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This article provides data-driven analyses of Lithuanian foreign trade activities. We combine Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) and Lauraéus-Kaivo-oja Index (LKI) measures to identify key changes and trends in export and import structures of the Lithuanian economy. The findings suggest that the export and import portfolios of the Lithuanian economy have been successfully diversified and the Lithuanian Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3) successful implemented in years 2015 through 2020. Presented in the form of HHI and LKI time series, our findings and the corresponding conclusions will be relevant to both the Lithuanian export and import industry and to industrial and economic policymakers in Lithuania and in international export and import agencies. Keywords: industrial structure, smart specialisation, Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, Lauraéus Kaivo-oja Index, export portfolios, import portfolios.

This article aims to explore the techniques and features of the Blue Oceans Strategy and provide insights into the applicability of this famous approach. The paper analyzes the concept of the Blue Ocean strategy, its origins and development, the relation of the Blue Ocean's metaphor to innovation, the relation between the Blue Ocean and the Red Ocean strategy, the Blue Ocean strategy, social entrepreneurship, and social inclusion. The article examines examples of the application of the Blue Ocean Strategy in Lithuania and abroad. The scientific discussion on the issue of the Blue Ocean strategy (further - BOS) covers certain benefits present in each manifestation of the examined strategy. For instance, "value innovation" is one of the topics that has developed rapidly over the last two decades. The "value creation" (or "innovation") aims to create new demand through transforming user experience by offering 'scalable personalization' and using ubiquitous smart technologies to turn traditional products into interactive, information-rich inclusion platforms. Therefore, the Blue Ocean strategy presents a systematic approach to making the competition irrelevant. It outlines the principles and tools that any organization can use to create and capture its undiscovered blue oceans. The scope for defining entrepreneurship is broad and results in many definitions. The discussion turns around the concept of entrepreneurship, and the article's authors also engage themselves in the questions of whether and how to confirm the inter-relation of the BOS and entrepreneurial activities. The authors attempt to prove the principle of the Blue Ocean strategy to be perfectly adaptable to non-profit companies. A case study of the arts agency "Artscape" is provided, and the conclusions are drawn from this part. The authors claim that the theory of the Blue Ocean strategy is still relevant and motivating for the current companies, regardless of their legal status - budgetary or NGO. Keywords: Blue Ocean strategy; Red Ocean strategy; innovation; social inclusion; entrepreneurship.

Straipsnyje su skaitytojais dalijamasi esminiais rezultatais, pasiektais kuriant, diegiant ir išbandant inovatyvią personalizuotu mokymusi grįstą pedagogų rengimo praktiką. Ši praktika sukurta ir įgyvendinta bendradarbiaujant Lietuvos pedagogų ugdymo centrams – Vilniaus universiteto Šiaulių akademijai, Vilniaus universitetui ir Vytauto Didžiojo universitetui, Islandijos universitetui ir Korko universitetui Airijoje. Straipsnyje dalijamasi pasiekimais, susijusiais su sukurta personalizuotu mokymusi grindžiamo pedagogų ugdymo koncepcija bei šios koncepcijos pagrindu atnaujintomis pedagogų rengimo studijų programomis, su įdiegtos pedagogų ugdymo studijų programose personalizuotu mokymusi grindžiamos koncepcijos raiška. Tyrimo metodologija grindžiama antrine duomenų analize ir projekto INTERPEARL pasiekimų ataskaitų analize. INTERPEARL projekto metu įgytos žinios ir patirtis patvirtina prielaidą, kad į besimokantįjį orientuotoje paradigmoje mokytojo vaidmuo keičiasi, bet tampa kitaip svarbus. Mokytojas labiau veikia kaip pagalbininkas, taikydamas lankstų mokymosi tempą ir diferencijuotą vertinimo praktiką, o ne tiesiogiai perteikia žinias. Kartu su kitais aktualiais klausimais į besimokantįjį orientuotame mokymosi procese svarbiausi yra du aspektai: gebėjimas parinkti ir pasirinkti veiklą bei tinkamus vertinimo metodus, besimokančiojo gebėjimas prisiimti atsakomybę už savo mokymąsi, darantis didelę įtaką mokymosi pasiekimams. The article shares with the main outcomes that were achieved while developing, implementing and testing innovative practices of personalized learning within the teacher education systems through strategic partnership of teacher education centres in Lithuania, e.g. Siauliai Academy of Vilnius University, Vilnius University, and Vytautas Magnus University, in cooperation of University of Iceland and University College Cork, Ireland. In this paper, the author shares with the main issues of the achievement related to: developed innovative teacher education approach through adopting personalized learning-based framework; updated teacher education study programmes based on the PL concept; and manifestation and evidence of the implemented personalized learning-based concept in teacher education. The methodology of this study is based on a secondary data analysis, including analysis of the INTERPEARL achievement reports. The knowledge and experiences gained within INTEREARL project prove the supposition that in a student-centred paradigm, the role of the teacher changes but becomes otherwise important. The teacher acts as a facilitator, employing flexible pacing and differentiated assessment practices rather than transferring the knowledge to students. Together with other relevant issues, two aspects are most important in a student-centred learning process: the ability to choose activities and assessment methods, and the willingness to take responsibility, which has an impressive impact on the outcomes.

Pagrindinė politikos Europos Sąjungos regionų plėtros problemai spręsti dalis turėtų būti atitinkama regionų raidai skirta inovacijų politika, numatant joje įvairias regioninio ir tarptautinio konkurencingumo inovacijų srityje plėtojimo formas, tinkamas skatinti socialinę ir ekonominę raidą. Šiuo metu Lietuva Europos Sąjungos kontekste yra tarp pradedančiųjų inovatorių ir savo inovacinę veiklą plėtoja lėčiausiai. Straipsnyje nagrinėjama inovacijų svarba siekiant šalies konkurencingumo, analizuojama inovacinio indekso, kaip matavimo priemonės, struktūra, vieno iš prioritetinių Europe 2020 tikslų siekimo rodikliai, atliekama Lietuvos inovacinės veiklos tendencijų, stipriųjų ir silpnųjų pusių analizė, pateikiamos tobulinimo gairės siekiant regioninio ir pasaulinio konkurencingumo. The main share of the policy aimed at solving the development problem of regions of the European Union should be a relevant policy of innovations aimed at the regional development. It should provide for various forms of development of regional and international competitiveness in the field of innovations suitable for encouragement of social and economic development. Currently, Lithuania is among begginer innovators in the European Union and this country has the slowest development of its innovative activities. The article analyses the importance of innovations on the path to national competitiveness, the structure of the innovation index as a measurement instrument and indicators of achievements with regard to one of the top priority aims of Europe 2020. It also analyses weaknesses and strengths of tendencies in Lithuanian innovation activities and presents guidelines for improvement on the path to regional and global competitiveness.

In the context of climate change, ecological boundaries, increasing environmental pressures and biodiversity loss, scientific community together with policy makers is searching for sources of change towards sustainable bioeconomy. Therefore, there is a clear scientific interest in connection of innovation and sustainable development as well as competitiveness. As RDI is proved by empirical research to be a driver of sustainability and competitiveness of bioeconomy, it is relevant to look at the innovation performance of different countries for comparison. This article aims to make a comparative overview of the bioeconomy related research and innovation performance between BIOEAST countries (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia). Comparison to EU-27 (from 2020) and the EU Innovation Leaders is also made. The methodology is based on methods of analysis, interpretation and relevant comparisons of selected indicators. The research results point out that BIOEAST countries show very different innovation performance results. There is a wide innovation performance gap between most BIOEAST countries and the EU Innovation Leaders in terms of citable publications and especially patenting activity. Leading BIOEAST countries are in some cases similar to the EU Innovation Leaders. The research may be interesting for both researchers and policy makers and offers opportunities for future studies on the subject.

Šiandieniniame pasaulyje vyksta dideli pokyčiai, kurie labiausiai pastebimi vertinant ekonominio išsivystymo lygį. Šalies ekonominis augimas yra pagrindinis variklis, galintis užtikrinti šalies gyventojų gerovę. Todėl nenuostabu, kad įvairių sričių specialistai domisi tokiomis temomis kaip tolygi teritorijų plėtra, ekonomikos augimas, bandydami surasti raktą į sėkmingą vystymąsi. Ypač svarbi yra inovacinė veikla. Jos pagrindiniai veikėjai (žvelgiant į šį procesą per ekonomikos prizmę) yra verslo įmonės, diegiančios naujoves. Dėl Europos Sąjungos vykdomos regioninės politikos labai svarbu užtikrinti tolygią teritorijos plėtrą. Todėl analizuojant inovacijų procesą negalima to atsieti nuo teritorijos – būtina įvertinti poveikį teritorijos plėtrai. Pastebimas glaudus regioninės politikos ir inovacinės plėtros politikos ryšys. Atsižvelgiant į temos aktualumą, svarbu įvertinti teritorijų inovatyvumo lygį: objektyvus vertinimas leidžia efektyviau vykdyti tolesnę plėtros politiką. Europos kontekste Lietuva traktuojama kaip vienas regionas, todėl visa inovacinės veiklos analizė sutelkta šalies lygiu. Tačiau net ir šalies teritorijoje pastebima teritorinių socialinių bei ekonominių netolygumų. Todėl aktualu pradėti vertinti inovatyvumo aplinką Lietuvos regionų mastu. Šiuo straipsniu siekta pristatyti svarbiausias inovacinės veiklos sampratas, remiantis skirtingų autorių pozicijomis, išskirti veiksnius, kurie daro įtaką regioninei plėtrai bei, atsižvelgiant į tinkamų rodiklių duomenų prieinamumą, suformuoti regionų inovacinės aplinkos vertinimo metodologinę matricą. Innovations and innovative activities are becoming the most important feature of a country or region development. For this reason a great amount of literature highlights this topic. There are a lot of documents, strategies and programs signed which try to enhance business competitiveness and productivity. Formation of regional policy should make that this development will ensure a high quality of life throughout the country. Economic growth of countries in encouraging to look for more efficienty, which is directly related with innovative entities. The significance of innovations is the focus of EU regional policy. Although the innovation phenomenon is widely analyzed, consistent and specified concept is not formulated. Thus, this paper will primarily discuss the diversity of innovation concept and interface with the regional concept. Another part of the work aims to reveal the determinants of the regional development influencing innovation activities by different author’s approaches. The final section of this paper is to present adopted methodological matrix for innovativeness evaluation for regions in Lithuania. In Lithuania innovativeness is counted just on a country’s level, no territorial importance is emphasised. Even though innovations are closely related with regional policy. So the main purpose of this paper is to make methodological basis for more detailed (in a territorial contex) analysis of innovativeness in Lithuania’s regions.

Inovacijos yra konkurencingumo pagrindas. Kartu pagrindinis vadovo uždavinys yra savininkų turto maksimizavimas, todėl svarbu tyrinėti inovacijų ir bendrovės vertės santykį. Šio tyrimo tikslas – ištirti inovacijų poveikį organizacijos vertei. Tiriamos Baltijos šalių bendrovės, veikusios 2005–2011 metų laikotarpiu. Tyrimas parodė, kad inovatyvių bendrovių vertė yra didesnė, didesnės ir jos pačios. Nustatyta, kad didesnė bendrovės vertė pasiekiama, jei nematerialių išteklių dalis viršija 1 %. Taikant koreliaciją ir regresinę analizę, nustatyta, kad inovacijos yra svarbi organizacijos vertės determinantė, organizacijos dydis yra silpnesnis veiksnys, o augimas – pats silpniausias veiksnys. Straipsnio autorės rekomenduoja bendrovėms investuoti į inovacijos procesą, nes tai didina jų vertę, ypač jei nematerialių išteklių dalis viršija 1 %. 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 of innovation on company value. The research covered Baltic listed companies for the period of 2005−2011. The study finds that innovative companies have a higher value and they are bigger. Within innovative companies it was observed that higher company value is achieved if their ratio of intangible assets exceeds 1 %. Using correlation and multiple regression analyses it was found that innovation 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 if the ratio of intangible assets exceeds 1 %.

Straipsnyje pristatomas žinių valdymo modelis sveikatos technologijų ir biotechnologijų atvirųjų inovacijų ekosistemoje. Apžvelgiamos teorinės žinių valdymo galimybės, pristatoma sveikatos technologijų ir biotechnologijų atvirųjų inovacijų ekosistema bei šios ekosistemos žinių valdymo modelis., This article describes knowledge management model in the open innovation ecosystem of health technologies and biotechnologies. The possibilities of theoretical knowledge management, health care technology and biotechnology open innovation ecosystem and knowledge management model for this ecosystem are reviewed.

The authors of this article established the goal to investigate parameters related to the staff motivation for engineering change in the industrial company as case study and to predict the ways of improving the performance of the company. Employees of the company can be more motivated to generate innovative ideas and to implement them. That can be related to the better engineering change situation. For this reason, in this work, we have explored the environment and opportunities to improve the engineering performance of the company in the context of engineering change. The authors of the paper have conducted several studies, collected and analysed important information. Methods used – review of scientific literature and other sources of information, case study, structural systematic analysis, and sociological survey of industrial company personnel based on hypothesis. The object of the research was motives for engineering change in the industrial company. Motivated organizational behaviour actions, that focus on creation and realization of innovative ideas for engineering change, can be based on creation of an innovation-friendly environment. As our research has shown, it is important to consider parameters related to the staff motivation, such as, satisfaction with the company’s declared policy, satisfaction with the management’s behaviour in encouraging employees, freedom of employees to communicate and take creative initiative.

Straipsnyje nagrinėjami veiksniai, darantys įtaką inovacijų diegimui Lietuvos viesbucių versle. Sprendžiama mokslinė problema: kokie inovacijų diegimo veiksniai aktualiausi Lietuvos viesbucių versle. Taikant ekspertinio vertinimo ir apklausos metodus atliekamas inovacijų diegimą lemiancių veiksnių vertinimas. Nustatyti svarbiausi inovacijų diegimą lemiantys veiksniai: rinkos imlumas, materialiniai ir finansiniai įmonės istekliai. Inovacijų diegimą Lietuvos viesbuciuose labiausiai skatina konkurentai ir klientai. Pateikiamos rekomendacijos, kaip gerinti inovacine veiklą Lietuvos viesbucių versle. PAGRINDINIAI ŽODŽIAI: inovacijos, inovacijų diegimo procesas, viesbucių verslas, aplinkos veiksniai. JEL KLASIFIKACIJA: D81, O31, O32, L83 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15181/rfds.v18i1.1258

Straipsnyje nagrinėjamos technologinių inovacijų, skirtų sveikatos priežiūrai, sampratos, inovacijų rūšys pagal technologijas ir jų pagrindu sukuriamus produktus. Taip pat apžvelgiama dabartinė technologinių inovacijų poveikio sveikatai ir gyvenimo trukmei, kaip dažniausiai ekonomistų naudojamam sveikatos rodikliui, matavimo praktika. Remiantis esamais empirinių tyrimų duomenimis, autorės pasiūlo modelį, skirtą analizuoti skirtingų veiksnių grupių reikšmingumą vidutinei tikėtinai gyvenimo trukmei gimimo metu, ir patikrina modelį atlikdamos apklausą, siekiant patvirtinti modelio turinį ir kiekvienos modelio veiksnių grupės įtakos svarbą gyvenimo trukmei. Reikšminiai žodžiai: technologinės inovacijos, sveikata, gyvybės mokslai, informacijos ir komunikacijos technologijos (IKT), tikėtina gyvenimo trukmė gimimo metu. The article explores the concept of technological innovations in healthcare, types of innovations by technology and its output. It also overviews the existing practice of the technological innovations’ impact measurement on health and life expectancy as the most common metric, used by the economist. Based on the existing empirical research evidence the authors propose a model to analyze the impact of different groups of factors on the life expectancy at birth. The proposed model is validated by running a survey to confirm its content and weight of impact of each group of the factors on life expectancy. Keywords: technological innovations, health, life sciences, information and communication technologies (ICT), life expectancy at birth.

Šiame straipsnyje pristatoma inovatyvios pilietinės edukacijos projekto praktika, adaptuojant integruoto mokymosi metodiką "Pilietis" darbui su kaimo vietovių jautriausių grupių vaikais ir jaunimu. Pasitelkiant veiklos tyrimo dalyvaujant strategiją, atlikti giluminiai interviu su jaunimo centre (1), vaikų dienos centre (3) ir atvirose jaunimo erdvėse (1) keturiose skirtingose kaimiškose gyvenvietėse dirbančiais jaunimo darbuotojais, kurie įgyvendino vietinius projektus. Rezultatai parodė, kad pilietiškumo interpretacija ugdant vaikus ir jaunuolius iš jautresnės aplinkos turėtų būti kontekstualizuota konkrečiose situacijose ir integruota į individualius poreikius, siekius bei galimybes. Rezultatai suteikia įžvalgų, kaip plėtoti pilietinį ugdymą dirbant su jautriausių grupių vaikais ir jaunimu mažesnėse gyvenvietėse. Esminiai žodžiai: pilietinis ugdymas, socialinės inovacijos, pozityvioji socializacija. This article aims to present the practice of an innovative civic education project, adapting the integrated learning methodology "Project Citizen" to work with children and young people from vulnerable groups in rural areas. Using a participatory action research strategy, in-depth interviews were carried out with youth workers working in a youth centre (1), a day-care centre (3) and an open youth space (1) in four different rural settlements, who were implementing local projects. The results showed that the interpretation of citizenship in the education of children and young people from more vulnerable backgrounds should be contextualised in specific situations and integrated with individual needs, aspirations and capacities. The results provide insights into how to develop citizenship education when working with children and young people from vulnerable groups in smaller settlements. Keywords: civic education, social innovation, positive socialisation.

The scientific literature on intrapreneurship still has many areas for deeper investigation. In recent years, there has been an increasingly growing interest in intrapreneurship: companies came to an understanding of the importance of innovativeness and found new business models triggering innovative growth, along with the possibilities for the creation of new products or services. Intrapreneurs were described by Pinchot (1985) as people who focus on innovation and creativity, turning creative ideas into profitable businesses within an organisational environment, while modern technologies are a great medium to identify and unleash intrapreneurs' potential. The purpose of the present paper is to examine how modern technologies can help promote the intrapreneurial culture in companies which could lead to sustainable competitive advantages. To answer the research question 'How to unleash the potential of modern technologies while enhancing intrapreneurial activities', the literature review and case studies were conducted based on qualitative semi-structured expert interviews. Keywords: intrapreneurship; modern technologies; effects, corporate performance; efficiency; effectiveness; international and domestic companies; technological intensity.

The article presents a study of future professionals' knowledge of innovation. Šiauliai State College I-IV-year students formed the research sample group. 103 respondents took part in the survey. Students usually get acquainted with innovations from the press, via the Internet, Youtube channel or social networks, as well as during college lectures. Research has shown that students are best acquainted with technological innovation and the stage of generating innovation ideas. The higher education institution should strengthen the studies of other stages of innovation development, especially commercialization. Key words: Innovation, acquaintance with innovations, STEAM, Šiauliai State College.

The concept of innovation potential is complicated and complex, its evolution is closely related to the concept of innovation. There are several approaches to define the innovation potential. Some scientists and researchers define innovation potential as a set of several resources, other scientists - as a result of innovative activity. The author is a supporter of the resource approach and explores the potential of innovation from the perspective of resources. There are several approaches to determining the innovation potential from the resource perspective, however, they are mostly intended for the evaluation of the innovation potential at the national level or at the level of large regions. In addition, most of the assessment methodologies are tailored to the analysis of specific regions and it is difficult to adapt them to the evaluation of other regions. Therefore, the author develops his own methodology for assessing innovation potential, adapted for NUTS3 regions, and uses it to assess the innovation potential of Latvian, Lithuanian and Belarusian regions. The given approach makes it possible to promptly evaluate existing resources and define opportunities, thus providing the region with a stable market position, especially within the regional context, which is required by the ever-increasing and fierce competition.

Straipsnyje pateikiama trumpa situacijos analizė, atspindinti dabartinę mokslo ir technologijų sferos būklę Kazachstano Respublikoje ir Lietuvos Respublikoje. Remiantis analize ir mokslinės literatūros studijomis, pateikiami mokslo ir technologijų sferos analizės požiūriai. Straipsnyje nagrinėjamas ir analizuojamas vidinių išlaidų MTEP dydis Kazachstano Respublikoje ir Lietuvos Respublikoje 2016–2020 m., jų santykis su bendruoju vidaus produktu. Akcentuojama, kad vidinių MTEP išlaidų apskaita Kazachstano Respublikoje ir Lietuvos Respublikoje vykdoma laikantis tarptautiniu mastu pripažintų EBPO standartų, visų pirma, vadovaujantis „FRASCATI” vadovu. Šio vadovo pagrindinės nuostatos atsispindi EBPO šalių teisės aktuose, reglamentuojančiuose mokslo ir technologijų politikos įgyvendinimą ir plėtrą. Pateikiama informacija apie Kazachstano ir Lietuvos praktikoje taikomas netiesiogines mokesčių lengvatas, kurių tikslas – didinti verslo aplinkos motyvaciją įgyvendinti ir vykdyti MTEP projektus. Šiame darbe atliktas vidinių MTEP išlaidų augimo BVP atžvilgiu skaičiavimas. Jo veikimas užtikrins nagrinėjamo rodiklio dydį strateginiuose Kazachstano ir Lietuvos lygiuose. Suformuluotų autorių pasiūlymų įgyvendinimas prisidės prie efektyvios mokslo ir technologijų politikos plėtros Kazachstane ir Lietuvoje. This article presents a brief analysis of the current state of the scientific and technological spheres in the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Lithuania. Based on the analysis of the conceptual apparatus and the study of scientific literature, approaches to the analysis of the scientific and technological spheres are presented. The article considers and analyzes the size of intramural R&D expenditures in Kazakhstan and Lithuania in 2016–2020, as well as their relation to gross domestic product. It is noted that the accounting of intramural R&D expenditures in Kazakhstan and Lithuania is carried out in full compliance with internationally recognized OECD standards – first of all, following the FRASCATI Manual, the main provisions of which are reflected in the legislation of the OECD countries regulating the implementation and development of scientific and technological policy. Information is provided on indirect tax incentives used in practice in Kazakhstan and Lithuania, the purpose of which is to increase the motivation of the business environment to implement and carry out R&D projects. The calculation of the growth of the level of intramural R&D expenditure in relation to GDP is carried out in this paper. Its performance will ensure the size of the indicator under consideration at the strategic levels in Kazakhstan and Lithuania. The authors’ proposals, the implementation of which will ensure the effective development of scientific and technological policy in Kazakhstan and Lithuania, are also formulated and supplemented.

Fragmented knowledge, the lack of adequate synthetic learning units, its forms and content, the contradiction of the Education faces humans to nowadays existential problems, like global challenges of climate change, pandemics, wars, poverty, international terrorism, migration, etc. In the article the author presents more than 40 years of sociogenic innovation on the author science Technogeny, dedicated to construction of virtual models of the origin and development of learning and self-improvement seeking to gain necessary for success practice skills and arts. Grounding on the Virtualics, as virtual modelling metatheory and World development spiral virtual models, it gives opportunity to apply virtual approach to the Learning phenomenon and its transition qualities from the Past through Nowadays and towards the Future. Anthropogenic analysis of gaming as a learning procedure enabled to define the action programme of an animal or human as the natural learning unit, which is also a practical Natural knowledge unit. Composed learning virtual model evidently confirmed transition of the form of learning from the Education to Self-Improvement through Education contradiction resonance sinusoid. The learning form transits three qualitative leaps of a virtual trichotomy: autocratic face-to-face education, democratic blended learning, and virtual liberal Self-Improvement. The content of learning is transiting from Metaphysics (academic scholastics) to Virtualics (Smart Innovation). Matrixes of learning form and content fixed clear trends from an Old to the New qualities of the learning. Genius learning unit and virtual Self-Improvement tools innovations and application for forty years of international pedagogic innovations enabled to confirm the right path to the future of learning towards virtual Smart Innovation. COVID-19 pandemic gave additional confirmation of this learning development direction. Key words: technogeny; natural learning unit; gaming; education contradiction; natural knowledge unit; Genius learning unit.

Šiame straipsnyje aptariami socialinio darbo profesinio lauko pokyčiai, ateities scenarijai bei socialinio darbo vaidmenys ateities visuomenėje ir pristatomas pačių socialinių darbuotojų požiūris į ateitį ir numatomus pokyčius. Straipsnyje apžvelgiamos socialinio darbo raidos tendencijos ir pateikiamos svarbios moksliniuose šaltiniuose analizuojamos profesijos raidos kryptys. Taip pat pristatomas kiekybinis Lietuvos socialinių darbuotojų nuomonės tyrimas, kuriuo buvo siekiama atskleisti darbuotojų požiūrį į pokyčius, technologijų ir socialinių inovacijų įtaką bei ateities socialinio darbo kompetencijas. Tyrimo rezultatai atskleidžia, kad darbuotojai socialinio darbo lauke mato pokyčių, tačiau šie pokyčiai yra nežymūs. Tai, kad nematoma pokyčių ir neigiamai vertinamas socialinis darbas visuomenėje, galimai susiję ir su noru imtis kitos darbo srities. Darbuotojus pasilikti skatintų vadovų lyderystė ir profesionalumas bei darnesnis komandos darbas. Tyrimo neatskleista, kad darbas kuriame nors sektoriuje (savivaldybės, valstybiniame, nevyriausybiniame, socialinio verslo) stipriai lemtų skirtingus socialinių darbuotojų požiūrius. Socialinių darbuotojų požiūrį ir vertinimą labiau lėmė jų demografiniai duomenys: gyvenamoji vieta, amžius, išsilavinimas, tačiau ir ši koreliacija buvo ganėtinai silpna. Daugelis respondentų nebuvo susipažinę su Darnios plėtros tikslais (SGD 2030) ar dalyvavo tik pavienėse tvarumo iniciatyvose, tačiau naujovių svarbumą socialinio darbo praktikoje įvardija 58 proc. respondentų, o 18-35 metų amžiaus kategorijoje šis vertinimas siekia 72 procentus. Socialiniai darbuotojai vertindami ateitį nemano, kad jų darbą pakeis technologinės inovacijos, robotai. Kalbėdami apie ateities socialinio darbo kompetencijas išskiria tradicines mikrolygmens socialinio darbo kompetencijas: empatiją, emocinį intelektą, tarpasmenį bendravimą ir darbą su grupe, mažiau reikšmės teikia inovatyvumo, vadybinėms ar makrolygmens kompetencijoms. Raktiniai žodžiai: socialinio darbo ateitis, profesinis laukas, socialinės inovacijos, technologijos, tvarumas, socialinio darbo kompetencijos. The authors aim to discuss the changes in the professional field of social work, the future scenarios and the role of social work in the future society, and to present the views of social workers themselves on the future and the expected changes. The authors provide an overview of the trends in the development of social work profesion and outline the important changes in the professional field based on litearture review. The paper presents a quantitative survey of social workers in Lithuania, which aimed to uncover their attitudes towards new developments, the impact of technology and social innovation, and the future competences of social work. The results of the study reveal that employees see changes in the field of social work, but that these changes are marginal. Not seeing change and a negative public perception of social work are also associated with a willingness to move to another field of work. Leadership and professionalism of managers and more cohesive teamwork would encourage staff to stay. The study did not show that working for any institution (municipal, governmental, non-governmental, etc.) determines social workers‘ attitudes. Social workers‘ attitudes and evaluations were more influenced by their demographics: place of residence, age, education, but even these correlations were rather weak. A large proportion of respondents were not familiar with the Sustainable Development Goals (SGD2030) or had only participated in a few sustainability initiatives, but the importance of innovations in social work practice was identified by 58% of respondents, compared to 72% of those aged between 18 and 35 years. When talking about the future competences of social work, the traditional micro-level competences of social work are highlighted: empathy, emotional intelligence, interpersonal communication and working with a group, less importance is attached to innovative, managerial or macro-level competences. Keywords: future social work, professional field, social innovation, technology, sustainability, social work competences.

Symbolic narratives, such as an “ivory tower”, a “grey zone”, or a “black box” tell us about the gap between university and society, and academia and industry. Recently, they have been replaced by the Quadruple Helix model, which closes the gap by connecting four main stakeholders—government, university, industry, and society, into an innovation ecosystem. However, the roles of the different stakeholders are often blurred and difficult to define, and it is difficult to develop a basic approach to implement responsible innovations in industrial ecosystems in general. On the other hand, the interactions between stakeholder groups, especially universities and industry, are not sufficiently demonstrated in both scientific literature and empirical studies. We note that the responsible research and innovation (RRI) approach should facilitate a framework of shared taxonomy among stakeholders. By highlighting this situation, we follow the paradigm of emerging thinking and we seek to fill this knowledge gap theoretically and empirically. Therefore, in this study, we combined several strategies and perspectives. First, we conducted survey research concerning social capital in Poland and Lithuania to understand the impact of social capital and trust on stakeholder cooperation. Second, we conducted interviews with scientists who actively work to transfer knowledge into industry. Third, we utilized field notes from working experiences in research management. This work has theoretical and practical implications. The theoretical contribution of the paper demonstrates the construction of methodology based on emerging perspectives, and new theoretical insights, on professional discourses for implementing the responsible innovation approach in industrial ecosystems, by highlighting the commitments of main stakeholder groups. Practical input: our insights and empirical research will contribute toward sustainability policymaking and achieving substantial results in industrial ecosystems. The results indicate that if there is trust, then the government, companies, and society (in Poland and Lithuania) would be willing to cooperate with each other. However, there is a lack of trust and cooperation between universities and businesses. Stakeholders have become increasingly aware of the emergence of a science and industry cooperation as an open platform, enlarged with society and policies. They note the problem of making research public and transparent as part of a new mode of cooperation, however, they articulate RRI as a framework of shared taxonomy.

Viešojo sektoriaus modernizavimas pastebimas daugelio Europos šalių viešojo administravimo sistemose. Pasitelkiant naujausius ir pažangiausius naujosios viešosios vadybos modelius siekiama pereiti nuo tradicinio centralizuoto hierarchinio valdymo prie efektyvesnio šiuolaikinio valdymo. Viešieji pirkimai išskirti kaip vienas iš instrumentų, galinčių prisidėti prie 2020 m. Europos pažangaus, tvaraus ir integracinio augimo strategijos prioritetų. Smulkus ir vidutinis verslas (toliau – SVV) sudaro apie 99,5% viso verslo Lietuvoje ir yra vienas pagrindinių šalies ekonominio augimo veiksnių. Vienas iš SVV įtraukimo į inovatyviuosius viešuosius pirkimus pranašumų yra tas, kad SVV linkusios daug sparčiau augti nei didelės įmonės, naudotis naujausiomis finansavimo priemonėmis ir institucijų sukurta palankesne verslo aplinka. Sudarant sutartis su SVV įmonėmis, didėja valdžios pajamos, kartu auga jos novatoriškumas, tai taip pat skatina verslumą ir prisideda prie darbo vietų kūrimo bei ekonominės plėtros. Galima išskirti trijų organizacinių perspektyvų poveikį skatinant inovatyviuosius viešuosius pirkimus: aukščiausios vadovybės palaikymą, kompetenciją ir įsipareigojimą. Straipsnio tikslas – išanalizuoti SVV dalyvavimo inovatyviuose viešuosiuose pirkimuose teisinio poveikio rezultatus Lietuvoje. Metodologinis požiūris grindžiamas aktualių teorinių (analizė ir sintezė, sisteminė, lyginamoji analizė) ir kokybinio empirinio tyrimo (antrinių duomenų ir dokumentų analizės) analize. The modernisation of the public sector can be observed in the public administration systems of many European countries. The use of the most up-to-date and advanced models of new public management is aimed at replacing traditional centralised hierarchical management with a more efficient modern management system that requires less resources and is oriented towards the development of the information society and the expansion of services. The Innovation Union initiative of the European Union (hereinafter ‘EU’) is one of the seven objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy for ensuring a smart, sustainable, and inclusive economy. Small and medium-sized enterprises (hereinafter ‘SMEs’) account for approximately 99.5% of all businesses in Lithuania, and are one of the main factors in the economic growth of the country. One of the advantages of including SMEs in the public procurement of innovation is that SMEs tend to grow much faster than large companies, as they take advantage of innovative financing tools and the more favourable business environment created by institutions. The authors maintain that, when contracts are awarded to SMEs, the revenue of the government, along with its level of innovation, increases, and this process also promotes entrepreneurship and contributes to the creation of jobs and economic development. The methodological approach in this paper is based on the analysis of relevant issues and both theoretical (analysis and synthesis, systematic, comparative) and empirical (secondary data and document analysis) qualitative research.

Straipsnyje siekiama išskirti inovatyvių finansinių paslaugų charakteristikas, kurios leidžia apibrėžti inovatyvias finansines paslaugas. Remiantis išskirtomis inovatyvių finansinių paslaugų charakteristikomis, siekiama ištirti, kurios Lietuvoje teikiamos finansinės paslaugos yra priskiriamos prie inovatyvių finansinių. Reikšminiai žodžiai: inovatyvios finansinės paslaugos, finansinės inovacijos, inovatyvių finansinių paslaugų pasiūla, reguliavimas. Innovative financial services are defined as financial services developed or provided using new technologies by non-traditional providers that are not regulated or regulated at a lower level. Non-traditional providers make it possible to distinguish innovative financial services from digital financial services, that can be provided by traditional financial institutions. It should be noted that non-traditional providers are unregulated or regulated at a lower level, which indicates a higher likelihood of risk for innovative financial services. However, one of the main characteristics of innovative financial services is the use of new technologies, which is also linked to other characteristics of innovative financial services: automation, digitalisation, accessibility and dynamism. Innovative financial services, like general services, are characterized by intangibility, heterogeneity, inseparability, and customer involvement. Innovative financial services, like all financial services, are characterized by return and risk trade-off, market confidence. The analysis of the supply and characteristics of innovative financial services in Lithuania revealed that all innovative financial services analyzed in the article are characterized by the characteristics of new technologies and no regulation / lower level of regulation. 9 % of innovative financial services analyzed were not regulated, and 91 % were regulated at a lower level. The lack of regulation increases the level of innovation of these services, and with the emergence of regulatory constraints, innovation decreases. Other characteristics of innovative financial services – digitalisation and automation, accessibility and non-traditional providers – are only partially met by some innovative financial services, but this does not negate the innovativeness of these services, but reduces their level. The consistency of the dynamics characteristic was not analyzed due to lack of data. Most of the innovative financial services provided in Lithuania include day-to-day banking and borrowing services. In addition to the theoretical characteristics of innovative financial services, innovative financial services provided in Lithuania are also characterized by these characteristics – lower costs or their absence, higher financial return, speed, more flexible and personalized conditions. Keywords: innovative financial services, financial innovations, supply of financial services, regulation.

Straipsnyje aptariamos socialinio praktikos meno raiškos tendencijos ir galimybės. Nagrinėjama socialinio praktikos meno sąvokos samprata tarptautiniame kontekste, raiškos tendencijos užsienio šalyse ir Lietuvoje. Straipsnio tikslas yra pateikti teorines įžvalgas apie socialinio praktikos meno kūrybos formas ir plėtros tendencijų analizę. Socialinis praktikos menas (Social Practice Art, SPA) yra meno priemonė, orientuota į menininkų ir įvairių socialinių grupių bendrą meninę veiklą per socialinį diskursą. Socialinis praktikos menas atsirado reaguojant į didėjantį meninio ugdymo poreikį bendradarbiaujant su socialinėmis grupėmis multikultūrinėje aplinkoje. Vis daugiau pasaulio menininkų, kuratorių, kritikų ir meno administratorių koncentruojasi į naujo tipo praktiką – vadinamąjį meno aktyvizmą. Viena tokio aktyvizmo rūšių apibūdinama socialinio praktikos meno terminu. Šia veikla siekiama teigiamų pokyčių konkrečiose bendruomenėse, susiduriančiose su aktualiomis problemomis: rasizmu, miesto gentrifikacija, žala aplinkai, nestabiliomis darbo sąlygomis, dideliu įkalinimo lygiu, pasauliniu pabėgėlių antplūdžiu ir pan. Menininkai, dirbantys socialinio praktikos meno srityje, kuria bendradarbiaudami su konkrečia auditorija arba siūlo kritines intervencijas esamose socialinėse sistemose, kurios įkvepia diskusijas arba skatina socialinius mainus. Europoje tai kol kas naujas reiškinys, tačiau jis jau randa savo vietą daugelyje valstybių, kuriose gyvuoja stipri kūrybinė klasė, judantys migrantų srautai ir yra didelė klasinė atskirtis – Jungtinėje Karalystėje, Vokietijoje, Nyderlanduose ir kitose šalyse. Lietuvoje socialinio meno vertinimo problemos yra analizuotos nagrinėjant Kaune vykdytą projektą „Šančiai – draugiška zona“ (Dovydaitytė, 2014). Šioje studijoje aptariami socialinio praktikos meno veiklos vertinimo principai. Įvairiose pasaulio šalyse pradeda plisti naujos galimybės, todėl, siekiant atskleisti šių galimybių potencialą, svarbu analizuoti šio perspektyvaus proceso raidą. The paper deals with tendencies in and opportunities for social practice art. The concept of social practice art in an international context and its tendencies abroad and Lithuania have been studied. The aim is to provide theoretical insights into the forms of social practice art and to study its development tendencies. Social practice art (SPA) is an artistic tool oriented to common activities of artists and various social groups through social discourse. SPA rose as a response to a growing need for artistic education while collaborating with social groups in a multicultural environment. Growing numbers of artists, curators, critics and art administrators worldwide have been focusing on a new type of artistic activities - the so-called art activism. One type of such activism is characterized by the term social practice art. These activities are aimed at positive changes in particular communities in the face of relevant issues: racism, urban gentrification, environmental damage, unstable working conditions, high levels of imprisonment, global refugee influx, etc. Artists engaged in social practice art collaborate with a particular audience or run critical interventions in the existing social systems - all that sparks off debates or promotes social exchange. It is a new phenomenon in Europe, but has already found its place in many countries where a strong creative class, flows of moving migrants, a large class exclusion exist - in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and many others. In Lithuania, the problem of social art assessment was tackled analyzing the project “Shanciai - Friendly Zone” run in Kaunas (Dovydaitytė, 2014). This study discusses the principles of social practice art assessment. New opportunities arise in various parts of the world, thus, seeking to open up their potential, it is important to study the development of this promising activity.

Formal and informal institutions matter in the context of the innovation performance of Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs). The purpose of the research was to investigate whether the interplay between formal and informal institutions has a positive, negative or neutral impact on the innovation performance of CEECs, and if formal or informal institutions alone also have a positive, negative or neutral influence on the innovation performance of CEECs. The research is based on informal institutions of CEECs such as trust, traditions, customs, creativity or cooperation, and formal institutions of CEECs such as law, formal rules, or science, technology and innovation policy (STIP). The research methodology focuses on secondary statistical data from 18,808 surveys from the European Social Survey Round 9 (2018) edition 2.0 for informal institutions and from 1090 innovation policies of European Commission and OECD STIP Compass and 414,073 notices of awarded tenders of the European Union Tenders Electronic Daily for formal institutions. Innovation performance was measured by the Summary Innovation Index (SII) of the European Innovation Scoreboard 2019. The findings show that informal institutions such as trust in others, trust in the legal system, the importance of following traditions and customs or cooperation among citizens of CEECs, as well as interplay between informal institutions such as trust in the legal system and formal institutions such as obedience to rules among citizens of CEECs have a negative impact on the innovation performance of the national economies of CEECs. Meanwhile, the variety of policy theme areas and creativity among citizens of CEECs have a positive impact on the innovation performance of the national economies of CEECs.

Socialinės pedagoginės pagalbos inovacijos yra svarbios, siekiant užtikrinti lygias švietimo galimybes visoms visuomenės grupėms, ypač vaikams iš nepalankios socialinės, ekonominės, kultūrinės (SEK) aplinkos, taip sprendžiant kokybiško ir prieinamo mokymo(si) problemą. Nepakankamą inovacijų pažangą mokyklose liudija nacionalinės veiklos kokybės ataskaitos. Mokslinėje literatūroje pažymima, kad švietimo inovacijų sklaidą mokyklose užtikrina pedagogai novatoriai, svarbu sudaryti tinkamas inovacijų sklaidos bendruomenėse sąlygas. Šio tyrimo tikslas – atskleisti socialinės pedagoginės pagalbos inovacijų sklaidos prielaidas bendrojo ugdymo mokykloje. Atlikus kokybinį tyrimą (socialinių pedagogų) atskleistos SPP inovacijų sklaidos prielaidos mokykloje: nuolatinė socialinių pedagogų veiklos savirefleksija, kurti įgalinanti aplinka, galimybė bandyti ir įsitikinti inovacijos vertingumu, tam skiriama pakankamai laiko, yra kolegų palaikymas ir konstruktyvus bei savalaikiškas administracijos grįžtamasis ryšys. Siekiant atskleisti socialinės pedagoginės pagalbos inovacijų sklaidos aspektus bendrojo ugdymo mokykloje, atliktas kokybinis tyrimas. Pasirinkta kokybinė turinio analizė, struktūruoto interviu metodas. Pastarasis metodas leido išsiaiškinti socialinių pedagogų požiūrį į socialinės pedagoginės veiklos inovacijas, pasirenkamus naujus socialinės pedagoginės pagalbos metodus, priemones, formas. Tyrimui atlikti taikyta kritinė atranka, leidusi atrinkti informatorius pagal tam tikras savybes. Tyrime dalyvavo socialiniai pedagogai, kurių darbo stažas bendrojo ugdymo mokykloje – ne mažesnis kaip 10 metų. Dalyvauti pakviesti 29 socialiniai pedagogai. Tyrimo problemai atskleisti pasirinkti pokalbiai su 9 socialiniais pedagogais, dirbančiais skirtingose bendrojo ugdymo mokyklose ir teigiančiais, kad savo darbe taiko socialinės pedagoginės pagalbos inovacijas, sistemingai reflektuoja savo veiklą, aktyviai dalyvauja mokyklos bendruomenės gyvenime. Šie socialiniai pedagogai yra baigę socialinės pedagogikos magistrantūros studijas, tad jų požiūris į socialinės pedagoginės pagalbos inovacijas laikytinas kompetentingu. Struktūruotam interviu pasirinktos šios temos (klausimai) informantams: inovacijos teikiant socialinę pedagoginę pagalbą; jų atsiradimo sąlygos; socialinės pedagoginės pagalbos inovacijų sklaidos mokykloje sąlygos. Apibendrinus tyrimo rezultatus pažymėta, kad, tyrime dalyvavusių socialinių pedagogių nuomone, SPP inovacijų diegimas bendrojo ugdymo mokykloje yra vienas socialinės pedagoginės pagalbos kokybės garantijų. Tyrime dalyvavusias socialines pedagoges galima apibūdinti kaip novatores, kurios yra atviros naujovėms, aktyviai bendradarbiauja profesiniuose tinkluose ir mokyklų bendruomenių veikloje, sistemingai tobulina profesines kompetencijas pagal atitinkamas universiteto programas. Kaip socialinės pedagoginės pagalbos inovacijas informantės įvardija ir požiūrio į profesinę veiklą kaitą, kuriamas naujas veiklos formas, atrandamus naujus socialinės pedagoginės pagalbos metodus bei priemones. Remiantis atliktos analizės duomenimis, esminės socialinės pedagoginės pagalbos inovacijų sklaidos mokykloje prielaidos yra: nuolatinė profesinė savirefleksija, kūrybai įgalinanti mokyklos aplinka, atrasta inovacijos asmeninė vertė (pasiteisinę lūkesčiai), vadovų ir kolegų palaikymas, laisvė apsispręsti dėl inovacijų pasirinkimo ir taikymo. Pagrindiniai žodžiai : socialinė pedagoginė pagalba, inovacijos, bendrojo ugdymo mokykla. Innovations in social pedagogical assistance in schools are important for ensuring equal opportunities in education for all social groups, especially for children from disadvantaged social, economic and cultural (SEC) backgrounds, to address the issue of quality and accessible teaching and learning. National school quality reports point to the insufficient implementation and diffusion of innovations in schools. Scientific literature indicates that educators-innovators are important for the diffusion of educational innovations in schools, so they need appropriate conditions created for them to disseminate the innovations in communities. The aim of this research is to identify preconditions for the diffusion of social pedagogical assistance (SPA) innovations in secondary schools. The qualitative research (interviews with social pedagogues) has identified preconditions for the diffusion of SPA innovations in schools: the constant self-reflection of social pedagogues, an enabling (creative) environment, the opportunity to experiment and see the value of innovation, with sufficient time allowed for this collegial support as well as constructive and timely feedback from the school administration. KEY WORDS: social pedagogical assistance, innovation, secondary school.

Every organization wants to create unique products and services, but not all organizations achieve this. Those that successfully offer exceptional products and services thanks to better execution processes can be called innovative organizations. However, the desire to be an innovative organization alone is not enough, organizations need to develop new processes in order to be successful and to properly manage the knowledge of the organization. This article analyzes the impact of knowledge management on organizational innovation, and presents the research conducted in Lithuania. Many researchers see a positive impact on organizational innovation, as knowledge management practices that prioritize the generation of new knowledge and learning at the organizational level are important for achieving positive results in innovation. Thus, knowledge generation has a positive correlation with organizational innovation creation, but some researchers, e.g. Donate and de Pablo (2015) consider this relationship to be indirect. The results of a study by Lee, Leon, Hew, and Ooi (2013) revealed that knowledge acquisition is not strongly related to an organization’s technology innovation process. Capon, Farley, Lehmann, and Hulbert (1992) argue that the acquisition of knowledge does not affect an organization’s ability to innovate. However, there are other studies, e.g. Darroc and McNaughton (2002) and Tan and Nasurdin (2011) argue that knowledge acquisition strongly influences the process of technological innovation. The aim of this article is to determine whether this impact is direct or indirect, not only to limit technological innovations, and to determine which trends are typical for Lithuanian organizations.

Logistics plays an important role in various fields. In this case agriculture is not an exception. The discussed branch of agriculture in this article is dairy farming. The importance of logistics in dairy sector is undeniable. The main participants in dairy sector are milk producers, dairy cooperatives and milk processing plants. The main challenges related to raw milk transportation in dairy cooperatives and the possibilities to solve them are presented in this article. It is important to identify the main challenges in raw milk transportation and find ways to solve problems that arise in order to avoid losses of raw milk and ensure a more efficient path of raw milk from milk producers to the finished production. The authors of the article present a theoretical model of raw milk transportation in dairy cooperatives improvement, in the presented model not only the problematic aspects in raw milk transportation are pointed out, but also possible technological and innovative solutions are provided. After applying a questionnaire survey and a semi-structured interview, the results of an empirical research, that confirmed the existence of challenges in raw milk transportation identified in the theoretical part, are presented.

Straipsnyje pristatoma transnacionalinio metodo samprata, parengta vykdant „Erasmus +“ programos projektą. Tuo siekiama suteikti doktorantūros / magistrantūros / MG programų studentams teorinių žinių ir praktinių kompetencijų, kaip tinkamai planuoti bei atlikti mokslinius tyrimus, analizuojant pagyvenusių žmonių socialines ir sveikatos problemas globos įstaigose bei šeimos aplinkoje bendradarbiaujant ir perduodant naujoves. Metodas konstruojamas kaip galimybė suprasti senėjančios visuomenės iššūkius šiuolaikiniame pasaulyje ir gebėti juos įvertinti atliekant tyrimus tiek tarpkultūrinėje, tiek lyginamojoje perspektyvoje. Norint perimti inovacijas ir perduoti patirtį senėjančios visuomenės problemų kontekste, galima prisidėti prie socialinės apsaugos stabilumo bei socialinių paslaugų prieinamumo pagyvenusiems žmonėms senstančioje visuomenėje. Straipsnyje tarpnacionalinio metodo sampratos kontekstas traktuojamas kaip vienas iš projekto rezultatų, kuris prisideda prie ilgalaikio mokslinio indėlio, akcentuojant tarptautinio bendradarbiavimo ir inovacijų svarbą priimant senėjančios visuomenės iššūkius. Tinkamai parinktas metodas ir atliekami tyrimai padeda atskleisti senėjančios visuomenės reiškinių esmę ir atrasti dėsningumų. Metodai lemia tyrimo objekto pažinimo kokybę ir patikimumą, atskleidžia senstančios visuomenės socialinės apsaugos politinių, mokymosi ir priežiūros strategijų kūrimo galimybes demografinių pokyčių kontekste. The article presents the concept of the cross-border method that was developed in the framework of the Erasmus+ programme project. The aim of this method is to provide students on PhD/Mg programmes with theoretical knowledge and practical competencies on how to properly develop and conduct research on social and health issues of the elderly in care institutions and in the family environment by using the cross-border method through collaboration and the transfer of innovation. This method was constructed as an attempt to understand the challenges of an ageing society in the modern world, and to be able to assess them in research thereof from both intercultural and comparative perspectives. In order to adopt innovations and to transfer experience in the context of addressing the problems of an ageing society, there is a potential to contribute to the stability of social protection and the accessibility of social services for the elderly. The article presents the concept of the method as one of the results of the project, and as a part of the long-term scientific contributions to revealing the importance of international cooperation and innovation in meeting the challenges of an ageing society. A properly chosen method and well-conducted studies show the essence of the phenomenon of an ageing society and its patterns. The methods determine the quality and reliability of the knowledge of the research subject, and open up opportunities for developing political, learning and care strategies for the social protection of an ageing society in the context of demographic change.

The purpose of the article is to determine the link between investing in human capital and the formation of the creative economy. Given that human capital is considered both a factor in the socio‑economic development of countries and a prerequisite for the formation of the creative economy and consequently, for the modernization changes in today’s economy, there is a need to study the areas of investment in human capital. The study is based on an analysis of a number of indicators in Eastern Europe (Ukraine and Moldova) and Central Europe (Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, and Lithuania): total expenditure on education, the analysis of which made it possible to determine the level of education funding in each country; the average cost per pupil/student, which allowed us to identify trends in spending by funding organizations; the share of total expenditure on education in GDP, depending on the level of education, which made it possible to determine the priority and sufficiency of education system funding; the cost allocation indicator by funding organizations; and the human development index, which measures living standards, literacy, education, and longevity. The study also focuses on analyzing data that determine the global innovation index, since its calculation is based on the assessment indicators of human capital and research (education, tertiary education, research, and development) and creative outputs (intangible assets, creative goods, and services, online creativity). Based on the results of the research, it was concluded that human capital is the main factor that boosts the creative economy, and enhancing human capital depends on the level of education and scientific progress in a country. Empirical evidence shows that directing investment in human capital contributes to the formation of the creative economy, improving the competitiveness of countries, and at the same time, ensuring the appropriate rates of their socio‑economic development. Celem niniejszego artykułu jest określenie wpływu inwestycji w kapitał ludzki na kształtowanie gospodarki kreatywnej. Biorąc pod uwagę fakt, że kapitał ludzki jest dziś uważany zarówno za czynnik rozwoju potencjału społeczno‑gospodarczego krajów, jak i za warunek tworzenia gospodarki kreatywnej, a w konsekwencji zmian modernizacyjnych we współczesnej gospodarce, konieczne jest dokonanie analizy obszaru inwestycji w kapitał ludzki. Niniejsze badanie opierało się na analizie szeregu wskaźników dla krajów Europy wschodniej (Ukraina i Mołdawia) i środkowej (Polska, Czechy, Rumunia, Węgry i Litwa): całkowite wydatki na edukację, którego analiza umożliwiła określenie poziomu finansowania edukacji w kraju; średni koszt na ucznia/studenta, który pozwolił autorom zidentyfikować trendy w wydatkach według organizacji finansujących; udział całkowitych wydatków na edukację w PKB w zależności od poziomu wykształcenia, co umożliwiło określenie priorytetów i wystarczalności finansowania systemu edukacji; wskaźnik alokacji kosztów według organizacji finansujących; wskaźnik rozwoju społecznego, który mierzy poziom życia, umiejętności czytania, wykształcenie i długość życia. Analizie poddano również dane determinujące poziom globalnego wskaźnika innowacyjności, ponieważ podstawą jego obliczeń są w szczególności wskaźniki oceny kapitału ludzkiego i działalności badawczo‑rozwojowej (edukacja, szkolnictwo wyższe, badania i rozwój) oraz dóbr kreatywnych (wartości niematerialne i prawne, produkty i usługi kreatywne, kreatywność online). Wyniki badań pozwoliły na stwierdzenie, że we współczesnych warunkach rozwoju społeczeństwa głównym czynnikiem rozwoju gospodarki kreatywnej jest kapitał ludzki, a rozwój kapitału ludzkiego zależy od poziomu wykształcenia i rozwoju nauki w kraju. Zidentyfikowano główne obszary inwestycji w kapitał ludzki, w tym koszty edukacji i nauki. Dane empiryczne pokazują, że ukierunkowanie inwestycji na rozwój kapitału ludzkiego przyczynia się do tworzenia gospodarki kreatywnej, poprawia konkurencyjność kraju, a jednocześnie zapewnia odpowiednie tempo rozwoju społeczno­‑gospodarczego. Dla rozwoju kapitału ludzkiego jako czynnika tworzenia kreatywnej gospodarki konieczne jest zapewnienie odpowiednich inwestycji – podniesienie poziomu wydatków na edukację, rozwój kompetencji zawodowych i talentów ludzkich. Tworzenie gospodarki kreatywnej wymaga dalszej reformy ukraińskiego systemu edukacji, która będzie w stanie zapewnić odpowiedni poziom specjalistycznego szkolenia.

Business start-ups, small and medium sized companies face financial difficulties to finance their innovative activities, which hinders innovative products from commercialization. This mainly results from the high risks and information asymmetries involved in such projects. Standard debt financers are reluctant to take these risks, besides the young enterprises lack collateral to receive the credit. However, the risk tolerance for investors differs as well. One of the alternatives for bank loans is venture capitalists, who rather become partners than creditors of young, innovative companies with growth potential. Particularly venture capital or the so-called “smart money” is what financially supports such business ventures, provides funding for technological transfer and commercialization. The authors of the present paper have chosen to examine and compare the venture capital attraction possibilities in the Baltic States using Venture Capital and Private Equity Country Attractiveness Index (by Groh et al.) data for 2012-2018. Venture capital market development is currently a very topical issue for the Latvian government, taking into consideration the critical importance of venture capital for financing innovation. Becoming the leader in the venture capital sector and No. 1 choice of start-up companies in the Baltics are now the objectives of the government of Latvia. It was therefore relevant and important to compare venture capital attraction possibilities in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania to see and analyse in which aspects Latvia lags behind its neighbouring countries and in which it succeeds. The paper compares the six main factors or key drivers which determine the attractiveness of venture capital markets. According to Groh et al. (2016), these factors are: 1) Economic Activity; 2) Depth of Capital Market; 3) Taxation; 4) Investor Protection & Corporate Governance; 5) Human & Social Environment and 6) Entrepreneurial Culture & Deal Opportunities. However, the results of the research reveal that the main problems for international investor attraction in the Baltic States are underdeveloped capital markets and low economic activity. Latvia, unfortunately, is the most unattractive for international venture capital investors. Nevertheless, it has experienced the fastest growth during six years, which means that there is potential for becoming a leader in the venture capital sector. The present paper reveals the aspects to be improved for becoming more attractive for venture capital investments. JEL codes: G24, G28, F21, M14. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15544/ssaf.2018.03

Straipsnyje nagrinėjamos teorinės inovatyvumo ir bibliotekų projektinės veiklos sąsajos, praktiškai atliktu tyrimu pristatoma paslaugų, sukurtų Šiaulių rajono savivaldybės viešosios bibliotekos 2015–2016 metais vykdytų projektų metu, kokybė vartotojų požiūriu pagal SERVQUAL paslaugų kokybės metodikoje apibrėžtus vertinimo kriterijus: apčiuopiamumą, patikimumą, atsakingumą, užtikrinimą, jautrumą. Tyrimo rezultatai pagrindžia projektinės veiklos būtinumą šiuolaikinėje viešojoje bibliotekoje, nes tai didina bibliotekos patrauklumą, gerina jos įvaizdį ir pritraukia naujų vartotojų. Vartotojų nusiteikimas dalyvauti būsimuose projektuose atskleidžia, kad teigiamai vertinami tokie projektinės veiklos kriterijai kaip atsakingumas, užtikrintumas ir jautrumas. Respondentai, teigiamai įvertinę projektinių veiklų teikiamas naudas, labiausiai pabrėžia galimybę praplėsti akiratį, turiningai praleisti laisvalaikį bei tapti aktyviam ir visuomeniškam. A global, dynamic and creative environment of the information society designs new users’ information needs, and it incites information and memory institutions to look for innovative forms and ways to meet these needs and create new services. Project activities are a new area of library activities, providing an opportunity to expand the package of services. The evaluation of the outcome of the project activities – new services – is one of the most important ways to show that a library is useful and valuable for certain groups in society. This article deals with the links between innovativeness and the project activities of libraries, raising a question for empirical research: how does the society participating in project activities of libraries evaluate the innovative services developed during the projects? The conducted research presents the quality of services developed by the Šiauliai District Municipality Public Library during the projects carried out in 2015–2016 from the users’ viewpoint in accordance with the evaluation criteria defined in the SERVQUAL service quality measurement methodology, i.e., reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy and responsiveness. The research shows that undertaking project activities is necessary for the modern public library, as it increases the attractiveness of the library, improves its image and attracts new users. The willingness of users to participate in future projects reveals that such criteria of activities as responsiveness, assurance and empathy are evaluated positively. The respondents positively evaluate the benefit provided by project activities. They mostly emphasize the opportunity to broaden their intellectual horizons, purposefully spend leisure time and become more active and sociable.

Innovation is one of the main factors in shaping the international competitive position of the countries. The aim of this paper is to show the innovation as a factor that determines the level of competitiveness of Lithuania in the years 2006–2016. A detailed analysis of the competitiveness factors of Lithuania has been carried out in order to achieve the objective, with particular emphasis on innovation. The first part of the paper presents a theoretical outline of concepts related to international competitiveness and innovativeness of the economy. The second part is devoted to analyzing changes in the competitiveness of the Lithuanian economy in the years 2006–2016 on the basis of WEF reports. In the last part of this article we examined the innovativeness of Lithuania according to the WEF ranking and the European Innovation Scoreboard. The analysis shows that innovation is not a major factor in stimulating the growth of Lithuania’s competitiveness. Uważa się, że innowacje są jednym z głównych czynników, jeśli chodzi o kształtowanie międzynarodowej pozycji konkurencyjnej gospodarki. Celem niniejszej pracy jest ukazanie innowacyjności jako czynnika warunkującego poziom konkurencyjności litewskiej gospodarki w latach 2006–2016. Aby osiągnąć postawiony cel, szczegółowo przeanalizowano czynniki konkurencyjności Litwy, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem innowacyjności. W pierwszej części artykułu przestawiono zarys teoretyczny pojęć związanych z międzynarodową konkurencyjnością oraz innowacyjnością gospodarki. Drugą część poświęcono analizie zmian konkurencyjności gospodarki litewskiej w latach 2006–2016 na podstawie raportów WEF. W ostatniej części zbadano innowacyjność Litwy według rankingu WEF i Europejskiego Rankingu Innowacyjności. Z przeprowadzonej analizy wynika, że innowacyjność nie jest czynnikiem istotnie pobudzającym wzrost konkurencyjności Litwy.

It is notable that the interest in clusters and their role in sustainable regional development are increasing as scholars often review this topic. Valuable observations are made on how the clusters should be researched in order to improve their performance which would result in economic growth both on regional and national scale. Clusters’ performance is complicated to evaluate as the measures of the aspects that must be calculated differ and the most appropriate solution to formalize these aspects should be found. Different multi-criteria evaluation methods are suggested by scholars for a quantitative evaluation of performance of a certain phenomenon. This study attempts to present the clusters’ performance evaluation by applying the multi-criteria SAW method. Seven clusters from Lithuania and Latvia were examined to serve the purpose of this study. The multi-criteria analysis could be used as a method in further evaluation of clusters’ performance for it is comprehensible, easy to apply, helpful in the data evaluation of different measures and it provides adequate results, which is very important in a quantitative analysis. The results suggest that processes are very important in clusters’ performance evaluation for clusters which show good results with processes, stay in high positions, whereas clusters which are keeping behind with processes show worse results in their performance. The study still needs to be supplemented by more clusters to obtain specific information and to elaborate on more specific clusters’ performance evaluation methods. Keywords: clusters, regional development, competitiveness, multi-criteria analysis, SAW method, innovations, knowledge sharing, proximity, competitiveness.

The article deals with the attitude of music school teachers (N=367) towards music innovations and their dissemination. This analysis grounds on a significant research of attitudes of music pedagogues working in schools in Lithuania; this research aims at diagnosing how current music education changes/remains unchanged in the context of paradigm change, under the impact of manifestation of professional attitudes of pedagogues. Obtained results of the empirical research provided valuable information on delivered music education and possible innovations in its various fields. Therefore, the present article will present a relevant part of the mentioned research – pedagogues’ attitudes towards innovations selected and suggested by researchers, hypothetically postulating that they are the most lacking in current music education. The research found out that pedagogues were quite favourable towards dissemination of innovations. Education of people with disabilities and training of adults were supported the most, whereas the least approval was expressed towards the change of the assessment system and possibilities for organisation of group learning. Pedagogues treat new disciplines, such as improvisation, ensemble, accompaniment, reading notes, performing music aurally, as important.

Straipsnyje pristatomas 2018 m. vykdytas tyrimas, kuriame dalyvavo bendrojo ugdymo mokyklų bendruomenių atstovai – administracijos atstovai ir mokytojai, 7–12 (I–IV gimnazijos) klasių mokiniai ir jų tėvai. Tai kompleksinio tyrimo „Bendrojo ugdymo mokyklų bendruomenės mokyklos pažangos samprata, orientuojantis į Geros mokyklos koncepciją“ dalis1. Mokyklų bendruomenių, kaip svarbaus veiksnio kuriant gerą mokyklą, požiūris į mokyklos pažangai svarbias inovacijas Lietuvoje netyrinėtas. Straipsnyje keliama mokslinė problema – nepakankamai tyrinėjama kokios inovacijos, bendrojo ugdymo mokyklų bendruomenių požiūriu, yra svarbios mokyklų pažangai. Keliami probleminiai klausimai, kokios inovacijos yra svarbios mokyklų pažangai, mokyklų bendruomenių požiūriu; kokias inovacijas, kaip svarbias mokyklos pažangai, išskiria mokyklų bendruomenių skirtingų grupių atstovai? Todėl tyrimo objektas – bendrojo ugdymo mokyklų bendruomenių požiūriu svarbios inovacijos mokyklų pažangai. Tyrimo tikslas – atskleisti bendrojo ugdymo mokyklų bendruomenių požiūriu svarbias inovacijas mokyklų pažangai. Tyrimo metodai: mokslinės literatūros ir dokumentų analizė, interviu. Išanalizavus bendrojo ugdymo mokyklų administracijos, mokytojų, mokinių ir jų tėvų išskirtas mokyklos pažangai svarbias inovacijos galima išskirti į dvi kategorijas: 1) susijusias su mokyklos bendruomenės veikla; 2) susijusias su mokyklos materialinės bazės tobulinimu. Mokyklų administracijos atstovai ir mokytojai inovacijas, svarbias mokyklos pažangai, sieja su dalyvavimu projektinėje veikloje; ugdymo(si) proceso tobulinimu; mokytojų tobulinimusi; asmens pasiekimų ir pažangos vertinimo sistema; bendruomenės gebėjimu bendradarbiauti; mokyklos erdvių atnaujinimu; modernių įrenginių ir priemonių įsigijimu. Tačiau mokinių tėvai mokyklos pažangai svarbias inovacijas išskiria šias: pokyčiai ugdymo(si) proceso tobulinime; mokytojų tobulinimasis; bendradarbiaujanti bendruomenė; mokyklos erdvių atnaujinimas; modernių įrenginių ir priemonių įsigijimas. Mokiniai įvardija dar mažiau mokyklos pažangai svarbių inovacijų, tai pokyčiai ugdymo(si) proceso tobulinime; mokyklos erdvių atnaujinimas; modernių įrenginių ir priemonių įsigijimas. The article presents a quality research – a interview performed in 2018, which involved representatives of general education school management and teachers, as well as 7-12 grade gymnasium students and their parents. To analyze the interview, the content analysis was adapted, (Krippendorff, 1980, Mayring, 2000, Bitinas, Rupšienė, Žydžiūnaitė, 2008,) which allowed to make conclusions based on the analyzed text. The current study is a part of the research “T he Conception of School Community of General Education School Progress in terms of the Good School Concept”. There wear any research made which would let make prognoses how school’s communities in Lithuania (teachers, administration, parents and students) might respond to innovations, which are important for school’s progress. The article addresses the scientific problem the lack of research into what innovations, in terms of mainstream school communities, are important to school progress. The problematic questions are: what innovations, as important to the school’s progress, are distinguished by the various school community groups? How do school community members relate school innovation to school progress? This is why research object – general education school’s communities’ attitude to innovation is important to their school’s progress. After analyzing schools’ administrations’, teachers’, students’ and then parents answers about the most important and most needed innovations in schools, we can separate them to two groups 1) ones which are connected to school’s community’s involvement; 2) those which involves materialistic and financial side of school’s improvement. Representatives of schools’ administration and teachers connect innovations, which are important for school’s development with events, participation in projects, development of learning process and teaches’ qualifications growth. Also with a system to measure personal achievement and progress, community’s ability to communicate and work together, renovation of school’s space and last, but not least, administration’s willingness to Purchased new, innovative equipment. However, students, parents emphasize, that changes have to be made for school’s progress. For example, school’s communities have to work on improvement of the educational programs, process and teachers qualification. What is more, community which is ready to work together has to be formed. They agreed with a need to renovate spaces and get more modern technologies. Students also expressed their opinion on this topic and they choose renovation, changes in learning processes and technologies as their main solutions in order how to improve their school.

Straipsnyje nagrinėjamos medinės architektūros formos, jų paplitimas ir perspektyva miestuose. Aptariami Lietuvos miestuose dažniausiai sutinkami mediniai statiniai, jų ypatybės. Kitų šalių architektūros pavyzdžiai atskleidžia statybos iš medžio aspektus, kurie atitinka daugelį dabarties žmogaus egzistencinių poreikių, susijusių su aplinkos kokybe. Siekis kurti tvarią, sveiką, patogią ir racionalią antropogeninę aplinką verčia pergalvoti, ką ir kodėl naudojame šiuolaikiniams pastatams statyti. Naujieji mediniai statiniai žymi svarbias ir itin aktualias pasaulio architektūros tendencijas, kurios pastebimos ir Lietuvoje. Akivaizdus medinių statinių populiarėjimas rodo medinės architektūros atgimimą miestuose, savotišką naująjį medinės architektūros amžių. The prevalence, perspectives and forms of wooden architecture in Lithuanian cities are analyzed. The most common wooden buildings and their features are discussed. Examples of architecture in other countries reveal wooden construction aspects which respond to many needs of human existence and the quality of the environment. Aspiration to create a sustainable, healthy, comfortable, and reasonable anthropogenic environment makes us think about what we are using for construction of contemporary buildings and why. New wooden buildings demonstrate important and very actual tendencies of the world architecture which are noticeable in Lithuania too. The growth of the popularity of wooden buildings indicates the rebirth of wooden architecture in the cities, a new peculiar age of wooden architecture.

International audience; The literature on the role of intellectual capital on the development of an economy, industry or business is well established (Carnevale and Smith 2013, Lauzikas and Miliute 2017, Kavurmaci 2018, Koehorst et al. 2019, Schoff and Ito, 2019, Koehorst et al. 2019, and etc.). However, the scarcity of holistic transdisciplinary studies regarding factors/ conditions that are critical to unleash the potential of human resources, such as HR Management innovation (Gonera and Pabst 2019, Lee et al. 2019, and etc.), innovation culture (Isaacs et al. 2019, Halim et al. 2019, Sull et al. 2019, Lauzikas and Mokseckienė 2013, Lauzikas and Miliute 2019a, and etc.), creative leadership (Abdi et al. 2018, Jin et al. 2019, Collett et al. 2019, and etc.), modern technologies (Deloitte 2019, Lee et al., Kim et al. 2019, and etc.), new collaboration forms (Kane et al. 2019, Isaacs and Ancona, 2019, Lauzikas and Miliute 2019b, and etc.), social value-added (Wikhamn 2019, Marwede and Herstatt 2019, and etc.) calls for the untapped research potential in the area of Human Resource Management innovation, based on the development stage and peculiarities of cultural and social norms of an economy. The purpose of the present publication is to identify the key drivers of human capital-driven high-tech industries and understand how the Human Resource Management department could help strengthen competitive advantages of high-tech companies in South Korea and Lithuania. The research question is what Human Resource Management innovations are necessary to realign the innovation culture with a specific cultural/ social context and a corresponding economic/ business development stage in order to improve companies’ competitive position in light of digital transformation of the market. The qualitative semi structured expert interviews led to assumptions and results which explain how human capital links the culture and innovation and why the percentage of commercialized creative ideas in South Korean companies is higher than in Lithuanian companies. In spite of practical and value adding implications and recommendations to both top management and experts of Governmental policies and programs, a more extensive quantitative research should be provided in the next articles of the same series to feel better the global market trends and understand demographic characteristics that affect the organizational behaviour patterns and HRM decisions.

The article compares the process of designing and implementing EU research and innovation (R&I) strategies for smart specialisation (RIS3) in eight less developed European Union (EU) member states: Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Romania. The study additionally explores regional-national differences in governance structures and practices of the RIS3 by focusing on two regions: South Moravia and West Romania. It is argued that RIS3 processes can improve governance of the R&I systems in spite of the baseline quality of governance in the given country or region. An entrepreneurial discovery process (EDP) that is continuous and includes a broad range of actors and is closer to a multi-stakeholder approach can enable a learning trajectory and foster R&I governance. The case studies address i) whether the EDP resulted in engagement with a broad range of stakeholders, ii) whether it encouraged a process of creative co-design and iii) whether it continued into the policy implementation phase. The article offers insight into how learning can be fostered and how broader stakeholder engagement can be beneficial for improving the RIS3 policy framework.

Žemės ūkio Europos inovacijų partnerystę (angl. European Innovation Partnership in Agriculture EIP-AGRI) inicijavo Europos Komisija siekiant socialinės naudos ir bendro ūkio modernizavimo diegiant inovacijas. Skatinant bendradarbiavimą tarp mokslininkų, žemės ūkio konsultantų ir ūkininkų tikimasi pasiekti geresnių ir greitesnių rezultatų. Dar 2016 metais Lietuvoje pradėti įgyvendinti inovacijų partnerystės veiklos grupių žemės ūkyje projektai. Pagrindinė problema - kaip įvertinti inovacijos partnerystės projektų žemės ūkyje efektyvumą, kokiais rodikliais jį apibrėžti ir išmatuoti? Šiai problemai spręsti reikalinga inovacijų partnerystės efektyvumo žemės ūkyje vertinimo metodika. Šiame straipsnyje pristatoma inovacijų partnerystės žemės ūkyje efektyvumo vertinimo metodika, kurioje detalizuojami atrinkti vertinimo rodikliai, nustatytas jų reikšmingumas, sudarytos efektyvumo vertinimo rezultatų interpretavimo gairės. Sudaryta vertinimo metodika testuota panaudojant Lietuvoje veikiančių EIP grupių projektų duomenis. Inovacijų partnerystės žemės ūkyje efektyvumo vertinimo metodika aktuali tiek moksliniu tiek praktiniu požiūriu. The European Innovation Partnership in Agriculture (EIP-AGRI) was initiated by the European Commission for social benefits and the modernization of the overall economy through innovation. Better and faster results are expecting by fostering collaboration between scientists, agricultural advisors and farmers. The main problem is how to evaluate the effectiveness of innovation partnership projects in agriculture, with what indicators to define and measure it? To address this problem, a methodology for evaluating the effectiveness of innovation partnerships in agriculture has needed. This article presents the methodology of evaluation of the effectiveness of innovation partnership in agriculture, which details the selected evaluation indicators, determines their significance, and provides guidelines for the interpretation of the results of efficiency evaluation. The developed evaluation methodology has tested using the project data of EIP groups operating in Lithuania. The methodology for evaluating the effectiveness of innovation partnerships in agriculture is relevant from both a scientific and practical point of view.

The emergence of new technologies and the expansion of digitalisation have created an opportunity for e-commerce to develop. A supplier and a buyer of goods and services meet in the e-environment and solve their problem without direct contact, which is mutually beneficial. Accordingly, when it comes to globalisation, e-commerce, as a system, becomes an important topic of research in general, and, in particular, it is vital for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), since most enterprises in the European Union (EU) are SMEs. Latvia and Lithuania are EU Member States, and SMEs are dominant in these two Baltic States. The aim of the research is to identify and compare the opinions of producers/sellers and buyers on the positive contribution of e-commerce to date and the problems caused by e-commerce for both sides. The research employed data from Eurostat, OECD and the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia as well as the authors’ own data from a survey (e-commerce users: suppliers (n=112) and buyers (n=138) of goods and services) conducted in Latvia and Lithuania. An analysis of the statistical data reveals the current objective position of e-commerce in both countries. The proportion of small and medium enterprises involved in this process is increasing. At the same time, the processing of the results of the e-commerce survey enables the authors to see a subjective view of this process, which includes both positive and negative features of both the buyers and the sellers. Identifying problems and comparing the situations in the two neighbouring countries opens the way to find e-commerce development directions and reduce the problems not only economically but also geographically and ethnically, as the objective data on e-commerce are not identical for Latvia and Lithuania, even though the data are positive and only slightly different. Pojawienie się nowych technologii i rozwój cyfryzacji stworzyły okazję dla rozwoju handlu elektronicznego. Dostawca i nabywca towarów i usług spotykają się w środowisku elektronicznym i rozwiązują swoje problemy bez bezpośredniego kontaktu, przynosząc wzajemne korzyści. W UE i w krajach badanych przez niniejsze badanie MŚP stanowią większość ogółu przedsiębiorstw. W związku z tym handel elektroniczny (e-handel) jako system, w świetle globalizacji, staje się ważnym priorytetem badawczym, a ocena tego z perspektywy dostawców i nabywców jest szczególnym zadaniem niniejszego badania. W niniejszym badaniu wykorzystano dane Eurostatu, OECD i Centralnego Biura Statystycznego Łotwy, a także dane autorów z ankiety (użytkownicy handlu elektronicznego: dostawcy (n = 112) i nabywcy (n = 138) towarów i usług) przeprowadzenego na Łotwie i Litwie. Analiza danych pozwoliła stwierdzić, że pozytywne i negatywne perspektywy badanego zjawiska zostały podane zarówno przez dostawców, jak i nabywców. Z tego powodu istnieje potrzeba zmotywowania społeczeństwa jako całości i struktur zarządzania na wszystkich szczeblach, aby uzgodnić nowoczesność z tradycyjną, co jest spowodowane ekspansją handlu elektronicznego.

International audience; The present publication is centred on the key liaisons of Innovation (Kane et al. 2019, Marwede and Herstatt 2019, Kremer et al. 2019, Narayan, 2019, Lauzikas and Miliute 2017, 2019a, 2019b, and etc.) and Culture (Lauzikas and Mokseckiene 2013, Boon et al. 2019, ASUG, 2019, Clercq and Pereira 2019, and etc.) as two separate components of innovation climate aas well as the main effects of combination of these dimensions on business sustainability (Collett et al. 2019, Halim et al. 2019, Sull et al. 2019, Jin et al. 2019, and etc.). The research problem is how to acknowledge and excel in the areas, related to ‘Innovation-Culture Symbiosis’, without limiting the progress of innovation or human resource management as separate departments and not stopping a firm from strengthening its competitive advantages, driven by the combination of these dimensions. This is relevant and innovative, because nowadays a great number of efficiency and innovation-driven economies or high-tech industries face the necessity to identify, acknowledge and mitigate weaknesses in human resource or R&D performance as well as link these dimensions towards innovation culture via modern technologies, innovative managerial processes, strategic collaboration and creative leadership. The purpose of the present paper: comparing the key dimensions of ‘Innovation-Culture Symbiosis’ in high-tech firms of South Korea and Lithuania (both are education-driven countries) it is expected to illustrate the dynamics of a holistic system of innovation and culture, where these two dimensions are interdependent and form a unique equilibrium (which corresponds to a specific economic and business development stage, position in the value-chain as well as cultural and social norms of a country). Taking into account that sustainable business calls for continuous improvement of products and processes via HRM techniques, R&D, innovation and technology, the present research results are pertinent and value-adding to high-tech companies of both economies: they could help reach healthier equilibrium between innovation and culture within a specific socio-economic context, and contribute to the establishment of monitoring models which track the dynamics of innovation culture and lead to the bigger economic and social value-added. Taking into consideration the trans-disciplinary holistic nature of innovation culture, which requires a rich knowledge and experience within the present topic, the semi structured interviews with experts of Lithuanian and South Korean IT firms were conducted, the research results of the two economies were compared, and recommendations were provided for both high-tech experts and governmental policy or program developers.

Innovations play the crucial role in the economic growth in modern countries. It requires the technological progress and smart people as two main resources, needed for the actors in the national innovation system. Results of the national innovation system depend on the national innovation policy: its goals and priorities set in the agenda, policy formulation and adoption, its implementation process and its correction after the evaluation. But despite of the same stages of the public policy cycle, some countries implement the successful innovation policy (gain competitive advantage and the economic-social benefit from it) and some countries struggle (they try to catch-up other countries in the field of innovations).Lithuania as a small developed country in the EU has made a huge progress in terms of economics, social and technological advantage. However, despite of declared goals of innovation policy and the priorities in national strategies, governmental funding, promotion and support, the national progress in innovations in Lithuania still remains low. Therefore, stimulus and barriers for the successful implementation of Lithuanian innovation policy should be identified and analyzed, looking for problems and possible solutions. This paper aims to explain main theoretical implications about the successful implementation of innovation policy and to reveal how it is reflected in the case of national innovation policy in Lithuania. Scientific methods of the literature analysis, document analysis, secondary data analysis, summarizing, and interpretation are used in the research.

In the age of globalisation, implementation and commercialisation of new technologies are perceived as key elements determining competitiveness of particular countries, therefore, the growth of innovativeness is seen as the predominant direction of European Union society’s transformation into information society. The aim of the paper is to propose a procedure of measurement of innovativeness growth over time, with the Summary Innovation Index (SII) methodology as a starting point. The considered issue can be expressed by the following main question: how to measure the innovation performance dynamics for a selected group of countries (such as the EU-28, EU-15 or EU-13 countries) and for time intervals (not only for two moments of observations). This is an important inquiry since well-known innovativeness indices (SII, GII, or IOI) concentrate mainly on the provision of information about countries’ innovation performance for a specific year of observations. Due to this fact, changes occurring over longer time periods are rather neglected. The main result of the paper is a proposition of average innovativeness growth index. The index uses weights describing the employment share of a selected group of specialists (e.g.: scientists and engineers, research and development personnel) in relation to the economically active population.

IntroductionThe promotion of social innovation has been widely identified as one of the EU's priorities because it contributes to the improvement of the quality of life of citizens and national competitiveness (Dobele et al., 2015). The concept of social innovation often refers also to social media as tools affecting everyday communication. It is clear that in the contemporary world social media tools are becoming a more prominent form of communication, not only among individual consumers but also within enterprises (McKinsey Global Institute, 2012). Every day, organizations use different social media platforms, including one of the most popular tools, social networking sites (Goeman, 2013). In fact, the adoption of social networking services together with other social media platforms in different organizational contexts is considered to hold potential for value creation in such areas as internal and external communication, collaboration, knowledge sharing, etc. (Ahlqvist et al., 2008). Evidence from different researches shows that information-rich social media enabled networks have a positive effect on management sustainability: they affect work outcomes, change network structures, give economic benefits (for example, lowering transaction costs or contributing toward becoming more profitable), improve work performance (especially in information diversity and social communication) and affect productivity and job security (Wu, 2013; Zyl, 2009). Although the positive effects are undeniable for both business and public sector organizations' sustainable management, the risks and dangers are the reason to go deeper into the analysis of whether to put effort into social media adoption. Researchers have discovered risks in legal, security, privacy, intellectual property, copyright matters, misuse, waste of time and other resources, and even employees' reluctance or resistance to participate themselves (Turban et al., 2011).Almost everybody is now affected by social media (Vasko and Abrham, 2015). Usage of social media technologies affects the previously established structure of organization (for example the emergence of virtual organizations) and has led to the development of so-called internal Social Networking services or Enterprise Social Networking (hereafter ESN) tools: private social networks created for use within organizations. One leading example of this innovation is Yammer, launched in 2008. Yammer is described by the company itself as a "collaboration software and business applications [that] allow you to get connected to the right people, share information across teams and organize around projects" and which is "used by more than 200,000 companies worldwide", including DHL, Shell, Unicef UK, various universities, etc. (Yammer.com; Pinto, 2014). Lithuania is no exception: even though the concept of ESN is still very new, it was announced in October 2014 that within the website www.3erdve.lt a social network Yammer was integrated as a personal and safe platform for communication between all Lithuanian libraries (Lietuvos nacionaline biblioteka, lnb.lt).The newest research (Durkin, Lokshina, 2015) confirms that "integrated wireless and mobile communication technologies are key success factors, even if there are challenges presented by such issues as the SLA (Service Level Agreement), security, privacy, mixed mode usage and deployment, and finding the appropriate business models for profitable growth". However, despite the reasonably predictable benefits of ESN tools for communication and information sharing within organizations, the experience in a number of companies shows that such innovations are not easily adoptable. After a rapid spread across various enterprises and being adopted by most leading companies in the world, news began to appear that the actual use of ESN has not been as high as hoped and that management is struggling to make it work (Roe, 2014). Thus, a number of organizations which choose to adopt ESN tools are possibly facing an implementation failure, mostly due to a lack of sufficient knowledge about this particular type of innovation and their diffusion process. …

The knowledge age greatly shaped society’s understanding of what goes beyond the agribusiness and sharply raised the question of farmers’ responsibilities on the way they do farming in relation to the payments they receive as public support. Therefore the new rural prosperity drivers in knowledge age calls for the new principles of European Union support distribution for agriculture and rural development. The aim of this research is to explore future drivers of rural prosperity based on knowledge society measures. It is argued, that the upcoming European Union rural prosperity is guided by knowledge philosophy encompassing the nexus among ‘innovating’, ‘networking’ and ‘giving back’ to society. Original empirical data, collected in Lithuanian in 2017, explores farmers’ attitudes towards listed knowledge society measures in relation to farm size and other relevant characteristics. Research findings suggest more promising directions for agriculture and rural development that contributes better for rural prosperity in knowledge age. Keywords: Networking, innovation, social responsibility, rural community, rural prosperity, rural development policy.

Gebėjimas kurti inovacijas yra vienas svarbiausių kiekvienos šiuolaikinės organizacijos konkurencinio pranašumo šaltinių. Šiandienos aktualijų kontekste iškyla ypač reikšminga problema – lyderių vaidmuo organizuojant efektyvius žinių vadybos bei inovacijų kūrimo procesus. Nors lyderystės tema buvo analizuojama gana plačiai XX a. antrojoje pusėje, tačiau XXI a. pripažįstama, kad šio laikmečio organizacijoms reikalinga naujos kokybės lyderystė, nes organizacijos ir jų aplinka keičiasi iš esmės. Šiame straipsnyje yra analizuojami kintantys požiūriai į lyderystę ir jos vaidmenį šiuolaikinėje organizacijoje, susitelkiama į inovatyvios lyderystės sampratos ir jos raiškos ypatumų analizę, siekiant identifikuoti šio fenomeno dedamąsias ir jų sąsajas su žinių valdymo ir inovacijų kūrimo procesais. Išanalizavus reikšmingus šios temos aspektus, buvo nustatytos inovatyvios lyderystės, žinių valdymo ir inovacijų sąsajos ir suformuotas integralus teorinis inovatyvios lyderystės, žinių valdymo ir inovacijų kūrimo modelis organizacijoje. The ability to create innovations is one of the most important sources of a competitive advantage for every modern organization, region, and state. In today’s context as a particularly significant problem arises the issue of the role of leaders in organizing effective knowledge management and innovation processes. Although the topic of leadership was analyzed quite extensively in the second half of the 20th century, in the 21st century, it is recognized that organizations of this age need a new quality of leadership, as the organizations themselves and their environments are undergoing profound changes. This paper analyzes the changing approaches to leadership and its role in a modern organization, focusing on the concept of innovative leadership and its peculiarities in order to identify the components of this phenomenon and their links to knowledge management and innovation processes. After analyzing significant aspects of this topic, identified were the relationships between innovative leadership, knowledge management, and innovation performance, as well as an integral theoretical model of innovative leadership, knowledge management, and innovation performance for driving continuous innovation performance has been developed.

Globali konkurencija, nuolat greitėjantys verslo aplinkos pokyčiai daro esminį poveikį organizacijoms. Viena svarbiausių šiandieninės verslo organizacijos valdymo įvesčių, turinti įtakos jos sėkmingumui rinkoje – žinių vadyba, kuomet organizacijos konkurencinis pranašumas įgyjamas valdant vertingus retus, sunkiai atkartojamus išteklius – žinias, patirtį, gebėjimus, sukuriančius pridėtinę vertę organizacijoms. Pristatomuose moksliniuose tyrimuose, kuriuose analizuojamos žinių vadybos raiškos, stebimas žinių svarbos kuriant inovacijas akcentavimas. Organizacinio lygmens tyrimuose pabrėžiama, kad žinių valdymo procesų ir inovacijų kūrimo jungtis užtikrina organizacijoje vykdomų veiklų produktyvumą, sistemingas žinių kūrimas ir dalijimasis jomis skatina naujų produktų, paslaugų plėtojimą, gerina organizacinius procesus, padidina organizacijos konkurencingumą. Straipsnio tikslas – teoriniu konceptualiu lygmeniu atskleisti žinių vadybos procesų sąsajas su inovacijomis ir nustatyti žinių kūrimo ir dalijimosi jomis poveikį inovacijoms. After data analysis, it was concluded that knowledge management in an organization is an important factor that makes a positive contribution to the organization’s activities. Systematically organized knowledge management in an organization is ensured by the application of a knowledge management cycle, model or process. In order to gain a competitive advantage, it is important for the organization to carry out innovative activities, which is determined by consistent knowledge creation and sharing in the organization. It is important that the knowledge conversion model is closely linked to innovation. Systematic knowledge creation and sharing improves the development of new products in organizational projects, which increases the organization’s competitiveness. The results obtained using the empirical quantification method showed that knowledge creation and sharing have a positive effect on innovative behavior.

Viena iš aktualiausių pasaulio politinėje arenoje aptarinėjamų temų yra ekonominis regionų ir valstybių vystymasis bei konkurencingumas. Analizuojant valstybių ekonominio išsivystymo tyrimus pasauliniu ir Europos mastu, išryškėja, kad pagrindiniai kriterijai šalies konkurencingumui įvertinti yra inovacijos ir jų kūrimą skatinantys veiksniai. Visuotinai pripažįstama, jog organizacinės žinios ir efektyvus jų valdymas yra kertinis veiksnys, lemiantis visų tipų organizacijų inovatyvumą. Per pastaruosius 20 metų viešasis sektorius išgyveno ženklius pokyčius. Pereita nuo tradicinio biurokratinio požiūrio prie labiau vadybinio. Šio sektoriaus organizacijų veikla yra išskirtinai grįsta žiniomis, todėl žinių vadybos metodų taikymas yra priemonė, kuri padeda organizacijoms skatinti inovacijas, didinti veiklos efektyvumą. Straipsnyje, remiantis moksline literatūra, analizuojama žinių vadybos reikšmė viešojo sektoriaus inovatyvumui. One of the most relevant topics discussed in the global political arena is the economic development and the competitiveness of regions and states. In analyzing national and European research on economic development, it is evident that the main criteria for assessing the competitiveness of a country are innovation and the factors that stimulate its development. It is widely acknowledged that organizational knowledge and effective knowledge management are the cornerstone of innovation in all types of organizations. Over the past 20 years, the public sector has undergone significant changes. A switch from the traditional bureaucratic approach to a more managerial one has been noticed. The activities of organizations in this sector are exceptionally knowledge-based; therefore, the application of knowledge management methods is a tool that organizations can promote innovation with to increase operational efficiency. This article, based on scientific literature, analyzes the importance of knowledge management for innovation within the public sector.

Remiantis Lietuvoje ir užsienyje atliktais tyrimais, atsižvelgus į dabarties švietimo politikos gaires straipsnyje keliamas probleminis klausimas: kokios yra pagrindinės profesionalų rengimo inovacijos, atsižvelgiant į Europos Sąjungos švietimo politikos tendencijas. Autorėms bendradarbiaujant tarptautinėje komandoje, įgyvendinančioje Europos Sąjungos Bendrosios programos 6 projektą INCLUD–ED, atliktas tyrimas, kuris atskleidė, kad siejant profesionalų rengimą su jų darbu organizacijoje (nagrinėjamu atveju – mokykloje), galima identifikuoti kelias pagrindines inovacijas. Kadangi dabarties pasaulis nesaugus, daug jame nerimo, tai konkurencingumas tampa vienu svarbiausiu veiksniu, apibūdinančiu specialisto sėkmingą veiklą. Todėl svarbios profesionalo kompetencijos, apibūdinamos kaip jo gebėjimas adekvačiai veikti konkurencijos, įtampų pasaulyje. Atskleista, kad švietimo sistemoje siekiama suartinti kintantį veiklos pasaulį ir švietimą. Tobulinant profesionalų rengimą kalbama apie kompetencijų, studijų rezultatų svarbą (ar mokymosi pasiekimų, kaip jie vadinami, pavyzdžiui, D. Britanijoje), akcentuojama, kad būtina suprasti mokytojų ir besimokančiųjų kintančius vaidmenis. Be to, aprašoma, kad dera atsižvelgti į pokyčius modeliuojant ugdymo turinį. Ugdymo turinys kaip moduliai yra tokia inovacija, kai akcentuojami studijų rezultatai (mokymosi pasiekimai). Aiškūs ir išmatuojami studijų rezultatai (mokymosi pasiekimai) traktuojami kaip kompetencijos, kurios plėtojamos ir gilinamos mokantis konkrečiu laiko tarpu ar studijuojant konkretų ugdymo turinį. In the last decade of the 20th century, the term knowledge society started to be used as a way to convey the development of contemporary humankind. The discourse of knowledge that become actualised in activity (i.e. competence) became the most influential one. Competence was titled to be one of the major factors for competiteveness, and therefore competence started to be highly valued in organisations. Organisations nowadays are encouraged to employ more actively the "treasure within", that is, the competence of employees. In this paper we aim to identify the main innovations of aprofessional in education in the framework of contemporary educational policy trends. There are several important innovations in education of professionals, and some of these innovations are directly related to the ideas that ground Bologna (1999) and Bergen (2005) processes. The important innovations in contemporary educational system concentrate on the increase of the cohesion between the changing world of activities and education. Therefore competences, study results (or learning outcomes), the changing roles of teachers and students, and also implications for curriculum design are emphasised in reforming education of professionals. It seems that competence-based studies promote modularization of the curriculum. Modularisation of study programmes is another innovation, as the importance of clearly stated study results (learning outcomes) is emphasised. Clear and measurable study results (learning outcomes) are linked to the competencies that should be achieved in a given period of time, or (and that is more common), after a certain educational impact is provided, and certain part of curriculum covered

The article analyzes the concept of innovative architecture, which is significant in developing the anthropogenic environment, explains the structural and systemic components that form it and the relations between them. The research focuses on the Lithuanian culture and the educational system of its architecture schools as a means contributing to the development of innovative thinking skills. On this basis, it explains what advantages and disadvantages of the education system in the country reflect the present practice of innovative architecture. At the end of the article, considering the present situation, suggestions are made on how to improve the quality of the relationship between education and practice.

(ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.)IntroductionManaging human resources activity has become quite difficult as information infrastructure must be continually updated, applied to a complex of changing activities linked to the environment according to industry-specific characteristics, and collectively respond to the needs of each company. During the preparation of this research, a comprehensive analysis of scientific literature was done, however for the sake of minimizing the length of this paper, only a part was presented. Existing e-government scientific achievements as well as other research approaches that are under development are of great importance when examining the public sector (Davison, 2005; Dawes, Cook, 2007; Millard, 2013; and others).Information technology and its application in public administration processes can cause social innovation, where innovation occurs both, as something entirely new or as a new combination of existing elements. Researchers from US, European and other universities around the world (Schuler, Jackson, 2007; Strohmeier, 2007; Joseph, Ezzedeen, 2008; Thom, Ritz, 2008; Walk et al., 2014) have developed research in information technologies and their implementation for human resources management.The organization must learn rationally to direct information resources for their development, to integrate internal and external information flows and to combine the unique features of a particular company and its values with information technologies. Scientists have pointed out that (Griggs et al., 2015) human resources (HR) education is very important for successful implementation of innovations. Different opinions on research of information technologies application in human resources management are prevailing in the world of science (Analoui, 2007; Kavanagh, Thite, 2009; Bondarouk, Furtmueller, 2012; Altmann, Engberg, 2015; Katou, 2015; and others).The purpose of this paper is to investigate application of information technologies in the process of innovative human resources management at the ministry level in the Republic of Lithuania.Our research objectives were to conduct an expert evaluation (of staff from the personnel departments of the Ministries of the Republic of Lithuania) in order to determine the internal and external environment and innovation factors based on information technology, to evaluate these factors and how they affect the initiation and application of information technologies for human resources management activities.Our research methodology includes a combination of theoretical and empirical methods. A case study helps towards achieving a comprehensive, exhaustive and detailed social component study. The expert evaluations used in a case study on the implementation of information technologies for human resources management at Ministries of the Republic of Lithuania. The collection of empirical data defines that with the help of experts, information technologies (IT) used to perform different functions for professionals including their attitudes or behavior towards it, the IT installation processes for human resources management (HRM) purposes, and the problematic issues and technology-related environmental factors involved. An expert-specialists' survey was conducted from July until September 2013. Then analysis of those results carried out within the context of efficiency.This article has several practical implications-conclusions and recommendations were prepared only for the improvement of information technologies application in personnel administration offices in Ministries of the Republic of Lithuania. This paper presents only a part of the survey results. The first part of the article presents an analysis of different aspects of IT application in HRM. The second part of article presents an analysis of the efficiency of innovative methods of HRM. The third part of article explains the research methodology. The fourth part of article presents the research results. …