Dynamic Knowledge-based Economy Research Articles

Life-Long Learning: intercultural education and communication Europe and beyond

Abstract Life-Long Learning seems to be an all-sides studied model. Globalisation, work-market rapid change, and the free circulation of knowledge let researchers discover that there is a new way of designing the LLL process. The multicultural society is a drive of LLL process optimisation. After the Lisbon strategy and seeing the unstoppable path of lifelong learning stress, the requirements for a profound reflection on the role of citizen’s education. The article aims to analyse the intercultural aspect of LLL and how it can be stretched. Particular attention is dedicated to how the EU and RF reply to society and economic challenges through the implementation of the LLL process. The intercultural aspect will comprise a horizontal intercultural aspect and vertical ones. Will be examined the role of the European Commission as well as a promoter of the idea of an inclusive society and the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world. The intercultural approach will be stressed thanks to examining the Soviet Union and Russian Federation’s LLL process. The used methodology is a review of relevant intervention studies and Political Documents and Financing actions for examining the effectiveness of interventions. The analysis of two paths of the LLL process’s implementation and promotion; the analysis of two ways of LLL process organisation will permit an expansive view of the LLL process. Furthermore, the parallel analysis of the LLL process permits us to see how the two ways of social development can be reflected through different actions on LLL policy, starting from formal education and ultimate to third Age Education. In final, it permits us to learn more about how LLL can be a solution to avoid social welfare bankruptcy.

Quando una politica fallisce. Il brain drain in Sardegna

In the socio-economic realities of Western countries, knowledge and scientific knowledge play a central role in the production of tangible and intangible goods, they themselves become a productive force, the only one capable of producing lasting value and competitive advantages for knowledge. society. Within this theoretical framework, the European Union had set itself the strategic goal of «becoming the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world» and confirmed this with the Europe 2020 Program. It is in this context that the investment effort in training of the most disadvantaged southern Italian regions takes on significant importance, such as the Master & Back program promoted in the last decade by the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, to give greater depth to the human capital of its young graduates. through highly qualified experiences outside the island for the purpose of subsequent insertion, once specialized, in the local labor market. The contribution is a careful analysis of the mechanisms of a policy that has looked only at the supply side of the workforce, its impact on employment levels and its perverse effects, such as the massive brain drain that occurred at the end of the experience in following a mismatch process with an inadequate and unprepared production fabric to accommodate highly qualified personnel, or a significant brain waste, or an underutilization of the resources themselves. Keywords: Specialization, Policies, Brain Drain, Mismatch in Labor Market.

Quality of employment in small firms

The strategic objective of the European Union set out in Lisbon is to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy capable of delivering sustainable economic growth, increasing employment and developing greater social cohesion. At the heart of this strategy are businesses, and given that the vast majority of them are SMEs (less than 250 employees), policies to achieve this are focused on them. At the same time, improving the quality of work and working conditions is still an important objective on the European political agenda due to multiple socio-economic implications. In this context, the work "Quality of Employment in Small Companies" by Daniela Paşnicu and Gabriela Tănase is very current. Appeared in 2017 at the University Publishing House, the paper is structured in five chapters.

Comparative Study of Governance Information Systems for Scientific Research

The research and innovation effort is a major asset in international economic competition. Research and technological development are key areas to achieve this, contributing to economic growth and job creation. In order to achieve the objective of becoming the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, several government have developed in recent years information systems to manage their scientific research. As part of the development of instruments to support the strategic management of research at an institution, in particular a university, the design of an information system that meets the requirements of a high level of operational, tactical and strategic institutional authorities seems paramount. International models of research governance or simply the remarks of faculty-researchers at universities help to build a performance management information system. In this article we will present a comparative study between the information systems of scientific research, in particular the Chile Research Management System (SGI) and the Argentine Science and Technology Information System (SICyTAR), Scientific Information System of Andalusia Spain (SICA), GRAAL of France (management of research data, application of laboratory activities) and others.

Konkurenceschopnost zemí: vývoj teoretického pojetí a nejkonkurenceschopnější země světa za rok 2016

In 2000 the European Council adopted to the European Union for a period of 10 years the aim to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more jobs and better working place, including social cohesion and respect for the environment. The Lisbon strategy was than followed up by the Europe 2020 strategy, which incorporated the revised goals of the Lisbon Strategy in order to become the most competitive economy in the world. Howerver the concept of the competitive state remains unclear. This article aims to show the major currents of thought and definitions, respectively, the concept of competitiveness of countries. The article is based on literary research, and summarizes the main concepts and definitions of competitiveness of nations, the concept of „external competitiveness“, the concept of „aggregate competitiveness“, the concept of „multi-criteria competitiveness“ and finally, the concept of „systemic competitiveness“. The main contribution of the article is the clear description of the conceptual and theoretical concept of the competitiveness of the countries and the identification of decisive factors and determinants of the competitiveness of the nations.

Presenting Sustainable HRM Model Based on Balanced Scorecard in Knowledge-based ICT Companies (The Case of Iran)

IntroductionOrganizations, in the twenty-first century, are confronted with globalization, demographical changes, technological innovation, and high customer expectations that continuously reshape business landscape. To compete successfully, within complex and dynamic knowledge-based economy, companies require strategies to reach certain level of sustainability. Moreover, it is gradually accepted that traditional market models' strong focus on rather short-termed efficient and effective exploitation of natural, social, and human resources in organizations will not ensure organizational viability in the long run (Docherty et al., 2002, 2009; Hahn and Figge, 2011; Wilkinson, 2005). Ehnert et al. (2014a) asserted that besides the short-termism of performance, active engagement in renewal, regeneration and reproduction of organizations' resources for long-term survival is also neglected. Hence, rethinking resource management including current and potential (future) human resources is essential. Incorporation of sustainability in organizations' strategy helps the realization of corporate sustainability goals (Ehnert, 2009; Kellerman, 2010; Cohen, 2010; De Prins, 2011), particularly in the presence of increasingly challenging worldwide issues such as climate change, environmental problems, world population growth, escalation of social disparity and poverty. Ehnert (2009a) claims that these trends highlight the need for more sustainable HRM practices and regards sustainability as having a strategic potential for HRM. In this regard, Ehnert et al. (2014b) define sustainability as a concept for providing new solutions and for making economic systems and organizations more viable over the long term and less harmful to society and the world well-being. According to Losey, Meisinger, and Ulrich (2005), the way the world is changing puts HR in the spotlight. HR could guide organization's leaders on their way to sustainability as Boudreau and Ramstad (2005) assert that sustainability improves understanding organizational success by going beyond the traditional focus on financial results. Sustainability can be integrated in management of people in organizations and sustainable HRM can be considered as a design option for employment relationship, and a contribution to sustainable corporate development (Zaugg et al., 2001; Gollan, 2005; Ehnert, 2006; Ehnert, 2009a, Ehnert et al., 2014a). In this respect, Gollan and Xu (2014) argue that adopting sustainable principles, practices, and structures towards different organizational strategies and creating a climate for releasing employees' potential under a shared value of sustainability are the central challenges for the HR function. Therefore, HR policies and practices need to be designed based on sustainability goals to bring about sustainable business performance and positive employee outcomes for better equality, development and well-being (Gollan & Xu, 2014). This concern can be considered highly significant in knowledgeintensive companies like ICT companies regarding their soaring dependence on knowledge, skills, and experience of their most important assets which are human resources. In knowledge-intensive companies, sophisticated or exceptional knowledge of highly qualified employees is considered to be a specific form of economic capital (Grey and Sturdy, 2009) that is vital for achieving competitive advantages and organizational long-term survival. Additionally, ICT companies are confronted with rapidly changing environment including increasing competition, high complexity of products and work processes, changing customer demands, short-time innovation cycle, and overall uncertainty. Hence, it seems that sustainable way of maintaining, developing, creating and regenerating of HR are being of particular importance to ensure organizations' long-term survival and viability. Adopting sustainable strategies in HRM practices aims at balancing between efficient deployment of human resources and sustaining their long-term availability by two basic sets of sustainability strategy (Ehnert, 2009a): First, the reproduction of external sources of resources vital to ensure resource availability (Muller-Christ, 2001 cited by Ehnert, 2009a). …

Evaluation of EU Cohesion Policies within the scope of Lisbon and Europe 2020 Strategies

In order to increase the level of integration and development at the scale of the Union and to raise the conditions of competition on a global scale, EU has announced two basic development strategies within the process: Lisbon Strategy (2000) and the Europe 2020 Strategy (2010). Though the EU 2000-2006 Cohesion Policies corresponding to the 2000-2006 fiscal period and 2007-2013 Cohesion Policy Program that was reformed in comparison to the previous program were prepared within the scope of the Lisbon Strategy, 2014-2020 financial program and Cohesion Policies have been produced within the context of EUROPE 2020 Strategy. During the said process, the objectives and priorities as well as the budgets of the EU structural funds have changed. In March 2000, the European Council meeting in Lisbon set the strategic goal of transforming the EU into ‘the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world’ within a decade. Among the jointly agreed goals to be attained by 2010 were raising investment in research and development to three per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and increasing the rate of employment within the EU from 61 to 70 per cent of the working-age population (Teasdale, 2012). Based on the interim evaluations of Lisbon Strategy, EU Commission stated that the required specific objectives could not be achieved because the financial crisis and planned reforms could not be implemented. At the same time, the major expansion in 2004 made the existing inter-regional disparities more evident. Published on 2010 by EC, Europe 2020 Strategy (which is considered to be a reviewed and updated Lisbon Strategy) brought in a new expansion in terms of achieving the initial objectives. The strategy in question focuses not only on the economic – social cohesion but also on spatial cohesion. However, the statistics within the process reveal that the economic, social and territorial cohesion could not be achieved at the scale of EU yet, even it has been asserted in a report, which was prepared by the Secretariat of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) in 2015 that besides the disparities between the Member States, disparities between regions within countries increased, as well. Within the scope of this study, it will be discussed how much the cohesion target, given in the founding treaty of EU is reflected on the development strategies; the role and accomplishments of these strategies and funds in achieving that target. While the role and accomplishments of the Europe 2020 Strategy, which is still in effect today, are questioned in terms of ensuring particularly the territorial cohesion, also the importance and the priority granted to urban spaces in order to achieve the objectives of strategies - as well as objectives of the founding agreement – will be discussed. The Method of the Study can be summarized as the literature survey based on the Lisbon and Europe 2020 Strategies of European Commission, the EU Financial Period Programs and observations and critics prepared by a variety of institutions as well as the evaluation of the findings based on statistical datas.

Education from the Perspective of the Europe 2020 Strategy: the Case of Southern Countries of the European Union

IntroductionUntil recently, the question of economy's competitiveness was covered by the Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs, the primary target of which was, that the European Union should become until 2010 the most competitive and most dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth in which there will be more and better jobs and greater social cohesion (Ministry of Finance SR, 2005). In 2010 the Lisbon Strategy was successed by a new strategy developed by the European Commission and called Europe 2020. As in the Lisbon Strategy, also in Europe 2020, the European Commission identified key targets the fulfilment of which, until the year 2020, will contribute to the desired growth and progress in individual Member States, as well as in the European Union overall. The Strategy includes the five following targets (European Commission, 2010):* Employment - 75% of the 20-64 year-olds should be employed;* RD* Climate change/energy - this objective includes three sub-objectives: greenhouse gas emissions should be 20% (or even 30%, if the conditions are right) lower than in 1990; 20% of energy should be from renewable; energy efficiency should increase by about 20%;* Education - this objective includes two sub-objectives expressed by two indicators, namely the rate of early school leavers and population with tertiary education. The first indicator concerns the reduction of early leaving education rate and training of population aged 18 to 24 years below 10%. The second indicator expresses the increase of the population aged 30-34 years who have completed tertiary education for the minimum of 40% in this age group;* Poverty/social exclusion - in the European Union there should be at least 20 million fewer people in or at risk of poverty and social exclusion.The fourth target concerning education isin the focus of our analysis here. Every year, 6 million young Europeans leave school with at best lower secondary education. This currently represents 14% of the 18-24-year-olds, which in turn fuels high levels of youth unemployment (European Commission, 2014b). This is why the European Commission is trying to reduce the number of early school leavers and increase the number of people with tertiary education. The southern countries of the European Union belong according to the most actual Eurostat data among the countries with the highest rate of youth unemployment.In this paper we will analyse the current state of achieving the established targets with the emphasis on the southern countries of the European Union and explore by using regression analysis the estimated development of the related indicators untill 2020.1. Theoretical FrameworkThe Europe 2020 presents an ambitious and comprehensive strategy to guide the EU out of the economic crisis, to ensure macroeconomic stability and to put in place an ambitious structural reform agenda. An essential part of this strategy is the introduction of reforms with a medium - term to long - term horizon that focus on promoting the sustainability of public finances, enhancing potential growth and realising the 2020 objectives (Hobza & Mourre, 2010).Relevance of defined objectives is criticized and their interconnectedness is being discussed. Feasibility of achieving the objectives is a basic issue for the successful fulfillment of the objectives. This issue is solved by Colak and Ege (2013), but also by Leschke, Theodoropoulou, Watt (2012). Roth and Thum (2010) pointed out that the objectives in the area of education are very ambitious and almost impossible to fulfill in a given time horizont.Despite numerous critics, the Europe 2020 was adopted and implemented at the national level. Attention and efforts should therefore focus on fulfillment the objectives at the national level.It is important that European policy-makers understand that the quantity and quality of education will play a key role in maintaining European competitiveness. …

Evaluation of the Impact of the EU Structural Support on the Competitiveness of Lithuanian Economics

Abstract The topic of competitiveness is becoming increasingly significant in the context of modern economics. Considering intensive processes of globalisation alongside with competitive pressure amongst the countries, competitiveness has become a necessary condition for successful economic and social development of any country. Only by creating, enforcing and maintaining international competitiveness of the country, rapid economic growth during the long term is achievable. Amongst the other urgent issues, the European Union (further the EU) public policies are also focused on competitiveness. After the failure to implement the Lisbon strategy and become “the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy”, the EU declared its new competitiveness aims in the long-term strategy Europe 2020. Promotion of competitiveness is one of the fundamental aims and priority directions of the EU structural policy. The EU structural support is engaged as one of the public policy measures to promote the competitiveness of the member-states. In this context, it is purposeful to research whether the structural support is used efficiently and whether it actually contributes to the implementation of the defined aims. Under the order of various Lithuanian institutions, numerous studies on the efficiency of the EU structural support have been carried out. Nevertheless, by analysing the impact of the EU structural support, insufficient attention has been paid to the aspect of competitiveness. Considering the fact that Lithuania has entered the third programming period 2014-2020, evaluation of the EU structural investment in the country has become even more topical - for successful implementation of the aims raised for this new period, the analysis of the previous results is relevant. This determined formulation of the research problem: what impact does the EU structural support have on the competitiveness of Lithuanian economics? The empirical research has revealed that the EU structural support has a positive impact on Lithuanian gross domestic product growth, promotes foreign direct investment, research and development expenditure and increases the number of operating entities during 2004-2014 period.

The Quality Whirlwind in the Higher Medical Education

Globalize World demands to realize Higher Education for making most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion. Higher Education is an important factor in further enhancing research in underpinning Higher Education for the economic and cultural development of our societies and for social cohesion. The effort to introduce structural change and improve the quality of teaching should not detract from the effort to strengthen research and innovation. Ministers meeting in Berlin in September 2003 added an Action Line to the Bologna process entitled "European Higher Education Area and European Research Area "“ two pillars of the knowledge based society" that underlines the key role of research training in this context. Bergen Communique (2005) has chosen 3 priorities including quality assurance (internal/external quality assurance) and appealed to,, Strengthen research, innovation, emphasize the importance of research and research-training''. In London Communique (2007) is marked that,, Higher Education Institutions should continue to develop their internal system of quality assurance''. The task of Higher Medical Education everywhere is the provision of Health Care. Notwithstanding variations, there is a high degree of equivalence of structure, process, and product of medical school worldwide. Research is an integral part of Higher Medical Education: increasing the role and relevance of research to technological, social and cultural evolution and to the needs of Society.

The Quality Whirlwind in the Higher Medical Education

Globalize World demands to realize Higher Education for making most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion.Higher Education is an important factor in further enhancing research in underpinning Higher Education for the economic and cultural development of our societies and for social cohesion. The effort to introduce structural change and improve the quality of teaching should not detract from the effort to strengthen research and innovation.Ministers meeting in Berlin in September 2003 added an Action Line to the Bologna process entitled "European Higher Education Area and European Research Area "“ two pillars of the knowledge based society" that underlines the key role of research training in this context. Bergen Communique (2005) has chosen 3 priorities including quality assurance (internal/external quality assurance) and appealed to,, Strengthen research, innovation, emphasize the importance of research and research-training''. In London Communique (2007) is marked that,, Higher Education Institutions should continue to develop their internal system of quality assurance''.The task of Higher Medical Education everywhere is the provision of Health Care. Notwithstanding variations, there is a high degree of equivalence of structure, process, and product of medical school worldwide.Research is an integral part of Higher Medical Education: increasing the role and relevance of research to technological, social and cultural evolution and to the needs of Society.

Reading Literacy as One of the Most Significant Academic Competencies for the University Students

At the Lisbon Summit, the Council of Europe set a highly ambitious strategic goal for the European Union: to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion. In the process of achieving this goal, education and job readiness have played a critical role. Therefore, one of the strategic and ambitious goals is to attain the best possible quality of teaching and learning processes. One of the key academic competencies generating knowledge for the current information society is the reading literacy. The main goal of our pre-research project is to carry out a pilot study on reading literacy of the first year students at Alexander Dubcek University of Trencin, to identify their reading literacy level, and their ability to comprehend and work effectively with academic texts, and last but not least to identify their reading literacy deficiencies. The pre-research project will serve as a basis for a follow-up in-depth comparative research. In addition, suitability of the research methods will be tested and reliability and validity of the research to be carried out in collaboration with colleagues from the Universidad de Valencia and Universidad Católica de Valencia in Spain will be verified. The research on reading literacy will test Slovak and Spanish first year students studying at public and private universities. Identical texts having intermediate academic difficulty in the students’ mother tongue will be employed in order to identify and compare real competences and the reading comprehension level of university students in both countries. An empirical, analytical and comparative research will be conducted. The results we obtained in the first research phase from testing a small sample of Slovak first year university students indicated reading literacy deficiencies; i.e. students are insufficiently prepared to deal with academic texts of intermediate level of complexity and lack analytical and critical thinking. Students were assigned to write an abstract and a power-point presentation, common and frequently used linguistic genres in academic setting in order to assess their ability to systematize and synthesize written text, and thus to identify their real reading literacy.

Stratégie de Lisbonne et niveau de formation. Pourquoi l'ascenseur social ne fonctionne plus en Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles

The Lisbon Strategy, adopted by the European Council of March 2000, broadly aimed to « make Europe the most competitive and the most dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world », in particular through the upgrading of the level of education of its citizens. We show that the Belgian performances, while still satisfactory until the start of 21st century, have severely deteriorated since, when compared to those of our competitors of OECD and EU. An in-depth examination reveals that this Belgian setback is entirely attributable to the deterioration of the performances of the « French Community ». A thorough analysis of recent developments in the compulsory education system of the French Community reveals major malfunctions leading to an increase of the withdrawals (without final certification) of the secondary education and to a decrease of the proportion (as well as the « quality ») of the new generations gaining access to tertiary education. Finally, considering these developments and additional indicators, questions are raised about the relevance of budgetary priorities in the education sector of the French Community of Belgium.JEL Classification codes : I21, I28

Harmonization of European neurology education

The objective of this article, written by executives of the European Association of Young Neurologists and Trainees (EAYNT), is to illustrate the status quo of neurology training in Europe and give an outlook on ongoing efforts and prospects for junior neurologists. The European Union is an economic and political union that currently encompasses 27 member states with more than 500 million inhabitants (or 7.3% of the world population) (interested readers are referred to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union). Countries of the European Union act as a single market with free movement of citizens, goods, services, and finances. As a consequence, a diploma and postgraduate training obtained in one EU country will be automatically recognized by all other EU member states. At the Lisbon European Council in March 2000, the Heads of State or Government signed a treaty that expresses their ambition of making Europe "the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion" (www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisbon_Strategy). More than 1.6 million physicians in all the different medical specialties are represented by the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS). The UEMS was founded in 1958 and the objectives include the study, promotion, and harmonization of the highest level of training of medical specialists, medical practice, and health care within the European Union. The European Board of Neurology (UEMS-EBN; www.uems-neuroboard.org) is in charge of the implementation of the UEMS policy regarding neurology.

Corporate Social Responsibility in banking sector

After popularity increase of the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility over last century in the USA, with the 21st century the concept comes into the European Union as well, actually into Czech Republic. For the European Union, the concept of social responsibility becomes one of the tool for achieving the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy (Lisbon Strategy, 2000). With the start of the financial and economic crisis, the European Commission sees in the Corporate Social Responsibility a way how to cope with the crisis. Also scientific studies (Ghoul, 2011; Gruz, 2009) indicate the positive influence of Corporate Social Responsibility on financial performance of the company. In the Czech Republic, the implementation of the concept is especially for multinational corporations. For example, Corporate Social Responsibility is very popular in financial sector, which the financial crisis did not damage so perceptible as in other countries of developed economies (Singer, 2009). This article defines on a theoretical level the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility, its development, its present form and the influence on financial performance of the company. Another part of the article focuses on three czech banking subjects (Česká spořitelna, Komerční banka a Československá obchodní banka), which regularly take the leading positions of the official corporate donors chart „TOP Filantrop“. The article explores the evolution of corporate donations and finds the connection between corporate donations and corporate profit and financial and economic crisis.

“Lisbon vs. Lisbon”: Fundamental Rights and Fundamental Freedoms

In March 2000, the Lisbon European Council agreed upon a new strategic goal for the European Union: to become the “most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion.” One decade and the sobering experience of a global economic crisis later, the European Commission's new 2020 Strategy sets out a vision of Europe's social market economy for the 21st century that “shows how the EU can emerge stronger from the economic crisis and how it can be turned into a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy delivering high levels of employment, productivity and social cohesion.” If somewhat more modest in its targets, Europe 2020 reiterates the guiding ambition to enhance the EU's economic performance in the internal and global market that already dominated the Lisbon strategy. The lesson learned from Europe's “lost decade” is that the EU needs to replace the “slow and largely uncoordinated pace of reforms” with a “sustainable recovery” in order to regain its competitiveness, boost its productivity, and put it on “an upward path of prosperity.” This is, then, the EU's first “Lisbon” agenda that heavily relies on the internal market and that depicts social inclusion and political stability as conditioned upon further European economic integration. The recipe to defy what has grown from a “merely” economic crisis into a social and political crisis of the Union and its Member States is a combination of “smart,” “sustainable,” and “inclusive” growth.

COGITO ERGO SUM HOMOMACHINE?

When European Union (EU) heads of state and government met at a summit in Lisbon in 2000 (Lisbon declaration, 2000), they set the goal of making Europe 'the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world'. In a knowledge economy, the 'most effective modern economies will be those that produce the most information and knowledge, and make that information and knowledge easily accessible to the greatest number of individuals and enterprises'. This policy brief suggests that individuals and companies can easily collaborate and compete globally, and that the solution for Europe in meeting the Lisbon goals is to invest heavily in education and skills. Statistical evidence briefly demonstrates the high return on investment in education. It makes recommendations for ensuring that Europe' school systems become more flexible and effective in improving learning outcomes, and argues that Europeans capacity to compete in the global knowledge economy will depend on whether its higher education institutions can meet the rapidly growing demand for high-level skills. International comparisons demonstrate the challenges confronting Europe but also illustrate the success of efforts to meet such challenges.

Croatian Innovation Policy Regarding European Commission Framework Programmes

The importance of Innovation policy has been long ago recognized in more developed, knowledge-based economies because it is the main strategic mean of accomplishing competitiveness of one nation, and therefore, maintenance and stimulation of its economic growth. Fundamental aim of European Union is to stimulate scientific excellence and enable the transfer of knowledge and results of scientific discoveries to industry, business and academic society in order to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy. The level of inventiveness of Republic of Croatia is unsatisfactory, investments into science, research and technological development are inadequate and therefore do not enable progressive movements, and life-long learning, as an important aspect of human resources development, has been almost completely neglected. In order to create the knowledge-based society, as fundamental assumption for the nation's competitiveness, the first steps for encouragement of national innovational system were taken at the end of '90s with the launching of the first technological-innovational centres in Croatia. Successful participation in the European technology programme EUREKA, the Croatian Programme for Innovative Technological Development (HITRA), as well as the participation in the Sixth Framework Programme, made the greater impact on Croatian innovation policy, Participation in European Commission projects, where Croatia is one of the most successful transition countries in terms of return over investment ratio, confirms the excellence and competitiveness of Croatian scientists on the European level. Today, with full membership in European Commission Framework Programmes and activities in the areas of science, research and innovation, Croatia is an active participant of European Research Area, building the path towards the knowledge-based society.

PROFICIENCY INCREASE BY COLLABORATION WITHIN THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDY PROCESS

In the fields of science and education transnational cooperation has become particularly relevant for developing of contemporary conceptions in education and science. As the first step in such cooperation has been the Bologna process, started on June 19, 1999, when 29 Ministers of European countries signed the Bologna Declaration. The Bologna Declaration promotes education and cooperation being the fundamentals of a peaceful and a democratic society. The European dimension is characterized by student mobility and cooperation between educational institutions in European study programmes. The significance of communication and foreign language acquisition skills is gradually increasing (Bologna Declaration, 1999). A strategic goal for the European Union is to develop the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable economic growth with a wider variety and better jobs and greater social cohesion. All citizens of European Union countries require foreign language skills, because these skills provide citizens with the opportunity to make use of the free movement to work or to study at one of the EU member states and as such they stimulate the development of a European labour market. As an EU member state, Latvia participates in this process. Improvements should be achieved in teacher education by implementing innovations in the study process. Key words: didactic modules, experience, planning, aim, assessment.

ORGANIZACIJOS IR DARBUOTOJO SOCIALINĖ ELGSENA: KLAUSIMYNO SUBSKALIŲ PATIKRA

Theoretical substantiation. Lithuania, as an EU member contributing to the Lisbon strategy, aims at building a competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy, grounded on sustainable economic development, harmonious relations between business, government and civil society. It has approved CSR development vision and development as well as implementation of its priority areas (Astromskiene, Adamoniene, 2009). Social responsibility of the organization is also integrally linked with the organization’s management culture represented by the criteria such as scientific knowledge management, the ability to apply leadership activities, perception of its own role in organizational and social structures, the organization of processes, personal culture and leadership. These are the factors which provide conditions for socially responsible, environmentally sustainable organizational behavior (Andriukaitiene, 2013). According to Z. Simanaviciene, A. Simanavicius and R. Kovaliov (2012), companies that decide to implement the concept of corporate social responsibility first need to define the priority of the area of corporate social responsibility: social responsibility to employees, social responsibility to the local community, social responsibility to the environment and expansion of the company’s value. According to the authors, companies implementing the company’s social responsibility (hereinafter CSR) have to understand that only innovative, high-quality producing and the best consumer-oriented companies can expect to increase their competitiveness and market value after implementing CSR, in particular regarding the positive attitude of the population and willingness to buy their products. V. Juscius and A. Sneideriene (2013) highlight that CSR practice helps to obtain “the public license to operate”, take into account environmental and social issues, create success measurement tools, enhance the brand, improve the company’s financial activities, attract and retain the best employees, increase productivity, improve the quality of goods and services, avoid legal violations, raise capital, avoid public discontent. According to R. Ciegis and R. Norkute (2012), larger organizations uniting more employees as well as providing their goods or services to a greater consumer market are interested in and aim to implement company’s social responsibility. The object of the survey was the reliability of the questionnaire subscales. The aim of study was to verify the organization’s and the employee’s social behaviour questionnaire subscales and their methodological characteristics. The following research objectives were set to achieve the aim: 1) to discuss theoretical aspects of the corporate social responsibility; 2) to validate the reliability of scales and their methodological characteristics; 3) to compare the methodological characteristics of the questionnaire scales Methods Scientific literature analysis and questionnaire survey methods were used. These methods were used for empirical data processing: factorization (primary and secondary), psychometric characteristics for the determination of the reliability of scales. The study sample consisted of 1717 respondents representing all layers of the organization’s staff according to the positions. The survey was conducted in two industrial company groups with 1915 employees in total (1030 and 885 employees) during the study period. The survey nature and terms were combined with the group of companies’ senior management. The empirical study was conducted using article author’s developed questionnaire. The survey carried out in July – August of 2013. The study data was processed using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) programme (Version 21). Findings. Results of this study are one of the constituent parts of the research “Establishment of management culture level in order to implement the concept of a socially responsible company”. Only the methodological characteristics of the social responsibility unit scales of the questionnaire are provided in this article. The study results confirmed that the organization’s social behavior and employees’ social behavior scales can be used separately from the management culture block in the questionnaire. Both social responsibility scales matched reliability and validation requirements and no significant differences between the quality characteristics of these scales were observed. The calculations show that the questionnaire is adequate to diagnose the company’s readiness to become socially responsible.