International Business Conference 2016

Over 40 Conference presenters from all over the world came together to Vilnius to present the most leading-edge insights and scholarly discussions related to innovative and creativity-driven business solutions at the International Business Conference 2016: Searching for Innovative and Creative Business Solutions. The Conference was organized and hosted by the Faculty of Business Management, Vilniaus Kolegija / University of Applied Sciences on April 28, 2016. Conference participants had an opportunity to listen to the leading-edge research and ideas presented by the scholars of many foreign universities and research institutions from Belgium, Portugal, United Kindom, Georgia, United States, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Russia, Finland, Poland, Lithuania and others.

The Conference was opened by Danute Rasimaviciene, the Dean of the Faculty of Business Management, and Gintaras Steponavičius, the Parliament Member of the Republic of Lithuania. The first speakers were Vitalijus Žukas and Darius Sakalauskas who represented the International Nebula Creative Cluster. They aimed to answer the challenging question “What does it take to be a leading-edge creative cluster?” Their presentation was followed by the second speaker Kym Drady from the United Kingdom who made an impressive presentation on creativity: “Creativity: The Whole or the Hole in the Business Curriculum.” The last speaker of the Conference plenary session was An Boone who presented an outstanding project on “Starting Your Own Business During Your Studies? YES, ARTEpreneur is Your Solution!” In turn, the plenary session was followed by 5 tracks with 9 presentations in each of them. Track No. 1 focused on innovative and creative business solutions in international business. Track No. 2 discussed different aspects of innovation and creativity management. Track No. 3 reviewed innovative and creative business management models and approaches. Track No. 4 targeted specifically creative and innovative marketing, branding and business communication approaches. Track No. 5 focused on innovative and creative hospitality and tourism.

Conference proved to be an important networking event, and created an international platform for the exchange of ideas and research findings on contemporary issues and trends facing the rapidly changing global business environments. Indeed, Conference presentations strongly supported the fact that creativity and innovation are the driving forces not only for adapting to changing business contexts, but also for proactively making an impact on existing markets and industries, and exploiting new opportunities and trends.