Transformations  in
Business & Economics

JEL classification: Y20.

Transformations in market economy and cultural values alongside with the scientific and technological progress manifest themselves in different ways of working out development scenarios and its contents, and achieving solutions on regional and global levels. By implementing the states’ policy, based on power of mind, scientific and technological progress, the leading positions in economic welfare and quality of life could be achieved through minimising costs in raw materials and supplies management in production processes. Knowledge and information flows as well as their timely application become of paramount importance in increasing competitive advantages. The current transformations carry a tendency of changes, which could be phrased as follows: more knowledge and information – less raw materials and supplies.

Economically powerful countries, by possessing a bigger reserve of financial and intellectual resources, have a unique opportunity to create scientific knowledge base and develop new technologies, which could be directly applied to practice. They also have a more fortunate opportunity of attracting talented scholars, researchers and specialists from worldwide. Therefore, less developed countries, due to their weaker economic and financial background, are faced with the reality of searching for ways of acquiring ready-made scientific and technological innovations.

According to the indicators of scientific knowledge creation and its application to practice, regions are also able to pursue the position of a leader or a follower. The leader has its own capacity of creating scientific and technological innovations with strong application into practice. On the other hand, the follower only absorbs the progressive achievements and applies them into practice. The situation in the exact sciences and their applicative solutions is less intervened by the ideological factor. The ideological factor takes a very high position in the social sciences. Besides, one should remember that ideologies are the manifestation of ideas, values, comprehension and motivations of individual people. Therefore, they intertwine with the contents of the humanities. The paramount precondition of social and economic progress, therefore, are the transformations taken place in perceptions, experiences, values and orientations.

In social sciences and their practical applications, two directions of comprehension and action can be observed. The leader, by researching empirical social-economic issues, accumulates creative powers for the search of scientifically viable solutions, what, in its turn, usually is proceeded by the creation of new knowledge and methods. On the other hand, the follower, by possessing scarce financial and intellectual resources, seeks opportunities and concentrates on finding ways of applying and utilising knowledge and solutions, proposed by other scholars.

The application of obviously beneficial and tested solutions for the follower is not an easy task, especially, because of the differences in maturity and the level of preparation for changes and innovations. There is one case, when the innovation is born and gets adopted naturally in the environment, which is clearly matured and capable of assessing the need and content of innovations. But there is also another case, when innovations are „imported” into the environment, which is less matured in the sense of experience and comprehension.

Let’s consider a concrete example of the marketing science under the conditions of knowledge and methods application in the achieving of the main goal by enterprises and individuals under the market conditions. The practice of business goals achievement under the market competitiveness has raised the need for creating a system of new knowledge and methods. This precondition ensured the impulse for the origin and evolution of the marketing science. Marketing became an effective source for business problem cognition and finding the solutions through knowledge and methods application in the developed economies. However, its comprehension, acknowledgment and practical application differ in the countries, which are in the process of developing competitive markets and gaining valuable business experience. In the latter case, the marketing content and method comprehension and the application experience is of a lesser degree, therefore, it requires more effort, time and good-will for the educative process of adequate marketing perception.

We truly hope and employ huge efforts that Transformations in Business and Economics would sustain the creation and dispersion of progressive changes and educative ideas.

Editor-in-Chief Prof. Habil. Dr. Vytautas P. Pranulis