Methodological Problems and Limitations of Competitiveness Evaluation

The concept of competitiveness describes the relative, or comparative, position (economic, social, technological, etc.) of a company, industry, region, country or a group of countries with regard to other business firms, industries, countries, and groups of countries. According to Ivanov (2008), first of all, competitiveness is a complex economic phenomenon which has at least 3 levels: macro- (national economy), mezo- (regional economy, industry), and micro- (company economy). Each of the aforementioned levels has its own specifics and unique indicators that are to be applied in the process of competitiveness evaluation. It must be emphasized that the evaluation of competitiveness is economically relevant for a number of reasons: first, it is a process which enables to identify all the strengths and weaknesses of a national economy, striving for balanced and sustainable economic growth; second, the evaluation of competitiveness provides the basis for the creation of efficient economic stimulation instruments, as it identifies the competitive advantages of goods and services, and enables to forecast their ability to compete with analogical goods and services in local and foreign markets. Various competitiveness evaluation methods, which differ in terms of scope and application aim, have an essential common feature – they enable to define the relative position of an object with regard to other analogical objects by the use of various evaluation criteria and competitiveness indicators. The main evaluation problems that arise at the theoretical, or methodological, level are: the absence of a definite, clear, and solid concept of competitiveness; and the limitations caused by various evaluation methods. Practical problems are associated with limited resources, and the quality of (as well as the access to) relevant information, used in the process of competitiveness evaluation

Evaluation algorithm of Lithuania tourism image

The country image is a part of realization of the state vision. A representation model which a country chooses determines its place and importance in the global economy. Purposeful and clear strategy of image formation enhances the political importance of a country and enables it to achieve the main economic and social goals: to attract foreign investment, to increase the number of tourists, to induce export, etc. The aim of the study was to form the evaluation algorithm of Lithuania tourism image. The following methods were applied in order to achieve the aim: systematic, logical, and comparative analysis of scientific literature, and synthesis. It can be concluded that the evaluation algorithm of a country image is a multi-stage process which includes the following levels of analysis: cultural, natural and urban environment; communication and transport; spread of information and marketing; quality and price of tourism-related service. The evaluation synthesis of these separate elements of a country image forms, a unified evaluation algorithm

Įvykių panaudojimo įmonių konkurencingumui didinti efektyvumas

The study investigates the efficiency of event usage for increase in competitiveness of companies. During the recent years there has been an increase in usage of events and other interactive forms of communication. Interactive communication is a response to the chal-lenges of the mass application era. Interactive commu-nication tools manifest a unique capability to influence a potential customer under dynamic conditions of the global economy. These tools enable companies to per-sonalize customer experiences while they are learning about new goods and services, to identify similar situa-tions and apply the experience that was gained before. Thus personalized presentation of goods and services reach millions of potential customers. Global changes in marketing communication strategy have formed the necessity to look for optimal methods and their combi-nations in order to evaluate the use of events for com-panies. It is really difficult to evaluate interactive com-munication tools because they include not only tangible (quantitative, measurable), but also intangible (qualita-tive, immeasurable) components. The aim of the study was to analyze the efficiency of event usage for increase in competitiveness of companies. [...]

Klasterizacijos procesų plėtra Lietuvoje (baldų pramonės pavyzdžiu)

The analysis is dedicated to a widely spreading phenomenon of global importance—clusterisation, which can be described as the tendency of interrelated companies and associated institutions to concentrate in a particular geographical location. This process has the growing importance to the development of the competitiveness under the dynamic circumstances of today’s economy. The study analyses trends of clusterisation in Lithuania and the potential to form clusters, illustrated with the example of the Lithuanian furniture industry. The furniture industry’s potential to be subject of clusterisation can be described by: variety of activities that companies perform and diversity of production, the structure of production, which includes the entire value (cost) production chain from raw material to different types of furniture; the form of ownership among companies and their geographical location: there are groups made of 4-5 companies that are able to accomplish a unified strategy. Yet, efforts to cooperate and coordinate activities are minimal. Relations between furniture/wood industry companies and inter-related business companies are limited, so it is necessary to stimulate their communication and cooperation. One of obstacles to realize the potential of clusterisation is lack of venture capital. The cluster policy should be aimed at individual country or region needs as well as peculiarities of a certain structure. The economic policy that induces clusterisation is a specific feature of the most advanced counties. The need of clusters is stressed in the main strategic and programming documents in Lithuania. The clusterisation concept serves as a possible instrument to form the economic policy. Lithuania is on the first stage of forming the cluster based economic policy

Развитиe туризма в Литве : применение событий

Tyrimo tikslas - išanalizuoti įvykių taikymo turizmo plėtros skatinimui Lietuvoje galimybes. Globalioje turizmo rinkoje intensyvėja konkurencijos ir vartotojų poreikių kaitos procesai. Viso pasaulio turizmo sistemos dalyviai investuoja į interaktyvias komunikacijos priemones. Viena iš jų - įvykiais paremta komunikacijos strategija. Tikėtina, kad įvykių reikšmė verslui (taip pat ir turizmo šakai) nesumažės, tačiau keisis jų taikymo pobūdis. Ateityje turėtų dominuoti įvykių ir elektroninio marketingo jungtinės formos. Globalios ekonomikos konkurencinėmis sąlygomis svarbu ne tik tinkamai suformuoti paslaugų paketą, bet ir įdomiai, netradiciškai jį reprezentuoti bei pateikti vartotojams. Vis daugiau įvairių verslo šakų įmonių prekiauja nebe prekėmis ar paslaugomis, o unikaliais patyrimais. Pasaulinis turizmo sektorius taip pat persiorientuoja į asmeninių patirčių pardavimą, kadangi net trumpos kelionės metu lankytojui turi būti perteiktas šalies identitetas. Įvykiais paremta turizmo plėtros strategija galėtų išspręsti daugelį Lietuvos, kaip turistinės šalies, konkurencingumo problemų. Plungės rajonui siūlytinas naujas turistinis maršrutas - „Plungės rajonas: gamtos ir kultūros harmonija“, sujungiantis kraštovaizdžio, kultūros, istorijos ir sakralines vertybes. Šio maršruto pagrindu buvo formuojama įvykių programa, atsižvelgiant į įvykių sezoniškumą (nesezoniniai ir organizuojami atskirais metų laikais) bei įvykių tipą (pasikartojantys ir proginiai). Tolygus sezoninis įvykių pasiskirstymas - reikšminga sąlyga, siekiant suformuoti Plungės rajono, kaip turistinės vietovės, patrauklumą visais metų laikais.Objective of the study is to examine the opportunities for promotion of tourism development through the application of events in Lithuania. The processes of changes in competition and consumer demands are intensifying on the market of global tourism. Participants of the global tourism system invest in means for interactive communications. One of them is the communication strategy based on the events. It is likely that the importance of events to business (as well as the tourism branch) will not reduce, but the nature of their application will change. Joint forms of the events and marketing electronic should dominate in the future. Under competitive conditions of the global economy, it is important not only to develop a package of services properly, but also to represent it to users an interestingly, unconventionally, too. An increasing number of companies in various business sectors no longer sell goods or services, but unique experiences. The global tourism sector is also switching to the sale of personal experience, because the national identity has to be reflected even during a short trip. Strategy based on the tourism development through the events could solve many problems of competitiveness related to Lithuania as a tourist country. Plunge district is offered a new tourist route – “Plunge district: the harmony of nature and culture”, which comprises the landscape, cultural, historic and sacred values. On the grounds of this route, the programme of events has been formed considering the events of seasonality (off-season and the ones organized during particular seasons), and type of events (repetitive and occasional). Even distribution of seasonal events is an important condition to build the attractiveness of Plunge district as a tourist area more during all seasons

Развития туризма в Литве: применение событий

Straipsnyje analizuojamas įvykių taikymas turizmo plėtros skatinimui Lietuvoje. Įvykiais paremtos turizmo plėtros strategijos reikšmė šalies turistiniam patrauklumui ir konkurencingumui atskleidžiama Plungės rajono pavyzdžiu.The study investigates the application of events for development of tourism in Lithuania. Event-based strategy of tourism development significantly affects tourism attractiveness and competitiveness of a country, which is revealed through the example of Plunge region.В статье анализируется применение событий для развития туризма в Литве. Значение стратегии развития туризма основано на применении событий для туристической привлекательности и конкурентоспособности, и представлено через пример Плунгяйского района

Turizmo sektoriaus konkurencingumo veiksnių identifikavimo ir vertinimo galimybės

Tourism is one of the most important and most rapidly growing economy sectors, which faces the challenges and possibilities of globalization. Historically, tourism markets have been national and regional, that is, isolated from one another. However, in the last decades the boundaries between national businesses tend to disappear. General trend of growing income enables individuals and families to travel longer distances. An increase in the quality of tourist products and services, innovations in the field of transport and communications, ingenious measures of tourism marketing, and other factors also significantly contribute to the development of global tourism. The competitiveness of tourist destinations becomes increasingly important to countries that intend to control a large share of rapidly growing tourism market. That is particularly relevant to the tourism-dependant countries, which heavily rely on the situation in tourism and travel industry. The competitiveness of tourism sector encloses many factors, such as natural environment (geographic location, climate, scenery, etc.), artificial environment (tourism infrastructure, transport, supply of leisure and entertainment services, retail stores, hotel network), and globalization of markets. The identification and evaluation of tourism competitiveness factors is a pretty common research problem of many scientific studies and articles dedicated to tourism economics. As tourism markets grow, and the concept of tourism evolves (holiday tourism, tourism of the physically disabled, ecological tourism, conference tourism, political tourism, etc.), the aforementioned research problems become more significant.The object of this study is the identification and evaluation of tourism competitiveness factors. The aim of this study: to identify and evaluate the factors of tourism competitiveness with the use of a systematic approach and renewed version of Competitiveness Monitor (CM) method, adapted for the analysis of modern needs of tourism market. The following scientific research methods were applied in the study: the systematical and logical analysis of scientific literature, and synthesis. The study carried out by the authors of this article proposes that the competitiveness of tourism sector significantly adds to the economic development. Some countries are not rich in natural resources or highly developed industry sectors. Such countries tend to concentrate their efforts on the development of tourism industry and services. Various competitiveness factors of tourism sector are analyzed in scientific literature. They are related to market conditions, the level of social development, environmental policy, the base of human resources, the quality of infrastructure, technological advancement, and other fields of development. The degree of development strongly correlates with competitiveness of tourist destinations. Competitive tourist destinations offer a wider range of tourist products; attract potential visitors with the help of their exceptional image (for instance, natural scenery, clean lakes, advanced environmental policy are a perfect niche for ecological tourism and environment-friendly country image); and provide services of a particularly high quality

New leverage over macroeconomic policy: the phenomenon of clusters

The impact of government on macroeconomic processes is pretty relevant. It manifests itself through various functions of governance and administration. The main mission of governing bodies is to assure both – economic and political stability. Government is also responsible for improving the microeconomic capabilities of companies by assuring efficient allocation of resources and stimulating productivity. The modern economic policy is based on the concept of clusters. The aim of the study is to analyze the importance of clusters in the context of macroeconomic policy. When a government implements a cluster-based economic policy, it actively participates in the process of creating and improving strategic relations inside and outside the cluster. That kind of policy is more efficient than any economic policy aimed at individual companies, as it enables a government to influence a great number of companies without distorting market-based competitive environment. Article in Lithuanian. Nauji makroekonominės politikos svertai: klasterių fenomenas Santrauka. Valstybės įtaka makroekonominiams procesams yra gana reikšminga. Ji pasireiškia įvairių reguliavimo ir valdymo funkcijų įgyvendinimu. Esminė valdžios institucijų paskirtis – užtikrinti ekonominį ir politinį stabilumą. valstybė taip pat privalo gerinti mikroekonominius įmonių pajėgumus, užtikrindama efektyvų išteklius tiekiančių institucijų darbą, skatindama išteklių  kokybės  didinimą  ir  produktyvų  naudojimą.  Šiuolaikinė  ekonominė  politika  remiasi  klasterių  koncepcija.  Tyrimo tikslas  –  ištirti  klasterių  reikšmę  makroekonominėje  politikoje.  Klasterių  požiūriu  grindžiamą  politiką  galima  apibūdinti kaip  ekonominės  politikos  sritį,  kurioje  valstybė  formuoja  bei  įgyvendina  priemones,  skatinančias  įmonių,  priklausančių klasteriui,  vidinės  sąveikos  stiprinimą  ir  strateginių  ryšių  klasterio  išorinėje  aplinkoje  plėtojimą. vyriausybės  ekonominė politika, nukreipta į klasterius, gali būti daug efektyvesnė nei politika, daranti įtaką individualioms įmonėms. Taip yra todėl, kad vyriausybė gali veikti daugelį susijusių gamintojų, neiškreipdama konkurencinės aplinkos. Reikšminiai  žodžiai: klasteriai,  strateginiai  ryšiai,  konkurencingumas,  konkurencinis  pranašumas,  produktyvumas, makroekonominė politika. First published online: 22 Dec 200