Regional Formation and Development Studies

The following article is devoted to determine what the main tendencies are concerning the Environmental Management Systems’ certification in the accordance with ISO 14001 and EMAS’ registrations in the years 1999–2013 from a different countries’ perspective. Giving examples of representative quantitative data, the author presents dynamics of the growth of environmental management systems and also absolute positional qualifications (describing numbers of certificates and registrations), as well as relative qualifications (presenting numbers of certificates and registrations per million residents) in various European countries. The quantitative analyses that have been conducted show a general increasing tendency regarding the number of certificates and registrations. Looking from a perspective of different European countries, Italy and Spain have gained highest evaluation concerning the certification of environmental management systems according ISO 14001 and registration in EMAS.

The subject of the research is the entrepreneurial potential of young people in the development of rural green tourism in Ukraine. Studies of trends in the rural labour market in terms of modernisation of the agrarian sector and the impact of world trends in transforming the role of rural territories have been taken into account. The development of entrepreneurship in the agricultural and industrial complex, including rural tourism, is one way of solving the youth employment problem. In the study, the authors rely on an assessment of the potential of rural green tourism in Ukraine, which is significant. The main directions of youth entrepreneurship in rural green tourism are identified. The article focuses on promoting the realisation of the potential of youth in rural green tourism businesses. Specific examples show features of labour motivation and highlight opportunities for its increase in entrepreneurship in rural green tourism. It is proposed to create conditions for the activation of youth entrepreneurship in rural green tourism. The authors come to the conclusion that modern youth, as a specific socio-demographic group, are a reserve for the multiplication of the labour force in the agricultural sector, and are a strategic resource for the development of rural areas through entrepreneurship in various fields, including rural green tourism.

The book The Economic Crisis and its Aftermath in the Nordic and Baltic Countries Do As We Say and Not As We Do written by Professor Dr. Hilmar Þór Hilmarsson is unique in many respects. It provides a broad view about the Nordic-Baltic countries, their response to the crisis of 2008/09 and the post-crisis consequences. Both regional and international aspects have been analyzed, namely regional institutions such as the European Union (EU) and global institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the operational sphere where policy choices of these nations get influenced. The author points out that Barry Eichengreen (Professor of Economics and Political Science at UC Berkeley) suggested that the title of this book should include: ‘Do as we say and not as we do’, reflecting author’s view mainly to a comparison between how Nordic countries may want the Baltic States to respond to crisis as compared to how they would respond themselves in comparable situations. In order to support this statement, the author mentions some instances, for example, comparison of how Finland and Sweden responded to the banking crisis they experienced in the early 1990s with how the Baltic States responded to the 2008/09 global economic and financial crisis, arguably under Nordic (mainly Swedish) influence. All those countries are then influenced by regional and global institutions. Thus, the author framed the title of the book as “The Economic Crisis and its Aftermath in the Nordic and Baltic Countries: Do as we say and not as we do”.

Definitions and sets of indicators as wellas approaches on sustainable development are compiled, discussed and evaluated inthis paper. The researched region embraces forfive urban and district municipalities in western Lithuaniaand Latviain the total area of 1393.93 km2. The scheme of steps of assessmentof sustainability with selected sets of indicators relevant for the sea shoreregion of Lithuania and Latviais presented and discussed.

An evaluation research was designed and implemented within the framework of the ‘Open Schools for Climate Protection and Energy

Today, in knowledge and information technology era, the world’s businesses, both large and small, are increasingly seeking to use information technologies – especially information systems. There are implemented and maintained several of information systems: resource view based, customer orientated, document exchange information systems and universal ones, as opposed to specialized, and contains a lot more functionality offer. Information systems are implemented to ensure the core business functionality by automating certain processes, providing benefits such as business process transparency, arrangement and actualization. By the use of information systems certain services became popular, which are related with the established information system maintenance – the ongoing process of auditing, risk identification and management, and compliance regulations, laws, standards and guidelines. Such compliance is essential for the better functioning of information systems and aligns its activities. This article explores a theory of IT outsourcing and IT Compliance definition to give an idea of the need for it, and point to the benefits organizations can in carrying out these processes – system dynamics modeling research method was used in following research.

Straipsnyje nagrinėjama šiuo metu aktuali tema – stresas kaip psichosocialinis veiksnys ugdymo organizacijose. Aptariamos stresopriežastys ir stresorių klasifikacija, ugdymo organizacijos darbo ypatumai, pristatoma tyrimo metodika, kontingento imtis, streso,kaip psichosocialinio veiksnio, tyrimo rezultatų analizė Klaipėdos rajono ugdymo organizacijose.

Lietuvos žemės ūkio sektoriuje vyrauja smulkūs ūkiai, kuriems veikti rinkos sąlygomis sudėtinga. Tad norėdami įgyti konkurencinį pranašumą, valdyti žemės ūkio produkcijos rinkas, gerinti produkcijos kokybę, spręsti socialinius ir aplinkosaugos klausimus, turi jungtis į didesnius darinius – steigti kooperatyvus ir gamintojų organizacijas. Tyrimu siekta atskleisti gamintojų organizacijų (GO) raidą ES šalyse ir pasiūlyti būdų, kaip sparčiau vystytis Lietuvoje? Darbe atlikta ekonominės literatūros ir teisinės dokumentacijos žemės ūkio produkcijos rinkų reguliavimo ir žemdirbių kooperatyvų klausimais analizė. Taikytas iš dalies standartizuotas interviu su Lietuvos ir Airijos, Italijos, Latvijos, Lenkijos, Olandijos, Prancūzijos, Švedijos, Vokietijos kooperatyvų bei GO vadovais ir specialistais. Siekiant aktyvinti kooperatyvus ir GO, būtina parengti ir priimti ilgalaikę strategiją, kurioje numatyti gamintojų organizacijų plėtros kryptis ir pagrindines priemones: produkcijos realizavimas, ūkininkų ir kooperatyvų vadovų mokymai (konsultavimas), paramos gavimo supaprastinimas ir kt.

The article reflects on the attitude, understanding and knowledge on sustainable marketing, as well as the essence of sustainable marketing,the strategy of its practical use and the concept of development. As a result of research, definitions of sustainable developmentand sustainable marketing and a model of concept of motivation of its use at a company were developed and the strategy of practicaluse of a sustainable marketing and the motivation of use at Latvian companies was ascertained, confirming the initially advancedhypotheses. In order to fulfil the purpose and objectives, the authors used the following quantitative and qualitative methods ofeconomic research: polls, comparisons, grouping. The study is based on scientific papers published by Latvian and foreign scholars,general and special literature, periodicals. The authors performed an assessment, market research, comparative analysis, arrangedan expert examination and used the computer software MS Excel for the analysis and processing of data. The article is based on theresults of the author’s research in 2013. The authors used examination and monitoring in their research.

Straipsnyje analizuojama komercinių bankų veikla, aptariamos jų bankų rūšys, apžvelgiamos operacijos ir funkcijos. Pateikiama Lietuvos komercinių bankų klientų nuomonės tyrimo metodika, formuluojama tyrimo problema, tikslai, aprašomas tyrimo metodas, pagrindžiamas jo pasirinkimas, atliekamas tyrimas, leidžiantis įvertinti Lietuvos komercinių bankų klientų poreikių patenkinimą bei nustatyti veiksnius, kurie daro didžiausią įtaką komercinio banko pasirinkimui. Vertinama, kaip per dešimtmetį pasikeitė Lietuvos komercinių bankų klientų poreikių tenkinimas, veiksniai, darantys didžiausią įtaką banko pasirinkimui. Kintant ekonominei aplinkai, kinta ir vartotojų teikiamos pirmenybės bei poreikiai. Remiantis šiais pokyčiais vertėjo ištirti Lietuvos komercinių bankų klientų elgseną renkantis vieną ar kitą komercinį banką jų poreikiams tenkinti. Atliktas tyrimas gali būti naudingas Lietuvos komerciniams bankams sprendžiant problemą, kokius esminius kriterijus jie turi išryškinti bei ką turi tobulinti siekiant klientų patenkinimo ir lojalumo.