Regional Formation and Development Studies

Straipsnyje aptariami inovacijų diegimo žingsniai, kaip galima būtų tobulinti šį procesą. Inovacijų diegimo žingsnių tobulinimas – tai nuolatinis aktyvus procesas, keliant naujas idėjas, įvertinant jų veiksmingumą ir priimant sprendimus dėl jų diegimo bei kontroliuojant vykdymo eigą. Privačiose sveikatos priežiūros įstaigose inovacijų diegimo žingsniai nepakankamai tyrinėjami. Šiuo tyrimu siekiama, aprašius inovacijų diegimo žingsnius, išsiaiškinti sveikatos priežiūros įstaigos darbuotojų nuomonę apie inovacijų diegimo žingsnių tobulinimo poreikį. Kiekybiniame tyrime dalyvavo 152 respondentai: gydytojai, slaugytojai, laborantai. Pasirinktas netikimybinis tiriamų grupių parinkimo būdas – atsitiktinis. Tyrimo instrumentas – anoniminė (bevardė) anketa, kurioje pateiktais teiginiais siekiama nustatyti inovacijų diegimo padėtį ir proceso tobulinimo poreikį. Tyrimas atliktas privačioje sveikatos priežiūros įstaigoje Klaipėdos mieste. Nustatyta, kad tirtoje sveikatos priežiūros įstaigoje būtina tobulinti inovacijų diegimo (3-ias žingsnis) idėjų pateikimą ir įgyvendinimo kontrolę (8-as žingsnis). Įstaiga turėtų skatinti darbuotojų įsitraukimą į inovacijų diegimo procesą, didinti jų motyvaciją, tobulinti inovacijų diegimo kontrolės formą, tai drausmintų darbuotojų veiklą. Nuolat tobulinami inovacijų diegimo žingsniai suteikia daugiau galimybių įstaigai stebėti savo inovacinę veiklą, įvertinti pranašumus ir trūkumus, laiku atlikti koregavimo veiksmus. Tai lemia inovatyvią, efektyvią, kokybišką įstaigos veiklą.

This paper considers and analyses current trends of the global, European and Latvian insurance markets. Insurance constitutes the most important way to minimize and eliminate economic losses in a company resulting from unfavourable events. Insurance is one of the most efficient methods of enterprise risk management. The entrepreneur must be informed regarding the offered insurance services, the insurance market participants and the insurance market state for the insurance coverage implementation. This information will enable to provide reliable insurance coverage in order to ensure the enterprise’s financial stability. The authors analyse the financial activity index and conduct its comparative analysis, establish general trends and existing differences in the insurance market development in the world, the EU and in Latvia. The paper highlights the insurance market structure and differences in the scope of the life insurance sector existing in the EU and in Latvia. Moreover, description of insurance types, participants of the insurance market in Latvia and the insurance market’s state are also provided. The findings can be used by insurers and entrepreneurs for insurance coverage implementation in Latvia.

This paper evaluates the impact of corruption on deforestation in Indonesia. The world’s nature environment and global warming questions are one of the main factors of international concerns. Massive deforestation threatens Indonesian biodiversity. This research paper analyses issues of whether deforestation in Indonesia is caused by corruption and supported by crude palm oil production. This issue was questioned earlier by using Engel Granger cointegration test, three time series of data, specifically corruption perception index (CPI), rate of deforestation and price of crude palm oil that was inspected for a long-run relationship. Yet long-run relationship was not found. The author of this article shows that while answering this question, CPI values are not as important as the very nature of corruption in Indonesia. However, CPI is still extremely high in Indonesia as the nature of corruption is convenient for illegal logging. Thus, international response is needed so that to decrease the level of deforestation in Indonesia. With the new European Union Law that requires legal sourcing of wood products, Indonesia commits to enforce new rules in the Asia’s largest rainforest. For example, FLEGT licensing became operational on November 15, 2016. The European Union is strictly enforcing these rules what is a good step against deforestation in hand with illegal logging in Indonesia. In this way to analyse in detail the FLEGT programme and the EU activities, is beyond the scope of this paper. There stays questioned the Indonesian Presidents’ ban on new palm oil plantations and mining licence, because such approach can potentially increase corruption and unofficial economy at local levels. The author of this paper wants to fulfil the gap in understanding about the link between deforestation in Indonesia and corruption. The level of corruption in Indonesia is not the main issue, but the nature of corruption is the main problem.

Film induced tourism or film tourism is a result of destination image formation and development through film industry with collaboration of other destination image stakeholders (policy makers, private and public investors, scholars and etc.). This postmodern tourism phenomenon links film driven emotions to the filming locations and at the same time is responsible for positive or negative destination image formation. In Lithuanian academic discourses this theory, as well as the impact of films towards local tourism, was not yet recognized. Therefore this article, according to the collected film tourism theoretical material, analyses Lithuanian potential for film induced tourism and how can it be turned into a destination promotion strategy. The conclusions show that there are real opportunities for Lithuania to use film industry as a tool of destination image formation, however it needs further analysis, a clear strategic plan, strong collaboration with Baltic region and the use of two recommendation models, which were presented in this paper. This research can be used for dynamic analysis as well as strategic planning in any specific institution related to filmmaking, tourism and regional image formation.

Banks and insurers as part of financial service industry engage in partnership under the concept of Bancassurance. Several studies are done on this topic, focusing on economies of scale and performance of most Bancassurance common models. The purpose of this study is to identify the key market environment factors that influence the development of Bancassurance for retail banks in Latvia and the level of increase. Aim of this research is to analyse – how market environment factors influence the development of Bancassurance in Latvia. The current paper is focused on the Latvian market where several Bancassurance models are present as we test our propositions by interviewing management representatives of major stakeholders and analysing secondary market data. Main research findings – motives of banks and insurance companies in Latvia for implementing Bancassurance are in correspondence with the academia: new clients and additional revenue for insurers, improvements of customer service and loyalty for banks. Study results highlight the great impact of economic growth and technological development on Bancassurance over other market-based factors and reflect the importance of their integration for achieving better results in each model.

Visuomenė nuolat sprendžia ekologines ir socialines problemas, nulemtas perteklinio vartojimo. Atsakingo vartojimo ir gamybos įgyvendinimas leidžia užtikrinti plėtrą, sumažinti būsimas ekonomines, aplinkos ir socialines išlaidas, didinti ekonominį konkurencingumą ir mažinti skurdą. Atsakingi vartotojai sprendimus priima vadovaudamiesi ne tik noru patenkinti asmeninius poreikius, bet ir atsižvelgdami į galimas priimamų sprendimų pasekmes aplinkai bei visuomenei. Straipsnyje pristatomi tyrimo, kuriuo siekta ištirti akademinio jaunimo atsakingo vartojimo raišką ir galimybes skatinant jų atsakingą vartojimą, rezultatai. Empirinis tyrimas atliktas taikant kiekybinį metodą (apklausoje dalyvavo 264 dviejų Vakarų Lietuvos aukštųjų mokyklų studentai), duomenys apdoroti SPSS programiniu paketu. Akademinio jaunimo atsakingo vartojimo raiškos tyrimas atskleidė, kad dauguma apklausoje dalyvavusio jaunimo mano esantys socialiai atsakingi, nors atsakingo vartojimo raiška jų kasdienio gyvenimo praktikoje neįsitvirtinusi. Galima teigti, kad apskritai atsakingas jaunimo vartojimas labiau orientuotas į jų pačių naudą, o ne į aplinkos puoselėjimą ar visuomenės interesus. Ištirta, kad jaunuoliai, studijų procese išklausę socialinės atsakomybės dalyką, geriau suvokia atsakingo vartojimo naudą yra labiau įsitraukę į aplinkai bei visuomenei aktualias veiklas. Vartoti atsakingai jaunimą labiausiai paskatintų rūpinimasis savimi ir kitų žmonių gerove, atsakomybės jausmas bei kaltės jausmas dėl aplinkai daromos žalos. Atsakingą akademinio jaunimo vartojimą skatina aktyvi reklama, lengvai pasiekianti vartotojus.

Vykstant demografiniams pokyčiams visuomenėje, jie neišvengiamai paveikia ir organizacijų darbuotojus, tai ypač svarbu XXI amžiaus Europos organizacijoms. Straipsnyje analizuojama, kaip ir ką turi daryti organizacijų vadovai, kad darbuotojai jos nepaliktų. Remiantis Lietuvos ir užsienio mokslininkų įžvalgomis sudarytos schemos ir pateikiami veiksniai, kuriuos pasitelkus įgyvendinamos lygios skirtingo amžiaus darbuotojų galimybės, sudarant vienodas karjeros galimybes, užtikrinamas pasidalijimas žiniomis. Nustatyta, kad šiuolaikinėje organizacijoje vadovai, siekdami užtikrinti veiklos tęstinumą, turi pasitelkti skirtingo amžiaus darbuotojus. Pateikti nepagrįsti stereotipai apie vyresnio amžiaus darbuotojus, atskleisti šių darbuotojų galimi privalumai ir trūkumai. Apibūdintas psichologinio įgalinimo veiksmingumas, galintis lemti darbuotojo apsisprendimą likti organizacijoje.

Turizmo industrija išgyvena patį sunkiausią savo istorijoje laikotarpį dėl 2020 m. sausio 30 d. Pasaulio sveikatos organizacijos paskelbtos

Iceland is a small, resource rich country in Europe that is highly dependent on foreign trade. According to the World Bank classifications, Iceland is a high income economy, but with a population of a little bit more than 300 thousand inhabitants, is the smallest economy within the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Iceland is highly dependent on foreign trade, especially on trade with the European Union, where economic and political integration is evolving and the question about the most feasible level of participation is a future challenge for the country. Iceland is a member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the European Economic Area (EEA) and the Schengen area, and the European Union (EU) candidate country until recently, when its government decided to withdraw its EU membership application. Currently, the EEA agreement ensures Iceland access to the EU common market. The question remains, what is the most feasible arrangement for Iceland’s prosperity in the long term? Should it continue to rely on the current arrangement? Should it seek the EU membership in the future and, perhaps, subsequently become part of the Euro Area? What are the possible benefits and disadvantages for Iceland joining the EU and the Euro Area?

The rapid development of internet and technologies in the 21th century is providing an opportunity for the development of digital democracy – citizen engagement in the decision-making process in an easier, faster and more contemporary way. The paper analysis Latvian public administration’s attitude to the development of digital democracy in Latvia, looking into digital engagement as a possible solution that could foster the low rates of civic and political participation in Latvia. Research methods of the paper consists of an analysis of academic publications on digital democracy and political engagement, and survey to the representatives of the public administration in Latvia. Conclusions of the paper suggest that there are good preconditions for the development of digital democracy in Latvia, however, there is a need for a common regulation for how digital communication and online participation is coordinated. Public institutions should pay more attention to Latvian youth, educating them about public administration and political engagement, thus ensuring that gradually Latvian citizens become more knowledgeable about advantages and necessity to participate in the decision-making process of public administration in Latvia.