Generolo Jono Žemaičio Lietuvos karo akademija

In impending decades Industrie 4.0 will challenge us in how to re-invent jobs in a world where machines will take our jobs. Although plenty of research has been carried out on the strategic importance of resources, capabilities, and boundaries where knowledge must be shared and assessed, no studies have been found which looking on strategic factor analysis for understanding how prepared we are for the fourth industrial revolution. Therefore asking the central research question “Is our strategy ready for the fourth industrial revolution?” Comparing the strategically related general and significant categories and subcategories of Industrie 4.0, with the strategic factor analysis summary themes and most important subcategories from firms in Estonia (n = 123), allowed answering the central research question that our strategy is only partly ready for the fourth industrial revolution. But the results of this study indicate also that we are ready in employee development, values, flexible services and products, high quality target, customer orientation, and strategy. Proposed solutions to overcome low profitability, lack of qualified manpower, and growth, could be expanding the market share into new markets, and development of innovative services. In order to be prepared for the fourth industrial revolution the development of a strategic knowledge vision is needed.

The present article is to examine benefits of social capital for innovation capabilities in the modern business world. First of all, the concept of social capital and its role are defined referring to a set of scientists’ interpretations on social capital and economic/ social development. This chapter allows an ingenious acknowledgement of the added-value of social capital to companies. The main patterns of innovation capabilities are revealed, followed by the methodology and research results presented. The paper emphasizes social capital as a driving factor for organizations while conducting innovations. In line with such elements of social capital as trust, social networks and norms that emerge as the driving factors within the literature review, the research, based on the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) methodology, mainly focuses on three elements of social capital: trust, norms and networks in Lithuanian companies. The research question: how such social capital elements as trust, norms and networks help organizations to innovate sustainably.

International migration has become a key challenge and concern in the European Union (EU) and most part of the word. On the one hand, the freedom to move to another Member State is the right guaranteed for all the EU citizens. On the other hand, emigration or immigration is a longstanding concern for policy makers in many countries. Generally, human capital is one of the future sustainable competitiveness resources. Moreover, now, as the Lisbon Strategy is being replaced by the new EU strategy Europe 2020 for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth (2010), there is evidence that mobility in the EU will increase. In order to achieve the goals of the strategy Europe 2020 (2010), especially employment target, the flagship initiative “Youth on the Move” places a lot of emphasis on mobility as in moving to another country to study, train or work. The perceptions of this research show that growing mobility can be followed with new migration trends in the future. Moreover, no single answer to the question what level of migration (emigration or immigration) should be tolerated in the context of sustainable developing economy could be provided. This research not only confirms this observation and theoretical problem of “sustainable migration” but goes much further by discussing the reasons why one of the highest emigration rates in the EU happened to be found in Lithuania.