Ekonomikos ir vadybos fakultetas / Faculty of Economics and Management

Both researchers and policymakers increasingly emphasize the importance of creative industries for innovation outcomes in the broader economy. Previous studies have mainly focused on the innovation productivity of creative industries or their subsectors, as well as on how innovation outcomes diffuse through labor and resource linkages. Yet, literature lacks studies that explore innovation diffusion through intersectoral networks structured by material and knowledge linkages. There are few studies analyzing creative industries innovation diffusion networks from workforce perspective, but there is no known research analyzing innovation diffusion in networks, where linkages are treated as intersectoral, resources-based, relatedness. This study applies to an inter-sectoral relatedness index and network analysis to identify which economic sectors are most affected by the innovative activities of creative industries in terms of material flows. The findings indicate that creative industries function primarily as suppliers rather than consumers within the European input–output network, acting as key facilitators of innovation diffusion through embodied resource linkages.

Postmenopausal women with obesity often show blood abnormalities and low plasma volume, which reduce aerobic capacity and raise health risks. The purpose is to compare the effects of high-intensity (HIIWT) versus moderate-intensity interval walking training (MIIWT) on body composition, plasma volume variations (PVV), hematological parameters, muscle damage, and aerobic capacity in postmenopausal women with overweight/obesity. Thirty-two postmenopausal women with overweight/obesity were randomly assigned to HIIWT (n = 11), MIIWT (n = 11), or control (CON, n = 10) groups. The HIIWT and MIIWT groups performed intermittent walking at 90–110% and 60–80% of their 6-min-walk-test (6MWT) distance, respectively, four times per week for 10 weeks. Body composition, hematological and muscle damage markers, and 6MWT performance were assessed pre- and post-intervention. After ten weeks, PVV was calculated in all three groups. A significant group × time interaction was observed for body composition, erythrocytes, hemoglobin levels, hematocrit, creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and 6MWT performance (p < 0.05). Both the HIIWT and MIIWT groups showed significant reductions in body mass, body fat, waist circumference (p < 0.05), and erythrocyte count (p = 0.010 and 0.028, respectively). Only the HIIWT group showed significant reductions in hemoglobin (p < 0.001), hematocrit (p = 0.005), CK (p = 0.002), and LDH (p = 0.009), along with a significant increase in 6MWT-performance (p = 0.002). The HIIWT group demonstrated a significantly greater increase in PVV compared to both MIIWT (p = 0.018) and CON (p < 0.001) groups. HIIWT induced superior improvements in body composition, aerobic capacity, plasma volume, and hematological and muscle-damage markers compared to MIIWT. HIIWT represents a practical strategy for improving health outcomes in postmenopausal women with overweight/obesity.

Despite the well-documented acceleration of climate-related economic losses in Europe, existing research has largely treated these damages as isolated stochastic events rather than as structurally embedded fiscal risks. This gap leaves EU fiscal governance frameworks inadequately prepared for the persistent, spatially concentrated, and temporally dependent nature of such losses. This study addresses this gap by investigating the systemic transformation of climate-related economic risks within the European Union, arguing that climate losses have evolved from unpredictable stochastic shocks into a persistent, structural burden on the European economy. Adopting a comprehensive multi-methodological approach, the research quantifies this transition by integrating spatial concentration metrics (HHI), advanced time-series modelling (OLS, ARIMA, ETS), and anomaly detection techniques to analyse loss patterns across the EU-27 from 1980 to 2023. The empirical results demonstrate three critical systemic dimensions: (1) a statistically significant upward shift in the baseline of economic damages; (2) a high geographical concentration of losses, with Germany, Italy, and France consistently bearing the largest share of climate-driven fiscal pressure; and (3) the emergence of volatility clustering, indicating that climate risks are becoming increasingly non-linear and embedded in the macroeconomic environment. The study contributes to the literature by reframing climate-related economic losses as a systemic fiscal phenomenon requiring structural governance reform, rather than ad hoc disaster response. The findings suggest that existing reactive policy frameworks are insufficient to address the scale of these structural risks. Consequently, the paper advocates for a paradigm shift in EU climate policy—moving toward anticipatory fiscal instruments, harmonised resilience financing, and monitoring systems designed to mitigate systemic volatility and cross-country economic asymmetry rather than merely responding to isolated disaster events.

This study examines customer satisfaction drivers in the expanding dog hotel industry. Based on a sample of Google reviews posted about U.S. dog hotels, Latent Dirichlet Allocation and sentiment analysis were applied to identify key service dimensions, which was followed by the application of a cumulative link model for ordinal regression to assess the dimensions’ impact on star ratings. Seven dimensions emerged, with receiving updates, overall experience and grooming services exerting the strongest influence on satisfaction, while logistical aspects exerted the least. Staff professionalism and guardians’ emotional wellbeing received the highest sentiment ratings. The research findings offer practical insights into improving service delivery in the companion animal hospitality sector.

This study investigates the impact of gamification on customer engagement and retention in subscription-based business models through a six-week quasi-experimental field study. Using a streak-based gamification mechanism, we compared user behaviour between a gamified experimental group (n = 1,994) and a non-gamified control group (n = 2,107) within a live iOS subscription application. As group assignment followed onboarding status rather than randomisation, the design is quasi-experimental, and the results are interpreted as gamification-associated effects under real-world conditions rather than as strict causal estimates. Results show that gamification was associated with significantly higher engagement frequency, more stable retention, greater time investment per session, and higher conversion to paid subscriptions. At the level of daily aggregates, the experimental group exhibited 3.7 times higher daily goal completion, 4.5 times greater time investment per activity, and a 6.9-fold higher trial-to-paid conversion rate than the control group; complementary user-level analyses confirmed that these effects were broad-based rather than driven by a small number of highly active users. These findings provide ecologically valid evidence for the association between gamification and improved customer loyalty and business performance in digital subscription services. This study contributes to the literature by providing quasi-experimental field evidence linking gamification, engagement, and retention within subscription-based digital services and by demonstrating how engagement functions as a behavioural mechanism through which gamified experiences relate to conversion and long-term user value. Managerially, the results suggest that strategically integrated gamification features can serve as effective tools for improving customer lifecycle outcomes in digital subscription environments.

Research background: innovation is a key factor in determining the growth of the creative industries sector. However, it also highlights the importance of the creative industries to the broader innovation process within the wider economy. Synergies between the creative industries and companies in other sectors create conditions for the diffusion of new technologies. Creative industries companies typically utilise a large, diverse network of relationships, facilitating easy access to new knowledge and faster assimilation. Purpose of the article: the purpose is to present a systematic literature review of research papers on creative industries, innovation diffusion and network analysis, and to identify future research directions. Methods: this paper presents the results of a systematic literature review of 54 articles on innovation diffusion networks within the creative industries, as indexed in the Web of Science database. Findings & Value: the study reveals that innovation diffusion within the creative industries has positive effects within the sector and across the broader economy. The review also reveals that qualitative and mixed-method approaches dominate the current research landscape, indicating a need for more robust quantitative modelling in future studies. Results from scientific research analysing the impact of innovation diffusion networks on the creative industries sector have shown that existing networks significantly affect the social and economic environment of other industries, regions and the national economy. Although the authors emphasise the importance of networks for the diffusion of innovations in the creative industries sector, few empirical studies have focused on identifying these networks.

Greenwashing in environmental, social, and governance reporting poses a significant threat to corporate accountability and stakeholder trust. This article provides a comprehensive synthesis of existing research to evaluate the role and effectiveness of sustainability assurance as a primary mechanism to combat greenwashing and proposes a framework for it. Based on a systematic literature review, this paper consolidates empirical findings indicating that sustainability assurance has a significant inhibitory effect on corporate greenwashing and is positively valued by capital markets, as evidenced by lower equity capital costs. However, the analysis also reveals that the effectiveness of assurance is not uniform; it is moderated by contextual factors such as the strength of the national legal environment and, in particular, regulatory environments, which can be exploited to legitimize overstated disclosures. This paper proposes a conceptual framework for anti-greenwashing assurance that integrates five interconnected pillars (regulatory, stakeholder engagement, third-party verification, corporate culture and internal controls, and technologies), forming a synergistic ecosystem of deterrents which collectively shape the integrity and credibility of sustainability reporting practices. To enhance the effectiveness of greenwashing mitigation, the proposed framework must be further strengthened by integrating the core principles of transparency, materiality, and verifiability across all its pillars.

Knowledge management (KM) is a key tool for improving the performance and competitiveness of organisations in today’s dynamic business environment. This study examines the impact of knowledge management on organisational performance and proposes a conceptual model comprising three key elements: the employee, the manager and the organisational environment. The study employed a quantitative research design, with data collected through an electronic survey conducted among public sector employees in Lithuanian organisations between July and November 2024. A total of 396 respondents participated in the survey, exceeding the minimum sample size required for a 95% confidence level with a 5% margin of error. The data were analysed via descriptive and inferential statistical techniques, including regression analysis, to test the proposed hypotheses and assess the relationships between knowledge management (KM) elements and organisational performance. The results revealed that the employee, the manager and the internal environment of the organisation are the three main elements of an effective KM system. These components contribute significantly to the success of the organisation, with the role of the employee (0.729) being the most influential, followed by the role of the manager (0.766) and the internal environment (0.716). The study also highlights the ethical considerations involved in the collection of data, ensuring the anonymity, confidentiality and voluntary participation of respondents. The study concludes that a well-structured KM system not only enhances organisational effectiveness but also supports sustainable development by fostering a culture of innovation and continuous improvement. However, given that the study was conducted only in Lithuania, the generalisability of the findings in a wider international context is limited, suggesting the need for further research in different organisational and cultural contexts.

Research background:After the lessons of supply chain disruptions caused by environmental changes such as the pandemic, political and commercial restrictions, and natural disasters, companies make strategic decisions to design more sustainable, resilient, and flexible supply chains able to reduce the effect of uncertainty. Nevertheless, most companies lack the skills and understanding of how to systematically develop a network of sustainable supply chain partners that would take advantage of new technological capabilities to meet changing consumer expectations and exploit market opportunities. Therefore, the problem this research addresses is how to develop sustainable supply chain networks in conditions of global uncertainty. Purpose of the article: Based on an analysis of recent scientific literature on sustainable supply chain management, to assess the corporate practices used to develop sustainable supply chain networks in conditions of global uncertainty. Methods: Scientific literature analysis; quantitative empirical research of a survey among managers of companies from seven European countries. Findings & value added: This study moves beyond general sustainability concepts to pinpoint the specific networking drivers—namely the supplier, customer, and internal integration—that determine resilience under conditions of global uncertainty. The results reveal a critical weak link in supplier integration and a value–action gap in social sustainability. To ensure long-term viability, managers must pivot from transactional procurement to deep, technologically enabled supplier integration, as robust networking ties are the primary engine for translating aspirations for high sustainability into measurable operational resilience.

The accelerating pace of technological, economic, and social change has increased the complexity of work environments and blurred the boundaries between professional and personal life, making work–life balance particularly important for Generation Z employees. Despite extensive research, prior studies have predominantly focused on narrow outcomes such as job satisfaction, leaving the multidimensional nature of well-being insufficiently explored.

The results reveal that work–life balance is a significant and multidimensional predictor of well-being, explaining between 36.1% and 56.7% of variance across outcomes. Work–life balance (compatibility) emerged as the strongest predictor across all dimensions, particularly for psychological and emotional well-being. In contrast, the impact of work on personal life showed weaker and less consistent effects. Generation Z reported consistently lower evaluations across all dimensions compared to older generations, indicating higher expectations and greater sensitivity to imbalance.

This study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence on the multidimensional structure of well-being and demonstrating the central role of work–life balance as a key resource shaping employee outcomes. The findings highlight the importance of work-personal life compatibility as a primary driver of well-being among Generation Z employees.