Regional Formation and Development Studies

In this journal there are papers selected from international conference, which was held on 4th of Septemberat KU Faculty of Social Sciences “Regionalism and Sustainability: Managing Complexities”. There istradition to organize international conferences on autumn at this faculty. This conference was organized 9thtime. The main objective of this conference is open and critical discussion about regionalism and sustainabilityfrom different academic perspectives, taking in mind different countries experience. There were 23papers in this number of journal. Some papers are strongly connected with sustainability, so another’s morewith regional policy, but in general there is a lot of interesting research results in this theme. So this journalnumber should be interesting for different field of scientists and business people.

Currently, most companies in the industry generate the largest portion of profit from aftersales of passenger cars (maintenanceservices and sales of spare parts), but before the economic crisis, new car sales was the largest component of profit. Accordingly,in Latvia, there is a need to focus on the provision of aftersales services. The first section of the article describes and analyses thepassenger car park in Europe and Latvia, and discusses the significant indicators as the number of cars per 1000 residents, the firsttime registered cars and dynamics of those indicators. The second section discusses the author’s survey of the Latvian drivers andtypes of repairs they conducted within the last year, and average annual cost of carrepairs, and tires, and the drivers’ plans for thenear-term future on reduction of car costs.

The article is devoted to marketing decision making by different generations. Author have analysed generations, its different formulationsin the world and Latvia. Author described generations of Latvian consumers, analysing statistical data and research results ofadvertising agency DDB Latvia and Gfk. The Development of Generations has significantly influenced the consumption, consumerbehavior, buying process. Very special role in the article is devoted to the generations what will help companies and individuals towork more efficiency in distribution of goods and services in the market. Relevant information about the consumer obtained in atimely manner enables an enterprise to plan their work on the market more successfully.

The article aims to show that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs is of great significance and play a crucial rolein almost every nation’s economy and as such have become a major source of employment creation and income generation which inducesinnovation and economic growth. The SMEs sector is of specific importance for the development of the Republic of Moldova.Creating a business environment that fosters small business and entrepreneurship development in Moldova is a key to generatingwider economic growth in the country. As entrepreneurship in Moldova represents a rather new definition and the entrepreneurialactivity is very poor, in this context, the need for SMEs sector support through the creation of stable legal and economic conditionsfavoring entrepreneurial activity development is evident. Empirical research revealed main problems facing Moldovan SMEs, andtheir attitudes to entrepreneurship development.

Innovation is the basis for competitiveness. At the same time, the primary objective of the manager is stockholder wealth maximization,therefore it is essential to study the relationship between innovation and value. The aim of the study is to evaluate the impact ofinnovation on company value. The research covered Baltic listed companies for the period of 2005−2011. The study finds thatinnovative companies have a higher value and they are bigger. Within innovative companies it was observed that higher companyvalue is achieved if their ratio of intangible assets exceeds 1 %. Using correlation and multiple regression analyses it was found thatinnovation is a significant determinant of company value, whereas size is a weaker factor and growth is the least significant factor.The authors of the paper recommend for companies to invest in innovation process, since it increases company value, especially ifthe ratio of intangible assets exceeds 1 %.

The development of higher education is amongst topical issues. The modern society realizes that the most valuable capital is a humanbeing with his/her intellectual potential and this has become the main resource for social and economic development. Over thelast decade, all developed countries have introduced national education system reforms, which have received significant financialsupport. National development strategies attempt to focus on the development of adequate education system supported by state policiesbecause it is becoming more and more evident that the quality of education determines further development of a country. Thedevelopment of a strategy for the sustainable development must presuppose the identification of the mission and aims for short-termand long-term activities. The purpose for this article is to analyse the main trends of higher education in Latvia in order to identifythe mission and strategy for sustainable development of higher education institutions in Latvia. There were applied such researchmethods as analysis and synthesis of scientific literature, normative acts and documents that regulate the development of highereducation in Latvia and EU, methods of grouping, comparisons, classification, summarizing, description and prediction.

Assessment of the first level managers only in respect of their compliance with the requirements set for a particular job position isnot sufficient. A tool facilitating identification of the relevance of the first level managers in certain management chain is required asit would ensure effectiveness of their performance and harmony in the management chain. The present article aims at emphasisingthe feasibility of identification of the relevance of the first level managers in the management chain (MLM–FLM–SUB) throughpersonality traits. The research analysed the following members (links) of the management chain: first level managers (FLM), theirdirect supervisors – mid-level managers (MLM) and subordinates (SUB) – working in five furniture manufacturing companies ofthe West Lithuania Region. “The Big Five” method was applied as research instrument to assess personality traits of the first levelmanagers. Quantitative analysis enabled modelling of a graph, which represents a derived mean value of the assessment of thefirst level managers’ personality traits, designated to identify disharmonious chains in companies. When identifying the first levelmanagers’ relevance in the management chain, only individual evaluations performed by the members /links of the chains werereferred to and used as a basis for evaluation of personal traits of particular first level manager only. The obtained data supplementsdirect indicators of FLM performance assessment.

Customer satisfaction is considered as key factor determining organization’s success in today’s competitive market place. The growthof popularity of catering services in Lithuania substantiates the necessity of evaluation of their customer loyalty. Accordingly, theresearch was provided endeavouring to evaluate customer satisfaction with catering services in Lithuania. The obtained resultsreveal that evaluating either customer satisfaction with overall catering services in Lithuania, or customer satisfaction with particularcaterer, Customer Expectations and Image has no direct effect on Customer Satisfaction, in addition Complaints has no direct neitherindirect effect on Loyalty. Furthermore, the created model of Customer Satisfaction with catering services in Lithuania can be usedfor any type of research that evaluates customer satisfaction with catering services in Lithuania: any the place in Lithuania and / orthe type of catering facility.

This paper examines what benefits business can achieve by implementing corporate social responsibility reports in its activities.There are also analyzed the evolution of CSR reporting, systemized theoretical aspects of CSR reporting in marketing field. Thearticle emphasized that then satisfying stakeholders’ expectations, needs, and informing them of the action taken to meet these expectations,the organization have greater success of the business, i.e. stability and profitability. Literary analysis showed that CSRreporting is becoming the main tool of linking different holistic marketing programs.

Changes caused by globalization changed consumer behaviour. It is passed from the era of items to the era of services causingemotions. On the other hand, it’s still a speculation, whether globalization affects the behaviour of Lithuanian people in choosingtourism. The research found that the Lithuanian residents still live in the era of items. For them is most important material safetyand image through items. To meet these needs Lithuanian residents prefer traveling abroad. Outbound tourism is attractive for thepopulation of Lithuania, but they frequently travel in Lithuanian territory. Lithuanian tourists are planning travel usually by themselves;this process is combined with rational. Economic, demographic and cultural factors have the greatest influence on the choiceof Lithuanians to make trips. Social, psychological and situational factors in the marketing mix have less impact.