CLASSIFICATIONS OF INNOVATIONS: APPROACHES AND CONSEQUENCES

Abstract TABAS, J., BERANOVÁ, M., POLÁK, J.: Classifi cation of innovations: approaches and consequences. Acta univ. agric. et silvic. Mendel. Brun., 2011, LIX, No. 2, pp. 399-406 Currently, innovations are perceived as a life blood of businesses. The inevitable fact is that even if the innovations have a potential to transform the companies or all the industries, the innovations are high risky. Even though, the second fact is that in order to companies' development and their survival on the markets, the innovations have become the necessity. In the theory, it is rather diffi cult to fi nd a comprehensive defi nition of innovation, and to settle down a general defi nition of innovation becomes more and more diffi cult with the growing number of domains where the innovations, or possible innovations start to appear in a form of added value to something that already exist. Defi nition of innovation has come through a long process of development; from early defi nition of Schumpeter who has connected innovation especially with changes in products or production processes, to recent defi nitions based on the added value for a society. One of possible approaches to defi ne the content of innovation is to base the defi nition on classifi cation of innovation. In the article, the authors provide the analysis of existing classifi cations of innovations in order to fi nd, respectively in order to defi ne the general content of innovation that would confi rm (or reject) their defi nition of innovation derived in the frame of their previous work where they state that innovation is a change that leads to gaining profi t for an individual, for business entity, or for society, while the profi t is not only the accounting one, but it is the economic profi t. The article is based especially on the secondary research while the authors employ the method of analysis with the aim to confront various classifi cation-based defi nitions of innovation. Then the methods used are especially comparison, analysis and synthesis. added value, classifi cation of innovations, competitive advantage, defi nition of innovation, innovatio

Agrobacterium rhizogenes-Mediated Transformation of the Parasitic Plant Phtheirospermum japonicum

Background: Plants within the Orobanchaceae are an agriculturally important group of parasites that attack economically important crops to obtain water and nutrients from their hosts. Despite their agricultural importance, molecular mechanisms of the parasitism are poorly understood. Methodology/Principal Findings: We developed transient and stable transformation systems for Phtheirospermum japonicum, a facultative parasitic plant in the Orobanchaceae. The transformation protocol was established by a combination of sonication and acetosyringone treatments using the hairy-root-inducing bacterium, Agrobacterium rhizogenes and young seedlings. Transgenic hairy roots of P. japonicum were obtained from cotyledons 2 to 3 weeks after A. rhizogenes inoculation. The presence and the expression of transgenes in P. japonicum were verified by genomic PCR, Southern blot and RT-PCR methods. Transgenic roots derived from A. rhizogenes-mediated transformation were able to develop haustoria on rice and maize roots. Transgenic roots also formed apparently competent haustoria in response to 2,6dimethoxy-1,4-benzoquinone (DMBQ), a haustorium-inducing chemical. Using this system, we introduced a reporter gene with a Cyclin B1 promoter into P. japonicum, and visualized cell division during haustorium formation. Conclusions: We provide an easy and efficient method for hairy-root transformation of P. japonicum. Transgenic marker analysis revealed that cell divisions during haustorium development occur 24 h after DMBQ treatment. The protocol

A Comparative Analysis of Organic and Conventional Farming Profitability

The objective of this article is to determine the economic performance of organic farms compared with conventional farms. The analysis included a set of farms the concentration of which is in natural and climatic conditions typical for this type of farming high. The outputs may be therefore considered representative and generalised. In order to determine the performance of these farms, their production basis was first assessed by using the indicators of available assets and assets coverage resources. Consequently, their efficiency was assessed based on the profit. For the purposes of comparison, the profit was (in various forms) converted to a hectare of agricultural land. The economic results were also compared with the average level achieved in the EU. The final part of the research focused on the evaluation of the economic and financial standing of the farms using selected return, liquidity, debt, and activity related ratio indicators. The established results show that the situation of organic farms on the national level tends to be economically more favourable. This is demonstrated by the higher share of profit-making farms and more favourable values of certain ratio indicators, i.e. those concerning profitability, liquidity, and interest coverage. The comparison with the average values achieved in the EU revealed a significantly more favourable situation in the Czech Republic

A Comparative Analysis of Organic and Conventional Farming Profitability

The objective of this article is to determine the economic performance of organic farms compared with conventional farms. The analysis included a set of farms the concentration of which is in natural and climatic conditions typical for this type of farming high. The outputs may be therefore considered representative and generalised. In order to determine the performance of these farms, their production basis was first assessed by using the indicators of available assets and assets coverage resources. Consequently, their efficiency was assessed based on the profit. For the purposes of comparison, the profit was (in various forms) converted to a hectare of agricultural land. The economic results were also compared with the average level achieved in the EU. The final part of the research focused on the evaluation of the economic and financial standing of the farms using selected return, liquidity, debt, and activity related ratio indicators. The established results show that the situation of organic farms on the national level tends to be economically more favourable. This is demonstrated by the higher share of profit-making farms and more favourable values of certain ratio indicators, i.e. those concerning profitability, liquidity, and interest coverage. The comparison with the average values achieved in the EU revealed a significantly more favourable situation in the Czech Republic

Evaluation of innovation processes.

Abstract TABAS, J., BERANOVÁ, M., POLÁK, J.: Evaluation of innovation processes. Acta univ. agric. et silvic. Mendel. Brun., 2012, LX, No. 2, pp. 523-532 In present, innovations are spoken as an engine of the world economy because the innovations are transforming not only business entities but the whole industries. The innovations have become a necessity for business entities in order to survive on fl oating challenging markets. This way, innovations are driving force of companies' performance. The problem which arises here is a question of measurement innovation's eff ect on the fi nancial performance of company or selection between two or more possible variants of innovation's realization. Various authors which are focused on innovations processes are divided into two groups in their attitudes towards the question of infl uence of innovations on fi nancial performance of companies

Analysis of governance systems applied in multifunctional forest management in selected European mountain regions

The objective of this study is to map and analyse governance systems relevant for the implementation of multifunctional mountain forest management in selected European countries. This paper is based on the FP7 research project Advanced multifunctional forest management in European mountain ranges (ARANGE). Current governance systems relevant for the implementation of multifunctional forest management are analysed in seven case study areas the Iberian Mountains (Spain), Western Alps (France), Eastern Alps (Austria), Dinaric Mountains (Slovenia), Scandinavian Mountains (Sweden), Western Carpathians (Slovakia) and Western Rhodopes (Bulgaria). Qualitative social research methods were applied for data collection. Semi-structured questionnaire was focused on the following elements of governance participation and stakeholders interactions and inter-sectorial coordination. The results indicate that forest managers share a general perception of multifunctional forest management being focused on preserving or strengthening several forest functions and services including timber production. They believe that current governance systems basically support multifunctional management of mountain forests. The participatory and inter-sectoral processes are playing an important role in multifunctional forest management in selected European mountain regions. © by Zuzana Sarvašová 2015