The aim of this paper was to define and quantify significant factors that shape the quality of the business environment in the SME segment and to create the business environment quality index. A part of this aim was a comparison of defined factors in the Czech Republic (CR) and the Slovak Republic (SR). In regards to the aim defined, a survey-based research was conducted with enterprises operating in the SME segment. 312 enterprises in CR and 329 enterprises in SR were approached during this research. To verify the defined scientific hypotheses, a custom Business Environment Quality Index was created that was quantified separately for CR and SR. The research results brought interesting findings. The aggregated Business Environment Quality Index in the Slovak Republic reached the value of 0.460, which was higher than that of the Czech Republic (0.418). Slovak entrepreneurs gave the economic factors a higher rating than Czech entrepreneurs. Similarly, Slovak entrepreneurs rated the importance of the Central Bank in establishing a stable business environment and the role of commercial banks in financing business needs more positively. The evaluation of political factors is relatively negative in both countries. Slovak entrepreneurs evaluated more positively the judicial system in the area of commercial law, the state's influence on the business environment, and the administrative burden on enterprises. Czech entrepreneurs had a minor issue with the state bureaucracy's impact on the business environment. The evaluation of technological factors is relatively negative in both countries, as the value of this index is slightly below 0.250. Slovak entrepreneurs better assessed the situation on the job market and the cooperation of the public sector with the business environment. On the contrary, Czech entrepreneurs gave the infrastructure level in the area of research and development a better rating. The evaluation of social factors is relatively positive in both countries. Entrepreneurs in the Slovak Republic perceive a more positive attitude of the society towards entrepreneurs and a more intense influence of the family on entrepreneurship, and positively evaluate media's activities in regards to the business environment. The evaluation of the competitive environment is more positive in Slovakia. When evaluating the narrower competitive environment, it was discovered that Slovak entrepreneurs think that customers, suppliers, and employees play a positive role in their business.
Civil participation is the main component of effective governance. The topicality of this paper lies in civil participation in decision-making defined by the principles of “new public governance” of the 21st century. This study aims to analyze the impact of civil participation in decision-making on waste management at the municipal level. In this work, the following aspects were considered: theoretical assumptions of civil participation; civil participation in the activities of institutions responsible for environmental protection; issues regarding the development of opportunities of citizens’ involvement in municipal waste management. The article is devoted to the theoretical assumptions about civil participation, theoretical model of analysis, and activity of institutions. To develop a theoretical model of analysis, a classification of civil participation was carried out. Among the methods used, one can mention the questionnaire. The analysis was focused on a legal basis for the activity of institutions; the actual activity of institutions and survey of representatives of the national environmental authorities in Lithuania. The results showed that currently there is no mechanism in Lithuania to ensure civil participation in municipal waste management. Civil participation is still formal and limited. Overall, citizens are informed about the decisions made, but they do not participate actively in decision-making. The analysis of civil participation capacity in waste management leads to the conclusion that Lithuania has no single mechanism to ensure civil participation in waste management. To enhance civil participation in decision-making on waste management, it is suggested to set up a council where the representatives of civil population are delegated.
The paper presents a study, which describes the current governance model of the electricity sector in Lithuania. Electricity and energy production and distribution is highly regulated worldwide. This is also true in Lithuania, where the electricity sector is highly politically prominent, and policy is highly centralized. There are geopolitical concerns towards Russia, which is an important supplier of electricity, and Lithuania’s grid is highly integrated with that of Russia. In addition, Lithuania is a small country dominated by a small number of large state-owned producers and has no regional administrations. Lithuania rhetorically has adopted increased citizen participation as a strategic policy goal. The study investigates how far the rhetorics are followed up by policy planning, implementation, and development of new governance modes. The authors base the study on interviews with 19 experts and regulation analysis. The study found that regulation process is transparent, but this causes lower public interest and consequently lower citizen participation. Existing stakeholder involvement at the policy level is highly arbitrary and favorable to large electricity producers. As production is set to decentralize, this has the potential to overburden the regulatory system and cause conflict between different producers.
Purpose of this paper is to propose a model for assessment of internet marketing efficacy, based on qualitative criteria and building on the theoretical and empirical investigation of various qualitative criteria applicable to internet marketing. The methodological framework used in the investigation is based on theoretical descriptive, comparative, analytical methods. Qualitative empirical study based on expert interviews was also employed. Nine experts of internet marketing and related fields were involved in the study. The aim of qualitative study is to explore the expert opinnions on the qualitative criteria for internet marketing assessment. This feedback helps to identify problems faced by business developing internet marketing campaigns, the steps to be taken further to solve them and advance campaign efficacy. The model integrating the qualitative criteria into the internet marketing assessment is proposed. The paper analyses the creation and application of qualitative criteria of internet marketing, discusses the problems of internet marketing development, proposes the ways how to deal with the emerging problems and presents the qualitative criteria based model for internet marketing assesment. The qualitative study is the main novety of the research and is intended to scrutinise the concept of internet marketing quality and distinguish the qualitative criteria for internet marketing development.The conclusions and recommendations of the research have practical value, which will help in the process of internet marketing quality implementation.
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