Personnel Evaluation Process for Employees of State Administrative Institutions

Nowadays, the greatest proportion of any economy is comprised of services rather than goods, therefore enterprises are interested in optimising the use of resources, while customers increasingly focus on the quality of customer service. In a special way, it may be also attributed to state administrative institutions, the customer service of which is directly associated with the state’s prestige and the meaningful achievement of the state’s strategic goals. However, a personnel evaluation process and the organisation of it for employees of state administrative institutions is subordinated to the state’s strategic goals and regulated by a relatively broad range of legal documents. Such considerations indicate that the research problem is urgent at national and municipal levels. The research aim is to examine a personnel evaluation process for employees of state administrative institutions in order to identify possibilities to enhance the evaluation process. The specific research tasks are as follows: 1) to summarise the theoretical aspects of a personnel evaluation process; 2) to examine the personnel evaluation process for employees of state administrative institutions in Latvia. The research employed the following methods: monographic, descriptive, analysis and synthesis, as well as abstract analysis and logical construction

CHARACTERISTICS OF DAIRY SUPPLY CHAINS: THE CASE OF THE BALTIC STATES

There are significant differences in retail food markets in the Baltic States in terms of consumer habits, economic conditions and market participants; however, it is not possible to analyse trade in packaging for dairy products only within one country, as the largest retailers and producers of dairy products operate in all the three countries, implementing single supply operations and other supply chain operations. In the present research, the authors examine further development opportunities for the logistics of and packaging for dairy products in the three Baltic States – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – in the dairy supply chain. There are several reasons for such a research study, which are related to the composition of the dairy retail supply chain and the specifics of primary packaging for dairy products. The research aim is to examine the dairy supply chain in the Baltic States in order to identify opportunities for the development of packaging. To achieve the aim, the following research tasks were set: 1) to describe the dairy supply chains in the Baltic States from the aspect of retail trade; 2) to examine the characteristics of the dairy supply chain that affect logistics and the development of packaging in logistics. The research found that a situation has emerged in the Baltic States that a fragmented diversity of returnable packaging is specific to the dairy supply chain, which makes the logistics of packaging for dairy products inefficient. The diversity of returnable packaging hinders reverse logistics, the key hindering operations of which are: sorting, storage and washing of containers ready for transport and other related operations

Digital Readiness and Competitiveness of the EU Higher Education Institutions: The COVID-19 Pandemic Impact

oai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/340Nowadays, students expect that their university will not only provide a valuable source of practical knowledge for them, but will also be ready to offer appropriate distance learning opportunities both on a daily basis to diversify and enrich the study process experience and during global pandemic crises, which will probably be the reality of their lives in the next decades. The novelty and topicality of this study is justified by the need to assess the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the European Union higher education system and its adaptability to switch from traditional to remote study forms. The objectives of the study were: 1) to analyse the need to improve digital skills in the European Union by investigating the achievements of the Digital Economy and Society Index; 2) to assess the current digital environment of Latvian public universities and conduct an in-depth study of the digital environment of Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies. The research methodology is based on the desk study, social survey, comparative analysis and logical construction research methods. The results of the study revealed the digital gap that still exists between the more developed Nordic European countries and the less developed Southern and Eastern European countries. However, detailed analysis of the situation in Latvia leads to the conclusion that Latvian higher education institutions have significantly increased the amount of digital content in both external and internal communication systems and can offer competitive educational services that comply with the contemporary education requirements

Analysis of Waste Minimization Challenges to European Food Production Enterprises

Economic growth increases the pressure on environmental issues, thus highlighting the importance of waste minimization processes. The waste management approaches in most European countries have so far been relatively little studied and compared at the micro level. The main objective of the current research is to analyze the challenges of waste minimization in European food industry enterprises and identify good practices in the selected countries. The research used a mixed-method methodology, combining both qualitative and quantitative methods, thus providing an in-depth insight into food enterprises’ efforts to reduce their production waste and use their resources more efficiently. The main data collection methods used for the study were secondary data research, discourse analysis, case studies, and focus group interviews. The analysis of the food waste management applications in the European countries’ food sub-sectors leads to the conclusion that since the national initiatives and success factors vary between the countries, it is important to invent such national food waste management systems that are economically justified and technically available for all enterprises regardless of their food waste production volumes. It is also necessary to raise awareness of the strategies that food industry employers, employees, and consumers can use to reduce their waste and thus promote a waste minimization culture in Europe. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2022-06-03-08 Full Text: PD

THE OPINION OF FOREST OWNERS ON EUROPEAN UNION SUBSIDIES INTENDED FOR FOREST MANAGEMENT IN LATVIA

To clarify the opinion of Latvian private forest owners on the use of EU funding in forest management, a survey of forest owners (Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies grant project No. Z7 funding) was conducted in November 2018 by the staff members of the Forest Advisory Service Centre (FASC) which is a branch of the Latvian Rural Advisory and Training Centre. A total of 153 forest owners have been included in the survey, of whom 107 (70%) forest owners have previously used EU funding support in forest management, and 46 forest owners (30%) who have not used this opportunity. The respondents included in the survey represent forest owners from all regions of Latvia. The survey included general questions describing the profile of the forest owner, such as the size of the owned forest area, for how long the forest has been the owner’s property, knowledge of forest management and the way of receiving information. Regarding the attracting of EU funding, the forest owner's view of the already used EU support and its type was clarified and the overall level of satisfaction, the necessary improvements, and the type of EU support needed for further forest management were identified. The study also includes the results of other similar surveys carried out by other institutions on forest owners’ opinions on EU support for forestry. The results of the survey conducted by FASC confirm that 76% of forest owners who have already used some measures of the EU's financial support at least once are ready to take advantage of the opportunity to apply for the support also in the future. The forest owners, who have not used EU financial support for forest management so far, continue to express sceptical opinions, and only 46% of such respondents would be willing to apply for further EU support funding. When comparing the priority support directions specified by forest owners, it can be concluded that the trends in the need for subsidies are fairly similar, 80% of owners who have previously used the financial EU support, point out that support for young stand and advanced growth thinning is still needed in the future. The same opinion has been expressed by 70% of forest owners who have not previously used the EU funding. In a series of studies, a general trend for priority of most desirable EU subsidies have been identified and it was revealed that 61% of forest owners want to receive support for young stand and advanced growth thinning. Half of this percentage of respondents have pointed out the need for EU subsidies for forest amelioration and road construction (32%), forest establishment (31%), forest regeneration (30%) and for compensations of the protection of natural values and for it management  (29%)

Theoretical Aspects Of The Nature And Influencing Factors Of Eco-Innovations

The world faces such serious environmental problems as climate change, the exhaustion of natural resources and the loss of biodiversity, which create self-destruction threats to our mankind. This situation has become so real and visible that it caused response in the form of ecoinnovations. Eco-innovations are any kind of innovation that contribute to more efficient exploitation of resources or environmental protection. Ecoinnovations involve the sustainable exploitation of natural resources, ensure increase in the quality of life, meet today’s needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs and contribute to the preservation of biodiversity for an unlimited period. Eco-innovations involve not only environmental gains but also provide an opportunity for entrepreneurship. Eco-innovations reduce the expenses of enterprises, help the enterprises to use new opportunities for their growth and strengthen the image of the enterprises among the public. The eco-innovation initiative was launched in 2008, and it was part of several European Union (EU) innovation programmes. For this reason, the research problem and the research aim were determined by the necessity to identify and examine the theoretical aspects of the nature and kinds of this relatively new initiative, which are further used as a basis for empirical research. The research aim is to characterise and examine the theoretical aspects of the nature and influencing factors of eco-innovations. The research employed general analysis methods, logical construction, and quantitative methods: monographic, content analysis for the specific literature and research papers, a specific case study and graphical methods for data analysis and depiction

The Concept of Urban Agriculture – Historical Development and Tendencies

The change in the concept of urban agriculture has been driven by social, political and economic factors, changing the role of agriculture in the urban environment. From the second half of 20th century topicality and practices of urban agriculture are growing widely not only in social initiatives but also in scientific research (the number of articles in scientific databases has increased 18-30 times since 2000). Growing interest has identified various variations and tendencies in the interpretation of the concept of urban agriculture, having regard to the current United Nations definition that is broad, but in research works and case studies researchers adapt the definitions to the local characteristics and aim of the study, thus creating a number of risks in the interpretation of the concept, including limited possibilities for quantitative comparisons between studies. The aim of the article is to identify the historical development stages of the concept of urban agriculture and to determine the main research tendencies in its application. To achieve this aim, the method of monographic and descriptive analysis was used for theoretical discussion, analysis, synthesis and deduction - for information gathering, logical systematization and classification. As a result of the study, it was identified that the concept of urban agriculture is developed in three different stages - originally associated with the technical solutions of urban planning for providing food for city dwellers, it is currently developing in tendencies of different directions: analysis of agriculture’s role in urban areas (including mitigating climate change risks), classification of types of urban agriculture, opportunities for adapting innovations and technological solutions to urban agriculture, the place and context of urban agriculture for sustainable development in the circumstances of urbanization. Such in-depth research of the experience and impact of urban agriculture on sustainable development could increase dynamically due to environmental considerations, aspect of the circular economy, and new paradigms in planning urban and peri-urban areas

Galas razosanas integracija

Separate summary in Latvian and English, 79 p.Available from Latvian Academic Library / LAL - Latvian Academic LibrarySIGLELVLatvi

ESG Investing Issues in Food Industry Enterprises: Focusing on On-the-Job Training in Waste Management

Recently, there is a growing interest in investing in ways that might eliminate global warming; therefore, a number of studies promote the idea of ESG investing. The current study presents the latest discourses on the interpretation of investment and the role of social aspects in terms of investing in ESG. The topicality of the particular study is justified by the fact that food sector investors and other market participants use ESG information through ESG ratings, which, among social factors, include on-the-job training as an important indicator of a company’s sustainability. This study was based on a mixed-methods methodology that combines qualitative and quantitative research methods in consistent methodological steps. Based on the research of a wide range of scientific literature and the results of focus group interviews with industry practitioners, the authors have explored ESG implementation issues in European food sector enterprises to identify how food sector companies can strengthen their ESG performance by developing practical on-the-job training in waste management. This study has posed a research question: What skills should be integrated in on-the-job training programs in contemporary waste management in food industry enterprises? The research results present a systematized structure that integrates explicit and tacit knowledge, skills and competence that were acknowledged as topical in developing on-the-job training programs for food industry enterprises

Latvian Electric Vehicle Fast Charging Infrastructure: Results of the First Year of Operation

This article presents preliminary analysis of the Latvian national EV fast - charging network after the first year of operation. The first phase of Latvian national EV fast-charging network was launched in 2018 with 70 charging stations on the TEN-T roads and in the largest towns and cities. The article looks at the initial results, both looking at the total capacity utilization for individual charging stations, determining the hourly charging distribution; and to the utilization of the network as a whole. The results present that there is a very large dispersion of the data, most of the charging events happening in a few charging stations in and around the capital of Latvia. However, there have been charging events in all charging stations, even in the most remote ones. Even more skewed distribution was observed analyzing the charging habits of the EV users, with 10 % of users accounting for more than half of the charging events. This should be taken into account when considering applying the results for the future, expecting larger number of electric vehicles in Latvia