongs to the enterprise ―Media magnat‖. For
the purposes of the research ―mojo-jojo.lv‖ ―NeoCube‖ product assortment was chosen. ―NeoCube‖
is a cube that has been made from 216 high-quality magnetic spheres. This cube can be transformed
into different figures and ornaments.
The main reason for choosing this product was its high sales rating on the mojo-jojo.lv web
site. By visiting the web site of the Internet shop, one can see that chrome, silver and golden
―NeoCube‖ is among the leaders of sales. The authors of this article presume that this position
significantly increases the chance of ―NeoCubes‖ being bought. However, outside the entrance zone
there is a black, blue, red and violet ―NeoCube‖. After summarizing the ―NeoCube‖ assortment
sales data, the authors discovered that the turnover of entrance zone ―NeoCubes‖ is much higher
than the turnover of the assortment which is not in this zone (see Table 1).
Table 1. ―NeoCube‖ assortment turnover in a given period sorted by colour
Colour
Zone
Chrome
Silver
Golden
entrance
entrance
entrance
outside
entrance
outside
entrance
outside
entrance
outside
entrance
-
Black
Blue
Red
Violet
Total
“NeoCube” average monthly
turnover, items.
Price of one “Neo Cube”
item, LVL
44
24
21
12
13
15
“Neo Cube”
average monthly
turnover, LVL
528
312
315
22
13
286
10
16
160
3
16
48
7
16
112
131
-
1 761
Source: Unpublished data of “Media Magnat” Internet shop “Modţo-Dţodţo”. November
2010 – April 2011
118
Knowing that Internet shop mojo-jojo.lv placed chrome, silver and golden ―NeoCube‖
products in the entrance zone, the authors of this article equalize this placement to the classic shop
entrance zone, which, according to statistics, provides 40% of the total turnover (Удалова, 2003).
This means that ―NeoCubes‖ which have been placed in the entrance zone of the Internet shop,
must provide at least 40% of the total turnover of the assortment. To determine, if the assumption is
true, the authors have made the following calculations by using Formula [3]:
ITe.inc. per. 
 Pr  P 
 Pr  P 
e
sort.
Where:
IT e.inc.per. – entrance zone assortment part of the turnover, according to the average income in
a period of time;
P (price) – price of the item;
∑ Pr e – entrance zone product turnover, according to the average number of items sold in a
period of time;
∑ Pr sort. – the turnover of all production assortment, according to the average number of items
sold in a period of time.
Formula 3. Entrance zone assortment part of the turnover.
According to the research conducted by the authors of this article, it is possible to calculate
the turnover of the entrance zone assortment by using Formula [3].
ITe.inc. per . 

(Pr P )chrome  (Pr P ) silver  (Pr P ) golden
(Pr P )black  (Pr P )blue  (Pr P ) red  violet
44  12  24  13  21  15
1155

 0.65587  65.6%
22  13  10  16  3  16  7  16 1761
The obtained result shows that the entrance zone of the Internet shop ensures 65.6% of the
assortment turnover, which is significantly more than in the classic commercial area.
By using the available data on different sales places‘ entrance zone turnover parts from the
total turnover (see Formula [4]), it is possible to calculate the e-merchandising factor change
coefficient in comparison to its use in non-digital environment:
MK e.cor.inc. 
ITe.inc. per. (internet )
ITe.inc. per. ( market)
Where:
MKcor.inc. – merchandising entrance factor correction coefficient, calculated by income;
IT e.inc.per.(internet) – Internet shop entrance zone part of the assortment turnover, according
to the average income in a period of time;
119
IT e.inc.per.(market) – shop entrance zone part of the assortment turnover, according to the
average income in a period of time.
After the calculations regarding the turnover of Internet shop mojo-jojo.lv were made, the
following result was obtained:
MK e.cor.inc. 
0.65
 1.6395
0.4
By evaluating the merchandising possibilities that would lead to the increase of ―NeoCube‖
turnover, the authors of this article propose another principle, which is shared by both electronic
environment and regular shop, i.e., the placement of related goods. ―According to statistical data,
related goods increase sales by 8% in shops‖ (Заржецкая, 2005).
In case of ―NeoCube‖, the related goods are smaller cubes which can be used as
supplements or spare parts to the larger cubes. According to the data of mojo-jojo.lv, it can be seen
that smaller cubes amount from 12.7% up to 34% of the original cube turnover [see Table 2]. In
addition, the part of the small black ―NeoCubes‖ is the smallest (12,7%), taking into account the
fact that the number of original black ―NeoCubes‖ sold is equal to the number of other colour cubes
sold – on average 22 items per month [see Table 2].
Table 2. The turnover rate of ―NeoCube‖ related goods
Colour
“Neo Cube”
turnover
“Neo Cube” average
monthly turnover,
items
„Neo Cube „ average
turnover of spare
parts, items
The ratio of small “Neo Cube”
turnover vs. the original
“NeoCube”, %
Chrome
Silver
Golden
Black
262
143
126
134
44
24
21
22
11
8
6
3
25.6
34.3
27.0
12.7
Internet shop does not offer spare parts for the black ―NeoCube‖ as related goods, unlike
from the original size sales leaders (chrome, silver, golden). Thus, the authors have come to a
conclusion that effective placement of ―NeoCube‖ related goods can increase the sales of small
black cubes. When the level of other small ―NeoCubes‖ is reached, the sales revenue can increase
2-3 times.
If the price of one small cube is 2 Ls, these products can bring in additional 6-12 Ls per
month. By using Formula [5], the authors show the increase of black ―NeoCube‖ assortment group
(small and large cubes), if the merchandising related goods method is being used:
120
GTsort 
Tsort.rel.  ( FGsort.rel.  1)
Tsort
Where:
GTsort – the increase of product assortment turnover;
T sort.rel. – related goods group turnover;
FG sort.rel – related goods group future turnover;
T sort.– all assortment turnover
Formula 5. The increase of product assortment turnover.
Tsmall.black  ( FGsmall.black  1)

Tall.black
(3  2)  (3  1)
12

 0.041096  4%
( 22  13)  (3  2)
292
GTsort 
The result shows that the turnover of the entire black ―NeoCube‖ group assortment would
increase by 4%, which differs from the available statistical data regarding the return of this method.
Thus, similarly to the entrance zone merchandising efficiency correction coefficient, the authors of
this article determine the turnover of related goods group by using Formula [6]:
MK rel.cor.inc. 
ITrel.inc. per. (internet )
ITrel..inc. per. (market)
Where:
MK rel.cor.inc.- merchandising related goods factor correction coefficient, calculated by
revenue;
IT rel.inc.per. (internet)– the increase of Internet shop related goods assortment turnover by
average revenue in period;
IT rel.inc.per.(market)– the increase of shop related goods assortment turnover by average
revenue in period.
Formula 6. Merchandising related goods factor correction coefficient, calculated by
revenue.
MK rel .cor.inc. 
4%
 0.5
8%
The obtained result proves that in comparison to a non-digital environment, the output of
product placement in the Internet shop is two times smaller. However, the entrance zone effect in
mojo-jojo.lv overcame its return in a regular shop 1.7 times. Thus, the authors conclude that the
effectiveness of merchandising principles in an alternative commercial area, unlike in a retail shop,
can be both greater and lesser.
The authors of this article presume that the boundary value of turnover correction coefficient
is 1. If the boundary value is lesser than 1, the turnover rates are poor and it is necessary to take
121
well-thought-out measures to improve the entrance zone or product assortment placement. If the
boundary value is larger than 1, the turnover rates are satisfactory; however, it is always advisable
to improve these rates.
By using the proposed calculation system, enterprises can control, analyse and compare the
efficiency of entrance zone, related goods or other merchandising principles, as well as analyse and
forecast product placement. The authors of this article suggest that turnover rates of different goods
should be compared in terms of one merchandising factor. This can significantly improve the sales
growth of particular goods or product groups.
Conclusions
This paper presents new evidence on merchandising principles what are based on the
product placement in commercial area to increase the sales. These principles are developed
according to the interactions of the 3Ps of marketing (product, people and place).
On the basis of the research done by the authors was concluded that the concept of
merchandising can be attributed not only to retail shops, but also to other business areas. On the
basis of the research and survey done by the authors, the classification of merchandising according
to the number of dimensions of commercial area had been developed: 1D – direct sales, 2D –
catalogue sales; 3D – retail shops and ED. The authors suggest that merchandising should be
defined as product placement principle in commercial area.
Research also confirmed that by using merchandising principles, customers‘ psychology and
physiology is being affected through the sensory perception. Unlike classic marketing instruments,
the principles of merchandising are non-verbal and their influence is being felt by humans to a
lesser extent or not felt at all. After studying direct sales, catalogue sales and e-commerce, the
authors have determined that product placement principles are employed in these sales forms as
well.
The authors concluded that merchandising principles employed in all four commercial areas
included in the research are based on the classic principles which are employed in retail shops;
however, the efficiency of these principles may vary. For example, the entrance zone in the Internet
shop provides larger turnover than the same zone in a retail shop. Related goods, on the other hand,
provide smaller turnover than that of a retail shop.
This research reflects only a part of the given theme; accordingly the authors are planning to
continuing researches in this field for ensuring more in-depth analysis of merchandising aspects in
retail.
122
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123
VERSLO GRUPIŲ KONCEPCIJA
Jogaila Maĉerinskas¹, Mangirdas Morkūnas²
Mykolo Romerio universitetas
Ekonomikos ir Finansų valdymo fakultetas
Verslo ekonomikos katedra
El. paštas: ¹[email protected], ²[email protected]
Santrauka. Straipsnyje nagrinėjamos verslo grupių koncepcijos pateikiamos skirtingų ńalių
mokslininkų, aptariami joms būdingi bendri bruoņai, atskleidņiami verslo grupių formavimosi
ypatumai, parodomas tiek verslo grupių kaip reińkinio, tiek jį apibūdinančio apibrėņimo
heterogenińkumas, atskiriamos verslo grupių bei JAV ir Didņiojoje Britanijoje veikiančių verslo
konglomeratų apibrėņimų ribos. Verslo grupės apibrėņiamos kaip piramidinės struktūros,
diversifikuotos, palyginti autokratińkai valdomos, turinčios daug filialų ir susijusių įmonių, verslo
organizavimo formos su kontroliuojančiuoju akcininku piramidės virńuje (daņniausiai – ńeima).
Apņvelgiamos verslo grupės besivystančiose ir ińsivysčiusiose ńalyse, akcentuojamas tiek
teigiamas, tiek neigiamas verslo grupių veiklos rezultatas ńalies ekonomikai, socialiniam bei
politiniam gyvenimui.
Raktiniai ţodţiai: verslo grupės, verslo diversifikacija, piramidinė verslo struktūra
Įvadas
Mokslininkų poņiūriu ekonomikos augimas – tai „ertmių uņpildymas―, t.y. gebėjimas surasti
ir patiekti papildomus augančios gamybos sąnaudų grandinės elementus. Besivystančios ir
netobulos ekonomikos sąlygomis geriausiai tai sugebėjo padaryti verslo grupės, tapę besivystančių
ńalių ekonomikos varikliais bei stabdņiais, skatinę BVP plėtrą, eksporto augimą bei ńalies įmonių
kapitalizacijos didėjimą, tačiau kartu ańtrinę ńalių, kuriose veikia, uņsienio prekybos bei tiesioginių
uņsienio investicijų asimetrijas, trukdę vystytis konkurencingai rinkai ir grasinę maņųjų akcininkų
teisėms.
Verslo grupės – rinkos netobulumo ir silpnų rinkos prieņiūros institutų sąlygoti verslo
dariniai, būdingi daugeliui pasaulio ńalių, kur jos vadinamos skirtingai: keiretsu - Japonijoje,
chaebol - Pietų Korėjoje, grupos economicos - Lotynų Amerikoje ir pan. Verslo grupės stebimos
tiek ińsivysčiusiose ekonomikose, tiek besivystančios ekonomikos ńalyse. Mokslininkai
124
koncentruojasi į tam tikros atitinkamos ńalies verslo grupių tyrinėjimus ir studijas, palikdami
nuońalyje bendrus visoms ńalims verslo grupių ypatumus, nesiekdami konceptualizuoti verslo
grupių kaip atskiros verslo organizavimo formos, kuriai būdinga tam tikri bruoņai. Taigi tyrimo
problema – Kokie verslo grupių ypatumai? Tyrimo tikslas – atskleidus verslo grupių esmę,
apibrėņti jų formavimosi ypatumus. Tyrimo metodai: mokslinės literatūros analizė, sisteminimo ir
lyginimo metodai.
Verslo grupių esmė
Khanna ir Palepu (1997) siūlo apibrėņti verslo grupes kaip funkcinį pakaitalą, skirtą
uţpildyti institucines tuštumas besivystančiose ekonomikose, kiti mokslininkai verslo grupes
supranta kaip palankios vyriausybės politikos produktą, sukurtą siekiant sumaţinti besivystančių ir
industrinių šalių BVP skirtumus (Evans, 1979; Amsden, 1989). Verslo grupės – tai ne tik atsakas į
rinkos nepakankamumą ar tam tikras institucines ertmes besivystančių šalių ekonomikose bet ir tam
tikras variklis siekiant sumaţinti atotrūkį tarp išsivysčiusių ir besivystančių šalių (Leff, 1978;
Khanna and Palepu, 1997). Taigi, verslo grupė yra apibrėņiama kaip tam tikra politinio kapitalo,
sukurto iń skirtingų valdņios lygių ryńių su tam tikrais verslininkais ir didņiojo verslo sąjunga, kilusi
iń poreikio besivystančioms ekonomikoms ińlyginti skirtumus su ińsivysčiusiomis ńalimis (Lu ir Ma
2008).
Strachan (1976) – vienas pirmųjų mokslininkų, pripaņinusių verslo grupių egzistavimą bei
potencialų jų ekonominį poveikį, aprańė tris pagrindines savybes, kurios ińskiria verslo grupes iń
kitų panańių verslo organizacinių formų: veiklos įvairovė, narių įvairovė bei tarpusavio pasitikėjimo
atmosfera. Kaip matyti iń verslo grupių apibrėņimų nagrinėjimo, būtent tarpusavio pasitikėjimo
atmosfera bei veiklų diversifikacija tapo charakteringais verslo grupių ypatumais atskirose ńalyse.
XX a. pabaigos bei XXI a. pradņios verslo grupių tyrinėjimai remiasi Coase siūlomu
sandorių kańtų ekonomikos poņiūriu. Anot Granovetter (1994, 1995) „Verslo grupė – tai įmonių
rinkinys susijęs tarpusavyje formaliais ir neformaliais ryšiais“. Pagal ńį apibrėņimą, bet koks
konglomeratas, klasteris ar tiesiog konkuruojančios firmos tampa verslo grupe. Juk nė viena įmonė
neveikia vakuume, ji turi tam tikrų interesų ńalies rinkoje, ūkio ńakoje ar netgi tarptautiniu mastu.
Remiantis tik ryńių koncepcija į verslo grupes galima būtų įtraukti bet kurias įmones. Atskiri
mokslininkai ińskiria kitus esminius verslo grupių ypatumus. Keister (2000) pateikė modifikuotą
verslo grupių apibrėņimą, anot jo tai “tam tikras įmonių aljanso tipas‖ arba verslo grupės tai
“įmonių koalicijos, susietos įvairių teisinių socialinių ryšių labiau, nei to reikėtų trumpai
ekonominių mainų sąveikai atlikti”. Tai tikslesnis ir labiau atitinkantis verslo grupių reińkinio
apibūdinimas, kuris akcentuoja teisinius ir socialinius ryńius. Anot Khanna ir Rivkin (2001) verslo
125
grupės tai ―įmonių rinkinys, susietas formalių ir neformalių ryšių ţvaigţdynu ir yra pratęs imtis
koordinuotų veiksmų‖. Ńiame apibrėņime atsirandantis teiginys ―koordinuoti veiksmai‖ yra esminis
verslo grupių ypatumas, kadangi akcentuojama, jog verslo grupės yra sukurtos siekti tam tikrų jų
savininkų ar įkūrėjų tikslų, kurie, kaip toliau minima straipsnyje, nebūtinai yra tik verslo grupių
savininkų pelno maksimizavimas.
Japonijoje prieńkario verslo grupės yra apibrėņiamos kaip teisiškai nepriklausomų įmonių
rinkinys, kurios visiškai ar iš dalies priklauso kontroliuojančiajai bendrovei arba patronuojančiai
įmonei (Miyajima ir Kawamoto, 2010). Kanados vyriausybė verslo grupę apibrėņia kaip dvi arba
daugiau kotiruojamų įmonių, valdomų vieno akcininko, kuris turi ne maţiau kaip 20% akcijų. Riba
ņemiau 50% ir vienos akcijos yra prasminga dėl to, jog dauguma smulkiųjų akcininkų balsuoja
retai, o jei ir balsuoja, daņnai tai daro taip, kaip rekomenduoja valdyba (Morck, 2010). Nacionalinis
Kinijos statistikos biuras (NSBC) apibrėņia verslo grupę kaip teisiškai nepriklausomų subjektų,
kurie iš dalies arba visiškai priklauso patronuojančiai įmonei ir yra uţregistruotas kaip tos
patronuojančios įmonės dukterinių įmonių rinkinys. Viena iń svarbiausių savybių, skiriančių Kinijos
verslo grupes nuo jų atitikmenų Pietų Korėjoje, Japonijoje ar kitose pasaulio ńalyse yra ta, jog
didņiosios Kinijos verslo grupės priklauso ir yra valdomos valstybės, o ne tam tikrų ńeimų (Chung
ir Mahmood, 2010). Pietų Korėjos teisėje verslo grupių apibrėņimas atspindėtas labai panańiai, kaip
ir didelės dalies Europos ńalių (Barca ir Becht, 2001). Nors Pietų Korėja ir Kinija yra artimos
geografińkai, jų verslo grupių apibrėņimai, kaip matyti, skiriasi. Japonijos biurokratai, mokslininkai
ir verslininkai daņnai naudoja tarpusavyje nesuderinamus apibrėņimus, o tai kelia abejones, jog pats
terminas nė neturi tikrosios prasmės (Miwa ir Ramseyer, 2006). Tai sukelia ańtrias diskusijas
mokslinėje literatūroje dėl verslo grupių esmės ir jų struktūrų (Khanna ir Yafeh, 2007). Diskusijas
gali sukelti ir tai, jog toje pačioje Japonijoje prieńkario verslo grupės turėjo vienokį pavidalą, gi
susikūrę pokariu, gali būti apibūdinamos skirtingai. Mokslinėje literatūroje Japonijos dabartinės
verslo grupės skirstomos į turinčias vertikalios ir horizontalios organizacines struktūras. Vertikalios
organizacinės struktūros verslo grupėms būdinga tai, kad jos nukreiptos į tiekėjų ir gamintojų
santykius, t.y., „įmonių, susijusių tiekėjų – gamintojų santykiais rinkinys“, o horizontalios – tai
„susijusios įmonės skirtingose pramonės šakose, savo struktūra panašios į konglomeratus“ (Lamin,
2007). Taigi, verslo grupės turi būti nagrinėjamos ne tik tam tikrose skirtingose geografinėse,
kultūrinėse, bet ir laiko plotmėse. Morck (2010) siekdamas aińkumo siūlo remtis finansų
mokslininkų (La Porta, 1999) siūlomu verslo grupių apibrėņimu, teigdamas, jog verslo grupę galima
apibrėņti kaip dviejų ar daugiau listinguojamų bendrovių rinkinį, valdomą vieno pagrindinio
akcininko, turinčio blokuojantį akcijų paketą ir valdantį bent jau 20% akcijų. Taip pat, siekdamas
geriau atspindėti susidariusią realybę, ńis autorius pabrėņia, jog verslo grupės būtinai turi turėti
piramidinę verslo struktūrą. Tokia takoskyra tarp verslo grupių ir konglomeratų, kurie pagal ńį
126
apibrėņimą lieka uņ verslo grupės supratimo ribos padeda susisteminti tam tikrų mokslininkų
tyrimus ńia kryptimi, tačiau neįtraukia esminio Pietryčių Azijos ir Lotynų Amerikos verslo grupių
bruoņo – visos jos yra valdomos ńeimų. Verslo grupė Brazilijoje – tai įmonių grupė grieţtai
kontroliuojama to paties ūkio subjekto, apima bent vieną rinkoje kotiruojamą įmonę arba yra
diversifikuota į tris skirtingas pramonės šakas (Aldrighi ir Postali, 2010), verslo grupė Izraelyje –
tai grupė įmonių, kurioje trys ar daugiau įmonių yra valdomos to paties akcininko (Kosenko,
Yafeh, 2010). Verslo grupės Tailande – tai įmonės, susietos sudėtingais formaliais ir neformaliais
ryšiais, įskaitant akcijų piramides, kryţminius akcijų apsikeitimo sandorius bei bendrus valdymo
organus (Wailerdsak, Suehiro, 2010). Kaip matyti iń ńių apibrėņimų, kuo valstybė labiau
ińsivysčiusi ir kuo jos rinkos prieņiūros institucijos stipresnės, tuo verslo grupės apibrėņimas
paprastesnis, apimantis platesnę interpretacijos galimybę. Ńį reińkinį galima sieti su tuo, jog
stipriose ir brandņiose ekonomikose, pati rinka ińtirpina esminius verslo grupių bruoņus ir daro jas
vis labiau panańias į JAV ir Didņiojoje Britanijoje priimtus verslo konglomeratus. Konglomeratą ir
verslo grupę Roe (1994) atskyrė teigdamas, jog “verslo grupės derina savyje stiprius nuosavybės
ryšius ir santykinai silpną vadovų įtaką daugelyje savo įmonių, priešingai nei konglomeratai, su jų
silpna savininkų įtaka ir stipria vadovų”.
Sekant aukńčiau pateiktais verslo grupių apibrėņimais galima sutikti su Keister (2000)
ińskirtais bei Chen (2009) suklasifikuotas verslo grupių besivystančiose ńalyse bruoņais, jog verslo
grupės, tai: 1) įmonių aljansai, kurie veikia skirtingose rinkose uņuot koncentravęsi į vieną rinką ar
produktą; 2) teisińkai apibrėņtos ir pripaņintos valdņios institucijų savarankińkais juridiniais
vienetais, nors retkarčiais egzistuojančios ir be teisinio pripaņinimo; 3) daņniausiai yra
kontroliuojamos asmens, ńeimos ar įmonės bei turinčios vieningą valdymo struktūrą 4) įmonėsnarės yra nepriklausomi ekonominių sprendimų priėmimo vienetai 5) daņniausiai jungiamos įvairių
socialinių, teisinių ir ekonominių ryńių, įmonių-narių valdomi vieni kitų blokuojantys akcijų paketai
atspindi nuosavybės santykius tarp įmonių 6) įmonių veikla pagrįsta ilgalaikiais ekonominiais
mainais.
Atskiri mokslininkai siūlo konceptualizuoti verslo grupes kaip tam tikras tinklines
organizacijas (Powel ir Smith-Doerr, 1994). Ńiuo poņiūriu pripaņįstama, jog įmonės, verslo grupės
narės, yra teisińkai nepriklausomos, tačiau yra kontroliuojamos per „tarpįmoninius― ryńius ir veikia
su tam tikro laipsnio tarpusavio priklausomybe ir koordinacija (Granovetter, 1995). Netgi yra
teigiama, jog tarpįmoniniai ryńiai yra stabilesni nei tarp įprastų kontroliuojančių bendrovių ar
konglomeratų , ko gero dėl jau egzistuojančios socialinės struktūros, kaip kad ńeima (Chung ir
Mahmood, 2010). Verslo grupės veikia kaip silpnais formaliais ir neformaliais ryšiais susaistytos
įmonės (Powel ir Smith-Doerr, 1994; Granovetter, 1995). Ryńiai, kurie jungia įmones varijuoja nuo
formalių ekonominių priemonių kaip kad nuosavo kapitalo priklausomybė, vadovų bendrumas,
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tarpusavio paskolos, pirkimo-pardavimo kontraktai (Gerlach, 1992) iki neformalių, paremtų
giminystės ryńiais, draugyste, religija, kalba, etnine grupe (Granovetter, 1995, Chung ir Mahmood,
2010). Tad kurgi riba, kaip atskirti verslo grupę nuo tinklinės organizacijos? Fruin (2009) siūlo tokį
verslo grupių ir tinklinių organizacijų nagrinėjimo aspektą: kai nuosavybė ir kontrolė yra daugiau
centralizuota, ir organizaciniai padaliniai turi ribotą autonomiją, turėtų būti vartojamas terminas
verslo grupė, gi kai padaliniai turi daugiau autonomijos nuosavybės, valdymo, verslo operacijų
klausimais, tarpįmoninis tinklas yra tinkamesnis terminas. Tačiau lieka neaińkios verslo grupių
autonomijos ribos.
Nagrinėjant Pietryčių Azijos verslo grupes, mokslinėje literatūroje daņnai sutinkamas
terminas: “šeimos valdomos verslo grupės”. Toks terminas taikomas siekiant ińskirti Pietryčių
Azijos verslo grupių bruoņą – visos jos yra valdomos tam tikrų ńeimų (daņniausiai jau antros ar
trečios kartos palikuonių). Ńiai verslo grupių ńakai apibūdinti itin tinkamą apibrėņimą pateikė
Chung (2012) “Šeimos valdomos verslo grupės tai verslo subjektai, sudaryti iš diversifikuotų viena
kitai priklausančių įmonių, susietų skirtingų faktorių, įskaitant piramidinę nuosavybės struktūrą,
artimus rinkos ryšius (kaip kad sandorius tarp grupės vidaus įmonių) ir siejamus šeimos santykių,
per kuriuos įmonės yra koordinuojamos bendriems tikslams pasiekti‖. Paminėtina, jog ńis
apibrėņimas tinka ir Lotynų Amerikos verslo grupėms, kas jį daro gana universaliu kai yra kalbama
apie verslo grupes besivystančiose rinkose.
Verslo grupių apibrėņimai skiriasi neatsitiktinai. Verslo grupės labai organińki dariniai,
gebantys prisitaikyti prie lokalių sąlygų ir nuolat besikeičiantys, juk, pavyzdņiui, Čilės verslo
grupės yra gerokai labiau diversifikuotos nei Pietų Korėjos verslo grupės, ńios, savo ruoņtu, labiau
diversifikuotos nei Taivanio, gi Filipinų verslo grupės yra ņymiai labiau vertikaliai integruotos nei
jų Indijos analogai ir kur kas labiau įsitraukusios į finansinių paslaugų rinką nei Tailando verslo
grupės. Galų gale, dalyje ńalių verslo grupės jau tapo stipria politine jėga, kitur santykiai tarp verslo
grupių ir politikos ņymiai įtemptesni ir ńios dvi stovyklos laikosi tam tikro atstumo. Be to,
konceptualiai ņvelgiant, ńi hybridinė organizacinė forma tarp įmonės ir rinkos, tikėtina, gali
paskatinti naujas mokslines diskusijas apie įmonę ir jos ribas (Khanna ir Yafeh, 2010).
Taigi, siekiant atskleisti verslo grupės esmę mokslinėje literatūroje, galima teigti, jog tai
piramidinės struktūros, diversifikuota, gan autokratińkai valdoma, turinti daug filialų ir susijusių
įmonių, verslo organizavimo forma su kontroliuojančiuoju akcininku piramidės virńuje (daņniausiai –
ńeima).
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Verslo grupių formavimosi ypatumai
Verslo grupių formavimasis atskirose geografinėse, kultūrinėse ir laiko plotmėse suponuoja
skirtingas verslo grupių sampratas. Nors verslo grupių apibrėņimai labai skiriasi, juose galima
įņvelgti tris esminius bruoņus: diversifikaciją, piramidinę struktūrą bei pelningą veiklą.
Diversifikacija. Vyraujančios vadovavimo teorijos teigia, kad įmonės turėtų atrasti jų
konkurencinio pranańumo ńaltinius ir likti jiems ińtikimos. Bendrovės veiklos diversifikavimas, gali
būti naudingas akcininkams, ypač jei įmonė turi tam tikrų ińteklių, kad būtų galima pelningai
ińplėsti verslą uņ dabar įsisavintos verslo ńakos, juk daņnai kurioje nors ńakoje įsitvirtinusios įmonės
turi verslumo įgūdņių, technologijų ir pan. perteklių. Be to, kai akcijų rinkos rodo nervingumo
ņenklus arba netgi juda ņemyn, atrodo ińmintinga diversifikuoti verslo riziką tikintis, jog turimi
pranańumai gali atneńti sėkmę ir dar vienoje verslo ńakoje. Toks verslo grupių veiklos portfelio
diversifikavimas galėtų būti vadinamas organiniu, mat yra tikrai naudingas ne tik pačiai verslo
grupei, bet ir tai ńaliai, kurioje ji veikia (Schneider, 2010), tad nenuostabu, jog verslo grupės
paprastai yra labai diversifikuoti dariniai, valdantys įvairių, atrodytų nesusijusių pramonės ńakų
įmones. Tai būdinga Indijai (Sarkar, 2010), Meksikai (Hoshino, 2010), Taivaniui, Tailandui
(Wailerdsak ir Suehiro , 2010) bei daliai kitų besivystančių ekonomikų (Khanna ir Yafeh, 2005). Iń
esmės, platus diversifikacijos profilis turi prasmę tik tada, jei skirtingose pramonės ńakose
veikiančios įmonės turi tam tikrų ryńių tarpusavyje, ketina skolintis ar skolinti vien kitai. Platesnis
diversifikacijos spektras leidņia gilesnį tarpgrupinį pasirinktų verslų stimuliavimą net ir ińvystytos
ekonomikos sąlygomis (Heaney ir Holman 2008; Morck, 2010). Tai taip pat maņina galimą
nemokumo ar kredito negrąņinimo riziką (Heaney ir Holman, 2008), leidņia naudotis tam tikrų
įmonių nepaskirstytuoju pelnu remiant finansińkai silpnesnes bendroves, ypač tik pradedančias
verslą. Anot Delios ir Ma (2010) ribotas vietinės rinkos dydis ir produktų rinkos nepakankamumas
priverčia verslo grupes diversifikuoti savo verslo portfelius. Sekant ńia mintimi galima daryti
prielaidą, jog kuo ńalies rinka maņesnė, tuo labiau diversifikuotu verslo portfeliu verslo grupės
disponuoja. Tai ypač akivaizdu nagrinėjant Hong Kongo bei Singapūro verslo grupių veiklą
(Colpan, Hischino 2010).
Piramidinė struktūra. Verslo grupės paprastai yra piramidinės struktūros (ņr. 1 pav.) su
kontroliuojančiąja ńeima jų virńuje. Ko gero, nepasitikėjimo, korupcijos aplinkoje, geras ńeimos
vardas bei senos tradicijos uņtikrina garbingas bei nediskriminuojančias sutartis, pagarbų
darbuotojų, vadovų ir tiekėjų vertinimą (Khanna ir Rivkin, 2001; Khanna ir Yafeh, 2007), kas daro
verslo grupes patrauklias visuomenės akyse. Toks poņiūris tarsi suponuoja prielaidą, jog verslo
grupės besivystančiose rinkose tam tikra prasme perima brandņių rinkų funkcijas, su joms
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būdingomis ņaidimo taisyklėmis ir bent taip sukuria iliuziją apie tai, jog bent jau grupės viduje
atotrūkis tarp besivystančių ir industrinių ńalių jau įveiktas.
Piramidinė struktūra padeda uņtikrinti visińką verslo grupės kontrolę, kas yra būtina siekiant
įdiegti aukńčiau minėtas normas (Morck, 2010). Finansų specialistai (La Porta ir kiti, 1999;
Claessens ir kiti, 2000) taip pat pastebi, jog piramidinė struktūra leidņia pagrindiniam akcininkui
valdyti blokuojantį paketą minimaliomis sąnaudomis. Be to, nuosavybės ir valdymo atskyrimas
sukuria galimybę valdančiosioms ńeimoms eksproprijuoti maņųjų akcininkų teises (Keister 2000).
Pelninga veikla. Verslo grupės nariai yra pelningesnės įmonės lyginant su verslo grupėms
nepriklausančiomis įmonėmis besivystančių rinkų ńalyse – Čilėje (Khanna ir Palepu, 2000), Indijoje
(Morck 2010), Rusijoje (Gurijev ir Račinskij, 2005), bet vidutinińkos arba netgi blogiau veikiančios
stiprios ekonomikos ńalyse – Kanadoje (Morck 2000), Izraelyje (Kosenko ir Yafeh, 2010),
Ńvedijoje (Hogfeldt, 2005). Ńį reińkinį nesunku paaińkinti (Khanna ir Rivkin, 2001): verslo grupių
vienas pagrindinių privalumų – gebėjimas apeiti silpnas institucijas, kuris ińnyksta kai susiduriama
su brandņiomis rinkomis ir stipriomis institucijomis, ińvystytomis finansų, kapitalo rinkomis bei su
kvalifikuotais darbuotojais (Morck, 2010). Besivystančios ńalys ar besivystančių rinkų ńalys daņnai
turi silpnas vyriausybes bei neińvystytas rinkas ir taip sudaro sąlygas klestėti verslo grupėms, ńiose
ńalyse jos kartais netgi pajėgia pakeisti funkcionuojančias vyriausybes.
1 pav. Diversifikuotos verslo grupės struktūrinė schema
Šaltinis: Colpan, Hikino, 2010
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Kaip matyti, tiek diversifikacija, tiek piramidinė struktūra yra ne tiek pačios įmonės
pasirinkti vystymosi keliai, kiek rinkos ir jos netobulumų pasiūlytos vystymosi strategijos, mat
verslo grupės diversifikuoti veiklą imasi daņniausiai tik tada, kai dydņiu „praauga― savo verslo
sektorių, ar pramonės ńaką, gi piramidinė verslo struktūra yra rezultatas to, jog dėl per greito
augimo ńioms verslo organizacijoms tiesiog nepavyksta inkorporuoti visų savo tiesiogiai ar
netiesiogiai valdomų įmonių/organizacijų į vieną junginį. Tai tik dar kartą patvirtina verslo grupių
gebėjimą prisitaikyti prie rinkos netobulumų ir ńalies institucinių ertmių, ko logińkas rezultatas ir
yra pelninga veikla. Mokslinėje literatūroje yra skiriamos trys verslo grupių atsiradimo/augimo
kryptys: organinio augimo, diversifikacijos būtinumo sąlygotos bei politiškai paskatintos.
Organinio augimo verslo grupės plečiasi masto ekonomijos pagrindu, sekdamos vertikalios
integracijos logika. Diversifikacijos vedamos verslo grupės maņina riziką ir didina pelną per
korporatyvinio valdymo leidņiamą rizikos diversifikavimą perkant ar parduodant įmones. Politińkai
paskatintos verslo grupės atsirado kaip atsakas į vyriausybės iniciatyvas ar nurodymus.
Taigi, nors verslo grupių atsiradimo prieņastimi įvardijama verslo ir valstybės koalicija,
siekiant abiejų partnerių tikslų, bet rinkos, jos mechanizmų bei kontroliuojančių institucijų
netobulumas taip pat turėtų būti vertinamas kaip verslo grupių atsiradimo prieņastis bent jau dalyje
besivystančių ńalių. Kitaip tariant, verslo grupės gali įveikti rinkos disproporcijas bei trūkumus,
besivystančios ekonomikos ńalių institucijų netobulumus, prisiimdamos ńalies ņmogińkojo kapitalo,
finansinių ińteklių bei tarpinių produktų rinkos funkcijas. Galima teigti, jog verslo grupės susikūrė
kaip atsakas į besivystančių pietryčių Azijos bei Lotynų Amerikos rinkų netobulumą, tačiau
sustiprėjusios ir ėmusios visińkai dominuoti ńalies ekonomikoje, jos tapo stabdņiu formuojant
efektyvią ńių ńalių rinką.
Išvados
Valstybės institucijų diktuojama politika, verslininkai, konkurencinė ir institucinė aplinka
vaidina svarbų vaidmenį formuojant verslo grupių evoliucinius kelius bei konkurencines strategijas.
Verslo grupės, kaip ir didņioji dalis bet kurios ekonomikos subjektų, turi tiek teigiamas, tiek
neigiamas puses. Į verslo grupes galima ņvelgti kaip į tam tikras organizacines struktūras, kuriomis
galima įveikti tam tikrus rinkos trūkumus ir netobulumus siekiant sukurti pasaulinio lygio
konglomeratus sparčiai augančios ekonomikos ńalyse. Iń kitos pusės, tam tikri sandoriai grupės
viduje, skaidrumo ir atskaitomybės trūkumas leidņia verslo grupėms ir toliau mėgautis kartais ir
nevisińkai skaidrių santykių bei paņinčių teikiamais privalumais siekiant tiek sau naudingo ińteklių
paskirstymo, tiek smulkiųjų akcininkų teisių apribojimo.
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Pernelyg didelio kapitalo sutelkimas tam tikrų verslo grupių rankose bei jų dominavimas
ńalies ekonomikoje gali apsunkinti smulkiųjų ir vidutinių įmonių kūrimąsi bei veikimą ńalies ir
netgi tarptautinėse rinkose, kas gali būti pavojinga ir valstybės mastu, mat būtent smulkios ir
vidutinės įmonės laikytinos lengviau prisitaikančiomis prie besikeičiančių ekonomikos sąlygų. Vis
tik mokslininkai įrodė, jog verslo grupės rodo geresnius rezultatus nei atskiros įmonės, tad valstybės
mastu jos yra daugiau pageidautinas, nei vengtinas reińkinys, mat ńalies, kurioje yra tinkamai
veikiančių stambių verslo grupių BVP auga sparčiau nei tų, kuriose ńis reińkinys nėra paplitęs, tad,
ko gero, besivystančių ńalių ekonomikos bei verslo krypties mokslininkų diskusijos ir moksliniai
tyrimai turėtų būti nukreipti į tai, kaip minimizuoti verslo grupių sukeliamus ńalies
ekonominio/politinio/socialinio gyvenimo trūkumus ir sustiprinti jų teikiamus privalumus, o ne
diskutuoti keliant klausimą ar verslo grupės kaip institutas yra naudingos besivystančių rinkų
ekonomikoms.
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CONCEPT OF BUSINESS GROUPS
Jogaila Maĉerinskas, Mangirdas Morkūnas
Summary
In this article concepts of business groups, presented by scientists of different countries, are
analyzed; their general characteristic features are discussed; peculiarities of the formation of
business groups are revealed; heterogeneity of the phenomenon of business groups as well as of its
characterising definition is shown; and definition limits of business groups and business
conglomerates active in the USA and the UK are separated. Business groups are defined as business
organisation forms of a pyramid structure that are diversified, managed relatively autocratically,
having many branches and related enterprises, with a controlling shareholder (usually a family) at
the top of the pyramid. Business groups in developing and developed countries are reviewed, and
positive as well as negative results of activities of business groups for a country‘s economy, its
social and political life are emphasized.
Keywords: business groups, business diversification, pyramid business structure.
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ĮMONĖS INTELEKTINIO KAPITALO ĮTAKOS VEIKLOS EFEKTYVUMUI
VERTINIMO MODELIO TAIKYMO GALIMYBĖS
Irena Maĉerinskienė¹, Ilona Bartuševiĉienė²
E-mail: ¹[email protected]; ²ilona.bartuševičienė@mruni.eu
Santrauka. Intelektinio kapitalo vertinimo problematika plačiai nagrinėjama mokslinėje
erdvėje, tačiau praktinis taikymas vis dar ińlieka pasyvus. Straipsnyje intelektinis kapitalas
apibrėņiamas kaip ņinių, įgūdņių, kompetencijų, klientų, valdymo strategijų, organizacinių procesų,
sistemų bei informacinių ińteklių visuma. Straipsnyje atskleidņiama intelektinio kapitalo struktūra ir
intelektinis kapitalas vertinamas per ņmogińkojo, struktūrinio ir materialaus kapitalo efektyvumo
prizmę. Autoriai pateikia intelektinio kapitalo vertinimo metodologiją, kuria remiantis pristatomi
Lietuvos pieno perdirbimo įmonių intelektinio kapitalo įtakos jų veiklos efektyvumui vertinimo
rezultatai. Intelektinio, ņmogińkojo ir struktūrinio kapitalų efektyvumo rezultatai nėra statistińkai
reikńmingi. Tyrimo metu nustatyta, kad tik materialaus kapitalo efektyvumas turi įtakos įmonės
nuosavybės
grąņai,
kitos
intelektinio
kapitalo
efektyvumo
dedamosios
yra
statistińkai
nereikńmingos arba koreliacinis ryńys su nuosavybės grąņa yra silpnas. Tyrimo rezultatus galėjo
įtakoti ribota metinėse ataskaitose pateikta informacija, ypač vertinant ņmogińkuosius ińteklius.
Intelektinio kapitalo vertinimo modelio tobulinimui siūloma atlikti tyrimą, kuriame intelektinio
kapitalo efektyvumo dedamosios turėtų būti vertinamos ne tik analizuojant finansinių ataskaitų
informaciją, bet ir apklausiant įmonių vadovus ir darbuotojus.
Reikšminiai ţodţiai: Intelektinis kapitalas, ņmogińkasis kapitalas, struktūrinis kapitalas,
klientų kapitalas, įmonės veiklos efektyvumas.
Įvadas
Ilgalaikio konkurencinio pranańumo įgijimas ir jo ińlaikymas yra įmonių
egzistencinis pagrindas, kuriuo remiantis turėtų būti kuriama įmonių veiklos strategija. Auganti
konkurencija skatina įmones imtis modernių bei originalių priemonių, uņtikrinančių finansinį
gerbūvį. Darbuotojų kompetencijos skatinimas, naujų technologijų bei inovacijų diegimas, klientų
analizavimas ir daug kitų nematerialių akcentų
skatina konkurencinį pranańumą, kurį galima
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apibūdinti, kaip intelektinio kapitalo ińteklių panaudojimą. Intelektinio kapitalo koncepcija yra dar
palyginus nauja ir ńiuo metu plačiai nenagrinėta sritis, nors teoriniai nematerialiųjų ińteklių
pagrindai egzistuoja jau daugybę metų. Intelektinis kapitalas yra nematerialus turtas, padedantis
įmonėms įgyti konkurencinį pranańumą, tačiau susiduriama su problemomis, nes dauguma įmonių
vis dar nepripaņįsta intelektinio kapitalo svarbos arba nesugeba jo panaudoti savo kasdieninėje
veikloje. Daugeliu atveju, įmonių vadovai ir investuotojai vertindami įmonę apsiriboja tik
finansinių priemonių nagrinėjimu. Sveiby ir Edvinnson‗as pabrėņia, kad intelektinio kapitalo
ińtekliai privalo būti įtraukti į įmonės vertinimo ataskaitas, nes tradiciniai finansiniai rodikliai
parodo tik materialųjį įmonės turtą, tuo pačiu skatindami trumpalaikius sprendimus. Suformavus
papildomą ataskaitos mechanizmą, kuris padėtų įvertinti intelektinio kapitalo ińteklius, įmonės
galėtų lengviau vertinti ateities galimybes ir priimti ilgalaikius sprendimus (Andriessen, 2007).
Kadangi mokslininkai vis dar ginčijasi dėl intelektinio kapitalo sąvokos ir nepriima vieningo
sprendimo intelektinio kapitalo vertinimo metodikos klausimu, daugeliui įmonių
intelektinis
kapitalas kol kas egzistuoja tik teorijos pavidale, o praktinis koncepcijos taikymas ińlieka vis dar
nauja tyrinėjimo sritimi. Tyrimo tikslas – nustatyti įmonės intelektinio kapitalo įtakos veiklos
efektyvumui vertinimo modelio taikymo galimybes. Tyrimo uţdaviniai: 1) atskleisti intelektinio
kapitalo struktūrą; 2) aptarti įmonės intelektinio kapitalo vertinimo modelius; 3) patikrinti įmonės
intelektinio kapitalo vertinimo modelio taikymo galimybes. Pagrindiniai tyrimo metodai –
mokslinės literatūros analizė ir sintezė ir statistinis tyrimas. Straipsnyje siekiama pateikti skirtingas
intelektinio kapitalo vertinimo koncepcijas ir pagrįsti intelektinio kapitalo ińteklių svarbą įmonės
veiklos ilgalaikiam efektyvumui skatinti bei nustatyti atskirų vertinimo modelių taikymo galimybes.
Intelektinio kapitalo struktūra
„Informacija ir ņinios yra termobranduolinis ńių laikų ginklas. Sėkmė lydės tuos, kurie
protingai sugebės valdyti intelektinį kapitalą― (Harris, 2000). Taip intelektinį kapitalą 1991 metais
įvardijo vienas pirmųjų intelektinio kapitalo sąvokos autorių Thomas Stewart‗as. (Holton, 2008).
Smith‗o ir Parr‗o teigimu, įmonės intelektinis kapitalas sudaro 85 proc. visos įmonės ekonominės
vertės (Walsh, 2008). Ulrich‗o nuomone, intelektinis kapitalas yra matematinis daugybos veiksmas,
kurio kintamieji yra kompetetingumas ir įsipareigojimas, arba ņinių ir įgūdņių daugyba iń kiekvieno
organizacijai priklausančio individo noro dirbti (Harris, 2000). Maditinos‗as (2011) intelektinį
kapitalą analizavo per ņmogińkojo, struktūrinio bei materialaus kapitalo efektyvumą, siekdamas
ińsiaińkinti kokią pridėtinę vertę sukuria intelektinis kapitalas ir atskiros jo dedamosios. Ramirez‗as
(2007) intelektinio kapitalo struktūrą ińskirstė į ņmogińkojo, struktūrinio ir ryńių kapitalus, tuo tarpu
Huang‗as ir Kung‗as (2011) intelektinio kapitalo struktūrą skirsto į ņaliąjį ņmogińkąjį, ņaliąjį
struktūrinį ir ņaliąjį ryńių kapitalus. Haris‗as (2000) intelektinį kapitalą suvokė per ņmogińkojo ir
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organizacinio kapitalo prizmę, teigdamas, kad klientų kapitalas yra ne kas kita kaip ņmogińkojo
kapitalo sudėtinė dalis, o organizacinis kapitalas gali pakeisti struktūrinį, nes yra glaudņiai susijęs
su įmonės mechanizmais, kurių paskirtis yra padėti darbuotojams optimaliai įgyvendinti jiems
paskirtas uņduotis, vėliau tampančiomis intelektiniu kapitalu. Stewart‗o poņiūriu, intelektinis
kapitalas yra ne kas kita, kaip susistemintos naudingos ņinios. Jo bendraminčiai Edvinsson‗as ir
Malone apibūdino intelektinį kapitalą kaip ņinių, patirties, organizacinių technologijų, santykių su
klientais bei profesionalių įgūdņių valdymą, kuris yra pagrindas kuriant konkurencinį pranańumą. Jų
poņiūriu, intelektinį kapitalą sudaro trys atskiri komponentai: ņmogińkasis, struktūrinis bei klientų
kapitalai. Finansiniai įmonės rodikliai bus pagerinti tik tada, kai įmonė vienodai investuos į visus
tris intelektinio kapitalo komponentus (Harris, 2000). Kadangi Stewart‗o intelektinio kapitalo
struktūra yra labiausiai diskutuotina mokslinėje literatūroje, toliau naudinga aptarti ńios struktūros
dedamąsias dalis. Ţmogiškasis kapitalas apima kolektyvinias ņinias, įgūdņius bei individų
gebėjimą dirbti įmonėse bei organizacijose (Demartini, 2011), tačiau, anot Keiso ir Weygandt‗o,
įmonės vengia investuoti į darbuotojų ņinių gilinimą, nes tai susiję su papildomomis ińlaidomis.
Stewart‗as siūlo ińeitį - ińlaidas, susijusias su investicijomis į intelektinį kapitalą, deklaruoti kaip
turtą balanso ataskaitose (Smith, 2003). Mokslininkai vienareikńmińkai sutinka, kad investicijos į
ņmogińkąjį kapitalą teigiamai įtakoja įmonės veiklos efektyvumą, nes rezultate yra jaučiama
sumaņėjusi darbuotojų kaita ir augantis pasitenkinimas darbu. Klientų kapitalo koncepcija apima
klientų pasitenkinimą įmonių siūlomais produktais, aptarnavimo procesą, klientų poreikių
tenkinimą įsigijus parduodamą prekę ar paslaugą. Mokslinėje literatūroje dar sutinkama santykių
kapitalo koncepcija (angl. relations capital), kuri yra platesnė nei klientų kapitalas. Santykių
kapitalas apima ińteklius, susijusius su įmonės ir suinteresuotų ńalių (investuotojai, tiekėjai, klientai)
(angl. stakeholder) santykių gerinimu. Pagal ńią intelektinio kapitalo stuktūrą, klientų kapitalas
tampa ryńių kapitalo sudedamoji dalis (St-Pierre, Audet 2011). Struktūrinis kapitalas apima
įmonės organizacinę kultūrą, valdymo strategijas, organizacinius procesus, sistemas bei
informacinius iteklius, reikalingus intelektinio kapitalo valdymo sistemos palaikymui (Banevene,
2010). Jis tiesiogiai susijęs su organizacijos mechanizmais ir struktūromis, galinčiomis padėti
darbuotojams efektyviau įgyvendinti savo veiklas. Individo veikla gali būti nepriekaińtinga, tačiau
jeigu įmonės infrastruktūra yra prasta, bendras intelektinis rezultatas nebus pasiektas, nes nebus
ińnaudojamos visos galimybės. Struktūrinio kapitalo pagalba darbuotojai efektyviau įgyvendina
intelektinio darbo rezultatą, kuris vėliau prisideda prie visos organizacijos veiklos optimizavimo
(Mikulėnienė, 2000).
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Įmonės intelektinio kapitalo vertinimo modeliai
Mokslinėje literatūroje pateikiami skirtingi intelektinio kapitalo vertinimo modeliai, tačiau
iki ńiol vis dar neprieita prie nusistovėjusios ir visuotinai priimtos metodologijos, kuria remiantis
įmonės galėtų įvertinti savo intelektualiuosius ińteklius. Tačiau tiek mokslininkai, tiek ir įmonių
vadovai pripaņįsta, kad nematerialieji ińtekliai neińvengiamai įtakoja įmonės veiklos efektyvumą,
kas skatina naujų modelių kūrimą bei jų praktinį taikymą. Chua ir Goh‗as (2008) ińskiria keturias
pagrindines intelektinio kapitalo modelių kategorijas:

Tiesioginis intelektinio kapitalo metodas (DIC) - identifikuoja nematerialų turtą ir
nustato jo piniginę vertę;

Rinkos kapitalizacijos metodas (MC)- nustato intelektinio kapitalo vertę,
įvertindamas skirtumą tarp įmonės rinkos ir balansinės vertės grynojo pelno;

Turto pelningumo metodas (ROA)- įvertina intelektinį kapitalą, remiantis įmonės
pelno vidurkiu, materialaus turto vidurkiu ir pramonės ńakos turto pelningumo vidurkiu per
numatytą laiko vienetą.

Subalansuotos apskaitos metodas (SC)- identifikuoja nematerialius ińteklius panańiu
pincipu kaip ir tiesioginio intelektinio kapitalo metodas,
tačiau skiriasi tuo, kad nevertina
intelektinio kapitalo pinigine ińraińka.
Pastebima tendencija, kad modeliai yra kuriami tam tikriems, iń anksto numatytiems tyrimo
objektams: Ramirez‗o (2010) SICAP modelis skirtas tik vieńojo sektoriaus analizei, Bontis (2000)
nacionalinio intelektinio kapitalo modelis skirtas intelektinio kapitalo vertinimui nacionaliniame
lygmenyje ir t.t. Tai patvirtina, kad intelektinio kapitalo koncepcija yra vis dar nepastovi, o jos
vertinimas skirtinguose sektoriuose yra nevienodas. Vis dėlto pastebėta, kad dauguma modelių
vertina įmones per intelektinio kapitalo bei finansinių rodiklių prizmę. Skiriasi tik intelektinio
kapitalo struktūros interpretavimas bei finansinių rodiklių vertinimo pasirinkimas.
Intelektinio kapitalo įtakos įmonės veiklos efektyvumui vertinimo modelis
Intelektinio kapitalo vertinimą per pridėtinę vertę tyrinėjo Maditinos‗as (2011). Jis nagrinėja
intelektinį kapitalą per ņmogińkąjį ir struktūrinį kapitalą, teigdamas, kad įmonės rinkos vertė yra
įtakojama materialiojo kapitalo efektyvumu bei intelektinio kapitalo dedamųjų dalių, t.y
ņmogińkojo ir struktūrinio kapitalo. Jo poņiūriu, intelektinis kapitalas galėtų būti įvardintas kaip
skirtumas tarp įmonės buhalterinės ir įmonės rinkos vertės. Skirtumą sudėtinga paaińkinti
kiekybiniais rodikliais, tačiau manoma, kad rinkos vertės pokyčius vis dėlto nulemia nematerialieji
ińtekliai, kuriuos autorius drąsiai įvardina kaip „paslėptąjį turtą―. Jo nuomone, intelektinis kapitalas
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privalo būti įtrauktas į įmonės veiklos ataskaitas ir būti lygiavertis rodiklis finansiniams svertams.
Maditinos‗as (2011) pratęsdamas Pulic‗o (2004) intelektinio kapitalo vertinimo modelio koncepciją,
siekia ińsiaińkinti atskirų intelektinio kapitalo komponentų įtaką įmonės finansiniams rodikliams.
Tyrimo eigoje paaińkėjo, kad teigiamas koreliacinis ryńys nustatytas tik tarp ņmogińkojo kapitalo
efektyvumo ir finansinių rodiklių. Likę kintamieji statistińkai nereikńmingi, arba koreliacinis ryńys
tarp jų silpnas. Visgi, autorius teigiamai vertina tyrimo rezultatus, aińkindamas, kad gauti tyrimų
rezultatai leidņia daryti prielaidą, kad intelektinio kapitalo vertinimas turi stiprų potencialą ateities
moksliniams tyrinėjimams.
Pasitelkiant Maditinos‗o (2011) intelektinio kapitalo vertinimo struktūrą sudaromas
intelektinio kapitalo vertinimo modelis (ņr. pav. 1), kuriuo analizuojama Lietuvos pieno perdirbimo
įmonių intelektinio kapitalo įtaka jų veiklos efektyvumui. Tyrimo metu siekiama ińsiaińkinti ar yra
ryńys tarp intelektinio kapitalo efektyvumo ir įmonių nuosavybės grąņos rodiklio.
Pirmas etapas. Remiantis Maditinos‗o (2011) metodika būtina apskaičiuoti materialųjį,
ņmogińkąjį ir struktūrinį kapitalus (ņr. 1 ir 2 ir 3 formules).
CE = Visas turtas – nematerialusis turtas;
(1)
Čia: CE- materialus kapitalas.
HU = Visos investicijos į darbuotojus (atlyginimai, su darbo uţmokesĉiu susiję išlaidos,
mokymai);
(2)
Čia: HU - ņmogińkasis kapitalas
SC = VA – HU;
Čia : SC - struktūrinis kapitalas;
VA - pridėtinė vertė;
HU - ņmogińkasis kapitalas.
(3)
Intelektinis kapitalas
(VAIC)
(VAIC+VAHU+STVA)
Materialiojo kapitalo
efektyvumas (VACA)
Ņmogińkojo kapitalo
efektyvumas (VAHU)
Struktūrinio kapitalo
efektyvumas (STVA)
Nuosavybės grąņa ROE
1 pav. Intelektinio kapitalo įtakos įmonės veiklos efektyvumui vertinimo modelis
Šaltinis: Sudaryta autorių remiantis Maditinos„o, 2011 modeliu
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Antras etapas. Įvertinus intelektinio kapitalo dedamąsias toliau siekiama ińsiaińkinti kokią
pridėtinę vertę sukuria intelektinio kapitalo efektyvumas bei atskiros jo dedamosios (ņr. 4, 5, 6 ir 7
formules).
VACA = VA / CE;
Čia : VACA- materialaus kapitalo efektyvumas;
CE - materialus kapitalo.
VAHU = VA / HU
(4)
(5)
Čia: VAHU - ņmogińkojo kapitalo efektyvumas;
HU - ņmogińkasis kapitalas.
STVA = SC / VA
(6)
Čia: STVA - struktūrinio kapitalo efektyvumas;
SC - struktūrinis kapitalas;
VA – pridėtinė vertė.
VAIC = VACA + VAHU+ STVA
(7)
Čia: VAIC –intelektinio kapitalo efektyvumas;
Treĉias etapas. Koreliacinės ir regresinės analizės metodais siekiama ińsiaińkinti ar yra
ryńys tarp intelektinio kapitalo efektyvumo ir atskirų jo dedamųjų bei nuosavo kapitalo grąņos.
Remiantis tyrimo rezultatais daroma ińvada, kad materialiojo kapitalo efektyvumas yra vienintelis
kintamasis turintis įtaką nuosavybės grąņos pokyčiams. Tarp ńių dviejų kintamųjų yra stiprus
tiesinis ryńys, o 96 proc. variacijos tarp pasirinktų kintamųjų yra paaińkinami ńiuo modeliu, kiti 4
procentai yra įtakojami kitų veiksnių. Remiantis ńia informacija yra koreguojamas pasirinktas
įmonės veiklos efektyvumo vertinimo modelis ir atmetami visi statistińkai nereikńmingi
komponentai (ņr. 2 pav.)
R = 0.98, r = 0.96
Materialaus kapitalo
efektyvumas
(VACA)
Y=0,15x – 0,13
Nuosavybės grąņa
ROE
2 pav. Patikslintas įmonių kapitalo atsipirkimo efektyvumo įtakos jų veiklos efektyvumui
tiesinės regresijos modelis
Tyrimo eigoje paaińkėjo, kad intelektinio, ņmogińkojo ir struktūrinio kapitalų efektyvumo
rezultatai nėra statistińkai reikńmingi. Tyrimo rezultatus galėjo įtakoti ribota metinėse ataskaitose
pateikta informacija, ypač vertinant ņmonińkuosius ińteklius. Pagal Maditinos‗s (2011) metodiką ńis
rodiklis turėtų įtraukti darbuotojų atlyginimus, kvalifikacijos tobulinimo kańtus bei kitas, su
personalo ińlaikymu susijusias ińlaidas. Remiantis gautais rezultatais, materialaus kapitalo
efektyvumas yra vienintelis kintamasis, įtakojantis nuosavybės grąņos rodiklį, tačiau atsiņvelgiant į
Harris‗o (2000) ińsakytą nuomonę, galima teigti, kad tik tuomet kai bus investuojama į visas
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intelektinio kapitalo dedamąsias dalis, įmonė įstengs sistemingai tobulėti ir konkuruoti ilgalaikėje
perspektyvoje. Taigi intelektinio kapitalo vertinimo modelio tobulinimui siūloma atlikti tyrimą,
kuriame intelektinio kapitalo efektyvumo dedamosios turėtų būti vertinamos ne tik analizuojant
finansinių ataskaitų informaciją, bet ir apklausiant įmonių vadovus ir darbuotojus. Be to tikslinga
intelektinio kapitalo vertinimui pasitelkti nematerialių ińteklių apskaitos mechanizmus, kuriuos
taikant per ilgesnį laiko periodą būtų galima efektyviau įvertinti intelektinių ińteklių įtaką įmonių
veiklai.
Išvados
Straipsnyje atlikta intelektinio kapitalo vertinimo analizė patvirtina nematerialių ińteklių
svarbą kuriant konkurencinį pranańumą įmonėse ir organizacijose, o intelektinio kapitalo vertinimo
modelių įvairovė leidņia daryti prielaidą, kad nematerialių ińteklių vertinimas turi stiprų potencialą
ateities moksliniams tyrinėjimams. Lietuvos pieno perdirbimo įmonių intelektinio kapitalo įtakos jų
veiklos efektyvumui vertinimo tyrimas atskleidė, kad tarp materialaus kapitalo efektyvumo ir
nuosavybės grąņos yra stiprus teigiamas koreliacinis ryńys, tuo tarpu ińkelta hipotezė, kad
ņmogińkojo, struktūrinio ir intelektinio kapitalo efektyvumo ir nuosavybės grąņos koreliacijos
koeficientas lygus nuliui, buvo patvirtina.
Tyrimo eigoje nustatyta, kad intelektinio, ņmogińkojo ir struktūrinio kapitalų efektyvumo
rezultatai nėra statistińkai reikńmingi. Tyrimo rezultatus galėjo įtakoti ribota metinėse ataskaitose
pateikta informacija, ypač vertinant ņmogińkuosius ińteklius. Intelektinio kapitalo vertinimo
modelio tobulinimui siūloma atlikti tyrimą, kuriame intelektinio kapitalo efektyvumo dedamosios
turėtų būti vertinamos ne tik analizuojant finansinių ataskaitų informaciją, bet ir apklausiant įmonių
vadovus ir darbuotojus. Intelektinio kapitalo vertinimui siūloma pasitelkti nematerialių ińteklių
apskaitos mechanizmus, kuriuos taikant per ilgesnį laiko periodą būtų galima efektyviau įvertinti
intelektinių ińteklių įtaką įmonių veiklai.
Intelektinio kapitalo koncepcijos naujumas ir vieningo vertinimo modelio stoka stabdo
įmonių investicijas į intelektinį kapitalą. Tinkamai įvertinus įmonių intelektinį kapitalą galima būtų
uņtikrinti vienodą investicijų į intelektinį kapitalą paskirstymą, nes tik tolygus visų intelektinio
kapitalo dedamųjų tobulinimas gali uņtikrinti konkurencinį pranańumą.
Literatūra
1. AB ―Pieno ņvaigņdės― 2010 metų finansinių ataskaitų rinkinys.
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APPLICATION POSSIBILITIES FOR A MODEL FOR ASSESSING THE
INFLUENCE OF A COMPANY‟S INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL FOR EFFICIENCY OF ITS
ACTIVITIES
Irena Maĉerinskienė, Ilona Bartuševiĉienė
Summary
The topics of intellectual capital assessment are widely analyzed in the scientific space but
its practical application still remains passive. In this article intellectual capital is defined as a totality
of knowledge, skills, competencies, clients, management strategies, organisational processes,
systems, and information resources. In this article the structure of intellectual capital is revealed,
and intellectual capital is assessed through the prism of efficiency of human, structural, and material
capital. The authors present an intellectual capital assessment methodology that serves as a basis for
the presentation of results of assessing the influence of intellectual capital of Lithuanian milk
dairying companies on efficiency of the companies‘ activities. Results of efficiency of intellectual,
human, and structural capitals are not statistically significant. During the research it has been
determined that only the efficiency of material capital influences a company‘s return on equity;
other constituents of intellectual capital efficiency are statistically insignificant or the correlational
relationship with the return on equity is weak. The research results could have been influenced by
limited information presented in annual reports especially when assessing human resources. In
order to improve the intellectual capital assessment model a research is suggested where
constituents of intellectual capital efficiency should be assessed not only by analysing information
from financial reports, but also by surveying company managers and employees.
Keywords: intellectual capital, human capital, structural capital, client capital, efficiency of
company activities.
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THE MODEL OF INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL INFLUENCE OVER THE
COMPANY'S VALUE ADDED
Irena Maĉerinskienė¹, Simona Survilaitė²
E-mail: ¹[email protected]; ²[email protected]
Abstract. World economy is facing a new age – an age of knowledge and information. The
main factor of every company‘s success is appropriate knowledge management and facilitating
information exchange. This is the most difficult issue that managers and employees face every day.
All these challenges can be called intellectual capital and its components. Many scientists are
investigating this concept, but still there is no unified explanation. This paper is designed in order to
present intellectual capital structure, its main features and to accentuate the influence of intellectual
capital over a company‘s value added.
Keywords. Intellectual capital, company‘s value added, social capital, communication
capital, and psychological capital.
Introduction
The changing environment and multiple conditions in economic sectors are the most
difficult issues managers face today. Material assets are not the most important factors that affect
the success of companies‘ activity. The value, which is created by knowledge of employees and
employers, is the main power increasing a company‘s value added. The main source of intangible
assets is intellectual capital, which can belong to a company or to an individual. Still there are a lot
of issues regarding this quite new concept. Scientists are trying to find the most important features
of intellectual capital and to give one broad definition, which could be used everywhere. But here a
huge scientific problem arises – how to describe intellectual capital? How to unify its‘ structure?
How intellectual capital influences company‘s value added? The main objective of this scientific
paper is to present the structure of intellectual capital and to define its‘ influence over a company‘s
value added. The object of this research is intellectual capital and its‘ influence over a company‘s
value added.
144
Literature Review
To begin with, there is a need to emphasize that intellectual capital can be understood and
perceived from different positions and point of views. It depends on the goal, which is raised in the
beginning of the research. In this case intellectual capital is understood from a company‘s
perspective as an intangible asset that belongs to a company. The most important goal is to treat
intellectual capital as a device of creating a company‘s value added. Edvinsson and Malone (1997),
Thomas A. Stewart (1997), Bueno Campos (1998), Calvo et al. (1999), Soler and Celestino (2007),
Sanchez (2007), Zéghal and Maaloul (2010), Diez et al. (2010), Curado, Henriques and Bontis
(2011), Bontis, Richards and Serenko (2011) mainly emphasize knowledge, skills, motivation,
experience, positivity of employees, education, routines, structures in a company as the main factors
of intellectual capital. According to scientific literature intangibility is the main feature of
intellectual capital so it can be considered as the sum of all intangible assets that are present in a
company. These are not only assets from human perspective, but also from technical, relational, and
legal points of view. The new structure of intellectual capital was proposed in a scientific paper
―The assess model of intellectual capital and a company‘s value added cohesion‖ (Mačerinskienė,
Survilaitė, 2011) and according to this publication intellectual capital consists of social capital,
communicational capital, and psychological capital. Social capital, according to Bourdieu (2005),
is the bunch of all necessary relations and communication within a company. It is like a huge bag
where all connections are put inside as yarn balls. Mačerinskienė and Vasiliauskaitė (2004)
presented that social capital consisted of social networks, values, norms, sanctions, rules,
regulations, and trust. Trust is considered to be the main factor of social capital – this is the most
important element, which creates motivation, abilities and capabilities for employees.
Communicational capital, according to Malmelin (2007), consists of juridical capital,
organizational capital, relational capital, and human capital. Juridical capital can be understood as
the total of protection provided by law, legally protected rights, information, which is owned by an
organization, patents, copyrights, confidential documents, technology, computer systems, etc.
Organizational capital refers to procedures, routines and management styles that are created in an
organization. Relational capital comprises all types of communication: internal and external.
Human capital is everything that actually belongs to company‘s employees‘: the experience gained
throughout the years, knowledge, educational background, personal and work skills, motivation,
competence, and never ending training. According to Mačerinskienė and Survilaitė (2011)
communicational capital is that part of intellectual capital, which helps to create a perfect image of
a company. It gives a company a competitive advantage, and value added is increased.
Psychological capital, according to Luthans et al. (2004), is comprised of four main parts:
145
resilience, optimism, effectiveness, and hope. Bontis, Richards and Serenko (2011) also mention
job autonomy and job satisfaction as two main factors of psychological capital. It is considered that
positive psychological capital increases employees‘ motivation, encourages and stimulates to work
faster and correctly. As a consequence a company‘s value added increases. To sum up, intellectual
capital is considered as the sum of social capital, communicational capital, and psychological
capital.
Methods and Results
To begin with, gross value added created by Lithuanian companies is very small compared
to other European Union countries. According to the latest data provided by Eurostat (Fig. 1),
Germany, France and United Kingdom create the biggest amount of value added while Lithuania‘s
value added is the 5th from the bottom.
Figure 1. Gross value added created by European countries
Source: Eurostat, 2011, IIIQ
Besides, according to the Eurostat database, there was a significant decrease in gross value
added created in Lithuania (Table 1). From this table it is observed that from 2000 gross value
added grew from 3.3 to 10.2 percent. The first decrease was noticed in 2004, but after that gross
value added was successfully increasing. A sharp decrease was observed in 2008 (from 9.8 in 2007
146
to 2.9 in 2008). A significant and even ―painful‖ drop was in 2009, when gross value added created
by Lithuanian companies decreased by 14.7 percent.
Table 1. Gross value added, percent
Lithuania
2000 2001
3.3
6.7
2002
6.9
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
10.2 7.4
7.8
7.8
9.8
2.9
Source: Eurostat, 2012
2009
-14.7
A huge problem arises – how to increase value added created by Lithuanian companies? As
intellectual capital is the most important factor for the creation of value added, a model showing the
relation between intellectual capital and a company‘s value added was composed. The model was
created using the method of contingencies‘ dimensions and the Global Business Network (GBN)
matrix method. The main point of this model is scenario writing and the choice of the best suitable
one. The model is based on the creation of four scenarios (the so-called sectors). According to
GBN, it is necessary to identify eight steps in order to create a script. First of all, the main problem
should be identified and the major domestic factors should be determined. Also the most important
external factors should be analyzed. Then all factors, listed in the second and third step, should be
ranked in order of importance. Besides, there is a need to find out the main axes in the model. These
axes will form a matrix, which has different and detailed scenarios. After this the script can be
developed and scenarios should be checked. The final step is monitoring the establishment. In this
step the model should be observed in order to modify some discrepancies (Mačerinskienė and
Survilaitė, 2011).
High
Company‟
s
intellectual
capital
I
Intellectual capital is high,
but value added is low
IV
Intellectual capital and
value added are high
II
value added are low
III
Intellectual capital is low,
but value added is high
Low
Low
Company‟s value added
High
Figure 2. The model of intellectual capital and a company‘s value added
147
Figure 2 shows that the model of intellectual capital is composed of two different axes – one
axis reflects a company‘s intellectual capital, and another axis reflects a company‘s value added.
According to the level of intellectual capital that exists or belongs to a company and according to
the amount of value added that a company generates companies can be grouped into four main
sectors:
1) I sector where company‘s intellectual capital is high but its‘ value added is low. Looks
like there is a sufficient level of intellectual capital, but it is possible that this asset is not used
properly.
2) In the II sector both company‘s intellectual capital and its‘ value added are low. This
means that there is not enough intellectual capital, and it neither creates nor increases a company‘s
value added.
3) III sector where company‘s intellectual capital is low, but its‘ value added is high.
Companies that define themselves in this sector could be production type companies where the
product or a product line is important itself and there is no need to have a high level of intellectual
capital as it costs a lot of funds.
4) Looks like the best sector is the IV one. Both, company‘s intellectual capital and its
value added are high. Nevertheless, there should always be the proper maintenance of intellectual
capital and inversions here should be done as well in order not to lose present position.
In order to improve the previously mentioned model, expert evaluation was performed in
November, 2011. The results were analysed and concluded using the SPSS statistical packet. Figure
3 shows the improved intellectual capital and a company‘s value added model. Two additional
boxes were added to variables in order to see, which factors are the most influential. Underlined
factors are those, which had the biggest influence on growth of either a company‘s intellectual
capital or a company‘s value added. Managers looking into this model can control each factor and
achieve desirable targets. According to the experts the most important factors influencing a
company‘s intellectual capital were employee motivation and education. Collaboration and
communication, positive psychological environment and resilience also have an impact on the
growth of intellectual capital. The most important factors influencing a company‘s value added
were employee motivation and reliable and loyal clients. Also collaboration and communication,
employee education, resilience and positive psychological environment have a significant impact on
a company‘s value added stimulation.
148
High
Company‘s
intellectual
capital
I
Intellectual capital is
high, but value added
is low
IV
value added are high
II
value added are low
III
Intellectual capital is
low, but value added is
high
Employee
motivation
Employee education
Collaboration and
communication
Positive psychological
environment
Resilience
Low
Employee motivation
Low
Reliable and loyal clients
Collaboration and
communication
Employee education
Resilience
Positive psychological
environment
High
Company‘s value
added
Figure 3. The model of intellectual capital and a company‘s value added (improved)
Conclusions
The most important concern nowadays is how to adapt quickly and with low costs to the fast
changing environment. Intellectual capital is the power of knowledge, education, skills,
communication and psychological elements gathered together. Usually intellectual capital is seen
from a company‘s perspective, but a company itself has no intellectual capital, it recruits human
capital, which has intellectual capital. Scientists emphasize that intellectual capital is the main
resource of generation, stimulation and the creation of a company‘s value added. That is why the
model of intellectual capital and a company‘s value added was created and improved. Nevertheless,
there is a need of further development of investigations and researches as the concept of intellectual
capital has not been analysed fully, this theory is always updated with news and innovations.
149
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151
DECISION MAKING IN HYPERARCHICAL ORGANIZATION
Rafał Mrówka
Warsaw School of Economics
Management Theory Department
Abstract. The paper outlines decision making process in hyperarchical organization – an
organization set up on the basis of self-organizing community clustered around a common goalidea-project, communicating with its members with the use of Internet. The paper presents an
analysis of group decision making model in hyperarchical organization, which resembles interactive
groups. The analysis describes advantages and disadvantages of a group decision making model,
and subsequently, it outlines preconditions which increase the probability of achieving success by
hyperarchical organizations. One of such preconditions includes openness of decision making
process and modular structure of hyperarchical organization. The author‘s intention is to outline the
specific nature of the decision making process within hyperarchical organization, highlighting the
challenges concerning the process and their impact on the organization‘s capability to perform
successfully and achieve its goals.
Keywords: Hyperarchical organisation, decision making, WEB 2.0, online community,
open source
Introduction
Hyperarchical organization is a new organizational form, which emergence was prompted
by development of new technology, especially Web 2.0 network – Internet based on interactive
exchange of ideas, opinions between interconnected entities and emergence of web communities.
For the purpose of this paper, hyperarchical organization has been defined as self-organizing
community set up around a commonly shared goals-ideas-project, in which each member has
unrestricted access to information and is able to communicate with any other community member in
real time. Hyperarchical organization is not restricted with rigid frames or boundaries, instead it is
based on the use of creative potential of its network entities. Furthermore, community members do
not have to be formally associated with the organization; they are linked together via commonly
shared values, ideas, projects. Examples of hyperarchical organizations existing in real life
152
comprise open source IT projects and communities gathered around those projects, communities
using wiki mechanism, e.g. Wikipedia or groups carrying out open innovation projects.
The analysis outlined in this paper describes decision making process within hyperarchical
organization. The author‘s aim is to: outline the specific nature of decision making process in
hyperarchical organization, point out to challenges, which constitute an inherent part of decision
making process and describe their impact on the possibility of successful performance of
hyperarchical organization.
Group Decision Making Process in Hyperarchical Organization
Objectives of hyperarchical organization are volatile, often modified in line with activities
currently carried out by community members. Only organization‘s mission, understood as a general
objective, goals which integrate the community, may remain constant. Strategic plan, especially,
detailed strategic objectives included in the plan, are volatile.
Volatility of hyperarchical organization‘s objectives and their modification prompted by
activities carried out by community members indicate that decisions concerning directions of
organization‘s development need to be taken collectively. Therefore, it can be expected that
decision making models predominantly applied in hyperarchical organizations will be group based
models, which entail both positive and negative consequences for this type of organizations. Within
decision making process area, hyperarchical organization resembles traditional interactive groups,
in which decisions are preceded by open discussions, disputes, justification of arguments, which
substantiate the decisions made (Griffin, 1998, p. 287). Difference between traditional interactive
group and hyperarchical community comprises especially lack of face-to-face contact between the
members. Discussions underlying decision making process in hyperarchical organization are carried
out via the Internet between the members scattered all over the world.
The strength of each decision making process especially comprises exchange of information
between different people involved in decision process. Variety of the community members‘
knowledge, credentials, skills, qualifications and experience contributes to better quality of final
decisions (better in terms of reasonableness, thoughtfulness), which concern hyperarchical
organization (Sosnowska, 1999, p. 64; Dennis, 1996, p. 433). Additionally, owing to this
exuberance of skills, credentials, it is possible to work out more decision variants enabling for
deeper dive into the problem. Not unimportant is also the fact that collective decision making,
participation in this process by numerous community members can enhance their involvement,
improve communication, and increase acceptance level for implemented decisions (Griffin, 1998, p.
289).
153
It should be taken into account, however, that benefits of collective decision making,
mentioned above, can be achieved on condition that community members will be exchanging
information with each other. Nonetheless, in multiple cases, exchange of information in traditional
interactive groups is very rare. Many members withhold important information for themselves
(Stasser, 1992). This can result in deterioration in quality of decisions made (Gigone, Hastie, 1993;
Stasser, Stewart, 1992).
Dennis (1996, p. 446) notes that usage of information technologies in collective decision
making can have a fundamental impact on information exchange within various groups. Dennis‘
research proves that groups which use IT tools exchange much more information as compared with
groups not making use of such tools. This is possible due to: the use of collective memory (entire
process is recorded and accessible for all community members), several projects, ideas running in
the pipeline and certain sense of anonymity existing in virtual contacts (i.e. lack of face-to-face
contacts). Due to the fact that these elements are also typical for hyperarchical organization, the
conclusions arising from Dennis‘ research can be extended over hyperarchical organization. Style in
which hyperarchical organizations operate, discussions carried out in discussions forums, which
each member can access immediately, openness of presented opinions – all this aspects foster
exchange of information between community members and finally increases the quality of decisions
made collectively.
Apart from this, group decision making has numerous drawbacks, however. The literature
covering this issue points out to long time of decision making process and losses made in the
process, often caused by: ineffective persuasions made by community members who try to convince
each other to certain ideas (Griffin, 1998, p. 289; Sosnowska, 1999, p. 64), problems with sharing
often unique, important information and tendency to devote much time on analysis of information
well known to all community members rather than on information known only to small number of
members (Dennis, 1996; Sosnowska, 1999, p. 64), danger of taking not optimal but compromising
decisions (Griffin, 1998, p. 289), danger that the group will be dominated by one of the community
members (Sosnowska, 1999, p. 64; Griffin, 1998, p. 289) and group thinking (Tyszka, 1999;
Sosnowska, 1999, p. 64; Griffin, 1998, p. 289; Forlicz, 2008, p. 126), i.e. the way of thinking which
prefers maintenance of cohesion within the group over the quality of the decisions based on facts.
Some of the problems will certainly occur in hyperarchical organizations, although, specific
manner, in which this type of organization is operating, will rather favour decrease in importance of
such problems. Remarkably, in hyperarchical organization, which favours collective decision
making process, the time required to make a decision may pose a problem. Discussions,
arrangements, consultations may lead to prolonged decision process.
154
As mentioned in above paragraphs, the problem of information sharing in hyperarchical
organization can be at least partially mitigated through the use of IT tools. Similarly, hyperarchical
organization propensity for making compromising decisions instead of optimal decisions can also
be reduced. On the other hand, however, in the research carried out by Dennis, already mentioned in
preceding paragraphs, he indicates that usage of IT tools, supporting collective decision making
process, does not guarantee that during information exchange process appropriate attention will be
focused on unique information, known only to a narrow group of members. There are available
certain researches (e.g. Arazy et al, 2006) which indicate that diversity of group (including
emergence of scattered, unique information) enhances the quality of final performance achieved by
hyperarchical organization, thus those scattered opinions must have an impact on final decisions.
The research described above was carried out within Wikipedia community and proved that the
number of persons involved in creation of Wikipedia definitions increases their quality, understood
as a decrease in the number of mistakes appearing in the definitions. This phenomenon was
described by Surowiecki in his famous book „The wisdom of crowds‖. Surowiecki concludes his
considerations with a statement that ―If you put together a big enough and diverse enough group of
people and ask them to ‗make decisions affecting matters of general interest,‘ that group‘s decisions
will, over time, be ‗intellectually [superior] to the isolated individual,‘ no matter how smart or wellinformed he is‖ (Surowiecki, 2005, p. 17).
Another problem associated with collective decision making concerns the danger of the
group being dominated by one of the community members. Such
danger also exists in
hyperarchical organizations, however, it seems that in this case limited or even lack of face-to-face
contacts reduce the likelihood of emergence of such a phenomenon. Dominance over the group
exerted by one of the members is usually connected with dominating member‘s charisma (Weber,
2002), in hyperarchical organization, where members are geographically scattered and do not have
a chance to meet regularly, charisma can contribute to building up an authority, however, this
occurs rather rarely (O‘Mahony, Ferraro, 2007, p. 1081; Wellman, Gulia, 1999).
The last of disadvantages of collective decision making, mentioned above, concerned the
danger of emergence of group thinking. However, Forlicz (2008, p. 126) observed that group
thinking can be propelled by certain conditions, which comprise: increased integration, fondness
between group members. In hyperarchical community, limitation of direct contacts and replacing
them with virtual ones does not foster integration. Secondly, group thinking process is facilitated by
isolation from the environment and lack of possibility to confront one‘s ideas with the environment.
This phenomenon also applies to virtual social networks, which is confirmed by Hinds and Lee
(2008, p. 4), nevertheless, they emphasize that this applies to closed virtual social networks.
Nonetheless, the specific characteristics applicable to hyperarchical organization comprise: its
155
openness, flexibility of boundaries, and volatile composition of the community. The characteristics
mentioned above hinder group thinking. Thirdly, group thinking can be propelled by severe stress
resulting from the importance of decisions made, pressure of time. This phenomenon occurring in
hyperarchical organizations cannot be fully eliminated. Lastly, strong leadership fosters group
thinking. It should be pointed out, however, that leadership in hyperarchical organization is rather
scattered and it is difficult to associate it with only one person, which also hinders rather than
fosters group thinking.
It seems that, likelihood of group thinking occurrence in hyperarchical organization is rather
smaller as compared with most traditional organizations. This is also confirmed by Arazy et al
(2006), who notes that diversity of population, typical for hyperarchical organization, reduces
destructive aspects of group decision making process, such as group thinking or conformism.
Summarizing, it seems that in hyperarchical organization, advantages of group decision
making surpass its drawbacks, which are inherently connected with the process. Nevertheless, it
does not mean that such threats cannot become real problems in this type of organization. The
question that should be asked is how to increase the likelihood of success of decisions taken by
community of hyperarchical organization.
Openness of Decision Making Process
The basic prerequisite of successful decision making process is openness of the whole
process. Openness is also one of the basic characteristics typical for hyperarchical organization.
This is connected with unrestricted access to all sources of information gathered by the community,
obtained symmetry in information (Mrówka, 2011). However, certain pathological situations
restricting access to information may arise. As observed by Goldman and Gabriel (2005, p. 145),
―The health of any community is likely to become poisoned when its members believe that there is
a group of people who are secretly making the important decisions.‖ All community members,
irrespective of their motives substantiating their involvement in the community work, position held
outside the community should have equal access to information and should have influence on
decisions made. All decisions should be made in an open, transparent manner, with the use of
mailing lists, discussion forums or tools enabling both to maintain group memory and to provide
each member with unrestricted access to historical and current information. Additionally, as
observed by Goldman and Gabriel (2005, p. 78), writing down decision proposals also contributes
to their particularity and enhance their quality.
Transparency and openness of decision making process does not preclude its formalization
to a certain degree. Formalization may be a remediation for certain drawbacks of group decision
156
making. Numerous researches point out those organizations applying direct democratic forms of
participation in decision making process have problems with coherence of undertaken activities and
making decisions in the phase of rapid growth (Rothschild, Whitt, 1986; Whyte, Whyte, 1988).
According to observations made by O‘Mahony and Ferrero (2007, p. 1081), ―the need to coordinate
interdependent member activities and integrate member contributions in a production context is
likely to exacerbate the need for a shared basis of authority‖. Guidelines which can be followed
within this issue may comprise actually operating communities gathered around IT open source
projects, which have developed formal procedures describing decision making process.
As
observed by Goldman and Gabriel (2005, p. 62), although open source communities often comprise
hundreds of participants, usually, there is a group consisting of less than 10 persons (core group),
which holds the highest status and coordinates informal communication within the community. This
group works as a standard group managing the project, but which is geographically dispersed and
receives immediate feedback about all decisions made. Additionally, in significant in size open
source projects, the groups can be divided into sub-groups, each of which can have its core group.
Similar formal procedures concerning decision making process occurring in open source
communities were described by Shah (2006, p. 1002). Admittedly, the whole community owns the
rights to the code of the project; however, there is a separate sub-group – a committee – which
makes the decisions concerning the project.
In hyperarchical organization, final decisions can be made by a single person – a decider
who navigates the activities carried out by the community, so called: benevolent dictator (Howe,
2008, p. 284). Nevertheless, even in this case, the dictator can make final decision and takes
responsibility for that decision but the whole process preceding the decision, i.e. consultations,
discussions are carried out by the whole community. In practice, detailed procedures applicable to
various projects can differ significantly from each other.
Modularized form of Hyperarchical Organization
Multiple projects carried out in hyperarchical organizations have one feature in common:
modular structure. This modularity facilitates the decision making process. One of the major
drawbacks of collective decision making is that this process is time-consuming, which prolongs
along with the size of the community. Modularity of the project can naturally limit the size of
groups gathered around particular modules of the project. However, in this case a certain formal
element can occur, which is concerned with occurrence of a formal position of module owner,
responsible for making decisions concerning the shape of particular module, implementing changes
into this module (Goldman, Gabriel, 2005, p. 149-150). Module owner function can be held by one
157
person, or, as already mentioned in this paper, by the group of people, a committee. Each of the
committee members can implement small changes; however, decisions about major issues are
usually made collectively.
The power held by the module owner, as well as the power held by benevolent dictator in
terms of the possibility to make decisions still remains very constrained, as the module owner or
benevolent dictator can make decisions only as long as they maintain the trust of community
members. Dictator‘s authority is based on substantive issues. If numerous members do not agree
with decisions made, such a leader can be dismissed from his position or the project can be
separated (forking), i.e. the members can embark on a new project, defined by them (Goldman,
Gabriel, 2005, p. 63). The solution to this problem might encompass involvement of all community
members into decision making process, which may take form of broad consultations. When people
feel that they are involved in the process, and if their opinions are taken into account and
appreciated, then the community will be more inclined to accept decisions made. On the other hand,
if the community members consider that their opinions are not taken into account, then they will
oppose the decisions.
According to observations made by Shah (2006, p. 1012) with regard to communities
gathered around IT open source projects, every constraint in democratic mechanisms within
decision making process and enhancement of controlling and restrictive procedures, including
formalization of decision making process, increases the probability of non compliance with
community members expectations and might entail decreased involvement of the members in
activities carried out. It is crucial, as remarked by Shah, to ensure that each community member
carries out his activities in accordance with his own expectations, plan. On the other hand, however,
there should be a freedom to present various opinions, points of view.
This underlines the
importance of unrestricted access to information within hyperarchical organization and possibility
to exchange opinions by all community members.
According to the arguments mentioned above, it is still important, despite certain
formalization of decision making process, to achieve and maintain consensus with regard to
decisions taken. This enhances the importance of ability held by particular community members, to
convince others to one‘s ideas, opinions. In theory, each member has equal right and possibility to
initiate changes, including strategic changes, however, in practice, not every member will be able to
convince other members to his ideas and build the group of followers around his project. The
position within the community is, thus, based on knowledge, experience (but only with regard to
those activities which have been previously carried out in the community), but also on persuasive
skills.
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Using Model of Hyperarchical Organisation in Practice
Can the hyperarchical model be implemented in life or is it only a theoretical being? As a
matter of fact, the examples of the hyperarchical structure are numerous at present. The most
common example of hyperarchy is all sorts of open source projects, in particular those connected
with computer software creation. However, more and more organisations from outside the IT
industry begin to notice the advantages of models close to hyperarchy. The development of virtual
communities working out definite solutions or business projects may be useful in a number of areas.
The example to be quoted may be IT related projects like Wikipedia. There are also much more
distant phenomena connected with the presented model like open innovation (Łobejko, 2010) or
crowdsourcing (Królak-Wyszyńska, 2011). Some theoreticians predict the application of this model
also in science (Hessel, 2005), legal services (Jones, 2005) or generally in projects requiring a
number of people with different qualifications (Shah, 2005). In every case, however, the
construction of a hyperarchical community is connected with reformulating the current models of
management, especially decision making process. Hyperarchy may only exist as an isolated part
within a more traditional organisation and be at least virtually connected with parts of more
hierarchical organisations. This model seems to make use of the advantages of hyperarchy as well
as to minimise its disadvantages.
Conclusions
To summarize considerations concerning the methods of decision making process in
hyperarchical organizations, it should be emphasized that those decisions are mostly taken
collectively or at least with the significant acceptance of the community members. Degree of
involvement of community and influence of its members on the final decision may be, however,
different, similarly to the scope of formalization of decision making process. Additionally, the
methods of making a decision often change in line with the community expansion. Decision making
system evolves during the project lifespan. In the early stage of the project lifecycle, the role of the
manager holding major decisive power can rest with the project initiator, whose role can gradually
weaken against the power of the whole community and democratic mechanisms developed by the
community (O‘Mahony, Ferraro, 2007). Further expansion of the community can result in
implementation of certain formalizing, bureaucratic elements. After some time, there should be a
balance between democratic and bureaucratic mechanisms.
This evolution can also concern involvement of certain people and their groups. This can be
observed in successful open source projects, in which at various points in time different people,
159
groups are involved. Their role changes over time – limitation of their role does not necessarily
mean a failure, but completion of certain stage of the project, resolving certain issue. Communities
emerge, disappear, and often, they are subsequently reactivated (Goldman, Gabriel, 2005, p. 55).
Despite all this, the prerequisite for success in activities undertaken by hyperarchical
organization is the ability to use the potential of its members, which entails the necessity of
involving in decision making process as many members with unique skills as possible, even if such
an involvement will comprise only consultations of decisions or listening to critical voices. It
should, however, be emphasized that the final criteria against which decisions should be evaluated,
is the degree to which members identify themselves with their community, which has an impact on
members active participation in further stages of the project lifespan.
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161
DETERMINATION OF TOUR OPERATORS‟ SERVICE QUALITY PERCEPTION
IN LITHUANIA
Lina Pilelienė¹, Audrius Šimkus²
Vytautas Magnus University
Faculty of Economics and Management
S. Daukanto st. 28, Kaunas 44246, Lithuania
Abstract. The field of services can be named as one of the most rapidly growing economic
sectors in Lithuania. The trend is important in tourism industry, where competition as well as
processes of changing consumer requirements is constantly intensifying. This encourages
organizations to pay greater attention to recognition of customer expectations, constant
improvements of the main competitive advantage – service quality. Customer satisfaction depends
on the fulfilment of service quality dimensions, such as tangibility, reliability, assurance,
responsiveness, and empathy. Accordingly, it is necessary for service organizations such as tour
operators to understand the most important service quality dimensions for their customers. The
findings reveal the incapacity of tour operators to percept and detect customer expectations; this
resulted in discrepancies between quality standards and service provision process perceived by
customers.
Keywords: Customer perception, Service Quality, Tour operator.
Introduction
The high competitive global economy has intensified the importance of identifying factors
which provide firms with long-term competitive advantages (Ranjbarian et al, 2011). According to
Akhtar (2011), service quality is one of the critical success factors that influence the
competitiveness of an organization. One of the key challenges is how to manage service quality,
which holds a great importance to customer satisfaction (Dehghan et al, 2012, Lo et al, 2011).
Many factors affect consumer while choosing a service provider. Organization which
provides service has to be known by consumers; moreover, it should gain confidence during the
first meeting. Customer gains the perception about the organization only after the service is
purchased and encountered. Success comes to the organizations which detect their customers‘
expectations and needs, and seek to satisfy them in terms of design of the offering, communications,
162
pricing, etc. The scholarly researches of service quality are mainly based on banking and financial
services sectors‘ analysis, and tourism sector lacks appropriate attention. Accordingly, it is
necessary for tour operators as service organizations to understand the most important service
quality aspects for their customers.
Scientific problem of this research is how tour operators should perform service quality to
satisfy their customers.
The object of the research is Lithuanian tour operators‘ customers‘ perception of service
quality.
The aim of the research is to determine how do customers percept Lithuanian tour
operators‗ service quality.
Methods of research. On purpose to determine how do customers percept Lithuanian tour
operators‗ service quality, the systematic and critical literature analysis was provided; Lithuanian
tour operators‗ service quality perception was estimated using questionnaire survey. The
determination of most important Lithuanian tour operators‗service quality dimensions was
performed using mathematical-statistical methods.
Literature Review
Law on Tourism of the Republic of Lithuania was established on 19th of May 1998. Six
editions were made in recent fourteen years of its validity. The last edition was made in 2011.
According to the latest edition of the Law on Tourism of the Republic of Lithuania (LR
Turizmo įstatymo pakeitimo įstatymas, 2011), Tour Operator is a tourism service provider who
arranges organized tour itineraries (travels) and provides other tourism services for selling them to
tourism service consumers directly or through travel agencies or travel agents. At the same law,
definitions of Travel organizing service and Tourism service definition can be found. Tourism
service is independent travel organizing, settlement, nursing, transportation, tourist information,
entertainment or other service provided for tourists for payment.
Despite the numerous editions and concerns, the Law on Tourism of the Republic of
Lithuania still lacks the establishment of quality dimension. There are no limits or framework for
service quality establishment. However, according to Jayasundara et al (2009) even though
standards for the definition of quality may be set, these standards vary from phenomenon to
phenomenon, culture to culture, and across time.
In scientific literature, service quality is often considered as a principal factor differentiating
service products and substantiating competitive advantage in tourism industry. The process by
which customers evaluate a purchase, thereby determining satisfaction and likelihood of repurchase,
163
especially important to service marketers because, unlike their manufacturing counterparts, they
have fewer objective measures of quality by which their production has to be judged (Hudson et al,
2004). Differences from a good make the process of service purchase and delivery very complex for
both customer and seller (Arora et al, 2011); moreover, according to Lee (2011) and Lo et al (2011),
service quality is closely related to customer satisfaction and organizations‘ performance.
Survey
Scientific analysis of service quality evaluation models (Grönroos, 1984; Perceived Service
Quality Model; Parasuraman et. al., 1985, 1988; Service Gap Analysis Model; Brogowicz et. al.,
1990; Synthesised Service Quality Model, etc.) suggest that service quality is multidimensional (at
customer‘s point of view), and every dimension consists of various features and service aspects. Not
only the obtained result of service provision, but the provision process as a whole is important for
the customer. Service provision process encompasses various dimensions helping to determine
customer‘s expectations and perceived service quality gaps. Eg, Vveinhardt and Kigaitė (2005) state
that perception of service quality is rather subjective process; and the perception of tourism service
quality is determined by staff professionalism, skills, expertise, and ability to create a good
impression, attitude and behaviour.
On the basis of analysed service quality evaluation literature and existing models, a model
for Tour Operator‘s Service Quality Evaluation was elaborated (for the substantiation of model‘s
elaboration see Pilelienė, Ńimkus, 2012). The model consists of two principal blocks which help to
distinguish customer‘s and tour operator‘s participation and interaction in tourism service provision
process. There are five levels which correspond to a progress of tour operator‘s service provision
process.
The model is composed of five levels. Levels 1 to 4 are the matter of concern by tour
operator: tour operator establishes its‘ mission and objectives (that is the principal step of creation
and provision of an established quality service) (level 1); determines customer‘s expectations (level
2); determines technical and functional aspects (service quality standards) of service offering (level
3); provides tourism service for the customer (level 4).
External influences, marketing efforts, and organization‘s image appear in the level 4.
External influence (culture, social structure, verbal communication, mass-media, and competition),
marketing efforts (advertising, public relations, personal selling, sales promotion, pricing,
distribution) and tour operator‘s image form customer‘s expectations determine expected tourism
service quality. External communication strongly impacts customer‘s needs and expectations.
Promotional efforts can be used as tools for promise giving to customers, enabling customer
164
affection and awaking desired reaction. The promises influence customer‘s expectations and form
the vision of expected service. Customer‘s expectations form on the basis of attitude to the tour
operator, its‘ image (which relates to reputation and previously experienced service quality from
same tour operator).
Provided service is being evaluated under customer‘s attitude at the fifth level of the
process. Perceived service quality is the outcome of customer‘s evaluation process, when he/she
compares service-related expectations to obtained service; hence, perceived service quality is
expressed as a disparity between obtained and expected service. Perceived tourism service quality is
measured using five quality evaluation dimensions: tangibles (physical elements, equipment,
personnel appearance, tools of communication, hygiene, and authenticity); reliability (ability to
provide precise and accurate service, without withdrawals and at the promised time, assuring
mutually accepted contract condition at stable prices); responsiveness (personnel‘s desire and
readiness for helping customer and timely service provision; this dimension reflects safety of
tourism service); assurance (personnel‘s knowledge, skills, helpfulness, and ability creating
confidence; tourism service security and harmony with human and natural environment is assured);
and empathy (carefulness, tenderness, individual attention to customer, service transparency).
Yunus et al (2009) state that properly implemented service quality dimensions increase individuals‘
perceived value about the quality features. The quality dimensions helps in gap determination
between customer‘s expectations and obtained service.
Five quality gaps of service provision are emphasized in the model. The first gap emerges
between service expected by customer and the ability of tour operator to understand and determine
customer‘s expectations. The second gap opens between determination of customer expectations
and their conversion into tourism service features (quality standards). The third gap emerges
between service quality standards and the process of service provision to the customer. The fourth
gap is the discrepancy between the tourism service provision and marketing efforts. Finally, the
fifth gap includes the discrepancy between customer‘s expectations and obtained tourism service
(the extent of this gap depends on all four previously mentioned gaps). The extent of fifth gap has a
direct impact on customer‘s perception about total tourism service quality. Better service quality
results in a smaller gap (Landrum et al, 2008). Consequently, the identification of the gaps is
particularly important in mistake determination and strategy selection for fulfilling customer needs.
165
Methods
With purpose to evaluate service quality of tour operators working in Lithuania, quantitative
type of the research was chosen. The questionnaire research was provided to determine customer
evaluation of tour operators‘ service quality.
The research questionnaire was divided to 3 parts. In the first part were provided general
questions about tour operator: operator‘s name, respondent‘s intentions to recommend the operator
to others, the familiarity with operator was being determined. The second and the third part were
composed of 25 statements fitting the model. Statements were adapted from the researches made by
Atilgan et al (2003) and Ramseook-Munhurrun et al (2010).
The evaluation of service quality is based on the gap between perception of expected and
obtained service quality. Respondents had to fill the two remaining parts of the questionnaire – what
did they expect (second part) and what did they obtain (third part).
For the evaluation of service quality, 7-point Likert type scale was used: expected service
quality respondents had to evaluate from 1 – ‗very bad‘ to 7 – ‗excellent‘; and obtained service
quality from 1 – ‗absolutely disagree‘ to 7 – ‗absolutely agree‘. In both scales 4 was neutral and
meant ‗neither agree nor disagree‘.
Questionnaire represented all five tourism service quality dimensions. The research results
were calculated for expected (E) and obtained (O) service quality separately; the quality gap was a
count between expected and obtained. Quality was considered as sufficient when the gap was equal
or higher than zero.
Results
Achieving to determinate the quality of services provided by tour operators in Lithuania,
310 respondents were interviewed. The survey results are provided below. The survey results are
analysed calculating the means of evaluations of expected and obtained service quality in categories
and determining the gaps between the evaluations.
Every respondent was evaluating the particular tour operator‘s service quality. Customer
distribution in accordance to evaluated tour operator is provided in Figure 1.
According to survey results, there were 48 percent of first-time customers; however, only 8
percent of all respondents were willing to recommend the tour operator to their relatives or friends.
Latter results can be considered as a highlight to a low service quality.
166
Other
18%
Guliverio
Kelionės
8%
TezTour
29%
Topturas
4%
Novaturas
34%
SoFa Travel
7%
Figure 1. Customer distribution through tour operators (N=310)
While comparing the means of the evaluations of all the statements provided and measuring
the gaps between expected and obtained quality, following results were revealed (see Figure 2).
Figure 2. Service quality evaluation
Means of evaluations of different tour operators‘ service quality, distinct quality dimensions
and quality gaps‘ sizes are provided in Figure 2. The research aimed to determine lowest and
highest customers‘ requirements and expectations concerning a particular quality dimension and
tour operator. There can be seen in Figure 2, that ‗assurance‘ related expectations are highest
167
(overall evaluation equals 6.10 points); moreover, the obtained quality evaluation is highest for the
same dimension (5.67 points). It can be stated that tour operators pay insufficient attention to
‗responsiveness‘ dimension – the quality gap between expected and obtained services was highest
(overall gap of this dimension was (-0.50) points). Only two positive quality gaps were determined
during the research. The tour operator TopTuras exceeded its‘ customer expectations in the
dimensions of ‗tangibles‘ and ‗assurance‘. Despite the quantity of tour operator‘s Novaturas
customers participating in the research, this operator‘s service quality was not considered as
highest.
Discussion
After the analysis of the evaluation of service quality provided by tour operators in
Lithuania, the empirical model of perceived service quality can be composed (see Figure 3). The
evaluation of tour operators‘ service quality is based on the disparity between evaluations of
obtained and expected qualities – the fifth gap in the model was measured. Whereas the analysed
gap depends on the 4 former gaps, the implication is that all former gaps in a process of service
provision determined the discrepancy between customer expectations and the evaluation of obtained
services. All the five gaps highlight the incapacity of tour operators acting in Lithuania percept and
detect customer expectations; this resulted in discrepancies between quality standards and service
provision process perceived by customers. Moreover, a gap emerged between service provision and
marketing communications, which formed excessive expectations for services.
Figure 3. Empirical model of perceived service quality
168
As it can be seen in Figure 3, the mean evaluations of expected level of service quality (E)
was 6 points, however, obtained level (O) was only 5.58 points. Whereas expectations exceed the
evaluation of obtained quality, the gap (Q) was (-0.43) points. It can be stated that gap was obtained
negative and service quality was insufficient.
Some further possibilities for tour operators‘ service quality enhancement can be proposed
based on the research results. Achieving to minimize service quality gaps, appropriate attention has
to be paid to customer expectation determination. Continuous customer and employee surveys have
to be provided for determination of necessary personnel‘s expertise and service provision standards.
Reward-based interventions on frontline service employees‘ commitment to service quality (as
suggested by Sun et al, 2012) can be adapted. An implementation of service quality management
system is inevitable. The systems‘ aim would be minimisation of discrepancies between qualities of
obtained and expected services; that enhancement would minimise the quality fluctuations and
enlarged the amount of satisfied customers. Moreover, an appropriate technique for a constant
service quality enhancement has to be created and implemented (service quality standards have to
be established, quantitative rate-based orientation suspended). Proper attention has to be paid to a
communication between first-line personnel and customers through the determination and
establishment of necessary employees‘ expertise, provision of educative and development
programs, other staff motivating techniques. Finally, steady control of marketing methods and
strategies is necessary, whereas it forms customer expectations and leads to decisions.
Conclusions
Tour operator is the principal service provider in tourism industry, responsible for the provision
of promised service package, fulfilling commitments, and constant control through the whole period
of service provision. Tour operator‘s service quality depends on understanding of customers‘
requirements, and the adjustment of the whole service provision system to meeting those
requirements.
Tour operator‘s service quality has a high importance to a customer. It can be even named as a
customer loyalty driver. The quantity of customers choosing a tour operator still does not indicate
its‘ high service quality. Only complete satisfaction of customer needs and expectations can
encourage customers to recommend tour operator to others and leads to customer loyalty. To
achieve better results, tour operators have to consider negative quality gaps. Research results
highlighted gaps in all quality dimensions; major attention is needed for the lack of tour operators‘
employees‘ responsiveness and insufficient quality in ‗tangibles‘ dimension. While improving
169
service quality, appropriate attention has to be paid to customer expectation determination and
fulfilment.
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171
SALES RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT DIRECTIONS IN ORGANIZATIONS
Mikolaj Pindelski
Szkoła Główna Handlowa – Warsaw School of Economics
Al. Niepodleglosci 162, 02-554 Warsaw, Poland
Abstract. The authors who publish descriptions of research in the field of sales may be
proud of their significant output. However, according to numerous references, such output is not
faultless. The insufficient communication between academics and practitioners, implementation
issues with the solutions provided, or improper allocation of academic resources bring about the
necessity to analyze the literary output concerning this question.
For this purpose research on references was carried out, which indicated divergences
between what is essential for the practitioners and what the academics find to be the most urgent
issues. This paper indicates such divergences, i.e. exaggerated analysis of sales techniques with
simultaneous insufficiency of research on forecasting and budgeting. The thesis set here states that
the academic sales research directions contemporarily used are far from the ones desired and
corresponding to the needs of the market, understood here as the entrepreneurs environment.
Therefore, the purpose of the paper is to indicate the desired directions of sales research in the
organization, currently expected both by the world of business and science.
Keywords: sales, sales research, sales management.
Introduction
The environment contemporary business operates in not only seems to be very dynamic, but
also difficult to define, with components hard to be explained. In effect the familiar measuring,
forecasting or, finally, management methods are difficult to be applied under such conditions. This
is reported by the authors of numerous publications, whether based on their own findings or the
results of extensive research projects. The discussion on this subject seems to continue since the
early 1980‘s6 and it expands, rather than vanishes7. In the opinion of the said authors, the
environment of the organization‘s functioning keeps being redefined every day and the entities must
6
Naisbitt J., Megatrends: Ten New Directions Transforming Our Lives, Grand Central Publishing, 1988, Toffler A.,
Future Schock, Bantam, 1984, etc.
7
Hamel G., What Matters Now: How to Win in a World of Relentless Change, Ferocious Competition and Unstoppable
Innovation, Jossey-Bass, 2012
172
continuously adapt their businesses to the new conditions. This is the case both on the operation and
strategic level. It is more and more frequently indicated that the strategic, tactic or operating targets
should consider the dynamics and the directions of changes of the micro and macro-environment,
such as international competition, globalization, emerging of the global market or drop of economic
growth of numerous countries, unexpected by the analysts in the recent years.
The organizations, however, or the people that form them rather, seem to handle the
situation in at least a few different ways.

The first is the use of one‘s own experiences (knowledge management, data and
database management, competing on analytics, etc.).

The second is the experience of other entities (benchmarking, best practices,
coopetition etc.).

The third is based on aggregated knowledge originating from the world of science
(clusters and metaclusters, combining science and business, supply model of innovation,
innovations pushed by science, etc.).
All the above methods are assumed to lead to the escalation of the synergy effect and
become the fertilizer of new, lucrative innovations. The directions comprise each area of
organization functioning, also specified by the functional criterion.
Therefore, the author‘s interest was directed to the area related to sales and in this context
the sales research directions in the organization, desired or perhaps insufficiently developed, will be
discussed herein.
The thesis set here is that the directions of academic sales research contemporarily used are
far from the those desired and corresponding to the market demands, understood as business
environment.
The target is to indicate the direction in the sales research in the organization, currently
expected both by the world of business and science, which in case of management sciences seem to
be difficult to differentiate. Particular attention is drawn here to the comparison between business
and sales functioning conditions, characteristic for highly developed economies and developing
Central and Eastern Europe countries, new EU member states.
The research nature comprises reference studies and represents the overview of the existing
publications and conclusions formulated by the authors. It includes publications directed straight to
business and academic ones, published on such platforms as. Global Sales Science Institute8 or in
periodicals, e.g. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management9, Selling Power and other.
8
9
http://salesscience.org/
http://www.jpssm.org/
173
The overview will tend to present the stratification of the actual research directions and
expectations of the desired direction. The whole paper will concern the area of sales understood as
the organization‘s function (by its functional division)10.
Level of Knowledge in Sales Research
Following the output of publications in the scope of widely understood sales, we may get the
impression that is distinctly changes both in reference to the defined research object, the method it
is examined and the direction or target set to such research. First of all, there is a significant
stratification understood by the researchers of the notion of sales from the very transaction act 11 to
commerce close to economy and comprising global economy12. One may get an impression that
unclear elements occur already on the foundations of the basic assumption as well as issues arising
in the further development of this trend. After all, how can we compare or base on research, if their
basic assumption or set of objects definition significantly diverge from each other. One may guess
that, for example, when defining sales as a process taking place inside (and perhaps partly outside)
the organization, the research on such exchange object may significantly differ from the same
research on the same object, however with assumed definition of sales as a transaction, for example.
Thus an issue arises of various frameworks of research and frameworks an object is enclosed in.
With the contextual nature of management sciences, this may be of crucial importance.
The changes in the scope of research objects are reported by the authors of Chally report the
scientific nature whereof may rise certain objections. However, it is acknowledged as an important
reference by a large number of periodicals considering the sales topic. The said report authors say
that perception of exchange of goods exchange or rather goods sales as the most important aspect is
not up-to-date any more. It is since 2006 that the growth of service sales significance has been
noticed, with simultaneous drop of importance of selling products, understood as physical
existences. At the same time the transformation of commercial cooperation13 of business partners
from goods sales oriented sector to service sales oriented one is noticeable. As they further report,
10
Bieniok H., Rokita J., Struktura organizacyjna przedsiębiorstwa, Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Warszawa,
1984
11
Przybyłowski K. Hartley S.W. Kerin R.A. Rudelius W., Marketing, Issue I, ABC, 1998, pp. 10
12
Sheppard E., Trade, globalization and uneven development: Entanglements of geographical political economy.,
Progress in Human Geography, Feb2012, Vol. 36 Issue 1, pp.44-71
13
The term „commerce‖ has been used with premeditation here, being fully aware that its meaning differs from the
notion of distribution, transaction or sales and most of all comprises the set of relations and interations of transaction
nature, aggregated and perceived in a macro scale. The idea of macro scale here is the total of all the transactions
taking place on the overall market. Similarly, the terms of distribution, sales and transaction appear herein further
understood as non-identical terms. Their entry and use is a conscious procedure aimed at highlighting of the specific
terms differing by the type of designates.
174
basing on the obtained results, the sales evolution on the B2B market would choose one of these
ways.
The first way assumes the use of new technologies in sales, which reduces the traditional
aspects related to distribution, to such an extent, even, that it will eliminate the direct seller-buyer
contact.14 In this point the changes occurring within an organization and thinking about sales may
be defined as follows:

the growth of emphasis on cost analyses and search for beneficial relationships of
measures building efficiency indexes,

the growth of emphasis on creation, expansion and use of customer databases with
the use of a frequently complicated mathematical-statistical instrumentation,

the growth of emphasis on research and analyses enabling the collection of such
market and customer data that are important for sales relation development and the growth of value
of purchases,

the development of distribution channels generating low operation costs,

the change in thinking and methods of building network relationships with the
customer and product/service marketing.
This is referred to in the wide trend of research on e-commerce with the Internet channel as
a leading aspect.
The second possibility is an evolution tending to focus on the key accounts of a specific
organization and significant changes in:

the growth of customer service quality level perceived subjectively,

the growth of frequency and quality of contact with the customer and creating
relationships with them,

the perception of transaction and product or service as one of the elements of
building relationships with the customer,
The findings are supported by Sheth and Sharma, writing that a contemporary organization
selects key accounts out of the portfolio of the customers served. In other words, those who are
responsible for high turnover within the entity revenue structure. It provides the particularly
committed accounts comprehensive sales of goods, frequently together with expanded
accompanying pre- and post-sale services. The authors also indicate that significant resources are in
this case engaged in creation of long-term connection between the customers and the offerer15. The
costs of the very production and services often become a secondary issue here and occupy a
14
Chally Report (2007), Chally World Class Sales Excellence Research Report, HR Chally Group, Dayton, OH.;
www.chally.com/benchmark
15
Sheth, J. and Sharma, A., The impact of the product to service shift in industrial markets and the evolution of the
sales organization, Industrial Marketing Management, vol. 37, 2008, pp.260-269
175
relatively insignificant position in the total structure of customer service costs. They present the
shift in the diagram (fig.1), which seems to reflect well the conclusions drawn by the authors.
Figure 1. Changes in thinking about sales and their impact on sales research development
directions
Source: Sheth, Sharma, 2008
They also note that the market changes and is more focused on intangible resources,
concreation of values, creation and management of relationships arising between the buyers and the
sellers. They indicate that most of the academic papers on sales is focused on such issues as:
motivation and motivating, compensation (as a notion largely occurring in American publications)
or the recruitment process. Much less attention, however, is devoted to the dynamics of
environment changes and its impact on the practical aspects of sales and sales management. Thus,
the interest is concentrated on the organization inside and endogenic factors, while the exogenic
factors are somewhat ignored in the context of sales.
Therefore, we may get the impression that sales have become an operational aspect of
organization functioning in the eyes of the researchers that its scope closely correlated with the
functional element may only be significant. Although both the term and principles of creating the
sales strategy are known, the research characteristic for strategy subject matter does not follow.
Despite the fact that it is a strategy on the tactic or even operating level and this level of thinking
about strategy is even permitted by the experts in the subject16, nevertheless, the research is focused
on aspects characteristic for typically operating actions.
Therefore, sales automation may become one of the more significant strategic targets of
organizations and this is the issue teams of researchers focus on. Replacing personal selling by online sales or at least expanding distribution by electronic sales are the objects of various analyses
16
Rokita J., Zarządzanie strategiczne. Tworzenie i utrzymywanie przewagi konkurencyjnej. PWE, Warszawa 2005,
pp.36
176
both in scientific and stricte business publications or even general knowledge periodicals. Similar
situation occurs with focus on the customer and creation of values. The interesting thing, however,
is that we can find numerous publications on the technical aspect of online service, but the strategic
aspect of the change is almost absent in the research. Anyhow, such changes do not follow the
increased interest and development of research in this scope. The world of science carries out such
research, however neither its depth nor number fully cover the world of business demand.
Redefinition of the Term „Sales‟
The ongoing changes taking place on the widely understood market and the varying
customer demands lead to the growth of business process complexity. It influences the redefinition
of the notion of sales and the function of sales in the organization. It slowly evolves from the
physical transfer of property rights towards a complex process, perhaps even a certain description of
the organization capability to offer goods and services on the market. In numerous publications
sales are understood as a wide scope of customer service and are related to developed pre- and postsale services. The boundaries fade between marketing, promotion, public relations, logistics, or
even production and design and sales. The concepts of prosumption and including the customers in
almost every aspect of creation and sales of products and services are created17.
It is also difficult to accept somewhat a priori as a true statement that sales are marketing
18
tools . It may well be vice versa. Everything is mutually interwoven and a clear separation of the
function within the organization becomes a more and more distinct issue. At the time of multichannel distribution systems19 close cooperation of several functional divisions is necessary, which
is neither simple nor obvious. The conclusion has much further reaching effects, as it requires a
change in thinking about the organization structures and its strategy. The clear boundaries do not
exist any more and, for example, description of units and positions by tasks become more and more
difficult, while description by responsibilities and targets to be reached becomes a more and more
distinct need. This is, however, what neither the organization nor the legal systems of states are
frequently not ready for. Moreover, sales presented in such a way bring no clear frameworks of
employee action and practically impede the creation of explicit and long-lasting indications on sales
function performance.
The changes clearly take place so dynamically that the research development not always is
able to keep up with them. Thus, there are situations in which it is noticeable that organizations left
17
Ritzer G, Jurgenson N., Production, Consumption, Prosumption., Journal of Consumer Culture; Mar.2010, Vol. 10,
Issue 1, pp.13-36
18
Kotler Ph, Marketing, Rebis, Warszawa 2005, pp.145
19
Kramer T., Podstawy marketingu. Państwowe Wydawnictwo Ekonomiczne, Warszawa 1995, pp.128
177
alone, seeing no assistance anywhere, elaborate solutions and tools significantly outpacing the
achievements of the world of science. This is the case, for example, with the very understanding of
the term of sales, which until recently the researchers used to be fit within the scope of marketing as
one of its tools or, as distribution, being a specific kind of logistics. Simultaneously clearly
distinguishable divisions of sales, performing different functions from those of marketing or logistic
ones, used to develop in organizations. We may also get an impression that the solutions achieved
by the world of science come too late to support substantially the obtainment of competitive
advantage on the market or simply when the issue is not up-to-date any more. 20
Redefining the term ‗sales‘ and the function performed by them, we cannot omit the
elements related to ethics21, as the conviction that ethics not always accompanies effective sales
seems to be fairly controversial. In fact the ethic conduct cannot be separated from the questions
related to building trust and, in effect, the relationships with the customer. After all, sales tend to
follow this direction, or are to follow it. Understanding the role ethics in everyday actions is crucial
for the development of business based on sales. Organizations started to appreciate this aspect so
difficult to evaluate. However, organizations have become convinced that in the long-run ethic
conduct would bring measurable benefits.22
Sales have become more and more distinctly a strategic element in the organization
functioning and requires the participation of managerial staff in its planning. The growth of their
meaning in the organizations is not followed with changes in the curriculum structure for future
managers or the increased number of academic publications thereon. Study curricula (for example
at Polish universities, such as Warsaw School of Economics, Cracow University of Economics,
University of Economics in Katowice, University of Economics in Wrocław, etc..) treat the sales
area as if it were of secondary importance. At the same time, the quantitative drop of publications
on sales in academic periodicals has been noted.2324
Desired Ddirections of Research on Sales
One of the directions particularly underdeveloped in terms of publishing and research seems
to comprise the issues related to finance in sales. After all, financial results and budgeting are
almost everyday practice related to this area of entity functioning. One may even get the impression
20
Stewart, T.A., The Top Line, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 84 No. 7/8, 2006
Pindelski M., Etyka, CSR i CSV w orientacjach strategicznych, Przegląd Organizacji, nr 2/2012, pp. 6-10
22
Wood G., Ethics at the sales-purchasing interface: A case of double standards?, Journal of Marketing Practice:
Applied Marketing Science, Vol. 1 Issue 3, 1995, pp.21 – 38
23
Ghazaleh M.A., Haghighi M., The effect of selling strategies on sales performance, Business Strategy Series, Vol. 10
Issue 5, 2009, pp.266–282
24
Plouffe, C.R., Williams, B.C. and Wachner, T., Navigating difficult waters: publishing trends and scholarship in
sales research, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Vol. 28, 2008
21
178
that organizations and managers are left alone. The world of science behaves as if it were escaping
from the topic and preferred further, deeper development of research on the aspects that have
already been extensively explored. The financial aspects and budgeting are somewhat left beyond
the researchers‘ scope of interest. It forces the managers and entrepreneurs to search for solutions
on their own, while the result of the situation seems to be the domination over the researchers, still
enhanced by the information provided by advisors, practitioners, guidebook authors as well as
various types of crooks dealing with sales and related fields.
In this situation, the development of research instrumentation focused on search for such
solutions that could be implemented in business practice in this area, could be justified.
Following this track, S.Geiger i P. Guenzi25 carried out a survey on a representative group of
European practitioners dealing with sales, the survey concerning the effect of changes in the
environment on sales performance. Out of 18 determinants, important to contemporary sales
environment, they indicated:

the growth of customer expectations,

the growth of fluctuations on the market,

the growth of pressure on productivity,

IT advance stage.
as the factors with the highest influence on the change of sales specifics.
However, the question ignored by the authors is indirectly the said growing importance of
the mathematical – quantitative methods. Along with database development, ontological
classifications of various data transformed into quantitative records, the tools more and more
frequently used refer to statistical analyses, mathematical prediction models or IT binary and
quantum model. This also takes place in sales where databases about customers and knowledge
about processes also become strategic resources, while the sales divisions use quantitative methods,
without limitation, for:

modeling and optimization of processes in order to increase their efficiency,

carrying out simulations of operating activity,

demand forecasting.26
The growth of interest in the quantitative methods is directly related to the development of
new technologies. The market offers more and more complex software items for simulation
modeling and optimization of making more and more complex analyses. In this field we may also
find numerous publications of theoretical nature. The gap between the applicative papers and
25
Geiger S., Guenzi P., The sales function in the twenty-first century: where are we and where do we go from here?,
European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 43 Issue 7/8, pp.873 – 889
26
Collins, R.H., Mauritson, R.J., Microcomputer Applications: Artificial Intelligence in Sales Forecasting Applications,
Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, Vol 7 No 1,1987, pp. 77-80
179
difficult to be perceived academic considerations seems to be filled by entities offering software to
support sales unit functioning. According R.Y.Darmon27, or D.Stojanovic28, they are the ones who
provide direct tools to forecast demand or optimize processes, rather than the researchers.
Academic publications, however, provide vastly extensive studies on other topics, although
still related to sales. The research is characterized with strong focus on evaluation of results, sales
process and techniques, buyers‘ behaviors and motivating or motivation of sales personnel. The
research in this field is fairly advanced here. The areas, called traditional, are characterized with
relatively good reflection of the market needs. The information flow between the world of science
and business in this scope is evaluated positively.
Nevertheless, basing on the conclusions of S.Geiger and P.Guenzi29, referred to above, the
organization needs in the scope of sales analysis significantly shift towards budgeting, forecasting
and mathematical – statistical support of the recruitment processes. Simultaneously one may
acknowledge that the traditional areas have been examined at present in so much that the managers
have found them sufficiently recognized and simultaneously reduced their relative importance for
the organization functioning.
Conclusions
The practitioners dealing with sales indicate two areas in particular, where they need the
assistance of the world of science, namely forecasting and budgeting. However, vast insufficiency
of knowledge in this scope, particularly academic, is emphasized here. The academics‘ interest does
not seem to tend in such directions, which is proven by the number of publications, which was
examined by B.C.Williams and C.R.Plouffe30. One may guess that the reason for such situation is
the lack of extensive knowledge on quantitative, statistical research and finance. This may be the
reason for the fact that they much more willingly choose areas in which they feel more comfortably.
However, these aspects are so important for the practitioners that the years to come should induce
the researchers to take the challenge and concentrate on the topics31,32.
27
Darmon R.Y., Predicting the Long-Run Profit Impact of a Contemplated Sales Force Compensation Plan, The
Journal of the Operational Research Society, Vol. 48, No. 12, Dec., 1997, pp. 1215-1218
28
Stojanovic D., Modeling Sales, The Journal of the Operational Research Society, Vol. 45, No. 9, Sept., 1994, pp.
1060-1067
29
Geiger S., Guenzi P., The sales function in the twenty-first century: where are we and where do we go from here?,
European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 43 Issue 7/8, pp.873 – 889
30
Williams B.C., Plouffe C.R., Assesing the evolution of sales knowledge; a 20 year content analysis, Industrial
Marketing Management, Vol.36, pp.408-419
31
Ramaseshan B., Marketing Budgeting Practices of Retailers, Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 2
Issue 1, 1990, pp.40 – 45
32
West D.C., Managing Sales Forecasting, Management Research News, Vol. 20 Issue 4, 1997, pp.1 - 10
180
Areas may be indicated where development is significant thanks to academics. It is reflected
in the number of publications. However, the extent of usability of the achievements is, according to
the authors, unsatisfactory33. As an example, we may refer to research carried out on the recruitment
process where business practitioners indicate significant difficulties with the implementation of the
solutions suggested by the academics. This, in turn, indicates by far more complex issue of
insufficient communication in the scope of research on sales, between the world of science and
business.
In case of research on training sales personnel, sales organization, management of actions in
time and territorial sales management, although both sides perceive the topics as important, in the
world of practice an opinion starts to dominate that these topics have been described sufficiently.
The evaluation of the publications is high here, in terms of their usability and provision of wellbuilt, useful tools to improve sales functioning.
The same authors (Williams and Plouffe), indicate as the directions of desired research longterm trends that might suggest an optimum way and selection of future topics.34 The external factors
and their influence on the functioning of sales units may represent an important element of market
game in the near future and, simultaneously, become the object of potentially interesting studies on
the multi-factor formation of the organizational reality.
T.N.Ingram35 indicates the responsibility, cooperation and complexity of processes as the
potential trends in the development of sales research. In his opinion, the complexity of business
processes in sales has an immense potential and the analysis of correlations between them shall
enable coming to interesting, perhaps innovative conclusions. Moreover, he emphasizes the need
for research on sales ethics, responsibility and sales relationships, not only with the customer, but
also with the market. Relationship management, according to this author, shall be the key to achieve
competitive advantage.
Nevertheless, the key element here seems to be the development of a good cooperation
model in designing research between the business and academic circles.
This research represents reference study and cab be the foundation for further, this time
explorative research on the indicated topics related to sales performance in the organization. Thus,
both quantitative and qualitative research is recommended as the next step. Its purpose would not
only be the indication of the present situation in the scope of detailed divergences between the
perception of sales by science and business, but also, perhaps first of all, the development of such
solutions that would be applied as useful in the sales practices.
33
Williams B.C., Plouffe C.R, op. cit.
Williams B.C., Plouffe C.R, op. cit.
35
Ingram, T.N. , Future themes in sales and sales management: complexity, collaboration, and accountability, Journal
of Marketing Theory and Practice, Vol. 12 No. 4, 2004, pp. 18-28.
34
181
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Sales Forecasting Applications, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 7(1): 77-80.
4. Darmon R.Y. (1997) Predicting the Long-Run Profit Impact of a Contemplated Sales Force
Compensation Plan, The Journal of the Operational Research Society, 48(12): 1215-1218
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we go from here? European Journal of Marketing, 43(7/8): 873 – 889.
6. Ghazaleh M.A., Haghighi M. (2009). The effect of selling strategies on sales performance,
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7. Hamel G. (2012). What Matters Now: How to Win in a World of Relentless Change, Ferocious
Competition and Unstoppable Innovation. Jossey-Bass.
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Marketing and Logistics, 2(1): 40 – 45.
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182
IMPACT EVALUATION NEEDS AND POSSIBILITIES FOR WATER SECTOR
INFRASTRUCTURE
Jurijs Spiridonovs
University of Latvia
Raiņa bulvāris 19, LV-1586 Riga, Latvia
Abstract. Being defined as an EU wide investment priority the sector of environmental
infrastructure and particularly water sector frequently faces the issue of efficiency. This issue
largely arises from the lack of theoretical and practical concepts on how the evaluation techniques
could achieve rigorous estimations of the investment impact on the state of environment or other
processes. Present paper discusses different aspects of policy‘s impact evaluation with particular
accent on possibility to apply counterfactual impact evaluation for environmental infrastructure (in
this paper particularly in water & wastewater management: construction of iron removal plants,
waste water treatment plants, networks).
The research method is comparative and logical analysis of the theoretical concepts,
methods and conclusions, published in scientific literature including policy analysis.
Keywords: Cohesion fund, EU policies, public infrastructure, impact evaluation
Introduction
Present planning period of Cohesion policy with total financial resources of €347 billion for
the 2007-2013 follows previous programming periods, which are described as successful in making
difference to standards of living across European Union (European Commission, 2007), not very
effective (de la Fuente, 2003) and failed to deliver a satisfactory growth performance (Sapir et al.,
2004). Some researchers note that no evidence is found that the policies adopted are the most
appropriate (Boldrin, Canova, 2001) and the Cohesion Funds should be terminated with the end of
the previous spending cycle (2006) (Boldrin, Canova, 2003).
Most countries have pursued economic development without taking environmental issues
into account. They are now facing the consequences: water and air pollution, pesticides in the food
supply, ultraviolet rays penetrating the thinning ozone layer, increased global temperatures caused
by greenhouse gases, and so on. The only positive aspect of these problems is that they provide a
lesson in terms of mistakes made that should be avoided in the future (IBRD 2000).
183
Since the raising awareness on environmental topics and the fact that most of the European
states (particularly in EU) as one of the funding priorities mark environmental issues as part of
sustainable development strategy, one of the specific issues considered is the impact of the
Cohesion policy on environment protection efforts.
Importance of Infrastructure for Economic Development
Economic theory distinguishes the concept of growth from the broader idea of development.
The rapid growth of the 1950s and 1960s motivated an increased concern for broader development
goals. Over the following decades, as stagnation set in, the emphasis shifted to economic growth.
In much of the developing world, the environmental quality is far worse than indicators portray
(Thomas et al 2000).
As noted by OECD, infrastructures are at the very heart of economic and social development
(OECD 2006). They provide the foundations for virtually all modern-day economic activity,
constitute a major economic sector in their own right, and contribute importantly to raising living
standards and the quality of life. However, infrastructures also have less desirable consequences. To
name but a few – more roads may mean more traffic and more noise, power plants may add
considerably to greenhouse gas emissions, and dams may entail the destruction of large areas of
countryside and the displacement of population.
In the same research by OECD it is mentioned that in comparison with the economic
benefits generated by infrastructure, the value of infrastructure as a contributor to higher living
standards and quality of life has received much less attention. By way of illustration, it is clear that
the coverage of 98% of the population in developed countries with sanitation services produces
health and welfare outcomes greatly superior to developing regions with an average of only 49%
coverage. More concretely, since in some cases health and welfare outcomes can in fact be
approximated, it is estimated for the developing regions of the world that the benefits of halving the
proportion of people without access to improved water sources by 2015 would be 9 times the costs
incurred (OECD 2006).
Infrastructure—defined here to include the sectors of transport, water and sanitation, power,
telecommunications, and irrigation—represents a large portfolio of expenditure in all countries,
ranging from a third to one-half of public investment (equivalent to roughly three to six percent of
GDP), according to World bank (IBRD 1993). Since the mid-1980s, there has been evidence of
increasing concern and debate about the performance of infrastructure—among economic policymakers, politicians, and the public in both developed and developing countries—and a resurgence
of research on the impact of infrastructure on economic development. The consumption of
184
infrastructure services by households contributes to economic welfare because many of these
services, notably clean water and sanitation, are essential for health and create environmental
amenities; others (e.g., recreational transport, residential telecommunications) are valued items of
consumption in their own right. These services also provide access to jobs, education, and
opportunities for consumption of other goods. Thus, reductions in the cost and improvements in
infrastructure services to households can have the beneficial effects of increasing their real income
and consumption, raising the productivity of their labor, and freeing time of individuals for
higher−value activities—analogously to the benefits realized by firms (IBRD 1993).
It is important to remember that simply increasing public spending on infrastructure can be
highly inefficient. Therefore, in low-income countries with weak institutions but pressing
infrastructure needs, improving the quality of monitoring and bureaucratic oversight is of
paramount importance to ensure that public investment spending is not wasted (Shankha
Chakraborty, S. and Dabla-Norris, E., 2009).
Water Sector: Problems, Revenues and Development Trends
In the past 20 years, a number of governments have sought to involve the private sector in
the development and management of their water systems. Based on the latest estimates (OECD
2009), halving the proportion of people without access to drinking water and sanitation by 2015
would entail investments of some USD 72 billion per year. Both additional funding and more
efficient use of available resources are necessary. As OECD mentions in the research paper
Intergovernmental Transfers for Environmental Infrastructure: Lessons from Armenia, the Russian
Federation and Ukraine (OECD 2006) worldwide estimates of revenues in the water sector range
from USD 350-650 billion. Most traditional estimates of the scope of the water sector have focused
on urban water services because of better availability of data and challenges in defining boundaries
to water services. Water services are provided through a variety of approaches, though most involve
centralised systems with large supply, distribution and treatment facilities – what has been
described as the ―hard path‖ (Wolff and Gleick, 2002; and Gleick, 2003). Increasingly, however,
there is a realisation that the hard path alone may not provide for a range of unmet and new needs,
and that combining centralised infrastructure with new approaches for water supply, demand
management and community engagement may be more successful, and are often less costly.
Affordability is also a current issue. In many cities, user charges do not even cover the cost
of operating the remaining, partly functioning infrastructure. Among the countries and regions
studied (OECD 2003), only Moldova and Novgorod, on average, charge users almost full operating
costs, but collected user charges nowhere cover more than half the costs of both operating and
185
maintaining existing assets. Developing water infrastructure is essential in many developing
countries to generate wealth, mitigate risk, and alleviate poverty (IBRD 2004). This development
must be done with more attention to the environment and more equitable sharing of benefits and
costs. Key priorities include increasing the productivity of water and infrastructure; developing a
realistic, sequenced approach to cost recovery; scaling up the remarkably successful water user
associations; and reforming the formal irrigation institutions, including the participation of the
private sector.
Notes on Counterfactual Impact Evaluation
According to White: ‗impact‘ typically refers to the final level of the causal chain (or log
frame), with impact differing from outcomes as the former refers to long-term effects. To make
more universal formulation White also notes that impact is defined as the difference in the indicator
of interest (Y) with the intervention (Y1) and without the intervention (Y0). That is, impact = Y1 Y0 (White 2010). Y0 is a hypothetical value (counterfactual) since it is not possible to know what
would have happened in case of reallocations of funds to different beneficiaries or to other field of
interventions.
Saunders mentions that there are some daunting methodological problems in identifying
robust causal links between interventions, programs and policies and desired outcomes. Hence the
problem of attribution, i.e. the difficulty in identifying the extent to which a particular intervention
has created a specific outcome (Saunders 2011). Counterfactual impact evaluation is a method
when we compare actual (observable) outcome Y1 with unobservable Y0, the result shown by the
projects, regions or countries, which not are covered by the policy but are comparable (similar) with
the units covered by the policy (treated units). Such comparison can be done using numerous
approaches (experiments, establishing the control group, surveys, etc.).
Di Tillio reminds that many philosophers and logicians have studied the logic of
counterfactuals, distinguished among types of counterfactuals, and considered their semantics (Di
Tillio 2011). Van den Berg also notes that conceptually, undertaking impact assessments raises
major difficulties (Van Den Berg 2005), supplemented by White‘s opinion that
an impact
evaluation is a study which tackles the issue of attribution by identifying the counterfactual value of
Y (Y0) in a rigorous manner (White 2010). Van Den Berg concludes that although the importance
of impact assessment is recognized by many in the development aid community, there is also a
concern that it is either too difficult or too expensive to carry out substantial work on impact
assessment (Van Den Berg 2005).
186
Particularly the attribution problem makes it difficult for evaluators to proceed with
counterfactual impact evaluation in the field of infrastructure. Accountability information for
environmental projects includes length of pipelines, number of waste water treatment plants built,
number of agglomerations treated, and number of protected areas included in the project. This
information does not allow us to suggest improvements for the policy since there is no linkage
between single indicators (e. g. length) and the goal of the environmental policy. Same problem will
be current for road projects, projects related to energy efficiency issues (e.g. buildings), etc. The
Impact Assessment Board (IAB, 2009) estimates that some 60–80 percent of impact assessment
studies currently provided to the European Commission supply the kind of information that does
not inform policy makers as to whether their global objectives can be met (Radej 2011) and this is
possibility for counterfactual impact evaluation to step in the field of infrastructure by finding the
appropriate solutions of above mentioned issues.
Possibilities for Evaluation of the Investments in EU Water Sector
We should not only evaluate but to perform it in the most rigorous way, more accountable.
Schweigert mentions that as a basic (Rubin‘s) concept, accountability can be quite simply defined
as ―the ability of one actor to demand an explanation or justification of another actor for its actions
and to reward or punish that second actor on the basis of its performance or its explanation‖
(Schweigert 2006).
According to EC Working Document No 4: Guidance on the Methodology for carrying out
Cost-Benefit Analysis: ―the Polluter Pays Principle is one of the principles of Community
environmental policy (Art. 174 EC Treaty) and applies throughout the European territory.
According to the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) of the European Parliament and of the
Council, ―Member States shall take account of the principle of recovery of the costs of water
services, including environmental and resource costs, in accordance in particular with the polluter
pays principle‖ (European Commission 2006). There is price for such regulation: tariffs after
investing should be raised (at least theoretically).
Therefore I consider that after the completion of the projects the payment for more
qualitative services should increase: in absolute terms and as percentage of household expenditures
(if the same amount of services is supplied and demanded). Moreover we can measure future
investments of the treated and not-treated units following the investment phase (since the goal of
improving the quality of the environment for European citizens is a long lasting one). This is the
way to establish the causality between the policy and the results achieved. Undoubtedly to estimate
187
the performance of the policy the estimates of desired outcome should be part of the policy. Such
concept may be applied both to EU or nationally funded projects and actions in water sector.
Conclusions
Infrastructures play significant role in economic development although we are lacking
researches on actual economic performance of those. Water sector is one of most significant and
also heavily funded sectors in many developing countries but the efficiency of governmental
policies is commonly doubtful since no rigorous estimates of the impacts (results) can be usually
demonstrated.
Impact evaluation and particularly counterfactual impact evaluation may be alternative
solution to length-number accounting and reporting system, analyzing the actual results of the
policy and those actions which may be undertaken by community itself without connection to
public investment program. Although the attribution issue will have to be solved, it may be solvable
task by collecting other essential information on the performance of the sector, which would not
include physical objects built but changes occurred in consumers‘ behavior (amount of services
supplied, quality of services, etc).
References
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189
IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
Deniss Šĉeulovs¹, Elina Gaile-Sarkane²
Meţa str. 1/7 – 408, Rīga, Latvia
Abstract. Fast development of equipment and technologies, economic globalization and
many other external circumstances stimulate the changes in consumer behavior. Usually consumer
behavior has drawn upon theories developed in related fields of study of human behavior such as
psychology, sociology, economics, behavioral economics, and anthropology, to develop a
theoretical framework for the analysis of the behavior of consumers.
It is very convenient and up-to-date to use information and telecommunication technologies
for communication among individuals what improves the information flow within an organization
and outside. At the same time there are a lot of challenges for all involved parts – industry and
society. These challenges are principally related to adoption of the technologies in the country what
directly impacts the consumer behavior.
In the paper customer behavior in electronic environment have been analyzed, peculiarities
of behavior caused by information and telecommunication technologies were funded out. The
research conducted by the authors showed that information technologies create dynamic behavior
what involves different from traditional market interactions and exchanges.
Keywords: consumer behavior, electronic environment, adoption of technologies,
information and telecommunication technologies.
Introduction
A society of the future is the society of knowledge, in which the capability of knowledge
concentration and transformation in innovative and applicative solutions are important and
respective values. Knowledge has become as a central resource of new society where knowledge
workers are key elements of its work force. The basic strategy of achieving the knowledge society
was set with the so called Lisbon goals (European Commission 2000). The key indicator for
knowledge based society in EU is the Information Society. The objective is to broaden the access to
the Internet and to produce content what adds value to European cultural and scientific heritage.
Customer behavior involves the thoughts and feelings experience and the actions they
perform in consumption processes. It also includes all the things in the environment that influence
190
these thoughts feelings and actions. These include comments from other customers, advertisements,
price information, packaging, product appearance and many others. It is important to recognize
from this definition that consumer behavior is dynamic, involves interactions, and involves
exchanges. Consumer behavior is dynamic because the thinking, feeling and actions of individual
consumers, targeted consumer groups and society at large are constantly changing.
A vast number of individual differences can influence consumer behavior. Some of the most
important include personality, lifestyles and psychographics, and motivation. Personality reflects a
person‘s consistent response to his or her environment. It has been linked to differences in
susceptibility to persuasion and social influence and thereby to purchase behavior. At the same time
electronic environment is different and organizations cannot apply the same standards to the
internet purchasing.
Since last century information technologies came into our everyday life and changed our
everyday activities (Battelee, 2005). Information technologies are adopted by the vast number of
consumers in Latvia as well as in the Baltic States and all around the world. Information
technologies have changed consumer behavior (Figge, Hahn, 2004).
Adoption of information technologies is rather slow process but once it had happened,
consumers are involved in the technology usage for very long time. According to statistical
information access to the internet doubled every year since 2004 (it was 14.7% of all households)
and in beginning of 2011 reached 63.6% of households in Latvia. 73,4 % of Latvians have ever
used the internet in begging of 2011, 66.2% uses the internet regularly. 95.4% of enterprises with
number of employees more than 10 use computers, 92.2% of them use Internet. Approximately
53.4% of all companies have webs or online data bases (Statistical Bureau of Republic of Latvia,
2011)
Objective of the paper: to analyze customer behavior in electronic environment and find out
peculiarities of behavior caused by adoption of information and telecommunication technologies.
Research methodology: The authors employ well-established quantitative and qualitative
methods of research: grouping, analysis, statistic method, etc
The theoretical and methodological background of the research is formed by, scientific
researches and publications, publications from mass media and professional literature; statistical
information from legal institutions as well as information collected by the authors during the
survey.
Theoretical Framework on New Technology Adaptation
Computers and electronic communication networks play an increasing part in handling and
processing of information since equipment is more precise and cheaper than work of people,
191
besides they provide the fastest storage and exchange of information (Gupta, et. al., 2004). The flow
of information is the key to success in the computer age and information society (Sung, 2006)
Successful employment of information raises the effectiveness and profitability of an organization
(Hsia et. al., 2008)
There is a lot f researches done by international experts and scientists on topic how and why
people adopt a new technology. The researches are devoted to two important levels – organizations
and individuals. Among most important models the authors would like to emphasize Technology
Acceptance Model, Motivation Model, Theory of Planned Behavior, Innovation Diffusion Theory
etc. Davis Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989) predicts information technology
acceptance and usage. In this model the user‘s behavioral intention to use a technology is affected
by their perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of the technology.
This model was originally developed for studying technology at work. Later it has been used
as such or modified to study user acceptance of consumer services such as Internet services or ecommerce (Kaasinen, 2005). The Technology Acceptance Model constitutes a solid framework for
identifying issues that may affect user acceptance of technical solutions. As Davis and Venkatesh
(2004) have proved, the model can be enhanced from the original purpose of studying user
acceptance of existing products to study planned product concepts, e.g. in the form of mock-ups.
This indicates that Technology Acceptance Model (see Figure1) could also be used in connection
with technology development projects and processes to assess the usefulness of proposed solutions.
Applied in this way, the model also supports the human-centered design approach.
Trust
Preceived ease
of adoption
Intention to
use
Taking into
use
Preceived
value
Usage
behaviour
Preceived
ease of use
Figure 1. Technology Acceptance Model for Mobile Services (Kaasinen, 2005)
Ajzen published theory about the Motivation Model (Ajzen, 1991) in which he describes
that general motivation theory, extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, is an explanation for behavior.
Theory of Planned Behavior is built according to Theory of Reasoned Action by adding the
construct of perceived behavioral control (Ajzen, 1991).
192
Innovation Diffusion Theory a widely supported model used in a variety of fields identifies
five factors that impact technology adoption (Moore, Benbasat, 1991): compatibility, complexity,
observability, relative advantage, trialability.
According to these factors seven constructs for individual acceptance of technology were
developed: compatibility, ease of use, image, relative advantage, results demonstrability, visibility,
and voluntariness of use.
There are a lot of theories what describes different factors what influences consumer
behavior and adoption of information technologies. For example, as most important determinants
are following (Vanketesh, Moore, 2003):
-
the degree to which an individual believes that using the system will help him or her
to attain gains in job performance or performance expectancy;
-
the degree of ease associated with the use of the system or effort expectancy;
-
the degree to which an individual perceives that important others believe he or she
should use the new system or social influence;
-
the degree to which an individual believes that an organizational and technical
infrastructure exists to support use of the system or conditions.
According to this theory the authors would like to analyze the impact of information
technologies on consumer behavior, especially on adoption of new technologies. There is also
possible to put down the recommendations for organizations how to develop and promote for
example, new web or portal. In case if a new technology is a new communication channel with
customers, web, portal or e-business model it is possible to work our guidelines for development
and customer adoption.
Organizations employ information and telecommunication technologies for internal and
external communication, for exchange of information and raising their competitiveness by creation
webs, portals, forums for discussion, e-shops etc. (Phillips, 2008). According to the authors‘ point
of view, main benefits from using information technologies in the business are:
-
Cost reduction. By minimizing all types of costs for communication, information
exchange, distribution etc.,
-
Increased competitiveness. The organization becomes modern and more competitive,
-
Information exchange progress (easy and fast exchange with information),
-
Convinces, including all around the clock activities,
-
Up-to date information,
-
Additional services etc.
At the same time there are a lot of challenges – related to adoption of novelties by
customers. From process control standpoint the challenges are:
193
-
Change of process. Electronic environment initiate changes what will affect the roles
of all involved parts, rules, procedures, communication,
-
Return on investments. Not always it is clearly defined - what is return on investment
and how it will impact financial situation of an organization (for example social portals),
-
Reliability of infrastructure. Data are integrated on a data network, high reliability
and data protection is strictly demanded for both – organization and customer,
-
State regulations. Law and public policy can determine data services. For example
copyrights, data accessibility etc.
Existing models of new technology adoption very well describe all aspects of consumer
behavior and points out specific features to what companies should pay attention on. New
technology adoption models could be applied to web technologies and e-commerce. Thereby, by
knowing both – adoption models and particularities of consumer behavior their can be used for:
-
Development of technology development and adoption plan;
-
Analysis and control of technology adoption process;
-
Escaping of mistakes;
-
Modeling of consumer behavior;
-
For development of methodologies and methods, etc.;
-
Human information behaviour.
When organizations is going create web or communication channel with their customers,
they should take into account that human behavior in searching for information varies in different
ways according to characteristics, experience, knowledge and motivation of individuals what is
under impact of various external factors (Ebner, Baumgartner, 2011). By knowing it the
organization can develop strategy of system implementation and work according to the
methodology. One of key points in information system adoption process is human information
behavior.
Human information behavior is how individuals approach and handle information. This
includes searching for it, using it, modifying it, sharing it, hoarding it, and even ignoring it.
Consequently, when we manage information behavior, we're attempting to improve the overall
effectiveness of an organization's information environment through concerted action. (Devenport,
1997). Nowadays it is important because customers are searching for information, comparing prices
and trying to find best offer for themselves. And, according to statistical information, main
activities in the internet are oriented on information exchange and information search.
On 1999 T. Wilson has developed information behavior model (see Figure 2). The model
suggests that information-seeking behavior arises as a consequence of a need perceived by an
information user, who, in order to satisfy that need, makes demands upon formal or informal
194
information sources or services, which result in success or failure to find relevant information. If
successful, the individual then makes use of the information found and may either fully or partially
satisfy the perceived need - or, indeed, fail to satisfy the need and have to reiterate the search
process. The model also shows that part of the information-seeking behavior may involve other
people through information exchange and that information perceived as useful may be passed to
other people, as well as being used (or instead of being used) by the person himself or herself
(Wilson, 1999).
Information user
Satisfaction or
Non-satisfaction
„Need‖
Information use
Information –
seeking behaviour
Demands on
information systems
Information
exchenge
Demands on other
information sources
Other people
Success
Failure
Information transfer
Figure 2. Wilson's information behavior model (Wilson, 1999)
At the root of the problem of information-seeking behavior is the concept of information
need, which has proved intractable for the reason advanced by Wilson in 1981. According to
Wilson need is a subjective experience which occurs only in the mind of the person in need and,
consequently, is not directly accessible to an observer. The experience of need can only be
discovered by deduction from behavior or through the reports of the person in need (Wilson, 2002).
The general concept of need is, of course, a psychological concept, since it refers to a mental
state or states and a good deal attention has been given to the idea, its subjective character and the
motivation for the expression of need or the physiological drives that result in the expression of
need. (Wilson, 2002)
195
According to this for the organization what introduces new communication channel with
their customers the need of information exchange should be clearly stated. Customers should
understand benefits from the web in order to adopt this system.
Context of information need
Information
seeking
behaviour
Bariers
Environment
Starting
Chaining
Browsing
Differentiating
Monitoring
Extracting
Verifying
Ending
Social Role
PERSON
psichological,
affective and
cognative stages
Role
related
Personal
Environmental
Figure 3. A model of information-seeking behavior (Wilson, 2002)
In the same paper Wilson proposed a model of the circumstances that give rise to
information-seeking behavior (see Figure 3 – simplified model). The main elements of Wilson's
model are the situation within which a need for information arises (the PERSON performing a
ROLE in an ENVIRONMENT), the barriers that may exist to either engaging in informationseeking behavior or in completing a search for information successfully, and information-seeking
behavior itself. Figure 3 has been simplified and amended to show how Ellis (1989) work on
information-seeking fits into the model (Wilson, 2002)
The authors recommend joining together both theories – human information behavior and
consumer behavior theory (in the electronic environment). A vast number of individual differences
can influence consumer behavior. Some of the most important include personality, lifestyles and
psychographics, and motivation. Personality reflects a person‘s consistent response to his or her
environment. It has been linked to differences in susceptibility to persuasion and social influence
and thereby to purchase behavior. At the same time electronic environment is different and
organizations cannot apply the same standards to the internet purchasing.
According to different theories of consumer behaviour and researches done by the authors
up to now factors what have influence on consumer behaviour are: social, personal, economic,
196
situational, cultural, psychological and marketing mix communication. At the same time factors
what influence information seeking process is - personal, role related and environmental?
The authors presume that according to both theories factors can be divided in three groups:
direct, indirect and situational. Direct factors for the customers are environmental, for example
access to the resources, current economical situation in the country (inflation, interest rates etc.),
marketing mix and communication. As indirect factors the authors would point out cultural and
social factors what are mainly role related, besides some of social factors could be applied to both –
direct and indirect groups. Under the group „situational factors‖ the authors presume those who
depends on the individual – psychological, personal and situational (with situational factors the
authors presume environmental factors, impact of the situation, sales personnel etc).
The mentioned grouping would be important for development of recommendations for
companies who would like to adopt in the market new tools of e-commerce or channels of
communication via the internet.
Motivation and Consumer Behaviour in E-environment
With an aim to analyze differences in consumer behaving motives in real market and
electronic environment, the authors organized survey in the age group 18-25. This age group was
chosen because according to the statistical data in 2011 98% of inhabitants in the age between 16
and 25 were using the internet (Eurostat, 2011).
The period of survey is November-December,
2011. The total number of respondents was 172, both sexes. The questionnaire contained 6 question
groups all oriented on range of parameters. The resume of the survey is described below.
According to the survey the target group uses the internet tools for: e-mailing (99%);
information search (92%); social portals, peer group activities (84%); online banking (68%);
skyping (66%); playing games (45%); using music and movie services (96%); e-shopping (43%).
According to the results of this research and researches done before by other companies, email is a leading e-commerce tool what is used by 99% of all internet users. These results clearly
show interests of this target audience and simultaneously pay attention to e-sopping as upcoming
activity. Therefore it is valuable to forecast how e-shopping could develop in the nearest future and
what are motives, pros and cons for e-shopping in this target group.
This survey prescribes that benefits of the internet usage and e-commerce for the target
group are: speed (95%); saves time (92%); rational (help to facilitate many processes) (87%);
possibility to find more information at the same time (84%); accessibility (can use
everywhere)(76%); all around the clock (65%); easy to use (63%); always updated (actual)
information (59%); overall conveniences (56%); possibility easy to compare products and prices
197
(54%); punctuality and accurateness (49%); all kinds of goods in one place (45%); special (just
online) discounter (e-coupons) offers (48%); possibility to follow the execution of the order (34%);
no paper what should be filled (26%); environment friendly (no paper used no sales materials,
brochures etc.) (25%); possibility to cancel order (19%).
From the results of the survey we can clearly see that values for the target group are speed
and time saving, conveniences, updated information, etc.
According to the authors point of view the results of the survey confirm that consumer
behaviour is changing under the impact of new technologies and especially under the impact of the
internet and e-commerce. The values of today‘s customer are speed of actions, independence,
conveniences, economy of resources.
By joining together aspects of three main theories - adoption of the technologies and,
information seeking behaviour and changing consumer behaviour it is possible to create
recommendations for a company who would like to perform in the market with new channel of
communication in the internet. For success in the electronic environment this company should be
motivating for consumers and of course differentiate themselves (see Table No.1).
Table 1. Mix of factors what should be taken into account for development of new echannel
Constructs for new technology (also
web) adoption
Compatibility
Group of factors what influence
information seeking behaviour and
consumer behaviour (in impact order)
Direct, situational
Ease of use
Image
Relative advantage
Results demonstrability
Visibility
Voluntary participation and use
Situational
Situational, Indirect
Situational, Direct, Indirect,
Indirect
Situational, Direct
Situational, Indirect, Direct
Most important factor to what the
company should pay attention
Starting, browsing, monitoring,
extracting etc.
Differentiation
Differentiation
Benefits
Monitoring, verifying
Monitoring, extracting
Starting, chaining
By applying the method of synthesis of theoretical developments and practical experience is
possible to develop models for development and adoption of new e-commerce tools. All factors
what influences the consumer behaviour could be analyzed more profoundly and, by linking them
with practical examples could plan of strategic activities could be developed.
Conclusions
The research contributes to better understanding of the specifics of factors what influences
consumer behaviour in electronic environment. There are a lot of potential for further analysis of
consumer behaviour. Therefore it is important to develop new methods and techniques for
evaluation of consumer behaviour in e-environment.
198
Research results confirm that it is valuable to merge tighter three different theoretical
approaches which have the same background. However, the field of research is very wide and this
study presents just an insight into the large scope of different questions, which have to be tackled in
the e-consumer behaviour research.
References
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Decision Processes. California: Wiley Publishing: 179-211.
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3. Davis, F.D. (1989). Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and User Acceptance of
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age/portal/science_technol ogy_innovation/data/database.
7. Figge, F. Hahn, T. (2004). Sustainable value added – measuring corporate contributions to
sustainability beyond eco-efficiency. Ecological Economics 48 (2): 173-187. Retrieved from
February 20, 2012.
http://www.csiprogress2007.org/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1.
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channels: A purchase-decision process perspective. International Journal of Electronic
Commerce, 8(3): 131-161.
9. Hsia, T.L., Wu, J.H., Li E.Y. (2008). The e-commerce value matrix and use case model: A goaldriven methodology for eliciting B2C application requirements. Information & Management,
45(5): 321-330.
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research: an application of systems modelling. Retrieved October 23, 2011 from
http://www.informationr.net/ir/9-4/paper191.html.
11. Kaasinen, E. (2005). User acceptance of mobile services-value, ease of use, trust and ease of
adoption. Retrieved November 2, 2011 from
http://www.vtt.fi/inf/pdf/publications/2005/P566.pdf.
12. Knight J. (2005). Cross-Border Education: Developments and Implications in the Asia and the
Pacific Region, UNESCO Forum Occasional Paper, Korea.
13. Moore, G. C., Benbasat, I. (1991). Development of an Instrument to Measure the Perceptions of
Adopting Information. Retrieved October 28, 2011 from http://www.informationr.net/ir/94/paper191.html.
14. Phillips, A., Wright, C. (2008). E-Business‘s impact on organizational flexibility.‖ Journal of
Business Research. Article in press.
15. Statistical Yearbook of Latvia (2011). Riga: Statistical Bureau of Republic of Latvia, 499-505.
16. Sung, T. (2006). E-commerce critical success factors: East vs. West. Technological Forecasting
and Social Change, 73(9): 1161-1177.
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Technology: Toward a Unified View, MIS Quarterly, 27(3): 425-478.
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18. Wilson T. D. (2011). A General model of information-seeking behaviour. Retrieved October 02,
2011 from http://www. informationr.net/tdw/publ/infbehav/chap2.html
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200
THE IMPACT OF ELECTRICITY MARKET REFORM ON INVESTMENTS IN
RENEWABLES IN LITHUANIA
Dalia Štreimikienė
Faculty of Economics and Finance management
Ateities str. 20, LT-80303, Vilnius, Lithuania
Abstract. The paper focuses on the impact of the electricity market regulation on generating
technologies, including renewable in Lithuania. The paper aims to identify how the regulatory and
non-regulatory factors have influenced investors‘ choices. A country case study approach has been
adopted to analyse and address the following key topics to draw some policy guidelines regarding
the main factors that have influenced investors‘ choice of technology mix in both mature markets
and those that are in transition in Lithuania. The major findings of the analysis entail: the main
driving forces behind the rationale for reform; electricity reform characteristics; and electricity
market reform and non-reform related factors that have influenced investor‘s choice for a specific
generation technology or a technology mix in Lithuania.
Key words: electricity market, liberalization, investment, renewables.
Introduction
The Lithuanian electricity sector since 1997 has undergone a reform process away from the
regulated system towards a market based system (Siugzdaite, Norvaisas, 2001, Junevicius,
Narbutiene, 2005; Milciuviene, Trinkute, 2009). There are 3 periods of electricity sector reform in
Lithuania: 1997-2002; 2003-2009 and since 2010. The main reasons for electricity reform during
these two periods were corporatization and commercialization (Jankauskas, 2006). In third period
since 2010 the main objectives of electricity sector reform are based on European Union (EU) Third
energy package requirements that aims to create competitive electricity market and to ensure fair
competition; to ensure and promote the effective electric energy generation; to ensure the constancy
and reliability of electric energy generation, transmission and distribution; to promote the
development of internal electricity market and electricity export, modernization of infrastructure of
market implementation, energy pricing clarity and transparency; to impose public service
obligations which may relate to security of society, environmental protection and generating
201
installations using local, renewable and secondary energy; to create favourable conditions for
investments in the electricity sector; to promote environment friendly technology (Lithuania Energy
Agency, 2002).
However it important to assess if the aims of electricity market reform have been achieved
and how electricity market liberalization impacts investments in new technologies.
The aim of the paper is to identify how the regulatory and non-regulatory factors have
influenced investors‘ choices
The objectives of the article are as follows: to review stages of electricity market reform in
Lithuania; to review regulator arrangements, risk allocation and electricity prices in Lithuania; to
assess impact of electricity market opening on investments in electricity sector
Electricity Market Reform
In the past, the electricity industry has been organized as vertically integrated monopolies
that were sometimes also state owned. The growing ideological and political disaffection about
vertically integrated monopolies and the liberalization successes in other network industries have
led to liberalization initiatives worldwide in the electricity industry. In EU Vertically integrated
utilities have been vertically separated or unbundled and barriers to entry in generation and supply
are being removed to create competition, seen as a vehicle to increase the competitiveness of the
electricity industry (Republic of Lithuania, 2001).
Before restructuring of the electric energy sector in 2002, the Special Purpose JSC
Lithuanian power operated as a vertically integrated natural monopoly carrying out production,
supply, transmission and distribution of the electricity in Lithuania.
In 2010 the Lithuanian electricity sector has undergone important changes. Lithuania
became a net importer country after closure of Ignalina NPP in the end of 2009. Wholesale and
Retail electricity markets were further developed and AB Lietuvos Energija was restructured by
separating TSO (LITGRID) and Market Operator (BALTPOOL) activities into separate companies
and establishing JSC Energy Supply as independent energy supplier. The start up of Power
Exchange from January 1, 2010 by applying the NordPool model. Regulated tariffs are removed for
large consumers (consumption totalling 35% of Lithuanian demand). The main background for
these changes was The European Union Third energy package entered into force on September
2009. Lithuanian electricity market expansion plan was adopted on July 2009 and Common Baltic
Electricity market plan agreed among Baltic States on April 2009 and will be established by 2013
(Republic of Lithuania, 2009).
202
As of January 2010 the Lithuanian market is based on the same principles as the Nordic
power market (for wholesale trade organization), where price and flow are calculated at the same
time to increase market efficiency (implicit auction). The main players at Lithuanian electricty
market since 2010: JSC Litgrid and JSC Baltpool. JSC Litgrid, is the electricity transmission system
operator. The company performs electricity planning, dispatch control and operational planning.
JSC Baltpool organizes wholesale electricity trade in Lithuania (JSC Lithuanian Power Company,
2010a; b).
Regulatory Arrangements and Energy Prices
In the process of the electricity market liberalization in Lithuania the Government has
gradually withdrawn from electricity sector regulation by transferring these functions to
independent institution. The price setting principles and the prices themselves, entry to the market
(licensing), promotion and supervision of competition, defence of customer rights - these and other
functions were passed over to the National Control Commission for Prices and Energy (NCCPE)
established in 1997 which were not subordinate to the Government.
The responsibilities of NCCPE include tariff setting, licensing, monitoring of supply service
quality and dispute resolution (NCCPE, 2010a).
The NCCPE regulates the prices by setting price caps. The price caps are set for the threeyear regulatory period. Price caps set by the NCCPE are subject to annual revision in the event of
changes in the forecasting data of the sold or transported electricity volume, annual inflation rate,
taxes payable by the service provider or other factors beyond the service provider‘s control
affecting price cap computation. (NCCPE, 2010 b). The development of electricity prices in
Lithuania is provided in Table 1.
Table 1. Electricity prices in Lithuania, €/kWh
2003
2004
0,0535
2003
0,0550
2004
0,0513
Electricity prices for household
2005
2006
2007
0,0609
0,0609
0,0658
Electricity prices for industry
2005
2006
2007
0,0498
0,0498
0,0548
2008
0,0729
2009
0,0799
2010
0,0955
2008
0,0829
2009
0,0924
2010
0,0991
From 01 January 2010 Regulated tariffs are removed for large consumers (consumption
totalling 35% of Lithuanian demand). From 01 January 2015 Regulated supply tariffs for all
consumers shall be abolished except the guaranteed tariffs for the groups designated by EU
regulations: (Table 2).
203
Table 2. Application of regulated tariffs
Starting from
Application of regulated tariffs
1st of January 2010
Regulated tariffs is going to be abolished for the consumption totaling
35% of Lithuanian demand (consumers with >400 kW capacity)
1st of January 2011
45% of Lithuanian demand (consumers with >100 kW capacity)
1st of January 2012
55% of Lithuanian demand (consumers with>30 kW capacity)
1st of January 2013
Only hausehold consumers shall fall under the regulated supply tariffs
scheme
1st of January 2015
Regulated supply tariffs for all consumers shall be abolished except the
guaranteed tariffs for the groups designated by EU regulations.
Source: European Regulation Group for Electricity and Gas, 2010
Risk Allocation
The physical electricity market or spot market is only one aspect of an electricity pool or
exchange. In addition to the physical day-ahead markets, the financial markets play an important
role in Lithuanian electricity market Contracts are signed between the different market players
wishing to protect themselves against fluctuations in the „spot electricity prices― or to allocate their
risks to other parties. Only direct participants in the market - such as transmission or distribution
systems operators, electricity suppliers, importers, exporters and producers - are allowed to trade.
Consumers are not treated as direct participants in the wholesale market and accordingly they
cannot buy electricity at the power exchange. To become a direct market participant in order to
trade electricity on the Lithuanian power exchange, a company must acquire a supplier‘s,
transmission or distribution systems operator‘s, importer‘s, exporter‘s or producer‘s license issued
by authorized institutions. In addition, a contract must be made with a balance energy supplier on
the sale or acquisition of balance electricity. Trading on the stock exchange is pursued under its
regulations determining trade and clearing conditions, responsibility for the breach of rules, market
conduct rules, ethical guidelines, payment schedules and trading fees; and under agreements,
concluded between the participants and the power exchange operator.
The Impact of Electricity Market Opening on Investments
Until 2002 there was no investment in generating capacities in electricity sector of Lithuania
because Lithuania has inherited from soviet past very huge overcapacities in power sector.
Electricity generating capacities exceeded domestic demand more than 3 times. Besides that
204
Ignalina NPP generated more than 80% of total electricity consumption in Lithuania. The price of
electricity produced at Ignalina NPP was significantly lower comparing with other generation
sources (CHP or Lithuanian thermal power plant). There were no price incentives to develop
renewable as well. The electricity prices were low and stable and significantly exceeded new
entrant costs.
Up to 2010 the structure of electricity market didn‘t have impact on electricity generation
mix in Lithuania. The power exchange started in 2010 allows competition in electricity generation
sector however the new investments in electricity generation capacities are mainly based on Feed-in
tariffs for electricity produced from renewables as Lithuanian electricity market is small and
isolated. The biggest electricity generation source - state owned Lithuanian thermal power plant is
being subsided through public service obligation (PSO). The List of Public Service Obligations
approved by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania for the purpose of implementation of the
provisions of the Law on Electricity. Therefore just Feed-in tariffs attract new investments into
renewable generation. As there are no possibilities to develop hydro power plants in Lithuania
because of environmental legislations the main investments were into wind power plants. However
the investments in wind generation is also limited because of the difficulties with the acquisition of
permit to build wind power plant and various environmental requirements imposed by state for
building new wind power plants.
The type of ownership up to know didn‘t have the direct impact on the choice of electricity
generation technology. There were no significant new investments in electricity generation sector
until 2002. Since 2002 private generators were investing mostly in renewables. Public power
producers were responsible for running Hydro power pumped storage and Lithuanian Thermal
Power Plant for the purpose of maintaining system balance and other economic and social benefits
related with security of supply. The construction of a 450 MW new combined cycle gas fired plant
at state owned Lithuanian Thermal Power plant net is underway and will be completed by the end
of 2012.
Network/access regulation has impact on investments in electricity generation technologies.
The Law on Electricity sets forth that the NCCPE must control that network connection conditions
and tariffs. If the transmission and distribution conductivity of networks is limited, the operators
must ensure priority for transportation of electricity produced from renewable energy sources.
There was no impact of electricity market structure on investments in energy sector because
there was no real competition on the electricity market until 2010. There were no new generation
capacities built since 1990 except small industrial CHP and renewables, mainly wind because of
policy tools: Feed-in tariffs, financial mechanisms, GHG emission trading scheme. Development of
generating capacities in Lithuania is presented in Table 3 (JSC Lithuanian Power Company, 2010a).
205
Table 3. Development of generating capacities in Lithuania
Power plant
Nuclear
Ignalina NPP
Thermal
Lithuanian PP (n.gas HFO)
Vilnius CHP (n.gas, HFO)
Kaunas CHP (n.gas, HFO)
Mazeikiai CHP (HFO)
Other CHP (n. gas)
Hydro
Kruonis HPPS
Kaunas HPP
Other small HP
Other renewables
Other renewable (biomass)
Wind PP
Total
1990
3000
3000
2656
1800
384
190
210
72
106,1
100
5.3
5861
Installed capacity, MW
2001
2006
3000
1300
3000
1300
2649
2330
1800
1500
384
380
180
180
200
160
85
110
1015,8
1027
900
900
100
100
15
27
69
20
49
6665
4726
2010
2015
2380
1500
370
170
160
180
1030
900
100
30
115
25
90
3525
2460
1500
370
170
160
260
1030
900
100
30
340
40
300
3830
Regulated electricity tariffs have impact on investments in electricity generation sector as
the National Regulator (NCCPE) may send respective signals about the need for investments to the
market players and apply required measures via pricing. Under the Law on Energy, energy
undertakings engaged in activities with regulated prices have to approve planned investments with
the NCCPE. To retain diversity of energy sources the use of renewable ones is encouraged by
increasing buying costs and by setting support for new energy sources, such as solar energy.
Regulatory institution (NCCPE) procedures such as licensing, monitoring and other
regulatory arrangements have direct impact on investments in generation technologies. NCCPE was
established as an independent institution in 1997 however based on the aforementioned discussion;
it appears that the regulator‘s independence does not have a direct influence on the attractiveness of
investment climate of the electricity industry as there were no investments in electricity sector up to
2008.
Non-reform related factors have the most significant impact on investments in electricity
generation. Since 2002 the investments in renewable energy sources were increasing in Lithuania
because of policy measures to promote use of renewable. Under the directive 2001/77/EC of
European Parliament and Council of 27 of September 2001 on the Promotion of the Electricity
produced from Renewable Energy Sources in the International Electricity Market Lithuania has
obligated that in 2010 the electricity produced from alternative energy sources will make 7 per cent
of the total consumed amount. Up to 2004 in Lithuania the main kinds of renewable energy
resources were wood and hydro power. The generation of wind energy and production of biofuel
have been rapidly developing since 2004 (Table 4).
206
Table 4. Development of renewable capacities in Lithuania 2000-2010
Total
solar
capacity, kW
Total biogas el.
capacity, MW
Total
wind
capacity, MW
Small
HPP
capacity, MW
2000
0.1
2001
0.1
2002
0.2
2003
0.4
2004
2
2005
2.7
2006
9
2007
10
2008
30
2009
50
2010
60
1.25
1.21
1.21
2.14
1.955
2.71
2.71
3.04
4.24
4.5
4.7
0.16
0.16
0.85
1.1
48.1
52.3
54.4
62.8
92
16.5
18.3
19.6
23.5
24.4
24.7
25.0
26
27
13.1
13.4
Source: Enlargement Network for Agripolicy Analysis, 2009
The economic and environmental impact of GHG emission trading in Lithuania was
negligible. During the study conducted by Lithuanian State Control (State Control of Republic of
Lithuania, 2008) it was detected that it is not established as to which purpose the income of
enterprises received for the sold allowances should be used, therefore there was a risk in Lithuania
that these funds may be used not for reduction of air pollution, but for other purposes. Based on
recommendations of State Control Lithuanian parliament in 2009 has adopted the Law on Climate
change management financial instruments where requirement for installations participating in GHG
emission trading are set to use some percent of received income from sold allowances for GHG
emission reduction measures and implement new energy efficient technologies and switch to
renewables.
Conclusions

The liberalization of electricity market in Lithuania was implemented because of EU
requirements since 2001.

There was no impact of electricity market on investments in energy sector because
there was no real competition on the electricity market until 2010. There were no new generation
capacities built since 1990 except small industrial CHP and renewables, mainly wind because of
policy tools: Feed-in tariffs, Financial mechanisms, GHG emission trading scheme.

The Lithuanian government has very strong policy to promote RES and this policy
had impact on increase of renewable capacities. With electricity market opening and establishment
of PEX in 2010 there is a real competition on electricity market.

Non-reform related factors have the most significant impact on investments in
electricity generation. Since 2002 the investments in renewable energy sources have increased in
Lithuania because of policy measures to promote use of renewable, by 2010 the electricity produced
from alternative energy sources will make 7 per cent of the total consumed amount. By 2020
207
Lithuania share of energy from renewable energy resources must account for 23 percent of final
energy consumed
References
1. Enlargement Network for Agripolicy Analysis. (2009). Analysis of renewable energy and its
impact on rural development in Lithuania, Vilnius.
2. European Regulation Group for Electricity and Gas. (2010). Status Review of End-User Price
Regulation as of 1 January 2010, Brussels.
3. Jankauskas, V. (2006). Development of Electricity Market in Lithuania and in the Baltics,
Vilnius: National Control Commission for Prices and Energy.
4. JSC Lithuanian Power Company. (2010a). Annual report 2009, Vilnius.
5. JSC Lithuanian Power Company. (2010b). Lietuvos Energija AB in the Reformation of
Electricity Sector Information for investors, Vilnius.
6. Junevicius, A., Narbutiene, N. (2005). Impact of the European internal market regulatory
framework on the electricity sectors of the European Community and the new members‘ states.
Socialiniai mokslai, 3(50): 59-61.
7. Lithuanian Energy Agency. (2002). Lithuanian Energy Policy Facing the EU Accession.
Proceedings of Workshop on New Energy Policies in Southeast Europe, Zagreb: The
Foundation for Market Reforms: 34-51.
8. Milciuviene, S., Tikniute, S. (2009). The Ownership Unbundling of Electricity Transmission
System Operators: the European Union Policy and the Case in Lithuania. Engineering
Economic, 2: 82-90.
9. National Control Commission for Prices and Energy (NCCPE). (2010a). [Online], Available:
http://www.regula.lt/ [14 Aug 2011].
10. National Control Commission for Prices and Energy (NCCPE). (2010b). Annual Report on
Electricity and Natural Gas Markets of the Republic of Lithuania to the European Commission,
Vilnius.
11. Republic of Lithuania. (2001). Report of the Republic of Lithuania on the Implementation of the
Requirements of Article 3 and Article 5 of Directive 2001/77/EC of the European Parliament
and of the Council of 27 September 2001 on the Promotion of Electricity Produced from
Renewable Energy Sources in the Internal Electricity Market. [Online], Available:
http://www.ena.lt/doc_atsi/pranesimas_77eb_2009.pdf [14 Aug 2011].
12. Republic of Lithuania. (2009). Lithuanian Electricity Market Extension Plan No. 740. [Online],
Available: http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter3/dokpaieska.showdoc_l?p_id=349252 [14 Aug 2011].
13. Siugzdaite, R., Norvaisas, S. (2001). Regularities of Electricity Generation in Lithuania,
Vilnius: Department of Numerical Methods, Institute of Mathematics and Informatics.
14. State Control of Republic of Lithuania. (2008). Report of state audit. Evaluation of EUA
allocation and trading system, Vilnius.
208

“PRACTICE AND RESEARCH IN PRIVATE AND PUBLIC

Transcription

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