Economics and Management 3 (1) 2011

An attempt to study the classification of Polish provinces taking into consideration the degree of accessibility to ICT infrastructure by schoolchildren. This range is narrowed to schools and households. As a result of studies conducted by Ward three divisions focus was received. In addition, populations were compared with each other with the use of a synthetic measure of development, in order to establish their ranking considering social infrastructure facilities. Polish regions are characterized by low levels in most of the social infrastructure development. As many as twelve of them are located in Class III (low) as assigned on the basis of Hellwig synthetic indicator.

Keywords:
information society  taxonomic methods  Poland 

One of the fundamentals of development in each European country in the northeast is the proper transport infrastructure. Despite of the enormous increase in traffic on all sorts of roads, the modernization and building of new transport corridors lags. An essential step to change this situation will be the creation of a complex system of the development of communication connections and infrastructure in the region. This will be possible with a large share of the EU funds as well as the determination of individual countries of the north-east.

Keywords:
the strategy of development  infrastructure of communication  intensity of movement  European communication corridors  transeuropean net of transport 

This article compares four popular models of credit risk measurement in terms of the scope of information used by the models, the characteristics of the risk as subject of the modeling and their use in the management of credit portfolios. These models can be assigned to one of two classes: structural and reduced form models. Structural models base on the assumption that the modeling person has full information about the assets and liabilities of the company and based on this knowledge is able to determine the moment of a credit event. Reduced form models use only the information base that is available on the market. This gives them an advantage in practical risk evaluation. The article is a modified part of the author's doctoral dissertation titled "Use of credit derivatives in managing the debt portfolio of the bank."

Keywords:
structural models  KMV  CreditMetrics  CreditRisk+  Credit Portfolio View 

In modern society an important role was played by trust as a necessary condition for social communication in society, for understanding, harmony and cooperation. The article set relatively low levels of social and institutional trust in Russian society. As a result of changes for the last twenty years there has been disappointment with the population of the liberal economy. Distrust of all important social institutions means failure of the government institutions to provide effective positive impact on socio-economic processes in society.

Keywords:
institutional trust  interpersonal trust  the trust factor  the Russian society 

Tourist trails carry out a major part in tourism development in the area, its advertisement and creation of tourism friendly to natural environment. First of all, as a section of infrastructure, trails are meant to protect, adapt and make tourist values accessible to tourists. Particularly, trails play an important role in protected areas. The article presents tourist use of national parks, classification and function of tourist trails, shows trails in national parks of the Podlaskie province.

Keywords:
tourist trails  podlaskie province 

The paper presents findings of pilot research on the influence of individual product components, which create the atmosphere of the stay in the hotel, on reaching satisfaction from its consumption. The three-factor theory of customer satisfaction was used to define the influence of floral arrangements on the customers perception of overall hotel-product. Findings indicate the positive influence of floral arrangements, which affect the vast majority of hotel guests. Depending on consumer behaviour (mainly connected with purchase decisions) and on the degree of empathy in relation to the nature (mainly perceived importance of the nature in the life style), hotel guests define in a different manner the influence of floral arrangements on the creation of the atmosphere of consumption of overall hotel-product – depending on guest behavior, floral arrangements realise functions of the basic or bivalent or excitement factors. Additionally, findings indicate that the creation of atmosphere of overall product consumption should take place already on the expected level of hotel-product utilization. Presented results do not have a universal value, because of unrepresentative exploratory test. However, the findings can serve the elaboration of further research methodology on the influence of individual components, which create the atmosphere of stay in the hotel, on reaching the satisfaction from the consumption of overall hotel-product, with particular references to tourism market segmentation.

Keywords:
the three-factor theory of customer satisfaction  attributes of hotel product  floral arrangements 

The paper presents research findings on scenic importance of the ‘Carska Droga’ byway no. 1838b, which passes through the Biebrza National Park. This byway, on the section from Strękowa Góra to Osowiec, realises functions for local and tourist traffic. It should obtain the legal status of a scenic byway, switched off for transit traffic and with limited importance for the functional structure of a regional highway network. Simultaneously, it should be, as a scenic byway, subject to the integrated management together with the adjacent landscape, within the framework of a so-called scenic road corridor. The author presents the rules on which the scenic road corridor management of ‘Carska Droga’ should be based.

Keywords:
Biebrza National Park  scenic road corridor  scenic values  recreational values 

The studies conducted in the district of Bialystok assessed the extent to which these county agritourism farms show the specifics of organic farms. It was found that the district of Bialystok has the appropriate potential to develop ecotourism. However, this potential is not fully exploited. It was shown that only 50% of all analyzed agritourism farms use it to operate eco-agritourism activities. Barrier limiting the development of eco-agritourism in this area is the result of inadequate adaptation of farms to be complied with the requirements of organic farms. To remove this barrier and thereby create conditions for the activities of eco-agritourism farms, it is essential to improve the system of support for farms wishing to switch from conventional operations in the pro-ecological activities. This support should cover both financial and non- financial changes.

Keywords:
agritourism farms  district of Bialystok  greening farms 

The paper presents issues relating to the maintenance of dogs and cats in hotels and guest houses for animals. Attention is paid to ensuring adequate space tailored to the requirements of a specific species of animals, care, nutrition, and prevent the most common diseases of animals. Review of knowledge was based on Polish and foreign literature.

Keywords:
animal hotels  dogs  cats  maintenance 

This section discusses issues relating to taking the first steps towards business start-up, focusing on the provision of hotel services for pets. Attention was also drawn to the administrative requirements concerning the operation of the hotel/guest house for animals and how to raise funds for investments related to its functioning. In the paper used both the Polish literature and foreign, as well as some legislative acts, and electronic documents.

Keywords:
pet hotels  start a business  administrative requirements 

In the modern world competences become a determinant of an individual. They pervade every sphere of human life, especially business one where they are consciously used to build the competitive advantage. The term of competences is broad and complicated and although they constitute a crucial element of human professional development their character and substance are not defined precisely. Almost each work on competences presents the problem in a different light and different context. Speaking about a company success we should focus our attention on the management competences. The aim of this work is to present the results of research on defining a discrepancy between possessed and desirable competences of management.

Keywords:
manager  leader  supervisor  managerial competences