No abstract

In modern global market organizations striving for survive and successful compete have not only to satisfy needs of customers but to perform it with the least costs. Specialists of quality management determined that quality costs make a big part of total factor costs, taking about 30 % (Srivastava, 2008). Reducing of quality costs allows reducing of total organizational costs that would result in reducing of price of goods manufactured or services supplied, increase of customers' satisfaction or improved oeganization performance (JuranOrganizations that have prepared the programs of quality costs accounting adapted to their specific activity and paying more attention to implementation of quality programs, can identify, set in underlying order, evaluate and select quality investments more easy (Bottorff, 1997). Also quality costs programs allow calculation of return of investment to quality, help to find out how development is going (Gray, 1995), determine where highest costs appear and allow to find out what is the loss due to poor quality (Bottorff, 1997). Unfortunately, many organizations don't know their quality costs (Yang, 2008). Between the reasons determining the absence of quality costs accounting in the organization, following are indicated: use of many types of different accounting systems (Harry & Schroeder, 2000), traditional costs accounting systems are not adapted to identify quality costs data (Chiadamrong, 2003), lack of adequate methods to determine the results of poor quality (Chen & Yang, 2002). Studies performed by Viger & Anandarajan (1999) show that organizations that are calculating and analyzing quality costs, are making efficient decisions more often than those not calculating quality costs. Having calculated the loss due to poor quality and determined where its appearance is the largest, organizations can make decisions allowing optimization of quality costs. While optimizing quality costs, benefit increases (Fine & Charles, 1986;Freiesleben, 2005). Also, optimization of quality costs is a condition necessary to survive and anchor in the market. Quality costs programs were implemented and used worldwide (Carr, 1992; Schiffauerova & Thomson, 2006a). However, both the scientific literature and enterprises' practice still are having questions how to calculate all constituents of categories of quality costs in details in striving for maximal benefit from the system of accounting of quality costs. In the article there is discussion about the problems of quality costs accounting in striving for detailed calculation of all quality costs, a problem of lack of hidden failure quality costs accounting methodology analyzed, a review of literature on quality costs accounting models presented, the studies performed by other authors discussed, suggestions how to calculate hidden failure quality costs presented. An empirical study was performed in Lithuanian organization where methodology of accounting of constituents of hidden failure quality costs was tested.Keywords: external failure quality costs, e...

Higher Education Institutions play a key role in building more sustainable societies and creating new paradigms. As educational institutions, they are responsible for promoting sustainability issues through research and teaching, disseminating new knowledge and building capabilities. However the ill-defined nature of sustainability manifests have focused on the reasoning for why sustainable development needs broad adoption, but not on the clear sustainability evidences analysis. Firstly this paper shortly discusses the importance of Universities roles in meeting sustainability challenges. Secondly this paper explores the research results based on Lithuanian higher education institutions World Wide Web communication channel to demonstrate how close or far they are to the sustainable development approach.

A skilled, competent, and motivated nursing workforce is crucial for a well-functioning health care system. Nurses’ professional activities done on a regular basis, their workload, and occupancy are related to the patient’s health status, dependence level and care needs. Therefore, managing human resources in nursing by effectively distributing nurses’ working time and monitoring their workload for safe and high quality care, managers should rely on the severity of patients’ health status and their independence level. In this article the results on how nurses’ working time depends on patients’ independence are provided. The research was carried out at a regional hospital, in departments of medical profile. The time-and-motion study was implemented with 72 observations made in total, which amounted to 777.2 hours of nursing time. A questionnaire was used to assess the level of patients’ independence by assessing the four activities of the patient’s daily living. The results revealed that the largest amount of nurses’ working time, i.e. almost half of a day’s shift, was spent on direct patient care by administrating medication use and performing various nursing procedures. Nurses would spend almost half of the time for direct patient care on completely dependent patients, while one third would be spent on dependent patients. The relative number of nurses’ contacts with a patient is directly proportional to patient’s level of independence; a strong or fairly strong linear relationship was established betweenn the level of patients’ independence and the relative amount of nurses’ working time.

<p><strong>Purpose:</strong> The main purpose of this paper is to focus on the quality costs influence direction and intensity on the added value in the aspect of value chain.</p><p><strong>Methodology/Approach:</strong> The article is based on a nomothetic point of view that includes three modules: conceptual, hypothetical – deductive and inductive methods. To formulate theoretical aspects of quality costs evaluation, comparative and chronological analysis of scientific literature is used. Empirical results of the research are obtained by applying method of expert evaluation.</p><p><strong>Findings:</strong> During expert evaluation procedure is identified and selected significant quality costs elements. It is a useful tool to identify quality costs thought value chain processes. Created model of quality costs assessment in the aspect of value added chain is based on identification and classification of quality costs elements and allows to measure and to evaluate influence of quality costs,<br />its direction and intensity on the added value.</p><p><strong>Research Limitation/implication:</strong> The formulated model of quality costs assessment in the aspect of value added chain is assigned to the models that “are oriented towards the situation”, i.e. diverted towards organizational analyses.</p><p><strong>Originality/Value of paper:</strong> The paper complements the gap between theoretical and practical framework of determining influence of quality costs on added value and proves importance of the assessment of quality costs elements in the aspect of added value chain.</p>