Books and monographs

This textbook covers financial systems and services, particularly focusing on present systems and future developments. Broken into three parts, Part One establishes the public institutional framework in which financial services are conducted, defines financial service systems, critically examines the link between finance, wealth and income inequality, and economic growth, challenges conventional paradigms about the raison d’être of financial institutions and markets, and considers the loss of US financial hegemony to emerging regional entities [BRICS]. Part Two focuses on financial innovation by explaining the impact of the following technologies: cryptography, FinTech, distributed ledger technology, and artificial intelligence. Part Three assesses to what extent financial innovation has disrupted legacy banking and the delivery of financial services, identifies the main obstacles to reconstructing the whole financial system based upon “first principles thinking”:
Nation State regulation and incumbent interests of multi-national companies, and provides a cursory description of how the pandemic of COVID-19 may establish a “new normal” for the financial services industry. Combining rigorous detail alongside exercises and PowerPoint slides for each chapter, this textbook helps finance students understand the wide breadth of financial systems and speculates the forthcoming developments in the industry.

Produced by “Laika gramata” in January, with the support of the State Cultural Capital Fund, the collection of articles and reviews by film critic Anita Uzulniece “My cinema (and) time” is published. Part 1″, which collects reviews of Latvian and foreign films published in periodicals since the mid-70s of the 20th century, extensive research, interviews and other materials.
The articles and reviews collected in about 300 pages in Part 1 of the book Mans kino (un) time are arranged in three chapters, each chapter and also the entire book are introduced by specially written introductory texts that give the publications a personal and historical background of the era. The first chapter – Latvian documentary cinema – includes publications since 1973, from the first films of Anš Epner, Jura Podnieks and other directors to the works of Ilona Brūvere, Viesturs Kairis, Ivars Zviedras at the beginning of the 21st century. The second chapter – Latvian feature films, starting with Motociklu vasara (1975), Lake Sonata (1976), Puiku (1977) and other films of the Riga Film Studio, continuing with a diverse spectrum in the 21st century – Baiga vasara (2001), Rudolf’s legacy (2010) , Kolka Cool (2011), Golf Stream Under the Iceberg (2012) and other movie reviews. The third chapter collects publications from the 90s, testifying to the strange transitional period in the early years of restored independence and cinema, which was affected by transformations in various fields – ideological, economic, social, etc.
The book is supplemented with illustrations from the author’s personal archive and other sources, prepared for publication by photo editor Agnese Zeltiņa. Book artist and layout designer – Zane Neimane, editor – Ligita Kovtuna.

In today’s unpredictable time of change, every person’s work and private life has changed significantly, directly affecting mental and physical health. Stress-causing factors and symptoms are highly individual, long-term and chronic stress can have lasting effects on health, work capacity and quality of life in general.
The monograph provides a comprehensive overview of stress and offers many useful practical tips and tasks that can help individuals or organizations to become aware of stress factors, symptoms and understand the possibilities of stress management, ensuring psycho-emotional well-being at the micro and macro level. The book is intended for managers of organizations, employees, new employees, students, university graduates who are starting their careers, and anyone interested who is looking for ideas and support for overcoming stress and inspiration for improving the balance of everyday life.

The textbook “Banking knowledge for entrepreneurs” was created in cooperation with Daugavpils University. The textbook was implemented in Daugavpils University project no. 14-95/17 and approved at the meeting of the Daugavpils University Study Council. Book publishing house Daugavpils University Academic Fund “SAULE”, 2021.
The textbook “Banking knowledge for entrepreneurs” is intended for students who learn the basics of banking, the mutual relations between banks and entrepreneurs, as well as for entrepreneurs who want to supplement their knowledge in the field of finance and banking, for those who are more interested in professional knowledge, as well as for those who have decided to understand banking and finance in depth. The book will help to understand the essence of the operation of commercial banks, will give an understanding of what operations and services banks offer to entrepreneurs and how they organize the sale of their financial products.

The book continues the already started tradition of collecting and publishing information about what has been done in the field of supervision in Latvia, both in research and practical aspects. Therefore, it will be a good addition to the most professional library of every supervisor in Latvia.
The research collected in the book covers a wide spectrum of professional topics and is about the needs and emotions of supervisees, the professional competence of supervisors and supervision students, about the recognition of supervision as a service in different environments, about the importance of supervision in the process of change in organizations, promoting empathy, promoting employee involvement, as well as work stress and in coping with burnout.
The content is presented in two parts:
Part I. General issues of supervision research and practice;
Part II. Supervision in different areas of professional activity: research findings.
The content of the monograph consists of 20 articles, combining 21 authors related to supervision, who represent various professional environments and sciences, and many of them are members of the Latvian Association of Supervisors.
The book can be evaluated as a sufficient contribution to the development of interdisciplinary approach to supervision research, showing a growing interest in the supervisor’s profession and professional activity.

The book was developed within the project “Higher Education institutions for Youth Entrepreneurship”.
The idea of the project is to strengthen youth entrepreneurship in the context of European integration, both within the countries and between the Eastern Partnership countries and the European Union, using experience in creating successful business models in the Eastern Partnership countries.
The aim of the project is to strengthen international cooperation between education, science and business; increasing the international aspect of business education; transfer of the best business practices in the context of European integration, as well as implementation of opportunities for the European integration of the business sector in partner countries; improve skills and entrepreneurial skills among young people in partner countries.
The book reflects the research of business experience in the partner countries of the project.

The full text of the book is available here.

The active development of trade in Ukraine during the last decade has led to an increase in its role in solving socio-economic problems. Creation of new workplaces and supplying of the state budget due to tax revenues depends directly on the efficiency of the activity of trade enterprises. Providing of the latter, in turn, is impossible without the timely adaptation of the industry to environmental changes. Ensuring a stable position of a trade company in the market, its sustainable development requires the development of an adaptation management system. Domestic and foreign experience in providing sustainability and efficiency of operation of enterprises for a long time is the object of attention of scientists, specialists and entrepreneurs. The scientific bases of work are theories of adaptation of economic subjects of such researchers as G. Assel, B. Berman, O. Gradov, P. Drucker, M. Porter, J. Evans and others. The works of R. Acoff, O. Vihansky, M. Mescon, G. Mintzberg, N. Salomatin, A. Striklend, and others are devoted to the study of such problem as the environmental dynamism. Models, mechanisms, tools of adaptive management of enterprises are developed by V. Grinyova, A. Sapozhnikov, V. Shendrik, and others.
Mathematical methods in management, the principles of system analysis, cybernetics, and synergetics are explained by L. Kontorovych, O. Vihansky, I. Gerchikova, G. Kleiner, and others. Taking into account these achievements, it should be noted that the existing scientific papers do not cover the whole subject plane of the possible directions in the study of adaptive management through the discussion issues related to its conceptual adaptation management and the multifaceted criteria for evaluating its effectiveness. In addition, the matter of the research of methodical toolkit for the developing an adaptive management system that provides an increase in the efficiency of trade enterprises activity in a competitive environment hasn’t been put into proper perspective. The aim of the work is to develop theoretical and methodological principles and practical tools for the creation of adaptive management system of trade enterprises which are operating in a competitive environment.

The full text of the book is available here.

The monograph justifies the usefulness of delaying the introduction of CIT until the moment of profit distribution. Such CIT payment system has existed in Estonia since 2000. In the monograph, a comparative analysis of business activities and financial indicators of Estonian and Latvian companies, the volume of direct foreign investments and a number of macroeconomic indicators for the period from 1996 to 2015 has been carried out. The forecast of possible additional growth of Latvia’s GDP and additional growth of budget tax revenue has also been calculated in the event that CIT deferred payment is introduced in Latvia. The results obtained in the monograph confirm J. The relevance of John Keynes’ multiplier theory, P. Samuelson’s multi-multiplier-accelerator and investment acceleration theory, as well as A. Laffer’s budget concept.

The full text of the book is available here.

This book has its origins in RISEBA’s unique concept of becoming the place where business meets art. Over the last two decades RISEBA has gone through a substantial transformation from a small ambitious business school to a university that provides not only business and management programmes but also studies in communications, audiovisual media arts and architecture.
In compiling this book, we endeavoured to include very diverse research papers by RISEBA faculty, all of them having the common idea of art’s existence in each aspect of our life. Our faculty examine a wide variety of topics, showing that interdisciplinary research offers many interesting ideas for innovations in education, business and management.
A lot of best practices have moved from concept to reality; new technology is becoming an unavoidable part of daily processes; our world is experiencing a high level of uncertainty and instability; and only a creative, innovative and artistic approach can foster our survival.
We hope that this monograph will provide readers with many exciting impressions and space for innovative ideas; welcome to our book!

More information about book here.

The author, compiler and editor Simona Orinska is an interdisciplinary artist, dance and movement therapist, choreographer. With a strong interest in the interaction between the mental and the physical body, she is familiar with the principles of Butoh dance, which originated in Japanese culture. Currently, she is exploring the use of Butoh in dance and movement therapy and has compiled an educational and scientifically based research work, which allows the phenomenon of art to be introduced in Latvian. Butoh is thus celebrating its tenth anniversary in Latvia.

The author, together with her students and Butoh practitioners, interested people all over the world, whose articles can be read in the book, set three main goals: to start an in-depth conversation about movement art in Latvia, to draw attention to an important art form in the world that has influenced culture, and to leave a testimony with a serious source that claims to be scientific. This book is an educational resource for anyone interested in dance, theatre, movement, culture and, of course, Butoh as a phenomenon.

The comprehensive collection of articles is organised in 3 chapters. Chapter I deals with the history and aesthetics of Butoh, Chapter II presents the authors’ research on the interaction of Butoh with various forms of art, therapy and Buddhism, Chapter III reveals the influences and manifestations of Butoh in the Baltic cultural sphere. The book is published with the support of the State Culture Capital Foundation and “Antalis”.

The Support Organization of the National Library of Latvia has published a book about the building of the National Library of Latvia (LNL) “The National Library of Latvia. Architect Gunārs Birkerts”. The book consists of visual and historical factual material covering 96 years, which has not been compiled so far. It is the story of the National Library of Latvia, starting with the founding of the Library in 1919 and tracing the journey of the Palace of Light from an idea to a fully finished, furnished and habitable building.

The book was prepared by architect Jānis Dripe and photographer Indriķis Stūrmanis.

Andris Vilks, Director of the LNL, has given an insight into the Library’s collection, functions and possibilities. The book was designed by Juris Petraškevičs. The book is dedicated to the architecture of the National Library building and its author Gunārs Birkerts. It highlights the partnership with Modris Ģelzis and mentions the contribution of other authors. Readers will have the opportunity to get acquainted with the history of the LNL project, the construction process and the inauguration of the building. The book contains a rich range of images, from the first sketches of the library to outstanding photographs of the LNB’s interior, the building’s volume and the urban environment.

The LNL is also special because it has received the prestigious patronage of UNESCO. This is a testimony to the fact that the LNL is highly valued worldwide as an important symbol of the knowledge society, which is why it is important to tell the public about it both in Latvia and worldwide through the book. In Latvia, no project has so far received the international patronage of UNESCO.

The book is published thanks to the support of donors and the State Culture Capital Foundation.

A book “dedicated to explaining the processes of creative thinking, while exposing the possibilities for developing and successfully using this thinking to solve a wide range of problems in our lives” (Andris Broks, emeritus professor of physics at the University of Latvia, PhD).
Olga Pavlovska, International Project Manager (Senior Business Consultant, Wilo SE, Dortmund, Germany), says the book opens the “veil of mystery” of gifted thinking.
Jūlijs Muraškovskis studied TRIZ (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving) since 1974 with the founder of the theory, H. Altšullers. In 2007, a book on the laws of artistic development and talented thinking in the field of art, “Биография искусств” (“Biography of Art”), was published.
Several of the author’s articles on these topics in Russian and English can be found on the website: www.temm.ru

Over the past two decades and even longer, countries have been trying to build standards-based accountability as a foundation for a higher–achieving education system. In practice, however, we have created several experiences with certain domains, including test-based accountability and internal and external evaluation of the achievements. Also, a function of control appears, instead of facilitating students and pupil self–regulated learning, context knowledge and understanding, higher–order thinking, problem solving, and creativity needed for teachers to succeed in the 21st century.
Pedagogy, coupled with accountability and evaluation, new paradigms in learning sciences, as well as in communication technologies, and digitally–based tutoring that influence teaching and learning, from time to time is still narrowing creativity and flexibility in teaching and learning. Implementation of productive findings does not always lead to student and pupil success. Why? How can tertiary teacher education obtain a stronger educative function, become more personalized, and invite teachers to be constantly aware of the quality of teaching, while catching up with the on-going changes in our social life and education, as well? How can educators, teachers and researchers create a dynamic pedagogy and a multifaceted approach to teaching and learning in order to integrate teaching, learning, and assessment, thereby leading to teacher flexibility, creativity and innovative practices that meet the high standards of 21st century education?
What successful practices should we share and how can teacher education meet the need for change in the tertiary educational process and teacher life–long professional development?

More information: https://www.cambridgescholars.com/resources/pdfs/978-1-4438-5612-6-sample.pdf

The Latvian Association of Cyberpsychology has developed and published an exclusive book “KIBER ES. Everything about the cyber world”, where readers will have the opportunity to get acquainted with unique ideas on topics concerning the digital/virtual environment and society.

The authors set themselves the challenge of developing a completely new and comprehensive concept of the cyber world, to build on existing knowledge about the digital environment and to offer adaptive mechanisms for the necessary springboard for the successful integration of society into the cyber world.

This book is the first attempt in Latvia to give readers the opportunity to begin to explore the field of cyberpsychology and alternative visions of the virtual and cyber worlds on their own, together with the ideas presented by the authors.

The focus of the book is the human being – the technology user and his adaptation processes in the cyber world. The aim of the book is to raise and explore topics that have been ignored in psychological science in Latvia for at least 20 years, such as the virtual world, its role, structure and concepts; images; digital representation of the self; digital and virtual identity; cyberpersonality; cyberculture; cybersociety; digital community and users; digital traces, cyber-processes, virtual processes; interaction strategies, etc.

As members of the Association, the authors wish to contribute to the advancement of the science of cyberpsychology through this book and to educate the public to help people adapt as productively as possible to the technological age. The importance of this field is demonstrated by the association’s digital platform/Facebook community Cybermind, which currently brings together several hundred supporters of cyberpsychology ideas.