The Specifics of the Internationalization Process of Czech SMEs in the Food Industry

The aim of this paper is to define the specifics of the internationalization process of Czech small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the food industry. The food industry is the largest manufacturing sector in the EU which consists mainly of SMEs. However, in the Czech Republic it has to face increasing imports of foreign food products because of growing globalization, while exports lag behind. Thus, enterprises should be encouraged to internationalize in a greater extent to maintain their competitiveness. The paper explores the main motives, barriers and risks involved in internationalization as perceived by these enterprises. The results are based on primary data obtained by questionnaire surveys performed among Czech food industry SMEs, thus it is based on data about SME's real experiences and perception of interntaionalization process. According to our results, Czech SMEs from food industry are driven to internationalize mainly by their efforts to grow or by unsolicited foreign demand for their product. However, as the biggest barriers are perceived those connected with the lack of knowledge about foreign market and administrative requirements. The identified motives and barriers are compared with results of similar researches from Slovakia and Poland. Moreover, the results of Czech SMEs risk perception in internationalization are depicted in risk matrix which assess not only the effect of risk but also the possibility of its occurrence.O

The modelling of educational institution management

Norint sėkmingai vadovauti švietimo organizacijai, būtinos specialios žinios ir gebėjimai. Barvydienė (1999) teigia, kad šioje nuolatinės kaitos epochoje vadovas įgyja ypatingą vaidmenį organizacijoje. Nusistovėję terminai „vadovas“ ar „viršininkas“ nebeatspindi jo funkcijų, nes vadovas nebe valdo ar yra viršesnis – jis numato, skatina, organizuoja, vertina ir pan., t.y., tampa komandos nariu, atliekančiu tam tikros kompetencijos reikalaujančias funkcijas. Organizacijos vadovai yra priversti iš naujo įvertinti savo veiklos tikslus, uždavinius, bei metodus. Tyrimo problema – Prieštaravimas tarp formalių ir realių švietimo organizacijos vadovo veiklos sričių ir jose atliekamų funkcijų. Tyrimo objektas – švietimo organizacijos vadybos modelis. Tyrimo tikslas – sukurti ir empiriškai patikrinti švietimo organizacijos vadybos modelį. Tyrimo uždaviniai: 1. Nustatyti švietimo organizacijos ypatumus organizacijų teorijų kontekste. 2. Identifikuoti pagrindines švietimo organizacijos vadovo veiklos sritis. 3. Apibrėžti esmines švietimo organizacijos vadybos funkcijas. 4. Nustatyti vadybinės veiklos funkcijų raišką švietimo organizacijoje, mokytojų požiūriu. Pirmoje dalyje siekiama teoriškai apsibrėžti pagrindinius švietimo organizacijų ypatumus bei švietimo organizacijos vadovo vykdomas veiklos sritis ir funkcijas. Nagrinėjamos mokslinės literatūros bei dokumentų pagrindu parengiamas teorinis švietimo organizacijos vadybos modelis. Antroje dalyje atliekamas kiekybinis tyrimas Kauno m. N bendrojo lavinimo mokykloje. Naudojamas atvejo tyrimas, juo siekiama nustatyti vadybinės veiklos funkcijų raišką švietimo organizacijoje, mokytojų požiūriu. Trečioje dalyje pateikiami tyrimo rezultatai. Juos apibendrinant atskleidžiami būdingiausi, mokytojų požiūriu, N mokyklos vadybos bruožai. Darbo pabaigoje pateikiamos išvados bei rekomendacijos, kaip ir kokiu būdu būtų galima pagerinti konkrečios mokyklos vadybos situaciją.Special knowledge and skills are needed in order to hold an educational institution successfully. According to Barvydienė (1999), a leader is acquiring a special role in an institution in this constant alternation epoch. Such well – established terms as “a leader“ or “a chief“ do not reflect his or her functions because a leader does not hold or dominate, he or she foresees, encourages, organizes, evaluates and so on, i.e. he or she becomes a member of a team, performing functions in regard to certain expertise. Institution leaders are made to review their activities’ purposes, goals as well as methods. Research problem – the inconsistence between formal and practical activity spheres and functions performed by an educational institution leader. Research object – educational institution management model. Research aim – to create and examine an educational institution management model empirically. Research goals: 1. To determine the peculiarities of an educational institution in an institutional theory context. 2. To identify the main activity spheres of an educational institution leader. 3. To define the fundamental functions of educational institution management. 4. To establish a functional manifestation of management in an educational institution, regarding teachers’ attitude. In the first part of Master thesis it is aimed to define the major peculiarities of an educational institution as well as the spheres and functions of an educational institution leader theoretically. A theoretical educational institution management model is researched which is based on scientific sources and documents. In the second part a quantity research is carried out in Kaunas city in N comprehensive school. A case study is used to define teachers’ attitude towards the functional manifestation of management activity in an educational institution. In the third part the research results are presented. By summarizing them, the main N comprehensive school‘s management features are shown, considering teachers’ viewpoint. Finally, the conclusions and recommendations are presented in order to disclose how and what approach could be used to improve a management situation of a certain school.Vytauto Didžiojo universiteta

Bendrų įmonių formavimo ir tiesioginių užsienio investicijų kliūčių Vidurio ir Rytų Europoje analizė

There has been a surge of academic interest regarding investments in CEECs. As the region emerged to be an attractive market for investments, many Western firms have tried to forge various business relationships with local partner firms, including strategic alliances and joint ventures. Such investments can have a variety of purposes. Western firms may seek local production in order to reduce production costs, and/or development of new markets. Anyhow foreign investors are faced with business environment problems that make the decisions for FDI (foreign direct investment) difficult

Research on the suitability of 155 mm ammunition for self-propelled howitzers PzH2000

The aim of this research is to evaluate, from the theoretical and practical points of view, the main factors which influence the choice of 155 mm ammunition for the self-propelled howitzers PzH2000 used by the Lithuanian military. Another aim is to choose the combat shell which best suits the determined criteria from a list of nine possible options based on the date received. For this purpose, the processes and factors which influenced the choice of the 155 mm combat shells for the artillery systems PzH2000 of the Lithuanian military were analysed. The objectives of the work were set to analyse the acquisition process of the artillery ammunition, to establish the criteria which help to determine the shells suitable for the self-propelled howitzers PzH2000 and to choose the shells according to the set criteria. With reference to the method of determining the evaluation criteria of the economically most advantageous proposal, the choice of the optimal combat shell for the Lithuanian Defence system is substantiated

Impact of reduced soil tillage on maize agrocenosis

The long-term stationary field experiment was carried out at the Experimental Station of the Aleksandras Stulginskis University (ASU) in 2012. Soil of field experiment was silty loam Luvisol (Calc(ar)i-Epihypogleyic Luvisol, LVg-p-w-cc(sc)). Climate of experimental site is subarctic, transitional maritime-continental. Average annual temperature is 6.2° C. The aim of the experiment was to establish the influence of reduced primary (in autumn) soil tillage on maize productivity. The plots of experiments were: 1. conventionally (23-25 cm) ploughed by mouldboard plough; 2. shallowly (12-15 cm) ploughed by mouldboard plough; 3. deeply (23-25 cm) tilled by chisel cultivator; 4. shallowly (12-15 cm) tilled by disc harrow; 5. no-till The most types of weed were found in the soil that was hoed shallowly (107,5 units/m-2), and the least types of weed were found in the soil that was hoed deeply (62,0 units./m-2). In the fields that were cultivated normally and shallowly – 78,8 and 85,0 or more than in the fields that were hoed deeply but less than in the fields that wee hoed shallowly. Perennial weed was found in the soil that was hoed shallowly and uncultivated. There was 13 times more weed of that kind, compared to the soil that was cultivated normally. Essential differences were found between repetitions. The mass of the short-lived weed was essentially the biggest in the soil that was hoed shallowly and uncultivated (144,7* g m-2 and 195,6** g m-2). The mass of weed in the fields that were cultivated normally was the least, only 41,2 g m-2. In the fields that were cultivated shallowly and hoed deeply, the mass of weed was almost twice bigger than in the case of an ordinary cultivating. It was observed, that, as the intensity of the main working of the soil decreased, the mass of perennial weed gradually increased, and it peaked in the fields that were hoed shallowly and uncultivatedVytauto Didžiojo universitetasŽemės ūkio akademij

Probleminiai elektroninio verslo įgyvendinimo aspektai smulkiose ir vidutinėse įmonėse

The rapid growth of electronic business has been evident since the very beginning of the last decade. Nevertheless, so far companies experience many problems related to the implementation of e-business. This article is focused on the analysis of the main problems as well as opportunities of small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) engaged in e-business. However, in the rush to offer e-business applications to beat competition or to respond to client and internal needs. many businesses have developed unfriendly, expensive. limited services of questionable value. This article will present an analysis and some methodological guidelines as to how to solve the problems arising in the implementation of e-business as well as how to best use the offered opportunities.The main goal of the article is to analyse the problematical issues of implementing e-business in small and medium-sized enterprises.The following objectives are set in the article:1. To define the main problems and barriers in engaging in e-business faced by small and medium- sized enterprises.2. Based on the analysis of survey results. to identify the main reasons and opportunities for involvement in e-business.3. To outline the characteristics that small and medium-sized enterprises should possess in order to be effective in e-business.The following research methods are applied: theoretical and comparative analysis. an empirical study of SMEs on the issue of e-business.Pagrindinis straipsnio tikslas - išnagrinėti elektroninio verslo įgyvendinimo problemas smulkiose ir vidutinėse įmonėse. Darbo uždaviniai: išryškinti pagrindines problemas ir kliūtis, su kuriomis susiduria smulkios ir vidutinės įmonės, plėtojančios elektroninį verslą; remiantis analizuojamų tyrimų rezultatais, identifikuoti esmines priežastis, motyvus ir galimybes dalyvauti elektroniniame versle; nustatyti pagrindinius požymius, kurie turėtų būti būdingi smulkiai ar vidutinei įmonei, siekiančiai elektroninio verslo efektyvumo.Straipsnyje naudoti teoriniai ir lyginamosios analizės metodai, taip pat analizuoti tyrimai ir apklausos elektroninio verslo tematika. Atlikus analizė nustatyta, kad pagrindinė kliūtis smulkioms ir vidutinėms įmonėms yra šių įmonių vadovų nepakankamas supratimas, kokiais būdais jų produktai ar paslaugos gali būti pateikiamos internete arba kaip jų verslo procesai gali būti susieti su internetu ar informacinėmis technologijomis. Dažniausiai smulkioms įmonėms trūksta techninių žinių arba per dideli su elektroninio verslo įdiegimu susiję kaštai. Taip pat viena iš esminių problemų, kurią nurodo smulkios įmonės, yra verslo operacijų internete saugumo aspektai. Šio tipo įmonėms trūksta knowhow, taip pat jos nežino metodų, kaip sukurti efektyvius elektroninio verslo modelius ir juos pritaikyti savo verslui. Kita vertus, remiantis atliktais tyrimais, galima teigti, kad pagrindiniai motyvai smulkioms ir vidutinėms įmonėms pradėti elektroninį verslą yra tokie: klientų aptarnavimas gali tapti efektyvesnis, mažesni veiklos kaštai, operatyvesnės, greitesnės tiekimo procedūros, mažesnės produktų sandėliavimo apimtys ir tam reikalingas plotas, lankstesnės pozicijos konkurentų atžvilgiu, didesnis rinkos plėtros potencialas.Smulkios ir vidutinės įmonės, siekiančios sėkmingos elektroninio verslo plėtros, pirmiausia turėtų išanalizuoti savo verslo procesus ir nustatyti, kurie tų procesų elementai gali būti geriausiai pritaikyti operacijoms internete. Tokių verslo proceso elementų pavyzdžiais gali būti didelis užsakymų arba transakcijų kiekis, vykdomas telefonu arba paštu, dideli kiekiai mažos apimties sandorių, kurie informacinių technologijų ir kompiuterių pagalba gali būti apdorojami efektyviau, negu tai darytų darbuotojai ir pan. Smulkios ir vidutinės įmonės, pradėdamos elektroninį verslą, pirmiausia turėtų atkreipti dėmesį į tas operacijas ar veiksmus, kurie nulemia paslaugos kokybę. Elektroninio verslo modelis turėtų būti suprojektuotas taip, kad klientas pastebėtų aiškią naudą ir kad tai ir motyvuotų naudotis įmonės teikiamomis paslaugomis internetu