Askoldas Podviezko

Business owners are trying to enhance company value by developing growth strategies. Besides, they need to know what supports and drives the attractiveness to potential investors. Previously to determine company value, only financial drivers were used. These are essential drivers; however, even they do not reflect the overall situation. This paper proposes a novel approach for the solution of the problem of business valuation by taking into account both financial and non-financial drivers and by using several MCDM (multiple criteria decision making) methods simultaneously both for establishing weights and for the evaluation itself. World-leading road freight transport companies were selected for a case study. MCDM methods were used for determining the weights of the drivers and comparing the listed companies. Key drivers were identified, and the ranking of companies is provided.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are accounted for as a major part of the economy of the EU in terms of part of the population employed, turnover, value-added, etc. Causes of insolvency of SMEs can be different; they are categorized in the paper. A considerable shift from resolving cases of bankruptcy with the sole aim to satisfy creditors’ rights to augmenting and enhancing liquidation and reorganization procedures evolved interest of the authors in creating efficient bankruptcy prediction models and, in particular, methodologies for evaluation and monitoring of the performance of SMEs. In the paper, we reviewed several initiatives and instruments created by the EU for supporting SMEs. The paper laid a foundation for creating a more comprehensive methodology for evaluation of the state of a firm undergoing the process of reorganization. A hierarchy structure of criteria for the evaluation of SMEs was used in the paper; methodologies for eliciting weights of importance of criteria from experts and gauging the level of concordance of opinions of experts were applied. Resulting weights of criteria of performance of an insolvent SME were obtained; the importance of the managerial category of criteria was revealed. Prominent features of hierarchy structures and methodology of using the structure for calculating ultimate weights were described and demonstrated. Gauging concordance of opinions of experts revealed a satisfactory level of concordance of opinions of experts; this allowed to prepare the ultimate weights of criteria for multiple criteria evaluation of SMEs for further research.

We demonstrate that the dynamics of tax competitiveness in the EU has gained a new higher level. The shift in the tax competition can be noted after new countries have joined the EU. Both positive and negative effects of tax competitiveness are discussed in the paper and the question of trade-off between the strong tax competitiveness of a country and magnitude of its tax revenue is raised. Evaluation of chosen countries using multiple criteria decision aid methods (MCDA) shed more light on the opposition of two groups of countries, the old and new members of the EU, provided more details on the both the present state and dynamics of tax competitiveness in the. The evaluation methodology can be successfully used for monitoring the current state of tax competitiveness of each member country. Prominence of the multiple criteria evaluation TOPSIS method of MCDA evaluation is described. Keywords: Competitiveness of countries, tax system, tax competition, tax revenues, multiple criteria evaluation, TOPSIS.

This paper investigates tax competitiveness among the EU member countries. The tax competition of countries causes both positive and negative effects on macroeconomic processes such as the effectiveness of government spending, the rationality of supply of externalities, and the length and amplitudes of business cycles. A considerable reduction of corporate tax in the EU is related to increased tax competition after new members entered the EU. Multiple criteria methods were chosen for the quantitative evaluation of EU countries from different regions of the EU. Criteria of evaluation were chosen and structured into a hierarchy. The convergence process of the new members of the EU is reinforced with the increasing tax competitiveness of such countries. Results of the multiple criteria evaluation revealed both the factors that increased the tax competitiveness of new members of the EU, and outlined the factors that hampered such competition.

This study compares screw joints made of different materials, including screws of different diameters. For that purpose, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 mm diameter steel screws and various parts made of aluminum (Al), steel (Stl), bronze (Brz), cast iron (CI), copper (Cu) and brass (Br) are considered. Multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) methods such as evaluation based on distance from average solution (EDAS), simple additive weighting (SAW), technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) and complex proportional assessment (COPRAS) are utilized to assess reliability of screw joints also considering cost issues. The entropy, criterion impact loss (CILOS) and integrated determination of objective criteria weights (IDOCRIW) methods are utilized to assess weights of decision criteria and find the best design alternative. Numerical results confirm the validity of the proposed approach.

In the National Communication Development of 2014–2022 Program and Guidelines of the Development of the Public Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure confirmed by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, it is planned that, until the year of 2025, among newly registered vehicles, electric ones should make at least 10%. Analysis of the trend of electric vehicles makes evident that the target does not have a real chance to be achieved without targeted efforts. In order to improve the infrastructure of electric vehicles in major cities and resorts of Lithuania, we have carried out a comparative analysis of public infrastructure for electric vehicles in 18 Lithuanian cities and resorts. For the quantitative analysis, we proposed eight criteria describing such an infrastructure. As perception of the infrastructure by owners of electric cars depends on complex factors, we used multiple criteria evaluation methods (MCDM) for evaluation of the current state of its development by four such methods: EDAS, SAW, TOPSIS, and PROMETHEE II. Based on the evaluation results, prominent and lagging factors were understood, and proposals for effective development of public infrastructure of electric vehicles were proposed for improvement of the infrastructure.

Urban brownfields are found in all parts of the world. They suffer from a negative image and are generally being viewed as problem areas. However, urban brownfields also offer potentials for new uses and for the ecological regeneration of cities. Strategic decision-making has a long term impact on the quality of life, ecological balance and urban structure. Therefore, the paper is aimed at providing a methodology for selecting the optimal scenario for urban brownfields regarding criteria for urban development and focuses on three possible scenarios representing sustainable urban development in the city. The results of the research are provided as a priority list for each scenario in the context of every neighbourhood of Vilnius city. The obtained results show the scenario optimal for each neighbourhood having the highest priority to implementing solutions in real life. Economic, social, physical (urbanistic) and environmental criteria are considered. Geographic information system (GIS) tools are employed for collecting spatial information, obtaining the initial set of criteria and deriving statistical data. Different MCDA methods, including TOPSIS, EDAS, COPRAS and SAW are used in the research. The correlation between the values of the sets pairs of cumulative criteria for the applied MCDA methods appeared to be satisfactory for the conducted re-search. The developed framework will support the decision-making process in brownfield land redevelopment aiding sustainable urban planning.

Brownfield land is one of the least exploited resources for urban development in a number of Eastern European countries. Establishing a rational strategy for redeveloping brownfields is an unambiguously complex task that requires considering a number of different economic, social, physical and environmental factors. The strategic decision-making has a long term impact on the quality of life, ecological balance and urban structure. Therefore, the paper is aimed at developing a comprehensive set of criteria that contribute to the redevelopment of brownfield land in urban areas. It focuses on six main development strategies that embrace creating residential, green, commercial, recreational activity and industrial areas or leaving land as a reserve. Geographic information system (GIS) tools are employed to collect the spatial information, obtain the initial set of criteria and derive the statistical data. Expert’s evaluations along with a statistical method of gauging the level of concordance of their opinion combined with Delphi method are used for determining significance of criteria within economic, social, physical (urbanistic) and environmental criteria groups. This study establishes the most significant criteria for implementing different scenarios of the brownfield land redevelopment in Vilnius, Lithuania. Developed framework will support the decision-making process in the brownfield land redevelopment aiding a sustainable urban planning.

The main purpose of the paper is to present criteria of efficiency of assignment of vehicles to tasks at municipal companies, which collect garbage from city inhabitants. Three types of criteria are introduced in the paper: garbage collection time, length of route allocation, and utilization of resources. A two-stage method of optimization of taskroutes is proposed. It generates tasks at the first stage and assigns vehicles to the tasks at the second stage. At municipal companies that are responsible for garbage, collection tasks are not pre-defined, and consequently tasks must be designated before the workday. The proposed method is based on genetic algorithm, which is used for the purpose of optimization of the assignment problem. The obtained by the algorithm optimal assignment is compared with assignments obtained in the random way. Criteria of evaluation of efficiency of the obtained route of different mutually conflicting dimensions were introduced, such as is task realization time, distances travelled on particular routes, and number of vehicles involved in garbage collection. Efficiency of the obtained assignment appeared to be sufficiently good.