In this article the attention is focused on the problem areas of nepotism research, with emphasis on the private sector, aiming to encourage scientific discussion that would draw the guidelines for further studies. Nepotism in both the private and the public sector is identified as a social network or networks, where private interests arise in relations with other concerned members and it conflicts with the organization/public interests. The formation of such networks threatens by the fact that both social and material capital may be created while some groups are discriminated by other groups. While a normative problem of a social network and a conflict of interest arising in it is highlighted as more relevant to the private sector, the issues of ethical evaluation are particularly relevant to both the private and the public sector. Prevention of nepotism in the business sector is treated as avoidance of the conflict between individual and organizational interests and creating barriers for their occurrence at the individual and organizational levels. However, inconsistency of nepotism discourse in the private sector makes the development of effective prevention measures difficult in practice, therefore, purification of evaluations of the phenomenon, the development of national business ethics and creation of the regulatory framework, providing more tools to managers of business organizations should become the main guidelines for the research. In this case, the experience of the public sector in regulation of labour relations can be valuable, identifying the contents of the conflict of interest and resolution measures, despite the possible objections of liberal policy supporters on vertical initiatives of the state. [...]

Nepotism is presented quite selectively in studies, distinguishing socio-cultural aspects and positive and negative consequences for the development of viability of organizations. However, there is a lack of analysis of the phenomenon on the level of the development of management culture of the organization as an artificial system, in which natural social factor of nepotism would be implicated. This can be regarded as a drawback of the research and, together, the point of reference for further research. Positiveness of nepotism for business opportunities becomes apparent in employee search process, but in other processes of existence of organizations such benefits remain unproven if the organization uses wage-work, not family members’ work. In organizations that use wage-work, nepotism can be justified and is effective only on the stage of searching for employees. In other processes of organizational existence and management nepotism should be seen as a subjective and dysfunctional factor. Therefore, when modelling the effects of nepotic relations, formation of the module of the management culture, encompassing knowledge and creativity of management, the beginning condition of which is the results of theoretical studies and empirical research, becomes an exceptional factor in practice. When evaluating the intensity and quality of the internal communications in the practice of organizational activities, professionals’ opinion from the outside is relevant. The model can be used both in theoretical studies of the phenomenon, and in the management in organizational practice when hiring employees and evaluating the impact of clustering on organization’s processes.

Of Lithuanian and foreign scientists articles analysis, is determined that the phenomenon of nepotism is presented as protection of relatives, i.e., investment in human capital – family, relationship by marriage, not to productivity. This way does not guarantee the quality of human resources and damage workers’ interpersonal relationships, disturbing both the public and private sector organizations’ work. In a broad sense, nepotism is dysfunction of social relationship, in assessing aspects of all socium. Although nepotism is often associated with the legacy of the socialist system in Lithuania – it is a broader social phenomenon, beyond the political systems of frames, well grounded of the human nature and the cultural context. Society development is related with the negative aspects of the phenomenon harm to the public and private sector systems and understanding of the phenomenon as unacceptable, the institutionalization of the national acquis. Analysis of nepotism, favoritism and protectionism specificity showed that these phenomena are described quite differently, the common denominator is becoming protection, exceptionally creating favorable conditions for a social network of representatives: the family members, relatives, friends, financial partners. Social networks can be formal (family) and informal (similar geographic origin, ethnicity, military service, friendship, etc.). Informal network boundaries are difficult to define, and one person can belong to multiple networks, so networks can overlap and form metanetwork. Of the general denominators of nepotism, favoritism and protectionism, it is proved that these phenomena are closely related, and they can not be completely separated. Analyzed phenomena have the same core – corruption and discrimination, but differs protection objects and forms of corruption. [...]

It is emphasized that nepotism in the culture of business organizations is not less widespread than in public sector. In business organizations there is no steady opinion on whether nepotism is a purely negative phenomenon when forming organization’s staff, efforts to find pragmatic, beneficial aspects for business organizations are made. Attention is paid to ethical evaluation dichotomy. Subject of the research: nepotism evaluation dichotomy. Aim of the research: to analyze nepotism evaluation dichotomy from social and ethical aspects. Lithuania focuses on the problems of nepotism in the public sector to examine the intensity of the phenomenon often in conjunction with a historical-systematic heritage. Less attention has ethical and economic aspects of the phenomenon in the private sector. Nepotism comes from social relations that have naturally formed in different groups, group collective selfdefense mechanism that encourages defending and protecting the interests of its representatives. Tribal, family, local criteria in modern societies are supplemented by many other criteria that are based on indirect monetary benefit exchange that allow forming a rather closed clan. When evaluating in the public context, nepotism ethically can be considered as a certain social dysfunction, discrimination. Nepotism is characteristic to many socio-cultures, although it manifests itself differently depending on the traditions and civil, moral maturity of the society. For this reason ethical dichotomy of nepotism evaluation is selective. Social nature of the phenomenon influences ethical evaluation, positive treatment of the phenomenon in business sector promotes social tolerance to nepotism in the public sector. [...]

The article presents the results of values congruence. Respondents regarded all named blocks of values as highly relevant and important to themselves. Many of them gave the highest rank to moral and physical values. Professional, aesthetic and spiritual values seemed to be least important to the respondents. It was found that the following fundamental humanistic values such as honesty, dutifulness, responsibility, respect, support, communication, information sharing, supply of high-quality goods and services to customers seemed to be the most important to the respondents. Respondents subjectively assessing the importance of values to the organization, assessed values of all blocks as more or less important to the organization, importance of all blocks of values ranges from medium important to important. According to respondents, economical values are most important to the organization, meanwhile physical and moral – a little less important. The results showed that the organization and its activities are an integral part of its key – economic values, these values mostly function in reality, the organization recognizes them, cherish and seek to embody them by specific actions. After the research has been completed and distribution of organization values compared to distribution of personal values according to importance it has been noted that priorities of personal and organizational value differ, but the core of values both to the person and the organization is made of moral, physical, economic and social values. [...]

The evaluation results of climate condition in or-ganization are presented in the article. Twelve cri-teria of climate in organization have been chosen for evaluation: security and/or certainty; wish to act, realization of new ideas and creativity; convey-ance of customs, images, symbols and values that have formed in organization; coming to organiza-tion and going out of it; communication, exchange of experience, thoughts, evaluations and empathies, exchange of data, information and knowledge; ver-tical relationships of employees; supervision of ac-tivities and responsibilities, observation and check, horizontal relationships of employees; openness to otherness, tolerance and respect to other opinions, behaviour and beliefs; union of the people that are related by common interests, attitudes and aims; confrontation of opposite interests, attitudes and aims. Criteria of climate in organization are ana-lyzed through the prism of seven characteristic of socio-demographic employees: according to sex, age, speciality, department, position, education and experience. 61 employees from all departments of the organization (administration, accountancy, re-ception, staff, public relations, physicians’ physical therapy, nurses, technical / economical, canteen and support staff took part in the interview. When comparing criteria of climate of organiza-tion according to sex it has been noted that men are likely to regard the criteria of security / certainty, cre-ativity/imitativeness, values / traditions significantly more important than women. Meanwhile women are likely to regard the criterion of openness / toler-ance. Thus in such kind of organization climate sta-bly favourably to employees should prevail. When comparing criteria of climate of organization ac-cording to age, the tendency that the respondents of professionally mature and active age put emphasis on conflictiveness showed up. [...]

Intervention policy in organization cannot be limited to the attitude towards conflicts as a solution of local problems. Intervention mechanisms in organization serve as means of active prevention that do not allow new conflicts to arise in the future. Mobbing intervention conception is based on systemic attitude that embraces three levels: individual, organizational and social. On the level of individual mobbing interventions include such tactic means as coping strategies, conversation, help of experts and psychologists, training of self-confidence, stress management, services of mobbing consultants, lawyers, etc. The most effective strategy of intervention on the individual level that is orientated towards pre-conflict phase of employees’ relationships is individual training of social competence. On the organizational level the content of intervention is double – these are organizational means to solve arisen problems (such methods as training leadership, working group support method, care and observation of professional activity, mediation method, conflict regulation, consulting and training of organization, juridical assistance, conciliation procedure, employment of discharged) and active actions of preventive content that ensure transparence among the employees of various links and clear out functions, responsibility, guarantee publicity and openness. Intervention content on the level of organization correlates with purposefully developed organization culture. On the social level problem institutionalization, training of tolerance, development of the values, which make the content of social responsibility and influence of social groups in organization on running processes become the basis of intervention. Social context formulates organizational behavior, leadership and culture standards. [...]

The paper analyses and compares the structure of the instruments used by foreign authors to diagnose mobbing, presents the research results and their interpretations. The description of psychological terror at workplaces, formulated by H. Leymann, which distinguishes five main criteria and 45 ways of terrorisation, is elaborated. Criteria and indicators comprising the instruments used to analyse negative employee relations are discussed. The level of exploration of the phenomenon of mobbing in Lithuania and mobbing diagnostics instruments used by Lithuanian researchers are overviewed.

The state of organisational climate is reflected through such criteria as safety/explicitness, creativity/ initiative, values/traditions, entering and leaving the organisation, communication, dissemination of information, relationship with managers, control, employee relationships, openness/tolerance, informal groupings and conflicts. Many of the criteria indicate that organisational climate is worse on the level of the whole organisation. Having analyzed the results of the organisation and the department on the level of individual statements using statistical one of the department. Therefore, greater attention to climate on the scale of the whole organisation should be emphasised, reducing friction and making closer contacts among different departments. The tendencies show the existing tradition, which underestimates the necessity of the policy of formation of the whole organisation’s climate. Activities of informal groups, poor relations with managers, dissemination of information, values and traditions, safety and explicitness should be named as problem areas on the level of the organisation. In order to improve organisational climate special attention should be given to securing the sense of safety and explicitness, to the management of formation and functioning of informal groupings, to improvement of relationship between subordinates and managers, to fostering conventional and corporate values and to ensuring dissemination of information necessary for the organisation members. On the division level in most areas of activities there is relatively strong and strong emphasis on the following criteria: values, traditions and employee relations.[...].

The article provides the research results of teamwork peculiarities in different types of Lithuanian organizations using the standardised “Team Plus” testing methodology, which allows to estimate the main aspects of teamwork in different types of organizations. The paper also discovers opportunities and advantages of teamwork and distinguishes the main attributes of a team in different organizations.