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CONTROLLING AND SYSTEM OF MANAGEMENT

Dušan BARAN University of Central Europe in Skalica, Slovak Republic

Phone +421911444517, e-mail: [email protected] Abstract. In defining the term management it is possible to speak about the complex of mutually inte-

grated managerial activities proceeding by various methods and forms as well as through adequate man-agement instruments. It means that the above-indicated complex of activities constitutes the essence of the management system. Although it is true that this system can have special features given by the particular conditions in which it operates, there must exist, at the same time, also a part of the complex which is gener-ally valid for any management system. The company under pressure of the competition is obliged to perma-nently innovate its internal processes and the management system and thus react to current situations by ful-filling the new managerial functions. Controlling is up-to-date subsystem of managing the company, which supports these functions.

Key-words: management system, controlling, activators of management, basic algorithm of manage-

ment, implementation, transformation process

Introduction The concept of controlling has been known in West European countries and the US for centuries. The

functions of controlling have changed through time and still differ. The functions of controlling extended and now controlling provides information necessary for long-term development of an organization, but some-times term controlling is still used to define act of checking the errors and to taking the corrective action so that deviation from standards are minimized and stated goals of the organization are achieved in desired manner. Controlling is one of the factors influencing profitability of the company (Bercovitz and Mitchell, 2007) and efficiency of this function helps to keep competitiveness. Controllers work as an intermediary and interact with higher level managers and with bottom level subjects and provides them with necessary infor-mation. Controlling is essential for providing support to management and is involved in every management procedures. In many organizations controlling is still understood as part of accounting and is limited with analysis of the past state (Smic, 2010; Spac and Mosnja-Skare, 2009). Though, the place of controlling in the management system should be clarified. The main problem is how to define controlling and it’s place in management system. The object is controlling in management system. The aim is to define controlling place in the management system.

The objectives of the article are as follows: •to reveal the main theoretical aspects of controlling theory; •to identify basic activators of the management system; •to discover the relation between company’s management system activators and controlling. Methods of research: comparative analysis of scientific literature, synthesis, deduction, induction,

graphic methods. 1. Theoretical aspects of controlling The creation and development of controlling stemmed from the characteristics and practical needs of

business management, and today it represents one of the most important functions in the process of solving specific problems related to companies’ internal and external adjustment to changes (Simic, 2010). Control-ling is a functional concept of management having the role of coordinating the planning, control and infor-mation in the direction of obtaining the planned results (Chirila, 2009). Some authors define controlling as a "functional management instrument that supports the entrepreneurial process of leading and decisions through defined analysis and presentation of information" (Preisler and Peemoller 1990, p. 16). Controlling can be defined as a management support that provides relevant knowledge about important facts and meth-ods (Spac and Mosnija-Skare, 2009). Other scientists define controlling as a set of qualitative and quantita-tive tools introduced to control the coordination of information in order to support decision processes

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(Tulvinschi, 2010). Controlling is not control, as many interpret it, but a function within a company, whose goal is to extend expert help to management, towards the goal of making the most quality (correct and timely) business decisions (Simic, 2010). Controlling ensures relevant knowledge for making decisions. Ac-cording to the International Group of Controlling created a controller model:

• Controllers ensure the transparency of business results, finance, processes and strategy and thus con-tribute to higher economic effectiveness.

• Controllers co-ordinate sub-targets and related plans in a holistic way and organize a reporting system that is future-oriented and covers the enterprise as a whole.

• Controllers moderate and design the controlling process of defining goals, planning and management control so that every decision maker can act in accordance with agreed upon objectives.

• Controllers provide managers with all relevant controlling information. Though the functions of controlling has changed through time Controlling function during the 1950s was associated with accounting and registering (Simic, 2010).

Controlling had its inward orientation and was fulfilling the function of documentation, control, and ration-alization of operations, being oriented toward the past, order and preciseness. During the 1960s, when the business environment was characterized by limited dynamism, the controller functioned as a navigator, set-ting the direction and being oriented toward immediate activities. During the 1990s, the business environ-ment became extremely dynamic, and the controller began to appear as an innovator, actively participating in the problem-solving process and being oriented toward strategizing for the future (during the 1990s, compa-nies were constantly exposed to problems and events, the dynamics and complexity of changes were quite high, while information from the environment was quite uncertain and forecasts less and less useful). The main task of controlling was the prediction of future changes in order to keep the company prepared before they actually happen (Spac and Mosnija-Skare, 2009). It can be said that the controller is becoming a highly specialized associate who supports company management. Though main information used in controlling comes from accounting, controlling overwhelm such functions as planning, management, control, informa-tion (Smic, 2010). The functions of controllers expanded in the course of time.

As we can see controlling is strictly related to management. Difference between manager and controller should be distinguished. While their activities and goals are analogous, the ways in which they achieve them are different: the manager is responsible for defining goals, results, and company success, while the control-ler is, among other things, responsible for their transparency, i.e. for building and using economic instru-ments for success (Simic, 2010).

Fig 1. Harmonization of management subsystems (Bedenik, 2004) We cannot view controlling solely as a part of the management system, since it also plays a very impor-

tant role as an auxiliary instrument that is available to management for attaining company goals. Controlling holds the central position within the system of management, being tasked with the coordination and integra-tion of the other management sub-systems, which means that it is responsible for shaping and linking the company’s value systems, as well as control, information, organization and human potential management (Bedenik, 2004).


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To sum up, controllers work as intermediaries between top managers and bottom subjects, they dispose knowledge, which is relevant for planning and also this information is useful for other workers of the com-pany. They ensure the transparency and timeliness of information, which is becoming more important in or-der to compete in globalized world.

2. Basic activators of the management system The activators of the management system are inevitable, complex-forming managerial components act-

ing through their mutual activity between the managerial subjects and controlled objects in such a way to fulfil the outlined goals the most effectively. The basic activators of the management system are shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2. Basic activators of the management system (Baran, 2008) From the scheme it follows that there are at least six crucial activators that must be counted on in the

management system. They are: • disposition functions of the management (outlined target behaviour of the system with the subse-

quent possibility of corrections in the development), • procedural functions of the management (ensuring the transformation process within the entrepre-

neurial subject), • managerial algorithm (applying the procedure to achieve, for example, the planning document, etc.), • managerial components (ensuring managerial activities, determination of suitable methods, instru-

ments, means and forms of management), • hierarchization of managerial views (determination of the basic classification of individual manage-

rial recommendations and attitudes), • hierarchization of managerial levels (determination of managerial rights and responsibilities within

individual management levels in the company). Subsequently, it is possible to indicate some common features and properties of the relevant activators

of the management system when: • on applying the management system the significance of individual activators is equivalent and

equally important, • each activator represents the integrated management subsystem, • achievement of the balanced mutual concurrence of all six activators gives guarantee for the ade-

quate result of the management system,

Management

Management algorithm

Procedural funcctions Hierarchization

of managerial views

Hierarchization of managerial levels

Dispozition functions

Managerial Components


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• among individual activators the dialectic relations can exist, which, however, must finally lead to the higher synergetic effect of the management system,

• establishment of the-above mentioned six activators does not prevent the possibility to use other po-tential activators if it is for the benefit of the management system,

• although in most cases also the necessary subjective creative approach (according to the particular market conditions) is possible, the basic principles during the formation and application are given by the verified theoretical knowledge,

• determination of the content of individual activators should have the dynamic character and promptly react to changeable market conditions,

• total number of activators is therefore rather higher than lower to achieve their more objective action on the whole management system or to preserve besides their concurrence also the higher mutual control, or to maintain the democratic managerial principle, etc.

The interpretation of the upper part of the hexagon (Fig. 2) shows that the first place occupies “the ma-nagerial algorithm”, which means that the primary role is to define the basic objective of an entrepreneur or a controller.

“Procedural functions” or the necessity to specify inputs into the company, its transformational (produc-tional) orientation and outputs from the company are shown on the second place.

“The hierarchization of managerial views”, which is associated with the designation of the company´s short- and long-term intentions (plans), holds the third place.

The fourth place is occupied by “managerial components” determining methods, forms, instruments and means used for the goal achievement.

On the fifth place are indicated “the disposition functions” which should consider not only planning but also the implementation and control of the whole management process. .

“The hierarchization of managerial levels” is placed on the last sixth place, which means that the mana-gerial process cannot proceed only at the top level, but also at the middle and basic level.

In the next interpretation one can seek and find some connections among individual activators or appro-ach the couples facing each other.

Managerial algorithm and components The closer connection is expressed by the managerial algorithm which places the determination of the

goal as a fundamental managerial activity on the first place and immediately on the second place it gives the room for the presentation of methods and procedures used for achieving the above-indicated goal. Just this step is associated with managerial components because they dispose of these methods and procedures.

Procedural and disposition functions In both cases the matter in question is the manifestation of management functions. In the first case, pro-

cedural functions associated with the functioning of the company and with its transformation process are considered. Disposition functions demonstrate the system´s essence of management and determine those functions, without which the management process cannot be implemented. The disposition functions are an integral part of each procedural function (e.g. supply, production and sales plans), which emphasizes their mutual interconnection and gives the possibility to understand and judge the whole company´s management system objectively.

Hierarchization of managerial views and levels The hierarchization of managerial approaches is associated with the preparation of various binding

(plans) or less binding (ideas) documents and with their mutual interconnection and interrelation viewed from the aspect of time and extent, or from the aspect of the managerial significance, which is very closely related to the hierarchization of levels. In other words, there can exist the strategic plan for the top manage-rial level which can be elaborated, if it is necessary, also for lower managerial levels.

Disposition functions of management These functions are classified according to the character of the management process. Proceeding from

the various theoretical sources the most suitable classification can be considered: planning, implementation and control.

The above-indicated three so-called disposition functions of management proceed from five functions which were defined by Henry Fayol within his “correct management”. The author is one of the significant creators of the scientific management (planning, organizing, commanding, co-ordinating, controlling).

On comparing the management process activities according to their role and character it is obvious that the first (planning) and the last activity (controlling) are from the cybernetic point of view irreplaceable be-cause they ensure the feed-back functioning in the system (company). During the implementation, the “inter-


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nal functions” (organizing, commanding, co-ordinating) or other ones – which are indicated by various au-thors – are included. .

Procedural functions of management As was mentioned earlier and as it follows from the title, procedural functions are associated with the

transformation process and with its ensuring. The scope of these functions ranges from the minimum consis-ting of four basic functions - personnel, financial, productional and commercial - (without which the trans-formation process cannot be ensured) up to the essentially higher number given by the necessity arising from the market reality, or given by the specific subjective view of the entrepreneurial unit.

In the case of four basic functions the necessity of identical departments or other managerial sections in the company is understandable. In the essence of the basic functions the aim of enterprising is hidden. It is undeniable that the entrepreneurial subject cannot exist without people (personnel function). The subject ne-eds financial means to acquire the business authorization, accomplish the entrepreneurial intention, or achie-ve the continuous functioning (financial function); it should have the defined object of business (productio-nal function) and at last it should produce and realize the product (product or service) in the market (com-mercial function) because otherwise the transformation process would lose its sense.

In the case of the necessity it is possible to perform besides four basic functions also other ones in ful-filling the rest of functional assignments. Particularly, the following functions can come into account: tech-nical, investment, research, transport, supply, etc.

Basic algorithm of management As was indicated in the previous text, the emphasis is laid on the linkage between the managerial algo-

rithm and managerial components. Simultaneously, it is important to realize the interconnection with disposi-tion functions (and in fact also with the rest of activators).

It is possible to state that the planning function incorporates the first three steps, while the implementa-tion function involves the fourth step and the controlling function – the fifth step (Fig. 3). Also from this as-pect the importance of planning in the management (its emphasized extent) and the necessity of the concur-rence of control as part of the plan and of the action of the controlling function in practice (which is an acti-vity at all three management levels) or of the independent control (e.g. by means of an audit, etc.) must be considered if the entrepreneurial subject adheres to the sense of an objective assessment and to the system´s essence of the management.

Each of five steps demonstrates the interrelated managerial movement which, however, does not have, at a large extent, the straight-line development. In this movement various mistakes and failures take place and enforce some corrective steps.

No Algorithm of management Disposition function 1 Determination of the goal 2 Determination of methods and procedures 3 Ensuring of sources of energy and material

Commodities

Planning

4 Achievement of the goal Implementation 5 Achievement of the goal Controlling

Fig. 3. The correlation of disposition functions and of the managerial algorithm (Baran, 2008)

Basic components of management The basic managerial components applied in the managerial process involve: methods, instruments,

means and forms of management. In any kind of the managerial activity (Fig. 4) the number of combinations can be chosen according to the procedure agreed upon in advance, or according to the current need to realize

the process of planning. The methods of management are the way of accomplishing the managerial activities according to cer-

tain methods of the rational, conscious, standardized and verified character. The instruments of management are thought to be the intangible means which serve for regulating and

influencing the managerial activities. The instruments are employed by the managerial subject during its managerial action.


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Fig. 4. Basic components of the management system (Baran, 2008) The means of management represent the tangible means, without which the managerial activities could

not be realized, or the requested level could not be achieved. The forms of management are connected mainly with the role of the management subject and with the

implementation of the managerial process; they depend on the particular situation existing in the perform-ance of managerial procedures.

All these management system components should have simple and easy measureable indicators, which let to identify the state of each element in every moment of time.

Conclusions Controlling holds the central position within the system of management, being tasked with the coordina-

tion and integration of the other management sub-systems, which means that it is responsible for shaping and linking the company’s value systems, as well as control, information, organization and human potential ma-nagement. It collects information, which lets to evaluate the goals of organization.

Management system should involve at least six activators, who interact between the managerial subjects and controlled objects and help to reach organization’s goals most efficiently. Activators support different fields of management system. Thiese fields can form hierarchical structure acording to their importance in organization. Interconections of different activators was distinguised, which helped to better understand im-portance of controlling.

Summary The management is aimed at objectives. The comparison of the plan and reality as well as the subse-

quent analysis of deviations provides important information for the management. However, this feed-back helps only to register the state which already occurred and the emergence of which could be prevented only in the past. Since the knowledge of what was necessary to do in the past cannot be in most cases applied to remove the deviations, controlling must not linger on the analysis of the past state. The analysis should serve only as a basis for the preparation of measures for the future period. Hence controlling strives for the feed-forward.

Methods of management

Instruments of management

Means of management

Forms of management

Managerial activities


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References

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East European Journal of Economics and Business, April 2009, v. 4, iss. 1, pp. 63-80 10. Simic S. Controlling and it’s application in small and middle enterprises in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Megatrend

Review; 2010, Vol. 7 Issue 1, p309-329, 21p 11. Bedenik N. O. : Kontroling – Abeceda poslovnog uspjeha, Školska knjiga, Zagreb, 2004, p. 230. 12. Preisler, P. R., and Peemoller, E. K.. Controlling. Landsbert/Lech: Moderne Industrie, 1990. 13. Tulvinschi M. Relevant Costs for Decision in an Effective Controlling System. Theoretical and Applied Economics

Volume XVII 2010, No. 5(546), p. 49-58 14. Chirila E. Increase of performance through integration of the controlling in the management system of the enterpri-

se. Annals of the University of Oradea, Economic Science Series; 2009, Vol. 18 Issue 3, p122-125 15. Bercovitz J. and Mitchell W. When is more better? The impact of bussines scale and scope on long term bussines

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EKONOMINĖS POLITIKOS VEIKSNIŲ POVEIKIS SMULKAUS IR VIDUTINIO VERSLO PLĖTRAI

Tatjana BILEVIČIENĖ Mykolo Romerio universitetas, Ateities 20, Vilnius, Lietuva

Telefonas (8 5) 2714733, elektroninis paštas [email protected]

Eglė BILEVIČIŪTĖ Mykolo Romerio universitetas, Ateities 20, Vilnius, Lietuva Telefonas (8 5) 2714545, elektoninis paštas [email protected]

Anotacija. Ekonomikos veiksnių rodikliai apibūdina valstybės ekonominę situaciją. Ekonomikos veiks-nių rodyklių analizė suteikia galimybę ne tik įvertinti šalies ekonominį lygį, bet ir nustatyti šių veiksnių ryšį su darbo rinkos būkle, smulkaus ir vidutinio verslo plėtra. Užimtumo lygio didinimas yra veiksmingiausia ekonomikos augimą ir socialinės įtraukties ekonomiką skatinanti priemonė. Efektyviam darbo rinkos funk-cionavimui įtakos turi daug vidinių ir išorinių veiksnių. Svarbus išoriniai veiksniai – tai ekonominiai poky-čiai. Vienas iš svarbiausių ekonominės politikos uždavinių yra smulkaus ir vidutinio verslo plėtra. Smulkios ir vidutinės įmonės turi didelę įtaką ekonomikos plėtrai, jos yra pagrindinis naujų darbo vietų kūrėjas, užim-tumą skatinantis veiksnys. Straipsnyje pateikiami Lietuvos ekonomikos tam tikrų veiksnių statistinės duome-nų analizės rezultatai, nustatomas ekonomikos rodiklių tarpusavio ryšys.

Raktiniai žodžiai: darbo rinka, ekonomikos rodikliai, smulkus ir vidutinis verslas, tiesioginės užsienio

investicijos, nedarbas. Įvadas Socialiniai procesai neatskiriami nuo ekonominių pokyčių, jie veikia vienas kitą. Nuo 2011 metų Lisa-

bonos strategiją pakeičia Europa 2020 – tai Europos Sąjungos (ES) ekonomikos augimo strategija, kurią už-sibrėžta įgyvendinti iki 2020 m. Europa 2020 strategijoje numatyti penki pagrindiniai tikslai užimtumo, ino-vacijų, švietimo, socialinės įtraukties, klimato ir energetikos srityse1. Nauja strategija dar kartą parodė, kad ES prioritetas teikiamas socialinei politikai, darbui ir užimtumui, žmogiškųjų išteklių plėtrai.

Ekonomika – tai atvira sistema. Subjektų ekonominiai poreikiai yra bet kurios ekonominės veiklos pa-grindas. Ekonominiai poreikiai transformuojasi į ekonominius interesus, kurie pasireiškia kaip specifiniai ūkinės veiklos motyvai. Valstybės gerovė priklauso nuo jos ekonominės ir darbo rinkos politikos, nuo gebė-jimo užtikrinti gyventojų pajamas. Užimtumo lygio didinimas yra veiksmingiausia ekonomikos augimą ir socialinės įtraukties ekonomiką skatinanti priemonė2.

Vienas iš svarbiausių ekonominės politikos uždavinių yra smulkaus ir vidutinio verslo plėtra. Smulkios ir vidutinės įmonės turi didelę įtaką ekonomikos plėtrai, jos yra pagrindinis naujų darbo vietų kūrėjas, užim-tumą skatinantis veiksnys. Pagrindiniai smulkaus ir vidutinio verslo skatinimo uždaviniai sutampa su akty-viosios darbo rinkos politikos uždaviniais: savarankiško užimtumo skatinimu, nedarbo lygio struktūrinių ir teritorinių skirtumų, paklausos ir pasiūlos deformacijos stabdymu. Visų šių problemų sprendimas, o ypač verslumo ugdymas, itin aktualus Lietuvos gyventojams.

Ekonomikos veiksnių rodikliai apibūdina valstybės ekonominę situaciją. Jeigu valstybės ekonominiai rodikliai yra geri, tuomet valstybėje sudarytos palankios sąlygos verslui. Ekonomikos veiksnių rodyklių ana-lizė suteikia galimybę ne tik įvertinti šalies ekonominį lygį, bet ir nustatyti šių veiksnių ryšį su darbo rinkos būkle, smulkaus ir vidutinio verslo plėtra. Šių ryšių nustatymui autorės pasirinko antrinių statistikos duome-nų, pateiktų Lietuvos Statistikos departamento portale www.stat.gov.lt, koreliacinę ir regresinę analizė. Lie-tuvos statistinių duomenų analizė suteikė galimybę įvertinti atskirų rodiklių tarpusavio ryšių stiprumą.

1 European Commission. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Eco-nomic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. A resource-efficient Europe – Flagship initiative under the Europe 2020 Strategy. COM(2011) 21 final.

2 Rudzkienė, V., Burinskienė, M. Assessment of Transformation Processes in The Complex Socio-Economic System of Transi-tion Period. Intelektinė Ekonomika – Intellectual Economics. 2007 (1): 74-81.


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1. Ekonominės politikos vertinimo rodikliai Ekonominė politika, vertindama ekonominius reiškinius ir taikydama įvairias Vyriausybės ekonomines

priemones, remiasi makroekonomikos rodikliais. Dažniausiai taikomi rodikliai: bendras vidaus produktas (BVP), BVP pokytis, tiesioginės užsienio investicijos (TUI), nedarbas, eksportas, importas. Bendras vidaus produktas yra svarbiausias makroekonominis rodiklis atspindintis valstybės ūkio augimą. BVP nusako visos ekonomikos sukuriamą vertę, dydį ir aktyvumą. Į šį rodiklį suvedami visi kiti makroekonominiai rodikliai.

Nedarbas šalies mastu pradeda didėti tuomet kai daugelis įmonių pradeda susidurti su finansiniais sun-kumais. Jeigu nedarbo lygis šalies mastu tendencingai kyla, vadinasi daugelis įmonių turi finansinių sunku-mų, sukuriama mažesnė pridėtinė vertė, todėl daugelio kompanijų finansiniai rezultatai prastėja. Nedarbo lygis ir BVP yra glaudžiai susiję rodikliai.

Tiesioginės užsienio investicijos (TUI) yra tiesioginiai kapitalo srautai į šalį, kurie padeda suformuoti il-galaikius santykius tarp tiesioginio užsienio investuotojo ir įmonės bei reikšmingą tos įmonės valdymui įta-kos laipsnį. TUI skatina šalies ekonomikos augimą, naujų darbo vietų kūrimą. Pagrindinis Lietuvos makroe-konomikos rodiklių šaltinis – Lietuvos Statistikos departamento portalas www.stat.gov.lt.

2. Ekonomikos veiksnių įtaka Lietuvos darbo rinkai Europos socialinį modelį galima apibrėžti kaip ES ir valstybių narių teisinių normų rinkinį ir teisines

priemones, įgyvendinamas skatinant nuoseklią ir visapusišką socialinę politiką ES3. Darbas yra ne vien eko-nomikos augimo veiksnys, bet ir žmonių pajamų, jo socialinės padėties bei pasitenkinimo savimi pagrindas. Todėl nedarbo lygis yra vienas iš pagrindinių šalies ekonominės būklės rodiklių. Lietuvos 2007–2013 metų Europos Sąjungos struktūrinės paramos panaudojimo strategijoje4 teigiama, kad svarbu Lietuvos ūkyje su-kurti kuo daugiau naujų geresnių darbo vietų. Tokių darbo vietų skaičiaus didėjimas leistų sukurti didesnę pridėtinę vertę Lietuvos ekonomikoje bei stabdyti kvalifikuotos darbo jėgos nutekėjimą į užsienį. Tačiau, analizuojant Lietuvos darbo biržoje įregistruotų bedarbių rodiklių dinamika, galima pastebėti nuolatinį be-darbių skaičiaus augimą nuo 2008 m. Tai rodo, kad reikia siekti efektyvesnio užimtumo rėmimo priemonių įgyvendinimo5.

Analizuodama gyventojų užimtumą Daiva Beržinskienė nustatė, kad darbo rinka yra atvira sistema, vei-kiama ekonominių, socialinių, politinių jėgų. Efektyviam jos funkcionavimui įtakos turi daug vidinių ir išo-rinių veiksnių6. Darbo jėga – vienas iš ekonomikos augimo veiksnių. Iš kitos pusės, ekonomikos augimo po-kyčiai neišvengiamai daro poveikį darbo rinkai. Kompleksiškai įvertinti situacija darbo rinkoje, aprėpiant visus jos segmentus, yra sudėtinga7.

Nedarbo sąvoką galima apibūdinti kaip būklę, kai visuminių išlaidų apimtis yra per maža, kad būtų ga-lima pasiekti visiško užimtumo būseną, todėl tokiu atveju valstybė privalo taip pat papildyti privačias išlai-das, kad visuminės išlaidos (privačių ir valstybinių išlaidų suma) būtų pakankamos, siekiant užtikrinti visiško užimtumo būseną ekonomikoje8. Nedarbo ir užimtumo lygis kiekvienoje šalyje labai priklauso nuo tos šalies užimtumo politikos, kurios tikslas – formuoti racionalią gyventojų užimtumo struktūrą, didinti darbo ekono-minį ir socialinį efektyvumą9. Rengiant užimtumo programą konkrečioje šalyje, pirmiausia būtina įvertinti tos šalies darbo rinkos situaciją ir jos kitimo tendencijas bei bendrą ekonominę situaciją. Užimtumo politika negali būti atskirta nuo šalies ekonominės politikos.

Tarptautinėje praktikoje priimta ekonomikos augimą vertinti bendrojo vidaus produkto (BVP) didėjimo tempu. Analizuojant Lietuvos BVP ir bedarbių skaičiaus dinamiką (1 pav.) galima pastebėti šių rodiklių vi-dutinį neigiamą ryšį (Pirsono koreliacijos koeficientas r = – 0,69, p = 0,0000). Dar stipresnį neigiamą ryšį galima nustatyti tarp BVP ir bedarbių skaičiaus pokyčių (r = – 0,93, p = 0,0000). Neigiamas ryšys tarp rea-liojo bendrojo vidaus produkto ir nedarbo lygio pokyčių plačiai žinomas kaip Okuno dėsnis10. Šis dėsnis

3 Melnikas B., 2010. Sustainable Development and Creation of The Knowledge Economy: The New Theoretical Approach, Ūkio technologinis ir ekonominis vystymas – Technological and Economic Development of Economy 16(3): 516–540.

4 Lietuvos 2007–2013 metų Europos Sąjungos struktūrinės paramos panaudojimo strategija. [online] [accessed 15 October 2010]. Available from Internet: <http://www.esparama.lt/2007-2013/lt>.

5 Martinkus, B., et al. Changes of Employment through the Segmentation of Labour Market in the Baltic States. Engineering Economics. 2009 (3): 41–48.

6 Beržinskienė, D. Gyventojų užimtumas ir jo plėtros modeliai. Daktaro disertacijos santrauka. Kaunas, 2005. 7 Beržinskienė, D. Presumptions for the Development of Labour Market Differences in a Homogeneous Group of Countries.

Engineering Economics. 2006, 5 (50): 26–32. 8 Rakauskienė, O.G., (2006). Valstybės ekonominė politika. Vilnius: Mykolo Riomerio universitetas. 9 Simonavičienė, A., Užkurytė, L. Pokyčiai darbo rinkoje ekonominio nuosmukio metu: Lietuvos atvejis. Economics & Mana-

gement. 2009, 14: 940–946. 10 Knotek, E.S. How useful Okun‘s law? Economic Review. 2007, 92(4): 73–103.


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svarbus tiek teoriniu, tiek praktiniu požiūriu. Ekonomikos nuosmukis iššaukia nedarbo didėjimą, o spartaus ekonomikos augimo laikotarpiui būdingas mažas nedarbo lygis. Šis ryšys yra abipusis. Kai bendrasis nedar-bo lygis itin aukštas, viršijantis natūralųjį nedarbo lygį, šalyje nepagaminamas potencialusis nacionalinis produktas. Mažėjantis nedarbas reiškia, kad šalyje geriau išnaudojamas vienas iš gamybos veiksnių – darbas, o tai skatina prekių ir paslaugų gamybą šalyje11. Okuno dėsnio įvertinimui parastai naudojama regresinė ana-lizė (žr. 1 pav.).

1 pav. Lietuvos BVP ir bedarbių skaičiaus dinamika (Šaltinis: Lietuvos statistikos departamentas)

Pastaruoju metu aktyvios darbo rinkos politikos (ADRP) priemonės vis dažniau taikomos siekiant pla-

tesnių makroekonominių, užimtumo bei socialinės politikos tikslų. Mokslinėje literatūroje12 pažymima, jog aktyvios darbo rinkos politikos priemonės turi apimti visą tikslų įvairovę. Tai yra: darbo vietų kūrimas, darbo vietų perskirstymas, įgūdžių įgijimas ir žmogiškojo kapitalo stiprinimas, elgsenos (nuostatų) pokyčiai, įvei-kiantys ieškančiųjų darbo nedrąsumą ir susvetimėjimą, iš darbo gaunamų pajamų didinimas, platesni mak-roekonominiai tikslai, tokie kaip potencialios darbo jėgos pasiūlos didinimas, struktūrinio nedarbo mažini-mas. BVP ir įtrauktų į ADRP priemonių stiprus neigiamas ryšys (r = – 0,85, p = 0,0000) rodo būtinumą stip-rinti ADRP mažėjant gamybai.

Didėjant pasaulio ekonomikos globalizacijos bei internacionalizacijos laipsniui vis svarbesnis tampa tie-sioginių užsienio investicijų (TUI) klausimas. Šalys, pritraukiančios daugiau užsienio kapitalo, vertinamos geriau nei šalys, kuriose TUI yra mažos. TUI skatina šalies ekonomikos augimą, daro didelį teigiamą netie-sioginį poveikį šalies ekonomikai: perimamos pažangios technologijos, vadybos patirtis13. Tiesioginės užsie-nio investicijos (TUI) yra viena iš sąlygų kuriant naujas darbo vietas. Atlikta TUI ir užimtumo lygio korelia-cinė analizė nustatė šių veiksnių stiprų teigiamą ryšį (r = 0,75, p = 0,0000) ir parodė, kad augančios investi-cijos sąlygoja užimtų gyventojų skaičiaus augimą (2 pav.).

11 Laskienė, D. Nedarbo lygio ir gamybos augimo ryšys: Lietuvos atvejis. Economics & Management. 2009, 14: 857–862. 12 Moskvina, J. Aktyvios darbo rinkos politikos priemonių vertinimas. Probleminiai klausimai, Filosofija. Sociologija. 2008,

19(4): 1–9. 13 Miškinis, A., Lukoševičiūtė, E. Tiesioginės užsienio investicijos: patirtis Vidurio ir Rytų Europos šalyse. Public Administra-

tion. 2009, 2(22): 42–54.

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2 pav. BVP ryšys su ADRP ir tiesioginėmis užsienio investicijomis (Šaltinis: Lietuvos statistikos departamentas)

3. Smulkus ir vidutinis verslo Lietuvoje plėtros rodikliai Smulkus ir vidutinis verslas - vienas iš svarbiausių ekonomikos augimo veiksnių, turintis esminį poveikį

bendrai Lietuvos ūkio raidai, naujų darbo vietų kūrimui ir socialiniam stabilumui. J. Worthington ir C. Brit-ton14 verslo sąlygas apibudinančius veiksnius skirsto pagal jų prigimtį į operatyviuosius (darančius įtaka konkrečiai įmonei konkrečioje srityje) ir i bendruosius (darančius įtaka visoms įmonėms nagrinėjamo regio-no mastu). Pastebima, kad socialinė aplinka ir darbo rinka figūruoja kaip verslo aplinkos veiksniai.

Verslo politikos prioritetai tiek Europos Sąjungos, tiek nacionaliniu lygmeniu yra verslumo ir įgūdžių skatinimas. Vienas pagrindinių ekonomikos augimo veiksnių yra smulkaus ir vidutinio verslo (SVV) įmonių veiklos plėtra. Smulkios ir vidutinės įmonės – tai pati mobiliausia, nuolat besikeičianti įmonių grupė, kurios egzistavimas ir ekonominė būklė yra viena iš esminių rinkos santykiais pagrįstos ekonomikos komponenčių, turinti lemiamą poveikį bendram ekonominiam augimui ir socialiniam stabilumui.

Analizuodami ES ir kitų išsivysčiusių šalių patirtį galima pastebėti, kad rinkos ekonomikos konkuren-cingumą bei augimą didžia dalimi lemia smulkaus ir vidutinio verslo (SVV) plėtra. Šis ūkio sektorius grei-čiausiai pajunta rinkos paklausos ir pasiūlos pokyčius, prisitaiko prie jų, sukuria naujas darbo vietas tose veiklose, kurių produktai ir paslaugos konkrečiu laikotarpiu turi didžiausią paklausą. Beveik 99,8 proc. visų ES įmonių sudaro įmonės, kuriose dirba iki 250 darbuotojų. Šios įmonės yra įdarbinusios du trečdalius visų ES dirbančiųjų ir sukuria daugiau nei pusę pridėtinės vertės (57,3 proc.)15. Lietuvos įmonių struktūra pagal darbuotojų skaičių yra panaši į ES įmonių struktūrą. Veikiančių mažų ir vidutinių įmonių ir BVP dinamikos analizė nustatė šių rodiklių vidutinę teigiamą koreliaciją (r = 0,66, p = 0,0000) (3 pav.). Tai rodo teigiama SVV poveikį ekonomikos augimui.

Smulkus ir vidutinis verslas – neatsiejama kiekvienos šalies ekonomikos dalis. Tai vienas iš svarbiausių ekonomikos augimo veiksnių, turintis esminį poveikį bendrai Lietuvos ūkio raidai, naujų darbo vietų kūrimui ir socialiniam stabilumui. Smulkios ir vidutinės įmonės – dinamiškiausia, nuolat besikeičianti įmonių grupė, vidurinė ūkio sandaros grandis, turinti lemiamą įtaką ekonominiam augimui ir socialinių santykių stabilu-mui16. Smulkiojo ir vidutinio verslo plėtotės skatinimas yra vienas iš svarbiausiu Lietuvos Respublikos Vy-riausybės ekonominės politikos uždaviniu.

14 Worthington, J., Britton, C. 2006. The Business Environment. Pearson Education Limited, UK. 15 Lietuvos Republikos valstybės kontrolė. Smulkiojo ir vidutinio verslo plėtra. 2010. Valstybinio audito ataskaita. Nr. VA-P-

20-12-10. [online] [accessed 20 October 2010]. Available from Internet: <www.vkontrole.lt>. 16 Bartkus, E. V. Smulkaus ir vidutinio verslo plėtros prognozės Lietuvoje ekonominės krizės pradžioje. Economics and Mana-

gement. 2010, 15: 390–396.

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3 pav. Mažų ir vidutinių įmonių skaičiaus ryšys su BVP ir gyventojų užimtumu (Šaltinis: Lietuvos statistikos departamentas)

Gyventojų užimtumo ir įregistruotų mažų ir vidutinių įmonių skaičiaus dinamikos analizė rodo šių ro-

diklių vidutinę teigiamą koreliaciją (r = 0,68, p = 0,0000) (žr. 3 pav.). Tai patvirtina SVV plėtros gyventojų užimtumui teigiamą poveikį.

Visame pasaulyje nepaliaujamai didėja tiesioginių užsienio investicijų (TUI) srautai. Nemažai smulkaus ir vidutinio verslo įmonių, atstovaujančių įvairioms verslo sritims – tekstilei, statybai, prekybai – bando vys-tyti verslą Lietuvoje17. Tai patvirtina Lietuvos įregistruotų mažų ir vidutinių įmonių skaičiaus ir TUI dinami-kos analizė (žr. 4 pav.). Galima pastebėti šių rodiklių stiprų teigiamą ryšį (r = 0,74, p = 0,0000).

4 pav. Įregistruotų mažų ir vidutinių įmonių skaičiaus ryšys su TUI ir vartojimo prekių ir paslaugų pokyčiais (Šaltinis: Lietuvos statistikos departamentas)

17 Amdam, R. P., et al. FDI and the Transformation from Industry to Service Society in Emerging Economies: A Lithuanian -

Nordic Perspective. Engineering Economics. 2007, 1 (51): 22–28.

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Kaip rodo statistinių duomenų analizė, vartojimo prekių ir paslaugų pokyčiai turi vidutinį neigiamą ryšį su veikiančių mažų ir vidutinių įmonių skaičiaus pokyčiais (r = – 0,68, p = 0,0000) (žr. 4 pav.). Galima tei-gti, kad SVV plėtra yra labai naudinga ne tik verslui, bet ir vartotojams, nes atpigina prekes ir paslaugas.

Išvados Ekonomikos veiksnių rodikliai plačiai taikomi šalies ekonominės situacijos įvertinimui. Tačiau galima

nustatyti jų tarpusavio priklausomybės ir ryšio su kitais darbo rinkos ir SVV plėtros rodikliais dėsnius. Atlik-ta antrinių Lietuvos ekonomikos statistinių duomenų analizė patvirtino BVP ir bedarbių skaičiaus pokyčių vidutinį neigiamą ryšį (Okuno dėsnį). Buvo nustatytas BVP ir įtrauktų į ADRP priemonių stiprus neigiamas ryšys. Tai parodė būtinumą stiprinti ADRP mažėjant gamybai. Tiesioginės užsienio investicijos yra viena iš sąlygų kuriant naujas darbo vietas. Atlikta TUI ir užimtumo lygio koreliacinė analizė parodė, kad augančios investicijos sąlygoja užimtų gyventojų skaičiaus augimą.

Veikiančių mažų ir vidutinių įmonių ir BVP dinamikos analizė nustatė šių rodiklių vidutinę teigiamą ko-reliaciją. Tai rodo teigiama SVV poveikį ekonomikos augimui. Gyventojų užimtumo ir įregistruotų mažų ir vidutinių įmonių skaičiaus dinamikos analizė patvirtino SVV plėtros gyventojų užimtumui teigiamą poveikį. Lietuvoje įregistruotų mažų ir vidutinių įmonių skaičiaus ir TUI dinamika rodo šių rodiklių stiprų teigiamą ryšį. Galima teigti, kad užsienio investuotojai suinteresuoti SVV plėtra Lietuvoje. Vartojimo prekių ir pa-slaugų pokyčių ir veikiančių mažų ir vidutinių įmonių skaičiaus pokyčių vidutinis neigiamas ryšys rodo, kad SVV plėtra yra labai naudinga ne tik verslui, bet ir vartotojams, nes atpigina prekes ir paslaugas. Pateikti ty-rimų rezultatai atskleidžia SVV įtaką turinčių veiksnių bei jų ryšių kompleksiškumą. Analizuojant SVV plėt-ros sąlygas, skirtingų grupių veiksnius reikia analizuoti kitų veiksnių kontekste.

Literatūra

1. Amdam, R. P., et al. FDI and the Transformation from Industry to Service Society in Emerging Economies: A Lithuanian - Nordic Perspective. Engineering Economics. 2007, 1 (51): 22–28.

2. Bartkus, E. V. Smulkaus ir vidutinio verslo plėtros prognozės Lietuvoje ekonominės krizės pradžioje. Economics and Management. 2010, 15: 390–396.

3. Beržinskienė, D. Gyventojų užimtumas ir jo plėtros modeliai. Daktaro disertacijos santrauka. Kaunas, 2005. 4. Beržinskienė, D. Presumptions for the Development of Labour Market Differences in a Homogeneous Group of

Countries. Engineering Economics. 2006, 5 (50): 26–32. 5. European Commission. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the Euro-

pean Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. A resource-efficient Europe – Flagship initiative under the Europe 2020 Strategy. COM(2011) 21 final

6. Juozapaviciene, A., Rizentas, V. Lithuania Exports in the Framework of Heckscher-Ohlin International Trade The-ory. Economics and Management: 2010, 15: 86–92.

7. Keršys, M. Ekonominių veiksnių įtaka inovacijoms versle: Lietuvos atvejis. Daktaro disertacija. Kaunas, 2008. 8. Knotek, E.S. How useful Okun‘s law? Economic Review. 2007, 92(4): 73–103. 9. Laskienė, D. Nedarbo lygio ir gamybos augimo ryšys: Lietuvos atvejis. Economics & Management. 2009, 14: 857–

862. 10. Lietuvos 2007–2013 metų Europos Sąjungos struktūrinės paramos panaudojimo strategija. [online] [accessed 15

October 2010]. Available from Internet: <http://www.esparama.lt/2007-2013/lt>. 11. Lietuvos Republikos valstybės kontrolė. Smulkiojo ir vidutinio verslo plėtra. 2010. Valstybinio audito ataskaita.

Nr. VA-P-20-12-10. [online] [accessed 20 October 2010]. Available from Internet: <www.vkontrole.lt>. 12. Martinkus, B., et al. Changes of Employment through the Segmentation of Labour Market in the Baltic States. En-

gineering Economics. 2009 (3): 41-48. 13. Melnikas B., 2010. Sustainable Development and Creation of The Knowledge Economy: The New Theoretical

Approach, Ūkio technologinis ir ekonominis vystymas – Technological and Economic Development of Economy 16(3): 516–540.

14. Miškinis, A., Lukoševičiūtė, E. Tiesioginės užsienio investicijos: patirtis Vidurio ir Rytų Europos šalyse. Public Administration. 2009, 2(22): 42–54.

15. Moskvina, J. Aktyvios darbo rinkos politikos priemonių vertinimas. Probleminiai klausimai, Filosofija. Sociologija. 2008, 19(4): 1–9.

16. Rakauskienė, O.G. Valstybės ekonominė politika. Vilnius: Mykolo Riomerio universitetas, 2006. 17. Rudzkienė, V., Burinskienė, M. Assessment of Transformation Processes in The Complex Socio-Economic System

of Transition Period. Intelektinė Ekonomika – Intellectual Economics. 2007 (1): 74-81. 18. Simonavičienė, A., Užkurytė, L. Pokyčiai darbo rinkoje ekonominio nuosmukio metu: Lietuvos atvejis. Economics

& Management. 2009, 14: 940-946. 19. Worthington, J., Britton, C. The Business Environment. UK: Pearson Education Limited, 2006.


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ECONOMIC POLICY’S FACTORS INFLUENCE ON DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL AND MIDDLE ENTERPRISES

Tatjana Bilevičienė, Eglė Bilevičiūtė

Summary

The economy is primarily a social process, involving social actors: people, social groups, institutions and the state.

Social processes are not separated from economic changes, they affect each other. European Union gives priority to social policy, labour and employment, human resources’ development. Economic indicators describe the economic situation. If the state’s economic indicators are good, then the State facilitates the business. Economic indicators’ analy-sis provides opportunities not only to assess the country’s economic level, but also to identify those factors are relevant to the labour market situation of small and medium business’s development.

Welfare of the state depends on its economic and labour market policies, the ability to per capita income. The em-ployment is the most important way for full, active and equal participation in public life. Employment rates in the most efficient economic growth and social inclusion, economic incentive arrangement. The labour market is an open system. Its effective functioning is influenced by many factors (both internal and external). The important external factors are the economic changes.

One of the most important economic policy challenges is the small and medium businesses’ development. Small and medium-sized enterprises have a significant impact on economic development; it is a major creator of jobs, em-ployment growth. This business segment is a constant source of employment, economic stagnation since the SME em-ployment declining relatively less, but good times there is relatively more than large companies. In order to create a supportive and growth-oriented investment climate and achieving a high level of global competitiveness, Lithuania must switch to a high-tech, higher-level economy. Probably this can be done through innovation in all areas of eco-nomic life.

This article presents statistical data of the Lithuanian economy analysis, determined macro-economic (GDP, em-ployment) and other indicators of economic access. GDP can be observed as small and medium-sized enterprises have a positive relationship. Analysis of data based on states that Lithuania’s GDP and unemployment proved negative rela-tionship. The survey showed that employment is strongly associated with the number of registered small and medium sized enterprises, growth in fixed investments. Lithuanian SME and employment dynamics analysis statistics show that the active labour market measures are related to SME development opportunities. In short, that the main macroeco-nomic indicators such as GDP and employment is a strong link with the labour market indicators and indicators for SME development.

Keywords: labour market, economic indicators, small and medium business, foreign direct investment,

unemployment.


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VARTOTOJŲ LOJALUMO PREKYBOS CENTRUOSE TYRIMAS

Margarita IŠORAITĖ Vilniaus Gedimino technikos universitetas, Saulėtekio al. 11, LT-10223 Vilnius, Lietuva

Telefonas (+370 5) 274 4875, elektroninis paštas [email protected]

Anotacija. Šiame straipsnyje analizuojamos vartotojo lojalumo samprata, vartotojo lojalumo didinimo

priemonės, atliekamas tyrimas siekiant išanalizuoti vartotojo lojalumą prekybos centruose. Atlikto tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad labiausiai klientus pritrauktų šios lojalumo didinimo priemonės: prekių kainų sumaži-nimas, prekių asortimento didinimas, lojalaus pirkėjo kortelė, kokybiškas aptarnavimas, kainos ir kokybės santykis, geresnė prekių kokybė, informacijos viešinimas internete. Kiek mažesnį poveikį respondentai pažy-mėjo daro šios lojalumo didinimo priemonės - atsiradęs emocinis prisirišimas prie įmonės, įmonės rodomas dėmesys, viešųjų ryšių su pirkėjais palaikymas. Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad daugiausia apie prekes infor-maciją respondentai gauna iš televizijos, interneto, šeimos narių. Mažiau informacijos klientai gauna iš ra-dijo, publicistinių leidinių, mugių, parodų. Prekės ženklo produktų vartojimą padidintų daugiau reklamos, produktų kainų sumažinimas, pajamų padidėjimas.

Raktiniai žodžiai: vartotojas, vartotojo lojalumas, vartotojo lojalumo didinimo priemonės, vartotojo lo-

jalumo modelis Įvadas Temos aktualumas. Pastaruoju metu Lietuvos verslininkams iškyla būtinybė ieškoti perspektyvių būdų

įgyti konkurencinį pranašumą. Rinkose, kuriose pasiūla viršija paklausą, vartotojų lojalumas tampa vienu pagrindinių verslo tikslų. Organizacijoms svarbu kurti ir palaikyti ilgalaikius ryšius su vartotojais - formuoti jų lojalumą. Juk vartotojai vertina organizaciją pagal tai, kaip ji su jais elgiasi ir bendrauja. Kaip teigia V. Juščius (2006)1, vertės vartotojui kūrimas tampa pagrindiniu organizacijos tikslu, kurį įmanoma pasiekti tik tuo atveju, kai organizacija pažįsta savo vartotojus, žino jų poreikius ir lūkesčius. S. F. Stershic (2001)2 pa-žymi, kad pagrindinė priežastis, kodėl vartotojai pasirenka konkurentų produktą, yra ta, kad jie jaučia, jog organizacija skiria jiems per mažai dėmesio, arba visiškai jo neskiria. Stiprėjant konkurencijai, lojalių varto-tojų išlaikymo svarba didėja, o tai skatina organizacijas ieškoti efektyvių konkurencingumo didinimo prie-monių. Vartotojų lojalumo ir pasitenkinimo didinimas pastariaisiais metais tampa esminiu klausimu, siekiant organizacijai sustiprinti savo pozicijas rinkoje. Aukštas vartotojų lojalumo laipsnis veda prie stiprių santykių tarp vartotojo ir organizacijos, kas savaime suprantama didina organizacijos pelningumą, nes lojalūs vartotojai - vienas iš svarbiausių organizacijos konkurencinio pranašumo šaltinių.

Temos problema. Didėjantis pardavimų skatinimas ir lojalumo programų naudojimas didina efektyvumą (S. Kwok, M.Uncles (2005))3. Pasak L.Pilielienės, V. Liesonio (2009)4 organizacijos naudojamo pardavimų skatinimo veiksmingumas priklauso nuo daugybės įvairių veiksnių. Vienas svarbiausių – vartotojų poreikių patenkinimas. Priklausomai nuo to, kokią lojalumo stadiją yra pasiekęs vartotojas, naudos, skatinančios jį pirkti produktą, skiriasi. Iškyla probleminis klausimas – kokios yra vartotojų lojalumą didinančios priemonės. Taigi kiekvienos organizacijos tikslu turėtų būti ne tik vartotojo pritraukimas, bet ir jo išlaikymas bei jo tapimas lojaliu.

Tyrimo objektas – vartotojų lojalumas. Tyrimo tikslas – ištirti vartotojų lojalumą prekybos centruose. Tyrimo metodai: mokslinės literatūros analizė ir palyginimas. Atliktas empirinis tyrimas apklausiant Vilniaus Gedimino technikos universiteto studentus. 1. Vartotojų lojalumo sampratos teoriniai aspektai

1 Juščius, V., Navickas, V., Jonikas, D. Empirical Researches of Relationship Marketing: the Role in Foreign Countries and

Lithuania // Engineering Economics, 2006, No. 4(49). 2 Stershic, S. F. Leveraging Your Greatest Weapon // Marketing Management, 2001, No. 4. 3 Kwok., S.Uncles, M. Sales promtion effectiveness: the impact of consumer fifferences at an ethnic – group level. Journal of

Product and Brand Management, 2005, 14(30), 170 -186. 4 Pilelienė, L., Liesonis, V. Pardavimų skatinimo teikiamų naudų vertinimo priklausomybė nuo vartotojų lojalumo stadijos.

Ekonomika ir vadyba:aktualijos ir perspektyvos. 2009, 1(14), 197 -205.


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K.R.Bhote (1996)5, F.F.Reichheld (1996)6 teigia, kad organizacijos konkurencijos pranašumų pagrindas – lojalių vartotojų potencialas. Kaip pažymi A. Bakanauskas ir L.Pilelienė (2008)7 lojalių vartotojų organiza-cijai atnešamos pajamos yra pastovios bei turi tendenciją didėti. Lojalių vartotojų išlaikymas organizacijai kainuoja mažiau nei naujų pritraukimas lojalūs vartotojai teigiamai atsiliepia apie organizaciją, skleisdami informaciją „iš lūpų į lūpas“ bei rekomenduodami pastarąją kitiems, be to lojalūs vartotojai yra mažiau jaut-rūs kainos pokyčiams bei sutinka mokėti daugiau.

J. Griffin (1997)8 išskiria septynias stadijas vartotojų lojalumo evoliucijoje. Autorės teigimu, visi varto-tojai gali būti charakterizuojami viena iš jos pateikiamų stadijų. Vartotojų lojalumo grupės pateiktos 1 lente-lėjė.

1 lentelė. Vartotojų lojalumo stadijos

Vartotojų lojalumo stadijos Apibūdinimas Įtariamasis Į šią stadiją patenka visi vartotojai, kurie galėtų nusipirkti organizacijos produktą

ar paslaugą. Potencialus vartotojas Potencialiais vartotojais laikomi tie, kuriems reikia organizacijos produkto ar pa-

slaugos, ir jie gali pirkti. Potencialūs vartotojai gali žinoti, kokia yra organizacija, kur ji yra, ką ji parduoda, tačiau jie iki šiol dar nėra pirkę jos produktų ar paslau-gų.

Diskvalifikuotas potencia-lus vartotojas

Tai tie potencialūs vartotojai, kurių organizacija nepažįsta taip, kad suprastų, jog jiems nereikia ar jie negali pirkti produkto ar paslaugos.

Vartotojas, perkantis pirmą kartą

Tai vartotojai, vieną kartą nusipirkę organizacijos produktą ar paslaugą. Tokie vartotojai vienu metu gali būti tiek organizacijos, tiek jos konkurentų vartotojais.

Pakartotinis vartotojas Tai žmonės, pirkę organizacijos produktą ar paslaugą du ar daugiau kartų. Pakar-totiniai vartotojai gali būti pirkę tą patį produktą arba skirtingus produktus ar pa-slaugas kelis kartus.

Klientas Klientai perka viską, ką parduoda organizacija, jei tik tai gali panaudoti. Tokie žmonės perka reguliariai. Ryšys tarp kliento ir organizacijos yra stiprus ir tęstinis, apsaugantis nuo konkurencijos spaudimo.

Advokatas Kaip ir klientai, advokatai reguliariai perka viską, ką parduoda organizacija, jei tik tai gali panaudoti. Advokatai kalba apie organizaciją, atlikdami rinkodaros veiklą, bei atveda naujus vartotojus.

R. L. Oliver (1999)9, pateikia keturių stadijų vartotojų lojalumo modelį, argumentuodamas, kad skirtingi

lojalumo aspektai pasireiškia ne išvien, bet paeiliui laiko tėkmėje. Visose stadijose esantys vartotojai gali būti lojaliais, priklausomai nuo skirtingų nuostatas sudarančių elementų.

M.D.Uncles, G.E. Dowling ir H.Hammond (2003)10 nurodo tris konceptualius lojalumo apibūdinimus: 1. Lojalumas – tai požiūris, kuris sąlygoja vartotojo santykius su prekės ženklu. Tokiam lojalumui pasi-

ekti yra stiprus teigiamas požiūris prekės ženklo atžvilgiu. 2. Elgsenos lojalumas. Šio tipo vartotojų sprendimai yra prieštaringi. Lojalumo prieštaringumą lemia,

kad šis modelis aiškinamas įvertinus ankstesnius pirkimus ir vartotojų pritarimą prekės ženklui. 3. Kai pirkimas yra sąlygojamas individo charakteristikų, aplinkos, pirkimo situacijų. Kaip teigia J.Bivainis, N.Vilkaitė (2010)11 lojalumas traktuojamas kaip išmatuojama kategorija. Jie siūlo

dvi skirtingas lojalumo koncepcijas: rinkos dalis (kuri vėliau pavadinta elgsenos lojalumu) ir pirmenybės prekės ženklui teikimas (kuri įsitvirtino požiūrio lojalumo pavadinimu). Elgsenos lojalumą parodo individo pasirinkimai, kuriuos skatina psichologinės priemonės. Požiūrio lojalumas yra grindžiamas pažintinės mo-kyklos, formuojančios didžiąją dalį rinkodaros tyrimų, nuostatomis. Šios mokyklos atstovai pabrėžia psicho-loginius lojalumo ugdymo aspektus.

5 Bhote, K. R. Beyond Customer Satisfaction to Customer Loyalty:The Key to Greater Profitability. New York: American Ma-

nagement Association, 1996. 6 Reichheld, F. F. The Loyalty Effect. The Hidden Forces behind Growth, Profits, and Lasting Value. Boston, MA: Harvard

Business School Press, 1996. 7 Bakanauskas, A., Pilelienė, L. Pardavimų skatinimo taikymas vartotojų lojalumo formavimui. Vadyba, 2008, 2(13), 13- 16. 8 Griffin, J. Customer Loyalty: How to Earn It, How to Keep It. New York, USA: Lexington Books, 1997. 9 Oliver, R. L. Whence Consumer Loyalty? // Journal of Marketing, 1999,Vol. 63, Iss.4, Special Issue. 10 Uncles, M.D., Dowling, G.R, Hammond, K.. Customer loyality and customer loyality programs. Journal of Consumer Mar-

keting. 2003, Vol.20, No.4, p.294 – 316. 11 Bivainis, J., Vilkaitė, N. Vartotojų lojalumo nustatymo metodinio potencialo analizė. Verslas: teorija ir praktika, 2010, 11(1):

49–60.


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Literatūroje galima rasti lojalumo nustatymo pavyzdžių: remiantis laikotarpiu, vartotojų skaičiumi, pel-ningumu.

Kartotiniais pirkimais grįstas vartotojų lojalumo nustatymas. Kartotinių pirkimų elgsena – tai tokia, kuri siejama su tam tikro produkto ar prekės ženklo produktų kartotinių pirkimų apimtimi. Kartotinių pirki-mų elgsena vertinama remiantis tam tikro laikotarpio duomenimis (A.S.C. Ehrenberg (1988))12.

Vartotojų skaičiumi grįstas vartotojų lojalumo nustatymas. Vartotojų lojalumui nustatyti taikomas ir vartotojų išlaikymo indeksas, kuris skaičiuojamas taip (A.Wood (2005))13:

%100srL= (1)

čia: L – vartotojų išlaikymo indeksas; s – vartotojų skaičius, metų pradžioje, r – išlaikytų vartotojų skai-čius metų pabaigoje.

Išlaidų vertinimu grįstas vartotojų lojalumo nustatymas. Lojalumas – tai vartotojo išlaidų jo pagrindi-nėje parduotuvėje ir visų vartotojo išlaidų prekėms ir paslaugoms santykis. Šis rodiklis naudojamas lojalu-mui vertinti dažnai perkamiems produktams tokiuose sektoriuose, kaip oro linijos, viešbučiai ir restoranai, kur vartotojai savo lėšas skiria kelioms įmonėms (J.Bivainis, N.Vilkaitė (2010))14.

Pelningumo vertinimu grįstas vartotojų lojalumo nustatymas. Lojalūs vartotojai didina organizacijos pelną, nes sumažėja marketingo, pagrindinės veiklos sąnaudos, padidėja pardavimo mastas (F.F.Reichheld, W.E.Sasser 1990)15.

J.Griffin (2002)16 teigia, jog lojalumas yra pelningumo rezultatas, kuris suteikia galimybę išlaikyti klien-tą ir tada nuolat aprūpinti tuo abi puses. Įvardijami penki motyvuojantys faktoriai, kurie įrodo, kad išlaikyti lojalius vartotojus yra naudinga: 1. Didėja pardavimų augimas todėl, kad klientai perka iš organizacijos dau-giau. 2. Sustiprinama pozicija pardavimo vietoje, kai klientai perka būtent iš organizacijos, užuot pirkdami iš konkurentų. 3. Marketingo išlaidos mažėja, kai yra išleidžiama mažiau lėšų nebeinvestuojant į vartotojų pri-traukimą, nes vartotojų lojalumo sistema jau suformuota. Sukuriama pridėtinė vertė turinti patenkintus klien-tus, kurie pasakoja draugams, mažinama poreikis reklamai. 4. Geriau apsisaugoma nuo konkurencingų kainų, nes lojalus vartotojas yra mažiau jautrus kainos kitimui, nėra viliojamas konkurentų nuolaidomis. 5. Paten-kintas klientas tūrėtų būti pavyzdys kuriant kitas produkto linijas ar renkantis kitą investiciją į apsipirkimo vietą, kuris leis pasiūlyti lojaliems vartotojams didesnes nuolaidas

Korteles arba nuolaidas savo pirkėjams dalina dažnas Lietuvos prekybininkas. Tačiau tik nedaugelis iš šių prekybininkų yra įdiegę technologiškai pažangią, turinčią daug funkcijų lojalumo kortelių sistemą. Tame tarpe lojalumo korteles turi ir prekybos centrai, tokie kaip Maxima, Iki, Rimi, Norfa. Dažnas prekybininkas tik išleidžia plastikines korteles, bet nesukuria galimybės jas aptarnauti elektroniniu būdu. Taip yra todėl, kad prekybininkai dar nesuvokia, kokią naudą jie galėtų gauti, efektyviai naudodami visus lojalumo kortelių si-stemos privalumus. Ši informacijos spraga dažnai lemia atsainų prekybininkų požiūrį į kuriamą lojalumo sistemą. Rinkos situacija patvirtina, kad dažnai tik išleidžiamos kortelės ir suteikiama momentinė nuolaida.

2. Empirinio tyrimo duomenų analizė Empirinis tyrimas buvo atliktas Vilniaus Gedimino technikos universitete kovo mėnesį. Anketos buvo

išdalintos ir grąžintos užpildytos. Tyrimo metu buvo apklausta 100 respondentų neatsitiktinės atrankos būdu. Anketos buvo išdalytos respondentams ir surinktos užpildytos. Tyrime dalyvavo 100 respondentų. Tyrimo tipas – neatsitiktinė atranka. Buvo apklausti Vilniaus Gedimino technikos universiteto studentai. Tyrimo tikslas – ištirti vartotojų lojalumą prekybos centruose. Tyrime dalyvavę respondentai pagal amžiaus grupes pasiskirstė sekančiai: 10 proc. respondentų priklausė iki 20 metų amžiaus grupei ir 90 proc. respondentų pri-klausė 20 – 25 metų amžiaus grupei. 62 proc. respondentų buvo vyrai ir 38 proc. respondentų – moterys. 84 proc. respondentų mėnesio pajamos sudarė iki 1000 Lt, 10 proc. – 1000 – 1500 Lt , 4 proc. – 1500 – 2000 Lt ir 2 proc. – virš 2000 Lt.

Respondentams uždavus klausimą „kokie jie yra vartotojai?“, 15 proc. respondentų visiškai sutinka su tuo, kad perka tik įprastus produktus, 6 proc. – ne visada sureaguoja į naujoves, 16 proc. - perkant naują pro-

12 Ehrenberg, A. S. C. Repeat buying – facts, theory and applications. London: Aske, 1988. 13 Wood, A. Loyalty – what can it really tell you? Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management, 2005, 13(1): 55–63. 14 Bivainis, J. , Vilkaitė, N. Vartotojų lojalumo nustatymo metodinio potencialo analizė. Verslas: teorija ir praktika, 2010,

11(1): 49–60. 15 Reichheld, F. F.; Sasser, W. E. Zero defections: quality comes to servines, Harvard Business Review 68: 1990, 105–111. 16 Griffin J. Customer loyalty: how to earn it, how to keep it. USA: Second edition, 2002.


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duktą, atsižvelgia į jau išbandžiusiųjų nuomonę. 49 proc. respondentų sutinka, kad perka tik įprastus produk-tus, 52 proc. - ne visada sureaguoja į naujoves, 33 proc. - visuomet stengiasi išbandyt naują produktą, 45 proc. - perkant naują produktą, atsižvelgia į jau išbandžiusiųjų nuomonę.

Respondentams uždavus klausimą „kokiam prekybos centrui Jūs esate lojalūs ?“ 23 proc. respondentų atsakė, kad jie yra lojalūs prekybos tinklui Norfa, 38 proc. – Rimi, 46 proc. – Iki ir 72 proc. – Maxima.

Klausimo „kuo pasireiškia Jūsų lojalumas įmonei?“ respondentų nuomonės pasiskirstymas pateiktas 2 lentelėje. Kaip matyti iš 2 lentelės dažnai naudojasi šios įmonės paslaugomis 57 proc. - Maxima, 35 proc. – Iki, 31 proc. –Rimi, 18 proc. – Norfa klientų. 50 proc. respondentų teigė, kad išleidžia daug pinigų, naudo-damiesi būtent Maximos paslaugomis. Visada rekomenduoju šią įmonę savo pažįstamiems ir draugams – šiai nuomonei pritarė 39 proc. - Maxima, 20 proc. - Iki, 21 proc. - Rimi ir 7 proc. - Norfa klientų.

2 lentelė. Respondentų atsakymo į klausimą „kuo pasireiškia Jūsų lojalumas įmonei?“ nuomonės pasiskirstymas

Norfa Rimi Iki Maxima Proc. Proc. Proc. Proc.

Dažnai naudojuosi šios įmonės paslaugomis 18 31 35 57 Išleidžiu daug pinigų, naudodamasis būtent šios įmonės paslau-gomis

6 30 24 50

Visada rekomenduoju šią įmonę savo pažįstamiems ir draugams 7 21 20 39 Domiuosi ir stebiu įmonės veiklą 8 19 19 36 Respondentams uždavus klausimą „kuo pasireiškia Jūsų nelojalumas įmonei?“, 53 proc. respondentų

teigė, kad beveik nesinaudoja Norfa paslaugomis, 25 proc. – Rimi, 27 proc. – Iki ir tik 6 proc. Maxima. 43 proc. respondentų pažymėjo, kad išleidžia labai mažai pinigų, naudodamiesi Norfa paslaugomis, 26 proc.- Rimi, 28 proc. – Iki. Net 44 proc. respondentų pažymėjo, kad niekada niekam nerekomenduoja Norfa ki-tiems klientams. Tuo tarpu tik 15 proc. nerekomenduotų- Rimi, 11 proc.- Iki, 12 proc. – Maxima klientų.

3 lentelė. Respondentų atsakymo į klausimą „kuo pasireiškia Jūsų nelojalumas įmonei?“ nuomonės pasiskirstymas


Beveik nesinaudoju šios įmonės paslaugomis 53 25 27 6 Išleidžiu labai mažai pinigų, naudodamasis šios įmonės paslaugomis

43 26 28 13

Niekada niekam nerekomenduoju šios įmonės 44 15 11 12 Šios įmonės paslaugomis pasinaudojau atsitiktinai 40 38 32 12 Respondentams buvo užduota klausimas „kokios yra lojalumo prekybos centruose didinimo priemo-

nės?“. Kaip matyti iš 4 lentelės labiausiai klientus pritrauktų šios lojalumo didinimo priemonės: prekių kainų sumažinimas, prekių asortimento didinimas, lojalaus pirkėjo kortelė, kokybiškas aptarnavimas, kainos ir ko-kybės santykis, geresnė prekių kokybė, informacijos viešinimas internete. Kiek mažesnį poveikį responden-tai pažymėjo daro šios lojalumo didinimo priemonės - atsiradęs emocinis prisirišimas prie įmonės, įmonės rodomas dėmesys, viešųjų ryšių su pirkėjais palaikymas.

Atsakydami į klausimą „kokie pagrindiniai veiksniai turi įtakos Jūsų pasirinkimui pirkti pablogėjus fi-nansinei bei ekonominei būklei?“, 46 proc. respondentų teigė, kad turi įtakos kainos ir kiekio santykis, 65 proc. - kokybės ir kainos santykis ir 32 proc. respondentų pažymėjo - pigesni kiti produktų pakaitalai.

Respondentams buvo užduotas klausimas „kokiais informacijos šaltiniais naudojąsi gaudami informaciją apie prekes?“. Kaip matyti iš 5 lentelės pagrinde apie prekes informaciją respondentai gauna iš televizijos, interneto, šeimos narių. Mažiau informacijos klientai gauna iš radijo, publicistinių leidinių, mugių, parodų.


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4 lentelė. Respondentų atsakymo į klausimą „kokios yra lojalumo prekybos centruose didinimo priemonės?“ nuomonės pasiskirstymas


Prekių kainų sumažinimas 40 41 40 63 Prekių asortimento didinimas 18 40 32 45 Prekės ženklo pripažinimas 12 27 28 37 Patogus prekių pateikimas lentynose 23 46 40 50 Lojalaus pirkėjo kortelė 43 46 43 67 Geresnė prekių kokybė 15 37 40 31 Kokybiškas aptarnavimas 17 38 40 38 Informacijos viešinimas internete 24 30 31 53 Viešųjų ryšių su pirkėjais palaikymas 12 23 29 29 Geresnė prekinė išvaizda 17 40 40 32 Prekės ženklas atspindi mano įvaizdį 10 24 17 22 Atsiradęs emocinis prisirišimas prie įmonės 6 16 23 17 Kainos ir kokybės santykis 20 34 25 47 Įmonės rodomas dėmesys 10 23 22 36 Pasitenkinimas prekių savybėmis 8 29 20 32

5 lentelė. Pagrindiniai informacijos šaltiniai apie teikiamas prekes


radijas 6 9 17 35 televizija 26 24 49 62 publicistiniai leidiniai 18 34 46 51 internetas 26 40 41 60 agitacinė medžiaga (lankstinukai, atvirukai, plakatai ir pan.)

24 47 44 55

šeimos nariai, giminė, draugai, bendradarbiai, pažįstami 19 28 35 44 mugės, parodos 4 18 11 13 Į užduotą klausimą „ar prekės ženklo teikiamų produktų kaina atitinka kokybę?“, visiškai sutinka 12

proc. Norfos klientų, 30 proc. – Rimi, 22 proc. –Iki ir 17 proc. – Maxima klientų. Respondentams uždavus klausimą „kas padidintų šio ženklo produktų vartojimą?“. Didžioji dauguma

repondentų pritarė, kad tai galėtų būti daugiau reklamos, produktų kainų sumažinimas, pajamų didėjimas. Respondentų buvo užduotas klausimas „ar sutinkate, kad šių centrų konkuravimo veiksniai?“ Respon-

dentai pritarė, kad rinkos dydis, kainos/kokybės santykis, inovacijos yra pagrindiniai konkuravimo veiksniai. Mažiau klientus įtakoja žmogiškieji ištekliai, paslaugų diferenciacija.

Paskutiniu anketos klausimu buvo siekiama išsiaiškinti „kas nulemia Jūsų poreikį pirkti šių įmonių pre-kes?“. Poreikį pirkti labiausiai nulemia palankios pirkimo sąlygos, kokybiškos prekės ir tai kad įmonė sten-giasi patenkinti visus klientų poreikius. Mažesnę įtaką klientų poreikiui pirkti daro garantija, nedidelė prekių kaina ir aukšta kokybė.

Išvados Pagrindinė priežastis, kodėl vartotojai pasirenka konkurentų produktą, yra ta, kad jie jaučia, jog organi-

zacija skiria jiems per mažai dėmesio, arba visiškai jo neskiria. Stiprėjant konkurencijai, lojalių vartotojų išlaikymo svarba didėja, tai skatina organizacijas ieškoti efektyvių konkurencingumo didinimo priemonių. Vartotojų lojalumo ir pasitenkinimo didinimas pastariaisiais metais tampa esminiu klausimu, siekiant organi-zacijai sustiprinti savo pozicijas rinkoje.

Literatūroje yra išskiriamos šios vartotojo lojalumo stadijos: įtariamasis, potencialus vartotojas, diskval-fikuotas potencialus vartotojas, vartotojas, perkantis pirmą kartą, pakartotinis vartotojas, klientas, advoktas.

Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad: • Labiausiai respondentai lojalūs yra Maxima, Rimi, Iki, o mažiausiai lojalūs Norfa prekybos

centrui..


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• Didžioji dauguma respondentų teigė, kad beveik nesinaudoja Norfa paslaugomis bei išleidžia labai mažai pinigų, naudodamasis šios įmonės paslaugomis.

• Labiausiai klientus pritrauktų šios lojalumo didinimo priemonės: prekių kainų sumažinimas, prekių asortimento didinimas, lojalaus pirkėjo kortelė, kokybiškas aptarnavimas, kainos ir ko-kybės santykis, geresnė prekių kokybė, informacijos viešinimas internete. Kiek mažesnį poveikį respondentai pažymėjo daro šios lojalumo didinimo priemonės - atsiradęs emocinis prisirišimas prie įmonės, įmonės rodomas dėmesys, viešųjų ryšių su pirkėjais palaikymas.

• Daugiausia apie prekes informaciją respondentai gauna iš televizijos, interneto, šeimos narių. Mažiau informacijos klientai gauna iš radijo, publicistinių leidinių, mugių, parodų.

• Prekės ženklo produktų vartojimą padidintų daugiau reklamos, produktų kainų sumažinimas, pa-jamų padidėjimas.

• Respondentai pritarė, kad rinkos dydis, kainos/kokybės santykis, inovacijos yra pagrindiniai konkuravimo veiksniai.

Siūloma pateikti daugiau informacijos klientams per radiją, publicistinius leidinius, mugių, parodų metu. Siūloma lojalius klientus pritraukti prekių kainų sumažinimu, prekių asortimento didinimu, lojalaus pir-

kėjo kortele, kokybišku aptarnavimu, kainos ir kokybės santykiu, geresne prekių kokybe, informacijos vieši-nimu internete.

Vartotojų poreikį pirkti skatinti palankiomis pirkimo sąlygomis, kokybiškomis prekėmis, visų klientų poreikių patenkinimu.

Literatūra

1. Bakanauskas, A., Pilelienė, L. Pardavimų skatinimo taikymas vartotojų lojalumo formavimui. Vadyba, 2008, 2(13), 13- 16.

2. Bivainis, J. , Vilkaitė, N. Vartotojų lojalumo nustatymo metodinio potencialo analizė. Verslas: Teorija ir praktika, 2010, 11(1): 49–60.

3. Bhote, K. R. Beyond Customer Satisfaction to Customer Loyalty:The Key to Greater Profitability. New York: American Management Association, 1996.

4. Griffin, J. Customer Loyalty: How to Ear Oliver, R. L. Whence Consumer Loyalty? // Journal of Marketing, 1999,Vol. 63, Iss.4, Special Issue.

5. Griffin J. Customer loyalty: how to earn it, how to keep it. USA: Second edition, 2002. 6. Juščius, V., Navickas, V., Jonikas, D. Empirical Researches of Relationship Marketing: the Role in Foreign Coun-

tries and Lithuania // Engineering Economics, 2006, No. 4 (49). 7. Ehrenberg, A. S. C. Repeat buying – facts, theory and applications. London: Aske, 1988. 8. Kwok., S.Uncles, M. Sales promtion effectiveness: the impact of consumer fifferences at an ethnic – group level.

Journal of Product and Brand Management, 2005, 14(30), 170 -186. 9. Reichheld, F. F.; Sasser, W. E. Zero defections: quality comes to servines, Harvard Business Review 68: 1990,

105–111. 10. Reichheld, F. F. The Loyalty Effect. The Hidden Forces behind Growth, Profits, and Lasting Value. Boston, MA:

Harvard Business School Press, 1996. 11. Pilelienė, L., Liesonis, V. Pardavimų skatinimo teikiamų naudų vertinimo priklausomybė nuo vartotojų lojalumo

stadijos. Ekonomika ir vadyba:aktualijos ir perspektyvos. 2009, 1(14), 197 -205. 12. Stershic, S. F. Leveraging Your Greatest Weapon // Marketing Management, 2001, No. 4. 13. Uncles, M.D., Dowling, G.R, Hammond, K.. Customer loyality and customer loyality programs. Journal of Con-

sumer Marketing. 2003, Vol.20, No.4, p.294 – 316. 14. Wood, A. Loyalty – what can it really tell you? Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management, 2005,

13(1): 55–63.

RESEARCH OF CONSUMER LOYALTY IN TRADE CENTRE

Margarita Išoraitė

Summary This article examines the concept of customer loyalty, customer loyalty building measures carried out to

examine measures in order to increase customer loyalty in trade centers. Long-term business success is achieved in attracting new customers only. Attracting new users need to be combined with user retention and loyalty of their formation, must be built up relationships with their customers. With growing competition, the retention of loyal customers are becoming increasingly important, and it encourages organizations to seek


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effective measures to improve competitiveness. Customer loyalty and increase satisfaction in the past years become a key issue for the organization to strengthen its position in the market. The high degree of customer loyalty leads to a strong relationship between the user and the organization, which naturally increases the profitability of the organization, because loyal customers - one of the most important sources of competitive advantage for organizations. Consumers turn their incentives from the company to meet their needs, formed by the buyers' confidence, commitment and satisfaction shareholding, which are considered as relations, forming consumer loyalty. Cards, or discounts to their customers in Lithuania is divided by frequent trader - which explains the boom in cards feel. However, only a few of these vendors have introduced an innovative technology that has many functions loyalty card scheme. Frequent trader only issue plastic cards, but does not provide access to service by electronic mail. This is because traders are unaware of what benefits they could get, effectively using all the advantages of a loyalty card scheme. Maybe they do not even know how all the potential of loyalty card functions and features of these opportunities. Therefore, this information gap often leads traders neglectful attitude to the creation of loyalty to the system. Market situation confirms that there is often only card and provides instant discount. The research showed that most customers would attract the loyalty building measures: a reduction in commodity prices, increasing product range, loyal customer card, high-quality service, value for money, improved product quality, public disclosure on the internet. The respondents have pointed out that customer loyalty building measures - caused by an emotional attachment to the enterprise, shown attention and public relations support to customers. Most of the items of information respondents received from the television, internet, and family members. Customers receive less information from radio, publications, trade fairs and exhibitions. Brand products increase the use of more advertising, product price reductions, revenue increases.

Key words: consumer, consumer loyalty, consumer loyalty improvement measures, consumer loyalty

model.


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KLIENTŲ APTARNAVIMO KOKYBĖS PASLAUGŲ TEIKIMO SISTEMOJE KONCEPCIJA

Eglė KAZLAUSKIENĖ Mykolas Romeris University, LT-12230 Vilnius, LT-08303 Vilnius, Ateities g. 20,

E-mail: [email protected]

JUSTINA PUSVAŠKYTĖ Mykolas Romeris University, LT-12230 Vilnius, LT-08303 Vilnius, Ateities g. 20,

E-mail: [email protected] Abstraktas. Straipsnyje pristatoma klientų aptarnavimo kokybės paslaugų teikimo sistemoje koncepcija,

pabrėžiant esmines jos dedamąsias. Pateikiama klientų aptarnavimo samprata įvairiais požiūriais, sąveikos ir aptarnavimo kokybės charakteristikos įtakojančios klientų pasitenkinimą. Klientų aptarnavimo kokybės paslaugų teikimo sistemoje koncepcija susieja aptarnavimo sampratos, kliento bei teikėjo sąveikos charakte-ristikas, reikšmę kokybei ir pasitenkinimui, suteikia naują supratimą apie aptarnavimo kokybės gerinimo galimybes ir kryptis paslaugų įmonių veikloje.

Raktiniai žodžiai: klientų aptarnavimo kokybė, paslaugų teikimo sistema, sąveika, klientų pasitenkini-

mas Įžanga Poindustrinės visuomenės raidos tendencijos, į paslaugas orientuota ekonomika keičia paslaugų teikimo

pobūdį, įtakoja vartojimo tendencijas. Vis aktualesnis darosi į paslaugų kokybę orientuotas požiūris. Klientų aptarnavimo (angl. customer service) kokybės gerinimas tampa bet kurios paslaugų įmonės veiklos efekty-vumo pagrindu bei paskata. Viena vertus, paslaugų teikėjai tiesiogiai kuria sąlygas, kurios atspindi klientų aptarnavimo lygį. Kita vertus, klientų aptarnavimo kokybė veikia įmonės produktyvumą bei konkurencin-gumą didinant pagrindinės paslaugos vertę.

Paslaugų sferą traktuojant kaip sudėtingą besikeičiančią ir sąveikaujančią sistemą, kurioje klientų aptar-navimas yra būtina sąlyga paslaugų įmonei egzistuoti, klientų aptarnavimo raiškos požymiai ir vaidmuo įmonės paslaugų teikimo sistemoje šio mokslinio tyrimo teoriniame lygmenyje tampa svarbiu analizės objek-tu.

Akcentuojant klientų aptarnavimo ekonominę ir socialinę naudą bei vaidmenį gerinant paslaugų teikimą, klientų aptarnavimo koncepcijos vystymas tampa aktualiu siekiniu. Mokslinės literatūros analizė leidžia tei-gti, kad klientų aptarnavimo koncepcija, užimdama nepakankamai apibrėžtą nišą paslaugų vadybos, ekono-mikos, rinkodaros mokslų sistemoje, apima platų teorinių prielaidų kompleksą ir iš dalies gali būti išplėtota grindžiant ją skirtingais požiūriais. Tai leidžia suformuluoti mokslinę problemą – išskirti ir pagrįsti pagrindi-nes teorines prielaidas, leidžiančias numatyti klientų aptarnavimo raiškos požymius ir aptarnavimo kokybės reikšmę paslaugų teikimo sistemoje. Kitaip tariant, klientų aptarnavimo paslaugų teikimo sistemoje koncep-cija atsako į klausimus: 1) kas yra aptarnavimas ir kokie aptarnavimo raiškos bruožai? 2) koks klientų aptar-navimo sąryšis su atskirais paslaugų teikimo sistemos elementais? 3) kokios klientų aptarnavimo kokybės dedamosios ir poveikis klientų pasitenkinimui? Taip pat schemos pagalba išryškinami ir vizualizuojami es-miniai šios koncepcijos teiginiai.

1. Klientų aptarnavimo samprata Klientų aptarnavimas yra minimas įvairiuose kontekstuose, grindžiamas subjektyvia patirtimi, dėl ko ky-

la problemų apibrėžiant jo sampratą bei ribas. Skirtingas klientų aptarnavimo definicijas pateikia tiek vady-bos, marketingo teoretikai, tiek personalo mokymo konsultantai ar verslo kompanijų aukščiausio lygio vado-vai (Clemment, 1998; Tucker, 1994; Sterling, 2007). Ši koncepcija apima platų teorinių prielaidų kompleksą ir iš dalies gali būti išplėtota grindžiant ją skirtingais požiūriais.


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Viena vertus, klientų aptarnavimas gali būti nagrinėjamas (1) pabrėžiant organizacijos bei jos žmonių gebėjimus. Kita vertus, išryškėja požiūriai į klientų aptarnavimą, kaip į (2) kliento sąveiką su verslo sistema arba (3) papildomą paslaugą, didinančią pagrindinės paslaugos vertę. Galiausiai, klientų aptarnavimas gali būti vertinamas kaip (4) marketingo funkcija bei tapatinamas su rūpinimosi klientu koncepcija.

(1) R. Kaufman1, H. Miao (2006) klientų aptarnavimą apibrėžia kaip organizacijos nuolatinį gebėjimą patenkinti ar net viršyti klientų poreikius bei lūkesčius. R. Kaufman akcentuoja šiuos klientų aptarnavimo aspektus: gebėjimas, pastovumas (reiškia, kad organizacija įrodė gebanti gerai aptarnauti klientus ir tai daro nuolat), klientų lūkesčių viršijimas, požiūris į klientą kaip į individą, turintį specifinius poreikius bei norus. Pasak R. Lucas, klientų aptarnavimas - tai turinčio žinių, sumanaus bei entuziastingo darbuotojo gebėjimas pateikti organizacijos vidiniams bei išoriniams klientams prekes ar paslaugas tokiu būdu, kad būtų patenkinti jų išreikšti ir neišreikšti poreikiai, o organizacija galiausiai sulauktų teigiamų atsiliepimų bei grįžtančių klientų. Šių nuostatų besilaikanti ir jas įgyvendinanti organizacija vadinama į klientus orientuota organizacija (Lucas, 2009).

(2) Klientų aptarnavimą galima apibrėžti kaip tam tikrą sąveiką. Klientų aptarnavimas susideda iš daugybės epizodų, sandėrių bei patyrimų, kurių metu klientas tiesiogiai ar netiesiogiai kontaktuoja su pa-slaugų teikimo sistema (Evans, 2007). Remiantis Su Quin, Li Zhao ir Xu Yi (2009) ir Gronroos (2007), klientų aptarnavimas apima: 1) kliento sąveiką su paslaugų įmonės personalu;2) kliento sąveiką su fiziniais, techniniais aplinkos elementais; 3)kliento sąveiką su administracinėmis sistemomis; 4) kliento sąveiką su kitais klientais.

1) Kliento sąveiką su paslaugų įmonės personalu priklauso nuo kontakto zonos personalo požiūrio (atti-tude), elgesio bei patyrimo. Aptarnaujančio personalo veikimo bei bendravimo ypatumai asmeninės sąveikos su klientu metu atskleidžia personalo požiūrį. Remiantis Su Quin, Li Zhao ir Xu Yi (2009), draugiškas požiū-ris yra svarbus siekiant kliento pasitenkinimo.

Elgesys (behaviour) realius kontakto zonos personalo veiksmus ryšio su klientu metu. Net jei personalo požiūris į klientus yra draugiškas, nesugebėjus tinkamai ir greitai atsakyti į kliento reikalavimus neišvengia-mai kyla kliento nepasitenkinimas. Galiausiai, sąveikos vertinimą lemia personalo patyrimas (expertis). Pa-tyrimas yra subjektyvus kliento suvokimas apie tai, kiek aptarnaujantis personalas turi žinių, patirties, kiek yra apmokytas, kokius turi įgūdžius bei kvalifikaciją. Patyrimas didina ne tik kliento pasitenkinimą, bet ir pasitikėjimą (Quin, 2009).

2) Su Quin, Li Zhao ir Xu Yi (2009), remdamiesi Chen (2000), teigia, kad aplinka, su kuria klientas są-veikauja aptarnavimo metu, susideda iš dviejų veiksnių grupių: aplinkos elementų (environment facilities) (fizinės priemonės, įrankiai, įranga, kompiuteriai, laukiamasis); aplinkos taisyklės (environment rules) (tai-syklės, reguliavimas, politikos, apibrėžiančios klientų aptarnavimo procedūras) (Quin, 2009).

3) Klientas aptarnavimo metu sąveikauja su operacinėmis bei administracinėmis sistemomis, tokiomis kaip eilių reguliavimo, interneto prieigos ir telekomunikacijų, skundų valdymo ir kitos sistemos.

4) Galiausiai, klientas neišvengia sąveikos su kitais tuo pat metu paslaugą vartojančiais bei aptarnauja-mais klientais (Gronroos, 2007).

Pagal Su M. Wong ir C. Perry (1991) klientų aptarnavimas, kaip tam tikra sąveika, susideda iš daugelio „tiesos momentų“ (angl. „moments of truth“), kuomet bet kuris iš organizacijos darbuotojų betarpiškai ben-drauja su klientu (Wong, 1991). Tiesos momentas apima bet kokį kliento kontaktą su verslo sistema bei for-muoja kliento įspūdį apie paslaugų kokybę (Carlzon, 2007). Kliento aptarnavimas prasideda dar prieš klien-tui atvykstant į organizaciją ir tęsiasi klientui išvykus. Klientų aptarnavimo kokybei įtaką daro visi veiksniai, su kuriais klientas susiduria sąveikos su paslaugų teikėju metu (Howardell, 2004).

Remiantis Su Quin, Li Zhao ir Xu Yi (2009) darbe cituojamu Lovelock (1985), klientų aptarnavimas yra viena iš darbuotojui tenkančių užduočių, kuriai būdinga sąveika (angl. interaction) su klientu. Ši užduotis yra projektuojama ir įgyvendinama siekiant veiklos efektyvumo bei klientų pasitenkinimo (Quin, 2009). Lehti-nen (1991) taip pat pabrėžia sąveikos požiūrį į klientų aptarnavimą ir jį įvardiją kaip „sąveikos kokybės“ (interactive quality) sinonimą. T. Hsieh ir Y. Chen (2009) nagrinėdami sąveikos kokybės bei „tiesos momen-tų“ valdymo klausimus šalia vartoja „paslaugos susidūrimo“ (angl. „service encounter“) sąvoką bei remda-miesi Bateson (1985) ją apibrėžia kaip kliento, paslaugų organizacijos bei jos personalo sąveikos trikampį. Anot Tsuifang Hsieh ir Yungkun Chen (2009) cituojamo Lockood (1994), „paslaugos susidūrimas“ taip pat apima apčiuopiamus bei neapčiuopiamus elementus, tokius kaip aptarnaujantis personalas bei fizinė aplinka. Šiam susidūrimui, anot R. E. Price, E. Arnould ir P. Teirney (1995) būdinga sąveikos laikinumas, emocinis turinys bei kliento ir paslaugų teikėjo erdvinis artumas.

1 Kaufman, Ron. A customer service definition from the customer‘s point of view. Prieiga per internetą: http://www.customerservicepoint.com/customer-service-definition.html.


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Solomon ir kiti (1985) išskiria šiuos esminius „paslaugų susidūrimo“ sąveikos skirtumus nuo įprastos socialinės sąveikos: sąveika vyksta turint aiškų tikslą; paslaugų teikėjai nėra altruistai, jie atlieka savo darbą; paslaugų teikėjas bei klientas gali nebūti iš anksto pažįstami; sąveika yra orientuota į siaurą sritį; dominuoja su užduotimi susijusios informacijos mainai; kliento ir paslaugų teikėjo vaidmuo yra iš anksto apibrėžtas; galimas laikinas dalyvių pasikeitimas padėtimi.

(3) Su Quin, Li Zhao ir Xu Yi (2009), remdamiesi Parasuraman, klientų aptarnavimą apibūdina kaip papildomą paslaugą prie pagrindinio, esminio įmonės siūlomo apčiuopiamo produkto ar fiziškai neapčiuo-piamos paslaugos.

Klientų aptarnavimas yra reikšminga marketingo specialistų vadinamo „produkto“, sukurto klientų po-reikių tenkinimui, dalis (Van Der Wagen, 2008); tai - veikla ar pastangos, didinanti produkto vertę, naudin-gumą klientui (Lovelock, 1999); neatskiriamas „priedas“, kurį klientas gauna pirkimo metu, ir kuris yra būti-nas siekiant užtikrinti kliento pasitenkinimą, lojalumą bei įsigytos prekės ar paslaugos vertės išlaikymą (Tucker, 1994)

Klientas pirkdamas paslaugą įgyja ne tik paslaugos elementus, bet ir tam tikrą neapčiuopiamą nau-dą.Viena vertus, paslaugos prigimtį atskleidžia paslaugos koncepcija, kuri apima:

• idėją arba paslaugos esmę (angl. organizing idea), dėl kurios klientai perka ir vartoja paslaugą; • paslaugos patirtį (angl. service experience), susijusią su paslaugos teikimo procesu; • paslaugos rezultatą (angl. service outcome), kuris apima kliento gautą naudą, patirtas emocijas, įgytą

vertę lyginant su piniginėmis išlaidomis (Johnston, 2008). Kita vertus, paslaugų vadyboje yra vartojamas „paslaugos rinkinio“ (angl. service package) terminas. Jis

apibrėžiamas kaip prekių, paslaugų bei informacijos visuma, pateikiama tam tikroje aplinkoje (Fitzsimmons, 2008). Ch. Gronroos (2007) skiria pagrindinę paslaugą (ang. core service), palengvinančias paslaugas (angl. facilitating services) ir paremiančias paslaugas (angl. supporting services). J. A. Fitzsimmons ir M. J. Fitz-simmons pateikia detalesnę paslaugos rinkinio sudėtį:

• Paremiančios gėrybės (angl. supporting facility). Tai materialiniai ištekliai, kuriais įmonei būtina pasi-rūpinti prieš teikiant paslaugas (pvz. ligoninė, lėktuvas, golfo takas);

• Palengvinančios gėrybės (angl. facilitating goods), kuriomis rūpinasi, perka bei vartoja pats pirkėjas (pvz. slidės, keičiamos automobilio dalys, dokumentai);

• Informacija (angl. information), būtina paslaugų teikimo veiklai bei paslaugų individualizavimui, kurią pateikia vartotojas (pvz. norint išsiųsti taksi, būtina žinoti kliento būvimo vietą);

• Aiškiai išreikštos paslaugos (angl. explicit services). Šių paslaugų nauda lengvai identifikuojama per pojūčius. Paslaugos savybės bei bruožai juntami vidumi (pvz. numalšintas danties skausmas po vizito pas stomatologą);

• Numanomos paslaugos (angl. implicit services). Psichologinė nauda, kurią vartotojas gali neaiškiai jausti bei kuri turi išoriškai matomus bruožus (pvz. studijų pabaigoje įgytas mokslinis laipsnis) (Fitzsim-mons, 2008).

Galima teigti, kad paslaugos rinkinys yra pateikiamas klientų aptarnavimo metu, todėl aptarnaujant

klientą yra kuriama pridėtinė vertė. Klientų aptarnavimo trumpalaikis rezultatas pasireiškia kaip padidėjusi paslaugos vertė paslaugos vartotojui, tuo tarpu ilgalaikėje perspektyvoje šis rezultatas gali virsti ilgalaikiais šalių santykiais.

(4) Remiantis J. U. Sterling, D. M. Lambert (2007) , F. G. Tucker (1994), C. J. Emerson (1996) ir kitais autoriais, klientų aptarnavimas siejamas su marketingo funkcija. Klientų aptarnavimo veikla sukuria laiko, vietos, formos vertę, tuo būdu užtikrindama, kad produktas ar paslauga bus pateikta vartotojui tinkamoje vie-toje, tinkamu laiko momentu ir tinkamu pavidalu (Bolumole, 2003), taip pat įsigijimo arba nuosavybės vertę, skatindamas produkto žinomumą, pasitelkdamas kainas, garantijas (Emerson, 1996).

J. U. Sterling ir D. M. Lambert (2007) teigimu, klientų aptarnavimas susieja paklausos kūrimo ir paklau-sos aprūpinimo funkcijas. F. G. Tucker išryškina du klientų aptarnavimo aspektus. Tai: fizinis/tiesioginis paslaugos teikimas ir marketingo orientacija. Pagal pirmąjį, klientų aptarnavimas vyksta klientui sąveikau-jant su teikėjo užsakymo, paskirstymo bei informacinėmis sistemomis. Klientų aptarnavimas yra vienas iš standartinio marketingo komplekso dedamųjų šalia produkto, kainos ir rėmimo elementų (Tucker, 1994). Antruoju aspektu grindžiamas klientų aptarnavimas apima tiek fizinį teikimą, tiek su marketingu ir pastan-gomis parduoti bei sužadinti pakartotinius pirkimus susijusias veiklas. Šis požiūris yra kur kas platesnis, nes nėra apibrėžtos funkcinės ribos, o klientų aptarnavimo veiklos pasireiškia visuose marketingo komplekso elementuose (Tucker, 1994). Klientų aptarnavimas turėtų būti marketingo strategijos dalimi, kadangi aptar-navimas leidžia padidinti rinkos dalį bei pelningumą (Sterling, 2007).


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D. Carson ir P. Maclaran (1996), Malcolm Peel (2007) teigimu, klientų aptarnavimo koncepcija neretai yra gretinama su „rūpinimosi klientu“ (angl. customer care) sąvoka, ir jos dažnai yra vartojamos kaip sino-nimai. Tačiau autorių D. Carson ir P. Maclaran (1996) nuomone, nepaisant to, kad tiek rūpinimasis klientu, tiek klientų aptarnavimas yra dvi marketingo subfilosofijos, kurių centre yra klientas bei jo pasitenkinimas, šios sąvokos yra skirtingos. Klientų aptarnavimas yra rūpinimosi klientu filosofijos, pagrįstos marketingo koncepcija, branduolys (Carson, 1996). Rūpinimasis klientu atspindi organizacijos galvoseną, elgsenos filo-sofiją, apima vadovavimo stilių, rūpinimąsi darbuotojais, t.y. atspindi įmonės strategiją. Tuo tarpu klientų aptarnavimas reiškia taktiką, malonų elgesį su klientais ir jų būtinų poreikių patenkinimą (Smith, 1989).

Taigi, klientų aptarnavimą galima traktuoti įvairiais požiūriais, akcentuojant organizacijos ir personalo gebėjimus, kliento sąveiką su verslo sistema, klientų aptarnavimo sukuriamą pridėtinę vertę prie pagrindinės paslaugos, taip pat kaip marketingo funkciją ar „rūpinimosi klientu“ filosofiją.

2. Klientų aptarnavimo raiškos požymiai paslaugų teikimo sistemoje Kliento aptarnavimas pasižymi nevienodais raiškos požymiais tam tikroje paslaugų teikimo sistemoje.

R. Lucas (2009) įvardija šešis komponentus, kuriuos galima apibrėžti kaip paslaugų teikimo sistemos ele-mentus. Aptariant juos aktualu 1) išskirti paslaugų organizacijos klientų atliekamus vaidmenis aptarnavimo metu; 2) atskleisti kultūros bei organizacijos žmogiškųjų išteklių, kompetencijos ir elgsenos bei 3) apibūdinti paslaugos teikimo proceso elementų įtaka klientų aptarnavimui.

1) Klientų reikšmė, jų tipai bei vaidmenys klientų aptarnavime Paslaugų teikimo sistemos, tuo pačiu ir klientų aptarnavimo šerdis yra pats klientas, be kurio bet kokios

organizacijos veikimas yra beprasmis. „Kliento“ sąvoka apima daug reikšmių. Pasak R. Johnston ir G. Clark (2008), skiriami tokie jų tipai: vidiniai arba išoriniai klientai; tarpiniai arba galutiniai vartotojai; mokėtojai, naudos gavėjai ar dalyviai; vertingi arba ne tokie vertingi klientai.

Dėl ribotų išteklių įmonės neturi galimybės orientuotis į visus klientus, todėl didžiausias pastangas nu-kreipia į jai vertingus klientus. R. Johnston ir G. Clark (2008) skiria labai vertingus bei vertinamus klientus. Didelę vertę turi klientai, kurie atneša įmonei finansinę naudą ilgu laikotarpiu. Tuo tarpu vertinami klientai yra tie, kurie yra teigiamai nusiteikę įmonės bei jos paslaugų atžvilgiu, skleidžia teigiamą žodinę reklamą, maloniai bendrauja su personalu bei su kuriais lengva tvarkyti reikalus, tačiau jie moka mažesnę kainą už suteiktas paslaugas.

Vidiniai klientai – tai darbuotojai organizacijoje, kuriems reikalinga kitų darbuotojų pagalba tam, kad jie galėtų atlikti savo funkcijas, teikti paslaugas, informaciją. Išoriniais klientais vadinami esami ar potencialūs klientai, esantys už organizacijos ribų, perkantys ar nuomojantys prekes ar paslaugas. Paslaugų vadybos lite-ratūroje ši klientų kategorija neretai įvardijami kaip esminis paslaugų įmonės išteklius ar net dalinai vienas iš paslaugų įmonės darbuotojų, drauge su faktiniais darbuotojais kuriantis paslaugą (Gouthier, 2003). Taigi, nors ir vadinami išoriniai klientais, paslaugų įmonėse tam tikra prasme jie tampa įmonės dalimi.

Analizuojant klientų aptarnavimą nukreiptą į išorinius organizacijos klientus, pabrėžtina, kad aptarnavi-mo metu atlieka tam tikrus vaidmenis. Anot Oxana Chervonnaya (2003), klientams būdinga „chameleoniš-ka“ prigimtis, kadangi aptarnavimo metu keičiasi jų vaidmenys, o kartu ir reikalingi įgūdžiai. Apibendrinus Matthias Gouthier ir Stefan Schmid (2003) bei Oxana Chervonnaya (2003) mintis, galima išskirti šiuos kliento vaidmenis:

Klientas veikia kaip pasyvus paslaugos vartotojas. Šis vaidmuo būdingas dviejų tipų klientams: pirma, klietams, nedalyvaujantiems paslaugos kūrimo procese, ir, antra, klientams, kurie potencialiai gali, tačiau dėl tam tikrų priežasčių (pvz. laiko stokos, menkos motyvacijos) nedalyvauja paslaugos teikime. Kliento pasy-vumas būdingas teikiant standartizuotas, neindividualizuotas paslaugas, todėl iš kliento nereikalaujama pas-tangų ar įgūdžių;

Klientas yra mokymosi šaltinis. Klientas dalyvauja paslaugų sistemos vystyme. Jis yra organizacijos konsultantas, ar paslaugos dizaineris, nes informuoja paslaugos teikėją apie savo lūkesčius, kaip jis įsivaiz-duoja paslaugą ir patį paslaugos teikimo procesą. Ši informacija pravarti organizacijai projektuojant naujas paslaugas ar tobulinant jau esamas. Tokį vaidmenį klientai įgauna dažniausiai verslo paslaugose, kuriose dominuoja žinios ir kurios pritaikomos prie specifinių kliento poreikių.

Klientas kaip informacijos išteklius. Vaidmuo, pasireiškiantis individualizuotose paslaugose, kuomet klientas dalyvauja informacijos mainuose. Kliento ir paslaugų teikėjo sąveikos metu apsikeičiamos informa-cijos kiekis yra atvirkščiai proporcingas kliento turimoms žinioms apie jo problemą. Paslaugų teikėjo spren-dimai priklauso nuo kliento gebėjimo paaiškinti šią problemą;


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Klientas, kaip gamintojas, skiria laiko bei pastangų, be kurių nebūtų sukuriama individualizuota paslau-ga, pats aktyviai dalyvauti paslaugos kūrime. Dėl paslaugos kūrimo bei vartojimo neatskiriamumo, klientas tampa ir paslaugos gamintoju, ir pirkėju;

Klientas, kaip sąveikos dalyvis, paslaugos kūrimo metu veikia kartu su įmonės darbuotojais, turi ryšį su kitais tuo pat metu paslaugą vartojančiais klientais;

Klientas, kaip lyderis, gali perimti kai kurias paslaugą teikiančio vadybininko funkcijas, apibrėžia jo už-duotis, atsakomybę, turi įtaką personalo elgesiui, motyvacijai, požiūriui;

Klientas, kai paslaugos kokybės vertintojas. Jis tai daro atsižvelgdamas ne tik į rezultato kokybę, bet ir į paslaugos teikimo procesą. Kuo klientas turi daugiau žinių, susijusių su jo problema, tuo daugiau galimybių turi vertinti paslaugų kokybę. Klientui lengviau yra įvertinti standartizuotas paslaugas, kadangi neretai klien-tas turi šių paslaugų vartojimo patirtį ir dėl to lengviau formuojasi jo lūkesčiai;

Klientas yra potencialus paslaugų įmonės konkurentas, nes tos pačios paslaugos poreikį gali patenkinti pats. Šis vaidmuo būdingas tik standartizuotų, specifinių žinių nereikalaujančių paslaugų klientams. Klientas, kaip konkurentas, įgyja sprendimų priėmėjo vaidmenį. Jis sprendžia, ar apsitarnauti pačiam, ar kreiptis ir jei taip, tai į kokį paslaugų teikėją. Tokie svarstymai galimi dėl paslaugų, kurioms būdingas aukštas standartiza-vimo laipsnis;

Klientas atliekantis paslaugų marketingo funkciją. Viena vertus, klientas yra rinkos tyrėjas. Dėl paslau-gos neapčiuopiamumo klientas pirkdamas paslaugą patiria didžiulę riziką. Tačiau įvertinęs gautos paslaugos kokybę jis gali perduoti teigiamą arba neigiamą informaciją kitiems potencialiems klientams.

Taigi, klientas yra svarbiausias aptarnavimo komponentas. Nors klientų tipų įvairovė labai didelė, pa-brėžtina išorinių įmonės klientų aptarnavimo metu atliekamų vaidmenų specifika. Šie kliento vaidmenys da-ro įtaką kitiems paslaugų teikimo sistemos elementams.

2) Darbuotojai, jų reikšmė, kompetencija ir elgsena bei organizacijos kultūra kaip klientų aptarnavi-mo bei organizacijos sėkmės prielaidos

Klientų aptarnavimo metu klientas sąveikauja su organizacijos žmogiškaisiais ištekliais, t.y. personalu. Darbuotojai, kurie tiesiogiai aptarnauja klientus ir reprezentuoja visą organizaciją, yra vadinami kontakto zonos darbuotojais, (angl. customer contact personnel arba front office employees). Jų manieros, elgesys, išvaizda klientams pasako apie įmonę daugiau nei visa įmonės reklamos kampanija. Po sąveikos su kontakto zonos darbuotoju klientas gali tiesiog likti įmonėje, kitąkart grįžti pas paslaugų teikėją su draugu arba užverti įmonės duris visam laikui (Lovelock, 1999).

Gerindama klientų aptarnavimą paslaugų įmonė turi išplėsti, paįvairinti darbuotojų veiklos turinį, apmo-kyti bei suteikti galią su klientu bendraujantiems darbuotojams patiems kontroliuoti paslaugų teikimo koky-bę. Turėdami daugiau laisvės, darbuotojai gali pateikti aukštesnio lygio aptarnavimą, kadangi nebereikia gaišti laiko gaunant vadovo leidimą, gali lanksčiau spręsti kliento problemas, individualizuoti paslaugos tei-kią. Įgalinimas yra grindžiamas darbuotojo įtraukimu. Įsitraukęs darbuotojas priima teisingus sprendimus. Suteikus sprendimų laisvę, padidėja darbuotojo motyvacija veikti efektyviai, jis geba geriau save kontroliuoti bei vesti tikslo link. Darbuotojui prisiimant naujas pareigas bei atsakomybę, organizacija turi jį apmokyti bei aprūpinti reikiamais įrankiais bei ištekliais, taip pat peržiūrėti darbo užmokesčio sistemą, pertvarkyti taip, kad ji motyvuotų darbuotoją. Darbuotojai yra laimingesni bei geriau aptarnauja klientus, jeigu gauna įdeda-mas pastangas atitinkantį atlygį (Lovelock, 1999).

Darbuotojo į klientų aptarnavimo poziciją parinkimas yra vienas svarbiausių sprendimų, kurį priima pa-slaugų įmonė. Tinkamai valdydama personalą paslaugų įmonė žadina darbuotojų pasitenkinimą, jų teigiamą nusiteikimą, ištikimybę organizacijai. Tokiu būdu sukuriama vidinė paslaugų kokybė (Fitzsmmons, 2008). Patenkinti paslaugų įmonės darbuotojai geriau aptarnauja klientus, teikia kokybiškesnes paslaugas, todėl di-dėja klientų pasitenkinimas. Mažesnė darbuotojų kaita bei aukštesnė paslaugų kokybė sudaro prielaidas san-tykių su klientais tęstinumui bei klientų lojalumo ugdymui. Tuo tarpu klientų maža kaita bei jų ištikimybė leidžia uždirbti įmonei didesnį pelną.

Klientų aptarnavimas remiasi kontakto zonos darbuotojų kompetencija. D. Russ-Eft (2004) tyrimai leido praplėsti esminių darbuotojų kompetencijų sąrašą:

Gebėjimas matyti „bendrą vaizdą“ (angl. big picture) bei klientų aptarnavimą jame. Ši kompetencija ap-ima tiek klientų, tiek organizacijos supratimą, pagalbą kolegoms, kolegų pavadavimą, jų padarytų klaidų iš-taisymą ir pan.

Unikalaus ryšio su klientų užmezgimas. Darbuotojas yra kantrus, mandagus, draugiškas, vengia trukdžių kontakto metu, leidžia pasijusti klientui vertinamu.

Paslaugos suteikimas laiku, kruopščiai bei tiksliai. Drbuotojas aiškinasi tikruosius poreikius, renka in-formaciją, klausosi, aiškina paslaugos savybes, pasiūlo alternatyvas.


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Reagavimas į kliento specifinius poreikius. Pritaiko prekę ar paslaugą pagal kliento pageidavimus, su-teikia daugiau, nei numato sutartis, standartai, jei reikia dirba viršvalandžius, kad būtų patenkitni kliento po-reikiai.

Pastangos siekiant pataisyti bei sustiprinti santykius su nepatenkintais, nusivylusiais klientais. Pagreitina paslaugos procesą, pritaiko kainą, skiria ypatingą dėmesį problemos sprendimui, siūlo kreiptis į konkurentus ar kitą organizaciją.

Pažymėtina, kad kontakto zonos darbuotojų kompetencija atsiskleidžia per klientų aptarnavimo elgseną. Elgseną sunku nuspėti bei kontroliuoti, nes ji priklauso nuo organizacijos žmonių darbinių pažiūrų bei veiksmų. Elgesys gali padidinti arba būti kliūtimi siekiant klientų aptarnavimo efektyvumo bei klientų pasi-tenkinimo. Taigi, projektuojant klientų bei paslaugų teikėjų sąveiką dėmesys pagrinde turi būti kreipiamas į elgsenos aspektus (Evans, 2007).

Kontakto zonos darbuotojų elgseną formuoja organizacijos kultūra. Ši, kaip ir mikroklimatas, nule-miantis organizacijos elgesio normas ir vertybes, paslaugų įmonėse yra ypatingai svarbus. Dėl kliento daly-vavimo bei paslaugos heterogeniškumo nėra galimybės standartizuoti paslaugos teikimą, paslaugos rezultatas varijuoja. Taigi, organizacijos kultūra nusako aptarnaujančiam darbuotojui, kaip elgtis, kaip reaguoti atsidū-rus kaskart vis naujoje situacijoje (Gronroos, 2007). Sėkmingam klientų aptarnavimui būtina turėti stiprią organizacijos kultūrą, nes klientai stebi su jais bendraujančio personalo veiksmus bei nuomonę (Lucas, 2009). Pasiekti aukštą klientų aptarnavimo lygį padeda į klientus orientuotos kultūros plėtojimas įmonėje. Į klientus orientuota kultūra, anot T. Vranesevic, C. Vignali ir D. Vignali (2002) yra tada, kuomet visose orga-nizacijos veiklos srityse atsižvelgiama į kliento interesus, darbuotojų pastangos bei veiklos procesai nukrei-piami į didžiausios vertės klientui kūrimą (Vranesevic, 2002). Orientacija į klientą tampa bendra visų dar-buotojų vertybe, o darbuotojų veiklos pagrindinis tikslas – nuolat teikti klientui ne prekes ar paslaugas, o ver-tę.

3)Paslaugų teikimo proceso sąsaja su klientų aptarnavimu Klientų aptarnavimas reiškia procesą bei veiksmus, kurie palengvina kliento santykius su verslo įmone

(Spencer-Matthews, 2006). Nagrinėjant klientų aptarnavimo proceso ypatumus aktualu aptarti šio proceso elementus, pobūdį lemiančius matmenis bei technologijų vaidmenį klientų aptarnavime.

Remiantis A. J. ir M. . Fitzsimmons (2008) bei L. George (2003) galima išskirti paslaugų teikimo pro-ceso elementus: technologiją; proceso eigą; proceso tipą; išdėstymą ir paslaugos etapo apimtį; darbo jėgą. Anot Evans (2007) priimami sprendimai dėl: 1. vietos bei pajėgumų išdėstymo (angl. facility location and layout); 2. fizinės aplinkos (angl. servicescape); 3. procesų bei darbų projektavimo (angl. process and job design); 4. technologijų bei informacinių paramos sistemų (angl. technology and information support sys-tems); 5. organizacijos struktūros (angl. organizational structure).

Klientų aptarnavimo požiūriu tikslinga aptarti paminėtus paslaugų teikimo proceso elementus. 1. Įsigydami fizines gėrybes ar paslaugas klientai kartu perka patogumą, kurį teikia paranki klientų ap-

tarnavimo vieta. Vieta lemia kliento kelionės iki paslaugų teikėjo trukmę bei yra svarbus konkurencinis as-pektas paslaugų rinkoje. Vis dėlto paslaugoms, kuriose dominuoja informacijos mainai (pvz. mokymų, fi-nansinės paslaugos), vietos aspektas gali būti mažiau reikšmingas dėl bendravimo internetu galimybių (Evans, 2007).

2. Paslaugų vadyboje apibūdinant fizinę klientų aptarnavimo aplinką vartojamas angliškas „servicesca-pe“ terminas. Jis apibūdina fizinius aplinkos elementus, į kuriuos klientas atsižvelgia formuodamas bendrą įspūdį apie patirtą paslaugą (Evans, 2007; Gronroos, 2007). „Servicescape“ apima tiek fizinę, tiek informaci-nę aplinką, supančią klientus, kontakto bei tarnybinės zonos darbuotojus, ir kurioje yra kuriama bei patei-kiama paslauga (Gronroos, 2007). Ši aplinka veikia klientų patirtį, turi įtaką klientų elgesiui, daro poveikį darbuotojams ir klientų aptarnavimui.

3. Operacijų vadyboje į paslaugą yra žiūrima kaip į procesą. Paslaugos proceso projektavimas reiškia efektyvios veiklų, tenkinančių vidinių bei išorinių klientų reikalavimus, sekos vystymą. Kuriant paslaugų proceso modelį išskiriamos bei srauto diagrama atvaizduojamos prekių gamyboje bei paslaugų teikime atlie-kamos vertės kūrimo veiklos bei specifinės užduotys. Projektuojant procedūras siekiama užtikrinti, kad pa-slaugos procesas būtų sėkmingai atliktas iš pirmo karto, o kliento ir kontakto zonos darbuotojo sąveika būtų kuo paprastesnė bei greitesnė (Evans, 2007).

4. Informacinių sistemų bei technologijų vystymo sritys yra ypatingai svarbios įmonėms, siekiančioms pagerinti klientų aptarnavimą, nes technologijų vystimasis skatina paslaugų inovacijas bei keičia klientų ap-tarnavimo pobūdį. Robert Johnston ir Graham Clark (2008) cituoja Len Berry bei skiria šešis technologijų ir informacinių sistemų vaidmenis: žinių didinimo; paslaugų racionalizavimo; paslaugų individualizavimo; pa-tikimumo didinimo; bendravimo palengvinimo; paklausos didinimo. Komunikacijos bei informacinių te-


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chnologijų pažanga daro didelį poveikį kliento bei kontakto zonos darbuotojo sąveikai bei klientų aptarnavi-mo pobūdžiui, kadangi moderniosios technologijos pakeičia tiesioginę sąveiką.

5. Organizacijos struktūra nusako, kaip įmonėje yra organizuota paslaugų teikimo veikla (Evans, 2007). Organizacinė struktūra, vadybos lygių skaičius joje lemia darbuotojo atskaitomybę, sprendimų priėmimo galią bei klientų aptarnavimo lankstumą.

Taigi, aptarnavimo metu klientai bei kontakto zonos darbuotojai dalyvauja paslaugos teikimo sistemoje. Šios sistemos projektavimas yra susijęs su sprendimais dėl aptarnavimo vietos bei pajėgumų išdėstymo, pa-slaugos proceso bei užduočių atlikimo, taip pat organizacijos struktūros. Pabrėžtina yra technologijų, infor-macinių paramos sistemų ir fizinės aplinkos dedamųjų reikšmė klientų aptarnavimui.

J. A. ir M. J. Fitzsimmons (2008) pasiūlytas paslaugų susidūrimo triados (angl. service encounter triad) modelis parodo ryšį tarp trijų sąveikos dalyvių: kliento, kontakto zonos personalo bei paslaugų organizacijos. Vieno iš šių dalyvių ryškus dominavimas lemia klientų aptarnavimo proceso pobūdį:

• Procesas, kuriame dominuoja paslaugų organizacija. Siekdama efektyvumo bei kaštų lyderystės pa-slaugų organizacija standartizuoja paslaugų teikimą, nustatydama griežtas veiklos procedūras bei tokiu būdu apribodama kontakto zonos personalo veikimo bei klientų pasirinkimo laisvę;

• Procesas, kuriame dominuoja paslaugą teikiantis personalas. Šame procese personalas turi galimybę kontroliuoti klientus. Sąveika grindžiama kliento pasitikėjimu personalo patyrimu;

• Procesas, kuriame dominuoja klientas. Klientas kontroliuoja procesą, taip užtikrinamas proceso indivi-dualizavimas (Fitzsimmons, 2008).

B. Howcroft, P. Hewer ir M. Durkin (2003) nagrinėdami klientų aptarnavimo klausimus vartoja sąveikos proceso (angl. interaction process) sąvoką. Anot autorių cituojamo Czepel (1990), sąveikos procesą galima apibūdinti dažnumu bei trukme (Howcraft, 2003). Pagal B. Howcroft, P. Hewer ir M. Durkin (2003) išski-riami du požiūriai į sąveikos procesą (žr. 1 lent.).

Lentelė 1. Sąveikos procesą apibūdinantys matmenys

Parengta remiantis Howcraft (2003) Kontakto trukmė nusako, kokią viso kliento aptarnavimo laiko dalį klientas dalyvauja paslaugos teikimo

sistemoje. Kuo kliento praleidžiamas laikas yra ilgesnis, tuo sąveika tarp aptarnaujančio personalo ir kliento yra didesnė (Chase, 1978). Empiriniai tyrimai rodo, kad reiškmingą teigiamą poveikį žmogaus fiziniam bei psichologiniam gerbūviui daro jo suvoktas kontrolės laipsnis. Kontrolės jausmas didina kliento pasitenkini-mą sąveika su paslaugų teikimo sistema (Hui, 1991), lygiai taip pat, kaip ir sąveikos personalizavimas (Su-prenant, 1987). G. Lynn Shostack teigimu, aptarnavimo proceso sudėtingumą lemia proceso žingsnių gausa. Tuo tarpu veikimo laisvė sąveikos metu sąlygoja tam tikrus nukrypimus bei klientų aptarnavimo unikalumą (Shostack, 1987).

Taigi, siekiant pateikti klientams vertingas paslaugas bei įgyti konkurencinį pranašumą, svarbu projek-tuojant integruoti bei derinti visus paslaugų teikimo sistemos elementus. Bet kuris netinkamai parinktas komponentas gali sumenkinti klientų aptarnavimo efektyvumą.

3. Klientų aptarnavimo kokybės vaidmuo klientų pasitenkinimui Klientų aptarnavimo kokybė turi lemiamą reikšmę šiems klientų aptarnavimo dalyviams (Adomaitytė,

2005): • Įmonei (aptarnaujančio personalo darbdaviui), nes ji siekia būti patraukli klientui ir uždirbti – tai pa-

grindinė jos egzistavimo priežastis, o būtent geras klientų aptarnavimas padeda uždirbti daugiau; • Klientui (pirkėjui, vartotojui), nes būtent jis leidžia pinigus ten, kur sulaukia gero aptarnavimo.

Požiūris į sąveikos procesą Sąveikos procesą apibūdinantis matmuo Autorius

Kliento ir aptarnaujančio personalo kontakto laipsnis Richard B. Chase

Kliento kontrolės laipsnis M.K. Hui ir J.E.G. Bateson Įtraukimo (invol-

vement) Sąveikos personalizavimo laipsnis C. F. Suprenant ir M. R. Solomon

Sąveikos sudėtingumas bei skirtingumas G. Lynn Shostack Patikimumo (confidence) Rizikos bei rezultato apibrėžtumas


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• Klientas, įsigydamas prekę ar gaudamas paslaugą, esant geram aptarnavimui lengviau priima spren-dimą: pirkti ar ne, ar sugrįžti čia dar kartą, ar rekomenduoti prekę ar paslaugą kitiems (Adomaitytė, 2006). Geras klientų aptarnavimas leidžia klientui jausti, kad jo laikas bei pinigai buvo panaudoti tikslingai bei tei-singai.

B. Howcraft ir C. Hill (1992), cituodami Richardson ir Robinson (1985), Swan ir Comb (1976) teigia, kad klientų aptarnavimo kokybė susideda iš dviejų atskirų elementų. Pirmasis susijęs su technine kokybe ir apima materialųjį kliento ir paslaugų teikėjo sąveikos turinį, kurį sudaro organizacijos „know-how“, persona-lo žinios ir pan. Antrasis elementas – funkcinė kokybė – reiškia būdą, kuriuo paslauga yra pateikiama klien-tui ir išreiškia bendrąjį organizacijos požiūrį.

Klientų aptarnavimo kokybės svarba įmonei įvairių autorių išryškinama skirtingai. Įmonė, pagerinusi klientų aptarnavimo kokybę, gali pasiekti reikšmingų ir tvirtų laimėjimų rinkoje, nes sustiprina bendrą savo įvaizdį, pritraukia naujų klientų, esamus klientus paverčia lojaliais ir tuo būdu pagerina finansinius veiklos rezultatus(Adomaitytė, 2005). Klientų aptarnavimas yra svarbus veiksnys, leidžiantis įgyti konkurencinį pra-našumą, ypatingai tuomet, kai nėra galimybių varžytis kaina (Normann, 1991).

Kokybiškas klientų aptarnavimas atveria augimo galimybes, kadangi vienas patirtą aptarnavimą teigia-mai įvertinęs klientas apie įmonę užsimins dar mažiausiai penkiems potencialiems įmonės klientams (Julian, 1994). Taip vadinamas „klientų aptarnavimo ratas“ atskleidžia finansinę kokybiško klientų aptarnavimo reikšmę, t.y. pelno didinimo galimybę. Kokybiškas klientų aptarnavimas padeda pritraukti klientus, o jo są-lygotas didesnis klientų pasitenkinimas skatina pakartotinius pirkimus bei klientų lojalumą. Išaugę pardavi-mai didina įmonės pelną, stiprina konkurencines pozicijas bei stiprina įmonės įvaizdį.

Galiausiai, kokybiškas klientų aptarnavimas svarbus pačiam darbuotojui. Darbuotojai yra labiau moty-vuoti dirbti profesionalioje įmonėje, kuri gali didžiuotis nepriekaištingu klientų aptarnavimu. Darbuotojo suvokimas, kad jis padėjo klientui kokybiškai išspręsdamas jo problemą, didina darbuotojo pasitenkinimą darbu2.

Klientų aptarnavimo kokybė gali būti vertinama matuojant klientų pasitenkinimą. Pastaruosius keturis dešimtmečius klientų pasitenkinimas buvo vienas svarbiausių teorinių bei praktinių marketingo specialistų bei rinkos tyrėjų klausimų. A. Molina, D. Martin-Consuegra ir A. Esteban (2007) išskiria du - pažinimu grindžiamą (kognityvinį, angl. cognitive-based) bei poveikiu grindžiamą (angl. affect) - požiūrius į pasiten-kinimą.

Kognityvinis atspindi tradicinį požiūrį į pasitenkinimą, grindžiamą klientų lūkesčiais, kurie kyla iš klien-tų įsitikinimų apie tikėtiną veiklos atlikimo lygį (Molina, 2007). Šis požiūris turi vertinamąjį, palyginamąjį pobūdį (Nagel, 1990). Pasitenkinimas apibrėžiamas kaip skirtumas tarp faktinio kokybės vertinimo po pre-kės/paslaugos pirkimo ir vartojimo bei klientų lūkečių prieš pirkimą ir vartojimą (Fountain, 2001; Molina, 2007). P. Nagel ir W. Cilliers (1990), kurie cituoja G. A. Churchill ir C. Suprenant, pasitenkinimą apibrėžia kaip rezultatą, išryškėjantį prekės ar paslaugos vartotojui lyginant jo gautą naudą su patirtais kaštais, įverti-nus lauktas pasekmes. Klientas jaučia pasitenkinimą tuomet, kai patirto klientų aptarnavimo kokybė atitinka kliento lūkesčius.

Remiantis antruoju požiūriu, pasitenkinimo vertinimui įtaką daro kliento jutiminė patirtis pre-kės/paslaugos pirkimo bei vartojimo metu. Anot Liljander ir Strandvik (1997), kuriuos cituoja A. Molina, D. Martin-Consuegra ir A. Esteban (2007), norint suprasti pasitenkinimo esmę būtina analizuoti pasitenkinimo sukeliamą poveikį.

Klientų pasitenkinimas nėra vienalytis. Lewis ir Soureli (2006) siūlo matuoti pasitenkinimą aptarnaujan-čiu personalu, pasitenkinimą pagrindine paslauga, bei pasitenkinimą organizacija bendrai.

M. J. Bitner (1990) straipsniuose, paslaugų kokybė ir kliento pasitenkinimas yra įvardijami kaip du es-miniai klientų aptarnavimo elementai. Jane E. Fountain (2001) remdamasis Heskett teigia, kad klientai yra kokybės arbitrai, ir kad klientų pasitenkinimas, pasižymintis dideliu subjektyvumu, yra klientų aptarnavimo tikslas. (Fountain, 2001).

H. Miao ir M. W. Bassham (2006) klientų aptarnavimo kokybės ryšį su klientų pasitenkinimu pagrindžia per verslo valdyme taikomą marketingo koncepciją. Šių autorių darbe cituojamo Kaliski (2001) teigimu, marketingo koncepciją taikanti organizacija produkto orientaciją pakeičia orientacija į klientą, remiantis ku-ria svarbiausias yra klientų pasitenkinimas. Organizacija turi žinoti, ko nori klientas, ir šią informaciją tiks-lingai panaudoti. Puikus klientų aptarnavimas leidžia patenkinti klientų reikalavimus (Miao, 2006).

Klientų aptarnavimo kokybės įtaką klientų pasitenkinimui galima nagrinėti dviejuose lygmenyse: pir-ma, individualiame ir antra, bendrame lygmenyse. Individualiame lygmenyje, vieno kliento sąveikos su vienu

2 The importance of good customer service. Prieiga per internetą: http://www.acareerinretail.co.uk/importance-good-customer-

service.html


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aptarnaujančiu darbuotoju kokybė (ang. one-to-one) lemia kliento pasitenkinimą vienu konkrečiu klientų aptarnavimu. Priklausomai nuo pasitenkinimo lygio klientas svarsto, ar jam tikslinga ir toliau naudotis šio paslaugų teikėjo paslaugomis. Bendrame/visuminiame lygmenyje klientas vertina visų sąveikų aptarnaujant klientą kokybę bei patirtį vartojant paslaugas. Tuomet visų kontakto zonos darbuotojų aptarnavimo kokybės lygis lemia kliento bendrą pasitenkinimą paslauga (Liao, 2009).

Kyla nemažai diskusijų ir tarp sąvokų „kokybė“ bei „pasitenkinimas“ skirtumų. Pasitenkinimas – tai psichologinė būsena, kylanti emocijas dėl pasiteisinusių ar nepasiteisinusių lūkesčių siejant su ankstesne pa-tirtimi. Kokybė išreiškia bendrą požiūrį ir yra susijusi su pačia paslauga kaip vienkartiniu rezultatu. Tuo tar-pu pasitenkinimas yra susijęs su tam tikra veikla ir yra daugkartinio veiksmo rezultatas (Lewis, 2007). Iš to išplaukia, kad vertindami klientų aptarnavimo kokybę turėtume matuoti klientų pasitenkinimą

Schema (žr.2 pav.) išryškinus klientų aptarnavimo kokybės paslaugų teikimo sistemoje koncepcijos de-damąsias ir jų sąsajas formuluojami esminiai idėją išreiškiantys teiginiai.

2. pav. Klientų aptarnavimo kokybės paslaugų teikimo sistemoje koncepcijos dedamosios Klientų aptarnavimo kokybės paslaugų teikimo sistemoje koncepcija pabrėžiant skirtingus požiūrius ir

teorines prieigas susieja įvairiapusišką kliento sąveiką su verslo sistema, kurios ašis ir esminis komponentas yra klientas. Pabrėžtina klientų tipų įvairovė, atliekamų vaidmenų, darančių įtaką kitiems paslaugų teikimo sistemos elementams, specifika.

Klientų aptarnavimo kokybė veikia pasitenkinimą, tiek individualiu, tiek visuminiu lygmeniu ir yra ap-tarnavimo tikslas bei siekinys, akcentuojant klientų lūkesčių patenkinimą ir viršijimą. Kokybiško klientų ap-tarnavimo trumpalaikis rezultatas pasireiškia kaip padidėjusi paslaugos vertė vartotojui, tuo tarpu ilgalaikėje perspektyvoje šis rezultatas gali virsti ilgalaikiais šalių santykiais.

KLIENTŲ APTARNAVIMO KOKYBĖ

Tiesos mo-mentai Sąveikos kokybė Susidūrimas su paslauga

Paslaugų teikimo procesas

Paslaugų rinki-nys

Paslaugų orga-nizacijos perso-

nalas

Klientų tipai

Klientų

vaidmenys

Organizacijos kultūra

KLIENTŲ PASITENKINIMO LYGIS Individualus Visuminis

Kliento ir teikėjo są-veika

Paslaugų teikimo si-stema

Klientų lūkesčių atitiki-mas ir viršijimas

Pridėtinė vertė

Fizinio akivaiz-dumo elementai

Organizacijos struktūra

KLIENTAS

kliento sąveika su paslaugų įmonės personalu

kliento sąveika su fiziniais, techni-niais aplinkos elementais

kliento sąveika su administracinėmis sistemomis

kliento sąveika su kitais klientais


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Klientų aptarnavimo kokybė taip pat ir klientų pasitenkinimas veikia ir yra veikiama paslaugų teikėjo ir kliento sąveikos pobūdžio bei paslaugų teikimo sistemos elementų: organizacijos struktūros ir kultūros, pa-slaugų rinkinio, paslaugų teikimo proceso ir personalo, fizinio akivaizdumo elementų.

Klientų aptarnavimo kokybės paslaugų teikimo sistemoje koncepcija susieja aptarnavimo sampratos, kliento bei teikėjo sąveikos charakteristikas, reikšmę kokybei ir pasitenkinimui, suteikia naują supratimą apie aptarnavimo kokybės gerinimo galimybes ir kryptis paslaugų įmonių veikloje.

Išvados Klientų aptarnavimo paslaugų teikimo sistemoje koncepcija atsako į klausimus: 1) kas yra aptarnavimas ir kokie aptarnavimo raiškos bruožai? Klientų aptarnavimą galima traktuoti įvairiais požiūriais, akcentuojant organizacijos ir personalo gebė-

jimus, kliento sąveiką su verslo sistema, klientų aptarnavimo sukuriamą pridėtinę vertę prie pagrindinės pa-slaugos, taip pat kaip marketingo funkciją ar „rūpinimosi klientu“ filosofiją.

Kliento aptarnavimas pasižymi nevienodais raiškos požymiais tam tikroje paslaugų teikimo sistemoje. Viena vertus, pats klientas aptarnavimo metu atlieka tam tikrus vaidmenis, kurie, kaip ir reikalingi įgūdžiai, keičiasi aptarnavimo metu. Kita vertus, klientų aptarnavimas remiasi kontakto zonos darbuotojų kompetenci-ja, padedančia siekti aukšto veiklos atlikimo lygio bei organizacijos efektyvumo. Galiausiai, aptarnavimo metu klientai bei kontakto zonos darbuotojai dalyvauja paslaugos teikimo sistemoje. Šios sistemos projekta-vimas yra susijęs su sprendimais dėl aptarnavimo vietos bei pajėgumų išdėstymo, paslaugos proceso bei už-duočių atlikimo, taip pat organizacijos struktūros. Pabrėžtina yra technologijų, informacinių paramos sistemų ir fizinės aplinkos dedamųjų reikšmė klientų aptarnavimui.

2) koks klientų aptarnavimo sąryšis su atskirais paslaugų teikimo sistemos elementais? Įsigydami fizines gėrybes ar paslaugas klientai kartu perka patogumą, kurį teikia paranki klientų aptar-

navimo vieta. Vieta lemia kliento kelionės iki paslaugų teikėjo trukmę bei yra svarbus konkurencinis aspek-tas paslaugų rinkoje. Fizinė, informacinė aplinka, supanti klientus, kontakto bei tarnybinės zonos darbuoto-jus, ir kurioje yra kuriama bei pateikiama paslauga, veikia klientų patirtį, turi įtaką klientų elgesiui, daro po-veikį darbuotojams ir klientų aptarnavimui. Paslaugos proceso projektavimas užtikrina, kad paslaugos proce-sas būtų sėkmingai atliktas iš pirmo karto, o kliento ir kontakto zonos darbuotojo sąveika būtų kuo papras-tesnė bei greitesnė. Informacinių sistemų bei technologijų vystymo sritys yra ypatingai svarbios įmonėms, siekiančioms pagerinti klientų aptarnavimą, nes technologijų vystimasis skatina paslaugų inovacijas bei kei-čia klientų aptarnavimo pobūdį. Organizacinė struktūra, vadybos lygių skaičius joje lemia darbuotojo atskai-tomybę, sprendimų priėmimo galią bei klientų aptarnavimo lankstumą. Svarbu projektuojant integruoti bei derinti visus paslaugų teikimo sistemos elementus, nes bet kuris netinkamai parinktas komponentas gali su-menkinti klientų aptarnavimo efektyvumą.

Nagrinėjant klientų aptarnavimo klausimus vartojama sąveikos proceso sąvoką. Sąveikos procesas api-būdinamas dažnumu bei kontakto trukme, kontrolės laipsniu, sąveikos personalizavimu, aptarnavimo proce-so sudėtingumu. Veikimo laisvė sąveikos metu sąlygoja tam tikrus nukrypimus bei klientų aptarnavimo uni-kalumą.

3. kokios klientų aptarnavimo kokybės dedamosios ir poveikis klientų pasitenkinimui? Paslaugų kokybė ir kliento pasitenkinimas yra esminiai klientų aptarnavimo elementai. Paslaugų kokybė

išreiškia požiūrį į paslaugą, kaip vienkartinį rezultatą, tuo tarpu pasitenkinimas yra susijęs su tam tikra veik-la. Iš to išplaukia, kad klientų aptarnavimo kokybė gali būti vertinama matuojant klientų pasitenkinimą. Ski-riami kliento lūkesčiais grindžiamas (kognityvinis) bei jutimine patirtimi paslaugos vartojimo metu (povei-kiu) grindžiamas požiūriai į pasitenkinimą. Siūloma matuoti klientų pasitenkinimą aptarnaujančiu pesonalu, pagrindine paslauga ir organizacija bendrai. Klientų aptarnavimo kokybės įtaką klientų pasitenkinimui gali-ma nagrinėti dviejuose lygmenyse: pirma, individualiame, t.y. vieno kliento sąveikos su vienu aptarnaujančiu darbuotoju lygmenyje ir, antra, bendrame/visuminiame lygmenyje, vertinant visų sąveikų aptarnaujant klien-tą kokybę bei patirtį vartojant paslaugas.

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THE CONCEPTION OF CUSTOMER SERVICE QUALITY IN SERVICE DELIVERY SYSTEM

Eglė Kazlauskienė, Justina Pusvaškytė

Summary

The article presents customer service features and the importance of service quality to service delivery system. Various components that can be defined as the elements of service delivery system are identified: the roles of customers of service providing companies performed during service encounter; the impact of organizations culture and human resources, competences and behaviour as well as the elements of service delivery process on customer service. Cus-tomer service interaction and service quality features influencing customer satisfaction are introduced. In order to pre-sent the valuable services and to gain competetive advantage it is important to integrate all the elements of service de-livery system while planning.


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DEVELOPMENTAL TRENDS OF WELLNESS SPA SERVICES: CASES OF DAY AND RESORT SPA

Neringa LANGVINIENĖ Kaunas University of Technology, K. Donelaicio 73, Kaunas Phone +370 37300127, e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract. Here is a lack of scientific and empirical researches on wellness spa services depending on the

kind of services supplied till a moment. The aim of this article is to disclose developmental trends of day and resort wellness spa services In Lithuania, differences in evaluating criteria of services. Author of this article develops specifics of day and resort wellness spa service. Wellness spa services suppliers and customers seeking to disclose the two-sided opinion were inquired. On the basis of comparative analysis – main trends of Lithuanian day and resort wellness spa services are displayed.

Keywords: day spa service, resort spa service, developmental trends, wellness services consuming Introduction Topicality of the topic of the article is rather new. Wellness spa services development during the past

decade is visible both globally and locally. Wellness spa services industry is evaluated as very rapid grow-ing.1 Despite the global financial crisis, wellness spa services show the trend of grow, as well as grow of turnover or supply of wellness spa services.2 Changing circumstances in the global economy also effect the changes in value creation for a customer. Customer want get a value cheaper and quicker than earlier.3 As these services show the resistance to economical fluctuation, services becomes to be an object of survey of scientists more often recently.

The existing researches on wellness spa services try to disclose classification of spa services, their de-velopment specifics depending on continent, as development of wellness spa services in USA and EU coun-tries differs a lot. Wellness spa services concept also differs upon the continent: USA prefers from wellness spa more pampering services, as value added, which is created by choicely services, not used for medical purposes. EU wellness spa services is usually perceived as a service giving tangible profit, as recovering af-ter illness, sanatorium services, medicine consultations, curative massages, etc. Prior researches present model of these spa services, excluding compulsory and extra attributes4. As spa services are not an object for investigation for a long period5, there is a lack of empirical researches on wellness spa services, especially depending on the kind of category of wellness: day, resort, medicine, or hotel spa, etc.

Purpose of the article is to disclose developmental trends of Lithuanian wellness spa services. Object of the research are day and resort wellness spa. Methods of the research are scientific literature, comparative analysis, interview, and questionnaire. 1. Theoretical background There is no unified explanation of origin of concept of spa. One trend explains that origin of spa relates

to Belgium town Spau, where in period of Roman Empire citizens of Rom were going for mineral spring wa-ters for medical or pampering uses. Citizens were flowing to Spau, as they believe the profit of water for health improvement. Second and last trend, explaining the origin of spa, relates to Latin word, meaning an

1Fontanari, M.; Kern, A. The “Comparative Analysis of Spas” – An Instrument for the Re-Positioning of Spas in the Context of

Competition in Spa- and Health Tourism. Journal of Tourism Review, 2003, 58 (3), 20 p. 2 Farid, M.; Lazarus, H. Subjective well-being in rich and poor countries. Journal of Management Development, 2008, 27 (10):

1053 p. 3 Langviniene, N.; Sližienė, G. Services Value Chain: Changes in Consuming Wellness Services. Journal of Social Sciences,

2010, 4 (70): 37 p. 4 Langvinienė, N.; Sekliuckienė, J. Factors of Influence on Successful Development of Lithuanian Resort Wellness SPA Ser-

vices. Journal of Social Sciences, 2009, 4 (66): 75 p. 5 Koh, S.; Jung-Eun Yoo, J.; Boger, C. A. Importance-performance analysis with benefit segmentation of spa goers. Interna-

tional Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 2010, 22 (5): 719 p.


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abbreviation of sanitas per aqua that means health through the water. Scientists are supporting the last ver-sion of origin of term spa more often, as it relates to water which is the most urgent factor for using spa.6

Development of wellness spa is date to earlier Romanian times. Consuming of spa, value of wellness spa was changing depending on the period. Such five periods for the development of wellness spa could be ex-cluded: 1) the Antiquity; 2) The Middle Ages; 3) The Renaissance; 4) The New Ages; 5) The Modern Spa. During the Antiquity period water was used for curing majority of illness. Citizens of Rom preferred natural water. Thermos was a place for leisure time, as people could train here, wash, eat, and visit a library, a shop. Deep traditions to spend time in Thermos are date to earlier period and people have deepened them more or less latter. The Middle Ages felony the consuming of spa, as established Christianity the bathing have so-cially forbade. Culture of bathing was perceived as negative and for curing purposes a prayer instead of wa-ter was used. Public baths was open only for aristocrats, as they were not necessary to attend the church. During The Renaissance more natural spring water objects were established. Mineral springs in Switzerland, Belgium, Baden-Baden in Germany, and Bat in England were boomed. First scientific researches on spa also date to this period, as in 1522 was published a book on therapies in Karlowy Varai. The most favourite pio-neer of holistic spa was German S. Kneipp, whose impact on recovering of spa consuming was great.7 Dur-ing the New Ages a holistic perception of spa, combining education of concept of spa, herb tea, water proce-dures and habits of people, natural ambience as balanced whole was bandwagon. S. Kneipp scientifically proved the profit of natural products, as well as philosophy of holistic lifestyle.

Nowadays pattern of spa assume various means. Spa is used for medical or wellness purposes. That’s why such terms as wellness spa, medical spa, and destination spa are used in order to describe the value for a customer using spa procedures8. Differs perceiving of spa depending on continent: USA consumers prefers pampering as the main goal for attending the spa, EU consumers prefers tangible profit, as consuming the spa for medical purposes or for prevention of illness. Depending of what value customers seeks, they could be divided to two categories: one segment wants pleasure and satisfaction; the second relates to people seek-ing to prevent health problem9. As earlier researches on wellness were concerned more with physical value for a customer, recently more and more spiritual value provided by wellness spa is underlined.10 People starts evaluate a holistic pattern of spa, as opportunity to improve health, relief from paint and stress, educate the well-being concept of all life.11 Wellness service contributes to general harmony of person’s health and is related to the change of life style or possibilities of healthier life12. Development of spa depends on a lot of preconditions. Providing the resort spa a selecting the resort area which has rather good infrastructure with transport roads, public transport, variety of entertainment outlets, shops of souvenirs, bars and restaurants, tourists attracting places as museums, journey organizers, rent of bicycle, cars, water transport, etc., are very urgent; while providing the day spa it is urgent that provider should be not far from job or home place of cus-tomers. After that, equipment for short beauty and care procedures would be available.

Researches on wellness spa recently covers investigation of differences between categories of services provided, value created for a customer, extra services as accommodation, entertainment, etc.13 American and European viewpoint to wellness differs. European classification relates to three categories of services: the classical well-care services, the specialized health-care services, and the remise en forme services.14 Classi-cal well-care services are similar to course of treatment. It is intensive treatment programme with an empha-sis on current health problem. These services are characterized by use of natural substances originating from earth, sea and climate. Specialized health-care services stems from the traditional therapeutic orientation to specific health-related problem of customer. Programmes covers holidays for skin, anti-smoking, slim pack-ages, etc. The last category of services relates to more relaxed and less intensive treatment, allocates more time to leisure facilities. This class of spa services usually perceived as services for healthy people, wishing

6 Smith, M.; Puczko, L. Health and Wellness Tourism. Butterworth-Heinemann. 2008, 416 p. 7 Gilbert, D. C.; Weerdt, M. The Health care Tourism product in Western Europe. Journal or Tourist Review, 1991, 46 (2): 7 p. 8 Langviniene, N.; Sližienė, G. Services Value Chain: Changes in Consuming Wellness Services. Journal of Social Sciences,

2010, 4 (70): 34 p. 9 Bhanich, A.; Barrows, D. A. Canadian Health and Wellness Tourism: Obstacles Impeding International Competitiveness. The

Innovation Journal The Public Sector Innovation Journal, 2007, 12 (3): 1–18. 10 Klerk, J. J. Spirituality, meaning in life, and work wellness: a research agenda. International Journal of Organizational

Analysis, 2005, 13 (1): 67 p. 11 Smith, M. K. Holistic holidays: tourism and the reconciliation of body, mind, spirit. Journal of Tourism Recreation Research,

2003, 28: 15–24. 12 Hopenienė, R.; Bagdonienė, L. Lithuanian wellness cluster: pros and cons. RESER 2010 [electronic issue]: The Resilience of

the Global Service Economy: 20th Anniversary Conference, 30 September - 2 October, 2010, Gothenburg, Sweden. Gothenburg: University of Gothenburg, 2010: 1 p.

13 Weiermair, K.; Mathies, Ch. The Tourism and Leisure Industry – Shaping the Future. Haworth Press, NY, 2004. 357 p. 14 Gilbert, D. C.; Weerdt, M. The Health care Tourism product in Western Europe. Journal or Tourist Review, 1991, 46 (2): 7 p.


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relaxing facilities. American classification of spa underlines classes of spa services concerning the extra ser-vices; it is what services are supplied for pampering uses: club spa, cruise ship spa, day spa, mineral spring spa, resort/hotel spa, destination spa.15 European and American wellness spa nowadays takes a pattern of other’s continent. Americans notice the benefit of medical spa, when they gets medical consultations of pro-fessional aside them staying in resort area, resort hotel or even visiting a day spa. EU customers also notice that not only medical consultations, treatment in sanatorium give a value. Two categories of wellness spa, in the Picture 1 are presented.

Picture 1. Features of two main categories of wellness spa: day and resort spa services Two categories were chosen, as they make the largest part of revenue globally. Turnover of day and re-

sort wellness spa depends on a continent, on a country, on the urbanization level, other factors, but usually these two categories are dominating and the rest one makes till small part of all revenue from spa. Main dif-ferences between day and resort area wellness spa relates to duration of services procedures and services provided by suppliers. Day spa visitor usually can decide to use the service the same day, as he or she does not need to go far from home or job place. He or she can go to day spa even during break; as one hour usu-ally is enough for a procedure. Resort wellness spa services are provided already far from home. Resort areas are located far from districts of industries. One of the most urgent facilities of resort wellness spa is accom-modation services, as well as guarantee of nice ambience, quietness, possibility to chose not only among beauty and care services, but also among accommodation, restaurant, night clubs, treatment as well. Possibil-ity to get consultations of professional also is appreciable. Resort and hotel spa services are hardly isolated. Firstly, customer, attending resort wellness, should accommodate; after that they are free to choose any pro-cedure of spa, etc. Customers even are able to book a service in hotel’s room. Relaxing possibilities, as well as variety of medicine, doctors, dietary consultants, wellbeing educators – all these factors could act as at-tractive things for customers. As well as we are not able to depreciate day spa wellness services which are accessible in largest towns, near location of customers and requires less money for using one or two services.

Summarizing, it should be noticed that there are a few of wellness spa services used rather widely. Growing attention to prevent the illness, to keep health state of the body and mind forces the customers to look through new possibilities how to do that in the most appropriate way. Customers are free to choose ser-vices: medical or wellness, or even combine them.

2. Research methodology Lithuanian wellness spa market is rather new, as was mentioned above. That is why no law is Lithuania

describes the term of spa services and what these services should cover. The objective of the empirical re-search was to exclude future developmental trends of wellness spa in Lithuania.

15 Frost, G. J. The spa as a model of an optimal healing environment. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine,

2004, 10 (1): 85–92.

Services: beauty and body care Duration: from one hour to one day Periodicity of attendance: Regular attendance is noticeable. Customers: the largest part of them is women aging 35-60, people who care on them health and beauty Purchasing power of customers: middle and higher revenue Purpose or value: leisure time or a break during working day Extra services: dietary menu bar could be available Location: city or town, near customers’ living or working place

Services: a variety of wellness and medical services, plus accommodation and nutrition Duration: from two days to one-two weeks Periodicity of attendance: once or twice per year. No regularity. Customers: families make the largest part, after that – mother with children, couples, groups. Purchasing power of customers: middle or higher, spending of money for resort perceivable as one of ways for vocation Purpose or value: relaxation, relaxation combining to medical spa Extra services: a variety of entertainment services Location: resort area, far from customers’ living or working place

Day spa

Resort spa


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A subject of survey is day and resort wellness spa services. For implementing the objective such tasks were separated: 1) to identify the demand for development of

wellness spa services (customers’ survey); 2) to find out the main points of development of wellness spa from the view point of suppliers (interview with managers of wellness spa services centres); 3) to compare development specifics of wellness spa services depending on the category of wellness spa and to exclude that developmental direction for spa in the future.

For estimating consuming demand for service, two separate questionnaires were made: one for consum-ers of day, the other – for consumers of resort wellness spa services. Questionnaire form was semi-structured. First part of questionnaire was shaped in order to disclose the demographical characteristics of customer. The second part was created in order to disclose a value of a customer. After that the estimation of quality of services was asked. This enables to disclose existing situation of services level. Trying to describe the possibilities to develop, a question about with who customer is visiting the centre was asked. For evalua-tion opportunities to develop also a question about why a respondent do not uses this service more often asked; what is regularity of consuming. Trying to disclose problems booking the service, a question with more likely problems as answers was listed. Also staff evaluation was presented. At the end of the question-naire an open question about what advantages and disadvantages of spa services provider customer penetrate was given.

Survey covers 200 respondents, 100 of day, the rest – consumers of resort wellness spa. There are three day wellness spa centres in Kaunas16, thus consumers of day spa were inquired in all of them (in 2 depart-ments of ‘Sauleja SPA’, 35 and 35 respondents; ‘Femina Bona Spa namai, 30 respondents). For survey of resort wellness spa consumers’ opinion, three resort wellness spa services providers in resort Druskininkai were chosen: ‘SPA Vilnius SANA’ (34 respondents), ‘GRAND SPA Lietuva’ (33) and ‘Eglė’ sanatorium (33).

Two deep interviews with providers of spa services were done. One of them with manager of day spa centre in Kaunas (Saulėja SPA), the second – with manager of resort centre in Druskininkai (SPA Vilnius SANA). Kaunas was selected as one of the largest cities in Lithuania. Selecting of resort area was stimulated by places, to which resorts are attributed. Recently Resort Association17 covers six resorts or resorts area and the largest – Druskininkai as an object for survey was chosen.

Objective collection of respondents was made, as it was very urgent to select respondents, who corre-spond to criteria of investigated wellness spa services. Four questions were supplied: 1) what are factors the mostly influencing development of spa services; 2) what opportunities for development; 3) what directions for development are going to implement; 4) what are obstacles for development of spa services business?

3. Results of the survey Customer’s viewpoint. Demographical characteristics of customers, inquired during survey, showed,

that day spa is attended by women (81%); while resort wellness spa – both by women (43%) and men (57%) relatively similarly. Respondents upon age were mostly 41–50 years (43 % of day spa and 39 % of resorts). After that, it should be noticed that resorts are visited by older people, 51–60 (42 %), while this age people are not visitors of day spa (6% only). The next group of customers of day spa is respondents of age 31–40 (26%).

Value for a customer or criteria, evaluating a wellness spa services differs on category of spa (Table 1). Comparing day and resort wellness services customers’ value we can see that their preferences differ a lot. The most urgent for day wellness spa customer is quality of beauty procedures; while for resort spa – the quality of wellness services. Second important criteria of value for day spa customer is a price, and in the third place – price and quality of servicing.

Second place for resort wellness spa customer also is quality of servicing, as well as wellness procedures quality. Price is thirdly important for customers of resort services.

16 Methodical recommendations for spa services classification: Applied science research study Ministry of Economy, Tourism

Development Institute. 2009, 58 p. 17 Lithuanian resorts and resort area. National Health Resort Association in Lithuania, National Spa Association, Birštonas.

2008, 27 p.


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Table 1. The most important criteria a value creation - customer’s viewpoint

1 place 2 place 3 place 4 place 5 place 6 place 7 place 8 place 9 place Criteria D R D R D R D R D R D R D R D R D R

Beauty pro-cedures qual-ity

57 21 3 4 2 2 38 11 62

Wellness quality 31 34 22 30 6 24 2 12 1 38

Variety of services 5 16 19 14 13 26 34 36 17 8 11 1

Price of ser-vices 7 24 24 22 35 30 19 22 12 2 3

Assortment of extra ser-vices

1 17 24 36 19 2 2 60 1 38

Loyalty 2 4 39 27 34 28 25 20 21 Quality of servicing 26 13 34 26 20 17 20 28 16

Accessibility of centre 25 6 36 27 37 46 2 21

Cosiness 8 26 16 30 42 36 33 9 Estimation of quality of services depending on category of services presented below (Picture 2). Day spa services customer especially well estimated the baths, massages and spa procedures; while re-

sort wellness spa customers evaluated bathhouse, facial care procedures, too. For evaluation of quality of services three variations were available: very well, average and bad. Some words should be sad about that. The majority of procedures were estimated by customers as average level. Answers did not differ on cate-gory of wellness spa. Even baths in resort wellness spa centres were estimated bad (7% of customers) and massages (2%). Also approximately 5% of resort and day customers estimated bathhouse bad.

There are a lot of differences with whom wellness spa customer visit a centre. Day spa wellness custom-ers usually use services alone (57%); while resort wellness spa centre customers attend with a couple (44%) or family (46%). Other aspect for evaluation the consuming trends, is regularly of attendance. There is dif-ference how often customers use day and resort spa services. One third of day spa (37%) visits a centre once per month and resort wellness (39%) once per half-year. The same part of customers of day and resort well-ness was first-time users.

Reasons, why respondents do not use services more regularly, do not differ. The majority of respondents answered, that more regular consuming of spa is limited by costs (32% of resorts and 42 of day spa). The second answer according the frequency was the lack of time (25% of resort and 26 – day).

Day spa

020406080

Body careprocedures

Facial careprocedures

Spa procedures

Bathhouse

Massages

Baths

Resort spa

0

20

40

60

80Body care procedures

Facial care procedur

Spa procedures

Bathhouse

Massages

Baths

Picture 2. The best evaluated services of two categories of wellness spa in Lithuania, %


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Problems, appearing booking wellness spa services also do not differ depending on category of spa. Less than a half of customers mentioned that they have had no problems booking a service. Approximately one quarter of respondents mentioned that they have not booked a service, as was no free time for procedure; the same part of them marked, that time offered by staff was not suitable. The less part of respondents men-tioned that they could not access to desirable specialist as he (or she) was busy.

Staff of wellness spa services enterprise was evaluated rather similarly, except a staff of baths. 62% of day spa services customers and 48% of resort evaluated a job and quality of staff as well. Other staff as re-ceptionists, massagers, cosmetologists, and beauty care personnel was evaluated well and similar between customers of day and resort wellness.

Advantages of day wellness spa showed that as wide assortment of services, good specialists, “every-thing under one roof”, as all physical facilities as towels, bathrobe, hairdryer, etc. available inside. Advan-tages of resort wellness spa for a customer were a wide assortment of inside and outside entertainment ser-vices: rent of cycle, recreation parks, aqua parks, bowling, billiards, etc. Also nice ambience and clean air were appreciated. Customers more seldom mentioned disadvantages of centre. Day spa services customers as disadvantage market a zone of baths where was no swimming pool inside. Also a lack of training equip-ment was mentioned: sport hall, trainings of yoga or exercise. Resort wellness spa services customers would like a lift inside, better air conditioning in some of cabinets and in the sport hall, too. Customers also listed obstacles to reach a centre, book service. Not everybody of them was satisfied with accommodation.

Provider’s viewpoint. Factors, influencing the development of wellness services for representative of re-sort spa are changing needs of customer ‘wish to satisfy customers’ needs’. He mentioned ‘it is possible to seek for new markets, but they needs special conditions, mineral waters and other healing factors, as only in such territory is possible to create resort wellness enterprises’. That requires researches, analysis, which specifies additional costs, upon the representative of resort wellness in Druskininkai. Interviewer of day spa provider mentioned also wishes of customer ‘we always reflect to wishes of customer. If we get any claims or comments, always try to eliminate mistakes and improve services after that for other consumers’. Represen-tative of day spa said, that wishes of customer changes quickly, thus they improve services regularly on that basis.

Interviewer of resort wellness spa told that there are no opportunities to develop in Lithuania ‘recession in economy influences that we should concentrate to activity which was already done before and do not give place for others’. He also underlined a lack of finances ‘<.> of course, subsidies for projects are provided, but not for everybody and only half of costs’. A development of resort centre was made recently, and now a half of costs (half – was subsidies of European Structural funds) should be returned. Interviewer of day spa centre mentioned that here are a lot of centres supplying similar services, and ‘it is very urgent to distinguish from competitors’. Usually spa services provider, upon the interview competes on price and supplies narrow assortment of services, or ‘even similar to ours”. She mentioned also that ‘<.> it is necessary to create a services which is not supplied by other centres and to attract consumers by idiosyncrasy‘. It could be new services not supplied elsewhere, new niches or new supplying methods of earlier services which increases the idiosyncrasy, upon the interviewer.

Development directions mentioned by interviewer of resort spa was a quality ‘we are able to analyse from philosophic point of view. One restaurant in England survives for long years already. They have the only dish in them menu – a steak. And they always have a lot of customers for it. Who will say – where is a limit for our business?’ It is possible to include all world procedures to one place, according the resort spa provider, but ‘<.> so what? We are not be capable to supply them in the proper way, because we have not appropriate staff, and customer will not be able to chose from such great variety’. Quality was mentioned as the main development direction; after that staff, education and improvement of them competence important. No new markets will be evaluated as this needs extra money. Day spa manager repeated that exceptional ser-vices are important ‘we think about procedures based on Lithuanian traditions or something like that, that is unknown by customers’. Besides that an interviewer mentioned that a few of services will be refused because of high costs and prices, as they not enough popular. ‘Quality, of course, very important for services’ upon the interviewer, as selective consumers appreciates a quality. Thus a control of quality will be exceeded and quality improved, as ‘<.> customer with bad experience brings with him negative information and do not returns back, as well as puts off other potential customers’.

As an obstacle for development for resort wellness spa the actions of Government were mentioned. ‘We have had earlier thought about development in Neringa, but with our Government it’s impossible’. Manager of resort wellness spa centre have sad that Government is likely to create a museum instead of business in seashore of Baltic. Besides that <.> all society in resort area endanger; people should be educated that they shapes an image of resort, too. Everybody who engages in any kind of business should communicate with


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visitors of resort very kindly, despite on nationality’. Interviewer underlined that resort wellness spa image depends on nice ambience, cleanness of resort. Day spa services provider underlined the main obstacle – the lack of money. This stops any initiative. ‘Wishing to supply qualitative service, equipment also is necessary, as well as competitive staff. Training of staff also costs additionally’. Also regulation of Government was mentioned by day spa centre’s manager ‘<.> new licences for new activity also necessary that is not so easy in our country’.

Generalizing the findings of the survey, day wellness spa services users prefer quality of beauty proce-dures. Other criteria for estimation of services as price, variety of services, and quality of services are not very important. Resort spa wellness services users prefer the quality of wellness services as well as quality of servicing. Price is not the most urgent factor choosing the day or resort spa. Loyalty programmes, accessibil-ity of centre are more important for resort, cosiness of staff – more important for day spa users.

Main developmental directions for day spa suppliers are quality improvement, differentiation of services supply, adding new services or services which are more traditional and cheaper one, improvement of facial and body procedures. Attracting of new segment of the wellness customer could be implemented by adding new services, as educational one or entertainment facilities, to the package of supply. Resort wellness ser-vices suppliers should take care on services quality improvement, competence of personnel, differentiation of accommodation services. Differentiation of services include new segment of customers, as resort are visited by families or couples usually. Educational courses about wellness concept, wellbeing will be able attract new segment of customers, as single who cares about them health, health prevention; as well as senior’s ser-vices package could be provided.

Conclusions The wellness services market in Lithuania is shaping recently. Five-six years ago first wellness spa cen-

tres were opened. Starting from one or two services supplied near facial or body procedure wellness spa ser-vices go ahead all other pampering services nowadays. New segments as day, medicine or resort wellness services are already rather well known. Day and resort spa services are not competing between themselves, as day spa users are more oriented to short duration services accessible not far from home or job place; while resort spa services are mostly used during vocation, holidays, etc. Users of wellness also differ as day spa user prefers to get individual approach, personal care, beauty or facial procedure; and resort user prefers ac-commodation facilities, entertainment, and communication with family during the stay in resort hotel, etc. Demand of day and resort wellness spa is changing depending on economy, purchasing power of citizens, and flow of tourists to Lithuania, other conditions. Local people also go abroad and uses wellness spa in such countries as Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic what are rather well known as wellness services suppliers. Experience, got abroad, forces the suppliers to look through their supply of services (assortment and quality factors) and implement new technologies, new services, here, in the Lithuanian wellness spa centres, as well. Adopting of foreign wellness practice is stimulated by growing expectance and experience of consumers, globalization or tourism market.

The development of Lithuanian wellness spa services market depend also on Government policy as these services till now have no appropriate consideration from Government. Co-operation of National Spa Association and Government will eliminate the major obstacles for development of wellness business, as infrastructure, cheap flies, local Lithuanian passengers transport limitation to districts as Birstonas, Druskin-inkai, Anykščiai, etc., as well as common system for certification of suppliers is necessary. Partnership with other services providers, who are related to wellness, also enables to supply qualitative day and resort well-ness spa services cheaper, more specialized and appreciated by a customer, which expectations is growing and changing very quickly. Wellness spa tourism even could become a part of services what can attract tour-ists to come to our country and to visit and uses other services, making a positive impact for our economies’ growing.

References

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2. Farid, M.; Lazarus, H. Subjective well-being in rich and poor countries. Journal of Management Development, 2008, 27 (10): 1053–1065.

3. Fontanari, M.; Kern, A. The “Comparative Analysis of Spas” – An Instrument for the Re-Positioning of Spas in the Context of Competition in Spa- and Health Tourism. Journal of Tourism Review, 2003, 58 (3): 20–28.


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4. Frost, G. J. The spa as a model of an optimal healing environment. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2004, 10 (1): 85–92.

5. Gilbert, D. C.; Weerdt, M. The Health care Tourism product in Western Europe. Journal or Tourist Review, 1991, 46 (2): 5–10.

6. Hopenienė, R.; Bagdonienė, L. Lithuanian wellness cluster: pros and cons. RESER 2010 [electronic issue]: The Re-silience of the Global Service Economy: 20th Conference, Gothenburg: University of Gothenburg, 2010: 1–18.

7. Klerk, J. J. Spirituality, meaning in life, and work wellness: a research agenda. International Journal of Organiza-tional Analysis, 2005, 13 (1): 64–88.

8. Koh, S.; Jung-Eun Yoo, J.; Boger, C. A. Importance-performance analysis with benefit segmentation of spa goers. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 2010, 22 (5): 718–735.

9. Langvinienė, N.; Sekliuckienė, J. Factors of Influence on Successful Development of Lithuanian Resort Wellness SPA Services. Journal of Social Sciences, 2009, 4 (66): 72–81.

10. Langvinienė, N.; Sližienė, G. Services Value Chain: Changes in Consuming Wellness Services. Journal of Social Sciences, 2010, 4 (70): 31–40.

11. Langvinienė, N.; Sekliuckienė, J. Preconditions for Lithuanian wellness spa services development. Journal of Ad-vances in Food, Hospitality and Tourism, 2010, 1 (3): 69–85.

12. Lithuanian resorts and resort area. National Health Resort Association in Lithuania, National Spa Association, Birštonas. 2008, 27 p.

13. Methodical recommendations for spa services classification: Applied science research study Ministry of Economy, Tourism Development Institute. 2009, 58 p.

14. Smith, M. K. Holistic holidays: tourism and the reconciliation of body, mind, and spirit. Journal of Tourism Rec-reation Research, 2003, 28: 15–24.

15. Smith, M.; Puczko, L. Health and Wellness Tourism. Butterworth-Heinemann. 2008, 416 p. 16. Weiermair, K.; Mathies, Ch. The Tourism and Leisure Industry – Shaping the Future. Haworth Press, NY, 2004.

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COMMUNICATION CAPITAL AND COMPANY’S VALUE ADDED

Irena MAČERINSKIENĖ

Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, LT-08303 Vilnius, Ateities g. 20, E-mail: [email protected]

Simona SURVILAITĖ

Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, LT-08303 Vilnius, Ateities g. 20, E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract. Nowadays business environment is changing almost every day and the main challenge for all

types of companies is how to survive and increase their value added. Every day offers vast opportunities and companies should find a way to cope with the difficulties encountered in their activities. Good communica-tion skills of individuals and appropriate communication between company’s employers and employees are the most important factors for any company’s success. One of the newest concepts is communication capital which is hard to define but it is present in every company and impacts its success. Communication capital can be understood as part of intellectual capital but also as a separate type of intangible capital in a com-pany.

Keywords: company’s value added, communication capital, intellectual capital, juridical capital, busi-

ness success. Introduction Communication is the power that makes the world go round. Every company is built on the basis of in-

tangible assets and tangible assets but today tangible assets are not in the first place as it was before. There has been a lot of research made by economists and scientists emphasising the role of intangibles. One of the most popular objects of investigation is intellectual capital and its influence over a company’s value added, success and survival. Many scientists analysed and are still investigating these processes (Edvinsson and Malone 1997, Bontis 1999, Stewart 1997, Ulrich 1998, Sanchez 2007, Zéghal and Maaloul 2010, Mikulė-nienė and Jucevičius 2000, Palumickaitė and Matuzevičiūtė 2007, Zapata 2001, Berry 1996, Godoy 2008, Malgioglio et al. 2001, Hughes 2010, McLean 2006, Herling 2000, Wang & Swanson 2008, Pitelis 2009, Kay 1995, Díez et al. 2010, Bowman and Ambrosini 2010, Bang et al. 2010). In essence, intellectual capital increases a company’s value added, but intellectual capital is a complicated concept that has no clear defini-tion. It is composed of three main components: human capital, structural (organisational) capital, and cus-tomer (client) capital. Furthermore, some scientists (Sveiby and Petrash 1996, 1997; O‘Donnell and O‘Regan 2000) assume that intellectual capital is composed of the following main parts: external structure, internal structure, and human capital. The new concept analyses a new form of capital that arises from the concept of intellectual capital – communication capital. This newly developed concept emphasises the importance of communication and relations and presents a broad understanding of communications including internal and external ones. According to Malmelin (2007), internal communications comprise communications within the organisation and external communications are communications with stakeholders and other groups outside the organisation. Nevertheless, communication capital is a new concept and not much research has been done as yet, the concept still needs to be studied. Malmelin (2007), Hartman and Lenk (2001), Hartman and Wang (2004) analysed the idea of communication capital and this paper is based mainly on their thoughts, observa-tions and remarks. The main problem is how to define communication capital and how it is related to com-pany’s value added. The object is communication capital. The aim is to evaluate how communication capital is related to company’s value added. The objectives of the article are as follows:

• to reveal the main theoretical and practical aspects of corporate communication capital; • to identify the main theoretical and practical aspects of company’s value added; • to discover the relation between company’s communication capital and value added; • to present the results of the research on company’s communication capital. Methods of research: comparative analysis of scientific literature, statistical analysis.


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1. Theory of Communication Capital The main objective of every company is highest possible profit and lowest possible costs. In most cases,

all activities of a company are based on communication: communication between employers, employees, between partners, suppliers and customers, between company and various institutions. Today we are living in the world of intangible assets where everything depends mainly on knowledge, information and communica-tion. The problem is that these intangible concepts are very hard to define and even implement in a company. According to Malmelin (2007), communication is a key resource for businesses, directly affecting com-pany’s success. Nevertheless, any company’s communication should be effective, it cannot be just a chain of gossip and not verified information.

It should be emphasised that communication capital is closely related to intellectual capital. Communi-cation capital is based on the concept of intellectual capital. Also, communication capital is related to brand equity and reputation capital.

According to Malmelin1, communication capital is understood here broadly as an asset and resource for the whole organisation. The model of communication capital includes both internal communications within the organisation and communications with stakeholders and other groups outside the organisation. In addi-tion to physical assets of communications, communication capital comprises communication systems, com-munication competencies and relations. These include both intraorganisational interactions and relations with stakeholders outside the organisation.

Hartman and Lenk (2001) and Hartman and Wang (2004) also emphasised the importance of communi-cation capital for a company or an organisation. Attention is paid not only to communication inside the com-pany, but also to an external business environment such as partners, clients, customers, suppliers, institu-tions, government and governmental organisations, competitors, financial institutions etc.

There are a few problems related to the analysing of communication capital. First of all, communication is hard to define. This is a concept that everybody knows but does not know how to describe it. That is why another problem arises: how to evaluate and measure something that you do not even know how to describe? In addition to this, communication capital is an intangible asset. Intangible means that you cannot either touch it or carry from one place to another. In order to define, measure and evaluate this concept consider-able research is still needed.

Malmelin (2007) introduced the model of communication capital (Fig. 1) which helps to understand the concept itself and which shows the structural parts of communication capital.

Fig. 1 shows the model of communication capital which has been introduced by Malmelin and which shows that communication capital is composed of the four main parts: juridical capital, organisational capi-tal, relational capital and human capital. Juridical capital is understood as the main engine for all business activity – without it all operations made by companies would not be legal. This capital comprises protection provided by law, legally protected rights, information owned by organisation such as patents, copyrights, confidential documents, and technology and computer systems. To put it simply, juridical capital is every-thing immaterial that belongs to the company. Organisational capital is also defined as an invisible, immate-rial, intangible asset which belongs to the company. It refers to the procedures, routines and management styles that are created in the organisation. While it is particularly important for international corporations, it should be an essential part of all types of organisations. The more organisational capital is developed the more successful is a company as organisational capital comprises organisational culture, routines, proce-dures, management styles. The most important element of organisational capital is trust which shows em-ployees’ loyalty to the company. Relational capital is also a very important part of communication capital as it comprises all types of communication - internal and external; it reflects how a company is perceived by clients, partners, stakeholders and other groups of people surrounding any company. Here the most important factors are an opportunity to listen to your customer and to understand him, customer satisfaction and loy-alty, brand equity and brand capital. Creation of all these things is extremely hard, costs a lot of money and is related to various issues. It is very easy to destroy it because negative impressions spread much faster than positive ones. Human capital, according to Stewart (1997), is everyone that leaves a company on weekends. Human capital is employees’ knowledge, education, skills, motivation, competence and continuous training. The main aim of human capital is the generation of new ideas, skills, improvements, and innovations.

1 Malmelin, N. Communication capital. Modelling corporate communications as an organisational asset. Corporate Communi-

cations: an International Journal, Vol. 12, No. 3, p. 298 – 310.


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Fig. 1. Model of communication capital Source: Malmelin (2007)

Communication capital can be compared to intellectual capital. The main parts of intellectual capital are

human capital, structural capital and customer capital which are similar to the structural parts of communica-tion capital. The main difference between communication capital and intellectual capital is that communica-tion capital is more precise in communication and relations in a company and outside it. Intellectual capital is more related to human resources and their capabilities. Bontis (1999), Stewart (1997), Zéghal and Maaloul (2010), Brooking (1996), Sveiby and Petrash (1996, 1997), Ramirez, Lorduy and Rojas (2007), Edvinsson and Malone (1997), Sullivan (2000) and many other scientists analysed intellectual capital, emphasising its importance to company’s value added and its success.

To sum up, nowadays the most important factor for any company are intangible assets that are very hard to describe, evaluate and to measure. Still many scientists investigate the impact of immaterial wealth on a company’s value added and success. Communication capital and intellectual capital are new concepts that may have a strong influence over any company’s activities both today and in the near future. Communication capital is based on the concept of intellectual capital and is focussed on communication inside and outside the company and on internal and external relations. In this paper we are going to define how communication capital is related to the company’s value added and to describe the understanding of company’s value added.

2. Theory of Company’s Value Added Company’s value added usually is understood as the difference between company’s inputs and outputs

or the difference between income and expenses. This depends on which source is used. It should be empha-sised that methodologies of calculation of company’s value added differ from country to country.

J. Kay (1995) describes company’s value added as the difference between company’s output and the cost of the company’s inputs. He emphasises the importance of company’s value added, defining it as the key measure of company’s success.

According to the Lithuanian Statistics Yearbook 2009, in Lithuania the value added methodology is based on formula (1). For individual companies, value added is calculated from another formula: total reve-nue less cost of expenditure. Individual companies often apply simpler procedures. That is why the formula is much easier to calculate.

(1)

Communication

capital

Organisational capital

Human capital

Relational capital Juridical capital


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In their investigation of company’s value added, Lepak et al. (2007) emphasise that value creation de-pends on the amount of value that is subjectively realised by a target user (or buyer) who is the focus of value creation. In addition, C. Helfat et al. (2007) describe value and value creation as “willingness to pay minus opportunity costs”. Likewise willingness to pay is from the customer / client side and opportunity costs are from the company’s side. It is quite interesting point of view that could be an objective for every company.

Quite a new concept that increases value creation has been raised by Hughes (2010). She proposes a “people as technology” conceptual model. In this case value is created through technology development or through human capital investment. Those scientists who follow the human resource management theory ex-clude three main components of value creation: training and development, career development and organisa-tion development. This concept emphasises the importance of every worker/employee and his/her ability to learn and improve skills. These investments into human capital offer vast opportunities and employees can work and perform their tasks in a more effective way. This also increases company’s value added.

Malmelin (2007), Hartman and Lenk (2001) and Hartman and Wang (2004) stress that communication capital increases company’s value added. Any relations between company’s employees and employers, out-side communication with clients, partners and other institutions directly affect company’s profits and help to reduce costs. The most important element for every company is relational capital which brings all income and enables a company to continue it activities.

To sum up, company’s value added is determined as the difference between company’s inputs and out-puts using formulas that differ from country to country. In addition, the importance of communication capital for a company’s value added must be stressed. High level and effective communication capital increase company’s value added.

3. Results of Research into Communication Capital on Company’s Value Added A survey was conducted in August 2010 in order to investigate how the elements of communication

capital affect company’s value added. There were 428 randomly selected respondents from small and me-dium-sized Lithuanian companies. A sample of respondents was measured using formula (2):

(2) where: n – sample when error probability P = 0,95, N – general population, ∆ – allowable size of sample error (∆ = 0,05). According to the formula, the sum of respondents was nearly 400. There were 428 respondents who an-

swered questions about communication capital. Likert scale was used in providing the answers: 0 percent – 1; 1 – 24 percent – 2; 25 – 49 percent – 3; 50 – 74 percent – 4; 75 – 100 percent – 5 An analysis was made aimed at determining how companies can save time with the help of partners, in-

stitutions, government organisations, local authorities etc. The results are provided in the diagram below (Fig. 2.). The diagram shows that the best way to save time in business activities is to deal with a business partner which is reliable and known for many years (mean: 3.61). It means that companies can save about 50–74 percent of their time necessary to accomplish their activities. On the other hand, it is seen that police officers and the police sector are not helping to save the time of businesses (mean: 2.134). It means that companies save only about 1–24 percent of their time.

Furthermore, respondents were asked to answer the question as to which part of useful information is re-ceived from different persons: a business partner, businessman who is related to you by friendship or family ties, businessman from the same association, businessman from other relations (known from conferences, exhibitions etc.), bank or insurance employee, government or local authorities’ staff, businessman from the same voluntary organisation etc. The results are provided in the diagram below (Fig. 3).

The results (Fig. 3) show that bank and insurance employees (mean: 2.9431) and business partners (mean: 2.935) give most useful information for companies. It means that 25–49 percent of the information received is useful for a company. Nevertheless, it is quite strange that information received from business-men related by friendship or family ties is less useful compared with other groups of people (mean: 2.813). Still, the mean shows that also 25–49 percent of received information is useful for company. Responses to


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this question revealed that in most cases about a third of information received from all types of people, insti-tutions and organisations is useful for companies.

Fig 2. Company’s time savings in dealing with different groups

Fig. 3. Shares of useful information received from different persons

It was also very interesting to see how much time it takes for a company to clarify and to verify the in-

formation received. The results are shown in the diagram below (Fig. 4). No time is spent – 1; Approximately 1 hour – 2; A few hours – 3; 1 working day – 4; More than 1 work-

ing day – 5. The results showed that companies spend the largest amount of time to verify the information received

from businessmen from other relations (known from conferences, exhibitions etc.) with a mean of 3.369. It means that several hours are spent for the verification of information. Also all information from different types of people, institutional and organisational groups is identified as quite reliable because companies complete the verification of the information in about few hours and no more efforts are required in this proc-ess. Nevertheless, less time is spent for the verification of information received from government or local


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authorities’ staff compared with the information received from other types of groups. It is possible that com-pany do not pay much attention to this through the lack of time or that the information is not essential for the company’s activities. One may assume that information from other institutions or other groups of people is used just for remarks and notations.

Fig. 4. Time needed for a company to clarify and to verify the information received

In order to draw conclusions, a general question was included in the survey – how time consumption and

financial costs are reduced by exchanging useful information and knowledge with trusted and reliable busi-ness partners. The results are provided in the diagram below (Fig. 5). The results are quite similar – both time costs and financial costs are reduced 25–49 percent but in this case time costs are reduced more (mean: 3.114). This means that communication capital is useful even when it is not effective enough.

Fig. 5. Reduction of financial costs and time costs with communication capital

To sum up, the survey results show that the best way to save a time in business activities is to deal with

business partners that are reliable and known for many years, which means that relational capital plays a very important role in a company’s activities. In addition, bank and insurance employees as well as business part-ners give most useful information for companies. The survey has also showed that information provided by all groups of people and organisations is quite reliable and only a few hours are needed for its verification.


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Also, according to the survey results, communication capital reduces time costs and financial costs by 25–49 percent, which is very useful for any company.

Conclusions Intangible assets are very hard to describe, evaluate and measure in any company. Communication capi-

tal is based on the concept of intellectual capital and focuses on communication inside and outside the com-pany and on internal and external relations. Company’s value added is determined as the difference between company’s inputs and outputs using different formulas varying from country to country. High level and ef-fective communication capital increase company’s value added. A survey aimed at establishing how the ele-ments of communication capital affect company’s value added was carried out and the results showed the importance of communication capital in company’s value added creation process. The results revealed that approximately 25 – 49 percent of time is saved when company is dealing with business partners that are reli-able and known for many years. Also the survey has shown that information provided by all groups of people and organisations is quite reliable and only few hours are needed in order to verify it. In addition to this, the survey has revealed that 25–49 percent of time and financial costs are reduced while effective communica-tion capital is performed at any company.

Communication capital is a new concept that still requires considerable investigations and efforts. More detailed research is required in the future in order to determine how exactly communication capital influ-ences company’s success and value added. In the nearest future the model of communication capital and company’s value added will be created and qualitative and quantitative researches such as surveys and expert questionnaires will be performed.

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25. Pitelis, C. N. The co-evolution of organisational value capture, value creation and sustainable advantage. Organi-sation studies 2009 30: 1115, 2009, p. 1115 – 1139.

26. Stewart, T. A. Intellectual capital: the new wealth of organisations. Doubleday Dell Publishing Group: New York, 1997.

27. Sveiby, K. E. The new organisational wealth: managing and measuring knowledge-based assets. Berret-Koehler Publishers, Inc.: San Francisco, 1996.

28. Ulrich, D. Intellectual capital = Competence × Commitment. The knowledge management yearbook, 1998, p. 126 – 142.

29. Zapata, J. E. V. Nuevos conceptos del capital intelectual. Revista CES Medicina, Vol. 15, Nr. 1, 2001, p. 81 – 90. 30. Zéghal, D., Maaloul, A. Analysing value added as an indicator of intellectual capital and its consequences on com-

pany performance. Journal of intellectual capital, Vol. 11, Nr. 1, 2010, p. 39 – 60.


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EMPIRICAL RESEARCH ON INTER-FIRM AND INTRA-FIRM NETWORKING IN THE TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS SECTOR

Justas NUGARAS Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Saulėtekio al. 11, Vilnius, Lithuania

Phone +370 5 274 5030, [email protected], e-mail:[email protected]

Asta RADZEVIČIENĖ Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Saulėtekio al. 11, Vilnius, Lithuania

Phone +370 5 274 5030, [email protected], e-mail:[email protected]

Anton NIKITIN

Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Saulėtekio al. 11, Vilnius, Lithuania Phone +370 5 274 5030, [email protected], e-mail:[email protected]

Abstract. In this paper the results of empirical research on inter-firm and intra-firm business network-ing is presented. The research has been organized in the transport and logistics sector. Empirical research was based on case study method. The results of the research are structured in the three dimensions: struc-tural, relational and usage. This structure lets to analyse networking phenomena from different perspectives and to compare different modes of business interaction. The results enclose more similarities than differ-ences in the two types of networks and show that practices used in the one type of network could be imple-mented in the other one.

Key words: intra-firm, inter-firm, networking, empirical research, Introduction Expanding business networks and networking phenomena attracted a lot of scientific attention but field

still lacks empirical evidence to prove the theory. As transport and logistics sector was a pioneering in net-works development and expansion, it is worth to compare different perspectives of the different sector play-ers in worldwide practice.

Theory of business networks started to develop from buyer and seller relations 1; grew in the field of va-lue delivering in goods market now known as vertical networking2; transformed in to various forms (strategic alliance3; clusters4; integrated research, education and business entities -valleys5).

Ghoshal and Bartlett 6 analyse how inter-organizational networking theory, tools and concepts could be adapted to MNC’s complex and geographically dispersed organizational system. Internal version of inter-firm networking in literature is also considered as intra-firm network7. The scope of this paper is concentra-ted on the empirical inter-firm networking comparison to intra-firm networks.

1. Research methodology As the theoretical research model for empirical research Carson, Gilmore, Rocks8 (2004) framework has

been applied (Fig. 1). Usage dimension is applied for scope of the supply chain management and transport activities. As research object is almost not investigated case study approach has been chosen to answer the

1 Dwyer et.al. 1987 2 Golfetto et al., 2007) 3 Cross et. al 2002 4 Stein, Ginevičius 2010, Ginevičius 2010 5 Jakubavičius et. al., 2008 6 Ghoshal and Bartlett6 (2005) 7 Nugaras, Radzevičienė 2009. 8 Carson, Gilmore, Rocks (2004)


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questions “how and why”. In order to combine results from inter-firm and intra-firm networking the survey based on semi-structured questionnaire has been conducted.

Relational Dimension

Usage Dimension

Structural dimension

(Focus on channel linkage strength)

Relational components Qual.Trust Qual.

Commitment Qual.

Co‐operation Qual./Quan.

(Focus on network structure)

Network size Quan.

Network formality Qual.Network diversity Qual.

Network density Quan.

Network stability Qual.

Network flexibility Qual.

Fig. 1 Research dimensions Five hypotheses have been formulated: 1. Networking (existence in the network) improves the characteristics of the performance of the com-

pany. 2. Moving from the network periphery to the centre gives benefit to the company. 3. The networking in Lithuanian companies is underdeveloped. 4. Inter-firm and intra-firm networking differs in structural, relational and usage dimensions. 5. Inter-firm and intra-firm networking has different benefits to the companies. 2. Empirical research The empirical research was done in 08/2009 – 04/2010. Experts from the 6 companies (including 4

global companies and 2 local (Lithuanian) companies) participated in the in-depth interview. 2 companies are participating in the inter-firm network, and 4 companies are participating in intra-firm networking. 4 re-searches were done in the companies in Lithuania, 1 in USA, and 1 in U.K.

Analysed companies are as follows: a) DHL is the global market leader in the logistics industry, giving international express, air and ocean

freight, road and rail transportation and contract logistics services9. b) Kuehne + Nagel is a global leader in international forwarding, delivers integrated solutions across

the supply chain, also ranks among the top three worldwide contract logistics providers10. c) The Mott MacDonald Group is a management, engineering and development consultancy serving the

public and private sectors world-wide. The company has implemented global projects in the transport and logistics sector, has been working in various transport and logistics networks11.

d) AD REM is one of the largest Lithuanian logistics, transport and warehousing group of companies. AD REM services: international and local road, rail, air, sea transportation and forwarding services, ware-housing and distribution, import – export terminal, bonded warehouses services, customs brokerage, cargo insurance, and Third Party Logistics (3PL)12.

e) Remil – core activities are concentrated on the freight forwarding on the peat moss export, ensuring safe and well-timed load delivery to customers. Company is the main transporter of Company DURPETA production to European countries, also offer high quality transport service13.

2.1. Structural dimension of networking 2.1.1. Network size and maturity Surveyed companies are different in size, global coverage, and the size of network (Table 1). From the

quantitative perspective all global companies have more than 10 years networking experience, have global coverage and more than 100 members in the network, and therefore could be defined as mature networks.

9 DHL, 2010. 10 Kuehne + Nagel, 2010. 11 Mott MacDonald Group, 2010. 12 JSC ADREM, 2010 13 Remil, 2010.


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Table 1 The profiles of the surveyed companies

Name of the company

Location of the com-pany/researched subsidiary

Global coverage

Predominant network type

Number of workers in the

company

Size of the network

DHL Global/Lithuanian 220 Intra-firm ≈ 300,000 ≈ 650 Kuehne + Nagel

Global a. USA/New York b. LT/Vilnius

100 Intra-firm ≈ 55,000 ≈ 900

Mott Mac-Donald

Global/UK/ Holborn 120 Intra-firm ≈ 14,000 150

Adrem Local/ Lithuania/Vilnius 1 Inter-firm ≈ 250 ≈ 85 Remil Local/Lithuania/Kaunas 1 Inter-firm ≈ 30 ≈ 30

Understanding the importance of networking maturity in the company has been evaluated by correlation

matrix. Correlation matrix compares how similar are the companies’ attitudes when evaluating the issue. Correlation of all answers to the structured part of in-depth interview (Table. 2).

Table 2 Correlation matrix

Kuehne + Na-

gel USA Kuehne + Nagel LT

Mott Mac-Donald

DHL Adrem Remil

Kuehne + Nagel USA 1 Kuehne + Nagel LT 0,3437 1 Mott MacDonald 0,4500 -0,0193 1 DHL 0,3236 -0,0303 0,3629 1 Adrem 0,5170 0,0215 0,3374 0,3565 1 Remil 0,1102 -0,0079 0,1368 -0,0349 0,4606 1

Average 0,3489 -0,0090 0,2790 0,1608 0,4606

The correlation has highest values in Kuehne+ Nagel USA company’s comparison with all other com-

panies with correlation average (r = 0, 3489) with standard deviation of (sd = 0,202304). 2.1.2. Network formality and flexibility Network formality and flexibility was measured in the two functions: operation and communication.

Transport and logistics sector is based on the fixed, unified operations (av=6,7), this is especially true for intra-firm networks (Mott MacDonald, Kuehne+Nagel USA, Kuehne+Nagel LT).

Inter-firm networks can faster and better adopt to changing environment as well as to have easier inno-vation process but it involves higher risk. In the inter-firm networks common goals and results are not set: structure and formality of interaction depends on interaction between two nods.

There is semi-formal (value=5) system in DHL: products are formalized to ensure the same quality of the services and the unity of the brand, and the lower standardization of operations and communications en-sure possibility to adapt to cultural differences, as well as local features to the subsidiary (Fig.1). In the intra-firm networks strict goals and results are set by headquarters. More flexibility could increase perform-ance efficiency, but it does not contribute with low risk taking philosophy of general network.

2.1.3. Network management From the found results it is worth to distinguish answers that describe efforts in different management

efforts (Fig. 2). As inter-firm networks in this case are smaller and therefore less complex, less management efforts are needed. From the Remil in-depth interview was clear that company do not consider network man-agement as necessity or as important function. Only importance of the role of organizing has been pointed out. In Adrem case the management of network is delegated to headquarters of formally established inter-firm network thus networking functions are understood mostly as control of financial transactions flows.


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Higher values reflecting assessment of network management importance could be seen in more developed networks.

In DHL case network has binary management model their network members are joint in the regional units and there is separate network for the development and coordination of the products. Kuehne+Nagel network is also managed on the region basis with headquarters, but as products are not so strictly specified there is no separated products management.

2.1.4. Network growth and stability Strategic network development depends on consideration of networking growth. In the survey several

growth criteria were ranked (Fig. 3). Analysis indicates that increase in turnover is highly considered as net-work growth (av=. 9,2). All participants of the research were more likely to agree that increase in number of nods in the network would not necessarily affect better performance of the network (av=5,6). International trade has it trends and patterns, and if there is no trade with country of the new nod’s origin, this will not af-fect the performance of exact subsidiary.

Generalized answers to open questions showed that matured (global) networks are stable growing in a few nods per year (opening new offices in the new destinations and countries), decisions are made to keep stability and to keep stable structures. Immature networks change constantly and rapidly, there are not stable structures and communications.

Fig. 1 Network formality

Fig. 2 Management of networks


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A) B)

Fig. 3 Network growth 2.2. Relational dimension of networking Trust is one of the most important factors in networking. The survey results considered it as a key factor

in networking in relational dimension with average evaluation 9,2 from 10. Inter-firm networking has free possibility to choose partners. Intra-firms are forced to cooperate with internal partners even if they do not trust in them (Fig. 4). Trust between nods in inter-firm networks is turn to be made by the exclusive gate keepers and their social interaction. Partner choice is made on the basis of the trust and cloud be changed. In the intra-firm networks corporate communication is organized to support commitment. Per-sonnel of different nods are forced to participate in formal regular meetings to exchange the information and to support commitment. In the analysed inter-firm commitment is not supported by some specialized activities – joint performance is based on the level of social interaction.

Fig. 4 Importance of relations


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In order to check dependence among different relational attributes correlation matrix has been used (Ta-ble 3). There a lot of parameters with strong correlation that amplifies hypothesis that they could be interre-lated.

Table 3 Correlation matrix on the relational dimension

Shared

philosophy Common interest of growth and

common goals

Shared competences

Commitment of all mem-bers contri-

bution

Trust be-tween

partners

Tradition based net-work rela-

tions

Shared philosophy 1 Common interest of growth and common goals

0,8377 1

Shared competences 0,3628 0,4683 1 Commitment of all members contribution

0,5644 0,6048 0,9648 1

Trust between partners 0,2652 0,5392 0,0741 0,2039 1 Tradition based net-work relations

0,1166 0,0903 0,7499 0,6195 -0,5363 1

Communication: one of the qualitative evaluations of network centrality is to evaluate how intensive is

communication while performing various functions Fig. 5. More functions performed in higher intensity shows the centrality of the nod. From the graph it could be estimated that the most central nod of the ana-lysed entities is Motto Macdonald that has the highest values. In order to evaluate exact centrality of the nod it should be made a quantitative research on the one network and all the nods in the same network. Lithua-nian companies do not consider lobbing (av. = 4,5) as an important function of the company’s activities. Low attention to joint marketing and market research shows that Lithuanian companies still do not see the bigger possibilities created by more integrated networks. Intra-firm networks have constant cooperation in day by day activities, and in the developing of new products and services. In the intra-firm networks well de-veloped intranet and IT support is created to ensure communication support and constant flows of in-formation. In the analysed inter-firm networks communication systems are not enough developed; dominates permanent cooperation. The above mention factors confirm the 2nd hypothesis: more intensive communication indicates the centrality of the nod. Central nods have better opportunities and show better results.

Fig. 5 Network intensity in communication Usage dimension of networking

Usage dimension of networks depends directly on the functions performed by the network in this case

networks are created as main activity to perform transportation and logistics. In order to describe usage di-mension network’s impact to the company should be evaluated (Fig. 6). In transport sector is a core element


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of business (average value 9,2 and standard deviation 1,6). Accessibility to the markets are directly related to bigger market share (av= 8,8; sd= 1,5). All other values are of the same importance.

Fig. 6 Network’s impact to the company Network’s usage dimension is formed by the various networking attributes, the impact of those attrib-

utes is presented in the Fig. 7. Local advantage and geography of the market are core functions of networks. Intra-firms having their office spread over the world in order to have competitive advantage, in contrast, smaller firms form inter-firm networks to have the same abilities through the network of the partners. From the evaluation of the networking attributes is obvious that the same network (Kuehne+Nagel USA/LT) is understood differently with some sort of local perspective, stressing different attributes of importance. Transport and logistics networks underestimate the R&D role. Large structures adapt to changing environ-ment slower, but they have better perspective and diverse experience. Intra-firm networks using their brand and it is more important to them and to their international network. Impact of the brand decreases then the size of the company decreases. Lithuanian companies also have less financial benefit from the networks.

A) B)

Fig. 7 Network’s usage attributes

Usage dimension correlation matrix was used to evaluate how deeply factors are related. Need to share

resources is strongly related with benefit from the network brand and shared technologies (r= 0,86; 0,83).


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Values in local advantages are almost equal to values of geographical market’s enlargement (r= 0,91). Lack of potential to work separately is strongly negatively correlated with an ability to change and to adapt to changing environment better (r= -0,9). As network brand is closely related with the financial benefit of the network inert-firm networks without a brand are losing competitive opportunity. R&D is closely related with shared technologies (r=0,82), but as it was mentioned the importance of those attributes especially in Lithua-nian companies are low.

Summarized findings of research of inter-firm vs. intra-firm network

Networks are different in their size, global coverage and structure. Three main groups could be distin-

guished from the research results: (1) global networking players; (2) Lithuanian companies; (3) Intra-firm network companies.

The main driving force in the intra-firm network is the goal and corporate culture of the network; in the inter-firm network instead of common goals common interest between nods is dominating.

The nods in both types of networks are diverse in functions and size. Global networks are more mature and more stable; they get more benefits from the network. Lithuanian

networks are still in developing stages and the role and structure of the network is changing constantly. More structure in the network could increase performance of it, otherwise with more flexibility it is eas-

ier to innovate. Both types of networks are mostly depending on the trust factor and have huge impact on network per-

formance. Intra-firm networks have higher result in all relational dimensions, but there is a restriction to choose

partners free. Network success is mostly based on the relational and usage dimension. Usage dimension of both networks is concentrated on the freight forwarding including all logistical op-

erations. In both type of networks the assurance of the supply chain is the core function (vertical network) and companies are using (semi-horizontal relations) to eliminated location differences and to perform the function.

From the usage analysis it is clearly seen that the predominant benefits from the network to the compa-nies are similar: (1) market access and (2) bigger market share.

Confirmation of the hypothesis 1) Above research has confirmed the 1st hypothesis as mature networks has better financial perform-

ance also the benefits from the networking improves the companies’ abilities. 2) The hypothesis has been confirmed in the communication part in the analysis relational dimension. 3) Lithuanian companies have shown the significant difference in all the dimensions. Also the differ-

ences have been mentioned in the analysis of relational and usage dimensions. The hypothesis has been con-firmed.

4) The all above analysis has confirmed the hypothesis. 5) Usage dimension analysis has shown that benefits from the network (inter and intra) are similar: im-

pact for market share, impact for accessibility of the markets and learning from partners are the same impor-tance for both inter and intra networks. The hypothesis is dined.

References

1. Carson, D.; Gilmore, A.; Rocks, S. 2004. SME marketing networking: a strategic approach, Strat. 13: 369–382. 2. Cross, R.; Nohria, N.; Parker, A. 2002. Six Myths about Informal Networks - and How to Overcome Them, MIT

Sloan Management Review 43(3): 67–75. 3. DHL, 2010. http://www.dhl.com/en.html 4. Dwyer, F. R.; Schurr, P. H.; OH, S. 1987. Developing Buyer-Seller Relationships. Journal of Marketing 51: 11–27. 5. Ghoshal, S.; Bartlett, Ch. A. 2005. The Multinational Corporation as an Inter- Organizational Network. Organiza-

tion Theory and the Multinational Corporation. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 6. Ginevičius, R. 2010. The effectiveness of cooperation of industrial enterprises, Journal of Business Economics and

Management 11(2): 283–296. 7. Golfetto, F.; Salle, R.; Borghini, S.; Rinallo, D. 2007. Opening the network: Bridging the IMP tradition and other

research perspectives, Industrial Marketing Management 36: 844−848. 8. Jakubavičius. A., et al. 2008. Inovacijos versle. Procesai, parama, tinklaveika.. Vilnius: Lietuvos inovacijų centras.


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9. JSC ADREM, 2010. http://www.adrem.lt/ 10. Mott MacDonald Group, 2010. www. http://www.mottmac.com/ 11. Nugaras, J.; Radzevičienė, A. 2009. Networking in the transport sector: inter-firm vs intra-firm perspective, Moks-

las – Lietuvos ateitis 2(2): 69 – 74. 12. Remil, 2010. http://www.remil.lt/ 13. Stein, H. D.; Ginevicius, R. 2010. Co-opetition is the situation in business relationships, in which competition and

cooperation take place concurrently. Business and Management 2010 Selected papers. 14. Kuehne + Nagel, 2010. http://www.kn-portal.com/


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LIMITATIONS IN ENTERPRISE STRATEGY PERFORMANCE

Mikołaj PINDELSKI Warsaw School of Economics, Al. Niepodleglosci 162, 02-554 Warsaw, Poland


Rafał MRÓWKA Warsaw School of Economics, Al. Niepodleglosci 162, 02-554 Warsaw, Poland


Abstract. This paper comprises considerations of the authors of the reasons for non-performance of an enterprise strategy. This is a comprehensive overview of references concerning the subject, enriched by the practical experiences and conclusions formulated by the authors. In virtue of the publication analyses, seven basic factors have been separated, contributing to the fact that the strategy remains a dead letter. In addition to their presentation, the authors also indicate the potential possibilities of avoiding or addressing the issues the occurrence of which they contribute to.

Keywords: strategy, strategic management, making strategy work, limitations in strategic management,

implementation of the strategy. Introduction The research results explicitly point out that there is a significant difference between the strategic plans

and the actual enterprise business results. According to Ch. Zook and J. Allen1, it happens that the percentage of entities that have not accomplished their strategies and results sometimes reaches 90%, whereas the level of short-term, up to three years, solid growth is achieved by 13% of the organizations subjected to the tests. The researchers showed two editions of the test of 1988-1998 and 1998-2008. Basing on them, they also came to the conclusion that the share of entities performing the strategy assumed, drops off systematically and at the end of 2008 was 12% only. This is confirmed by L. Johnson who states that 66% do not perform the strategy at all2, whereas. M.C. Mankins and R.Steele3 write that enterprises reach ca. 63% of the results assumed in their strategic plans missing the assumed target by 37%. This is a significant gap between the strategy and its performance. Basing on countable data, such as the targets related to income in this case, one may presume that the gap between the strategy and its performance exceeds 1/3 tasks. Therefore, as shown in the tests made by the said authors, almost 40% of the strategic assumptions are not performed. Although the results of the said groups differ significantly on the level of measurable numerical data, however, a general conclusion may be drawn that a significant part of the strategy is not performed. This, in turn, allows for ask-ing an academic question concerning such state of affairs. Are there any measurable reasons for the barriers to the fulfillment of the strategic targets after all? Particularly in the situation when the issues related to the strategy performance increase in the course of time.

Thus, the purpose of this paper is to analyze by references the factors contributing in particular to the stoppages in the strategy performance.

1. Reasons for non-performance of strategy According to H. Mintzberg, strategy is a filter applied in order to simplify the world around us and its

application is to facilitate the companies their task performance. In the course of time, however, the business context and environment of the organization change, which negatively affects the possibility of effective per-formanceof the strategy, created some time earlier, after all. Therefore, the assumptions, viewpoints and

1Zook, Ch. Allen, J. Profit from the core: A return to growth in turbulent times, Harvard Business Press, 2001, p. 11-13. 2L.K. Johnson, Execute Your Strategy – Without Killing It, “Harvard Management Update”’ 2004, 9 No 12, p.3-5 3Mankins, M.C. R. Steele, R. Turning Great Strategy into Great Performance,"Harvard Business Review", 2005, 83 nr 7, p. 64.


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forecasts constituting the foundations for the strategy must evolve4. Although the accurate establishment of the gap between the strategic assumptions and their performance seems to bring about significant problems, however, this seems to be the issue incorporated in the functioning of the entire economy and individual enti-ties. This is a significant problem occurring in strategic5 and although there are clear and explicit guidelines to build long-lasting strategies6and their impact on enterprises’ results7, the methods of their performance are not so comprehensively described or analyzed. This may lead to the statement that although a large number of researchers of the phenomenon deal in the strategy itself, the group dealing in the fulfillment of strategy is by far smaller. Nevertheless, there is a series of interesting approaches to the issue in this field as well. R.Kaplan proves that 95% employees either are not aware of their enterprise strategy or do not understand it8. D.Axson confirms it recognizing that just 27% employees have access to strategic plans, while the per-centage among managers is slightly above 40%9. The same author also finds it unsurprising that more than 40% entities do not correlate remuneration with the strategy performance extent, combining the salaries rather with financial data, so much easier measurable.

Basing on the publications referred to herein, we may establish seven basic reasons significantly affect-ing the fact that strategy is not performed at all or to an extent satisfying its authors. It is also worth noticing here that the target of the authors is not to prove whether the strategy performance or avoiding it contribute to the enterprise success, whatever it means. These two notions are not compared here. After all, we should be aware of the fact that the complexity of management and business life causes that there may be situations in which non-performance of the strategy is much more beneficial for the organization than its performance. The purpose hereof is only to present the reasons for non-performance of strategy specified in reference pub-lications, without any valuation or ranking. Nevertheless, basing on the reference research and finding sup-port in specifications suggested by numerous authors10,11,12, we may establish the reasons that may affect the occurrence of significant differences between the strategic targets and strategy performance results.

1. The strategy too general, formulated unclearly and ambivalently. 2. The methods of translating visions into substantial targets and tasks are selected improperly, while

the guidelines on the methods of their fulfillment are unclear as well. 3. Insufficient or improper communication, the lack of verification of the level of understanding the

message. 4. Defective motivation systems, unfit for the strategy and non-supportive to the strategic target per-

formance. 5. Wrong selection of the appropriate resources, improper allocation, inappropriate combination

thereof. 6. The lack of control and monitoring of strategy performance progress, the lack of consistence in

monitoring and supporting the employees in the performance thereof. 7. Ignoring the varying elements of environment and the lack of space for the possible strategy changes

in the course of its performance. Improper adaptation of the strategy to the varying enterprise environment. 2. Strategy formulated unclearly According to the test carried out by Wharton-Gartner and Wharton Executive Education13., the managers

indicated a general or unclearly formulated strategy as the main reason for failures in its performance. The company strategy affects the process of its performance providing guidelines concerning the future directions and actions of the company. Therefore, its unclear formulation impedes the efficient allocation of resources and stops the effective communication between the company management and its employees, while the role

4Mintzberg, H. The Strategy Concept II: Another Look at Why Organizations Need Strategies, "California Management Re-

view", 1987, 30 vol. 1, p.25-32. 5Lambert, T.Problemy zarządzania - 50 praktycznych modeli rozwiązań, Poltext, Warszawa 2000, p.20 6Collins, J.C., Porras, J.I. Built to Last: Successful Habits of visionary Companies,HarperCollins Publishers, 1997 7Collins, J.C. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't, Harper Business, 2001 8Kaplan, R. Norton, D. The Office of Strategy Management, "Harvard Business Review", 2005, 83 No10, p. 72-80 9Axson, D.A.The Fastest Route to Right Answers, "Strategy & Leadership", 1999, 27 No 3, p. 6 10Hrebiniak, L. Making Strategy Work: Leading Effective Execution and Change, Wharton School Publishing, Philadelphia

2005, p.14-20 11Hrebiniak, L.Making Strategy Work: Overcoming the Obstacles to Effective Execution, "Ivey Business Journal", 2008, 72

vol.2, p.1-6 12Lessons, F. Making Strategy Work, Harvard Business School Press Books, 2008 13Hrebiniak, L. Making Strategy Work: Leading Effective Execution and Change, Wharton School Publishing, Philadelphia

2005, p. 14-20.


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of a leader communicating with the employees in a clear and explicit way seems to be of vital importance14. W. Joyce et al. point out that strategy is the key factor for the correct and effective performance, one of the reasons therefor is that strategy determines the demand for resources15. Thus an unclear formulation thereof may be translated into under- or overestimation of the demand for resources. So it brings about real effects, measurable in cash. M. Beer and R.A. Eisenstatemphasize the role of strategy in effective intra-company communication. They say that the lack of clear and convincing declarations on the organization’s strategic directions impedes the company management the efficient communication possibilities. 16. In consequence, the unclearness and ambiguity of the strategic targets bring about numerous problems in the area of commu-nication, motivation, control and extensive implementation.

3. Inappropriately selected methodsof translating vision into substantial targets and tasks According to Bossidy et al.17, the process of creating a strategy should end with a clear vision and stra-

tegic ambitions. Another step should constitute the reference of the vision to the present company abilities. The enterprise must determine the point of its present progress and the ways it is able to reach the target planned. The reference of the vision to the present context of the enterprise (i.e. external and internal envi-ronment of the company) helps determine the short- and long-term targetsexplicitly. No strategy shall bring any results as long as it is not translated into any substantial and viable tasks. Any wrong translation of the vision into the targets and tasks causes that the employees may have difficulties with understanding the strat-egy and its reference to the present duties. Such situation increases the uncertainty and may bring about re-sistance towards any changes18. The translation of vision into the targets makes it possible to understand the strategy by the employees at all the organization levels. The understanding, in turn, is the necessary condi-tion for obtaining commitment. The employees must believe that the company is able to reach the intended targets. It is also worth mentioning that the employees easier understand the way their everyday work con-tributes to the performance of the strategy when the company targets become, in their opinion, viable19. An-other intention, of equal importance, of translating the vision into tasks, targets and plans is the reduction of uncertainty and fears of changes. Practically any strategy breaks through the status quo and thus brings about uncertainty and fears about the future. Therefore, the lack of understanding the reasons the company wants to take a given direction for further increases the feeling of fear and evokes resistance20. In order to perform the enterprise strategy effectively, each company member should know what to do and when as well as the kind of resources they need to achieve it. The wrong translation of strategy results in disinformation – the em-ployees at the lower levels of the company do not know exactly what to do and when and what resources they need to achieve the results that would satisfy their managers. In such situation the expected results should never materialize21. The effective performance requires the strategy to be clear, substantial and logi-cally translated into viable and consistent targets. The employees shall understand the strategies and will be able to refer it to their daily routine.

4. Insufficient or improper communication As already proven in this paper, the percentage of employees unaware of the organization’s targets may

sometimes become significant. The reasons for such situation are seen in improper communication and barri-ers in communication impeding the proper information flow inside the company and causing the negative perception of the strategy performance by the executive level managers. The lack of or wrong methods of verification of the strategy level of understanding may become the reason for failure in communicating the strategy. Presumably, however, the communication of the strategy should bring the expected effects when the employees are able to relate their work to the company targets only. The staff should have the possibility to translate their actions into the total effect of the entity’s business. However, due to the fact that communi-cating the information about the strategy takes place from the upper to the lower level of employment, the strategy often absolutely clear at the top, becomes obscure at the bottom. Along with passing the subsequent

14Killemade, S. In Practice?: Making the Business StrategyWork, Accountancy Ireland; Oct2007, Vol. 39 Issue 5, p.58-60 15Joyce, W. Nohria, N. Robertson B. What (Really) Works, Harper Business, New York 2003, p.69. 16Beer M. Eisenstat, R.A.The Silent Killers of Strategy Implementation and Learning, "Sloan Management Review", 2000, 41

nr 4, p.29-40. 17Bossidy L., Charan R., Execution: The Discipline Of Getting Things Done, Random House Australia, 2002, s. 276-279. 18Smith, B.D. Strategy-making: What Works is What Fits, European Business Forum; Spring2007, Issue 28, p32-37 19Beer, M. R. Eisenstat, R.A. (2000), op. cit., p.29. 20Zagotta, R. Robinson D.Keys to Successful Strategy Execution, "Journal of Business Strategy", 2002, 23 vol 1, p.30. 21SmetD. A., How companies manage the front line today, "McKinsey Global Survey", 2010, s.4


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organization levels, its sense is gradually lost and correlation with the current actions seems diluted and un-clear. Although there is a number of proven instruments on the market making the intra-company communi-cation more efficient, the information flow in numerous organizations is a serious issue22,23. A slightly differ-ent problem lies in the perception of strategy performance by executive level managers. L. Hrebiniak points out 24, that numerous managers see the strategy performance as work discreditable to their positions, finding it the domain of lower level staff.This is to a certain extent the result of the fact that the organizations sepa-rate developing and planning strategy from its performance relatively frequently. This enhances the division between the planners and those who are to fulfill the plans. It may also be translated into differences in per-ception of the reality surrounding the organization. It may also lead to omitting the people engaged in its per-formance while announcing, assessing and rewarding success. The situation is reversed when performance encounters difficulties and the strategy itself or the lack of its performance brings about negative effects.

5. The wrong motivation systems, unfit for the strategy – representing no support for the strategic targets The motivation systems supporting the strategy performance reward the actions and behaviors contribut-

ing to the achievement of the company strategic targets. When they are improper they enhance the negative behaviors in the enterprise and finally lead to the reduction of the strategy performance extent. They may also diverge from the strategic targets and reward or punish for issues unrelated to the strategy itself and its performance25. One of the major factors affecting the success of strategy implementation is the staff com-mitment into its performance. According to S. Keller, when lower-level managers identify themselves with the actions they are to take up, the probability of right performance of such actions is 79%26. If the strategic plans determine important measures the organization must take, while totally different actions are rewarded, the strategy performance shall be definitely negatively affected27. Rewarding improper behaviors and actions may negatively affect the strategy performance.

Another important element is to agree upon the principles representing the foundation for the evaluation of the results. The targets that will support the desired results of the strategy performance should be elabo-rated and agreed upon prior to the start of the performance. At another stage, the evaluation process must be focus on such measures agreed upon28. For effectiveness of the strategy performance, rewarding the people who achieve satisfactory results must become obvious. The stimuli must support the motivation to achieve certain defined results. If the people who contributed to the organization’s success are omitted, the strategy performance shall be negatively affected thereby before long.

6. The deficiency of appropriate resources - inappropriate allocation / combination thereof The deficiency or restrictions in the scope of resources may significantly slow down or even stop the

strategy performance. According to J.M. Higgins, when the managers start to implement a strategy right after its formulation, it is highly probable that the organization should fail to achieve its targets29. Kaplan and Nor-ton30 indicate that 65% enterprises do not allocate sufficient resources for the strategy performance purposes. As a result, significant part of the measures related to the strategy is condemned to fail at the very start of the implementation. This surely is one of the key reasons for non-performance of large part of the strategic tar-gets. According to the same authors, companies cannot allocate appropriate and sufficient resources for strat-egy performance for several reasons. First, the allocation of inappropriate resources is due to the lack of co-ordination between various departments in the company. If resources from one or more departments are nec-essary for the strategy performance, while such departments have not developed their internal plans and budgets in accordance with the strategy, this shall bring about the risk of conflict between the departments

22 Hrebiniak, L. (2005), op. cit., p.16-20. 23Neilson, G.L. Martin, K. L. Powers, E. The Secrets to Successful Strategy Execution, "Harvard Business Review", 2008, 86

vol 6, p.60-70 24 Hrebiniak, L. (2005), op. cit., p.16-20. 25Axson, A. J. (1999), op. cit. 26Keller, S.What successful transformations share, "McKinsey Global Survey", 2010, p.7-9. 27 Becker, B., Huselid, M. Ulrich, D.The HR scorecard: linking people, strategy, and performance, Harvard Business Press,

Boston 2001, p.16-17. 28Thompson, A. J. Strickland, A. J. Crafting and executing strategy: text and readings, McGraw-Hill/Irvin, Boston 2001, p.404-

405. 29Higgins, J.M. The eight ‘S’s of successful strategy execution, "Journal of Change Management", 2005,

5 vol. 1, p.3-13. 30Kaplan, R, Norton, D. (2005), op. cit.


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and fight for some rare resources 31. Moreover, strategies usually need to be translated into plans. Omission or inappropriate performance of this stage impedes the proper allocation of appropriate resources guarantee-ing effective performance. In addition, each plan should determine which resources should be necessary for its performance. In a situation when the resources available are not defined, the persons responsible for the performance of the particular targets are forced to search for them continuously, which in fact means con-tinuous requests to increase them. Such actions significantly impede and extend the whole strategy perform-ance process. Moreover, there are no guarantees whatsoever that the resources required should eventually be allocated. Allocation of responsibility and accountability is another very important element of the proper al-location of resources. The person responsible for the process is the main motivator and the one who conducts the task performance. The results accountability, however, as its name suggests is related to the results of task and target performance.

All the cases described above only prove that the organization must assure the participation of all the stakeholders in the whole strategic process, otherwise they may slow down the performance process and, inconsequence, the strategy implementation.

7. The lack of control and monitoring of strategy performance progress, the lack of consistency in monitoring and support of the staff in its performance Another reason for the rise of differences between the strategy and its performance is the inappropriate

measurement of the company strategic results. The monitoring of strategy performance progress is influenced by the specific nature and definition of measures, reporting system quality and strategy process review characteristics32. The first element is the inappropriate definition of measures. Their main task is to provide information on the progress and results of strategy performance. It is noticeable that most of the companies focus on the result measures and inform on what has already happened, not the forecasting measures – going into the future and providing information on the way things that have happened could affect the company functioning in the future. The effect of such approach is the focus on the company assets mainly, such as financial results or discrepancies between the current state of the budget and the plans. This restricts the overview of the situation forcing one to concentrate on historical data only. The effective forecasting of the future achievements of the enterprise requires the application of a wholesome approach to monitoring its business. The measures should inform on both the current state of assets and determine their ability to generate value added in the future. Another element is the inappropriate reporting system, serving to present the current state of task performance. However, it is not used in decision making enabling the further strategy performance. The measurement of numerous paramenters creates the excess of information, the absorption whereof being impossible for the managerial staff. This leads to decision incapability on the issued playing the major role in effective strategy performance. It means that directing towards the measurement of what is important as well as the preliminary analysis of results and distinguishing the most significant questions at the expense of those of lesser importance for the stategy and its performance should bring the appropriate effects here. The inappropriate review of strategies is another reason for failure to perform it. The operating issues absorb a significant part of the managers’ attention, pushing the strategic actions towards the background33.

8. Ignoring the varying environment elements in the strategy and the lack of space for the possible strategy changes during its performance The inappropriate adaptation of strategy to the changing surroundings of the enterprise. Accord-

ing to some authors34, the inappropriate or too slow adaptation is one of the reasons for failures in the strat-egy implementation. The ability to play the controlling function in the organization as well as combining the strategy performance with the strategy measures subject to control are related thereto. The enterprise more than often cannot identify and confront the facts that cause poor results of the adaptation of strategy that seems to be a pure coincidence or is incomplete. The foundation for the strategic planning is a set of assump-tions, opinions and forecasts concerning the future results of the company and its environment35. If their

31Kaplan, R. Norton, D. Having Trouble with Your Strategy? Then Map It, "Harvard Business Review", 2000, 78 vol. 5, p.167-

176. 32Kaplan, R. Norton, D. (2005), op. cit. 33Raffoni M., Three Keys to Effective Execution, "Harvard Management Update", 2008, 13 vol. 6, p.3-4. 34Neilson, G. L.. Martin, K. L Powers, E. (2008), op. cit. 35Mankins, M.C. Steele, R, (2005), op. cit.


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variability in time is ignored the strategy performance may be at risk. The effective strategy performance requires such assumptions whose adaptation to the changing company environment requires a critical ap-proach towards the targets and forecasts. The inability to notice the changes that took place in the environ-ment since the last strategy review may negatively affect the company results. Therefore, the company must often carry out revisions of the strategy and its assumptions, opinions and forecasts. The company must be continuously ready for changing part or even the whole of the strategy. Adaptation is a continuous process, the target whereof being the strategy review and recommendation and implementation of changes thereto, if necessary. The lack or inappropriate adaptation of the strategy to the enterprise context increases the busi-ness risk. The company may incur immense costs, for example in the form of lost investments, failed merg-ers and takeovers or missed opportunities on the market. In addition, in the long-run, the entity’s competi-tiveness may deteriorate as a result of battle against the consequences of failed strategy and the exposure to the risk of consolidation or development of a culture approving of permanent failures and mediocre results might take place.

Conclusions A clear gap may arise between a strategy and its performance. Analyzing the publications of numerous

authors dealing in the analyses of this issue one may get the impression that these are very often two separate beings functioning in enterprises. Thus, if we assume that the strategy indicates more desired targets than any other, such situation may seem worrying. The reasons presented herein, most often mentioned in references, the strategy is not performed for allow for a statement that the phenomenon is relatively well recognized and there is a number of guidelines how to avoid it. The permanently current nature of the issue may surprise even more on the grounds of the strategic management practice. The issue seems to be permanently live in organizations. Concerning people, their mutual relationships, communication and various processes, re-sources and methods of their allocation and management, it seems adequate to approach the whole strategy in a comprehensive way, in terms of the potential restrictions in translating them onto the grounds of action. The conclusion also occurs that numerous elements or tasks performed in an enterprise function in conspicu-ous separation from the major target. This in turn forces the managers to treat each strategy as a factor, to a certain extent creating a new organizational existence. After all, it not only requires the verification of the existing internal conditions, but also a deep and serious interference with the ways they function.

According to the purpose of the paper, the presented reasons for failures in strategy performance may represent a comprehensive abstract of knowledge on this topic, being the compilation of experiences and tests made by numerous researchers of the phenomenon.

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SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT IN THE FIELD OF WASTE MANAGEMENT

Viktorija PODGAISKYTĖ Vilnius Gediminas technical university, Saulėtekio al. 11, LT-10223 Vilnius


Abstract. A waste management system is a complex, dynamic system, characterized by large number of stakeholders, variety of types of waste generated. Waste management contribution to the sustainable devel-opment is proven and agreed by the scientists, but assessment of waste management system still generates a lot of discussions. The paper presents results of research about models and methods that are used in total or partial assessment and evaluation of waste management system. The paper describes methods for economic, environmental, social and technological analysis. In context of sustainable development, the results show there is a lack of systematic approach, there is no practice that would perform complex assessment and evaluation of waste management system considering sustainability, and finally it is still not clear what sus-tainable waste management system has to be.

Keywords: environment, systems, waste management, sustainable development, assessment methods,

system analysis Introduction It was stated that climate change last decade poses a serious threat to the environment and reduces op-

portunities for future generations to live without the extra cost (Agenda 21)1. Waste management in context of sustainable development has considerable influence on the situation of public health and the natural envi-ronment. Effective, sustainable management of waste is the possibility for sustainable use of natural re-sources (Bruner, Fellner)2 and reduction of negative impacts on the human health and the natural environ-ment.

Wastes are produced in almost all processes, majority business activities, living or close to the living en-vironment. The exceptional property of the waste management system is general interest. High attention to the object pays practitioners and academics. The waste management field related publications are frequent in various research journals, issues corresponding discussions are held in the world conferences.

Scientists agree the waste management is complex and complicated system; this is a social phenomenon, which properties are described by a variety of social, economic, ecological, technical, institutional and other elements (Swenson3, Finnveden et al.4, Hage, Söder-Holm5, Vego et al.6, Iriarte et al.7, Bivainis, Pod-gaiskytė8; Larsen et al.9). Waste management system research in various aspects: content and function of the systems, different system modifications and properties, operating environment, waste management solution

1 Agenda 21. 1992. Earth summit – the United Nations Programme of action from Rio. United Nations conference on environ-

ment and development. Rio de Janeiro. 294 p. 2 Brunner, P. H.; Fellner, J. (2007). Setting priorities for waste management strategies in developing countries. Waste Manage-

ment & Research 25: 234–240. 3 Svensson, G. 2006. New aspects of research into service encounters and service quality, International Journal of Service In-

dustry Management, 17(3): 245–257 4 Finnveden, G.; Bjorklund, A.; Moberg, A.; Ekvall, T. 2007a. Environmental and economic assessment methods for waste ma-

nagement decision-support:possibilities and limitations, Waste Management and Research 25: 263–269. 5 Hage, O.; Söderholm, P. 2008. An econometric analysis of regional differences in household waste collection: The case of

plastic packaging waste in Sweden. Waste Management, 28(10): 1720–1731 6 Vego, G.; Kučar-Dragičević, S.; Koprivanac, K. 2008. Application of multi-criteria decision-making on strategic municipal

solid waste management in Dalmatia, Croatia. Waste Management, 28 (11): 2192–2201. 7 Iriarte, A.; Gabarrell. X.; Rieradevall, J. 2009. LCA of selective waste collection systems in dense urban areas. Waste Mana-

gement, 29(2): 903–914. 8 Bivainis, J.; Podgaiskytė, V. 2010. Atliekų tvarkymo struktūrinė analizė. Verslas: teorija ir praktika, 11(4): 323–334. 9 Larsen, A.W.; Merrild, H.; Møller, J.; Christensen, T. H. 2010. Waste collection systems for recyclables: An environmental

and economic assessment for the municipality of Aarhus (Denmark). Waste Management 30(5): 744–754.


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and assessment methods and models (Žičkienė, Ruškus10, Klang et al11, Leonavičius12, Morrissey, Browne13, Husaini et al.14, Hung et al.15, Finnveden et al.16). However, the scientific literature analysis of the last deca-de presupposes a lack of research in which waste management system would be investigated in systematic approach. Research subject is assessment methods and methodologies used in the field of waste manage-ment. The goal is to research methods and methodologies in relation to sustainability assessment of waste management system. The results of research are presented in the paper.

1. Interactions of sustainable development and waste management system Sustainable development is a vague and complex concept. It depends on economical, social and ecologi-

cal perspectives that are all equally important. In the long run no perspective can be excluded to obtain a su-stainable society; therefore economy, environmental and social wellbeing have to be in correlation and counted in tandem. The present state has relation to the future needs. The fundamental principle is that all human individuals have equal rights, whether living today or in future (Balkema et al.17). The scientists to-tally accept and agree with the concept of sustainable development, even though there are different interpre-tations because of dynamic system we are living in. Local circumstances of different (present and future) generations and problems they are going to deal with generate different perspectives for sustainable devel-opment.

A waste management system is a complex, dynamic system, characterized by large number of stake-holders (therefore a society also), variety of types of waste generated (Costi et al.18, Bivainis, Podgaiskytė19). Properly organized and implemented waste management is determined to make a significant impact on waste management system in general in the extent of the natural environment, public health, resource use. Inappro-priate waste management is the most important factor in the formation of illegal landfills, breed of the para-sites, cause of unsanitary living conditions or contaminated drinking water, therefore disease breakthrough. Nevertheless, changing lifestyles, consumption rates, the concentration of the population's growing waste volumes, increasing the distance to the waste collection and transportation are factors for greenhouse gas formation and global warming.

A system approach to waste management was established by an integrated waste management concept. After the paradigm of sustainable development had evolved at the beginning of eighties, the sustainable waste management has appeared in term of "integrated waste management". During this time, the problem of exhaustible natural resources permanently raised and a focus on the waste prevention issue appeared. The main objectives of the waste management (reduction of negative impact on the natural environment, improvement of public health) were supplemented by one more – efficient use of natural resources. During this time, the principle of "from-cradle-to-grave" has been changed to “from-cradle-to-cradle” (Costi et al.20, Bivainis, Podgaiskyte21).

Agenda 2122 states that based on the environmental principles, waste management is one of the most important steps to improve the ecological condition of the Earth, to encourage countries to increase

10 Žičkienė, S.; Ruškus J. 2001. Individualaus buitinių atliekų tvarkymo modeliai: apklausos raštu duomenys, Aplinkos tyrimai, inžinerija ir vadyba 4(18): 19–29.

11 Klang, A.; Vikman, P.; Brattebo, H. 2003. Sustainable management of demolition waste – an integrated model for the evalua-tion of environmental, economic and social aspects, Resource, Conservation and Recycling 38: 317–334.

12 Leonavičius, V. 2003. Visuomenės dalyvavimas atliekų tvarkyme kaip socialinės kaitos kriterijus, Aplinkos tyrimai, inžineri-ja ir vadyba 3(25): 71–79.

13 Morrissey, A. J.; Browne J. 2004. Waste management models and their application to sustainable waste management, Waste Management 24: 297–308.

14 Husaini, I. G.; Garg, A.; Kim, K. H.; Marchant, J.; Pollard, S. J. T. 2007. European household waste management schemes: their effectiveness and applicability in England, Resources, Conservation and Recycling 51(1): 248–263.

15 Hung, M., L.; Hwong-wen Ma; Wan-Fa Yang 2007. A novel sustainable decision making model for municipal solid waste management, Waste Management 27: 209–219.

16 Finnveden, G.; Bjorklund, A.; Reich, M. A.; Eriksson, O.; Sorbom, A. 2007b. Flexible and robust strategies for waste mana-gement in Sweden, Waste Management 27: 81–88.

17 Balkema, A. J.; Presig, H. A.; Otterpohl, R.; Lambert, F. J. D. 2002. Indicators for the sustainability assessment of wastewater treatment systems, Urban water, 4: 153–161.

18 Costi, P.; Minciardi, R.; Robba, M.; ROvatti, M.; Sacile, R. 2004. An environmentally sustainable decision model for urban solid waste management, Waste Management, 24: 277–295.

19 Bivainis, J.; Podgaiskytė, V. 2010. Atliekų tvarkymo struktūrinė analizė. Verslas: teorija ir praktika, 11(4): 323–334. 20 Costi, P.; Minciardi, R.; Robba, M.; ROvatti, M.; Sacile, R. 2004. An environmentally sustainable decision model for urban

solid waste management, Waste Management, 24: 277–295. 21 Bivainis, J.; Podgaiskytė, V. 2010. Atliekų tvarkymo struktūrinė analizė. Verslas: teorija ir praktika, 11(4): 323–334. 22 Agenda 21. 1992. Earth summit – the United Nations Programme of action from Rio. United Nations conference on environ-

ment and development. Rio de Janeiro. 294 p.


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economic competitiveness and public welfare. Waste management, based on purposeful, social, economic and environmental principles, is one of the key conditions for sustainable development: to ensure effective and efficient use of natural resources, reduce pollution, improve public health status and quality of life.

Provisions for waste management to improve public health and safety, environmental protection, to enable the efficient use of natural resources, were implemented by waste management hierarchy (Directive)23. The Directive establishes a priority queue for the waste management processes, the highest priority to waste prevention or avoidance, and safe disposal should be used for only wastes what are unsuitable for recycling or other use. However scientists (Wilson et al.24; Gaiziuniene, Dvarioniene25) identify some limits of principles of the waste management hierarchy. Shortcomings by McDougall's26 identified, that principles of waste management hierarchy include the lack of scientific validity, complex application using different combinations of waste management, economic weaknesses; therefore these do not guarantee the cost-effective and sustainable waste management.

2. Assessment of waste management system There are a wide variety of methods and methodologies for assessment waste management system. The-

se tools can be characterized by different aspects, as: 1) analytical or 2) procedural (Finnveden et al.27, Gaiziuniene, Dvarioniene28); 1) optimizing and 2) compromising (Morissey and Browne29). According to the performance area methods can be characterized by focus to 1) economic, 2) environmental, 3) social performance of the system (Finnveden et al.30). A. Pires, G. Martinho and N. B. Chang31 propose the segmentation by 1) system engineering and 2) system assessment models. The analytical models provide te-chnical information and include cost-benefit analysis, life cycle assessment, life cycle costing, life cycle in-ventory, material flow analysis, risk analysis, input-output analysis. Procedural tools evaluate the processes to implement environmental decisions, thee tools are environmental impact assessment, strategic environ-mental assessment, and environmental management system etc. (Gaiziuniene and Dvarioniene32). System engineering models includes cost-benefit analysis, forecasting models, simulation models, optimization mo-dels, and integrated modeling system. System assessment tools including management information system, decision support system, expert system, scenario development, material flow analysis, life cycle assessment or life cycle inventory, risk assessment, environmental impact assessment, strategic environmental asses-sment, socioeconomic assessment, and sustainable assessment methods and methodologies.

The scientists presents, that sustainable waste management system must be economically affordable, en-vironmentally effective and socially acceptable. The sustainable development concept proposes the three above mentioned aspects for system evaluation: 1) economic, 2) social and 3) ecological. Thereafter some scientists add aspects of 4) technology, 5) institutional, 6) functional, 7) normative. A. J. Balkema, H. A. Preisig, R. Otterpohl, F. J. D. Lambert33 clarify the technology as “the demands of the end user, that are transferred into functional criteria” (fulfilled by the technology). The sustainable technology is the one de-pendant on time and space. Functional aspect determines the effectiveness of the solutions, while the eco-nomic, environmental and social aspects assess the efficiency of the solution.

23 Directive 2008/98/EB of The European Parliament and of The Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain

Directives 32008L0098, L312, 22/11/2008 P. 0003-0030. 24 Wilson, E. J. McDougall, F. R.; Willmore, J. 2001. Euro-trash:searching Europe for a more sustainable approach to waste

management, Resource, Conservation and Recycling, 31: 327–346. 25 Gaiziuniene, J.; Dvarioniene, J. 2010. Toward sustainable hazardous waste management in Lithuania, European Integration

Studies 4: 141–147. 26 McDougall, F., White, P., Franke, M., and Hindle, P., 2001. Integrated Solid Waste Management: a Life Cycle Inventory, 2nd

Edition.. Blackwell Science Publishing, UK. p. 544. 27 Finnveden, G.; Bjorklund, A.; Moberg, A.; Ekvall, T. 2007a. Environmental and economic assessment methods for waste

management decision-support:possibilities and limitations, Waste Management and Research 25: 263–269. 28 Gaiziuniene, J.; Dvarioniene, J. 2010. Toward sustainable hazardous waste management in Lithuania, European Integration

Studies 4: 141–147. 29 Morrissey, A. J.; Browne J. 2004. Waste management models and their application to sustainable waste management, Waste

Management 24: 297–308. 30 Finnveden, G.; Bjorklund, A.; Moberg, A.; Ekvall, T. 2007a. Environmental and economic assessment methods for waste

management decision-support:possibilities and limitations, Waste Management and Research 25: 263–269. 31 Pires, A.; Martinho, G.; Chang, N.B. 2011. Solid waste management in European countries: A review of system analysis

techniques, Journal of Environmental Management 92: 1033–1050. 32 Gaiziuniene, J.; Dvarioniene, J. 2010. Toward sustainable hazardous waste management in Lithuania, European Integration

Studies 4: 141–147. 33 Balkema, A. J.; Presig, H. A.; Otterpohl, R.; Lambert, F. J. D. 2002. Indicators for the sustainability assessment of

wastewater treatment systems, Urban water, 4: 153–161.


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Implementing the sustainability in the system, the uncertainties and mutual dependencies between the environment and society has to be taken into the account; risks for the environmental and economy have to be balanced (Balkema et al.34, Finnveden et al.35). According to the sustainable development concept and the main aspects it consider, the following paragraphs (3.1, 3.2, 3.3) will be arranged relatively.

2.1. Economic analysis Economic sustainability implies paying for itself, with costs not exceeding benefits. Mainly focussing on

increasing human well-being, through optimal allocation and distribution of scarce resources, to meet and satisfy human needs (Balkema et al.36). The other authors limit scope of economic analyses to “real costs”, majority of studies include just financial costs and benefits.

P. Costi, R. Minciardi, M. Robba, M Rovatti, R. Sacile37 refer the considerable research efforts directed towards the development of economic-based optimization models for waste flow allocation in past two deca-des. A. J. Morrissey and J. Brown38, M. L. Hung, H. Ma, W. F. Yang39 submit the early models focus on waste management system cost minimization. Nowadays models with economic analyses in comparison ha-ve not been essentially developed in sense of general goal – still there is a financial cost-benefit analysis. The problem of ethical issues in natural resource and scarcity economic evaluation and social value appears. Scientifics discuss that it is impossible to say if today the most valuable issue would be the same valued in the future generations.

Economic measurement usually stands with positive or negative results or effects in monetary scale. Therefore environmental and social value must be estimated in monetary terms. The monetary value estima-tion, by A. J. Morissey and J. Browne40 proposal could be divided in two main methods: 1) estimating the costs of avoiding the negative impact to society and nature or 2) estimating what is willingness to pay for environmental improvement or social welfare.

For economic analysis the wide range of methods are proposed: cost-benefit analysis, investment analy-sis, impact assessment, life cycle cost, etc. The main and most popular economic assessment method is cost benefit analysis. The method presents results in a clear, easy valued and compared matter – a summed up monetary figure. The key shortcoming of the economic analysis methods –unsustainable balance between different aspects (economic and /or environmental and /or social) appear. The tasks of economic analyses usually are cost minimization and therefore, for example, costs reduction is solved by reducing (or increas-ing) limits to emissions. Scientists state that maximization of economic efficiency is the overriding factor in comparison to environmental and social factors (Balkema et al.41, Morrissey and Browne42, Finnveden et al.43). The other problem is a factor of decision-maker; therefore the system evaluation totally depends on framework and alternatives proposed to measure. Narrow framework, different types of information, interest groups and proposed conflicting objectives can result in unsuitable, as well as unsustainable result (Morris-sey and Browne44, Finnveden et al.45, Pires et al.46).

34 Balkema, A. J.; Presig, H. A.; Otterpohl, R.; Lambert, F. J. D. 2002. Indicators for the sustainability assessment of

wastewater treatment systems, Urban water, 4: 153–161. 35 Finnveden, G.; Bjorklund, A.; Moberg, A.; Ekvall, T. 2007a. Environmental and economic assessment methods for waste

management decision-support:possibilities and limitations, Waste Management and Research 25: 263–269. 36 Balkema, A. J.; Presig, H. A.; Otterpohl, R.; Lambert, F. J. D. 2002. Indicators for the sustainability assessment of

wastewater treatment systems, Urban water, 4: 153–161. 37 Costi, P.; Minciardi, R.; Robba, M.; ROvatti, M.; Sacile, R. 2004. An environmentally sustainable decision model for urban

solid waste management, Waste Management, 24: 277–295. 38 Morrissey, A. J.; Browne J. 2004. Waste management models and their application to sustainable waste management, Waste

Management 24: 297–308. 39 Hung, M., L.; Hwong-wen Ma; Wan-Fa Yang 2007. A novel sustainable decision making model for municipal solid waste

management, Waste Management 27: 209–219. 40 Morrissey, A. J.; Browne J. 2004. Waste management models and their application to sustainable waste management, Waste

Management 24: 297–308. 41 Balkema, A. J.; Presig, H. A.; Otterpohl, R.; Lambert, F. J. D. 2002. Indicators for the sustainability assessment of

wastewater treatment systems, Urban water, 4: 153–161. 42 Morrissey, A. J.; Browne J. 2004. Waste management models and their application to sustainable waste management, Waste


management decision-support:possibilities and limitations, Waste Management and Research 25: 263–269. 44 Morrissey, A. J.; Browne J. 2004. Waste management models and their application to sustainable waste management, Waste


management decision-support:possibilities and limitations, Waste Management and Research 25: 263–269.


295

2.2. Social analysis Often a social aspect in the scientific literature appears as socio-cultural aspect. Here the human rela-

tions and interactions are analysed, taking into account uncertainties and dependencies between environment and society (Balkema et al.47, Wilson et al.48, Hung et al.49). M. L. Hung, H. Ma, W. F. Yang50 social analy-sis in the sustainability measuring models divide into two categories: 1) focus on social factors and 2) focus on public participation in the decision making process. The usual relative criteria are social stability, human morality, educational level, public acceptability, participation rate. In the same research M. L. Hung, H. Ma, W. F. Yang51 states, the public is only apprised or takes part in the discussion, and has little effect on deci-sion-making outcomes, so called “the consensus process”; just few studies analysis public participation as a part for decision-making, so called selection process, where solution set of alternatives are determined. Pub-lic participation is usually studied in the scoping and policy active stages, when the public meetings are or-ganized or proposed to organize.

Usually social analyses are based on expert rating or public survey. Therefore the assessment is general-ly qualitative, respecting to all advantages and disadvantages of subjective valuation and data reliability.

2.3. Environmental analysis The natural environment should be maintained to support long-term development by supplying re-

sources and taking up emissions. The anthropogenic activities interact directly and cause the long term vi-ability of the natural resources, including living conditions. The waste management deals with efficient use of natural resources in waste generation phase, negative environmental impact during the processes and effi-cient use of unwanted materials (waste) compromising the ability to turn these back to use phase with mini-mal energy losses, energy savings or gain. Environmental sustainability refers to the ability of the functions of the environment to sustain the human ways of life (Balkema et al.52). The problem of anthropocentric thinking appears in decisions what are the limits for the present generation needs?

Environmental system analyses research on human activities and their impact on the environment through the interactions between technical, economic, social and ecological systems (Finnveden et al.53). En-vironmental aspects assessed by environmental impact categories such as: resources depletion, greenhouse gas formation and global warming potential, ozone depletion, acidification, ecotoxicity, desiccation, eutro-phication, landscape degradation and so on.

There are a lot of tools for the environmental impact assessment; the most popular are life cycle asses-sment, environmental impact assessment, ecological footprint, environmental management system, material flow analysis, material flow accounting, and strategic environmental assessment. Choice of method in gene-rally is done by 1) the object of study and 2) the impact of interest (Finnveden and Moberg54, 2005; Finnve-den et al.55). Big part of the methods used for environmental analysis could be appropriate and adaptable to economic system analysis in the case the methods are treated as environmentally economic assessment me-thods.

Life cycle assessment is especially developed to assess different environmental impacts encountering during a product’s lifetime, based on mass and energy balance. The methodology is structured and present in

46 Pires, A.; Martinho, G.; Chang, N.B. 2011. Solid waste management in European countries: A review of system analysis

techniques, Journal of Environmental Management 92: 1033–1050. 47 Balkema, A. J.; Presig, H. A.; Otterpohl, R.; Lambert, F. J. D. 2002. Indicators for the sustainability assessment of

wastewater treatment systems, Urban water, 4: 153–161. 48 Wilson, E. J. McDougall, F. R.; Willmore, J. 2001. Euro-trash:searching Europe for a more sustainable approach to waste

management, Resource, Conservation and Recycling, 31: 327–346. 49 Hung, M., L.; Hwong-wen Ma; Wan-Fa Yang 2007. A novel sustainable decision making model for municipal solid waste

management, Waste Management 27: 209–219. 50 Ibid. 51 Hung, M., L.; Hwong-wen Ma; Wan-Fa Yang 2007. A novel sustainable decision making model for municipal solid waste

management, Waste Management 27: 209–219. 52 Balkema, A. J.; Presig, H. A.; Otterpohl, R.; Lambert, F. J. D. 2002. Indicators for the sustainability assessment of

wastewater treatment systems, Urban water, 4: 153–161. 53 Finnveden, G.; Bjorklund, A.; Moberg, A.; Ekvall, T. 2007a. Environmental and economic assessment methods for waste

management decision-support:possibilities and limitations, Waste Management and Research 25: 263–269. 54 Finnveden, G.; Moberg, A. 2005. Environmental systems analysis tools – an overview. Journal of Cleaner Production. 13:

1165–1173. 55 Finnveden, G.; Bjorklund, A.; Moberg, A.; Ekvall, T. 2007a. Environmental and economic assessment methods for waste

management decision-support:possibilities and limitations, Waste Management and Research 25: 263–269.


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ISO 14000 family documentation (ISO 1404056; ISO 1404157; ISO 1404258; ISO 1404359). According to it, the assessment method is structured into four phases: 1) goal and scope definition, 2) inventory analysis 3) impact assessment and 4) data interpretation.

The main shortcoming of life cycle assessment are need for a large quantity of data; primary data nor-malization loss of insight into the emissions, no ability (uncertainty) for economic, monetary evaluation as it appears for environmental aspects (and relatively to technological) (Balkema et al.60).

2.4. Technological analysis Sustainable technology is technology that does not threaten the quantity, quality and diversity of the re-

sources (Balkema et al.61). It is dependant on time and space. According to A. J. Balkema, H. A. Preisig, R. Otterpohl and F. J. D. Lambert62, it is compatible to the natural, economic, technical, and social environment, and offers a possibility for further development.

In relation to other aspects analysis, should be mentioned, the technological analysis is encompasses partly in assessing economic and environmental aspects, as it was mentioned in 3.1 and 3.2 subsectors. The economic assessment presents the economic efficiency of technological solution there after environmental assess the impact on environment comparing or choosing the technological alternatives.

3. Discusions Majority of waste management research are case studies that assess or propose assessment tools. The

case studies analysis shows trends of narrow and local problems solving, focusing on specific factors. Nowa-days the waste management system develops; there is wide range of answers for the one or other question or solution. Looking at the whole system, one can find integrated solution that may not be visible when looking at smaller parts of the system (Balkema et al.63). But still the system, as a whole, valuation in scope of sus-tainability have nor been done. This let to state there is a lack of information what is waste management sys-tem and lack of systematic analysis in the field of the system assessment. A large number of methods and approaches that can be used for waste management system valuation at different levels have been analyzed. The key problems are multiple, hardly comparable criteria such as monetary values in cost and benefit, te-chnical, environmental impact and social values. A lack of balancing between social, economic and envi-ronmental aspects leads to unsustainable assessment. On the other hand the different goals and scopes, ter-minology, alternatives, methodologies and tools do not let compare even the same cases analyzed and there after ability to link and integrate separate problems or subsystems analyses into one model become hardly possible. In summary, waste management system planning and there after investigation and assessment is a very complex task, related with a range of conflicting interest groups, objectives intrinsic uncertainties.

All the methods and methodologies mentioned in the paper are used to waste management systems as-sessments. Some of methodologies allow to use a single indicators while others – multiple. Recently, the answer of tools compatibility and the use for the main goal investigation has been proposed. A. Pires, G. Martinho and N. B. Chang64 study presents a structural hub of analysis tools (Fig. 1). The proposed system analysis model balances the social, economic and environmental aspects and can be applied for the practical complex system assessment. There for multicriteria decision analysis method let to combine different criteria into one final result.

56 ISO14040. 1997. Environmental management—Life cycle assessment. Principles and framework. International Standart ISO

14040. International Organization for Standardization, Geneva. 57 ISO14041. 1998. Environmental management—Life cycle assessment. Goal and scope definition and inventory analysis. In-

ternational Standart ISO 14041. International Organization for Standardization, Geneva. 58 ISO14042. 2000. Environmental management—Life cycle assessment. Life cycle impact assessment. International Standart

ISO 14042. International Organization for Standardization, Geneva. 59 ISO14043. 2000. Environmental management—Life cycle assessment. Life cycle interpretation. International Standart ISO

14043. International Organization for Standardization, Geneva. 60 Balkema, A. J.; Presig, H. A.; Otterpohl, R.; Lambert, F. J. D. 2002. Indicators for the sustainability assessment of

wastewater treatment systems, Urban water, 4: 153–161. 61 Ibid. 62 Ibid. 63 Ibid. 64 Pires, A.; Martinho, G.; Chang, N.B. 2011. Solid waste management in European countries: A review of system analysis

techniques, Journal of Environmental Management 92: 1033–1050.


297

1 pav. Structure between systems assessment tools. Source: Pires et al.65

According to authors (Pires et al.66) in the core part, the five systems engineering models can be seen as

the core technologies in which the cost-benefit analysis (CBA) may be used as a common platform in su-pport of decision making or system assessment. Integrated modeling systems may flexibly concatenate va-rious optimization models including linear programming (LP), mixed-integer programming (MIP), non-linear programming (NLP), and dynamic programming (DP) models to address the system concerns in which the simulation models (SM) and forecasting models (FM) can support the essential background in concert with cost benefit analysis in the context of systems analysis. With such a core structure, the model-based de-cision support systems (DSSs), expert system or management information system can be constructed for se-parate or collective applications. All of these core efforts, by authors’ (Pires et al. 2011) proposal may be enhanced by the rest of system assessment tools described by the eight outer triangles. Communication among the eight triangles canalizes the information flows that in turn improve the credibility of the five sys-tems engineering models being formulated through MIS, DSS, and ES.

Therefore the shortcomings on social aspect valuation are on discussion. This shows following studies and research. M. L. Hung H. Ma, W. F. Yang67 propose the food waste management decision model, that provides an effective means of assisting decision making including not only environmental, economic, te-chnological, but social factor too. The social factor incorporation lets to assess the degree of consensus among stakeholders (also public) regarding particular alternatives evaluating social acceptability, welfare and justice. The model integrates multicriteria valuation and consensus analysis models. Quantification deg-ree of consensus is based on “linguistic variables” (questionnaire). The scientific research in the area of mul-ticriteria decision analysis resulted in ability to value complex systems with incomparable criteria and conf-licting options. Multicriteria decision analysis principles allows the use of variety of analysis tools, including cost-benefit, environmental impact assessment, life cycle assessment and others that lead to more effective, efficient, and credible decision making (Kiker et al.68).

Concluding the discussion on waste management system sustainability assessment problems must be stated there are a lot of tools to evaluate different aspects of the waste management system; multicriteria de-cision analysis approach can value different units as well as rank various conflicting preferences or alterna-tives.

65 Pires, A.; Martinho, G.; Chang, N.B. 2011. Solid waste management in European countries: A review of system analysis

techniques, Journal of Environmental Management 92: 1033–1050. 66 Ibid. 67 Hung, M., L.; Hwong-wen Ma; Wan-Fa Yang 2007. A novel sustainable decision making model for municipal solid waste

management, Waste Management 27: 209–219. 68 Kiker, G. A.; Bridges, T.S.; Varghese, B. A.; Seager T. P.; Linkov, I. 2005. Application of Multicriteria Decision Analysis in

Environmental Decision Making. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 1(2): 95–108


298

Conclusions Integrated waste management, based on principle “from-cradle-to-cradle”, applying purposeful, social,

economic and environmental principles, is one of the key conditions for sustainable development: to ensure effective and efficient use of natural resources, reduce pollution, improve public health status and quality of life.

Ones the waste management system is considered to be complex, the narrow framework of local, spe-cific problems (analysing specific waste streams, separate waste management processes) assessment, based on case studies is dominated in the scientific literature.

The paper presents assessment methods and methodologies and allocation by different characteristics. Although the methods and methodologies are used to analyse key sustainable development considered as-pects separately. The methods and tools for the aspects analysis by itself have compatibility with sustainabil-ity principle to balance in between the aspects, for instance in economic analysis an economic efficiency is the overriding factor.

The use of multicriteria decision analysis can compare different conflicting aspects, but still uncertainty occurs; and the problem of ethical consideration for uncertainty valuation is on the discussion.

Concerning sustainable development, the future generation and it needs is the base. Analysing the time perspective, there was no found any studies on waste management with perspectives to the future genera-tions. Time scale creates the uncertainty of future needs valuation and creates a platform for future research.

Finally, nevertheless functions of waste management system are clear, according to the problems men-tioned above, obvious there is still uncertain and calls for discussion the description of what is sustainable waste management system and what factors must be measured.

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EKONOMINĖS KRIZĖS ĮTAKA LIETUVOS PIENO PRAMONĖS EKSPORTUI

Vladas RIMKUS Mykolo Romerio universitetas, Ateities g. 20, LT-08303 Vilnius, Lietuva

Tel. 8 5 2714 653, el. [email protected]

Dalia KARLAITĖ Mykolo Romerio universiteto, Ateities g. 20, LT-08303 Vilnius, Lietuva

Tel. 8 5 2714 653, el. p. [email protected]

Anotacija. Pasaulio ekonominė krizė neišvengiamai palietė ir Lietuvos ūkį. Straipsnyje nagrinėjami Lie-tuvos pieno pramonės gamybos ir eksporto pokyčiai veikiami pasaulio ekonominės krizės. Krizės poveikį ša-lies pieno pramonei sąlygojo tiek bendri makroekonominiai veiksniai, tiek kai kurie specifiniai veiksniai. Straipsnyje analizuojama pieno pramonės dalis ir jos pokyčiai bendroje žemės ūkio produktų gamyboje ir eksporte. Atlikti tyrimai leidžia atskleisti atskirų veiksnių veikusių į pieno produktų gamybos ir eksporto mas-to sumažėjimą įtaką. Atskleidžiama tokių veiksnių kaip sumažėjusių žaliavinio pieno supirkimo kainų, tiesio-ginių išmokų už pieno produktus, pabrangusių energetinių išteklių kainų pokyčių, tradicinių eksporto rinkų susitraukimo krizės laikotarpiu įtaka pieno produktų eksporto mastui.

Reikšminiai žodžiai: ekonominė krizė, pieno pramonė, pieno produktai, pieno produktų gamyba, pieno

produktų eksportas. Įvadas Pieno ūkis yra viena pagrindinių Lietuvos žemės ūkio šakų – iš jo žemdirbiai gauna apie trečdalį visų

žemės ūkio produkcijos pardavimo pajamų. Eksportuojama daugiau nei pusė šalyje pagaminamos pieno pro-dukcijos. Lietuviška pieno produkcija yra paklausi ne tik ES bendrojoje vidaus rinkoje, bet ir Rusijoje bei kitose šalyse.

Temos naujumas. Straipsnyje pateikiami naujausios statistinės informacijos apie Lietuvos pieno pramo-nės produkcijos gamybos ir eksporto tendencijas analizės rezultatai. Pasaulinė ekonominė krizė paveikė Lie-tuvos ūkį bei pieno pramonės sektorių. Lyginant 2007 m. duomenis su 2006 m. Lietuvos eksportas padidėjo 11,1 proc., 2008 m. lyginant su 2007 m. – 28,5 proc., o jau 2009 m. lyginant su 2008 m. pastebimas 26,6 proc. sumažėjimas. Šalies ekonomikos atsigavimas po krizės pastebimas 2010 m., eksportas lyginant su 2009 m. išaugo 33,2 proc. Tais pačiais laikotarpiais pokyčiai pieno produkcijos eksporte buvo tokie: +35,2 proc., -3,3 proc., -14,0 proc. ir +26,6 proc. 1. Šie duomenys rodo, kad pieno pramonė anksčiau nei visas šalies ūkis reagavo į ekonominę krizę, eksportas sumažėjo jau 2008m. Ženkliai mažesnis nei vidutiniškai šalyje pieno pramonės produkcijos eksporto mastas buvo 2009 metais, o 2010 metai rodo panašaus lygio eksporto augi-mą.

Temos problematiškumas. Pasaulio ekonominė krizė reikšmingai sumažino prekių gamybos bei tarptau-tinės prekybos srautus. Pagrindinės priežastys buvo vidaus rinkų paklausos sumažėjimas, skolinimosi pa-brangimas, užsienio rinkų susitraukimas. Tai bendros makroekonominės priežastys. Ekonominės krizės lai-kotarpiu Lietuvos pieno pramonės produkcijos eksporto masto sumažėjimui apart bendrų makroekonominių priežasčių įtakos turėjo ir specifiškai pasireiškę veiksniai: sumažėjusios žaliavinio pieno supirkimo kainos, santykinai mažesnės nei kituose žemės ūkio sektoriuose tiesioginės išmokos. Įtakos turėjo ir 2006 m. sausros padariniai – sumažėjusi pieninių galvijų banda, padidėjusios pašarų kainos. Pašarų kainos kilo ir dėl energe-tinių resursų kainų augimo. Paminėtų veiksnių įtakos eksporto mastui analizei ir skirtas šis straipsnis.

Šio straipsnio objektas – Lietuvos pieno produktų gamybos ir eksporto pokyčiai. Straipsnio tikslas – atskleisti atskirų veiksnių įtaką Lietuvos pieno produktų gamybos ir eksporto masto

sumažėjimui ekonominės krizės metu. Uždaviniai:

1 Čia ir tais atvejais kai nenurodomas statistinių duomenų informacijos šaltinis, šaltinis yra Statistikos departamentas prie LRV.


301

Nustatyti ir išskirti pagrindinius veiksnius, kurie ekonominės krizės laikotarpiu apsprendė Lietuvos pie-no pramonės produkcijos eksporto masto mažėjimą.

Atskleisti kurių pieno produkcijos prekinių grupių eksportas jautriausiai reagavo į krizės poveikį ir į ko-kias šalis pieno produktų eksportas sumažėjo labiausiai.

1. Pieno pramonės vieta Lietuvos žemės ūkio produkcijos gamyboje Klasifikuojant pagal Europos Komisijos reglamentą (ES) Nr. 861/2010 pieno pramonės produkcijai pri-

skiriama Kombinuotosios nomenklatūros (toliau KN) I skyriaus „Gyvi gyvūnai; gyvūninės kilmės produk-tai“, IV KN skirsnio „Pienas ir pieno produktai; paukščių kiaušiniai; natūralus medus; gyvūninės kilmės maisto produktai, nenurodyti kitoje vietoje“ 6 sekančių pozicijų produkcija:

1. Nekoncentruotas pienas ir grietinėlė, į kuriuos nepridėta cukraus ar kitų saldiklių – KN 0401. 2. Pienas ir grietinėlė, koncentruoti arba į kuriuos pridėta cukraus ar kitų saldiklių – KN 0402. 3. Pasukos, rūgpienis ir grietinė, jogurtas, kefyras ir kitoks fermentuotas arba raugintas pienas ir grieti-

nėlė, koncentruoti arba nekoncentruoti, į kuriuos pridėta arba nepridėta cukraus ar kitų saldiklių arba aroma-tinių medžiagų, taip pat į kuriuos pridėta arba nepridėta vaisių, riešutų arba kakavos – KN 0403.

4. Išrūgos, koncentruotos arba nekoncentruotos, į kurias pridėta arba nepridėta cukraus ar kitų saldiklių; produktai iš natūralių pieno sudedamųjų dalių, į kuriuos pridėta arba nepridėta cukraus ar kitų saldiklių, ne-nurodyti kitoje vietoje – KN 0404.

5. Sviestas ir kiti pieno riebalai ir aliejai; pieno pastos – KN 0405. 6. Sūriai ir varškė – KN 0406. Lietuvoje pieno gamyba turi santykinių pranašumų palyginti su kitais žemės ūkio produktais dėl geros

žolinių pašarų situacijos, stipraus perdirbimo sektoriaus ir augančios vidaus bei užsienio paklausos2. Pieno produkcija yra Lietuvos žemės ūkio ir maisto produktų eksporto šešetuko viršūnėje ir neužleidžia šios pozici-jos jokiai kitai produkcijos grupei (žr. 1 lentelę).

1 lentelė. Lietuvos žemės ūkio ir maisto produktų eksporto struktūra, proc.

Vieta Produkcija (KN kodas) 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

1. Pienas ir pieno produktai (KN 0401 – 0406) 22,3 25,7 20,2 18,1 18,1 14,4 13,8 14,3

2. Vaisiai (KN 08) 2,4 3,2 3,7 9,0 10,1 10,9 8,5 10,1 3. Javai (KN 10) 11,1 8,5 9,9 5,8 7,2 12,6 10,8 8,4 4. Gyvi gyvūnai, mėsa ir su-

bproduktai (KN 01 – 02) 3,5 4,9 7,5 8,3 8,5 8,3 9,4 8,0 5. Daržovės (KN 07) 4,4 4,3 3,2 5,4 6,0 7,4 5,7 7,3 6. Žuvys ir vėžiagyviai (KN 03) 5,9 5,9 6,2 5,1 4,6 3,5 4,6 4,7

Išvardintų 6 prekinių grupių eksporto dalis bendrame žemės ūkio ir maisto produkcijos (KN 01 – 24) eksporte 49,7 52,4 50,5 51,8 54,5 57,1 52,8 52,7

Šaltinis: sudaryta pagal Statistikos departamento prie LRV duomenis, 2011 Pieno produktai bendrame žemės ūkio ir maisto produktų eksporte kasmet sudarydavo apie penktadalį

bendrosios žemės ūkio produkcijos vertės, tačiau nuo 2006 m. ta dalis nuolat mažėja. Tai sąlygoja sekančios priežastys: sumažėjusios žaliavinio pieno supirkimo kainos bei santykinai mažesnės, lyginant su kitais žemės ūkio sektoriais, tiesioginės išmokos. Straipsnio autoriai mano, kad ir ateityje pieno ir jo produktų svarba že-mės ir maisto ūkyje nesumažės ir pieno produktų dalis gali sudaryti apie ketvirtadalį ir daugiau bendrosios žemės ūkio produkcijos eksporto. Vienas iš naujai besiformuojančių faktorių – visuomenėje didėja vertini-mas ir poreikis natūraliai ir ekologiškai produkcijai.

Pieno produktų gamyba 2003 – 2010 m. laikotarpiu kito nežymiai: iki 2007 m. palaipsniui didėjo, dėl šalyje taikomos ES pieno gamybos kvotų sistemos (kiekvienais metais parduoto supirkėjams pieno kiekis ir nacionalinė pardavimo perdirbti kvota didėja, tačiau kvotos įvykdymas beveik nesikeičia ir išlieka apie 80 – 90 proc.), o 2006-ųjų metų sausra nulėmė 2007 m. padidėjusias pašarų kainas, kas turėjo įtakos pieno pro-duktų gamybos sumažėjimui dar ir 2008 m., nes buvo sumažintos pieninių galvijų bandos. Iki 2005 m. eks-

2 Kriščiukaitienė, I. ir kt. Žemės ūkio sektoriaus plėtros perspektyvos: Mokslo studija. – Vilnius: Lietuvos agrarinės ekonomi-

kos institutas, 2010.


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portuota trečdalis, 2006 m. – net pusė, o nuo 2007 m. – daugiau nei pusė (vidutiniškai 57 proc. per metus) visos pagaminamos pieno produkcijos.

Penkerius metus iki ekonominio nuosmukio pradžios, iki 2008 m., šalyje pagamintų pieno produktų pa-rdavimų užsienio rinkose plėtra buvo gerokai spartesnė nei vidaus rinkoje ir tai, Vitunskienės3 teigimu, pas-tebimai aplenkė vidutinį visos apdirbamosios gamybos prekių pardavimų užsienio rinkose augimą. 2003 – 2008 m. maisto pramonė išlaikė stabilų svorį Lietuvos ekonomikos struktūroje, be to, Lietuvos maisto pra-monės augimas buvo vienas iš spartesnių ES, todėl buvo laukiama ir vieno didžiausių nuosmukių. Kita ver-tus, nors 2008 m. maisto produktų gamybos smukimas Lietuvoje buvo vienas didesnių (po Čekijos, Vengri-jos, Bulgarijos, Latvijos ir Rumunijos), tačiau jau pirmąjį 2009 m. ketvirtį, palyginti su ankstesniuoju, maisto produktų gamybos sumažėjimas Lietuvoje buvo mažesnis nei vienuolikoje kitų ES šalių ir artimas ES-27 vidurkiui.

Lietuvos pieno produktų eksportas per 2003 – 2007 m. laikotarpį išaugo 2,5 karto, o nuo 2008 m. pradė-jo mažėti. Tai sąlygojo ir 2006 m. dėl sausros iškilusios grūdinių kultūrų bei pašarų kainos, kurios ir padidi-no viso žemės ūkio ir maisto produktų vertę. 2009 m. pieno produktų eksportą lyginant su 2008 m. pastebi-mas didesnis, t.y. 14,0 proc. sumažėjimas, dėl padidėjusios pasaulinės naftos kainos lėmusios eksporto logis-tikos kaštų padidėjimą, pieno produktų kainų kitimo, taip pat nemažai įtakos turėjo Rusijos nutarimas su-stabdyti lietuviškos pieno produkcijos importą į jų šalį.

.

1 pav. Lietuvos pieno produktų eksportas, importas ir užsienio prekybos balansas bei apyvarta 2003 – 2010 metais, mln. Lt

Šaltinis: sudaryta pagal Statistikos departamento prie LRV duomenis, 2011

2010 m. pastebimas eksporto atsigavimas: pieno produkcijos eksporto mastas 5,3 proc. viršijo 2007 m.

lygį, o žemės ūkio ir maisto produktų eksporto vertė buvo 10,2 proc. didesnė nei 2008 m. Visu nagrinėjamu laikotarpiu pieno produktų eksportas kelis kartus (2003 m. ir 2004 m. – keliolika kar-

tų) viršijo importą, todėl užsienio prekybos balansas šiame sektoriuje visu nagrinėjamu laikotarpiu teigiamas (žr. 1 pav.), kas yra ypač svarbu deficitinio šalies prekybos balanso sąlygomis.

2. Lietuvos pieno produktų eksporto tendencijos 2006 – 2010 metais 2007 m. visas pasaulis susidūrė su problema – ženkliai išaugusiomis maisto produktų kainomis. Pieno

produktų kainos ypač išaugo dėl to, kad sumažėjo pietinio pasaulio pusrutulio šalių pasiūla ir labiau nei tikė-

3 Vitunskienė, V. Lietuvos maisto pramonės pokyčių ir tarptautinio konkurencingumo vertinimas. [interaktyvus]. Kaunas, 2009

[žiūrėta 2011-03-25]. <http://www.verslolietuva.lt/files/File/InformacijaVerslui/Konkurencingumo_ paslaugos/StudijuPristatymai-/vvitunskiene20091027maistopramonesstudijospristatymas.pdf>.


303

tasi išaugo pieno produktų paklausa. Dėl pagerėjusių rinkos sąlygų pieninės grįžo prie didelės pridėtinės ver-tės pieno produktų gamybos4.

Po 2007 m. žemės ūkio produkcijos kainų šuolio 2008 m. – 2009 m. kainos ir gamintojų pajamos smar-kiai sumažėjo, padėtis pieno rinkoje ėmė gerėti tik antrojoje 2009 m. pusėje ir toliau gerėjo visą pirmąjį 2010 m. pusmetį. Pieno produkcijos eksporto tendencijos matomos 2 paveiksle.

2 pav. Lietuvos pieno produktų eksporto kiekis ir vertė 2006 – 2010 metais, tūkst. t ir mln. Lt Šaltinis: sudaryta pagal Eurostat duomenis, 2011

Eksportuojamos pieno produkcijos kiekis 2006 – 2010 m. palaipsniui didėjo ir išaugo 34,6 proc. Iš viso

eksportuota 1,0 mln. t pieno produkcijos už 6,1 milijardus Lt. Analizuojant eksporto pokyčius vertine išraiš-ka pastebimi svyravimai: 2006 – 2007 m. eksportuojamos produkcijos vertė gerokai išaugo – net 35,2 proc. Šiuos pokyčius galima paaiškinti vidutinių produkcijos kainų kitimu. Pasak Gapšio ir Mikelionytės5, tai lėmė pieno produktų kainų šoktelėjimas pasaulio rinkose, nes trūko pieno žaliavos ir sustiprėjo konkurencija dėl išaugusios pieno produktų paklausos JAV, Japonijoje, o ypač Kinijoje, Indonezijoje, Malaizijoje, pakilo pie-no supirkimo kainos, padidėjo perdirbimo sąnaudos (10 – 14 proc. pabrango kuras), todėl išaugo ir pieno pramonės produktų savikaina. Pieno perdirbimo įmonės, atsižvelgdamos į mažesnį vietinės rinkos mokumą ir vartojimą, sparčiau didino eksporto kainas.

Pagal Europos Komisijos reglamentą (EB) Nr. 660/2007 nuo 2007 m. birželio mėn. už eksportuotus į trečias šalis pieno produktus eksporto kompensacijos nebemokamos, todėl 2008 m. palyginus su 2007 m. eksporto apimtys padidėjo kiekine išraiška 9,3 proc., bet vertė pirmąkart sumažėjo 3,3 proc. Prie eksporto vertės sumažėjimo prisidėjo ir prasidėjusi pasaulinė ekonominė krizė, ypač dėl pieno produktų kainų mažė-jimo.

Spartesnio kainų kritimo poveikis pasireiškė 2009 m.: nors buvo išvežtas didesnis kiekis, bet gauta 14 proc. mažesnė vertė lyginant su 2008 m. Pieno rinka atsigavo 2010 m. – eksporto vertė padidėjo 26,6 proc. lyginant su 2009 m., nes kainos stabilizavosi, bet 2007 m. kainų lygio nepasiekė.

Kainų pokyčiai pieno sektoriuje 2007 – 2009 m. buvo labai dideli, bet rinkos padėtis pagerėjo ir dabar perspektyvos yra teigiamos. Apskritai pieno sektorius vis labiau orientuotas į eksportą nei į vidaus vartojimą. Poveikį šiems pokyčiams 2008 m. ir 2009 m. turėjo ekonomikos krizė. Kainų nepastovumas, kuris paprastai būdingas į vidaus rinką orientuotam sektoriui, tapo dar akivaizdesnis ir žalingesnis dėl papildomų susijusių išorinių veiksnių, pavyzdžiui, dėl sumažėjusio namų ūkių vartojimo ir dėl ekonomikos krizės sąlygomis su-mažėjusios perkamosios galios.

Vidutinių eksportuojamos ir importuojamos pieno produkcijos kainų pokyčiai pateikiami 3 paveiksle.

4 Europos Komisijos ataskaita Europos Parlamentui ir Tarybai. Padėties rinkoje raida ir su tuo susijusios sklandaus laipsniško

pieno kvotų sistemos panaikinimo sąlygos. [2010] KOM/2010/0727 galutinis. 5 Gapšys, A.; Mikelionytė, D. (LAEI). Kodėl brango pieno produktai. Mano ūkis. 2008, 3: 12 – 14.


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3 pav. Lietuvos vidutinės eksportuojamos ir importuojamos pieno produkcijos kainos 2006 – 2010 metais, tūkst. Lt/t Šaltinis: sudaryta pagal Eurostat duomenis, 2011

Visu nagrinėjamu laikotarpiu vidutinė bendra eksportuojamos pieno produkcijos kaina buvo aukštesnė

nei importuojamos. Tačiau, tokios tendencijos būdingos ne visoms pieno produktų grupėms. Lietuvos pieno pramonės dalyviai gamina ne visų rūšių sūrius, o ir kai kurių sūrių gamyba turi senas tradicijas ir yra būdinga tik tam tikroms geografinėms vietovėms, kaip antai Vokietijai, Olandijai, Italijai, Prancūzijai ir kitoms, todėl į mūsų šalį įvežami brangesni ir gurmaniški sūriai, pavyzdžiui pelėsiniai. Taip pat įsivežame brangiau pasu-kas, rūgpienį, grietinę ir jogurtą bei sviestą ir kitus pieno riebalus, nors parduotuvių lentynose galime rasti ir palyginti pigesnių raugintų pieno produktų iš Latvijos, Estijos ar Lenkijos. Išrūgų ir produktų iš natūralaus pieno eksporto vidutinės metinės kainos iki 2008 m. buvo žymiai aukštesnės nei importo, bet sumažėjo ir išliko žemesnėmis iki pat 2010 m. Tik žaliavinį pieną perdirbimui į Lietuvą įsivežame daug mažesne kaina nei išvežame – eksporto kaina vidutiniškai 3,6 karto viršija importo kainą. Pieno milteliai ir kitaip koncent-ruotas pienas ir grietinėlė eksportuojami didesne kaina nei importuojami, nors 2006 m. ir 2009 m. importo vidutinė metinė kaina buvo nežymiai pralenkusi eksporto kainą.

Lyginamų vidutinių eksportuojamos ir importuojamos pieno produkcijos kainų skirtumus nulemia tai, kad Lietuva daugiausiai eksportuoja sūrius, kurių lyginamasis svoris yra didelis, kaina yra ganėtinai aukšta, ir daugiausia importuoja žaliavinį ir koncentruotą pieną, kurio kaina yra sąlyginai nedidelė, t.y. 60 proc. pa-grindinės eksportuojamos pieno produkcijos (KN 0406) vertė yra žymiai didesnė nei 60 proc. importuojamos pieno produkcijos (KN 0401 – 0402).

Sūriai ir varškė (KN 0406) sudaro daugiau nei pusę Lietuvos pieno produktų eksporto vertės. Nekon-centruoto ir koncentruoto pieno ir grietinėlės (KN 0401 ir KN 0402) – po 15 proc. (išskyrus 2007 ir 2010 m. kai KN 0401 išvežta dalis buvo padidėjusi iki 20 proc.). KN 0403 – 0405 nėra labai didelė (apie 10 proc.). 2008 m. kai kurių pieno produktų eksportas didėjo, bet didesnės dalies – mažėjo. Svarbiausių eksportuojamų pieno produktų – sūrių ir varškės – eksportas padidėjo 21 proc.

Daugiausia į mūsų šalį įvežama nekoncentruoto pieno ir grietinėlės (KN 0401). Tai galima paaiškinti tuo, kad įmonės gaminančios pieno produktus įsiveža pigesnes pieno žaliavas. Kita įvežama pieno produkci-ja skirta vietos rinkos skoniams paįvairinti.

Visos Lietuvos pieno perdirbimo įmonės ir jų filialai yra įgyvendinę ES maisto gamybos sanitarinius bei higieninius reikalavimus ir gali eksportuoti produkciją į ES šalis. Nemažai pieno perdirbimo įmonių turi lei-dimus eksportuoti produkciją ir į Rusiją. Kai kurioms įmonėms 2009 m. leidimai buvo laikinai sustabdyti dėl pieno produktuose rastų Rusijos rinkoje draudžiamų medžiagų, t.y. Rusijoje buvo draudžiamas bet koks an-tibiotikų kiekis maisto produktuose.

Daugiausia lietuviškų pieno produktų išvežama į ES šalis – apie 60 proc. viso Lietuvos pieno produktų eksporto. Tarp ES šalių dominuoja Italija, Lenkija, Vokietija, Latvija ir Olandija (žiūrėti 4 paveikslą).

Didžioji pieno produktų eksporto dalis (beveik trečdalis kasmet) yra nukreipta į Rusiją, su kuria nuo se-nų laikų susiklosčiusios prekybos tradicijos. Lietuviškų pieno produktų eksportas į Rusiją sudaro vidutiniškai 12 proc. viso Rusijos pieno produktų importo kasmet. Lietuviški varškės ir lydyti sūriai – paklausiausi Rusi-jos rinkoje pieno produktai. Rusijoje pieno gaminys su užrašu „Made in Lithuania“ pripažįstamas aukštesnės kokybės ir gardesnio produkto simboliu, todėl lietuviškus sūrius galima parduoti už didesnę kainą, nei pre-kiaujant ES bendrojoje rinkoje.


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4 pav. Lietuvos pieno produktų eksporto pagrindinės šalys partnerės 2006 – 2010 metais, mln. Lt

Šaltinis: sudaryta pagal International Trade Centre duomenis, 2011 Dėl rekordiškai išaugusios pieninių apyvartos Vokietijoje, 2007 m. lyginant su 2006 m. iš Lietuvos į šią

šalį išvežamos pieno produkcijos vertė išaugo 67,9 proc. Tačiau 2008 m. sumažėjus vartotojų perkamajai galiai, išvežta 38,9 proc. mažiau. 2010 m. pieno produktų išvežimas į Vokietiją dėl vėl padidėjusio vartojimo išaugo 35,0 proc. lyginat su 2009 m.

Įdomūs vertės pokyčiai pastebimi išvežant pieno produkciją į Lenkiją: atkreiptinas dėmesys į tai, kad 2009 m. lyginant su 2008 m. išvežamos pieno produkcijos vertė išaugo 55,5 proc., dėl padidėjusio nekon-centruoto pieno ir grietinėlės poreikio. 2009 m. išvežamos produkcijos vertė į Lenkiją ir Vokietiją buvo be-veik lygi. 2010 m. išvežamos pieno produkcijos į Lenkija vertė pralenkė išvežimą į Vokietiją, nes padidėjo dar 72,3 proc. lyginant su 2009 m.

Pieno produktų pramonė yra viena iš greičiausiai ir stabiliausiai po krizės atsigaunančių pramonės šakų. Pieno produktų eksportas 2010 m. lyginant su 2009 m. išaugo 26,6 proc. Europos Komisija6 dar 2009 m. ėmėsi visų galimų veiksmų, kad padėtų pieno sektoriaus ūkininkams stabilizuoti pieno rinką. Komisija nau-dojo tokias priemones, kaip intervencinis supirkimas, privataus sandėliavimo parama ir eksporto grąžinamo-sios išmokos, kurios gelbėjo sureguliuojant sudėtingą pieno rinkos padėtį.

Sparčiai prastėjant padėčiai pieno sektoriuje, 2009 m. sausį Europos Komisija atnaujino 2008 m. nu-trauktą eksporto subsidijų už pieno produktus mokėjimą ir tris kartus padidino jų dydžius. 2009 m. Lietuvos įmonėms, eksportavusioms pieno produktas buvo skirta 17,5 mln. Lt eksporto grąžinamųjų išmokų. Nuo 2009 m. balandžio mėn. eksporto subsidijos buvo išmokėtos už sūrį, sviestą, grietinėlę ir kt. pieno produktus. Pakilus pieno kainoms ir pagerėjus situacijai pieno sektoriuje, lapkričio mėnesį Europos Komisija ir vėl nu-traukė eksporto subsidijų mokėjimą. Beje, Lietuvoje 2009 m. pradėti taikyti anksčiau nevykdyti sviesto ir pieno miltelių intervenciniai pirkimai, jų atitinkamai supirkta 1,8 tūkst. t. ir 10,3 tūkst. t. 7.

Tikėtina, kad numatomas kvotų panaikinimas 2015 m. padidintų gamybos apimtis, dėl pieno sektorius neberibojimo žaliavų tiekime, todėl turėtų padidėti ir pieno produktų eksportas.

Išvados 1. Ekonominės krizės laikotarpiu 2008 m. ir 2009 m. Lietuvos pieno pramonės produkcijos eksporto

mastas reikšmingai sumažėjo. Tam įtakos turėjo bendros makroekonominės priežastys bei specifiškai pasi-reiškę veiksniai: sumažėjusios žaliavinio pieno supirkimo kainos, santykinai mažesnės nei kituose žemės ūkio sektoriuose tiesioginės išmokos. Įtakos turėjo ir 2006 m. sausros padariniai – sumažėjusi pieninių galvi-jų banda, padidėjusios pašarų kainos. Pašarų kainos kilo ir dėl energetinių resursų kainų augimo.

6 Milk crisis: Commission proposes measures to stabilise dairy market. IP/09/1172. [interaktyvus]. Brussels, 2009-07-22 [žiūrė-

ta 2011-03-29]. <http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/09/1172&format=HTML&aged =1&language=EN&guiLanguage=en>. 7 Dapkutė, V. ES ir nacionalinė parama Lietuvos žemės ir maisto ūkio plėtrai. Lietuvos žemės ir maisto ūkis 2009. Vilnius:

LAEI, 2010, p. 15 – 22; Mikelionytė, D. Pienas. Lietuvos žemės ir maisto ūkis 2009. Vilnius: LAEI, 2010, p. 79 – 89.


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2. Nagrinėjamu laikotarpiu vidutinė eksportuojamos pieno produkcijos kaina buvo aukštesnė nei impor-tuojamos. Pagrindinai tai sąlygota eksporto bei importo prekinės struktūros. Lietuvos eksporto struktūroje didžiausią dalį sudaro sūriai, kurių kaina yra gana aukšta, o importuojama žaliavinis ir koncentruotas pienas, kurio kaina santykinai yra žema.

3. Pagrindinė Lietuvos pieno produktų eksporto rinka yra ES, į ES šalis eksportuojama apie 60 proc. vi-so Lietuvos pieno produktų eksporto. Apie 30 proc. eksportuojama į Rusiją. Krizės laikotarpiu reikšmingiau-siai pieno produktų eksportas sumažėjo į Rusiją ir Vokietiją. Eksporto į Rusiją masto sumažėjimui neigiamos įtakos turėjo dirbtinai padidinti reikalavimai pieno produktų kokybei.

4. Krizės laikotarpiu, 2009 m. palyginus su 2008 m. Lietuvos eksportas sumažėjo 26,6 proc., pieno pro-duktų eksporto sumažėjimas siekė 14,0 proc. Šie duomenys rodo pieno pramonės aukštesnį nei vidutinis ša-lyje konkurencingumą.

Literatūra

1. Dapkutė, V. ES ir nacionalinė parama Lietuvos žemės ir maisto ūkio plėtrai. Lietuvos žemės ir maisto ūkis 2009. Vilnius: LAEI, 2010: 15 – 22.

2. Gapšys, A.; Mikelionytė, D. (LAEI). Kodėl brango pieno produktai. Mano ūkis. 2008, 3: 12 – 14. 3. Gyvulininkystės produktų balansas kalendoriniais metais. Požymiai: rūšis, balanso pozicija.

http://db1.stat.gov.lt/statbank/default.asp?w=1280 [žiūrėta 2011-03-14]. 4. Jakeliūnas, S. Lietuvos krizės anatomija. Kaunas: Iš arčiau, 2010. 5. Eksportas ir importas. Požymiai: Kombinuotoji nomenklatūra (4-ių ženklų), valstybė, metai.

http://db1.stat.gov.lt/statbank/default.asp?w=1280 [žiūrėta 2011-03-14]. 6. Europos Komisijos 2007 m. birželio 14 d. reglamentas (EB) Nr. 660/2007, nustatantis eksporto grąžinamąsias išmo-

kas už pieną ir pieno produktus. [2007] OL L 155/27. 7. Europos Komisijos 2010 m. spalio 5 d. reglamentas (ES) Nr. 861/2010, iš dalies keičiantis Tarybos reglamento

(EEB) Nr. 2658/87 dėl tarifų ir statistinės nomenklatūros bei dėl Bendrojo muitų tarifo I priedą. [2010] OL L 284. 8. Europos Komisijos ataskaita Europos Parlamentui ir Tarybai. Padėties rinkoje raida ir su tuo susijusios sklandaus

laipsniško pieno kvotų sistemos panaikinimo sąlygos. [2010] KOM/2010/0727 galutinis. 9. External Trade. EU27 Trade Since 1988 by HS2, 4, 6 and CN8. http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/-

newxtweb/setupdimselection.do# [žiūrėta 2011-03-14]. 10. Kriščiukaitienė, I. ir kt. Žemės ūkio sektoriaus plėtros perspektyvos: Mokslo studija. – Vilnius: Lietuvos agrarinės

ekonomikos institutas, 2010. 11. List of products exported by Lithuania. Detailed products in the following category: 04 Dairy products, eggs, honey,

edible animal product nes. http://www.trademap.org/countrymap/Product_SelCountry_TS.aspx [žiūrėta 2011-03-14].

12. List of importing markets for a product exported by Lithuania. Product : 04 Dairy products, eggs, honey, edible animal product nes. http://www.trademap.org/countrymap/Country_SelProductCountry_TS.aspx [žiūrėta 2011-03-14].

13. Mikelionytė, D. Pienas. Lietuvos žemės ir maisto ūkis 2009. Vilnius: LAEI, 2010: 79 – 89. 14. Milk crisis: Commission proposes measures to stabilise dairy market. IP/09/1172. [interaktyvus]. Brussels, 2009-07-

22 [žiūrėta 2011-03-29]. <http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?-reference=IP/09/1172&format=-HTML&aged=1&language=EN&guiLanguage=en>.

15. Vitunskienė, V. Lietuvos maisto pramonės pokyčių ir tarptautinio konkurencingumo vertinimas. [interaktyvus]. Kaunas, 2009 [žiūrėta 2011-03-25]. <http://www.verslolietuva.lt/files/File/InformacijaVerslui/-Konkurencingumo_paslaugos/StudijuPristatymai/vvitunskiene20091027maistopramonesstudijospristatymas.pdf>.


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IMPACT OF THE ECONOMIC CRISIS ON THE LITHUANIAN DAIRY EXPORT

Vladas RIMKUS, Dalia KARLAITĖ

Summary The global economic crisis had an impact on the Lithuanian economy including dairy industry: significantly re-

duced the production of goods and international trade flows. The main reasons were the decreased domestic market demand, foreign markets shrinking. These are the general macroeconomic reasons.

Lithuanian export value has increased at 11,1 per-cent in 2007 comparing with 2006, 2008 vs. 2007 – 28,5 per-cent, but it has decreased at 26,6 per-cent in 2009 vs. 2008. The economy has recovered in 2010 – export value has in-creased at 33,2 per-cent. Over the same period of 2006 – 2010, the Lithuanian dairy export has changed as follows: +35,2 per-cent, -3,3 per-cent, -14,0 per-cent and +26,6 per-cent. These data show that dairy industry has better competi-tive capacity than on the average in the country.

During the economic crisis (2008 – 2009) exports of Lithuanian dairy production have decreased significantly. The main macro-economical and specific factors were: lower prices of raw milk, relatively lower direct payments than in other agriculture sectors. The drought of 2006 has determined such consequences: reduction in dairy herds and higher prices of feed. The feed prices increased due to higher prices of energetic resources.

The prices of Lithuanian dairy exports were higher than import prices. The main factor is the commodity structure of dairy production. The major part of Lithuanian dairy product export is cheese, which prices are relatively high and the major part of import is raw and concentrated milk which prices are relatively low.

EU is the basic export market of Lithuanian dairy products. About 60% of dairy produce goes for export to EU members. About 30% of dairy produce goes for export to Russia. At the period of economy crisis the export to Russia and Germany has decreased most of all. The Russian high quality requirement for dairy products was the major factor decreasing Lithuanian dairy export.

Dairy production export part was one-fifth in the Lithuanian agriculture and food export every year, but this part has decreased during the economic crisis. The authors of this article believe that dairy production weight will increase till quarter and more in the future. One of new proving factor is growing appreciation and the need for natural and or-ganic production.

Key words: economic crisis, dairy industry, dairy produce, manufacture of dairy production, dairy export.


308

EXPORT AND MANUFACTURING PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH EFFECT ON MACROECONOMIC SITUATION IN LATVIA

Vladimir SHATREVICH Riga Technical University, Vaidavas street 15/1-35 Phone 26179472, e-mail: [email protected]

Janis ZVANITAJS

Riga Technical University, Meza street 1/7-318 E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract. This paper examines the methodology to investigate differences in productivity between ex-

porters and non-exporters. After that, calculation methods` pros and cons, used in this study, are presented. Analysing the relationship between export status and productivity growth, Latvian manufacturing compa-nies’ data for the period 2000-2009 are used as an example. We expect that companies export activities are decent for labor productivity growth. The main hypothesis point is concerned about more productive firms involved into export markets. In the present research, using company-level data from Latvian manufacturing industry, we attempt to provide new information into the modern research on export-productivity correlation in the Latvian manufacturing industry. In the post-recession period Latvian government policy have shown solid interest in the export-led growth through various export promotions policies. In the empirical investi-gation data from local production branch, from cross sectional data collected in regular surveys by the Cen-tral Statistical Bureau is used.

Keywords: productivity, manufacturing, GDP, export, labour Introduction Manufacturing in Latvia suffered dramatically from the global financial crisis. Compared to 2008 manu-

facturing has decreased in 2009, although it has been growing since the 2nd quarter of 2009 due to global demand starting to recover. In the majority of sectors, most of the output is being exported; therefore the growth of individual sectors largely depends on the expansion of export opportunities. The leading growth industries in this sector are wood, metal, food and beverages industries (Figures 3; 4).

Many experts had noticed low productivity trends against real wages1

Figure 1. The gap between wages and productivity Source: The Bank of Latvia survey

1The Bank of Latvia The gap between wages and productivity is narrowing rapidly [Accessed: 16 December 2009].

<http://www.bank.lv/eng/main/all/sapinfo/commentary/gap_between/>


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The gap between wages and productivity is narrowing rapidly. As a result of cost cutting measures, the real effective exchange rate of the lats, which characterizes price and cost changes vis-à-vis the price and cost dynamics of the main trading partners, continued to drop. The gradual resumption of manufacturing allows for a fuller exploitation of the manufacturing capacities: the assessment of the employment of processing industry capacities in the third quarter improved by five percentage points quarter-on-quarter.

In 2010, the exports of Latvian goods grew 23.3% year-on-year and imports 22.0%2. As a result of growing competitiveness and gradual recovery of the foreign markets, the nominal exports of Latvian goods in the first half of 2010 grew 22.9% year-on-year, with imports growing at a slower rate (8.3%). A month-to-month growth was observed also for the exports of food products, wood pulp and its products, means of transportation as well as mechanisms and mechanical equipment exports, which together accounted for 49.9% of the goods exports.

Figure 3. Latvian manufacturing structure Figure 4. Latvian exports by Sectors, 2099 Source: Latvian Export Import Directory

Over the course of the year exports have grown for the majority of the most important groups of goods,

except mineral products. Several indicators characterizing competitiveness continue to improve.

Figure 5. Manufacturing share in Economy (% of GDP) Source: SEB Bank Eastern European Outlook Economic Research – October 2010

1 Monthly newsletter from Swedbank’s Economic Research Department by Lija Strašuna Nr.3 July 2010


310

The data available from Latvia's main trading partners allow us to evaluate our market shares in April and May, indicating that the Latvian export shares have grown rapidly in the imports of such important trad-ing partners as Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Finland, and the United Kingdom.

Latvia is characterized as low industrialization trend country (Figure 5). As the global economy recovers from the crisis and the influence of various support mechanisms dimin-

ishes in manufacturing and export as well as the positive impact of price and cost drops on the competitive-ness of Latvian exports dwindles, the Latvian export volumes will be increasingly affected by the degree to which productivity rises (Swedbank, 2011)3.

Figure 6. Sources of productivity growth in Developed, Transition and Developing Countries Background of the study Productivity levels and its continuous growth trends over time are viewed as important factors that char-

acterize competitiveness in international trade. In the theoretical field, there is a common opinion that inter-national trade in general and export in particular enhances country`s economic growth and improves the pro-ductivity of involved companies4. There are different methods how to calculate company`s productivity.

Economic policies under export-led growth strategy have been widely supported on the argument that exposure to international market through export helps to increase the productivity of exporters. Similarly, advocates of endogenous growth theory believe that export plays a crucial role by improving productivity through innovation.5

Literature review Discussions of the significance of exports in promoting growth in general, and productivity in particular,

have been discussed for many years. Recently there were some empirical studies in this field used data at the country or industry level to test whether exports stimulates productivity growth or vice versa6.

In 1995 Bernard and Jensen published the first of series of papers that changed this research trends7. They used large comprehensive long-term data from surveys performed regularly by official statistics in the U. S. to look at differences between exporters and non-exporters in various dimensions of company’s per-formance, including productivity. During the ten years following the publication of Bernard and Jensen's

2 Eastern European Outlook - March 2010. SEB, Economic Research

[Accessed: 08.jaunary 2011] <http://www.seb.lv/lv/private/research/analytic-info/SEBreviews/EEoutlook/2005/apskati/march/> 4 Beckerman, Wilfred (1962): "Projecting Europe's growth", Economic Journal, Vol 72, 912-925; Kaldor, Nicholas (1970):

"The case for regional policies", Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Vol 17 (3): 337-448. 5Rivera-Batiz, Luis A and Paul M. Romer (1991): "Economic integration and endogenous growth", Quarterly Journal of Eco-

nomics, Vol 106 (1): 531-555. 6 Baldwin, Robert. 2000. "Trade and Growth: Still Disagreement about the Relationships." Organisation for Economic Co-

operation and Development, Economics Department Working Paper EC0/WKP(2000)37, October. 7 see Bernard and Jensen 1995, 1999, 2004a


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Brookings paper researchers all over the world discovered the rich data sets collected by their statistical of-fices as a source to investigate the export activity of companies, and its causes and consequences.8 The extent and cause of productivity differentials between exporters and their counterparts which sell on the domestic market only is one of the core discussions.

The decent works of Bernard and Jensen 9and Bernard et al. (2003) have brought into focus the excep-tional performance of exporting companies in terms of labour productivity and companies heterogeneity within sectors. And this initiated new discussions on the issue that whether exporting leads to productivity growth and are exporters more productive than non-exporters. Melitz made the debate more interesting and added a new dimension by showing that productive companies self-select into export market.10 And further Helpman, Melitz and Yeaple show that under the condition of within sectors equal trade and investment op-portunity, the least productive companies operate only in domestic market and most productive serve interna-tional markets through export as well as foreign direct investment.11 Some more careful studies, as by Aw and Hwang (1995) for Taiwan; Bernard and Jensen (1995, 1999) for US; Clerides, Lach and Tybout (1998) on Colombia, concluded that companies that export are more productive than non- exporters. 12More pre-cisely, the essence of this new transformed debate has been the learning-by-exporting and self-selection hy-pothesis. While many studies have reported evidences in favour of self-selection hypothesis some other stud-ies have argued that companies become more productive when they participate in export market.13 On the other hand a growing body of literature has suggested that exporting confers little or no bonus in the form of faster productivity growth at the plant level.14 In most of the cases, the higher productivity of companies ac-tually foredate their entry into export market. Despite a huge amount of literature on the export-productivity linkage the empirical evidences on whether exporting increases companies' productivity has been heavily varied so far.

Global experience During the fifteen years following the publication of the mind-breaking paper by Bernard and Jensen re-

searchers around the world used company level data to investigate the relationship between exporting and productivity in microeconometric studies. Among the countries covered are highly industrialized countries (e.g., U.S., UK, Canada, Germany); countries from Latin America, Asian countries; transition countries (Es-tonia, Slovenia, Slovakia); and least developed countries from Africa.15 To summarize findings on differ-ences in levels and growth rates between exporters and non- exporters there is a promising result - exporters are found to have higher productivity, and often higher productivity growth.

After reviewing those results it makes clear that exporters are more productive than non-exporters, while exporting does not necessarily improve productivity. Cross-country comparisons, and even cross-study com-parisons for just one country, are difficult and stochastic because the many studies differ in details of the ap-proach used. Therefore, there are still many issues regarding the relationship between exporting and produc-tivity.

Data and Methodology In this part of the paper the author introduces to the methodology. First, general view of the econometric

methods is introduced. After that, calculation methods` pros and cons, used in this study, are presented. Standard method A common approach to simply investigate differences in productivity between exporters and non- ex-

porters is to follow the methodology introduced by Bernard and Jensen (1995, 1999).16 Studies of this type use long-term data for plants analysed differences in levels and growth rates of productivity between export-ers and non-exporters in a first step. Here one starts by looking at differences in average labour productivity (usually total value of shipments per worker, or value added per worker) or average total factor productivity

8 Earlier research using longitudinal micro data from official statistics in Germany to investigate causes and consequences of exporting is summarised in Wagner (1995).

9 Bernard, Andrew B. and J. Bradford Jensen. 2004b. "Why some companies export." Review of Economics and Statistics 86, 561-569.

10 Melitz, Marc J. "The Impact of Trade on Intra-Industry Reallocations and Aggregate Industry Productivity." Econometrica 71, 1695-1725.

11 see Helpman, Melitz and Yeaple (2004) 12 see Aw and Hwang (1995) for Taiwan; Bernard and Jensen (1995, 1999) for US; Clerides, Lach and Tybout (1998) on 13 see the survey by Wagner, 2007 14 Clerides, Sofronis K., Saul Lach and James R. Tybout. 1998. "Is Learning by Exporting Important? Micro-dynamic Evidence

from Colombia, Mexico, and Morocco." Quarterly Journal of Economics CXIII, 903-947 15 see Bernard and Jensen (1995) 16 see Bernard and Jensen (1995, 1999)


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between exporters and non-exporters. The result is an unconditional productivity differential. The next step is the computation of so-called exporter benefits, defined as the remaining percentage difference of labour productivity between exporters and non-exporters. These benefits are computed from a regression of log la-bour productivity on the current export status dummy and a set of control variables (usually including indus-try, region, company size measured by the number of employees, and year):

(1)

where i is the index of the company, t is the index of the year, LP is labour productivity, Export is a

dummy variable for current export status (1 if the company exports in year t, 0 else), Control is a vector of control variables (like four-digit industry dummies, dummies for regions, company size, and year dummies), and e is an error term.

The export benefits, calculated from the formula, shows the average percentage difference between ex-porters and non-exporters controlling for the characteristics included in the vector Control. If good compa-nies become exporters then we should expect to find significant differences in performance measures be-tween future export starters and future non-starters several years before some of them begin to export.

While most of the empirical studies that use variants of standard approach described in this section com-pare exporters and non-exporters across all manufacturing industries, some studies focus on companies from selected industries only and document interesting similarities and differences (see e.g. Alvarez and Lopez (2004), Blalock and Gertler (2004), De Loecker (2004), and Greenaway and Kneller (2004b)). Furthermore, Damijan, Polanec and Prasnikar (2004) recently looked at differences by foreign markets served and found that it matters whether companies exported to advanced countries or developing countries.17

Pros and Cons The standard approach has its weaknesses and problems. Paper analyses some recent developments that

are used in dozen empirical investigations, namely the comparison of productivity between matched compa-nies, and differences in the distribution of productivity as a whole between exporters and non-exporters.

However, we cannot observe whether they would really do so because they do start to export today; we simply have no data for the counterfactual situation. The use of a matching approach to search for causal ef-fects of starting or stopping to export on productivity (and other dimensions of company performance) has been performed by Wagner (2002) and Girma, Greenaway and Kneller (2003, 2004), and it has been used in a growing number of empirical studies ever since (including De Loecker (2004), Arnold and Hussinger (2004), and Alvarez and Lopez (2004)).18

The comparison of productivity (or productivity growth) between exporters and non-exporters usually represents mere productivity distribution. It is very difficult to deny stochastic dominance of the productivity distribution for exporters over the productivity distribution for non-exporters.

Recent studies on this relationship are another standard approach used in the investigation of the rela-tionship between exports and productivity with the application of quantile regression, introduced to this field of analysis by Yasar, Nelson and Rejesus (2003) and Roger Koenker, Kevin F. Hallock, (2001). 19

This method examines the productivity effect of exporting at different points of the conditional output distribution. To describe it differently, quantile regression allows to test for differences in the effects of ex-porting on company’s productivity as one moves from the lower to the upper tail of the conditional produc-tivity distribution, and to identify the regions where these effects are especially weak, or strong, or not sig-nificantly different from zero at all.

Quantile regression can be illustrated as follows20

(2)

where ln y is the vector of log output, x is a vector of all the regressors in (1), β is the vector of parame-ters to be estimated, and u is a vector of residuals.

17 see e.g. Alvarez and Lopez (2004), Blalock and Gertler (2004), De Loecker (2004), and Greenaway and Kneller (2004b)).

Furthermore, Damijan, Polanec and Prasnikar (2004) 18 see Wagner (2002) and Girma, Greenaway and Kneller (2003, 2004), and it has been used in a growing number of empirical

studies ever since (including De Loecker (2004), Arnold and Hussinger (2004), and Alvarez and Lopez (2004)). 19 see Yasar, Nelson and Rejesus (2003) and Roger Koenker, Kevin F. Hallock, (2001). 20 Koenker, R. and G. Basett (1978). “Regression Quantiles.” Econometrics 46: 33-50. And Buchinsky, M. (1998). “Recent

Advances in Quantile Regression Models: A Practical Guide for Empirical Research.” Journal of Human Resources 33(1): 88-126.


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Labour Impact on Productivity Growth The effects of shifts in sectorial shares on aggregate productivity growth can severely impact productiv-

ity and result. This factor is one of the most important involved in our research. It can be calculated using different techniques. In all cases, it is crucial to consider the shift of employment not only from sectors with low-productivity growth to sectors with high-productivity growth but also from sectors with low-productivity levels to those with high-productivity levels. The reason is that the positive contribution to ag-gregate productivity of the high-growth sectors may be offset by their lower-than-average productivity lev-els. Standard approach is to express the productivity for the economy as a whole as the sum of the productiv-ity level of each sector weighted by the sectorial employment shares:

(3)

where Y is output, L is employment by sector (j = 1…..n) and the total economy (m), P is labour Productivity (Y/L), and S is the sectorial employment share. Concluding remarks Talking about conclusion that emerges after fifteen years of microeconometric research in the relation-

ship between exporting and productivity is that exporters are more productive than non-exporters, while ex-porting does not necessarily improve productivity.

Nonetheless, there are some difficulties concerning comparison of the results from the vast numbers of studies in detail, it still seems to be early to speak of these findings as solid facts, and to discuss any policy conclusions to be based thereon. Furthermore, there are a number of important issues that have only been touched upon recently in some studies, and that deserve future research efforts that cover more countries:

Furthermore, there is a different area of future research that is driven by an emerging theoretical litera-ture. A number of theoretical papers, including Bernard, Eaton, Jensen and Kortum (2003), Melitz (2003), Helpman, Melitz and Yeaple (2004), and Yeaple (2005), take the results from the empirical literature on companies and exports as a starting point and develop models of international trade with heterogeneous companies which focus on the relationship between productivity and exports. 21

Conclusions The research cover general data gathered Latvian manufacturing industries that employ at least 20 per-

sons in the local production unit or in the company that owns the unit. Therefore, companies (small and mi-crosmall) with less than 20 employees in total do not report to the surveys. In this paper annual data for 2000 to 2009 , in order to minimize statistical error, are used.

The most anticipated result of year-specific estimations is the severe recession in labor productivity growth in 2009. The labor productivity growth rate at very high levels of the export-sales ratio is even smaller than the growth rate of non-exporting firms, although not significantly so.

In this research we analyzed the possible relationship between companies’ labor productivity growth rates and their export orientation. We described that there is an effect of companies’ export activities on la-bor productivity growth.

One possible reason for these results is that most previous studies are restricted to analysing the relation-ship between a companies’ export status and the growth of its labour productivity, using the companies' ex-port status as a primary treatment variable and comparing the performance of exporting and non-exporting companies. During our research we found that the relationship between labor productivity growth and the export sales ratio is not necessarily stable over time. This is a unanticipated result.

Our results, describes a time-varying relationship between labor productivity growth and the export-sales ratio. The reason for this result might be that companies also sell their products not necessarily in Euro-pean Union, but also in more distant and technologically less advanced countries. This could increase the costs of coordination and control of exporting firms, but companies are less likely to benefit from this kind of exporting, if they export to a technologically less advanced country this means that innovation level of their product is also not so important as for advanced countries in EU.

21 See Bernard, Eaton, Jensen and Kortum (2003), Melitz (2003), Helpman, Melitz and Yeaple (2004), and Yeaple (2005),


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As a first step of our research, there is not yet clear from our modelling is whether these exporting status effects will occur primarily through their indirect effects from post export returns, or directly from com-pany’s’ transformation powers. There is not yet fully approved direct correlation between these factors. As limitations in our data this research was unable to identify does exporting status is critical for high productiv-ity, and therefore author is forced to use in future researches more information analysis presented by author-ity institutions.

References

1. Arnold, Jens Martin and Katrin Hussinger. 2004. "Export Behavior and Companie Productivity in German Manu-facturing. A Companie-level Analysis." Centre for European Economic Research Discussion Paper 04-12.

2. Balassa, Bela (1988): "Outward orientation" in Chenery and Srinivasan, T. N (ed) In Handbook of Development Economics, Vol (2), Amsterdam: North-Holland.

3. Baldwin, Robert. 2000. "Trade and Growth: Still Disagreement about the Relationships." Organisation for Eco-nomic Co-operation and Development, Economics Department Working Paper EC0/WKP(2000)37, October.

4. Beckerman, Wilfred (1962): "Projecting Europe's growth", Economic Journal, Vol 72, 912-925 5. Bernard, Andrew B. and J. Bradford Jensen. 2004b. "Why some companies export." Review of Economics and Sta-

tistics 86, 561-569. 6. Bradford Jensen. 2004a. Exporting and Productivity in the USA. Oxford Review of Economic Policy 20, 343-357. 7. Buchinsky, M. (1998). “Recent Advances in Quantile Regression Models: A Practical Guide for Empirical Re-

search.” Journal of Human Resources 33(1): 88-126. 8. Clerides, Sofronis K., Saul Lach and James R. Tybout. 1998. "Is Learning by Exporting Important? Micro-dynamic

Evidence from Colombia, Mexico, and Morocco." Quarterly Journal of Economics CXIII, 903-947 9. Garrick and Paul J. Gertler. 2004. "Learning from exporting revisited in a less developed setting." Journal of De-

velopment Economics 75, 397-416. Castellani, Davide. 2002. "Export Behavior and Productivity Growth: Evidence from Italian Manufacturing Companies." Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv /Review of World Economics 138, 605-628.

10. Grossman, Gene M and Elhanan Helpman (1991): Innovation and growth in the global economy (Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.

11. Kaldor, Nicholas (1970): "The case for regional policies", Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Vol 17 (3): 337-448.

12. Koenker, R. and G. Basett (1978). “Regression Quantiles.” Econometrics 46: 33-50. 13. Melitz, Marc J. "The Impact of Trade on Intra-Industry Reallocations and Aggregate Industry Productivity."

Econometrica 71, 1695-1725. 14. Rivera-Batiz, Luis A and Paul M. Romer (1991): "Economic integration and endogenous growth", Quarterly Jour-

nal of Economics, Vol 106 (1): 531-555. 15. Wagner. 1997. "The Good go Abroad: Evidence from Longitudinal Micro Data on German and U. S. Exporters." in

Seppo Laaksonen (Ed.), The Evolution of Companies and Industries - International Perspectives. Helsinki: Statis-tics Finland, 489-500.

16. Calculated based upon Eurostat and Centrālais Statistikas birojs CSB [Accessed 01.november 2010.] <http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/pls/portal/docs>; <http://data.csb.gov.lv/Dialog/ varval.asp?ma=03>

17. Centrālais Statistikas birojs. CSB [Accessed: 05. november 2010] http://data.csb.gov.lv/DATABASE/zin/Ikgad 18. Foreign trade portal of Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA) [Accessed: 11.jaunary 2011]

<http://www.exim.lv/?object_id=5255> 19. Eastern European Outlook - March 2010. SEB, Economic Research 20. [Accessed: 08.jaunary 2011] <http://www.seb.lv/lv/private/research/analytic-

info/SEBreviews/EEoutlook/2005/apskati/march/> 21. Monthly newsletter from Swedbank’s Economic Research Department by Lija Strašuna Nr.3 July 2010 [Accessed:

12.jaunary 2011] 22. <http://www.swedbank.lv/lib/en/Swedbank%20monthly%20newsletter%202010-05-12.pdf> 23. Roger Koenker, Kevin F. Hallock, (2001) "Quantile Regression", Journal of Economic Perspectives, 15 (4), 143–

156 [Accessed: 18 December 2010] <http://www.econ.uiuc.edu/~roger/research/rq/QRJEP.pdf> 24. The Bank of Latvia The gap between wages and productivity is narrowing rapidly [Accessed: 16 December 2009.] 25. <http://www.bank.lv/eng/main/all/sapinfo/commentary/gap_between/>


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APPLIED RESEARCHES FOR DEVELOPMENT OF E-BUSINESS

Deniss ŠČEULOVS Riga Technical University, LV-1048 Riga, Meža str.1/7


Elīna GAILE-SARKANE Riga Technical University, LV-1048 Riga, Meža str.1/7

E-mail: [email protected] Abstract. The fast development of equipment and technologies has an impact on company development.

The authors in the article have analyzed applied research peculiarities, interaction among e-commerce, re-search and company development. Very special role in the article is devoted to survey about changes in the consumer behavior.

During research the author concludes that E-commerce has changed many aspects of business and in-teraction among e-commerce, company development and research help in sustainable development of a company and entrepreneurship.

Key words: research, E-commerce, development, research, information, management. Introduction This paper analyses the current situation in the E-commerce development in Latvia and it impact on

company development. The author presents an analysis of current situation in e-commerce, gives insight in a theory of interaction among e-commerce and company development. The author employs well-established quantitative and qualitative methods of research: grouping, analysis, synthesis, induction, statistic method, etc.

Main results of the analysis showed that there is interaction among e-commerce and company develop-ment in Latvia. The research results confirmed that it is possible to use e-commerce for research purposes.

1. Marketing Research and Applied Marketing Research Marketing research is one of the most important and fascinating aspects of marketing. Marketing re-

search provides a company with valuable information, which guides all of the marketing activities. Marketing research is the systematic and objective identification, collection, analysis, dissemination, and

use of information that is undertaken to improve decision making related to identifying and solving problems (also known as opportunities) in marketing1.

The Board of Directors of the American Marketing Association has approved the following as the new definition of marketing research: Marketing research is the function that links the consumer, customer, and public to marketer through information – information used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance and improve understanding of marketing as a process. Marketing research specifies the information required to address these issues, designs the methods for collecting information, manages and implements the data collection process, analyzes the results, and communicates the findings and their implications2.

On authors’ opinion there are only few steps between marketing research, specially applied marketing research, decision making and e-marketing activity implementation. Thanks of E-environment and Internet these steps are very close and are easy to implement. The difference between marketing research and applied marketing research, on author’s opinion, is in its localness and concreteness; in other words applied market-ing research is more targeted, which a company is able to immediately implement and use. Authors believe that applied marketing research is the problem-solving research, which can be divided into two big groups.

1 Malhotra, N. Marketing research: an applied orientation. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 1996, p. 5. 2 Malhotra, N. Marketing research: an applied orientation. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 1996, p. 9.


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Table 1. Classification of marketing researches

Marketing Research Problem Identification Research Applied Research for Problem Solving

• Market potential research • Segmentation applied research • Market share research • Product applied research • Image research • Price applied research • Market characteristics research • Promotion applied research • Sales analyses research • Distribution applied research • Forecasting research • Information applied research • Business trends research • Communication applied research • Etc. • Customers’ needs applied research • Competitive advantage applied research

• Etc. Findings of problem-solving applied research are used in making decisions that will solve specific mar-

keting problems3. There are many aims of applied marketing research depending on company’s purposes. Segmentation applied research can help to determine, describe and select segments of the market, to un-

derstand customer portrait, both existing and potential, etc. Product applied research can help to create and test new product and service concepts, to understand

customers’ attitude to company’s products and services, to test post sale service level, products’ package convenience and design, to determine customers’ attitude to the brand and to emphasize co-creation.

Price applied research can help to determine customer price sensitivity level while selecting products, services or brands, to research competitors’ prices, to understand customers’ attitude to price changes, to de-velop pricing strategies for different products or/and services or/and market shares or segments, etc.

Promotional applied research can help to choose optimal promotion types, to establish relationship with customer, to understand promotional rates and make promotional budget, to choose promotional activities, etc.

Distribution applied research can help to determine type of distribution, distribution channels and espe-cially convenient ones, to determine distribution structure and members, to understand costs of distribution etc.

Information applied research can help to understand what kind of information the customer needs, to understand internal and externals factors influencing the company’s information flow, to determine informa-tion exchange speed, to optimize internal information processes, etc.

Communication applied research can help to determine both internal and external problems. For exam-ple, it can help to understand communication processes flowing within the company, and to optimize them. External communication is called to establish communication sites with customers, to establish strong rela-tionship with them, to understand the best ways of communicating with them, to determine best communica-tion channels for different company activities: product advertising, sales etc.

Customer needs applied research can help to understand and determine customer needs, to determine product and service features, which the customer can accept or not.

Competitive advantage element applied research. Competitive advantage applied research can divided into two big groups: market based, and process based. Market based approach stands for direct competitor comparison (can help to determine market share; customers’ mind share, advertisement share, R&D share, etc.); process based approach compares the methods used by competing organizations in achieving its dis-tinctive advantages (company’s marketing skill audit, winner and looser comparison, etc.)4.

As it is discussed there are many kinds of applied marketing researches that company can use. It is pos-sible to conduct abovementioned research using e-environment and Internet. Main advantage of e-environment usage is high speed of information exchange, instant results receipt, and possibility of using and implementing the results practically after its collection.

3 Malhotra, N. Marketing research: an applied orientation. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 1996, p. 11. 4 Aaker, D., Kumar, V., Day, G. Marketing research. 7th edition. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2001, p. 748-749.


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2. Situation in E-Commerce Development in Latvia As we know E-commerce covers matters arising from all relationships of commercial nature, whether

contractual or not and consists of two parts – Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and open e-commerce. Electronic Data Interchange means the electronic transfer from computer to computer of information using and agreed standard to structure of information. EDI is often used for business-to-business. Open e-commerce can be structured in two parts: mail and communication (like e-mail, chat, telephony etc.) and bu-siness-to-consumer relationships5.

According to the Internet Worlds Stats data, 67.8% of households in Latvia had internet access at 20106. The share of inhabitants that had ever used internet during the last 3 months was 71.1% in the beginning of 2010, while 62.5% of inhabitants used internet on a regular basis. In 2010, 69.8 % of households in Latvia had computers and 59.8% had access to internet at home (authors comment: starting with 2006, the number of households with access to the Internet as a whole exceeds the number of households with access to a com-puter. This is explained by the fact that many Latvian households access Internet via mobile phone.)7. Ac-cording to the Eurostat data 15.9% of all enterprises in 2008 having 10 and more employees had made pur-chases over the internet, but 5.2% of enterprises had sold services and goods over the internet. The turnover of goods and services purchased over the internet in Latvia constituted 4% of the total purchases in 2008, but the turnover of goods sold over the internet amounted to 4.4% of the total net turnover. According to the Eu-rostat ecommerce amounted to 12% from the total turnover of EU enterprises in 2008 (in 2009 – 13%). In the 1st quarter of 2009, 26% of the population or 38% of internet users had made purchases or ordered goods or services over the internet for own needs at least once in a life. Purchases over the internet are mainly made by the population in the age group of 25-34 years (51% of internet users in this age group)8.

According to the statistic data analysis and current situation in the market of Latvia, the authors con-clude that e-commerce develops very fast in Latvia, in some segments even explosively. The impact of e-commerce development has changed market and consumers.

3. Research about the Consumer Behaviour in Latvia The aim of the survey was to analyze consumer behavior in Latvia and to find out regularities of pur-

chasing. The period of survey was March-April, 2006. The total number of respondents was 137 in age from 17 to 63, both sexes. The questionnaire contained 11 questions – multiple choice or fill in the blank. The re-sume of the survey is described below.

It is well known (and the survey confirmed it) that both sexes have different consuming habits. Females like the process of shopping and they doing it almost three times often than males.

If there were a possibility to choose between e-shopping and shopping in shops (malls) the 78% pre-ferred classic shopping. Priorities varied from the age, social status, occupation, previous experience etc.

In comparison, 49% of men preferred e-shopping (figure 1).

01020304050607080

Traditional shopping E-shopping

MenWomen

Fig.1. Preferences in shopping according to survey done in Latvia in 2010 Reasons why the e-shopping is better than traditional were:

5 Gaile-Sarkane, E. Electronic Commerce. Riga: Publishing House of Riga Technical University, 2003, p. 14. 6 Eurostat Data in Focus, 2009. 7 Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia, 2010. 8 Economic development of Latvia: report, 2010.


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- It is possible to compare prices and find the beneficial offer; - It saves time and works all around the clock; - The goods will be delivered; - It is not necessary to communicate with shop assistant; - It is convenient, etc. Versions of answers on question “Why you go for shopping?” are shown in figure 2. All answers can be

divided in two parts: the necessity to shop and the consumer behavior.

Enjoy the process26%

Spend lesure time20%

Necessity20%

Self actualization11%

To be informed16% Meet friends

7%

Fig. 2. Description of the consumer behavior in the traditional shops according to survey done in Latvia In case to understand the consumer behavior, it is important to analyze it. As a basis for analyzing of the

situation author have taken description major factors influencing the buying behavior. A consumer buying behavior is influenced by cultural, social, personal, and psychological factors. Cul-

tural factors exert the broadest and deepest influence. Cultural factors are culture, subculture, and social class. Culture is most fundamental determinant of a person’s wants and behavior. The growing child acquires a set of values, perceptions, preferences, and behaviors through his or her family and other key institutions9.

There is a huge influence on consumers by shopping centers in the Baltic States. The Shopping industry is going to develop new shopping traditions and inveigle the customer in the shopping mall. At the same time the increasing activity of e-commerce is trying to involve the same customer in e-shop. The child growing up in average Latvian family is exposed to values created by family and mass media what is calling to consume and to buy more and more.

Each culture consists of smaller subcultures that provide more specific identification and socialization for their members. Subcultures include nationalities, religions, racial groups, and geographic regions [4]. There are only two basic nationalities and religions in Latvia. And there are no visible large differences be-tween these subcultures. Nevertheless, there is influence of historical factor for this geographical region. Latvia and all Baltic States became independent in the beginning of 1990’s and there were very specific shopping traditions. At the moment the shopping traditions are developing and become European. And there is influence of social factors to the consumer behavior like reference groups, family, social roles and statuses.

It is interesting to note that the survey acknowledge the influence of social factors to the consumer be-havior. 16% of respondents were going to the shops with an aim to be informed about the assortment and for 11% it was self-actualization.

Of course that most important are personal factors – age, stage in the life cycle, economic circum-stances, lifestyle, occupation, personality etc. In the survey people with high incomes and busy (dynamic) lifestyle said that they were choosing to use e-shopping versus traditional. The stage of family life cycle for this group varies from newly married couples (young, no children) to full nest (youngest child six or over) and the age from 24 to 38. The personality and self-concept is also important, because it includes psycho-logical characteristics that lead to relatively consistent and enduring responses to environment.

According to research results the author concludes that the consumer behavior is one of the factors what influences development of e-commerce in Latvia as well as in the Baltic States.

9 Kotler, Ph. Marketing management. Millenium edition. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall International, Inc., 2000, 718 pp.


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4. Interaction between E-Commerce and Applied Research Evans Ph., Wurster T.S in the book “Blown to Bits: How the New Economic of Information Transforms

Strategy”10 mentioned - “We realized that the „objects” of strategy – such as business units, industries, sup-ply chains, customer relationships, organizational structure, and so forth – are held together by a „glue”, and that glue is essentially information”. Questions on possibilities to use information resources in entrepreneur-ship will become particularly important for every company who is going to compete in the EU and world-wide Information and Knowledge society.

In the knowledge economy, the value of knowledge as input and output is growing. Knowledge is a key ingredient of what is bought and sold (both explicitly and implicitly), knowledge resources rising importance relative to traditionally recognize resources, and new technologies and techniques for managing knowledge resources.

E-commerce is based on free mutual exchange and consists of the technological base (infrastructure, software), range of information services. E-commerce and information exchange develops knowledge-based economy what is strategic priority of Latvia and the Baltic States.

Information resource contains many components: market information, statistic information, knowledge, experience, know-how, etc. According to the authors point of view in product development process mainly depends on three basic components of information resource:

- Market information, - Knowledge of labor involved in the development process and - Know-how. To the authors standpoint the market information is important information for product development

about the market, including customer needs, segmentation, analysis of rivals, sales forecasts, etc. Possibilities of company development depend on ability to collect right information and to employ it.

E-commerce can be used for both – qualitative and quantitative applied research. Historically, analysts have distinguished between experimental (laboratories) and field (natural) research

settings, hence the argument that qualitative research is naturalistic. Activity theory erases this distinction. Qualitative research has separate and distinguished histories in education, social work, communications,

psychology, history, organizational studies, medical science, anthropology, and sociology11. The word qualitative implies an emphasis on the qualities of entities and processes and meanings that

are not experimentally examined or measured (if measured at all) in terms of quantity, amount, intensity, or frequency. Qualitative researches stress the socially constructed nature of reality, the intimate relationship between researcher and what is studied, and the situational constraints that shape inquiry. Such researchers emphasize the value-laden nature of inquiry. They seek answers to questions that stress how social experi-ence is related and given meaning. In contrast, quantitative studies emphasize the measurement and analysis of causal relationships between variables, not processes. Proponents of such studies claim that their work is done form within a value-free framework12.

Usually for collection of marketing information the companies used so called marketing information systems. By using appropriate methods of research and e-commerce tools, company can collect, analyze and use information about market for company development and develop marketing information system.

Many tools are created up to know for qualitative and quantitative applied research in e-commerce, for example, Customer Relationship Management (CRM). These tools can help to analyze two main parts for successful business of a company – customers and market. Researches help in the development of the com-pany: in deployment and development of services and products, in creation of customer values, in develop-ment of new distribution channels, in segmentation etc.

Conclusions Over the past decade the business environment has become increasingly dynamic, reflecting the global

trend of economic liberalization. New political geography, gradual removal of international trade barriers,

10 Evans, Ph., Wurster, T.S. Blown to Bits: How the New Economic of Information Transforms Strategy. Harvard: Harvard Bu-

siness School Press, 2000, 259 pp. 11 Norman, K.D., Yvonna, S.L. (editors), Handbook of Qualitative Research. Second Edition. London: Sage Publications, Inc.,

2002, 1065 pp. 12 Smith, P.R., Chaffey, D. E-Marketing Excellence. The Heart of e-Business. Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth Heinemann, 2002,

340 p.


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rapid technological advancements are just a few of the factors that have had major effect on the business management practices.

E-commerce has changed many aspects of business – there are new business models, there are changes in the consumer behavior, there are changes in the segmentation of the market etc. According to the author point of view interaction among e-commerce, company development and research help in sustainable devel-opment of a company and entrepreneurship.

The research by applying the method of synthesis of theoretical developments and practical experience has allowed the author to analyze and evaluate the current situation in E-commerce in Latvia. The research contributes to better understanding of the specifics in interaction among e-commerce, company development and research..

However, the field of research is very wide and this study presents just an insight into the large scope of different questions, which have to be tackled in the development of entrepreneurship in Latvia.

References

1. Malhotra, N. Marketing research: an applied orientation. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 1996, p. 5. 2. Malhotra, N. Marketing research: an applied orientation. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 1996, p. 9. 3. Malhotra, N. Marketing research: an applied orientation. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 1996, p. 11. 4. Aaker, D.; Kumar, V., Day, G. Marketing research. 7th edition. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2001, p. 748-

749. 5. Gaile-Sarkane, E. Electronic Commerce. Riga: Publishing House of Riga Technical University, 2003, p. 14. 6. Eurostat Data in Focus 46/2009 [interactive]. 2009 [accessed 2011-23-02].

<http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-QA-09-046/EN/KS-QA-09-046-EN.PDF>. 7. Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia [interactive]. Riga, 2011 [accessed 2011-12-02].

<http://data.csb.gov.lv/Dialog/Saveshow.asp>. 8. Economic development of Latvia: report, 2010 [interactive]. Riga, 2010 [accessed 2011-17-02].

<http://www.em.gov.lv/images/modules/items/tsdep/zin_ 2010_1/2010 _jun_eng.pdf>. 9. Kotler, Ph. Marketing management. Millenium edition. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall International, Inc., 2000,

718 pp. 10. Evans, Ph.; Wurster, T.S. Blown to Bits: How the New Economic of Information Transforms Strategy. Harvard:

Harvard Business School Press, 2000, 259 pp. 11. Norman, K.D.; Yvonna, S.L. (editors), Handbook of Qualitative Research. Second Edition. London: Sage Publica-

tions, Inc., 2002, 1065 pp. 12. Smith, P.R.; Chaffey, D. E-Marketing Excellence. The Heart of e-Business. Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth Heine-

mann, 2002, 340 p.


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INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL IN THE ENTERPRISE AS A COMPETITIVENESS INCREASE FACTOR OF MSP SECTOR

Tadeusz TROCIKOWSKI National European Foundation, Institute of InnovationsWłoclawek, Poland

E-mail: [email protected] Abstract. The intellectual capital plays a significant role not only for the results of enterprises activities

but for competitiveness of the state and region economy as well. It is one of the main priorities of the strategy of European Union (Europe 2020). The aim of the article is to ascertain the main conditions that secure the effectiveness of knowledge usage in the organisation.

Key words: knowledge, innovations, technology transfer, competitiveness of the economy, economy

based on knowledge, innovative business area. Introduction The grounds of economy based on knowledge were commenced at the moment of accepting Lisbon’s

Strategy aiming at building the world’s most competitive economy in Europe. Economy based on knowledge is the economy which is characterized by rapid development of informa-

tion processing field and science, especially high-tech branches of industry, but also techniques and services of information society.

Economy based on knowledge has following distinctive features: investments in research and develop-ment, growth of export’s role and international connections, growth of employment rates. A new type of en-terprise appears – based on knowledge, with high participation of the service sector and GNP (Gross Na-tional Product) and significant role of formal and informal connections.

It can be indicated that in 2011 European Union did not realize its ambitious plans proclaimed in Lis-bon’s Strategy. The idea of the united Europe as the most competitive region in the world in terms of econ-omy based on knowledge did not come true.

In the strategy of European Union (Europe 2020) the need of the so called intelligent development is emphasised. It involves actions aiming at increasing the role of knowledge and innovations as contribution to future development, which means raising the quality of education, intensifying the research activity, absorb-ing and supporting the transfer of knowledge and innovation and technology as well.

The strategy, Europe 2020, expects intelligent and balanced development, more vacancies and a better standard of life, which should favour social involvement and determine the direction of the organisation de-velopment and the societies as well. The strategy mentioned above has three fundamental priorities:

‐ intelligent development including development of organisations using knowledge and innovations; ‐ balanced development, intending to support effective economy using natural resources, being envi-

ronmentally friendly and more competitive; ‐ development supportive in terms of social involvement, so the decisions taken up to favour economy

with the high rate of employment, which will guarantee social and territorial unity1.

1. Store of knowledge in the enterprise Store of knowledge in the enterprise – is its intellectual assets, being the sum of knowledge of single

employees and teams, which is used by the enterprise during its activities’. Strategic purpose of knowledge management is accumulation of intellectual store and growth of enterprise’s efficiency. Development of in-dividuals, teams and organisations is made through various learning processes. Management boards of com-panies are more often aware that the intellectual store is their most valuable possession. There is a division of the market value of the company into book value capital and intellectual value. In many cases intellectual value is put prior to financial capital. Monitoring of the intellectual capital enables to analyse the store of

1 EUROPA 2020, Strategia na rzecz inteligentnego i zrównoważonego rozwoju sprzyjającego włączeniu społecznemu, Komisja Europejska, Bruksela 2010, www.ec.europa.eu/eu2020.


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knowledge in the enterprise properly and to use it in improving processes and products effectively. The economy of knowledge considers individual competence, skills and talents of an employee the most precious element of assets in the enterprise.

Intellectual capital cannot be measured and it is difficult to put it as reserves in the balance sheet. It is created by single employees and cooperative teams. In the enterprises they are designers of business projects, such as: technologists, planners and production organisers cooperating in teams, for instance, in technologi-cal offices, production preparation sections, time standardizing, and production flow planning etc. Thanks to taking up the most outstanding solutions out of the knowledge, experiences and intellectual predispositions possessed by the workers, a new innovative idea is created.

An employee’s working environment is a factor which determines making use of his intellectual poten-tial. This working environment includes: interpersonal relations among employees, motivational systems, the policy of enterprises management but also relations with clients and suppliers2.

Knowledge store in the productive enterprise. Productive enterprise should have appropriate knowledge store in its disposal to realize basic tasks in terms of, for instance, production preparation. Knowledge store is under constant changes, which is a sign of education process of the enterprise. This store determines the ability of rapid reaction to market changes and is characterised by following features:

‐ it constitutes a collection of information about production process being realized in the specific reali-ties of an enterprise,

‐ the store is dynamic, so it is under constant changes of processes, for instance, production parame-ters, machine facilities and tools etc.,

‐ it constitutes a base of information to generate new products, technology and organisational solu-tions.

1.1 . Phases of creating the intellectual capital of the enterprise The problem of what actions to take to reveal the intellectual capital fully and make it bring measurable

profits is important in terms of managing the enterprise. Those actions can be divided into several phases of creating the intellectual capital: ‐ determining the problem – this stage is realized by a special team made to work on , for instance, a

new product; ‐ design undertaking – this stage is strictly connected with the production process and is characterized

by the growth of knowledge enabling to solve the problem gradually according to set design criteria (e.g. minimizing of production costs, material saving),

‐ transformation of knowledge in the enterprise – in this phase the processing of knowledge is made connected mainly with a programme tool used to save the knowledge.

There are two forms of knowledge occurrence in the enterprise. The initial form is the so called special-ist knowledge of the company’s lawyers specializing in production processes design. The ending form the so called system knowledge. It is saved in the computer systems bases, according to the method of knowledge representation applied.

From the point of view of proper use of the intellectual capital in the enterprise, the phase of knowledge transformation is the most relevant. There appear problems with theoretical description of transformation processes, with the impact of an external environment on transformation processes (e.g. access to knowl-edge), with the full recognition of transformation processes connected with hidden knowledge.

The key solution to these problems is the appropriate processes of knowledge processing. The realiza-tion of phases of intellectual capital creation enables to join creativity with knowledge transformation, which encourages introduction of innovations to the enterprise.

Knowledge as result of information units analysis, which is a consequence of learning, abilities and skills and experience possessed3.

2. Knowledge, innovations, technologies transfer from the enterprise environment An indispensable condition to maintain a strong position of the enterprise and achieve satisfactory finan-

cial results is introduction of innovations.

2 Galata S., Strategiczne zarządzanie organizacjami. wiedza, intuicja, strategie, etyka, p. 50-68, Difin, Warszawa 2004, 3 Mikuła B., Pietruszka – Ortyl A., Potocki A., Zarządzanie przedsiębiorstwem XXI wieku. Wybrane koncepcje i metody, p.37-

68, Difin, Warszawa 2002,


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Innovations are currently described as the basic factor in enterprise’s success. The enterprise which wants to survive i develop in the constant changing environment has to introduce innovative solutions. They may result in: facilitating technologies, appearance of new products and modification of products being al-ready in production. Effective generating and introduction of modern solutions by the enterprise may give the opportunity to gaining advantage in competitiveness, gaining success and regional development of the economic area of the company in further perspective. Application of innovative actions is an opportunity for developmentally delayed regions of the world to faster pace of development, economic growth and techno-logical progress4

The store of knowledge consists of theoretical elements as well as practical ones of a particular person. Knowledge is nothing else but deduction processes of understanding in our brain. One of the categorisations of knowledge indicates that knowledge can be divided into four categories of: “what”, “why”, “how” and “who”.

The first category is an actual knowledge of, e.g. how many small and average-sized enterprises in the Masovian District is involved in export activity.

The second category, “ why” – describes right of both natural and social environment , e.g.”why” there is a day after a night, spring after winter or what the economic situation cycle of the company is.

This kind of knowledge is relevant form the scientific point of view. It increases technological and eco-nomic pace as well.

The third category, “how”, is an ability to realize particular tasks and actions. It is knowledge shaping employees’ competence, but also knowledge indispensable in the innovative process of the company e.g. how to sell the product, how to attract clients, how to start a computer software.

Knowledge of this category has not only practical but also scientific aspect: to know how scientists in-vent something as a result of scientific research.

The fourth category of knowledge “who, is knowledge of particular people in a particular field, e.g. an information technology specialist has the knowledge about the software.

This category points out what is the scope of participation of a particular specialist in knowledge transfer in the business environment of the enterprise. Contemporary economy should be based on knowledge store and appropriate knowledge management. This is perceived as the most important source of competitive ad-vantage over others. It concerns not only enterprises where intellectual capital of employees is basic store transformed into products, such as: evaluations, projects and software. Knowledge store management is be-coming an important action in the enterprises’ development where production processes are dominant as main source of innovations5.

3. Knowledge management as a factor of growth in competitiveness of the enterprises Knowledge management – is an integrated set of actions which aim is proper shaping of knowledge

store. The direction o f development cannot be accidental – it has to be connected with a particular purpose. To full global and local market competitiveness it should comply with the following restrictions: ‐ it should have appropriate knowledge and absorb it, ‐ it has to able to make use of it. ‐ Knowledge management also means to act to make hatches in the knowledge, understood as the dif-

ference between knowledge store possessed and the knowledge needed to making decisions, as little as pos-sible.

As scientists claim technically there is a great divergence between the knowledge possessed and the abilities to make use of it.

Although the number of available sources of knowledge is increasing, it is does not contribute to changes in enterprise management.

Knowledge management is a process of mapping, absorbing, development, transfer, exploitation and ar-chiving the knowledge6.

4 Dolińska M., Innowacje w gospodarce opartej na wiedzy, p. 78-102, Polskie Wydawnictwo Ekonomiczne, Warszawa 2010, 5 Evans Ch., Zarządzanie wiedzą, p. 21-43, Polskie Wydawnictwo Ekonomiczne, Warszawa 2005, 6 Grudzewski W.M., Hejduk I.K., Zarządzanie Technologiami. Zaawansowane technologie i wyzwanie ich komercjalizacji, p.

52-115, Difin, Warszawa 2008,


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3.1. Mapping of knowledge Areas of knowledge origin: - internal – key interests of the employees, the level of competence and

abilities, officers of the most important information from the view of the enterprise, the process of knowl-edge sharing, the process of knowledge sharing, networks of information exchange in the enterprise, collec-tive knowledge (knowledge of the team); - external – environment analysis (business area).

Problems: establishing of the hatch of knowledge, hidden knowledge, levels of responsibility, high spe-cialization and decentralization, too excessive openness to the outside of the enterprise;

Recommendations: flat management structures, informal structures (interdisciplinary teams), informa-tion technology tools, the map of employees qualifications, the maps of sources of knowledge and store of information, experts, good practices.

3.2. Knowledge absorption External absorption: - participants of the market: shareholders, suppliers, competitors, partners, clients, -

experts’ knowledge, - cooperation in terms of zone B+R; - the purchase of knowledge (patents and technolo-gies); - innovative products and services; - institutions of business area (fairs, seminars, conferences, study tours), - the system of employment recruitment;

Problems: - rejection of external knowledge – bad for it is not ours, - application of our own knowledge – purchase form the ouside, - lack of absorption abilities of the enterprise;

Recommendations: - division of tasks in the enterprise according to employee’s competence, - innova-tive networks of information absorption: networks of experts, enterprises (circles, clusters and consortiums), - problem-oriented networks.

3.3. Knowledge development Knowledge development is a process of systematic work for the purpose of creating new competence

and abilities in the enterprise, this is not only B+R. Knowledge development involves also process, product, marketing and organisational innovations applied in the enterprise.

Problems: - Innovation application (new knowledge) also raises objections allegedly undermining the employees’ and the management position, - Innovations are risky in some respect – lack of knowledge about risk management, - Difficulties in organisational culture development – building trust, - Lack of effective mechanisms in using collective knowledge in the process of company’s competence development (commu-nication, interaction, clarity, integrity of store);

Recommendations: - Shaping conditions for knowledge development, - Stimulating the creativity – compliance of business, - Motivation system, - In case of error revelation – alternative solutions;

3.4. Knowledge transfer Transfer of knowledge is a priority in team work, virtual organisations and close cooperation of enter-

prises. Effective transfer mechanisms contribute to savings. Absorption abilities decide about the effective-ness of transfer of knowledge in the enterprise. The process of knowledge transfer (exchange, sharing and distribution of knowledge) includes: - Accumulation of knowledge (trainings), - Sharing the experiences from the former realized projects and their documentation, - Exchange of current experience;

Problems: - The scope of knowledge disposal, - Accumulation of knowledge – insuring the business of the enterprise, - Knowledge management systems.

Recommendations: - The ability to share the knowledge, - Stimulating informal contacts, - Motivation system, - Effective tools, - Documenting the standard procedures; - Information technology procedures.

3.5. Knowledge exploitation Knowledge which is not used in practice is useless. Updating of the store knowledge - there is a clear

correlation between the quality of knowledge and intensity of its usage. The way of presenting the knowl-edge. Routine – one of the most important barriers used in knowledge- the so called “organisational blind-ness”.

Recommendations: - Ability to present knowledge (readability of documents – charts, tables, graphic presentations), - Office and task-oriented area management and not hierarchic, - Infrastructure friendly to the


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user – accessibility of knowledge, - A great role of managers in getting familiar the employees with using the new knowledge.

3.6. Knowledge archiving Processes of knowledge archiving: - Selection, - storing (shaping), updating, The choice of knowledge worth archiving: - The subject of selection, - Principles of selection, - “Organ-

isational memory” is often ignored, e.g. during the restructuring process of the company, - Deletion of old knowledge store, - A trap of uselessness of knowledge.

Recommendations: - Teaching abilities, - Successors’ educating, - Protocols form the meetings, - Com-mon defining of terms by a team, - Stability of employment, - Experience as a point of departure for facilitat-ing, - Electronic systems – data bases, - Systems of document management, - Majority of collective memory over individual one (e.g. memorising in pairs, systems of collective memory, - Carrying on the documenta-tion as the best way to insure the company against hatches in knowledge left by former employees, - Criteria of selection of actions being documented7.

Conclusions For the effectiveness of knowledge usage in the organisation, there have to be several conditions ful-

filled: • One has to have knowledge that gives to being used. To be able to use knowledge in actions, one has to have it and develop it. It demands from all the mem-

bers of the organisation a regular increase in its store by e.g. participation in trainings, gaining new experi-ences, common problem solving etc. If the organisation desires to increase its competitiveness, its employees have to gain knowledge faster and make use of it more effectively than competitors.

• One needs to have motivation to effective usage of knowledge. Motivating the employees to make use of knowledge is one of the greatest challenges in knowledge

management system. First of all, to make use o f it, one has to take benefits from this usage. • One needs to know what kind of knowledge to use. In the economy based on knowledge, problems can come not only from the lack of knowledge but also

from its excess. So the aim of the enterprise should be to make use of strictly defined knowledge that is why it is so important select it properly. Ability to use the proper knowledge is one of the phases of educating or-ganisation development.

• One needs to have conditions to be able to make use of knowledge. Effective usage of knowledge will take place in organisations where the environment favouring the

process organisation is created. First of all, it has to be appropriate organisational culture, basing on common trust and cooperation. If the employees are motivated to do their job only by fear of losing it, it is little likeli-hood that they will do anything beyond their duties from the past and they will settle into a groove.

• One needs to have skills required in knowledge usage. The possession of knowledge is necessary but it is not enough for it to be effectively used in making

good decisions. Literature pays attention to the fact that there is barely loose correlation between knowledge possessed and abilities to make use of it in practice.

• One needs to know what to use this knowledge for. Making use of knowledge is not a purpose itself. It is one of closely related knowledge management

processes and is to serve realization of organisation purpose leading to the growth of competitiveness. The role of people in charge is to inform the employees what the usage of knowledge is for and how it will con-tribute to organisation aim realization, but also to make them aware that the success of organisation depends greatly on effectiveness of knowledge usage.

References

1. EUROPA 2020, Strategia na rzecz inteligentnego i zrównoważonego rozwoju sprzyjającego włączeniu społecznemu, Komisja Europejska, Bruksela 2010, www.ec.europa.eu/eu2020.

2. 2. Galata S., Strategiczne zarządzanie organizacjami. wiedza, intuicja, strategie, etyka, p. 50-68, Difin, Warszawa 2004.

7 Fazlagić J., KNOW-HOW W DZIAŁANIU!, Jak zdobyć przewagę konkurencyjną dzięki zarządzaniu wiedzą, p. 123-164,

Wydawnictwo HELION, Gliwice 2010,


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3. Mikuła B., Pietruszka – Ortyl A., Potocki A., Zarządzanie przedsiębiorstwem XXI wieku. Wybrane koncepcje i me-tody, p.37-68, Difin, Warszawa 2002.

4. Dolińska M., Innowacje w gospodarce opartej na wiedzy, p. 78-102, Polskie Wydawnictwo Ekonomiczne, Warszawa 2010.

5. Evans Ch., Zarządzanie wiedzą, p. 21-43, Polskie Wydawnictwo Ekonomiczne, Warszawa 2005. 6. Grudzewski W.M., Hejduk I.K., Zarządzanie Technologiami. Zaawansowane technologie i wyzwanie ich komercjali-

zacji, p. 52-115, Difin, Warszawa 2008. 7. Fazlagić J., KNOW-HOW W DZIAŁANIU!, Jak zdobyć przewagę konkurencyjną dzięki zarządzaniu wiedzą, p. 123-

164, Wydawnictwo HELION, Gliwice 2010.


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VARTOTOJŲ ELGSENOS MODELIŲ EVOLIUCIONAVIMAS: NUO BENDRŲJŲ MODELIŲ IKI PASTANGŲ MODELIUOTI

DRAUDIMO PASLAUGŲ VARTOTOJŲ ELGSENĄ

Aurelija ULBINAITĖ Vilniaus universitetas, Saulėtekio al. 9, LT-10222, Vilnius, Lietuva

Tel.(+370 5) 2366 152, elektroninis paštas: [email protected]

Anotacija. Straipsnis atskleidžia vartotojų elgsenos modelių evoliucionavimo nuo bendrųjų iki specifinių bei unikalių vartotojų elgsenos modelių kūrimo raidą. Straipsnyje gvildenama vartotojų elgsenos bei jos mo-deliavimo samprata, pateikiama bendrųjų vartotojų elgsenos modelių klasifikacija, atskleidžiami jų forma-vimo principai, išskiriami modelių įvertinimo kriterijai ir jais remiantis atliekamas bendrųjų vartotojų elgse-nos modelių įvertinimas, išskiriami bei aptariami paslaugų bendrąja prasme bei finansinių paslaugų vartoto-jų elgsenos modeliai, jų kryptys bei turinys bei susisteminamos atliktos draudimo paslaugų vartotojų elgse-nos studijos.

Reikšminiai žodžiai: vartotojų elgsenos modeliai, bendrieji ir specializuotieji modeliai, vartotojų spren-

dimų priėmimas, paslaugos, finansinės paslaugos, draudimo paslaugos.

Įvadas Temos aktualumas. Vartotojų elgsenos modelių formavimas – tai būdas pažinti bei išreikšti produktų bei

paslaugų vartotojų elgseną charakterizuojančius ypatumus. Įmonėms labiau nei bet kada reikia suprasti jų vartotojų santykius su produktais bei paslaugomis, t.y. kaip vartotojai suvokia savo poreikį tam tikrai prekei, kaip jie palygina ir įvertina alternatyvas bei kaip nusprendžia įsigyti jas, ar ne. Tokio tipo žinias, ypač speci-finių produktų ir paslaugų atžvilgiu, nėra lengva ir paprasta gauti – tai reikalauja kruopščios ir nuoseklios duomenų bei informacijos apie vartotojų sąmoningumą, požiūrį, lūkesčius ir elgseną, jiems priimant su spe-cifinių produktų ir paslaugų įsigijimu bei vartojimu susijusius sprendimus, analizės. Didėjant internacionali-zacijai, globalizacijai, konkurencijai, poreikiui patenkinti augančias specifinių individų grupių rinkas bei be-sivystančiose rinkose egzistuojančioms specifinių produktų plėtros galimybėms, vartotojų elgsenos analizė – tai iššūkis įmonėms dalyvauti globalaus masto, regioninių bei atskiros šalies problemų ir klausimų sprendi-me.

Straipsnio tikslas – išanalizuoti vartotojų elgsenos modelių evoliucionavimą nuo bendrųjų modelių iki mokslinių pastangų modeliuojant draudimo paslaugų vartotojų elgseną.

Objektas – bendrųjų bei specifinių vartotojų elgsenos modelių ypatumai. Metodai: sisteminė mokslinės literatūros apžvalga bei analizė. Temos ištirtumo lygis. Nors bendrieji vartotojų elgsenos modeliai yra plačiai studijuojami jau apie 50

metų, tačiau specifiniams vartotojų elgsenos modeliams, kaip objektui, į kurį būtų specifiškai koncentruoja-masi, mokslinėje literatūroje skiriamas pakankamai ribotas, nepakankamas dėmesys. Neaptikta kryptingų mokslinių pastangų apžvelgti bei susisteminti jau egzistuojančius modelius. Šiame straipsnyje pateikta kon-centruota mokslinių įnašų į vartotojų elgsenos modeliavimo mokslą apžvalga bei analizė, pateikiant įžvalgas į trijų sričių – paslaugų bendrąja prasme, finansinių paslaugų bei draudimo paslaugų vartotojų elgsenos studi-jas.

1. Bendrųjų vartotojų elgsenos modelių formavimo principai ir įvertinimas

1.1. Vartotojų elgsenos samprata Plačiąja prasme vartotojų elgseną galima apibūdinti kaip elgseną, kuri atsiskleidžia individams ar jų

grupėms ieškant, renkantis, įsigyjant, naudojant bei įvertinant produktus, paslaugas, idėjas ir potyrius ar jų


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atsisakant/atsikratant, siekiant patenkinti individų poreikius ir troškimus1. Susiaurintai vartotojų elgsena gali būti suvokiama kaip mentalinis sprendimų procesas bei fizinė veikla2. Jos suvokimo centre atsiduria klausi-mai, kuriais stengiamasi išsiaiškinti, kaip individai, disponuodami turimais laiko, pinigų ir pastangų ištek-liais, priima su vartojimu susijusius, daugiau nei vieną alternatyvą turinčius, įskaitant sprendimą nepirkti kaip alternatyvą, sprendimus3.

Dauguma ankstyvųjų vartotojų elgsenos teorijų pagrįstos ekonomikos teorija ir yra išimtinai nukreiptos į pirkimo veiksmą4. Šiose teorijose vadovaujamasi nuostata, kad vartotojai prekių ir paslaugų pirkimo metu elgiasi ekonomiškai-racionaliai (pasirenka prekes ir paslaugas atsižvelgiant į laukiamus savo sprendimų pa-darinius) siekdami maksimizuoti savo naudą/ pasitenkinimą. Vėlesni tyrimai atskleidė, kad vartotojai nėra visiškai racionalūs ir/ar nuoseklūs: jie gali pirkti impulsyviai – juos pačius gali įtakoti ne tik šeima, draugai, reklaminiai dirgikliai ar vaidmenų pasiskirstymas, bet ir nuotaika/nusiteikimas, emocijos/jausmai bei situaci-ja5. Visi šie veiksniai susijungia į vientisą vartotojų elgsenos modelį, atspindintį tiek pažinimo, tiek emocinį vartotojų sprendimo priėmimo aspektus.

Šiuolaikiniai vartotojų elgsenos tyrimai nagrinėja vartotojų elgseną kaip nuolat vykstantį procesą ir atsi-žvelgia į didelę veiksnių, įtakojančių vartotoją, įvairovę bei platų vartojimo veiklų, išplečiant pirkimą iki var-tojimo sąvokos, spektrą, įtraukiant poreikių pažinimą, informacijos paiešką, alternatyvų įvertinimą, įsigijimo ketinimų konstravimą, pirkimo veiksmą, vartojimą ir vartojimo proceso užbaigimą. Vis labiau pabrėžiama, kad vartotojų elgsena – tai ne tik tam tikro įsigijimo sprendimo priėmimas, bet ir visokeriopos patirties, susi-jusios su produktų ir paslaugų naudojimu ir vartojimu, bei malonumo ir pasitenkinimo jausmo, turint ir val-dant reikiamus ar norimus vartojamuosius objektus, įgijimas6.

1.2. Vartotojų elgsenos modelių klasifikacija Vartotojų elgsenos modelis yra tiksli su prekių ir paslaugų vartojimu susijusio reiškinio, kurį jis bando

išaiškinti, kopija. Tai – forma, kuria išreiškiama vartotojų elgsenos teorija (žr. 1 pav.). Tokie modeliai gali būti pateikiami verbaline, analogų, matematine, vaizdine (grafine ar struktūrine-schemine) formomis ar jų kombinacijomis7. Paprasčiausi yra verbaliniai vartotojų elgsenos modeliai, tačiau žmonijos elgsenos sudėtin-gumas labiausiai skatina grafinės išraiškos, identifikuojant svarbius kintamuosius bei iliustruojant jų tarpusa-vio ryšius, būdą.

Rice, remdamasis Britų rinkos tyrimų organizacijos 1960 m. pateikta modelių klasifikacija, siūlo varto-tojų elgsenos modelius skirstyti pagal jų sudėtingumo lygį nuo žemo iki aukšto lygio modelių, kur žemo ly-gio modelis reiškia santykinai paprastą reiškinio reprezentavimą, tuo tarpu aukšto lygio modelis – sudėtingo, detalaus, daugybę kintamųjų įtraukiančio to paties reiškinio atvaizdavimą8. Pastarieji modeliai bando api-brėžti ir susieti visus vartotojų elgseną įtakojančius kintamuosius – šiuos modelius Rice įvardina didžiaisiais, o pirmuosius – paprastaisiais, išskirdamas tris jų kategorijas: juodosios dėžės modelius, sprendimų proceso modelius ir asmeninių kintamųjų modelius.

Juodosios dėžės modeliai neįtraukia vidinių kintamųjų. Dėmesys sutelkiamas į įvesties ir išvesties duo-menis bei informaciją, neatsižvelgiant į įsiterpiančius mentalinius procesus, galinčius sąlygoti rezultatus. Pa-prastas pirkimo proceso juodosios dėžės modelio pavyzdys galėtų būti toks: Marketingo žinutė (Įvesties duomenys) > Pirkėjas > Pirkimo elgesys (Išvesties duomenys). Juodosios dėžės modeliai pagrįsti identifi-kuojamais, stebimais ir išmatuojamais kintamaisiais, kurių skaičius yra santykinai ribotas, kas supaprastina sprendimų priėmimo procesą. Tačiau juodosios dėžės modeliai negali paaiškinti ar numatyti elgsenos dauge-lyje situacijų.

1 Solomon, M.; Bamossy, G.; Askegaard, S.; Hogg, M.K. Consumer behaviour: a European perspective, England: Pearson

Education Limited, 3rd edition, 2006. 2 Loudon, D.; Della Bitta, A.J. Consumer behavior: concepts and applications, New York: McGraw-Hill, 3rd edition, 1988. 3 Schiffman, L.G.; Kanuk, L.L.; Hansen, H. Consumer behaviour: a European Outlook, England: Pearson Education Limited,

2008. 4 Loudon, D.; Della Bitta, A.J. Consumer behavior: concepts and applications, New York: McGraw-Hill, 4th edition, 1993. 5 Schiffman, L.G.; Kanuk, L.L.; Hansen, H. Consumer behaviour: a European Outlook, England: Pearson Education Limited,

2008. 6 Schiffman, L.G.; Kanuk, L.L.; Hansen, H. Consumer behaviour: a European Outlook, England: Pearson Education Limited,

2008. 7 Runyon, K.E.; Stewart, D.W. Consumer behavior and the practice of marketing, Columbus: Merill Pub. Co., 3rd edition,

1987; Loudon, D.; Della Bitta, A.J. Consumer behavior: concepts and applications, New York: McGraw-Hill, 3rd edition, 1988. 8 Rice, C. Understanding customers, Butterworth-Heinemann: Oxford, Boston, 2nd edition, 1997.


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1 pav. Vartotojų elgsenos modelių klasifikacija

Sprendimų proceso modeliai apima atskirų etapų, kuriuos vartotojai pereina iki pasiekiant pirkimo sprendimus, aprašymą. Dauguma jų – tai klasikinio problemos-sprendimo (sprendimų priėmimo) proceso variacijos. Pavyzdys: Problemos formulavimas > Alternatyvių sprendimų generavimas > Alternatyvų įverti-nimas > Sprendimas > Įgyvendinimas > Monitoringas. Šie modeliai nėra nei itin aiškinamieji, nei prognosti-niai. Jie nėra stipriai išrutulioti ar detalūs, o jeigu tokiais taptų, būtų priskirti didiesiems, aukšto sudėtingumo lygio, modeliams.

Asmeninių kintamųjų modeliai, priešingai juodosios dėžės modeliams, neįtraukia išorinių kintamųjų, ta-čiau fokusuojasi į mentalinių sprendimų priėmimo procesus, t.y. vidinius elementus ir tokius procesus kaip suvokimas, motyvacija, įsitikinimas ir vertybės. Klasikinis šio tipo modelių pavyzdys – Fishbein modelis.

Pateiktieji modelių tipai gali persipinti vienas su kitu, to pasekoje sudarydami naują modelį. Rice tokiu būdu susintetina sprendimų proceso ir asmeninių kintamųjų modelius9.

Vartotojų elgsenos modeliai taip pat gali būti klasifikuojami atsižvelgiant į jų taikymo sritį10. Kai kurie yra sukurti atvaizduoti itin specifinius elgsenos aspektus, tarkime, pakartotinį to paties produkto (prekės ženklo) per tam tikrą laikotarpį įsigijimą. Kiti modeliai yra daugiau visapusiški, bandantys apimti didelę var-totojų elgsenos įvairovę. Pastarieji savo pobūdžiu yra mažiau detalūs ir dėl to galintys atvaizduoti daugelį skirtingų situacijų.

Pagal naudojimo paskirtį yra išskiriami du modelių tipai: asistuojantys konstruojant teoriją, orientuojan-čią vartotojų elgsenos tyrimus, bei palengvinantys mokymąsi apie tai, kas apie vartotojų elgseną jau yra ži-noma11. Abejais atvejais modelis veikia kaip sisteminio ir loginio mąstymo apie vartotojus struktūra.

Mokslinėje literatūroje įprasta vartotojų elgsenos modelius skirstyti laiko ar istorinės perspektyvos po-žiūriu į tradicinius ir šiuolaikinius modelius: tradiciniams priskiriami grynai ekonominiai (mikro ir makro) modeliai, kurie yra sukurti siekiant suprasti ekonomines sistemas, tuo tarpu šiuolaikiniais siekiama suprasti pačių vartotojų elgseną12. Šiuo požiūriu ir pačius vartotojų elgsenos suvokimo modelius galima būtų skirstyti į tradicinius, paremtus pirmųjų teorinių pastangų modeliuojant vartotojų elgseną rezultatais, ir patobulintuo-sius, suformuotus kritinių vertinimų pirmiesiems pagalba.

9 Rice, C. Consumer behaviour: behavioural aspects of marketing, Heinemann: Oxford, Boston, 1993. 10 Loudon, D.; Della Bitta, A.J. Consumer behavior: concepts and applications, New York: McGraw-Hill, 3rd edition, 1988. 11 Loudon, D.; Della Bitta, A.J. Consumer behavior: concepts and applications, New York: McGraw-Hill, 3rd edition, 1988. 12 Loudon, D.; Della Bitta, A.J. Consumer behavior: concepts and applications, New York: McGraw-Hill, 3rd edition, 1988.

Vartotojų elgsenos modelių klasifikavimo galimybės pagal išskirtuosius kriterijus

Taikymo sritis

Sudėtingu-mo lygis

Naudojimo paskirtis

Forma Laiko pers-pektyva

Verbaliniai

Analoginiai

Matematiniai

Kombi-nuotieji

Vaizdiniai / grafiniai / struktū-riniai-

scheminiai

Paprastieji / žemo lygio

Didieji / aukšto lygio

Juodosios dėžės modeliai

Specifiniai

Universalūs

Asistuo-jantys

konstruo-jant teoriją

Palengvi-nantys mo-

kymąsi

Sprendimų proceso modeliai

Asmeninių kintamųjų modeliai

Kombinuotieji modeliai

Tradiciniai

Šiuolaikiniai

Ekonominiai

Mikro

Makro

Tradiciniai Patobulintieji


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1.3. Vartotojų elgsenos teorijų įvertinimo kriterijai Vartotojų elgsenos mokslas pateikia daugybę šios srities teorijų, deja, naudotojams, tarp jų ir marketingo

profesionalams bei specialistams, ne visos jos yra naudingos. Netgi tos, kurios galėtų būti vadinamos nau-dingomis, negali būti taikomos visoms be išimties situacijoms.

Vartotojų elgsenos teorijų naudingumo bei pritaikymo įvertinimui palengvinti 1971 m. Mittelstædt pasi-ūlė „geros“ teorijos standartus, paremtus tam tikrais esminiais kriterijais13. Visų pirma, teigiama, kad teorija turi įtraukti žinomus dėsningumus, kurių vartotojų elgsenoje yra daugybė; tarkime, šeimos pirkimo įpročiai vyksta tam tikra struktūrizuojama forma; patogumas, kaina ir kokybė perkant yra įprasti, kasdieniai dalykai; sociometriniai pirkimo bruožai dažnai yra pastebimi ir nuspėjami. Antra, teorija turi gebėti pasiūlyti naujus stebėtinus dėsningumus, t.y. nustatyti ir numatyti kitas elgsenos, besitęsiančios už esamų stebėjimų ribų, formas. Vadinasi, teorija turi turėti tam tikrą abstrakcijos lygį, kuris leistų atrasti naujus elgsenos dėsningu-mus, kurie negali tiesiogiai išplaukti iš anksčiau sukauptų faktų, o taip pat teorijoje neturi būti neapibrėžtų ar laisvai kintančių kintamųjų, kurių efekto ta teorija neapima. Trečia, hipotezių testavimui reikalinga, kad teo-rija turėtų operacinius apibrėžimus. Pagrindinė teorijos vertė yra jos naudingumas, pasireiškiantis aprašant, išaiškinant ir nuspėjant vartotojų elgseną. Teorijos naudingumas gali būti nustatytas kuriant ir empiriškai testuojant hipotezes. Teorinės koncepcijos (pvz., požiūris) paverčiamos hipotezėmis operacinių apibrėžimų (mechanizmų, matuojančių ar stebimais terminais išreiškiančių teorines koncepcijas) pagalba. Operacinių apibrėžimų nebuvimas yra didžiausias trūkumas daugumoje egzistuojančių vartotojų elgsenos modelių. Ket-virta, teorija, siekiant jos vidinio nuoseklumo (įžvalgos, įtikimumo bei tikslumo, kurį galima eksperimentiš-kai patvirtinti), turi daugiau remtis atskiru unifikuotu požiūriu negu eklektiniais skoliniais. Paskutinis kriteri-jus – nurodoma, kad pasiskolintos teorijos turi būti kilusios iš vienos elgsenos mokslų krypties.

Sekdami Mittelstædt vartotojų elgsenos teorijų įvertinimo kriterijais, Zaltman, Pinson ir Angelmar14 iš-skyrė devynias „geros“ teorijos operaciniame lygyje savybes ( 1 lentelė).

1 lentelė. „Geros“ teorijos operaciniame lygyje savybės pagal Zaltman, Pinson ir Angelmar15

Savybė Savybės paaiškinimas

Vidinis nuoseklumas Neturi loginių prieštaravimų Stiprumas Kyla iš kitų teorijų Reprezentatyvumas Nagrinėja gilius mechanizmus Empirinis aiškinamumas Yra operacionalizuojama Atkuriamumas Atkuriama susiduriant su realybe Patvirtinimas Derinasi su faktais Originalumas Padidina žinias iškeliant naujus teiginius Unifikavimo galia Sujungia anksčiau nesusietus dalykus Euristinė galia Siūlo naujas kryptis tyrimams

Abu teorijų įvertinimo kriterijų rinkiniai tvirtina, kad tik pakankamai išvystyta operacinė teorija, kurią

galimą testuoti ir išgauti specifines prognozes, yra ypatingai vertinama aukšto lygio teorija, teikianti tiek mokslinę, tiek praktinę naudą. Būtent tokia teorija, vykdanti aprašymo, išaiškinimo, prognozavimo ir kontro-lės funkcijas, visiškai atitinka aukščiausius teorijoms taikomus reikalavimus.

1.4. Bendrieji vartotojų elgsenos modeliai ir jų įvertinimas Analizuojant mokslinę marketingo literatūrą galima išskirti keliolikos autorių pasiekimus, siekiant su-

formuoti vartotojų elgseną atspindintį modelį. Egzistuojantys bendrieji vartotojų elgsenos modeliai atsklei-džia pagrindines jų sudarymo koncepcijas, prielaidas, funkcines sritis, testavimo ir išmatuojamumo galimy-bes bei naudojimo mąstą.

Vartotojų elgsenos modeliai integruoja esminę literatūrą, pateikdami išplėstinio mąstymo apie vartotojus ir jų elgseną įtakojančius veiksnius struktūrą. Jie padeda identifikuoti reikšmingus ryšius ir kintamuosius to-limesniems gilesniems tyrimams atlikti, tačiau tuo pačiu yra apribojamas tyrimų mastas; dėmesio sutelkimas

13 Runyon, K.E.; Stewart, D.W. Consumer behavior and the practice of marketing, Columbus: Merill Pub. Co., 3rd edition, 1987.

14 Zaltman, G.; Pinson, C.R.A.; Angelmar, R. Metatheory and consumer research, New York: Holt, Reinhart and Winston, 1973.



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tik į atitinkamo modelio veiksnius ir ryšius neleidžia identifikuoti naujų elgseną įtakojančių ryšių bei veiks-nių. Kai kuriais atvejais šie modeliai vartotojų elgseną vaizduoja pernelyg kompleksiškai – didelė vartotojų elgsenos dalis yra automatizuota ir pagrįsta rutina, taigi dauguma visaapimančio modelio veiksnių yra nerei-kalingi. Didžiąja dalimi vartotojų elgsenos modeliai yra primityvūs ir neefektyvūs žmogaus elgsenos numa-tymo požiūriu. Dažnai jie pateikiami struktūrinių schemų pavidalu, numatytų pavaizduoti įvairius elgseną įtakojančius veiksnius, deja, nepateikiant tinkamo metodo santykinei kintamųjų svarbai įvertinti16. Tai bū-dinga daugeliui pažinimo teorijų (tarp jų vadinamiesiems analitiniams modeliams), kurios yra didžiąja dalimi paremtos abstrakčių ir nematomų aiškinančiųjų kintamųjų naudojimu, o patys kintamieji retai įrodo esą pa-klūstantys empiriniam nagrinėjimui ir įvertinimui17. Dėl nematomos daugumos kintamųjų prigimties yra sunku nustatyti, ar šie modeliai tiksliai reprezentuoja elgseną ir ar jie turi prognostinę vertę18. Šios priežastys leidžia teigti, kad vartotojų elgsenos modeliai turi pakankamai ribotą praktinę vertę. Vien apibrėžimas „di-dieji vartotojų elgsenos modeliai“ reikalauja universalaus sprendimų proceso apibendrinimo, o tai neleidžia įtraukti plačios sprendimų priėmimo situacijų, produkto kategorijų ir rezultatų įvairovės, o be to, gali nu-kreipti tyrimus tam tikrų sričių link19.

Nė vienas iš egzistuojančių vartotojų elgsenos modelių neatitinka nei Mittelstaedt, nei Zaltman, Pinson ir Angelmar pasiūlytų „geros“ teorijos standartų. Taip yra ne dėl to, kad kriterijai yra per griežti, o dėl to, kad tai yra „protingo ir mąstančio žmogaus kriterijai“20.

Nepaisant trūkumų, egzistuojantys vartotojų elgsenos modeliai turi tam tikrą vertę21: versdami teoretikus išskirti svarbius elgsenos teorijos elementus, skatina sisteminį mąstymą; aiškindami tarpusavio ryšį tarp kin-tamųjų bei siūlydami pirminius elgsenos reiškinių išaiškinimus, sudaro pamatus elgsenos reiškinių suvoki-mui bei tyrimų atlikimui; suformuoja pagrindą iš modelių kilusioms hipotezėms testuoti bei naujoms išva-doms inkorporuoti į vieną sistemą; kartais įgalina elgsenos imitavimą, kurios metu gali būti stebimi modelio efektai esant skirtingoms prielaidoms.

Įvairūs autoriai vartotojų elgsenos modelius formavo išaiškindami asmenų elgseną bendru atžvilgiu, t.y. neatsižvelgiant į vartojamąjį objekto pobūdį, tarsi modeliai tiktų tiek produktų (tiksliau prekių), tiek paslaugų vartojimo atžvilgiu. Akivaizdu, kad bendrieji vartotojų elgsenos modeliai didžiąja dalimi atspindi produktų vartojimo elgsenos ypatumus.

2. Specifinių paslaugų vartotojų elgsenos modeliavimas 2.1. Nuo bendrųjų vartotojų elgsenos modelių iki paslaugų ir finansinių paslaugų vartotojų elgsenos modelių Marketingo teoretikai daug dėmesio skiria pažinimo teorijų, pagrįstų tradiciniais ir šiuolaikiniais varto-

tojų elgsenos modeliais, nagrinėjimui. Studijuojant mokslinę literatūrą, gvildenančią vartotojų elgsenos spe-cifiką, išryškėja kryptingų pastangų, siekiant susisteminti vartotojų elgseną apspindintį produktų ir paslaugų vartojimo procesą, jo stadijas, veiksnius bei įtakas, rezultatai. Bandymai parengti vieningą vartotojų elgsenos modelį prasidėjo nuo pat vartotojų elgsenos, kaip atskiro mokslo, atsiradimo ir, siekiant geriau suprasti varto-toją, tęsiasi jau ne tiek kuriant, kiek analizuojant, iki šiol tobulinant, integruojant, pritaikant bei panaudojant esančius modelius bei teorijas. Vertinant pasauliniu mastu, sėkmingai veikiančių įmonių pavyzdžiai rodo įmonių gebėjimą analitinius metodus integruoti su strateginių sprendimų priėmimu22.

Mokslinė literatūra pateikia tokius bendruosius vartotojų elgsenos modelius, pasiūlytuosius, tarp pirmų-jų, tokių autorių kaip Engel, Kollat ir Blackwell (1968)23, Howard ir Sheth (1969)24, bei Fishbein ir Ajzen

16 Runyon, K.E.; Stewart, D.W. Consumer behavior and the practice of marketing, Columbus: Merill Pub. Co., 3rd edition,

1987. 17 Foxall, G.R. Consumer psychology in behavioural perspective, London: Routledge, 1990; Loudon, D.; Della Bitta, A.J. Con-

sumer behavior: concepts and applications, New York: McGraw-Hill, 3rd edition, 1988. 18 Erasmus, A.C.; Boshoff, E.; Rousseau, G.G. Consumer decision-making models within the discipline of consumer science: a

critical approach. Journal of Family Ecology and Consumer Sciences. 2001, 29: 82-90. 19 Burns, A.C.; Gentry, J.W. Toward improving household consumption behavior research: avoidance of pitfalls in using alter-

native household data collection procedures. In: M.E. Goldberg, G. Gorn ir R.W. Pollay (eds.) Advances in Consumer Research. Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research, 1990, 17: 518-523.



22 Kučinskienė, M.; Jatuliavičienė, G. Integrating analytical techniques with business strategic decision-making. Ekonomika 2004, 66: 19-29.

23 Engel, J.F.; Kollat, D.T.; Blackwell, R.D. Consumer Behavior. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1968.


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(1975 ir 1980)25, kurių pagrindinė koncepcija yra orientavimasis į sąmoningą, pakankamai racionalų ir detalų vartotojų sprendimų priėmimą, pabrėžiant begalinius vartotojų suvokimo ir mokymosi gebėjimus, jų požiūrio vystimąsi ir galimus veiksmus daugybės alternatyvių pasirinkimų link. Dalis šių modelių elementų yra pasi-skolinti iš psichologijos mokslo. Nors pradiniai vartotojų elgsenos modeliai yra pateikiami kaip sudėtinės struktūros su sudėtingais tarpusavio ryšiais tarp įvairių identifikuotų ir integruotų veiksnių, jie yra greičiau aprašomieji, taigi ir tam tikra prasme ribotos prigimties, kadangi nėra aiškiai arba nėra visiškai apibrėžti jų operaciniai mechanizmai; taigi jų matavimo ir testavimo galimybės, taip pat empirinis pritaikymas bei prog-nozuojamoji vertė kelia daug klausimų26. Nepaisant to, pirmieji vartotojų elgsenos modeliai pateikia giliai vertingas įžvalgas siekiant suvokti ir paaiškinti asmenų elgseną žvelgiant iš jų kaip vartotojų pozicijų, pertei-kiant pirkimo sprendimų, su kuriais vartotojai susiduria kasdieniniame gyvenime, kompleksiškumą. Pirmųjų modelių kūrėjų indėlis įkvėpė mokslininkus tęsti ir gilinti tyrimus vartotojų elgsenos modeliavimo srityje, peržiūrėti bei tobulinti esamus modelius. Vertinant vartotojų elgsenos modelių konstravimą konceptualiame lygmenyje, paminėtini šiuolaikiniai mokslininkai, prisidėję prie šios srities edukaciniais ir moksliniais įna-šais; tarp pastarųjų išskirtini Rice (1993)27, Foxall (2003)28 ir Solomon (2006)29

Be bendrųjų vartotojų elgsenos modelių, taip pat egzistuoja labiau specializuoti modeliai, skirti skirtin-goms produktų plačiąja prasme kategorijoms. Visų pirma, pažymėtini modeliai, susiję su paslaugomis. Pir-muosiuose paslaugų vartotojų elgsenos modeliuose (Grönroos, 198430; Bolton ir Drew, 199131; Oliver, 199332) autorių dėmesys yra nukreiptas į techninės ir funkcinės paslaugų kokybės suvokimą ir analizę, taip pat paslaugų vertę, vertinant paslaugas iš vartotojo perspektyvos. Vėlesniuose modeliuose įtraukiama pa-slaugų teikėjo pakeitimo galimybė bei modeliuojamas vartotojo pasitenkinimas paslaugų teikėju (Keaveney, 199533; Bansal ir Taylor, 199934; Kugytė ir Šliburytė, 2005a35 ir 2005b36). Nors ir paslaugų vartotojų elgsenai modeliuoti yra sukauptas reikšmingas mokslinis pagrindas, akademinėje literatūroje išreiškiama „būtinybė rengti kūrybiškesnius paslaugų kokybės modelius gerai išvystyto kokybinio tyrimo pagrindu“, formuojant bei atspindint konceptualių modelių matavimo, testavimo bei pritaikymo praktiniame lygmenyje galimybes; be to, taip pat reikalinga rengti atskiriems sektoriams būdingus paslaugų kokybės modelius37.

Pastebėtina, kad paslaugų teoretikų mokslinės studijos yra kryptingai nukreiptos į tam tikrų specifinių paslaugų vartotojų elgsenos aspektų (pvz., paslaugų kokybės) modeliavimą; tačiau universalaus modelio, kuris integruotų ir tuo pačiu metu detalizuotų šiuos aspektus, galimybės nėra svarstomos.

Mokslinė literatūra taip pat pateikia tam tikru mastu specifinius paslaugų sektoriaus vartotojų elgsenos modelius. Modeliuojant finansinių paslaugų vartotojų elgseną, gali būti naudojamas Meidan pasiūlytas kon-ceptualus vartotojų sprendimų priėmimo proceso struktūros modelis38, kylantis iš bendrųjų vartotojų elgse-nos modelių; šis modelis atspindi vartotojų pirkimo proceso etapus (t.y. pažinimo balansą, pažinimo disba-lansą, suvokimą, informacijos paiešką, žinias, vertinimo elgseną, preferencijas, sprendimą ir sprendimą po pirkimo), esant vidinių (t.y. sociologinių ir asmeninių) ir išorinių (t.y. kultūrinių ir socialinių) veiksnių įtakai.

24 Howard, J.A.; Sheth, J.N. The Theory of Buyer Behavior. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1969. 25 Fishbein, M.; Ajzen, I. Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research. Reading, MA:

Addison-Wesley, 1975; Fishbein, M.; Ajzen, I. Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behavior. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1980.

26 Erasmus, A.C.; Boshoff, E.; Rousseau, G.G. Consumer decision-making models within the discipline of consumer science: a critical approach. Journal of Family Ecology and Consumer Sciences. 2001, 29: 82-90.

27 Rice, C. Consumer behaviour: behavioural aspects of marketing, Heinemann: Oxford, Boston, 1993. 28 Foxall, G.R. Consumer decision making: process, level and style. In: M.J. Baker (ed.) The Marketing Book. Oxford:

Butterworth-Heinemann, 2003, pp. 119-141. 29 Solomon, M.; Bamossy, G.; Askegaard, S.; Hogg, M.K. Consumer behaviour: a European perspective, England: Pearson

Education Limited, 3rd edition, 2006. 30 Grönroos, C. A service quality model and its marketing implications. European Journal of Marketing. 1984, 18(4): 36-44. 31 Bolton, R.N.; Drew, J.H. A multistage model of customers’ assessments of service quality and value. The Journal of Con-

sumer Research. 1991, 17(4): 375-384. 32 Oliver, R.L. A conceptual model of service quality and service satisfaction: compatible goals, different concepts. Advances in

Services Marketing and Management. 1993, 2: 65-85. 33 Keaveney, S.M. Customer switching behavior in service industries: an exploratory study. The Journal of Marketing. 1995,

59(2): 71-82. 34 Bansal, H.S.; Taylor, S.F. The service provider switching model (SPSM): a model of consumer switching behaviour in the

services industry. Journal of Service Research. 1999, 2(2): 200-218. 35 Kugytė, R.; Šliburytė, L. A methodological approach to service provider selection criteria. Organizacijų vadyba: sisteminiai

tyrimai. 2005, 36: 91-102. 36 Kugytė, R.; Šliburytė, L. A standardized model of service provider selection criteria for different service types: a consumer-

oriented approach. Engineering economics. 2005, 3(43): 56-63. 37 Martínez, J.A.; Martínez, L. Some insights on conceptualizing and measuring service quality. Journal of Retailing and Con-

sumer Services. 2010, 17: 29-42. 38 Meidan, A. Marketing Financial Services. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire and London: MacMillan Press, 1996.


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Beckett et al finansinių paslaugų vartotojų elgseną modeliuoja matricos pavidalu39, kurią sudaro tokios di-mensijos kaip vartotojų pasitenkinimas ar netikrumas, įsitraukimas ir elektroninis kanalas, iš ko susiformuoja keletas pirkimo ar sutarties alternatyvų: paslaugos įsigijimo nebuvimas, pakartotinis pasyvus pirkimas, ra-cionalus aktyvus pirkimas ir nuo santykių priklausantis pirkimas. Black et al pateikia konceptualias įžvalgas, siekiant suprasti, kaip vartotojai pasirenka finansinių paslaugų paskirstymo kanalus, būtent kodėl panašiems finansiniams produktams įsigyti vartotojai naudoja skirtingus kanalus40. Vertinant iš ilgalaikės perspektyvos, šie klausimai iš esmės yra pagrįsti ne vien akademiniais interesais, bet taip pat yra ypatingai svarbūs prakti-niu požiūriu, koncepcijas ir metodus pritaikant specifinėms situacijoms strateginės pozicijos vertinime bei strateginių sprendimų priėmime stipriam konkurenciniam pranašumui pasiekti41.

Pateiktųjų finansinių paslaugų vartotojų elgsenos modelių pavyzdžiai rodo pagrindines tyrimų kryptis srityje, kurios viena pagrindinių sudedamųjų dalių yra draudimo paslaugų sektorius. Galima tvirtinti, kad potencialiai vis dar egzistuoja finansinių paslaugų vartotojų elgsenos modeliavimo galimybės tiek finansinio sektoriaus mastu, tiek specifiniame finansinių paslaugų lygmenyje ar bent jau draudimo paslaugų vartotojų elgsenos modeliavimo srityje.

2.2. Mokslinės pastangos modeliuoti draudimo paslaugų vartotojų elgseną Nors įvairūs su draudimo paslaugų vartojimu susiję klausimai pasaulyje studijuojami jau nuo XX a. vi-

durio, draudimo paslaugų vartotojų elgsenai, kaip konkrečiai apibrėžtam studijų objektui, literatūroje skiria-mas ribotas dėmesys. Daugelio autorių studijos bei atlikti tyrimai su šiuo studijų objektu susijusius klausimus paliečia fragmentiškai. Pilnai parengtų darbų (ne fragmentinių), kurie modeliuotų draudimo paslaugų varto-tojų elgseną šių paslaugų vartotojų sprendimų priėmimo subtilybėms išaiškinti bei kurie tokiu būdu atskleistų draudimo paslaugų įsigijimo ir vartojimo probleminius aspektus bei dalykus, mokslinėje literatūroje neaptik-ta. Turimomis žiniomis, publikacijų, skirtų konsoliduotų modelių draudimo paslaugų įsigijimo sprendimų priėmimui atvaizduoti ir/ar paaiškinti, taip pat nėra parengta ar bent jau išleista. Be to, pabrėžtina ir tai, kad dalis egzistuojančių draudimo paslaugų vartotojų elgsenos studijų remiasi autorių, studijuojančių vartotojų elgseną arba apskritai visoje paslaugų rinkoje, arba finansinių paslaugų rinkoje. Atsižvelgiant į minėtuosius aspektus, formuojasi nuomonė, kad egzistuoja išsamių draudimo paslaugų vartotojų elgsenos studijų teoriniu ir metodologiniu atžvilgiu trūkumas.

Draudimo paslaugų vartotojų elgsenos mokslo srityje galima išskirti šešis fragmentinius atliktų tyrimų aspektus, įvardinant atitinkamas sritis nagrinėjančius mokslininkus ( 2 lentelė). Tarp autorių, labiau kryptin-gai studijuojančių su šių paslaugų vartotojų elgsena susijusius klausimus, labiausiai pažymėtini šie: Gidha-gen, Kindurys, Meidan42. Kitų autorių, pateikiančių savo mokslinę produkciją draudimo tematika, darbuose atsispindi fragmentinis, tačiau ne esminis dėmesys draudėjų elgsenai, būtent draudimo paslaugų vartotojų sprendimų priėmimo bei šių paslaugų vartojimo subtilybių klausimams gvildenti bei problematikai atskleisti.

Studijuojant specifiškai draudimo paslaugų vartotojų elgseną bei siekiant suformuoti teorinį draudimo paslaugų vartotojų elgsenos modelį, reikšmingai tarnauja mokslininkų, nagrinėjančių vartotojų elgsenos klausimus bendru pobūdžiu, atliktos studijos bei teorinių ir praktinių tyrimų pagrindu sukonstruoti vartotojų elgsenos modeliai (Andreasen, Nicosia, Engel, Kollat, Blackwell, Miniard, Howard, Sheth, Fishbein, Ajzen, Bettman, Loudon, Della Bitta, Schiffman, Kanuk, Hansen, Solomon, Bamossy, Askergaard, Hogg, Rice, Mowen, Berkowich, Keegan, Stankevičienė), tarp kurių ypatingą vaidmenį atlieka paslaugų autorių indėlis tiriant paslaugų vartotojų elgseną (Grönroos, Bolton, Drew, Oliver, Bitner, Zeithaml, Parasuraman, Berry, Keaveney, Bansal, Taylor, Kugytė, Šliburytė) bei mokslininkų, savo tyrimais besispecializuojančių finansi-nių paslaugų, t.y. jų vartojimo analizės srityje, darbai (Meidan, Beckett, Hewer, Howcroft, Black, Lockett, Ennew, Winklhofter, McKechnie).

39 Beckett, A.; Hewer, P.; Howcroft, B. An exposition of consumer behaviour in the financial services industry. Interantional

Journal of Bank Marketing. 2000, 18(1): 15-26. 40 Black, N.J.; Lockett, A.; Ennew, C.; Winklhofter, H.; McKechnie, S. Modelling consumer choice of distribution channels: an

illustration from financial services. International Journal of Bank Marketing. 2002, 20(4): 161-173. 41 Kučinskienė, M.; Jatuliavičienė, G. Integrating analytical techniques with business strategic decision-making. Ekonomika

2004, 66: 19-29. 42 Gidhagen, M. Insurance marketing – services and relationships. Working paper, 4. Uppsala: Uppsala university, 1998; Kin-

durys, V. Teoriniai draudėjų elgsenos tyrimo aspektai ir jos apraiškos Lietuvos gyvybės draudimo paslaugų rinkoje. Ekonomika. 2008, 81: 52-73; Meidan, A. Marketing Financial Services. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire and London: MacMillan Press, 1996.


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2 lentelė. Pagrindiniai tyrimo aspektai ir juos nagrinėjantys mokslininkai draudimo paslaugų vartotojų elgsenos studijų srityje

Tyrimo aspektai Mokslininkai (pateikti abėcėlės tvarka)

Vartotojų sąlytis su rizika ir netikrumu bei tikimybių suvokimas, nagrinėti daugiausia iš matematinės ir psichologinės perspektyvų, kas nutiesė kelią draudimo paslaugų vartotojų elgsenos ypatumams nagrinėti.

Tyrėjai-pradininkai, atlikę specifiškai su rizika susiju-sius psichologinius eksperimentus: Baratta, Bernoulli, Greene, Kogan, Minas, Nogee, Preston, Ratoosh, Sco-del, Suppes, Torrance, Ziller, Wallach, Walsh. Tyrėjai, besigilinantys į vartotojų sprendimų priėmimo rizikos atžvilgiu aspektus: Anderson, Fischhoff, Grif-fin, Schwartz, Shafir, Shanteau, Slovic, Kahneman, Kunreuther, Lichtenstein, Tversky.

Draudimo paslaugų specifika ir sudėtingumas vartoto-jo požiūriu.

Gidhagen, Kindurys, Meidan.

Draudimo paslaugų vartotojų elgsena priklausomai nuo jų požiūrio į riziką bei polinkio ją prisiimti.

Baker, Chiaporri, Cutler, De Meza, Finkelstein, Hemenway, Jullien, Lastauskas, Lezgovko, McGarry, Poterba, Salanie, Webb, Zeckhauser.

Teritoriniai draudimo paslaugų paklausos netolygu-mai.

Browne, Chui, Deng, Greenford, Hwang, Liu, Kim, Kwok, Outreville, Zheng, Zietz.

Draudimo paslaugų vartojimo skatinimui palankios aplinkos ir sąlygų kūrimas, įskaitant mikrodraudimo įgyvendinimo klausimus.

Hamid, Mosley, Roberts.

Vartotojų sukčiavimas draudime ir jo kontrolė: apga-vysčių išaiškinimo ir prevencijos problemos.

Baltuonis, Brinkmann, Derrig, Lezgovko, Tennyson, Veremij.

Siekiant atlikti draudimo paslaugų vartotojų elgsenos kaip specifinių paslaugų vartotojų elgsenos tyri-

mus, būtina pagrįstai atrinkti ir sistemingai į vieną visumą sukomponuoti draudimo paslaugų elgsenos sudė-tingumą pagrindžiančius elementus (teorinių ir praktinių draudimo tyrimų pagrindu), kurie, vertinant iš drau-dėjų elgsenos studijų pozicijų, mokslinėje draudimo literatūroje pateikiami atskirais fragmentais, o taip pat suderinti bei pateikti juos per bendrųjų vartotojų elgsenos modelių, išskiriant paslaugų bei specifiškai finan-sinių paslaugų vartotojų elgsenos ypatumus, prizmę, ko pasekoje būtų įvertinti šias sritis studijavusių moks-lininkų pasiekimai, o šioje srityje sukaupta mokslinė patirtis ir rezultatai pritaikyti specifiškai draudėjų elg-senai suvokti ir ją modeliuoti.

Vienas iš galimų būdų suvokti draudėjų elgseną yra parengti teorinį draudimo paslaugų vartotojų elgse-nos tyrimo modelį, kuriame atsispindėtų vartotojų sprendimų priėmimo įsigyjant tam tikrą draudimo paslau-gą elgsenos etapai, juos formuojantys ir įtakojantys veiksniai bei būtų nurodomi šių veiksnių tarpusavio ry-šiai, identifikuojant bei išaiškinant pagrindinius draudimo paslaugų vartojimo elgsenos ypatumus bei modelį pritaikant empirinei tam tikro geografinio vieneto (šalies, regiono) draudimo elgsenos analizės atlikimui ir šios elgsenos prognozavimui. Teorinio ir empirinio darbo rezultatams gauti turėtų būti naudojama įvairių metodų visuma, tarp jų sisteminė mokslinės literatūros apžvalga bei analizė, mokslinis modeliavimas, agen-tinis modeliavimas, simuliacijų metodai, viešų ir vidinių statistinių bei apklausos duomenų analizė ir verti-nimas (grupavimas, lyginimas, detalizavimas, apibendrinimas, grafinis modeliavimas). Draudėjų elgsenos pažinimas leistų identifikuoti būdus savanoriško draudimo apsauga pagrįstai šalies vartotojų elgsenai for-muoti (ar keisti ją, skatinant am tikrų draudimo paslaugų ar apskritai draudimo vartojimą).

Nustatyti ir tenkinti vartotojų poreikius bei lūkesčius, neištyrus draudėjų elgsenos draudimo paslaugų rinkoje, yra sunku ir sudėtinga. Draudėjų elgsenos tyrimų praktinį atlikimą riboja teorinės draudėjų elgsenos koncepcijos bei teorinių-metodologinių draudėjų elgsenos tyrimo pamatų trūkumas, kurių formavimui būtina sutelkti mokslininkų dėmesį. Egzistuoja poreikis išgryninti draudėjų elgsenos koncepciją, ištirti draudėjų elg-senos draudėjams įsigyjant bei vartojant draudimo paslaugų produktus ypatumus, išanalizuoti draudėjų elg-senos skirtumus, identifikuoti draudėjų elgsenos tendencijas bei įvertinti draudėjų elgsenos pokyčių galimy-bes. Teorinių apibendrinimų būtinumas verčia analizuoti, vertinti bei sisteminti draudėjų elgsenos ypatumus formuojant teorinę draudėjų elgsenos koncepciją, kurios kompleksiškumo suvokimas bei praktinis taikymas leistų atskleisti tai, kokie būdai ir veiksmai skatintų vartotojų suinteresuotumą draudimo paslaugomis bei įtrauktų juos į šių paslaugų vartojimą.


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Išvados Mokslinės literatūros studijos rodo, kad vartotojų elgsena, kurią apibūdina vartotojų psichologiniai sam-

protavimai bei fizinė veikla, susijusi su tam tikrų sprendimų įsigyjant ir vartojant produktus ar paslaugas pri-ėmimu, gali būti ne tik ekonomiškai-racionali, apgalvota, bet ir iracionali, neturinti nuoseklumo, impulsyvi, neapibrėžta, dėl to siekiant išaiškinti su produktų ir paslaugų įsigijimu bei vartojimu susijusį reiškinį, for-muojami teoriniai-metodologiniai vartotojų elgsenos modeliai.

Atlikta sisteminė mokslinės literatūros analizė leido identifikuoti vartotojų elgsenos modelių klasifika-vimo galimybes: išsiaiškinta, kad egzistuojantys vartotojų elgsenos modeliai vienas nuo kito skiriasi forma, sudėtingumo lygiu, taikymo sritimi, naudojimo paskirtimi bei laiko atžvilgiu. Labiausiai išvystytas vartotojų elgsenos modelių tipas – tai aukšto lygio modeliai: juodosios dėžės, sprendimų proceso ir asmeninių kinta-mųjų modeliai bei jų junginiai.

Idealiam vartotojų elgsenos modeliui mokslinėje literatūroje keliami reiškinio išaiškinimo, prognozavi-mo bei testavimo (kontrolės) galimybės reikalavimai. Faktinių mokslinių pastangų rezultatas – susistemintas produktų ir paslaugų vartojimo procesas, jo stadijos, veiksniai bei įtakos. Sukurtieji modeliai dėl veiksnių bei įtakų gausos yra išplėstiniai, kompleksiški, tačiau nėra išvystyti vartotojų elgsenos numatymo požiūriu, jie nenumatyto kintamųjų įtakos matavimo būdų bei nėra tinkami empiriniam taikymui.

Vertinant vartojamojo objekto atžvilgiu bendrieji vartotojų elgsenos modeliai atspindi asmenų produktų vartojimo elgsenos ypatumus. Egzistuojantys specializuotieji pagal skirtingų produktų plačiąja prasme kate-gorijas modeliai apima paslaugų bendrąja prasme vartotojų elgsenos modelius, kuriuose pagrindinis dėmesys skiriamas paslaugų kokybės bei vertės suvokimui bei analizei. Pastarųjų modelių tarpe išskiriami specifiniai paslaugų sektoriaus vartotojų elgsenos modeliai, tarp jų ir modeliuojantieji finansinės vartotojų elgsenos sprendimų priėmimo procesus bei akcentuojantys vartotojų pasirinkimo alternatyvų galimybes.

Bendrojo pobūdžio vartotojų elgsenos studijų aspektai taikomi draudėjų elgsenos ypatumams atskleisti. Literatūros analizė rodo fragmentinį draudimo paslaugų vartotojų elgsenos ištirtumo lygį: pagrindiniai tyri-mų objektai – vartotojų sąlytis su rizika ir netikrumu, paslaugų ypatumai, paklausa paslaugoms, draudimo skatinimo poreikis bei vartotojų sukčiavimas.

Kuriant pagal vartojamąjį objektą specializuotus vartotojų elgsenos modelius, būtina defragmentuoti bei išgryninti šių modelių teorinį-metodologinį-taikomąjį pagrindą, sutelkiant dėmesį į vartotojų sprendimų pri-ėmimo subtilybes bei analizuojamo objekto įsigijimo ir vartojimo aspektų identifikavimą bei išaiškinimą.

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THE EVOLUTION OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR MODELS: FROM GENERAL MODELS TO INSURANCE CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR MODELLING EFFORTS

Aurelija Ulbinaitė

Summary

The goal of this paper is to analyse the evolution of consumer behaviour models from general models to scientific

efforts of modelling insurance service consumer behaviour. The paper focuses on general and specialised consumer behaviour models. Method: systematic review and analysis of scientific literature.

Reviewing the scientific literature shows that consumer behaviour, which is defined as psychological considera-tions and physical activities of consumers and which includes decision making when acquiring and consuming products and services, can be not only economically-rational and deliberated, but also irrational, inconsistent, impulsive, and undefined. Therefore, in order to explain the phenomena related with the acquisition and consumption of products and services, theoretical-methodological consumer behaviour models have been proposed.

The conducted systematic analysis of the literature has enabled us to identify classification possibilities of consu-mer behaviour models: it has been elucidated that the existing consumer behaviour models differ from each other in their form, complexity level, scope, application nature, and time (historical) concern. The most developed consumer behaviour models are of the high-level type, i.e., black box models, models of decision process and of private variables, and combinations thereof.

The scientific literature states that an ideal consumer behaviour model requires features such as explanation, fore-casting, and testing (checking) of phenomena. The result of the factual scientific efforts is systematised models of pro-cess of consumption of products and services, their stages, factors, and impacts. Because of a great number of factors and impacts, the created models are extensive and complex, however, are not developed from the consumer behaviour prediction point of view, i.e., they do not define methods to measure the impact of variables and are typically not suitab-le for empirical application.

Looking at a consumable object, general consumer behaviour models reflect human behaviour particularities of consumption of the object as a product. On the other hand, other existing models, specialised according to different ca-tegories of products in the broad sense, involve consumer behaviour models of the object as a service, i.e., of services in general, where the main attention is focused on the understanding and analysis of service quality and value. Among the latter models, specific service consumer behaviour models within the service sector itself can be distinguished; there exist, among others, frameworks specifically modelling decision making processes of financial consumer behaviour and outlining alternative possibilities of consumer choice.


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General aspects of consumer behaviour studies are applied, among others, to unfold behaviour particularities of in-sureds. The literature analysis shows the fragmented nature of insurance service consumer behaviour studies: the main research objects are the relations between consumer and risk and uncertainty, particularities of the services, demand for the services, stimulation of the need for insurance, and consumer fraud.

The conclusion of this paper is that when creating consumer behaviour models, specialised according to a consu-mable object, it is necessary to defragment and refine the theoretical-methodological-applicative basis for these models, by focusing on the subtleties of consumer decision making as well as identification and explanation of purchase and consumption aspects of the analysed object.

Keywords: consumer behaviour models, general and specialised models, consumer decision making, services, fi-

nancial services, insurance services.


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FACTORS INFLUENCING CO-OPERATION TERM OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY OUTSOURCING

Ligita VASILIAUSKIENĖ Mykolo Romerio universitetas, LT-08303 Vilnius, Ateities g. 20,

E mail: [email protected] Abstract. Scientific studies usually include different aspects of management relations in IT outsourcings

while the author of this article expands the research field by analysing the factors which influence IT out-sourcing term and relationship between a customer and a supplier. Data for the research has been collected using the analysis of the scientific literature, previous research and statistical data. The author also dis-cusses practical application and co-operation.

What is the role of information technologies encouraging outsourcings in the activities of production companies? How does the outsourced production process influence company’s business? This article is aimed at dealing with these topical issues while analyzing the strategies of information technologies and companies when they choose outsourcing services.

Outsourcings have become one of the strategies used by business companies to manage their informa-tion technologies. Use of outsourcing has encouraged appearance of the related scientific literature during the last few years. That is why the author of this article has analysed the literature with a view to identify the most important topics and methods, applied by different authors and countries in the field of IT outsourcing. The author also makes some suggestions how to improve research in this field. The article contains the review of the articles on IT outsourcings published in leading jourmals of economics.

Keywords: outsourcing, transaction costs, factors, IT services. Introduction In order to feel strong in the market, companies have to make products of the highest quality with the

lowest costs using advanced technologies and being trustful and innovative. Having limited human and capi-tal resources, managers have to clearly define the spheres which time and investment should be directed to. It is especially important to determine whether investment in non-core activities or additional functions are really worth it and whether it is better to use an outsourcing and transfer them to the ones who specialize in this field.

It is important to note that one of the major factors for choosing IT outsourcing is that the company which decides to buy outsourcing services does not have to care about attraction of professionals, their main-tenance and training. It does not have to buy and renew necessary equipment because these processes are performed by an outsourcing supplier. This way, the company can concentrate on internal opportunities and the spheres in which it specializes. Buying outsourcing services often provides opportunities to choose fixed or variable costs and obtain outsourcing services for the fixed monthly fee, so companies can make more precise budgets. What is more, when the need to use outsourcing services disappears or the contract term expires, it is possible just to stop buying the service which is impossible when the company invests in the equipment and hires people. One more positive factor is the quality of the service.

Companies which provide IT outsourcing services have more experience dealing with rented processes that internal departments or individual employees of the customer company because service providers can use their wide internal resources. Besides, employees of outsourcing companies often deal with different cus-tomer problems and new technologies, so solutions to customers’ problems are usually prepared before they are needed. Other often stressed advantage of outsourcing services is clear responsibility. Transferring admi-nistration of software and technical equipment made by different producers to one service provider enables to save time which is necessary to find and solve the problem. Analysing the technological aspect of ou-tsourcing service provision, it is necessary to clearly define whether outsourcing service buying is going to be a onetime project or long-term co-operation between a service provider and a customer.

Scientific problem – what factors influence the sphere of information technologies when companies choose outsourcing services.


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The aim of this article – to determine and classify the factors influencing IT activities in case of out-sourcing.

The methods of analysis are as follows: logic, systematic analysis of scientific literature based on com-parative and summary methods. With reference to the scientific literature, review of the internal and external environmental factors has been presented.

Practical application – this article reveals imbalances between outsourcing environmental factors and the real outsourcing practice.

1. IT outsourcing services Outsourcing is considered as one of the easiest solutions, so many companies use it quite often. In order

to show which process of outsourcing is comprehensively useful to the company but at the same time has quite many threats, the author presents the main advantages and possible threats of outsourcing process is presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing with regard to the company

Advantages with regard to the company Disadvantages with regard to the company

Cost reduction Time cost reduction Revelation of hidden costs Stock price increase Simpler control of expenses Quality Cultural exchange Reform of processes Technical aid Concentration on more effective management

Loss of control of the transferred process The process is hardly restored Moment costs Moral Quality Reduction of the number of staff Flexibility loss Lost opportunities Transaction costs Plenty of clients

When the company decides to reduce costs or shorten the time, it chooses to buy outsourcing services.

Table 1 shows only some primary advantages of outsourcing services. If the company has been practising outsourcing for longer time, it can hidden costs can be revealed. These costs are revealed after transferring the process out of the company when it becomes possible to estimate how much such process would have cost inside the company. The outcome of cost reduction is rise of company’s stock price because the compa-ny shows better results.

The research has revealed that there is a link between aims and size of the company. That is why ou-tsourcing is sometimes considered to be a part of company’s strategy, and such advantages as simpler control of expenses or reform of processes are important in company’s business. Doing the reforms of this kind companies have more possibilities to monitor the processes, perform more efficiently and easier control and plan experienced costs because the costs of the transferred processes become fixed on the basis of the cont-ract. Practising IT outsourcing, companies can also get better quality of products or services because ou-tsourcing service provider usually seeks for the best quality of the transferred process using all knowledge, labor and technological resources available to him. Service provider also guarantees necessary all necessary technical aid.

It is important to note that the company practising outsourcing faces particular threats which arise from this process. Firstly, it can lose control of the process because transferred process is performed under the conditions of the contract from its beginning till the end. That is why the company finds it difficult to control the quality of the product or service and be responsible for it. Companies – service providers often demand for long-term contracts which would ensure profits. Short-term contracts increase contract costs. The re-search has revealed that companies have to consider all possible threats of the process before starting the process of outsourcing. Outsourcing practice can appear to bring more costs and time expenditure than the company has initially expected, so losses can exceed the benefits. This way outsourcing can even make da-mage to company’s competitive advantage. Benefit or damage of outsourcing depends on country develop-ment level, economics, volumes of outsourcing in the country and many other factors. In order to analyse positive and negative effects of outsourcing on the country, countries should be classified according to their development level.

At present outsourcing takes different forms. Organisations are still hiring service providers to manage different business processes, for example, payoff management. However, some organisations order the servi-


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ces of the management of all operations. The most often forms of outsourcing are information technologies outsourcing (ITO) and business processes outsourcing (BPO). Outsourcing process usually included four stages:

• strategic decision to develop organisational philosophy on the role of outsourcing; • evaluation and selection when the customer makes decision on suitable projects and potential loca-

tions and service providers consider opportunities to do that; • contract making, service level agreement (SLA); • management of external services or improvement of present relationship between the customer and

the outsourcing service provider. IT outsourcing is buying of information technology services from specialized IT companies. It includes

buying services such as installation of computer systems, computer maintenance, strategic formation, activity coordination from an outside provider partly or fully resigning technology professionals inside the company.

Outsourcing is especially important on small business because of the limited resources and limited com-petence of the executives in the specific fields of administration. Services in general include few elements of search but many elements of experience and trust, which impedes explicit evaluation of administration ser-vice outsourcing decision, so for evaluation of the reasons of administration service outsourcing decision, the authors use particular chosen elements of transaction costs economics which, as it is thought, stimulate the outsourcing of administration services (Snieska, Vasiliauskiene; 2008)

Nowadays when companies are seeking to increase business efficiency and competitive abilities, infor-mation technologies are becoming increasingly important. In order to properly maintain the environment of information technologies, it is necessary to understand all spheres of IT (computer break downs, nets, hard-ware, software, databases, information protection and so forth). All these works are impossible to do for one professional who is physically unable to follow all technological news which is changing very fast. If a com-pany wants to have a reliable and qualified team, it has to hire well-paid professionals. Only big and strong companies can afford that. However, this causes additional problems – the work of IT professionals is very uneven. Solving emerged problems they sometimes work overtime, but sometimes almost have no work. The factors such as holidays, illness and personal problems of a professional make the work even more uneven. Buying IT services from an outside service provider helps to solve these problems in many cases.

Outsourcing services have already spread in the West. Lithuanian companies have also begun to under-stand that it is advisable to concentrate on the main activities and buy secondary services from outside pro-fessionals. Companies working with many IT projects from different customers gain huge experience and professional skills which is impossible dealing with the tasks of one kind, so outsourcing service providers better know how identify and solve IT problems of different companies.

Information technologies have a tendency to get outdated very quickly – the latest technologies of last half a year can be both morally and technically outdated at present time. That is why companies providing IT services have to consider such particularity of information technologies and adjust to it.

Figure 1 shows the part of IT services in revenue of Lithuanian companies.

Fig. 1. Part of IT services in revenue of Lithuanian companies (“Prime Investment“) Figure 2 shows percentage of the companies which buy particular services from IT service companies.

From the picture we can see that IT outsourcing services are becoming increasingly important and popular not only with companies in international market but also in Lithuania.


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Core services

Computer sale and hardware Internet services

Facility services Maintenance services Service accessibility Interaction

1. Central office in the city centre. 2. Flexible working hours. 3. Attractiveness of training facilities, mod-ernity of training equipment. 4. Opportunity to order service in different ways. 5. Qualification of training personnel and attendants. 6. Comprehensive and clear documentation and instructions of software use.

1. Software installa-tion. 2. Software renewal. 3. Software creation.

1. Computer literacy courses. 2. Training to work with specific software. 3. Distance training. 4. Consultations on computer use. 5. Technical computer maintenance. 6. Different ways to order services.

1. Interaction with the personnel taking orders. 2. Interaction with training personnel and attendants. 3. Interaction with software.

Customer participation 1. Knowing whether the customer fully under-stands requirements of the software. 2. Knowing whether the customer has learnt to work with the software. 3. Customer’s disposition to provide additional information.

Fig. 2. Model of IT service provision concept

While carrying out the research of the spread and the nature of IT services in Lithuania, the author re-

ferred to Lithuania Online Lithuanian server list WWW page category Computing. This category includes 76 companies providing services of this kind, but some links do not work, so the list of active links consists of 58 companies.

Offers how to improve the quality IT services. The research has revealed some disadvantages of IT service provision in Lithuania: insufficient development of technical maintenance and computer training, incomplete use of technical means and software to make orders online. The author proposes the following solutions to these disadvantages.

It is clear that a small company which employs up to 10 people and has some computers finds it a large luxury to hire a professional for maintenance of information technologies at least because of the reason that this professional would not be busy the biggest part of the work day since new software installation or repair of a computer break down seldom emerge. Hiring of this professional would bring use only if the biggest time of his work would be spent on performing other activities (for example, staff training). What is more, it can be stated that this professional would not have time and conditions to improve his knowledge in order not to lag behind the newest information technologies. The professional working in an outsourcing company could provide more qualitative services and would have more experience in addition to the fact that his ser-vices would cost less.

According to “Forbes”, US companies spent 60 billion $ on staff training. Experts state that these costs can be reduced to 50% if companies used computer-based training, multimedia and Internet. This way of training has many different advantages: it enables to teach about technological processes without having ma-


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terial equipment, work under particular conditions (for instance, in atomic power plant), trainees can learn without physically taking part in lectures (teleconferences, audio files) and so forth.

2. Factors determining IT outsourcing services Importance of transaction costs has been revealed in the last few years. However, Williamson (William-

son 1998) noticed that although this concept was widely discussed, it traditionally has remained not clearly defined. Dahlman (Dahlman 1979) summarised and divided transaction costs into three main categories:

Table 2. The factors determining outsourcing transaction costs

No. Author Year Factors Factor group Remarks*

Enrique Claver; Reyes Gonzalez; Jose Gasco; Juan Llopis (Claver et al. 2002)

2002 Co-operation Social

Both parties - customers and service providers have to take part in the process of service provision (co-operate).

1.

http://sf.library.lt:2094/journals.htm?issn=0957-6053&volume=15&issue=4&articleid=852201&show=html Resources of information Search of additional information.

Strategy Use of strategies in order to reduce peripheral costs.

Technologies IT development forces companies to use outsourcing services more often.

Environment

Organisational

Uncertainty because of fast chang-ing and unpredictable market envi-ronment is an important factors which impacts transaction costs.

Benefits Benefits of outsourcing services are bigger than transaction costs.

Reasonable price

Transaction costs can increase be-cause of unpredictable obstacles.

Long-term risk

Outsourcing Dependence on outsourcing services causes particular risks during the long term.

Suppliers (providers)

Success of outsourcing services is positively influenced by the quality of the partnership between the cus-tomer and service provider.

Competition

Competition among the companies providing outsourcing services has positive impact on decisions to ac-cept innovations.

Customers’ needs

Companies have to understand cus-tomers’ need and meet them if they want to keep their competitive ad-vantage in the market.

Volume

Market

Efficiency of outsourcing services depends on the volume of outsourc-ing services.

Social norms Companies have to consider social norms while providing outsourcing services.

Kai S. Koong; Lai C. Liu; Yong Jian Wang (Koong et al. 2007)

2007

Political im-pact

Social and political regime Government can use particular

means in order to reduce outsourc-ing transaction costs.

2.

http://sf.library.lt:2094/journals.htm?issn=0263-5577&volume=107&issue=3&articleid=1597807&show=html

*Remarks contain the notes on how particular factors determine transaction costs in outsourcing sphere.


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search and information costs, negotiation and decision costs, maintenance and performance costs. According to him, all of these costs can be mainly characterised considering only one kind of transaction costs – re-source losses experienced because of lack of information.

Transaction costs take particular place in the theory of economics. Transaction is made when the service is transferred from one organisational department to another, according to O. E. Williamson (Williamson 1998). Transactions can be divided into administrational (coordinating) or market orientated. Companies seek to reduce both service provision and transaction making costs. Actions which are taken in order to redu-ce costs define activity boundaries of the company. The research has revealed that the factors of internal and external environment influencing company’s outsourcing decisions are based on transaction costs economics adapted to service sector. The analysis has revealed primary factors which determine the choice of outsour-cing ways:

• age of an executive; • size of the company and institutional environment; • complexity, uncertainty and time requirements for the administration of the company.

After the analysis of the scientific literature, the author has distinguished the following groups of the factors influencing outsourcing transaction costs: social factors, organisational factors, outsourcing factors, market factors and the factors of social and political regime.

Social factors. The most important factor of this group is co-operation. When both parties a customer and a service provider take part in the service provision process, transaction costs are reduced. When a ser-vice provider co-operates with the customer, the service provider can find out customer’s needs and expecta-tions in more clearly, so he can provide more qualitative services (making fewer mistakes) which can reduce transaction costs. Bilateral benefits are also possible when the customer is satisfied and the service provider is appreciated.

Organisational factors. The most important factors of this group are resources, strategy, technologies and environment. The resources of information provide additional information about customer’s needs which facilitates the work of the service provider who can ensure more qualitative services.

Additional information is also collected in order to choose the most suitable company to provide the necessary outsourcing service. This can reduce transaction costs because both a customer and a service pro-vider will be better informed about each other.

Outsourcing factors. The most important factors of this group include benefits, reasonable price and long-term risk. Companies deciding whether they will use outsourcing services or not, have to consider if the risk is not too high, if the price is acceptable and if the benefits of the service will be higher than transaction costs. If estimated transaction costs are higher than the benefits of the service, the customer has to think well if the service is really worth ordering.

Markets. The most important factors of this group are suppliers (providers), competition, customers’ needs and volume. It should be noted that relationship and partnership between the customer and the service provider are extremely important because they help to ensure the quality of the service.

Companies providing outsourcing services must understand the importance of the competitive advantage which can be gained offering particular innovations and meeting customers’ needs. Considering the volume of outsourcing services, service provision efficiency must also be evaluated. If the service provider has many orders, there is a possibility that not all orders will be performed qualitatively. Market environment is espe-cially important because under high level of competition transaction costs can both increase and decrease.

Social and political regime. The most important factors of this group are social norms and political im-pact. Companies providing outsourcing services must follow the principles of social responsibility. Govern-mental laws and regulations can also influence transaction costs.

Therefore, outsourcing service provider has to be flexible in his business, make discounts for customers, provide qualitative services and value co-operation and partnership. It should be noted that outsourcing bene-fits to the company and the country can be rather different because this phenomenon determines different processes and different economic indexes. Firstly, a company is a micro economical unit, and entirety of such units makes macro economics. Outsourcing on a country scale determines different indexes and factors than on a company scale.

Some factors increase, and some factors decrease transaction costs. That is why before ordering the ser-vice a customer must consider if transaction benefit will be higher than transaction costs.


344

Conclusions

1. It has been established that one of the factors determining the choice of outsourcing is that the com-pany which buys outsourcing services does not have to care about the attraction and maintenance of profes-sionals, their qualification improvement or equipment procurement and renewal because these processes are performed by an outsourcing service provider. That is why the company can concentrate on internal oppor-tunities and direct internal resources to the activities in which it specializes.

2. The interrelation between the factors and transaction costs (or kinds of transaction costs) has been revealed.

• variable and fixed transaction costs are the main ways of costs “behavior” observation; • it is important to reduce fixed costs so that smaller part of them would go to the costs of a product

item. • it is important to include indirect transaction costs in direct transaction costs; • when outputs are changing, it is necessary to know stage transaction costs in order to retain profit-

ability. 3. Outsourcing services are considered to be the services when particular operations are performed out-

side the main company because they are transferred to another domestic or foreign subject specializing in performing of such activities. The services of the main operations of the company are not bought from out-side because performance of these operations is related to organisational culture. The factors which motivate companies to buy outsourcing services are an opportunity to reduce company’s costs, better use energy and competence of the personnel, effectively use labor force, capital, technologies and resources. Therefore, par-ticular functions can be transferred to other companies, countries or parts of the world.

4. It has been established that IT outsourcing services are becoming increasingly important in every company because companies want the processes to be performed perfectly. Since not all companies can hire a professional, and some companies simply want to reduce costs, they choose outsourcing services. How-ever, this decision is not always beneficial because before making the decision, it is necessary to consider all transaction costs and factors which determine the choice of outsourcing and mind that if the benefit of the service is lower than transaction costs, the company has to find other alternatives.

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346

MULTICRITERION ANALYSIS METHODS IN EVALUATION OF PENSION FUNDS

Irina VORONOVA Riga Technical University, Address: Meža str. 1/7 407, Riga, LV 1007, Latvia

Phone +371 67089486, E-mail: [email protected] Abstract. This article describes the task of multicriteria analysis of pension funds of Latvian republic,

determines the main features of this task and gives grounds for the feasibility of using Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) and taxonometric method. Is conducted review of the fields of using Multi-criteria decision analysis in business. Multi-criteria analysis of pension funds is conducted by using criteria, employed in cre-ating rating funds based only on public information. G23

Keywords: multi-criteria analysis, taxonometric method, pension funds, Latvia. Introduction Latvian state renders service (social insurance) worth almost 1/3of salary and which cannot be refused

of, but getting this insurance service in the future is not guaranteed. Complex situation with social security budget in Latvia in 2011 when spending part exceeds income share forces the government to spend social budget savings. If the situation does not improve and there are no government decisions in this field in 2012 may be used up the last lat out of reserve. In this case the problem of securing their retirement years is be-coming topical. In Latvia since 1998 there have existed three level pension schemes. The third level – private voluntary pension scheme is already working. The aim of this scheme is by using mediation of private pen-sion fund contribute member funds and save additional capital for retirement. The typical feature of this scheme is only voluntary membership. Latvia has two private pension funds – open and closed. At present private pension funds offer the following contribution strategies – conservative and dynamic. Conservative contribution strategy is more secure but it brings less profit. In its turn dynamic contribution strategy is risky but it is possible to save more. In year 2009 the share of private pension fund members accounted for 16.3% of Latvian economically active residents. Under current crisis circumstances consumers of financial services face the crucial problem of financial partner stability and while choosing this partner should take into ac-count many factors. Lack of reliability of rendered service of state insurance may cause residents to consider the opportunity of getting additional services and then Latvian residents may find it urgent to choose a pen-sion fund as a partner in providing their pension funds.

In the process of decision making about pension fund the client should take into account a number of factors: positive business reputation activities without losses, financial stability, and investment potential. This choice of partner may be carried out by using methods of multi-criteria analysis. Object of research is decision making about the choice of pension fund in Latvian republic. The subject of research is application of the method of multi-criteria assessment by using expert examination and taxonometric method. The re-search is carried out on the basis of actual data Latvian pension funds for year 2009.

1. Characteristics of practical application of multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) in business Multi-criteria assessment in decision-making in economic-financial field and rating assessment of eco-

nomic subjects is intensely used. According to the data of conducted bibliometric investigation about multip-le criteria decision making (MCDM) and multiatribute utility theory (MAUT) using the ISI database over the 5-year period (2002-2006) the authors of research, notice the increase of number of MCGM/MAUT publica-tions along with the growth of management science/operations research publications (MS/OR). The authors of bibliometric investigation1 notice the reduction of relative share OR/MC and management and business

1 Wallenius, J.; et al. Multiple Criteria Decision Making, Multiattribute Utility Theory: Recent Accomplishments and What Lies

Ahead. Management Science, Vol.54, No 7, 2008. p. 1336-1349.


347

topics about 40%, however, share of computer science has increased by some 20%, environment has doub-led, but all engineering areas have increased too.

The method of analysis of hierarchies is interdisciplinary field of science. In Latvia there is a lot of re-search in the field of information fusion in decision making under uncertainty (Borisovs, Vališevskis2, Valis-evskis3) and there are practical examples of using this method in different spheres of business. The author conducted bibliometric research of publications, fulfilled on a given theme in Latvia. The range of research is relatively wide: from using analytic hierarchy process (AH) in giving foundations of the choice suitable for freezing raspberries, black and red currant berries (Kampuse4), in developing information system of tour-ist routes choice (Romanov5) and rating of insurance companies reliability (Voronova6, Voronova, Pettere7) to applying AH in solving the problems of national security (Melderi8).

The practical approach in using Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA (AH)) is obvious in the works of Lithuanian researchers. Thus, the application of multiple-criteria analysis for complex assessment of fac-tors of new construction companies marketing environment (Žvirblis et al.9), the usage of Promethee method Evaluating Lithuanian Banks from perspective of their reliability to customers (Ginevičius et al.10) and the option of investing in real estate investment (Ginevičius et al.11). Use of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and ELECTRE (Elimination Et Choix Treduisantë La Realite) for determining weighting ratios of factors criteria for assessing the efficiency of investment projects of business subjects claiming to get investment support of the ЕС by using the techniques of DEA is investigated by Laurinavičius E. et al. 12.

2. Solution of the task of choosing a pension fund by using Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA)

Assessment of the choice of pension fund is carried out by persons having a similar goal (provide their

own pension in the future), but differing in their approach to assessment of investment potential. Choice of pension fund is carried out by using system of assessment criteria. System of assessment criteria selection is based on creating ratings of pension funds and possibility of getting public information about funds activi-ties. In this case assessment is conducted by means of criteria which are grouped into 4 criteria groups (fig. 1). Determining selection criteria for the choice of pension funds the author took into account impossibility of applying merely financial ratios while conducting analysis of preference related to the activities of pension funds due to specific procedures of preparing financial statements of funds..Two–level system of criteria is connected with the fact, that if we use a great number of criteria (over 10) the meaningfulness of separate criteria in expert examination is lost. Assessment of pension funds is carried out by using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AH) and consists of structuring alternatives P on criteria of cluster G . Then let us form matrix of paired comparisons for each level of hierarchy, elements of which are assessments of comparative impor-tance of elements of a given level of hierarchy related directly to above standing element. Assessment of im-portance is carried out by means of comparing elements of a matrix column with a line element assessment

2 Borisov A., Vališevskis A. Information Fusion in Decision Making under Uncertainty // Proceedings of ICAFS-2008, Eighth

International Conference on Application of Fuzzy Systems and Soft Computing ICAFS-2008, SOMIJA, Helsinki, 1-3 Septembers, 2008, p. 261-270.

3 Vališevskis, A. Decision making the probabilistic uncertainty and fuzzy situations. Summary of the Promotion work. Riga: RTU, 2006.

4 Kampuse, S. Suitability to Freezing of Berries from Different Raspberry, Black, Red and White Currant Cultivars Grown in Latvia. Summary of Promotion work. Jelgava: LLU, 2006. 5 Romanovs, A. Application of Multi-criteria analysis methods to the tourist information system development. Summary of the

Promotion work. Riga: Transport and telecommunication institute, 2006. 6 Voronova, I. Technique of Insurance companies' reliability assessment. Journal of Business, Management and Education.

2011. 9(1). 7 Voronova, I.; Pettere, G. Rating as an Assessment Instrument of the Insurance Market participants Security. In: 49th Interna-

tional Scientific Conference of Riga technical University. The problems of development of national economy and entrepreneurship”: RTU Scientific Conference of Economics and Entrepreneurship (SCEE’2008)

8 Melderi, J. Grounds for decision-making process of multi-criteria risk-based analysis, addressing security issues]. AZPC-2/01-2009. Riga: AZPCIS, 2009

9 Žvirblis, A.; Krutkienė, I.; Vitkunas, R. Multiple-Criteria Assessment of the Macro Environment of New Construction Com-panies of the Baltic States. Issues of Business and Law [interactive]. Volume 1, 2009.

10 Ginevičius, R. Evaluating Lithuanian Banks from perspective of their reliability to customers by Promethee method. Vilnius, Lithuania. Business and Management 2010. Selected Paper, 993-999.

11 Ginevičius, R. Zubrecovas, V. Selection of Optimal Real Estate Investment Project Basing of Multiple Criteria Evaluation Using Stochastic Dimensions. Jornal of Business Economics and Management. 10(3):261-270.

12 Laurinavičius Evaluation of the efficiency of the projects. Management theory and studies for rural business and infrastructu-re development. Nr.17 (2).


348

of criteria and advantages of alternative ija (pension fund, iP ) before alternative jP , is determined on nine point Saaty's linear scale: 1 - if this advantage is not available; 3 - if advantage is weak; 5 –if advantage is substantial; 7- if advantage is evident; 9- if advantage is absolute; 2,4,6,8 – interim comparative assessments. General algorithm by doing calculations fulfilled in Excel is given on fig.1. Ratios of relative importance of criteria are determined by calculating main own vectors conforming to main or maximum own meaning of matrix of comparisons with consequent standardization of this vector. For matrix A (Table 1) we get weights of criteria: , ., α.α 0597027390 21 == ,.α 553703 = 112704 . α = and of sub criteria account for

,.,. 3130 1620 2212 == αα ,394.023 =α ;131.024 =α , α 163.013 = ,α 235.032 = ; α 602.033= , α 038.014 =

242.0456.0 4342 ,, αα == . α 169.045 =

1G 2G 3G 4G

ijα

Figure 1. Hierarchical scheme of selection of secure pension fund

Thus, by making decision the most important is a group of criteria characterizing investment strategy

(criterion 3) and financial results (criterion 1). The level of assessmentt of alternatives (pension funds) is found by using the method of belonging based on paired comparisons13.

Table 1. Matrix A of comparing the importance of criteria

13 Borisov, F.N.; Krumberg,O.F.; Fedorov, I.P. Decision-making based on fuzzy models: examples of use. Riga: Zinatne,1990.

Choice of pension plan Financial indicators

Clients base

Investment strategy

Professionalism and business potential

Financial indicators 1 6 1/4 5 Clients base 1/6 1 1/5 1/4 Investment strategy 4 5 1 7 Professionalism and business potential

1/5 4 1/7 1


349

For each pair of alternatives by criterion )n,i(G j 1= is assessed the advantage of one variant over an-other by using quantative and qualitative information. Table 2 shows a fragment of expert statements, summed up in matrix of paired comparisons. In each matrix 15 elements correspond to paired comparisons. The rest elements are found with a view to the fact that matrix of paired comparisons is diagonal and reverse symmetric.

Table 2. Paired comparisons of alternatives (fragment) on the Saaty's linear scale

Sub criteria Paired comparisons

11~G Advantage 1P over 2P is absent. Advantage 1P over 3P is absent. Considerable advantage 1P over 4P . Considerable advan-

tage 1P over 5P . Substantial advantage of 1P over 6P . Weak advantage of 2P over 3P . Absolute advantage 2P over 4P .

Considerable advantage 2P over 5P . Considerable advantage 2P over 6P . Absolute advantage of 3P over 4P . Considerable

advantage 3P over 5P . Considerable advantage 3P over 6P . Advantage 4P over 5P is absent. Advantage 4P over 6P is

absent. Advantage 5P over 6P is absent.

12~G Substantial advantage 1P over 2P . Substantial advantage 1P over 3P . Absolute advantage 1P over 4P . Absolute advantage

1P over 5P . Weak advantage 1P over 6P . Considerable advantage 2P over 3P . Considerable advantage 2P over 4P . Con-

siderable advantage 2P over 5P . Weak advantage 2P over 6P . Absolute advantage 3P over 4P . Considerable advantage 3P

over 5P . Weak advantage of 3P over 6P is absent. Advantage 4P over 5P is absent. Weak advantage of 4P over 6P is ab-

sent. Weak advantage of 5P over 6P is absent.

We get weights of sub criteria:

;254.0,022.0,026.0,142.0,098.0,458.0~,167.0,166.0,166.0,167.0,167.0,167.0~

;187.0,048.0,260.0,260.0,177.0,068.0~,048.0,032.0,160.0,098.0,512.0,150.0~

062.0,062.0,513.0,241.0,061.0,061.0~,344.0,087.0,087.0,057.0,057.0,368.0~

45432143

45432142

45432141

45432133

45432124

45432131

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=

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=⎭⎬⎫

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PPPPPPG

PPPPPPG

PPPPPPG

PPPPPPG

PPPPPPG

__

;061.0,152.0,091.0,03.0,469.0,197.0~ ,042.0,053.0,060.0,202.0,201.0,441.0~

;247.0,027.0,027.0,111.0,131.0,457.0~,063.0,037.0,027.0,282,0,388.0,203.0~

45432122

45432121

45432112

45432111

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=⎭⎬⎫

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=

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=⎭⎬⎫

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=

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G

From (1) it follows that there is no alternative (pension fund) dominating in all criteria, that is why the

decision will depend on the importance of these very criteria and subcriteria. Taking into account the impor-tance of subcriteria we get the following results:


350

.008001000380043005000190~012003100130013001300130~

061000500060034002301100~076007600760076007600760~

007000200100010000700030~048003201600098051201500~

076007600760076007600760~ ,007.0,002.0,010.0,01.0,007.0,003.0~

;038.0,003.0,003.0,042.0,009.0,037.0~ ,084.0,018.0,009.0,074.0,033.0,177.0~

;084.0,018.0,009.0,074.0,033.0,177.0~ ,070.0,008.0,01.0,033.0,033.0,071.0~

;041.0,004.0,005.0,018.0,022.0,076.0~;052.0,031.0,023.0,235,0,324.0,169.0~

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242043

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456042

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602033

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235.032

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163.031

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131.024

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394.023

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313.022

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162.021

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167.012

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P.,

P.,

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P.,

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;P.,

P.,

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Do summing up of the results taking into account the importance of criteria:

.164.0,125.0,143.0,176.0,167.0,222.0 ;100.0,048.0,231.0,125.0,332.0,164.0

;118.0,094.0,059.0,120.0,274.0,336.0 ;093.0,036.0,027.0,253.0,345.0,245.0

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654321

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0597.02

654321

2739.01

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⎩⎨⎧

=

⎭⎬⎫

⎩⎨⎧

=⎭⎬⎫

⎩⎨⎧

=

PPPPPPG

PPPPPPG

PPPPPPG

PPPPPPG

Fuzzy indicating how fully alternatives (pension funds) 1P , 2P … 6P meet criteria 1G , 2G , 3G and 4G

:

.164.0,100.0,118.0,093.0 ,125.0,048.0,094.0,036.0

,143.0,231.0,059.0,027.0,176.0,125.0,120.0,253.0

,170.0,332.0,274.0,345.0 ,222.0,165.0,336.0,245.0

43216

43215

43214

43213

43212

43211

⎭⎬⎫

⎩⎨⎧

=⎭⎬⎫

⎩⎨⎧

=

⎭⎬⎫

⎩⎨⎧

=⎭⎬⎫

⎩⎨⎧

=

⎭⎬⎫

⎩⎨⎧

=⎭⎬⎫

⎩⎨⎧

=

GGGGP

GGGGP

GGGGP

GGGGP

GGGGP

GGGGP

(2)

Graphs of functions indicating belonging of alternatives are shown in Fig.2. According to priority crite-

rion 3G (investment strategy) the most preferable is pension fund 2P , as for the second priority criterion 1G (financial results) the most preferable is also pension fund 2P . Taking into account multicriteria assessment it

is possible to formulate a number of preferences: (3) (0.303) (0.460) (0.475) (0.674) (0.967) 1211

546312

).(PPPPPP >>>>>


351

Fig.2. Comparison of pension funds with a view to the importance of creteria 1G , 2G , 3G and 4G 3. Solution of the task of pension fund choice by using a taxonometric method Pension funds assessment may be fulfilled by using absolute meanings of criteria which can be formed

on the basis of public information. If there is such an opportunity, but indicators have different unit of meas-urement it is recommended to do the standardization of indicators14 transformation of matrix X into matrix Z is carried out:

,j

jijij

xxZ

σ−

= (4)

Where jx – all j indicators level arithmetic mean;

jσ – j indicator deviation.

∑ ==

m

i ijj xm

x1

1 (5)

21

)(1j

m

i ijj xxm∑=

−=σ (6)

Carried out indicators standardization is affected by indicators absolute value and variations. The next stage is determination of standard indicator ( )s

iZ . In order to determine it one should select in every row the largest or smallest indicator value depending on its optimal volume. Distance ijR is calculated by using a formula (7):

∑ =−=

n

j jijij xZR1

2)( (7)

The best alternative choice is made by using the smallest square method. The alternative which has minimum ijR is considered to have the best value (Tab. 3).

14 Voronova, I.; Pettere, G. Rating as an Assessment Instrument of the Insurance Market participants Security. Riga: RTU Pub-

lishing House, 2009, p. 163–165


352

Table 3. Assessment of alternatives by using a taxonometric method

The number of preferences of pension funds by using a taxonometric method (not taking into account

the meaningfulness of criteria and using absolute meanings of indicators of assessed alternatives) is:

. (59.208) (39.238) (31.196) (24.478) (19.273) )576.13( 654321 PPPPPP >>>>>

Conclusions Fund out peculiarities of pension funds assessment with a view to public information which does not

require calculations of indicators. Multi-criteria analysis is conducted by the way of paired comparisons of pension funds, without using absolute meanings of criteria for compared funds which is more convenient for an expert.

Conducting pension funds assessment by taxonometric method does not require considerable volume of comparative assessment from expert, but what is necessary it is a great deal of work to collect absolute fac-tual data. Subjective opinion at the stage of assessment actually does not exist.

Conducted comparisons did not demonstrate complete coincidence of a number of preferences for pen-sion funds assessment (between 1P and 2P ; between 5P and 6P ). Given non-coincidence is due to a small group of experts taking part in assessment (only 3 experts) and possible belonging of experts to one type of experts (rather pessimists than realists).

However taking into account the fact that this selection is carried out y different persons, it is advisable that criteria of assessment of preferences of pension funds activities with a view their investment attractive-ness (both from the point of view of attraction potential and location potential) should be changed.

References

1. Borisov A., Vališevskis A. Information Fusion in Decision Making under Uncertainty // Proceedings of ICAFS-2008, Eighth International Conference on Application of Fuzzy Systems and Soft Computing ICAFS-2008, SOMIJA, Helsinki, 1-3 Septembers, 2008, p. 261-270.

Pension fund Criteria Sub criteria

1P 2P 3P 4P 5P 6P

11~G 0 6.10440 5.22616 6.70682 6.63231 4.55987 1G

12~G 0 3.38362 1.63703 5.58798 5.57547 0.16695

21~G 0 1.05365 0.35711 5.71650 5.56872 3.97862

22~G 2.95093 0 1.27655 5.97100 5.82384 6.50544

23~G 0 4.23432 2.02799 7.07027 7.09288 2.12322

2G

24~G 0.07193 0.01347 6.43995 0.00114 0 0.00585

31~G 0 4.61538 4.61538 2.59615 2.59615 0

32~G 4.75248 4.75248 0.29703 0 4.75248 4.75248

3G

33~G 0.20412 7.81676 0.50232 0 0.09857 1.05814

41~G 3.75 1.66667 0 0 5.10417 0.10417

42~G 0 0 0 0 0 0

43~G 0 3.38362 1.63703 5.58798 5.57547 0.16695

44~G 0 0 0 0 6.23377 0.38961

41G

45~G 1.84615 0.46154 0.46154 0 4.15385 7.38462

ijR 13.576 19.273 24.478 39.238 59.208 31.196


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2. Borisov, F.N.; Krumberg, O.F.; Fedorov, I. P. Принятие решений на основе нечетких моделей: примеры использования. (Decision-making based on fuzzy models: examples of use). Riga: Zinatne, 1990.

3. Ginevičius, R.; Podvezko, V.; Novotny, M. Evaluating Lithuanian Banks from perspective of their reliability to customers by Promethee method. 6th international Scintific Conference. May 13-14, 2010. Vilnius, Lithuania. Business and Management 2010. Selected Paper, 993-999.

4. Ginevičius, R.; Zubrecovas, V. Selection of Optimal Real Estate Investment Project Basing of Multiple Criteria Evaluation Using Stochastic Dimensions. Journal of Business Economics and Management.2009, 10(3): 261-270.

5. Jakimavicius, M.; Burinskiene, M. Assessment of Vilnius city development scenarios based on transport system modeling and multicriteria analysis. Journal of Civil Engineering and Management. 2009, 15(4): 361-368.

6. Kampuse, S. Suitability to Freezing of Berries from Different Raspberry, Black, Red and White Currant Culti-vars Grown in Latvia. Summary of Promotion work for acquiring the Doctor's Degree of Engineering Sciences in the Food Science. Jelgava: LLU,2006.

7. Laurinavičius, E.; Ramanauskas, J.; Klimas E. Оценка эффективности инвестиционных проектов (Evaluation of the efficiency of the projects) Management theory and studies for rural business and infrastructure development. Nr.17 (2). Research papers.[accessed 2011-02-24].<http://baitas.lzuu.lt/~mazylis/julram/17/54.pdf.>.

8. Melderi, J. Lēmumu pieņemšanas procesa pamatojums uz daudzkritēriju risku analīzes bāzes, risinot drošības problēmas [Grounds for decision-making process of multi-criteria risk-based analysis, addressing security issues]. AZPC-2/01-2009. - Riga: AZPCIS, 2009. BN 9984-625-23-0

9. Romanovs, A. Application of Multi-criteria analysis methods to the tourist information system development. Summary of the Promotion work. Riga: Transport and telecommunication institute. 2006.

10. Vališevskis, A. Decision making in the probabilistic uncertainty and fuzzy situations. Summary of the Promotion work. Riga: RTU, 2006.

11. Voronova, I. Technique of Insurance companies' reliability assessment. Journal of Business, Management and Education. 2011, 9(1).[accessed 2011-01-15]. <www.bme. vgtu .it>

12. Voronova, I.; Pettere, G. Rating as an Assessment Instrument of the Insurance Market participants Security. In: 49th International Scientific Conference of Riga technical University “The problems of development of national econ-omy and enterpreneurship”: RTU Scientific Conference of Economics and Entrepreneurship (SCEE’2008). Confer-ence Proceedings, Riga: RTU Publishing House, 2009, p. 163–165.

13. Wallenius, J.; Dyer, J.; Fishburn P.,C.; Steuer, R. E.; Zionts, S.; Deb, K. Multiple Criteria Decision Making, Mul-tiattribute Utility Theory: Recent Accomplishments and What Lies Ahead. Management Science, Vol.54, No 7, July 2008, p. 1336-1349 [accessed 2011-03-12]. <http://www.terry.uga.edu/~rsteuer/PDF_Links/Ten Year.pdf>.

14. Žvirblis, A.; Krutkienė, I.; Vitkunas, R. Multiple-Criteria Assessment of the Macro Environment of New Construc-tion Companies of the Baltic States. Issues of Business and Law [interactive]. Volume 1, 2009. DOI: 10.2478/v10088-009-0005-x [accessed 2011-03-15].<http://versita.metapress.com/content /xh454795n88x5743/fulltext.pdf>.


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POSSIBILITIES FOR LITHUANIAN INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN SERVICES

Rima ŽITKIENĖ Mykolas Romeris University, Ateities st. 20, LT-08303 Vilnius

Phone +370 5 2714651, e-mail: [email protected]

Neringa LANGVINIENĖ Kaunas University of Technology, K. Donelaicio 73, Kaunas Phone +370 37300127, e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract. Despite the increased focus on international business, little research to date has focused on understanding the specifics of services trade internationally. Increasing an export of goods and services be-comes to be main striving for more or less developed countries, advanced economies. Selling of services at the international level meets some specifics challenges for suppliers, comparing to sellers of goods, as ser-vices are usually intangible, heterogeneous one, what are produced and consumed at the same time. Article represents not only specifics of international services, but also tendencies at the international services mar-ket. Findings of the survey identify the opportunities of Lithuanian services suppliers to sell internationally, disclose obstacle for international trade.

Keywords: international trade in services, modes of supply, Lithuanian service economy Introduction Topicality of the topic of the article. Services become to be the most important factor in creating GNP of

the countries; employs more and more active labour and acts as propulsive power for other economics spheres as agriculture, technical and constructive industry. Well developed countries meet the challenge to expand, to win from developing their industry, services annually. Entering to the new markets enables to ex-pand business both for industry or services enterprises. Trade of goods and services outgrow to the last level of trade – globalization recently1. Export of services is very specific, as services usually are intangible and are sold differently. Recent studies shows that services already starts to take their part in international trade2. Even if items of production, oil or other tangible selling units take the largest part of international trade, in-ternational trade in services is growing up3. The largest part of services in international trade takes freight transport, tourism services, as well as business services4. Most developed countries are competing in the in-ternational market as exporters of business solutions, accountants, strategies specialists. Countries, located at milder climate zone, are able to compete by tourism, spa services, too. Export of services, as export of pro-duction items usually does not reaches the level of import; so balance of services trade is negative one. But still services is an object for international trade, thus enables to get a profit for a supplier, for a country. For developing countries international trade is especially urgent, as it is a free market economy with features of

1 Vengrauskas, V. Obstacles of the service‘s internationalisation. Development of Services World: New Thinking, New Actions

[disk]: proceedings of 4th international scientific seminar, October 16-17, 2009, Kaunas, 2009: 1–7. 2 Battilani, P. The 'Bel Paese' and the transition to a service economy. Journal of Modern Italian Studies, 2010, 15 (1): 21–40.;

Kirca, A. H. The impact of mode of operation on sales performance in international services. Journal of Services Marketing. 2005, 19 (1): 39–46.; Kowalkowski, Ch.; Kindström, D.; Brehmer, P. O. Managing industrial services offerings in global business markets. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing. 2011, 26 (3): 181–192.; Liang, C.; Qian, D.; Rong, H. The Situations and Considera-tions on the Development of the Service Economy in China. Journal of Canadian Social Science, 2009, 5 (4): 81–89.

3 Zhang, J. Global Service network and the Choices of China. Journal of International Business Research, 2010, 3 (4): 139–144.; International Trade in Services: Evolving Issues for Developing Countries. WTO/ESCAP/ARTNeT advanced Regional Semi-nar on Multilateral Negotiations in Services for Asian and Pacific Economies. Kolkata, 19-21 September, 2006. Prabir De, RIS, New Delhi: 1–18.

4 Robertson, P.; Skordis, J. International Trade in Services and Sustainable Development: The Case of Tourism in South Africa. Ed. By Cassim, R.; et al, International Institute for Sustainable Development. 2004, 49 p.


355

post-Soviet Union markets’ economy.5 Development of international trade enables an increase of national market, too.

The existing researches on services unfortunately usually concerns to business locally, as we already habituated what services are no transportable and are not sold far away from supplier or consumer. Among a few of studies more focus is on tourism, transport services, which are more often consumed with no limita-tion of borders. Global financial crisis and economy’s recession forced to look through all sectors of industry and services competing internationally. Growing role of international trade in services during recession proved that here is still a niche for development. Thus, more research on opportunities of specific kind of services is necessary.

Purpose of the article is to disclose the possibilities for Lithuanian international trade in services. Object of the research is services, trade at international level.

Methods of the research are analysis of the scientific literature, statistical data, and synthesis. 1. Concept of international service Previous studies on services were focused on main characteristics of services distinguishing them from

goods.6 Trying to describe a service these main characteristics were a base distinguishing them from produc-tion items. Such main characteristics of service are usually excluded: intangibility, heterogeneous, unity of production and consuming, necessary attending of a customer in the process of services, as well as part of service is created by customer himself, no possibilities to store a service, no transfer of property, system in-cluding electronically and mechanical means7. Trying to describe a service as an object for research, no ca-pability to transport a service, to export it was analysed earlier. Such characteristics create a situation what service was not an object for export, selling abroad; it was far from a supplier physically.

Rapid implement the innovation to services, telecommunication technologies enables to export services nowadays. Electronic commerce, new technologies in computing, transport have resulted in enterprises going to international market. International trade in services increasingly becomes to be a part of global business. More people are travelling abroad for tourism, education, and other purposes. Of course, a few of character-istics of services as non transportability, no ability for storing and other specific features have not disap-peared. Thus, there is still a lot of services what are continuously trade locally, for example, parking services, nursing, services of cosmetologists, etc. However new technologies, growing demand for professional ser-vices, specialization between suppliers, disappearing borders between countries stimulates people to travel abroad. Entering to international market also enables to develop a services business, to use advantages of cheap labour.

Thus, the main characteristic of international services – is crossing a border: supplier or customer, or even both of them. Cross a border could be physical one or virtual (for example, telecommunication service). International trade in services covers trade in services in the conventional sense of transactions (export, im-ports) between residents or non residents.8 It covers also services delivered through locally established, but foreign controlled enterprises. Sometimes it is rather difficult to separate value by international trade in ser-vices and international trade in goods, as services continuum product is supplied for international customer on numerous occasions. Services differ for an item. Thus non transportable services should be reached by customer or supplier, who should go to a place where customer needs him. For example, cleaning services provider should go to customer’s office; customer for medical or educational purposes goes to doctor, etc. Of course, not all services are buyable at the international level. Such four categories of mode of supply for in-ternational services are excluded:

1. Cross border (mode 1): services supplied from the territory of one member into the territory of an-other.

2. Consumption abroad (mode 2): services supplied in the territory of one member to the consumers of another.

3. Commercial presence (mode 3): services supplied through any type of business or professional es-tablishment of one member in the territory of another.

5 Vijeikis, J.; Mačys, G. Trade policy in Lithuania: past experience and benchmarks for the future. Journal of Intellectual Eco-

nomics, 2010, 1 (7): 76 p. 6 Clark, T.; Rajaratnam, D. International services: perspectives at century‘s end. Journal of Services Marketing. 1999, 13 (4/5):

298–310.; Lehmann, A.; Tamirisa, N. T.; Wieczorek, J. International Trade in services: Implications for the IMF. IMF Policy Dis-cussion Paper PDP/03/6. 2003, International Monetary IMF, 25 p.; Lipsey, R. E. Measuring International Trade in Services. NBER Working Paper No. 12271. National Bureau of economic research, Cambridge, May 2006, 69 p.

7 Langviniene, N.; Vengriene, B. Paslaugų teorija ir praktika: vadovėlis. Kaunas: Technologija, 29–30 p. 8 Manual on Statistics of International Trade in Services 2010. Geneva. 2010, p. 5.


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4. Presence of natural persons (4 mode): services supplied by nationals of one member in the territory of another9.

Modes of international trade in services describe a form or, in other words, a shape in which services are provided to a customer. Other scientific issues10 the modes, listed above, describes as contact-based services (or presence of natural persons), vehicle-based services (cross border), asset-based (commercial), and object based services (consumption services). In other scientists works these classes are called as: separated ser-vices (trade at the international level without crossing a border), demander-located (the establishment a ser-vices enterprises is motivated by demand locally, as banking service), provider-located (services provided in the territory of provider, as tourism services), and footloose or non-separated services (liberal services sup-plying at the territory of third part, as well as services of two or even more services suppliers could be used, for example, artists or singers organize them tours abroad). 11

Even if the majority of classes of services could be as an object for international trade, not all groups of services are supplied at the international level practically. For evaluation of international trade in services, four main groups of services are excluded: transport; travel; other business services and services not allo-cated other where.

2. Barriers for international trade in services Why services are so difficult trade internationally? Firstly physical proximity is necessary. Secondly, not

all services from twelve classes, listed by GATS are trade internationally. As well as not all services are as subject for trade. As trade is understood as exchange, barter one or trade for currency, international trade is more related to commercial services. Commercial services such as business services (class No. 1 according GATS), communication (class No. 2), construction (No. 3), distribution (No. 4), financial (No. 7), tourism an travel related services (No. 9), recreational, sporting and leisure services (No. 10), and transport services (class No. 11) are subject for international transactions. While such services as environment (class No. 6) are supplied usually at non-commercial purposes. Educational (No. 5), heath-related services (No. 8) could be supplied both for commercial or non-commercial purposes. People, who are going abroad for higher educa-tion, know what they can apply for free education at foreign universities in case if their graduate evaluation will be rather high. Also customers can apply for free medicine only in urgent cases; for plastic surgeons ser-vices they should pay extra. Thus, medicine, education, other health-related services could be as commercial and non-commercial services, tradable on non tradable at international services market. Scientists are analys-ing during last years – what services is an object for trade and what – not.12 Earlier mentioned are tradable as their characteristics allow trading them, latter – not tradable or objecting for exchange. Tradable services cover all services, which are marketable and widely supplied at the international level, and their turnover is calculated into international trade in services. Non tradable services are services which are supplied and cus-tomized at the national level. Earlier services which were not transportable to another market were consid-ered as non tradable services. However, as mentioned above, innovation of services process, communication and other means during past decade enables to cross a border even for a service, for a provider or customer. Thus, a lot of services could be an object for trading them at the international level. Thirdly, the other obsta-cles for difficult trade internationally are traditions and regulation.13 Cultural differences in the global ser-vices market drop, as international process changes the forms in Asia, Latin America, or other regions. Struc-tural changes in services sector, accessibility of them changes the demand of local customers and citizens or enterprises. Consuming of services is very similar in any country of world. Thus, services become to be global one.

There are such limitations for regulating the international trade in services excluded: • Difficulties in evaluating the price of exported services (for example, evaluating the service transmit-

ted through electronic means). • Difficulties in separating commercial and non commercial services, which are supplied by mission-

ers, subsidiaries, charities, etc.

9 A Handbook of International Trade in services. Ed. By Mattoo, A.; Stern, R. M.; Zanina, G. Oxford University Press, 2008, p. 10 Clark, T.; Rajaratnam, D. International services: perspectives at century‘s end. Journal of Services Marketing. 1999, 13 (4/5):

p. 299. 11 Stern, R. M.; Hoekman, B. M. Issues and data needs for GATT Negotiations on Services. The World Economy, 1987, 10 (1):

39-60. 12 Žitkienė, R. Tarptautinė prekyba paslaugomis. Europos Sąjungos bendroji prekybos politika: vadovėlis. Radžiukynas, J., et

al. Mykolo Romerio Universiteto leidykla, 2011, 320-363 p. 13 Samiee, S. The internationalization of services: trends, obstacles and issues. Journal of Services Marketing, 1999, 13 (4/5):

319–328.


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• Not sufficient attendance to regulating the international trade in services (a lack of legal instru-ments, standards, etc.).

Government at the national level often regulates quantities of imported services, limits specific services (for example, medicine), limits a concentration of foreign capital, establish other tariffs, quota, custom taxes, entry to a country, duration of stay, limits professional services, provided by architects, jurists, lawyers, business consultants, etc.

Barriers for international trade in services could be oriented both to migration of customer and supplier; or to foreign direct investment to a specific sector of services. Barriers for international trade in services could be classified to four groups. Direct discriminating barriers usually are created by clear national law, describing part of market of foreigner in the local market, turnover of a production, employment of foreign-ers or involving material resources, etc. Establishment of such barriers is stimulated by attempt to defend national culture, national resources and business enterprise, accessibility of services for different level of purchasing power customers. Indirect discriminating barriers usually established for limiting production factors of supplier: information flow, investment, etc. They do not limit supplying services at the interna-tional level. Direct non-discriminating barriers are usually created by complex organizational structures or monopolies supplying services. Inflexible tariffs of services prices, part of existing suppliers creates invisible barriers for potential suppliers. Indirect non-discriminating barriers covers such regulating means as stan-dards, different rules acting in the specific territory, which are easily overcome by local suppliers, but re-quires a lot of time and money to overcome for foreign suppliers. This process includes certificates, licences or other documents for supplying specific services in specific country.

Developing or emerging markets also meets such additional barriers as entry barriers, created by visa, duration of stay or free moving of labour; tariffs and prices; limitation of subsidies which could be supplied only for local capital enterprises; technical standards; discriminating accessibility of networks; limitations to use government orders. Countries meet a barrier for international trade in services as uneven level of devel-opment of an economy. This relates to purchasing power, currency exchange level, possibilities to meet needs. Developed countries trade their services in other developed countries, emerging economies in other emerging economies, and so on.

Summarizing barriers for international trade in services, it should be noticed that there are a lot of bar-riers. One of them could be easier or hardier drive through; other – not. International trade in services meets more regulation as trade in goods on the one hand, but on the other hand, as services are more intangible than goods, to trade them overcoming rules is more easily. By any chance a supply of high qualification required services as architectural, lawyer or medical internationally is limited, such services as tourism, transport and other are free supplied by majority of members representing different countries.

3. Tendencies in international services market A practice shows that international trade in services is going faster after the Uruguay round, but not at

the level expected by countries that were participated at the round. Tendencies of international trade in ser-vices should cover change in import and export of services, also change according different groups of ser-vices, regional trends in international level.

Grow of part of international trade in services. Services are increasingly important in the modern coun-tries.14 Due to technological innovation and communication international trade in services grows faster than goods15. During last decade the majority of GNP by developed economies is created by services. The strong and growing role of services is not reflected, however, to international trade. On average, services sectors exports less than 6% of their output, compared to and export share of 40% of industrial sector.16 Due their intangibility trade in services is inherently subject to more constrains than trade in goods. International ser-vices are also very different by their nature. A few sectors of them are trade internationally more often than others.

Recent data of international trade transactions shows the increasing of trade part, created by services. A few of them reach a rate of trade in goods or even are higher. Export in services in 2008 in OECD countries

14 European Union international trade in services. Analytical aspects. Theme: Economy and finance, Eurostat Statistical books,

European communities, 2007, p. 5.; Manual on Statistics of International Trade in Services 2010. Geneva. 2010, 155 p.; OECD Sta-tistics on International Trade in Services: Volume I. Detailed tables by service category 2000-2008. OECD Publishing, 2010.

15 Dettmer, B. International service transactions: Is time a trade barrier in a connected world? The Jena Economic Research Papers. 2011-003: 3.

16 Samiee, S. The internationalization of services: trends, obstacles and issues. Journal of Services Marketing, 1999, 13 (4/5): 319–328.


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reached 22.8% of all export. This proportion is closely to 2007 (22.7%). Import in 2008 made 19% of all im-port of OECD countries. Export of services grew faster than goods between 2003 and 2008. OECD services export and imports grew 13.9 and 12.2% per year retrospectively between 2003 and 2008.

Grow by different groups of international services – the other index, representing trends in international services market. Average annual change in international trade in services according groups of international services presented below (see Picture 1). The largest grow is seen in the export and import of construction services (19 and 19.9%). After that, an increase of financial export was faster than grew of import of finan-cial services. Large grew is observable for computer and communication services, other business services.

Grew in different regions of world – represent, what are differences in international trade according the region of exporter. Grew of international trade in services depends also on region from which they are ex-ported or to whom imported. As statistics of international trade in services shows, trade of services (export grew 15.4%, import 14.3%) between 2003 and 2008 was a little bit slower than trade in goods (export grew 16.5, import grew 16.4%). However analyzing regional trends of international trade in services the differ-ences in grew could be observable. The highest grew in export and import of international trade in services is observable in Brazil, China, India or Russia. Less grew in import and export of international trade in services is seen in South Africa, NAFTA and OECD countries which are rather similar to average of annual grew of international trade. Even if a grew in other countries such as India, Russia or China is rather visible, analyz-ing the structure of total services export or import between 2003 and 2008, OECD countries were dominating in the international services market and made 65.8% of all export of services in 2003 and 67.7% in 2008. The rest part of services was exported by NAFTA countries (retrospectively 24.5% in 2003 and 22.4% in 2008). OECD Asia and Pacific countries created 9.7. and 9.9% of all export of the world in 2003 and 2008.

Lithuania first at all is a country of EU Market. Thus, analyzing the tendencies of international trade in services, a dynamics of OECD Europe, and countries of EU could be more urgent. Of course, Lithuanian international trade in services does not equal to export and import of former EU countries, but recent grew shows the positive effect in international trade of services of Lithuanian suppliers. Entering to the EU was the most urgent factor influencing increase of international trade in Lithuania.17 Lithuania became to be a part of all growing economy of EU market, as well as growing part of international trade: goods and ser-vices. Besides that, Lithuania is not an economy of OECD countries. However, an OECD organization keeps relations with the majority of emerging economies, developing economies to which Lithuanian could be at-tributed.

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Scientists penetrate such specific barriers for Lithuania to become a full member of international trade in

services market, as dependence on import of raw materials (Russia was a main raw material supplier earlier); structure of export famous for developing countries (Lithuania latter comparing to former EU countries en-

17 Vijeikis, J.; Mačys, G. Trade policy in Lithuania: past experience and benchmarks for the future. Journal of Intellectual Eco-

nomics, 2010, 1 (7): 76 p.


359

gaged in high technologies in industry and services); the only competitive advantage in competing with oth-ers – cheap labour (efficient only in short period); poor image of Lithuania (as former Soviet Union mem-ber); inadequate information about foreign markets; harder losses because of financial crisis, etc. Export of services from Lithuania makes 20% of export18. Lithuanian exports of goods and services reach the average level of European countries (OECD makes 22.7%). However, evaluating export of services only, Lithuania is not exporting a lot. Lithuanian export of services makes a small part of GNP, comparing to other European Union countries (Picture 2). Not all member of EU supplies a statistical data to European Commission, thus we have presented here countries, what publish their data about export of services. As we can see, Lithuanian export in services reduced between period 2003 and 2009. Total export in services made approximately 6% from GNP. Taking into consideration that an average of EU is even less, we are able to confirm, what Lithuania can act as a member of international services market. Just a few of countries exports services more often (it makes more than 8% of GNP). Immediate neighbours as Estonia and Latvia are ahead of Lithuania, but export in services of Poland do not reaches this level of GNP. Estimating a tendency of part of export in services from GNP, it should be noticed that Lithuanian export in services comparing to GNP drop during this period. The same situation could be observable for Slovakia, Estonia. Other countries, as Ireland, Ger-many, Austria, Poland an export in services increased comparing to GNP. Export in services in Czech, Italy in 2003 and 2009 was practically the same level.

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

EU27

Belgium

Czech

Rep

ublic

Denmark

German

y

Estonia

Irelan

dIta

lyLa

tvia

Lithu

ania

Malta

Netherl

ands

Austria

Poland

Slovenia

Slovakia

% fr

om G

NP

2003 2009

Picture 2. Export of services, % from GNP in 2003-2009 Source: adopted from Eurostat globalisation indicators

The largest part of services is trade in other EU countries (64.3%), the smaller – in CIS (23.5%). Analys-

ing the structure of partners in international trade in services, of course, factor of geography is very urgent. The largest partners in international trade in services, as we are able to investigate, are countries not far from Lithuania (Russia, Latvia, and Germany). USA also buys services from Lithuania, but it makes only 2.9% of all export of services. Belgium, Italy and Spain are countries, which buys services from Lithuania rather sel-dom. Other factor, as direct barriers, visas, custom tax also impact the level of international trade. Because of this reason, Ukraine, Belorussia is not in the first positions of partnership.

Conclusions International trade in services is rather specific part of economy because of specifics of services as one:

intangibility, heterogeneous, non capability to store, etc. Usually they are non tradable internationally, as ge-ography of customer and services provider is very urgent. However rapid growing technologies and commu-nication enables to export services recently. That is why countries’ interest to international trade in services is growing up.

18 Lietuvos Ūkio ekonominės būklės apžvalga [interactive]. 2009 [accessed 2011-03-07]. <http://www.lda.lt/files/File/-InformacijaVerslui/uzsienio_prekyba.pdf>.


360

Four modes of international services describe the form, in which services could be trade internationally: cross border services, consumption abroad services, commercial presence services, presence of natural per-son’s services. They could be named in different definitions, but merely the form describes the territory of services supplier, consumer and services process or part of service. Not all of services are trade internation-ally. Statistics of countries usually reflects the trade of tourism services, transport (by different transport means, different object), business services and other services, not excluded elsewhere. Some of them could be trade at the international level in one mode of supply, some in all of them.

There are a lot of obstacles for Lithuanian international trade in services, but there are the possibilities, too. Lithuanian government should do their best in order to unify the statistics of services comparing with other countries, as well as eliminating the shadow economy in services at the international level. Providers of services have possibilities to develop transport, tourism, information and communication services and to get the larger part of international market. Combining attempts of government and services providers will open the doors to international area of services, from which both Lithuanian people or economy of a country obvi-ously will win.

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