Founded in 2002 and dedicated to publishing the results of different social research.
Vilniaus universiteto leidykla / Vilnius University Press
Copyright (c) 2023 Authors https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Emotion-based communication: the specifics of fear and hope tactics
Relevance and problem of the topic. Transmitting accurate information in the most appropriate way is an important today’s need. (Singh, Rai, et al., 2021, p. 2052). Authors Del Valle, 2021; Woodcock, 2018; Jakubanecs et al., 2019; Andrews et al., 2014; Kim et al., 2021; Gravante and Poma, 2021, states that emotional communication is often used to send a message from the sender to the recipient in a clear and compelling way, emotional communication is also used to establish an emotional connection, persuade, create associations, build loyalty, encourage desired consumer behavior. According to Dembek (2016, p. 117), emotions are separated from consumers, adjusted to become unique to the desired brand image (e.g., Coca-Cola), and then passed on to consumers in the hopes of reconciling their emotional state with marketing goals. Problems. Fear and hope tactics are quite often used as marketing and communication tools to influence an audience. It is important to understand the specifics of these communication tactics because not having enough knowledge about the reaction of recipients to these emotions, can have the opposite effect: cause adverse reactions, cause reputational crises, psychological, social, and financial losses. Properly selected communication can help companies achieve a competitive advantage in the markets, create greater added value, help shape the desired behavior of communication recipients, and predict the impact of communication on recipients. The problem analyzed in this article can be defined by the following questions: Which communication tactics, based on the emotion of fear or hope, should communication professionals use? What are the specifics of hope and fear communication tactics? What effects can they have? The objective of the research is the specifics of fear and hope tactics in communication. The object of the article is to review and analyze communication tactics based on fear and hope. Tasks: 1. To analyze the fear tactic in communication. 2. To review the tactic of hope in communication. Methods: Comparative theoretical analysis and synthesis of the literature, generalization.
Theoretical foundations of the smart city concept
The article deals with smart city concepts and their theoretical definitions. A smart city must have a smart social system integrated into the city’s activities and management processes. The smart city is defined in the scientific literature by various dimensions. This article examines three main smart city dimensions: community, economy, public management. A smart city is characterized by the empowerment of representatives of the city community to actively participate in the management of the city’s operational processes. The smart economy quickly and resourcefully uses new opportunities, implements knowledge and innovations. Smart public management makes timely decisions and promptly implements them.
Copyright (c) 2023 Rytis Milkintas | Teodoras Tamošiūnas
Central Bank Digital Currency: research streams – a literature review
Each type of payment - whether it would be coins and notes, electronic bank transfer, or remittance via fractions of bitcoin - could lead to a considerable number of benefits, as well, could possess a substantial number of risks or even threats to the current financial system and stability. The relatively recent concept of payment - cryptocurrencies, especially central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) - from a historical point of view, remains a mystery with only a few central banks to date launching these particular digital currencies. Since fundamental decisions in the development of CBDCs are taking place nowadays, it highlights the importance of a thorough review of already existing theoretical research with a view to determining various assessments and blind spots, before introducing CBDCs in the wider markets and usage. The scientific literature about CBDC was analysed using an extensive and systematic study of available research publications, their categorization, and summarizing. The authors offer a new glance toward a systemization of available scientific literature with a focus on CBDC. This novel suggestion of dividing research areas supports the idea of the end-to-end product life-cycle and comes into four different groups: motivations, design features, demands, and final impact on monetary sovereignty and the financial system as a whole. The unknown level of CBDC’s demand or expression of design features encourages researchers to consider various theoretical implications before CBDC will be creating major shifts in the banking industry or financial ecosystem.
Copyright (c) 2023 Alfreda Šapkauskienė | Ineta Prialgauskaitė
Analysis of Youth Empowerment in Municipalities of Lithuania
An empowerment in the scientific literature is usually understood as the share of the power with civil society or its groups and/or creation of conditions for them to participate in governance processes with equal rights, in order to ensure the democratic governance that meets the needs of citizens. This article analyzes the situation of youth empowerment at the municipal level in Lithuania, highlighting the conditions for their involvement and the arising challenges since youth policy in Lithuania is implemented in accordance with the principles of subsidiarity. Seeking to reveal the problematic of the topic and to review previous studies, an analysis of scientific literature was carried out, and also, the analysis of secondary statistical data was carried out based on youth empowerment evaluation criteria set out in the Evaluation Methodology of the Implementation of the Youth Policy. Main issues at municipality level were identified by performing a qualitative study (structure interview) with the Coordinators of youth affairs of selected municipalities, responsible for the implementation of youth policy and representatives of youth non-governmental organizations in these municipalities. The conducted research allowed identifying further necessary improvements for youth empowerment at municipality level and measures that would contribute to creating more favourable conditions for youth participation.
Copyright (c) 2023 Aušra Šukvietienė | Ilona Šilalienė
Demands of the Employers for Foreign Language Skills in Job Advertisements in Three Baltic Countries
Recent studies showed that language knowledge has, increasingly, become a value-add attribute that helps businesses to implement and satisfy their corporate goals in the globalized world as its services are highly demanded by employers in parallel to so-called hard skills in job advertisements. The paper presents a quantitative content-based analysis of foreign language knowledge requirements listed in job advertisements. The study results are based on data assessment from online job websites. The scope of the study was five industries-information technology, finance and accounting, organization and management, technical engineering, and customer service in three Baltic States - Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The dataset consists of one thousand four hundred forty-two (N=1442) job advertisements written in English, published on the job portal, and examined from September 2021 to September 2022. The study results revealed that foreign language communication has become an obligatory attribute of the examined industries in the Baltic States and an indispensable characteristic of any working position. Labour market in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia seeks a candidate with highly fluent foreign language skills, advanced expression of thoughts and communication, able efficiently to present thoughts, ideas or comments and communicate correctly.
Regulation of Financial Statements of Small Partnerships and Micro-enterprises: Comparative Analysis
EU Directive 2013/34/EU was adopted to reduce the administrative burden on small businesses. By transposing the provisions of the Accounting Directive into Lithuanian legislation: the Law on Financial Accounting, the Law on Corporate Financial Reporting, and the Business Accounting Standards, micro-enterprises have had their administrative burden reduced by simplified financial reporting requirements. A 2018 study by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania states that the intended benefits have not been achieved due to a lack of clarity in the legal framework, which affects the quality of the preparation of financial statements. This study did not take into account the fact that both: the forms of financial statements and the accounting requirements for micro-enterprises with limited liability differ according to legal form. The wide range of financial statement sets leads to the incomparability of the financial statements data. It is therefore essential to analyze the current regulation of the financial statements of small partnerships and micro-enterprises and consequently to provide recommendations for adjustments and standardization of the content of financial statements. The objective of this study is to carry out a comparative analysis of the regulatory framework for the financial statements of small partnerships and micro-enterprises. To back the development of the financial reporting model, data from the financial statement sets of 26 micro-enterprises were used. By standardizing regulation and producing standardized accounts, businesses would save on information resource costs. Furthermore, the uniform content of the financial statements would allow for the comparability of information. It is recommended that the balance sheet should be more summarised in terms of fixed assets and equity, while current assets should be presented in more detail. In the income statement, it is suggested that expenses be presented in a combined way: by type and purpose, detailing the cost of the sales item.
Copyright (c) 2023 Milda Kvekšienė | Lina Striaukaitė | Deimantė Kuzminskaitė
Practical-Problematic Features of the Application of the Rule of Exception to the Admissibility of Evidence (pt. 6 of Article 1.93 of CC of the Republic of Lithuania)
Article 1.93 (pt. 2) of the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania there is an established imperative that non-compliance with the form required by law deprives the parties of the process of the right, when there is a dispute regarding the conclusion of the transaction or the fact of its execution, to rely on the testimony of witnesses to prove this fact. In this scientific article, an empirical study was conducted, the purpose of which is to evaluate Article 1.93 (pt. 6) of the CC of the Republic of Lithuania the practical-problematic features of the application of the rule of exception to the admissibility of evidence, i.e. when, after applying the exception, the court is not guided by Article 1.93 (pt. 2) of the CC of the Republic of Lithuania established imperative. The research consists of six interrelated stages, during which the following scientific methods were applied: systematic analysis, document analysis, comparative analysis, logical-analytical, observation and generalization methods. The chosen research strategy and methodology determines the reliability of the research results and allows us to answer the hypothesis - is the jurisprudence formed by the Supreme Court of Lithuania sufficiently detailed and delineating clear boundaries for the courts of lower instances, applying Article 1.93 (pt. 6) of the CC of the Republic of Lithuania established exception to the admissibility of evidence and in order to avoid dual application of the legal norm. The research results are presented together with the conclusions, the essential conclusion is that - after the formation of a more detailed the highest court jurisprudence regarding the application of the rule of exception to the admissibility of evidence, Article 1.93 (pt. 2 and 6) of the CC of the Republic of Lithuania, the equality of persons would be ensured, more concreteness and stability would be created in civil relations, and this would significantly facilitate the resolution of disputes in the future.
The experience of compulsory volunteering: the obstacles for voluntary sector in Post-Soviet countries
The aim of this study was to examine the compulsory volunteering experience under the Soviet regime and highlight specific reasons, which keep individuals away from getting involved in activities in voluntary organizations. The paper examines the factors, which keep individuals away from joining voluntary organizations, and examines what influence the experience of compulsory volunteering has. A qualitative research approach has been chosen. Respondents were individuals born between 1945 and 1965 and lived under the Soviet regime. 30 interviews were conducted with individuals who have not been involved in voluntary organizations. The results reveal the understanding of the concept of volunteering, the factors, which keep individuals away from volunteering, and what role the experience of compulsory volunteering has played. Voluntary organizations can use the results in order to encourage potential volunteers to join their voluntary organizations.
Measuring environmentally sustainable growth in agriculture across the EU countries based on Solow residual-based MFP
Scientific publications on environmentally sustainable or green growth in agriculture are increasingly becoming more important but empirical research is scarce. In empirical studies, the most commonly accepted way to assess environmentally sustainable or green growth in agriculture is based on measures of total factor productivity (TFP) or multifactor productivity (MFP) growth. Both measures are important for analytical and monitoring tools that can help to better understand the factors affecting output growth as well as the determinants of changes in production factors (labour and produced capital) in agriculture. Growth of TFP or MFP is achieved through the application of technologies and advanced production practices that result in higher output from the same amount, or lower inputs (labour and produced capital). Conventional TFP and MFP are not suitable for the assessment of environmentally sustainable growth in agriculture because both indicators do not include environmental variables such as environmental pollution and natural capital. There is a lack of comparative empirical studies between EU countries. This study focuses on the problem of measuring environmentally sustainable growth in agriculture. The aim of this study is twofold: firstly, to develop a framework for the assessment of environmentally sustainable growth in agriculture, based on information collected in public databases; and secondly, to empirically analyse environmentally sustainable growth in agriculture in EU countries over the long period. The environmentally adjusted multifactor productivity (EAMFP) growth measure was applied to assess environmentally sustainable growth in agriculture of the EU’s countries. For analysis, the environmental pollution of agricultural production was expressed as net GHG emissions, and natural capital was expressed as the quality-adjusted agricultural land area. The research was conducted using literature overview, decomposition technique and cluster analysis method. The 28 EU countries (including the United Kingdom, which was a member of the EU until January 1, 2020) were included in the empirical analysis. The analysis covered the period between 2005 and 2019 and a five-year average annual change rates (2005-2009 and 2015-2019 respectively) were used to compare the environmentally sustainable growth in agriculture between the beginning and the end of the considered period, as is common in most agricultural growth studies. The findings show that pollution-adjusted GDP growth in agriculture was achieved in less than a five of the EU countries at the beginning of the considered period, and in most of the EU countries at the end of the considered period. In most of the EU countries, the environmentally sustainable growth in agriculture was mainly determined by technological progress, while the slow change in environmental pollution (net GHG emissions) did not have a significant contribution to agricultural growth in all EU countries. Following the hierarchical clustering method, three significantly different clusters of the EU countries were identified in terms of gross added value growth and technological progress in agriculture of EU countries in the context of environmentally sustainable growth.
Copyright (c) 2022 Vlada Vitunskienė | Lina Lauraitienė
Assessment of the Factors Affecting the Intention to Invest in a P2P Lending Platform
The digitalisation of the financial system and the rapid growth of new financial technologies are contributing not only to the change of the financial system, but also to the change of the way people make financial decisions. The development of financial technologies has led to the emergence of new financial services and products, such as P2P lending. With the growth P2P lending market, the scientific literature pays more and more attention to the analysis of investment intentions through P2P lending platforms and the assessment of the factors affecting the intention to invest (Dja’akum, 2019; Fiorentino et al., 2020; Khan et al., 2021Yang ir Lee, 2016; Poeteri, et al., 2021). It should be noted that, although the interest of researchers in this field is growing, the research in the European context is not sufficient, which reveals the relevance of this study. Thus, the aim of the present study is to assess the factors that affect the intention to invest through P2P lending platforms in Lithuania. A theoretical review of the scientific literature revealed that previous empirical studies have categorised the factors of the intention to invest through peer-to-peer lending platforms into individual and platform factors. Individual factors are understood as risk appetite, perceived risk, financial literacy, while platform factors are understood as perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, trust. Attitude toward behaviour can be seen as both an individual and a platform factor. Other factors, such as relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, perceived behaviour control are also distinguished in the scientific literature, but are not considered in the analysis of the intention to invest through peer-to-peer lending platforms. Research data was collected through an online survey. The survey questionnaire was distributed online between February and April 2022. The survey sample consisted of 211 respondents. The conceptual research model was developed using a Modified Technological Acceptance (TAM) model, which was performed using the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) method. The SEM analysis revealed that the intention to invest through P2P lending platforms was indirectly influenced by the trust of the P2P lending platform, perceived risk and risk appetite factors. The indirect impact was through attitude toward P2P lending platforms factor, which had a strong and significant positive impact on the intention to invest through P2P lending platforms. The effect of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use on Lithuanian investors‘ attitudes towards P2P lending platforms was not statistically significant, and therefore no statistically significant effect of these factors on the intention to invest through P2P lending platforms was found.
Copyright (c) 2022 Gintarė Leckė | Gabrielė Milašiūtė | Akvilė Šeškevičiūtė
Opportunities for Improving the Inventory Management Based on the Example of Albanian Manufacturing Companies
In the way of fast and complex developments of businesses, the inventory plays as well an important role. The complexity of the economic environment where the businesses operate and the problems they encounter orient the manager’s attention towards the management of inventory. This refers to the inventory’s specifics in general and his constituent elements. Despite these the common characteristic of the inventory is its double character, as on one hand it represents necessary, inevitable elements for the development of the productive activity of every business, and on the other the inventory requires considerable commitments of the financial sources. This has made the efficient management of the inventory a central problem, on which a series of researches have been concentrated. This paper is an effort to deal with some problems of efficient management of the inventory in the business organizations, regarding the quantity, quality, and time dimensions on the inventory because inventories are the focal point in business performance. But, the greatest part of businesses in Albania operate in the conditions when information about inventory management missing. Problems addressed in this paper can be serve the managers for improvement their job in the future.
The Expression of the Dimensions of Smartness in Cultural Management: The Foundations of the Research
The aim of the research is to substantiate the methodological foundations of empirical research by revealing the concept of the expression of dimensions of smartness in cultural management. The article formulates theoretical construct based on expression of smartness dimensions in cultural management. This construct is formulating by combining cultural management and smart governance concepts and closely linking cultural management with the implementation of cultural policy and seeing the specifics of smart cultural management. The expression of smartness dimensions at culture management model consist of six main dimensions: strategics, creative development, harmonization of interests in the cultural sector, empowered cultural sector parties, harmony of intellectual and technological capital, the culture of shared value creation. Methodology strategy is based on two philosophical approaches by combining induction and deduction which result is abduction approach. Qualitative analysis was performed of theoretical sources of foreign countries and Lithuania. Another part of qualitative research is based on the interviewing chosen respondents to get information about the expression of smartness dimensions at culture management model functioning. There would be chosen about 30 experts (till data saturation) by using quadruple helix. Experts are chosen from government, science, business and nongovernmental organizations’ sphere. Gained results let to form research results conception which consists of three parts: theoretical model, current situation model, perspective situation model. The trajectory of the change from the current situation model to the perspective situation model helps to highlight the areas requiring improvement of the functioning of the cultural field, planned directions (trends) of change. In future research, it is planned to form the indicators for all 6 theoretical dimensions of the expression of smartness dimensions at culture management model. Analysis based on this theoretical model also will be performed at the state level which provide a comprehensive view of the cultural field current situation and hypothetical perspective situation.
Copyright (c) 2022 Rytis Milkintas | Teodoras Tamošiūnas
Relationship Between Employees’ Perfectionism and Workaholism: The Role of Dedication-to-Work Promoting Organization
The aim of the present study was to investigate the moderating role of perceived dedication-to-work promoting organization for the relationship between employees’ perfectionism and workaholism. A total of 964 employees (514 females and 450 males) working in different Lithuanian organizations participated in the cross-sectional study. Data were collected by means of online self-administered questionnaires. Workaholism was measured using DUWAS-10 proposed by Schaufeli et al. (2009). To measure perfectionism, a short version of the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS; Hewitt and Flett, 1991) was used. A questionnaire proposed by Allen (2001) was used to assess the perceptions of whether an organization encourages employees to focus solely on work or whether it supports their family responsibilities as well. It was hypothesized that the positive relationship between perfectionism and workaholism was stronger for employees working in dedication-to-work promoting organizations. The assumption was confirmed. It was obtained that the risk of workaholism was higher for employees having high levels of perfectionism and perceiving organization as promoting dedication to work.
Copyright (c) 2022 Modesta Morkevičiūtė | Auksė Endriulaitienė
The Need for Future Competencies of a Tourism Specialist from the Point of View of Employers
Employee competencies are considered to be the most important factor, which determines competitiveness among job seekers and an essential capital in most sectors of the economy. Today, due to the changing conditions in the labor market, the once acquired knowledge and abilities no longer meet the changed requirements, it is becoming important to develop generic and subject specific competencies. The article analyzes the generic and subject specific competencies of future specialists in the Lithuanian tourism sector, which are needed in the labor market of Lithuania from the point of view of employers. Therefore, using a semi-structured in-depth interview, a pilot professional activity field research was carried out in December 2020 – February 2021 in the economically strongest Lithuanian cities. The results of the research showed that due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic case, which is resonant and indefinite, the tourism market will never be the same again. It is observed that a person with a broader qualification (i.e. more competencies) easier integrates into the labour market. In this context, priority should be given to the ability of future specialists to be proactive and flexible, entrepreneurial and creative (to understand the specificities, future directions and trends of tourism and recreation services), to use information, smart and other technologies effectively. The specialist will not fear the competition of a professional who already has work experience in tourism sector.
Copyright (c) 2022 Andželika Bylaitė | Ernesta Jonaitienė | Vilma Kalinovienė
“Parallel reforms and double efforts”: Latvia`s experience reforming administration
The public administration reform process in Latvia from the beginning of the 1990s was separated into two parts - national administrative reform and administrative territorial reform – both with their own unique goals and implementation mechanisms. The divided coordination and management of the reforms have resulted in the two administrative subsystems. The paper’s aim is to explore the links between reforms in the national level and local level after 2004 by analyzing the main reform documents determining all reform activities at that time. The results will demonstrate the complexity of the reform management process, as the coordination of reforms is essential regarding all of its levels and sectors.
Municipal Development Strategy as an Instrument of Local Economic Development Policy
The main objective of this paper is to determine the importance of local development strategies for formulating and implementing local economic development policies by local authorities. In particular, an attempt is made to answer the question of whether local authorities properly and effectively use public management tools (i.e. a development strategy) to promote economic development in their area. Furthermore, the aim of this article is to analyse instruments for supporting economic development, which can be potentially used by local governments in Poland.
Citizen-oriented Local Governance: the Correlation between Subjective Well-being and Citizen Participation in the Salaspils Municipality (Latvia) Case
The aim of the paper is to present a possible citizen- oriented governance model and discuss the outcomes of empirical research, which are targeted to municipalities and are based on the approbation of a subjective well-being methodology. The main findings of the study show that citizen participation in decision-making processes is crucial in order to improve the well-being in the municipality. The empirical research of the Salaspils municipality and comparisons with several other municipalities in Latvia and other countries demonstrated that the citizen-oriented local governance model provides wide opportunities for improved dialogue between the municipality and society, which in turn promotes the development of a co-responsibility approach in resolving different issues within the municipality.
The public procurement system in Belarus: a regional aspect
The paper presented here is the country research and has an analytical character concerning a regional aspect of the public procurement system in Belarus. Stages of the public procurements system’s formation and its legislative base and the development of the electronicization of purchases are considered. The public procurement system at the sub- national level is analyzed and weak points are emphasized. Corruption aspects and ways of their minimization in the public procurement activity are showed. Debatable issues and ways of procurement activity improvement in Belarus regions are presented. The methodology of research is based on the analysis of a series of data on public procurements in the regions of Belarus, including budgetary expenditures on public procurement in the local governments of the Belarus regions and the e-auctions procurement at the Universal Commodity Exchange. Statistical data for analysis was obtained from official sources, such as the State Statistics Committees, Ministry of Finance, Open Joint Stock Company (OJSC) Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange, and on-line databases of analytical centres working in this field, etc.
The Singleness of Increasing the Involvement of the Deaf into Decision-Making in Municipalities in the Republic of Lithuania
Surveys implemented in the municipalities of the biggest Lithuanian cities in 2013-2014 have indicated the main reasons for the insufficient inclusion of the deaf into the decision-making in municipalities in the Republic of Lithuania. The singleness for the improvement of the situation in municipalities has been modelled on the base of the mentioned results by activating all budgetary and public organisations operating under the Board of Municipality as well as Administration.
Social Responsibility Initiative Implementation in the Public Sector in Latvia
The public sector provides many different jobs in Latvia; however, the number of people employed in the public sector is small. Sometimes private sector organisations with a socially responsible culture are more attractive for specialists. The authors propose to evaluate Social Responsibility’s (SR) importance, benefits, and ways of possible implementation for several types of public sector organisations. The objective of this paper is to enquire what kind of activities organisations need to carry out to be included in the Sustainability Index rating and overview the possible reasons of difficulties encountered by public organisations. The authors describe the structure of the public sector and the Sustainability Index (SI) mechanism in Latvia and evaluate public organisations included in the SI rating by their activities directed to sustainable development; i.e., socially responsible (SR) activities.
Current Issues of the Development of Employee Intercultural Competency in a Work Environment (a case-study of small municipalities of Lithuania)
Due to increasing migration, the development of intercultural competency has become more important in the work environment of organizations. Recently, interest in the topic of interculturalism among scientists has increased significantly - there is no doubt that employees of international organizations need to acquire intercultural competency, but this competency of employees in small municipalities of Lithuania has not been studied yet. This study relies on a designed questionnaire which provides for the evaluation of the intercultural competency of employees of small municipalities, as well as the need for its development, and the evaluation of their opinion on the impact of intercultural competency on their career.
The effect of leadership relationships on organizational innovativeness: comparison between bureaucratic and creative organizations
The paper presents empirical findings of a study on the impact of leadership relationship on different forms of organizational innovativeness in bureaucratic and creative public sector organizations. The data were collected by a questionnaire survey (respectively, n=747 and n=225) in Lithuania in 2013-2014. The results of linear regression analysis indicate a tendency of a stronger effect of leadership relationship on all forms of organizational innovativeness in creative organizations.
Women’s participation and the Incumbency Advantage in Slovak Cities: the Case Study of the Mayoral elections in Slovakia
The article focuses on the mayoral elections in all cities (138) in Slovakia. This analysis presents how the positions of mayors are distributed between men and women. Specific and detailed electoral data from the 2006 and 2010 mayoral elections allows for presuming whether the current distribution is caused by the electoral preferences of voters (demand) or by the supply of candidates. According to theoretical literature, mayors who are running for second term may have an advantage over their opponents. Data shows us how big this incumbency effect is in Slovak cities.
Relations between Ethical Climate and Job Satisfaction: The Case of the Siauliai County State Tax Inspectorate
This article deals with the significance and importance of ethical climate in an organization. The typology of ethical climate is pointed out; the main aspects related to ethical climate are discussed, such as ethical behaviour, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction. Different Lithuanian and foreign scholars’ research papers and research carried out on the subject of ethical climate have been analysed and systematized. In applying theoretical knowledge and practical methodology, the research has been carried out on ethical climate in the Siauliai County State Tax Inspectorate. The research revealed the existing types of ethical climate in the organization, the external influential factors, and their relationship with the ethical climate on the employees’ job satisfaction in the organization. After summarizing the results of the research the following conclusions have been drawn up: the type of ethical climate of public interests is dominated in the Siauliai County State Tax Inspectorate, the office employees are concerned about the society welfare and try not to violate its interests. It has been concluded that the employees of the organization are most satisfied with their relationship with executives. The conclusions of scholars have been confirmed that caring, law and rules, independence, efficiency, public interest ethical climate types, and staff’s job satisfaction correlate and are related among themselves.
Evaluation of the determinants of growing current account deficit
The objective of the paper is to identify and generalize the factors determining the growth of current account deficit and select the periods of growing current account deficit and evaluate their determinants. The results of the analysis confirmed the growing current account deficit reaching from 3% to 30% of GDP in different developing and developed countries. The results showed that growing current account deficit is strongly determined by domestic demand and market prices; however, other factors such as national openness, international movement of capital, and the condition of world market have no significant impact.
Total quality management in municipalities of the Klaipeda region
The modern world obliges us to develop sustainably. Regions need to turn to sustainability by using all the available tools. Many authors emphasize total quality management (TQM) as a very important tool for the sustainable functioning of the public sector. But analyses show that public organizations are not keen to introduce TQM. This paper reveals the TQM spectrum in Klaipeda county (region) municipalities. Research disclosed that municipalities are not willing to implement TQM if it is not imperative. The paper argues that improving managerialism and common understanding can increase the willingness for TQM.