Dangis Gudelis

Assessing “Global Lithuania”: the strengths and weaknesses of Lithuanian diaspora engagement strategy

ABSTRACT Diasporas participate in the home country’s development through remittances, philanthropy, knowledge transfer, investment, and political engagement. Based on the theoretical perspective of network governance, this paper argues that governments can enhance diaspora contributions by offering incentives to engage with the homeland. The paper then applies this perspective to assess the effectiveness of Lithuania’s diaspora engagement policy. Based on successful strategies adopted by other countries, the paper makes recommendations on how to strengthen the incentives for the diaspora to participate in Lithuania’s political, social, economic, and cultural life, and on how to create a better environment for the diaspora’s contributions.

Managing Networks in Business Organizations

Business organizations are embedded in many different network relationships (Granovetter 1983). Companies establish enduring relationships with their clients and suppliers, they collaborate with other companies in order to increase their market power, save costs, improve effectiveness, serve problems specific to customers, develop new technologies and for many other reasons (De Man 2004, 20). Business organizations are also involved in relationships with government institutions and non-governmental organizations for various purposes, such as lobbying, public-private partnerships, sharing of information or charity.