Pagrindinių magistrantūros studijų baigiamasis darbas 66 puslapių, 29 paveikslai, 14 lentelių, 30 literatūros šaltiniai, 2 priedai, lietuvių kalba. Tyrimo objektas: ūkininkai įgyvendinantys ekonominės veiklos diversifikacijos strategiją, diversifikavimo paramos priemonės. Darbo tikslas: išnagrinėti Lietuvos ūkininkų ūkių ekonominės veiklos diversifikavimo vadybinius aspektus ir sudaryti sprendimo diversifikuoti ūkininko ūkio veiklą pagrindimo, priėmimo ir įgyvendinimo modelius. Uždaviniai: 1. Išnagrinėti ekonominės veiklos diversifikavimo strategijos pasirinkimo ir įgyvendinimo teorinius aspektus. 2. Išanalizuoti ūkininkų ūkių ekonominės veiklos diversifikacijos būklę Lietuvoje. 3. Ištirti ūkininkų ūkių strateginių sprendimų diversifikuoti ekonominę veiklą priėmimo motyvaciją ir veiksnius. 4. Parengti pasiūlymus ūkininkų sprendimams, dėl jų ūkių veiklos diversifikacijos pagrindimo. Tyrimo metodai: mokslinės literatūros, dokumentų bei teisės aktų analizė; kokybinis tyrimas ir jo analizė (pusiau standartizuota anketinė apklausa); statistinių duomenų analizė, loginis modeliavimas ir kiti metodai. Tyrimo rezultatai • pirmoje darbo dalyje išnagrinėta ekonominės veiklos diversifikavimo strategijos pasirinkimo ir įgyvendinimo teoriniai aspektai. • antroje dalyje išanalizuota Lietuvos ūkininkų apsisprendimas diversifikuoti ūkio veiklą patirtis, motyvai, bei apsisprendimo priklausomybės nuo veiksnių. • trečioje darbo dalyje pateikti sprendimo diversifikuoti ūkininko ūkio veiklą... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Final work of University Postgraduate Studies consists of 66 pages, 29 figures, 14 tables, 26 sources of literature 2 appendixes, in Lithuanian language. The object of the research: farmer’s who use a diversification strategy, diversification strategy supports. Aim: To examine the Lithuanian diversification of farmers activity in the aspect of strategic management and to make justification, adoption and implementation models. Objectives: 1st Examine the economic diversification strategy for the selection and implementation of the theoretical aspects. 2nd Analyze farmers' farms in the state of diversification of economic activities in Lithuania. 3rd To examine the strategic decisions of farmers farm diversification of economic activities and making the motivation factors. 4th To prepare proposals for decisions by farmers for their farm business diversification reasons. Research methods: scientific literature, documents and legislative analysis and qualitative research analysis (semi-standardized questionnaire), statistical analysis, logic simulation and other methods. Survey results: • the first part of this examination of a strategy of diversification of economic activities in the selection and implementation of the theoretical aspects. • the second part analyzed the Lithuanian farmers resolve to diversify the economic activities of experience, motives, and self reliance of factors. • The third part of the decision to diversify the farm's business... [to full text]

The primary goal of the study was to identify key success factors for the management of wedding tourism in South Africa. This goal was achieved by firstly conducting a literature study to determine the key success factors of strategic management for special events as stated in books, articles and other sources. Secondly, wedding tourism was analysed to provide an overview of the wedding tourism industry and weddings as tourism products. Thirdly, the results of the empirical research were discussed followed by the conclusions and recommendations made with regard to further research. From the literature study, aspects regarding strategic management were discussed namely, the strategic management process, marketing for special events, human resource management, financial management and operational management. These aspects were included in the questionnaires for the empirical research. Two different questionnaires were developed, one for wedding planners and one for owners/managers of wedding venues in the Gauteng and North West provinces. The purpose of the questionnaires was to gather information on the key success factors for wedding tourism and to gain insight of the wedding tourism industry. Personal interviews were held with wedding planners and owners1 managers of wedding venues; questionnaires were also distributed via email. All the data was processed by the North-West University's Statistical Consultation Services. A confirmatory factor analysis was done to produce a small amount of factors. The following factors were identified: strategic planning; SWOT analysis, human resources, financial management, market segmentation, promotion and operational management. After analysing the data it was clear that operational services like ensuring high levels of hygiene, having a liquor license, accessibility, secure parking and that services must meet the needs of guests were considered extremely important aspects for a wedding venue. The following aspects were considered extremely important by wedding planners: services must meet the needs of guests, offer unique products and develop a checklist as control mechanism. Owners of wedding tourism products and wedding planners have to consider and apply the key success factors in order to grow the industry and create sustainable products. / Thesis (M.Com. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Tyrimo objektas: vietos plėtros strategijos. Tyrimo tikslas: atlikti vietos plėtros strategijų turinių vertinimą ir lyginamąją analizę, atskleisti strateginiame valdyme pasitaikančias klaidas, strategijų rengimo ir įgyvendinimo kliūtis, pateikti Kauno raj. savivaldybės strategijų tobulinimo priemones. Uždaviniai: 1. atskleisti esminius kaimo vietovių plėtros strateginio planavimo teorinius modelius; 2. atlikti Kauno raj. savivaldybės ir Kauno raj. VVG turinio elementų vertinimą ir lyginamąją analizę; 3. palyginti Kauno raj. savivaldybės ir Kauno rajono VVG strategijų suderinamumą; 4. atskleisti strateginio valdymo Kauno raj. savivaldybėje ir VVG pasitaikančias klaidas, strategijų rengimo ir įgyvendinimo kliūtis; 5. parengti Kauno raj. savivaldybės strategijų tobulinimo gaires ir priemones jų įgyvendinimui. Tyrimo metodai: sisteminė ir lyginamoji analizė, loginis ir grafinis modeliavimas, kokybiniai apklausos metodai: Kauno rajono savivaldybės specialistų ir Kauno rajono VVG atstovų anketinė apklausa, pirmines ir antrines informacijos analizė ir sintezė, palyginimo, sisteminimo metodai Tyrimo rezultatai : • Pirmojoje darbo dalyje išnagrinėta strategijų formavimo esmė ir svarba, pagrindiniai strategijų formavimo teoriniai aspektai, strateginio valdymo metodologijos, strateginio valdymo ypatumų viešajame sektoriuje teoriniai aspektai, vietos plėtros strategijos turinio elementai ir bruožai.• Antrojoje darbo dalyje išnagrinėtas Kauno rajono savivaldybės ir Kauno raj. VVG... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The object: the local development strategies. The aim: to conduct assessment and comparative analysis of local development strategies' content, to compare compatibility of the strategies to present improvement measures strategies for Kaunas district municipality. Objectives: 1. to reveal the essential theoretical models of rural development strategic planning; 2. to conduct assessment and comparative analysis of LAG content elements in Kaunas district municipality and in Kaunas district; 3. to compare compatibility of the LAG strategies in Kaunas district and Kaunas district municipality; 4. to reveal strategic management mistakes, problems in strategies development and implementation in Kaunas district municipality LAG; 5. to prepare guidelines for Kaunas district municipality strategies development and tools for their implementation. Research methods: systematic and comparative analysis, logical and graphical modelling, qualitative survey, analysis and synthesis, comparison, systematization. The results: • The first part examines the essence and importance of strategies' formation, the key theoretical aspects of strategies formation, the strategic management methodologies, the theoretical aspects of strategic management pecularities in the public sector, elements and features of the Local Development Strategy content. • In the second part of the study analyses the assessment of contents and wording of Kaunas district municipality and Kaunas district LAG strategies... [to full text]

Many organisations use strategic management as an imperative to gain competitive advantages. Theorists have not been able to ascertain whether prescriptive or emergent strategic approaches will be most suitable within an organisational climate for sustaining these competitive advantages. The notion of creativity has been identified as a source of competitive advantage that organisations may make use of within their strategic frameworks. However, within the organisational climate, there may be various barriers to creativity that will impede performance outcomes, efficiency and potential competitive advantage for an organisation. The study concerns itself m d y with an investigation into the strategic and organisational climates within selected higher education institutions in South Africa, as these institutions are in need of an assessment regarding potential sources of competitive advantage, in order to survive. The imperative to remain competitive is primarily due to the turbulent and changeable environments that these institutions find themselves in. This instability has occurred as a result of various changes in higher education due to the merging of several higher education institutions and the changes in the configuration of others. The study has shown that creativity is a source of competitive advantage. This was done by determining which barriers to creativity were present within the organisational climates of the selected institutions, as well as which strategic management approaches were being employed by the said institutions. The information obtained from the data gathered was compared to two competitive advantage measures (throughput and research output rates) of those higher education institutions. Three pivotal questions were asked and answered by the study in this regard. What are the prevalent prescriptive strategy dimensions and processes being employed by selected South African public higher education institutions? What are the prevalent creativity barrier dimensions that exist with selected public higher education institutions in South Africa? What relationships can be observed between the prescriptive strategy dimensions, the creativity barrier dimensions and the organisational competitive advantage performance output dimensions of throughput rate and research output in selected public South African higher education institutions? Non probability, judgment sample was obtained from four selected higher education institutions located in the Gauteng province in South Africa during the latter half of 2004. The survey requested certain biographical information on respondents (who had to fulfill the criteria of being full-time academic employees working for the institution in question), information on the strategic climate and barriers to creativity with the organisational climate. The last section of the questionnaire contained open-ended questions. Data on the throughput and research output rates of the institutions was obtained separately from the South African Department of Education (DOE), and correlated against the data obtained from the questionnaire. The questionnaire was testing for eight pre-determined creativity factors within the organisational climate (identified from the literature review and previous studies), and a separate dimension of prescriptive strategic planning. Overall only five of the creativity barriers were found to be most predominant within the selected higher education institutions, namely: Insufficient Resources; Lack of Team Unity; Lack of Organisational Support; Organisational Hindrances and Workload pressure. The factors were compared to the measures of competitive advantage and it was determined that there was a positive correlation between a higher prevalence of barriers and a lower performance output, which indicated that creativity could be identified as a source of competitive advantage within those institutions. This lent evidence to support the initial, first hypothesis of the study. Furthermore, it was discovered that those institutions that were utilising prescriptive strategic management approaches were more inched to achieve higher performance in terms of their throughput rates. Refuted the second hypothesis of the study that was advocating that emergent strategy was more likely to result in competitive advantage. More education institutions, known for their typically bureaucratic approaches might be more able to utilise formal procedures to obtain increased competitive advantage than utilising a more informal, emergent approach, as academic employees might more freely be able to explore creative alternatives under the security of prescriptive strategic approaches. It is likely that any organisation would wish to improve their competitive performance in order to be more effective. Higher education institutions also need to be concerned about their performance in order to continue operating effectively. It is necessary, then for those higher education institutions, to take note of these potential barriers to creativity with their organisational climates, which were highlighted by the study and to proactively remove them to ensure they remain competitive into the future. In addition, these institutions should consider which strategic management approaches they are currently utilising and streamline them to cement the competitive advantage. It was advocated that South African higher education institutions should be adopting formalised strategic management approaches in this regard. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Business Management))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005.

Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) offers a peoplemanagement framework which promotes improved performance, innovation and competitiveness. However, little research has considered how such practices are implemented within Construction SMEs, and whether they complement overall business strategy. The nature of the UK construction industry requires construction organisations to balance project requirements with competing organisational and individual employee expectations, priorities and needs. This conflict raises several complex and problematic issues for SHRM within the construction industry as well as opportunities for improvement. However to date, despite this sector exhibiting the well-known `labour-intensive' and `people oriented' characteristics, there is little informed understanding of the complex interplay of factors that shape strategic decision making processes, and approaches to SHRM within construction SMEs. The overall aim of this thesis was to explore the types of HRM strategies used by construction SMEs and develop a framework to improve their organisational performance. The objectives of the research were: 1) To establish whether construction SMEs undertake strategic management, the types of strategies employed and how they implement their strategies, 2) To establish whether construction SMEs undertake SHRM, the types of strategies employed, how they implement their strategies and whether size of firm influences their practices; 3) Examine the relationship between the different SHRM approaches, the associated strategic organisational goals, in order to establish whether the approaches and goals are mutually supportive; and 4) To develop a framework linking SHRM approaches to specific organisational goals for construction SMEs. (Continues ...).

<p>Strategijski model upravljanja savremenim marketing koncepcijama<br />povezuje upravljanje razvojem novih proizvoda, upravljanje brendom i<br />upravljanje odnosima sa potrošačima na platformi upravljanja<br />ukupnim kvalitetom. U model je ugrađen i merni sistem na osnovu<br />uravnoteženog pristupa merenju performansi preduzeća. Istaživanje<br />je pokazalo da su nabrojani elementi kompatibilni i da imaju<br />potencijal za stvaranje sinergije, što model čini efektivnijim i<br />univerzalnijim. Rezultati merenja u trogodišnjem periodu<br />nedvosmisleno su potvrdila funkcionalnost modela, odnosno njegovu<br />sposobnost da pozitivno utiče na performanse preduzeća.</p> / <p>The strategic model for managing modern marketing concepts connects<br />management of developing new product, brand management and customer<br />ralationship management on the total quality management platform. A<br />measuring system based on a balanced scorecard is built in this model.<br />Research has shown that previously mentioned elements are compatible and<br />have the potential to create synergies, making this model more effective and<br />more universal. Measurement results obtained over a three-year period<br />unambigously confirm the functionality of the model, i.e. its ability to positively<br />affect company performance.</p>

The organizational effectiveness and strategic management areas of organizational theory are the general focus of this study. Organizational effectiveness is defined as the extent to which an organization by the use of certain resources fulfills its objectives without depleting its resources and without placing undue strain upon its members and/or society. Strategic management is defined as an array of processes which leads to the development of an effective approach to achieve the organization's objectives. Little agreement appears to exist on how to evaluate organizational effectiveness and to what extent strategic management impacts organizational effectiveness. This is the problem this study addressed. This study presents an extensive review of the literature, formulates some syntheses and utilizes a questionnaire to gather pertinent data. The sample of respondents consisted of a group of key administrators from all the Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States. The questionnaire had a ninety percent response rate. This study was primarily a correlation study which emphasized the perceptions of the respondents regarding the elements and/or processes of strategic management and the concepts of organizational effectiveness. The Chi-Square and Spearman rank order tests were utilized for statistical measures. The analysis of data revealed any significant relationships between (1) the elements and/or processes of strategic management and (2) the concepts related to organizational effectiveness.

To deal with the increasing information overload and with the structured and unstructured data complexity, many organizations have implemented enterprise content management (ECM) systems. Published research on ECM so far is very limited and reports on ECM implementations have been scarce until recently (Tyrväinen et al. 2006). However, the little available ECM literature shows that many organizations using ECM focus on operational benefits while strategic decision-making benefits are rarely considered. Moreover, the strategic capabilities such as decision making capabilities of ECM are not fully investigated in the current literature. In addition, the literature lacks a strategic management framework (SMF) that links strategies, business objectives, and performance management although there are several published studies that discuss ECM strategy. A strategic management framework would seem essential to effectively manage ECM strategy formulation, implementation, and performance evaluation (Kaplan and Norton 1996; Ittner and Larcker 1997). The absence of an appropriate strategic management framework keeps organizations from effective strategic planning, implementation, and evaluation, which affects the organizational capabilities overall. Therefore, the objective of this dissertation is to determine the decision support capabilities of ECM, and specify how ECM strategies can be formulated, implemented, and evaluated in order to fully utilize the ECM strategic capabilities. Structural equation modeling as well as design science approaches will be adopted to achieve the dissertation objectives.

This research has developed a research relationship model for understanding the relationship between volunteer management practice correlates and volunteer retention using volunteer motivation and volunteer satisfaction as mediators. The model uses social exchange theory, human resource management theory, volunteer functional inventory and volunteer satisfaction index as part of the theoretical underpinning for its validation and contributed to gain knowledge on the application of management theory widely used in the for-profit organisations to the non-profit and volunteer dependent sectors. A comprehensive literature review provided the basis to identify the research gap, formulate the research questions, aim and objectives, leading to the development of the theoretical framework and the research relationship model. The theoretical framework in turn enabled the researcher to develop the research methodology to collect data and test the model. The main research gap was the lack of knowledge about the correlates of volunteer management practice as determinants of volunteer retention and influence of volunteer motivation and volunteer satisfaction as mediators. The concept of mediation was introduced in this research as a novel technique that enabled the researcher to conduct a deeper investigation into the relationship between volunteer management practice correlates and volunteer retention. However prior to the introduction of the mediator concept, the original model developed by Cuskelly et al. (2006) was tested and found to be statistically insignificant. This provided the basis for modifying the model investigated by Cuskelly et al. (2006) leading to the development of the research model for this research. The various relationships developed in the research model were hypothesized. The model was tested using the data collected through the research instrument developed for the purpose. Quantitative research method was used to collect data from a sample set of volunteers using survey questionnaire in a context-free environment. Pilot survey enabled the researcher to confirm the utility of the instrument for using in the main survey. 386 participants provided their response to the online questionnaire that was posted on a web portal. The collected data was subjected to rigourous statistical tests. Descriptive statistics, reliability tests and validity tests were conducted on the data. Exploratory Factor analysis revealed underlying factors of volunteer management practice different from those identified by other researchers namely Cuskelly et al. (2006) whose model was used as the base model in this research. Further, structural equation modelling was used to test the model and verify hypothesis. The results indicated that two volunteer management practice correlates namely volunteer training and support and volunteer performance management and recognition, were found to indirectly influence volunteer retention. Volunteer training and support influenced volunteer retention through volunteer motivation as well as volunteer satisfaction. Volunteer performance management and recognition influenced volunteer retention through volunteer satisfaction. In addition volunteer planning and recruitment was identified as a moderator of volunteer training and support and volunteer performance management and recognition as correlates. These findings contribute significantly to helping both volunteer managers and volunteers in improving the intention of volunteers to stay longer with an organisation. Thus by implementing the findings of this research; volunteer managers can enhance their volunteer management practice leading to retention of volunteers for longer periods than now. The research findings contribute to theory in terms of widening the understanding of the operationalization of social exchange and HRM theories in a combined manner in understanding the relationship between volunteer management practice and volunteer retention.

This diploma thesis is focused on a strategic management activity in companies. In the theoretical part of the thesis there are strategic management process analysis, settings of strategic management principles and description of phases forming the whole process as well. Moreover analysis methods are specified that are used to obtain relevant information supporting each step of strategy design process. The selected strategy design concept is compared with other alternative management methodology. The main contribution of the thesis is in methodology area of elaboration of strategy and application of analytic tools to a real operating enterprise. The aim is to determine an enterprise itself at the market, performing of analysis to gain information for elaborating of the set of strategies. One of these strategies is further elaborated to the level of possible measured and monitored objectives. This summary of information forms the fundamental for possible implementation of company strategy. The thesis does not aspire to provide general manual for solving strategic management of a company. It's as much irrelevant as elaborating the strategy at the level of particular activities. The main purpose is to point out a complexity of problems of a strategic management, to provide basic information and refer to sources with more thorough interpretation and to present a practical illustration of the whole process. The result of this process might be used as a primary information source for elaborating of company's own strategy.