Economics and Management 8 (4) 2016

Information and communication technologies enable the emergence of a new phenomenon called the “sharing economy”. An increasing number of articles in the media as well as debates about the positive and negative aspects of the sharing economy show a growing interest in the subject. The paper aims to review the different approaches to the definition of the sharing economy and to present the authors’ views on the concept. The reviewed literature reveals the main drivers for participating in the sharing economy. A survey was conducted to learn more about the motives of Lithuanian people participating in this concept. The survey reveals the following leading factors of using the sharing economy platforms: an easy way to make extra money; supporting individuals and/or small/independent companies; meeting new people and having an interesting experience/doing something most people haven’t tried yet. The survey also reveals that most of the respondents prefer to own things rather than share them. Despite the widespread popularity of the sharing economy platforms in the world, this phenomenon is in its infancy in Lithuania.

Keywords:
sharing economy  collaborative economy  collaborative consumption  peer-to-peer 

Cooperation in the field of innovation activities means active participation in joint projects with other companies and business environment institutions. Some of these institutions are involved in cooperation with entrepreneurs to a very limited extent, which makes the help ineffective. The aim of this article is to define the impact of this kind of cooperation in in the context of innovation development in the Podlasie region. According to the author of this article, the research problem is the low level of cooperation between companies and institutions of the business environment. There are not many publications regarding the identification of the degree of readiness to cooperate by companies in the regional context. The article uses the method of critical analysis of literature and statistical analysis of data. The results show the degree of interest in taking up cooperation between entities. Aiming to improve the level of cooperation, a more proactive and specific approach of the business environment institutions is recommended.

Keywords:
cooperation  business environment institutions  innovation  entrepreneurship 

The aim of the study is to compare the level of innovation of companies introducing innovations with consumer participation with that of other innovative providers of health tourism services. The following hypothesis was formulated: Companies benefiting from the participation of consumers in the process of innovation represent a higher level of innovativeness than other innovative providers of health tourism services. The following methods were used: a comparative analysis, a questionnaire (CAWI and PAPI), a standardized interview, and the ranking method. 461 providers of health tourism services participated in the research. The value and implications of the paper for the economic sciences contribute to the development of innovation theory. The hypothesis has been positively verified. The research shows a much higher level of innovation in companies cooperating with consumers (patients) than that of other respondents

Keywords:
innovation  process of innovation  consumers  health  tourism 

The aim of the article is to analyse the effectiveness of decision-making in the disbursement of funds from the ERDF for the selected tourism services. In the theoretical part of the article, the model for the assessment of the effectiveness of the ERDF management system was developed. This model is built based on the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) method, used to assess the effectiveness of community programmes. In the empirical part of the article, the verification of the model was carried out following the example of the tourism sector of the NUTS 2 region of Podlasie. The obtained results allow concluding that the developed deadweight assessment model can be used in practice for the evaluation of the efficiency of the ERDF management. The conducted research indicates that the method of Propensity Score Matching (PSM), using the Neyman-Rubin model based on counterfactual studies, allows assessing the decision-making effectiveness in the disbursement of funds from the ERDF. Creating counterfactual situations in the models of evaluation of infrastructural actions serves for the identification of the effect of an independent event. The effect of an independent event measures the negative, unintended consequences of the undertaken decisions. It informs about the loss of alternative possibilities of allocating funds for other purposes.

Keywords:
European funds  deadweight evaluation model  public subsidies  management system 

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a well-established, popular, and often used method for efficiency evaluation of units from all sector, both commercial and nonprofit organisations, of any scale of operations. Network DEA models are a relatively recent approach used to examine the efficiency of decision-making units (DMUs) having an internal structure of sub-processes. The article presents the concept of DEA network models in estimating the efficiency of courier and messenger companies with relations to their business clients. The considerations are supported by an example of data concerning leaders from the sector of couriers and messengers in Poland and one of the biggest and most popular online stores. The results are compared with the traditional DEA approach. In addition, to measure reliability for DEA scores, the jackknife procedure was performed. The author proves the usefulness of network DEA as a research and management tool.

Keywords:
courier and messenger companies  network DEA  efficiency  evaluation 

The article presents the results of a research project referring to the dynamics of the public bike-sharing system BiKeR (Białystok, Poland) in 2014-2015. Identification of the dynamics of the system permits modifications that lead to the enhancement of the efficiency and help to determine the reasons for the choice of a location for new bicycle stations. The basic methodology used for compiling data were the statistical methods with special emphasis on network analysis and graph theory. Analysis of the data allowed us to identify the mechanisms of changes in the system affecting its dynamics, especially in the area of network topology changes in conjunction with the location of network nodes (stations). The research and analysis showed the specificity of PBS as a transport network. The PBS network, the process of analysis, the value of network metrics and their distribution differ significantly from other types of transport networks (including municipal). The results improve decision-making processes related to the creation and modification of a PBS network, especially in the field of process support, the choice of station location and the impact of these choices on the networks dynamics (as a prognostic utility).

Keywords:
public bike-sharing system (PBS)  network dynamics  network analysis 

This paper aims to perform comparative analysis of urban transport in selected global cities and to verify the existence of clusters. It was based on data source from the World Organization Data Urban. It used Indicators proposed in ISO 37120 Sustainable Community Development. The test procedure exploited taxonomic methods as Ward’s hierarchical analysis and the deagglomerating k-means analysis. The empirical analysis comprises four indicators: (I) high capacity public transport system, (II) light passenger public transport system, (III) annual number of public transport trips and (IV) number of personal automobiles. Main results are the classification of selected global cities, identification and characterization of trends in the field of urban transport in each group. The empirical analysis confirms a substantial diversity of urban transport in selected cities. These differences arise from their past, geographical location, size, different reactions to the transition process and the different economic structures. The taxonomic analysis of the urban transport in selected cities separated five independent classes typological. This elaboration aims to examine the role of urban transport in city management based on a literature review, databases and reports of the European Union.

Keywords:
urban transport  ISO 37120  smart city  taxonomic  city management 

Transport is considered a basis for socio-economic development. It is closely connected with the process of movement of products and humans. The main aim of the paper is to investigate the influence of different order normalization methods in the synthetic measure construction implemented in the assessment of the development of European Union member states in the area of logistic, especially transportation system. Moreover, the article attempts to investigate the influence of such methods on linear ordering in multi-criteria taxonomic approach. The source of information in the research is the data drawn from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. The main method in this study is the order synthetic measure constructed with Weber median in different forms due to implemented normalization methods. The main result of the carried out analysis indicated that the development level of three main branches of a transportation system correlates with the socio-economic development of particular member states. Furthermore, the assessment process based on the synthetic measure construction can lead to differences in linear ordering due to the implemented normalization methods. The research on the transport development can bring a better understanding of the socio-economic development of particular areas of the European Union. Hence, the results can be helpful to European policy makers for the allocation of support funds.

Keywords:
transport  European Union member states  synthetic measure  normalization 

Due to the growing scales of business and internationalisation, the issue of the office lease is becoming more and more relevant for companies. They are becoming an inherent part of business, on which the results of the commercial activity depend. Currently existing methodologies for the assessment of the office lease options are imperfect as they lack complexity; they are not associated with the objective of the lease – the improvement of the business results; the methods of the quantitative assessment of lease options are far from perfect. The paper aims at formulating the hierarchical indicator system of commercial real estate facilities (offices) adjusted for the multi-criteria assessment and at calculating the lease options based on this indicator system. To achieve this goal, the following methods have been used: scientific literature analysis and multi-criteria assessment methods.

Keywords:
lease of commercial facilities (offices)  forming the indicator system  multi-criteria assessment methods 

This paper attempts to decompose, as well as perform a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the way to externalize the perception of the accommodation service. The research material consisted of the opinions of users of accommodation facilities, located in the vicinity of the twelve selected national parks in Poland. It was assumed that the reflection of the perception of the quality of the service process is the transfer of intangible content related to the service itself, which can be externalized, among other things, through entries in social networks. The study was conducted based on the theory of memes as cultural information carriers. According to this theory, in such a transmission, it is possible to distinguish certain components, which can be defined as memes. Therefore, it is possible to analyse and track their presence, transfer, as well as incidence. A memetic pool was constructed using the assumptions of the perceptual-cognitive model of the formation of the tourism image. It was a direct expression of the mental changes of the recipient, resulting from the use of the service. Studies of this type are intended to optimize the design of services in terms of building positive relationships on the line service provider-customer. At the same time, they allow for a slightly different, evolutionary approach to analyses, concerning the formation of the image of the service provider, as well as forming the expectations of service recipients.

Keywords:
accommodation service  service quality perception  meme theory  meme transfer  User Generated Content  memetic pool formation 

The problem of bottlenecks is a key issue in optimising and increasing the efficiency of manufacturing processes. Detecting and analysing bottlenecks is one of the basic constraints to the contemporary production enterprises. The enterprises should not ignore problems that significantly influence the efficiency of the processes. People responsible for the proper course of production try to devise methods to eliminate bottlenecks and the waiting time at the production line. The possibilities of production lines are limited by the throughput of bottlenecks that disturb the smoothness of the processes. The presented results of the experimental research show the possibilities of a computer simulation as a method for analysing problems connected with limiting the production capacity. A computer-assisted simulation allows for studying issues of various complexities that could be too work-consuming or impossible while using classic analytical methods. The article presents the results of the computer model analysis that involved the functioning of machinery within a chosen technological line of an enterprise from a sanitary sector. The major objective of the paper is to identify the possibility of applying selected simulation tool while analysing production bottlenecks. An additional purpose is to illustrate the subjects of production bottlenecks and creating simulation models. The problem analysis involved the application of the software Tecnomatix Plant Simulation by Siemens. The basic methods of research used in the study were literature studies and computer simulation.

Keywords:
computer simulation  production process  bottleneck  simulation model  Tecnomatix Plant Simulation