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The process of rapid IT development affects the world of business and management. In recent years, businesses have applied new technologies to their management. One of the modern technologies is Enterprise Social Network. The primary aim of the paper is to identify the use of Enterprise Social Network at present and to compare the data with the results of 2014. Secondary research is to find out how many businesses use information systems in internal communication, and then determine if these systems are sufficient. The methodology of the paper is based on a controlled interview with representatives of companies at the University of Pardubice meeting, called Contact. The paper publishes summary information of entrepreneurs about the interest and experience with Enterprise Social Networks, and about the tools used for internal communication. The discussion of the paper addresses the current concerns and wishes of entrepreneurs. The paper seeks to highlight the rapid development of information technologies and the adaptability of entrepreneurs to gain greater competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the influence of electronization on the reduction of corruption in public administration. According to a number of studies, corruption in public administration has an impact on a wide range of taxpayers. They may feel the consequences of corrupt behaviour, for example in the form of tax and price increases or poor quality of service. For this reason, corruption is considered one of the most serious problems as it affects a large part of society. A number of empirical studies have shown that one of the ways to limit corruption is the electronization of public administration. For analysis, a group of 113 countries from all over the world were used, regardless of their geographical jurisdiction or political establishment. The time period is from 2003 to 2017. In order to fulfil the goal, the graphical interpretation of Bag plots and linear regression analysis is used to assess the impact of selected variables on the level of corruption. The multidimensional regression model has confirmed the positive effect of electronization. However, the most significant effect on the level of corruption in the country had the performance of the economy in the examined period and selected set of countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper contributes to the existing literature through analysis of relationship between labour productivity and government spending on research and development in the eurozone countries as a whole. In particular, small and medium enterprises should aim to increase the labour productivity and use the possibilities of funding from the structural funds. The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the relationship between labour productivity and government spending on research and development in the eurozone. In particular, its purpose is to investigate this relationship in the case of small and medium enterprises. By utilizing causality tests and error correction models, the results suggest that support of research and development is the cause of labour productivity growth in the long-term period. However, for the short-term period changes in labour productivity precede changes in government spending on research and development. Based on the findings, the study has several theoretical and practical implications. The data sources were the Eurostat database. The data used have the character of annual time series in the period between 2004 and 2016. GRETL software was used for the calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to investigate the relationship between interfunctional coordination (IFC) and offering of services. IFC is a crucial component of market orientation. Market orientation is one of the approaches, which is used for improving the business performance of companies and also for increasing their competitiveness. The conception of IFC was extended in this paper. IFC includes the following elements: Cooperative Arrangements, Company Culture, Expertise, Communications, Leadership Style, Ethic and Goodwill, Organizational Structure, Coordination (Fundamental Information Acquisition, Information Coordination and Coordination Activities) and Control. Current companies try to increase their service offering because of its positive influence on customers and company as well. The research was held in 60 electronic components manufactures and electric equipment manufacturers in the Czech Republic. The Spearman's rank-order correlation test was performed to verify the relationship between IFC and service offering. The main finding shows that the relationship between IFC and service offering is independent. Positive relationship between IFC and service offering is detected especially at emphasis on innovation and emphasis on the next education of workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to describe particularity of longitudinal data and methods which can be used to analyse them. The assumption of usual tools used for analysis is the independence of observations. In order to analyse of longitudinal data, we have to make provisions for their particularity, which is the dependence of observations. Therefore, while we analyse them, we must employ methods that are adjusted to that dependence. Several approaches have been proposed to model binary outcomes that arise from longitudinal studies. Most of the approaches can be grouped into two classes: the population-averaged and subject-specific approaches. The generalized estimating equations (GEE) method is used to estimate population averaged effects. In this paper, we investigate the Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) capabilities of PROC GENMOD for correlated outcome data to fit models using unspecified (unstructured) correlation structure. The data from EU SILC was used to find out how material deprivation of households in the Slovak Republic (material deprivation: yes (1), no (0)) is linked to their available characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to analyse the impact of political instability on inflow of foreign direct investments (FDI) in transition economies (CEE, Balkan and Post-Soviet countries). Regarding standard indexes of political instability, there is a shortage of data within the selected sample of countries. Therefore, we propose alternative proxies for political instability. Furthermore, we distinguish between two types of political instability being omitted in thematic literature: elite (minority or weak governments) and non-elite (violent protests, civil wars, coups). The paper provides two-step empirical analysis: correlation analysis and regression models using standard OLS. Both analyses compare the effect of selected proxies for political instability on inflow of FDI and FDI per capita. In summary, it is not possible to prove the effect of political instability on inflow of FDI in transition countries in unambiguous way. Despite it, a few statistically significant variables seem to be perspective for future research; subindex Political Stability within Governance Matters by the Word Bank and Group Grievance within Failed State Index by the Fund for Peace (non-elite); Herfindahl Index Government and a dummy for (non)presence of parliament election (elite). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Czech Republic, there is a trend nowadays in supporting families caring for a child vulnerable due to disability. A network of services offering support to these families is growing. Causes of this fact can be found at three different levels, on the child and family side, but also at the support system. Concept of a life quality, and it's various dimensions for this target group, have been neglected until recently. Present time, however, introduces significant changes in an approach to this issue and the concept of life quality in general is getting to the fore within the interagency scope and the social policy. In this particular case it presents a complex construct comprising many subunits. We can look at them from a variety of perspectives and operate with them in many different ways. This paper solves a view at this concept unusually at the background of the specific activities of Early Care Centre in Pardubice. For the paper processing qualitative research strategies have been used - description of organization's material and quantitative survey (evaluation questionnaire for the year 2012). Particular aim of this paper is to describe activities of Early Care Centre in Pardubice which affect the concept of life quality of families with child (early age) vulnerable due to disability. Results analysis of the evaluation survey which is aimed to identify some of quality indicators of service provided in 2012 also at the Centre for Early Intervention in Pardubice and comparison with the material of the National Centre of social services transformation support - A system of services for children and young people with disabilities and their families (Bačáková, 2013). Results evaluate the life quality concept for families with children in early age with the endangered development due to disability from the position of the family, support and assistance provider and support and assistance evaluator. The conclusion summarizes the problem formulation, problem analysis and discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The commodity markets are currently subject to significant changes, especially after the technology bubble in 2000 and its subsequent bursting. After 2000 investors began to look for new investment opportunities in order to extend the diversification of their investment portfolios and create new ways of speculation. Since that time the emergence of a commodity boom can be traced. This has had a significant effect on the development of commodity and financial markets which in turn has considerably affected the functioning of the world economy. The paper deals with the modern day trends in commodity exchange trading, focusing specifically on the issue of financialization of commodity markets. Firstly the paper defines and describes these trends in detail and then analyzes it from a range of perspectives. The aim of this paper is to determine which factors are the driving force in the contemporary rapid development of the financialization of commodity markets and what are the implications and consequences for the functioning of the global economy. The end of the paper will discuss the question of whether the process of financialization of commodity markets is beneficial or harmful for further development of the world economy, or more precisely whether it is appropriate to leave these markets to spontaneous development or is it necessary to begin to regulate commodity trading worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the effect of competition on municipal public expenditure. The impact of competition on municipal waste management expenditure is ambiguous. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the nature of competition in the waste management market and its impact on municipal waste management expenditure in the four regions in the Czech Republic (1962 municipalities) in year 2014. In the past, between years 2008 and 2011, cartel of four companies was proven in the waste management market in the Czech Republic. We suppose that the existence of an unfair competition can lead to higher municipal waste management expenditure. The results confirm our assumption and show that impact of unfair competition is still visible after four years and it could have a notable impact on municipal waste management expenditure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the introduction of mobile number portability (MNP) and its influence on the Czech telecommunications market in terms of the competitive position of the three major mobile operators in the Czech Republic. The main aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact of MNP on the concentration of the mobile services market in the Czech Republic from 2006 to 2012. The analysis of the competitive environment is made based on HHI. In order to calculate the necessary market share of individual companies in the industry, the total number of active SIM cards presented by individual companies was used, which reflects the current situation in the mobile services market. To answer the question of whether the introduction of the MNP had an impact on the competitive environment in the observed sector, the HHI was subsequently recalculated using the same parameters, but the numbers of SIM cards were lowered or increased by the ported numbers. The development of the observed indicator from 2006 to the present was analysed using the basic characteristics of time series and the index analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to evaluate whether the exchange rate hedging costs at collective investment companies affects the performance of these entities. The evaluation is based on a correlation in time series. Exchange rate risk is related to the position of CZK as the reference currency of the target group (households and institutions), to which investment companies sell their securities. The theoretical part of this paper is based on professional studies in the area of performance measurement and risk elimination in collective investment funds. Data were collected on the development of monthly costs to secure exchange risks and on the performance of mutual funds between April 2012 and April 2015. Correlation in time series was used to assess the relationship between the performance of mutual funds and the cost of exchange rate risk hedging. The statistical methods did not prove dependence between exchange rate hedging costs and the monthly performance of selected mutual funds. Correlation coefficients are low and insignificant, so specific information about the costs of the interest rate risk hedging is currently not necessary. This issue has not been researched adequately so far, thus the results may serve as a base for further scientific research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the engagement concept has been used in management at least in the past 20 years, the interest of managers, HR specialists and employees about this issue is rising. Many studies proved that only satisfaction and stability, loyalty and devotion do not ensure corresponding relationship between the employees' performance and business results and therefore it is desirable to concentrate on utilizing various measures that support increasing the level of employees' engagement that can lead to the increase of employees' performance and by this increasing the performance of organization. Aim of this paper is to propose methodology for evaluating employees' engagement level and also introduce possible tools of its improvement in organizations operating in the Czech environment. The method used to fulfill the aim was the modification and addition of already existing engagement model, which, however, does not reflect the specifics of Czech environment and differences of young employees on the labor market. The output of this paper include proposal of new engagement model and framework procedure of engagement research, especially questionnaire that can be used to find out importance of engagement factors for employees in Czech organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intent of this paper was to suggest a typology of Czech microregions based on the demand side of their structural funds (SF) absorption capacity in the programming period 2007-2013. Moreover, the demand side of SF absorption capacity of the so called microregions with concentrated state support was evaluated. Concerning the first intent of this paper, seven clusters of microregions were defined, using a new approach based on the following theoretically substantiated variables for operationalizing the demand side of SF absorption capacity - the number of project applications submitted for financing by SF, the amount of SF requested for one project application, and the share of project applications supported by SF. The relevance of these clusters was shown by the associations between their absorption capacity on the demand side and relative SF allocation. Concerning the second intent of this paper, it was shown that the so called microregions with concentrated state support are less likely to have high absorption capacity on the demand side compared with their not supported counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on a debt crisis in Greece, the causes and impacts of this crisis and possible solutions to current situation. The Greek debt crisis is one of a number of current European debt crises and is believed to have been caused by a combination of structural weaknesses of the Greek economy coupled with the incomplete economic, tax and banking unification of the European Monetary Union. Throughout this thesis the Greece is compared with another European states regarding to important macroeconomics indicators and economic policy. The aim of this paper is analyze and make a comparison which is based on the cluster analysis. First part of this paper is about reasons, which cause financial crises in Greece. Second part focuses the theoretical background of the cluster analysis and selection of economical indicators. Next part evaluate findings with cluster analysis. The conclusion cautions against high state debts and shows indispensability reforms which are related with fiscal state policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the actual issue of the possibility of the immediate termination of employment by the legal representative of the minor employee. Since 2014, The employment of minor employee (who is younger than 16) can be immediately terminated by the decision of his legal representative (typically parent). Consent of the court is necessary to this termination according to Labour Code. The main aim of this paper is to analyse the main struggles of the new legal regulation from two main aspects: material law aspect and process law aspect. The main problems are found, described and criticized in the article. The analysis of the issue is based on the legal exegesis of the current legal rules active since 1st January 2014 in all related laws - Civil Code, Labour Code, Civil Procedure Code and Act on Special Procedures. Consequences of the principles of the autonomy of will are also mentioned in the article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the influence of several personal factors on customer loyalty, which is one of the main tools of the company's competitiveness. The aim of the article is to find out whether there is a relationship between selected personality and demographic characteristics and customer loyalty. The research was conducted on a sample of 1530 customers (final consumers) from 102 food industry companies in the Czech Republic. The research was conducted using a cross-comparison method with relevant statistical tests. Research results show that customer loyalty is related to the demographic characteristics examined (especially gender, income and education) and some personality traits (especially the approach to buying cheap things and optimism). Research shows that women are more loyal than men, then optimists and people who are not so rich that they can buy cheap things. On the contrary, with increasing income and education loyalty is rather falling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a higher degree of fuzzy logic type-2 fuzzy logic is presented as decision making process of investment. There is a key difference between type-2 and type-1 fuzzy logic. The application is made on the Czech stock market and is used to decide on investing in PX index stocks. The proposed type 2 fuzzy model uses the return and risk of investment instruments as input variables. The system created is able to generate aggregate models from a certain number of language rules, allowing the investor to understand the generated financial model. The use of T2FLS can lead to more realistic and accurate results than T1FLS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to analyse the influence of monetary aggregate M3 on inflation in the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Israel between the years 2000 and 2017. The central banks in selected countries have not been able to fulfill their stated goal of achieving price stability. During the period under review, the selected central banks chose foreign exchange intervention as an instrument of unconventional monetary policy to achieve the set inflation target. The analysis of monetary policy in the selected countries will be determined by the long-term relationships between the M3 monetary aggregate and the inflation. Selected indicators were analyzed on quarterly data in the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Israel using the Engle - Granger cointegration test. We have found, based on the tests performed, that monetary policy in the monitored countries was not quite effective in the years 2000- 2017 because we did not confirm in our empirical analyzes the long-term relationship between the monetary aggregate M3 in relation to inflation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the moment when Milton Friedman introduced a natural rate of unemployment into economic theory, this indicator has been one of the most important quantities in macroeconomics. However, in contrast to other key macroeconomic indicators, the natural rate of unemployment is very difficult to be accurately quantified. The following paper suggests a simple mathematic model, on whose base the natural rate of unemployment can be determined. This model was used to set the natural rate of unemployment in the Czech Republic and its development over time period of the last 23 years based on the Macroeconomic Forecast by the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic and compared with Okun s Law. When calculating the natural rate of unemployment the suggested model eliminates the differences resulting from different utilization of production capacities and the changing rate of economic activity of population in the course of time. As all other models, this model also works with certain simplified assumptions; however, its advantage is the possibility of gradual implementation of more and more difficult parameters of real economy as new variables. Nevertheless, even in its basic form, the model provides good results, which coincide with theoretic basis and monitored facts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to assess the degree of concentration in the Czech banking sector and especially its relationship to profitability in the market. The paper is based on contemporary scientific knowledge based on literature research. There is calculated Herfindahl-Hirschman index of banking market in the Czech Republic in the years 2003 - 2012. The calculation of concentration is made for three variables - total assets, receivables from clients and deposits from clients. Subsequently, these values are compared with the development of profits in the Czech banking sector using correlation and regression analysis. Necessary tests for normality, autocorrelation and homoscedasticity are conducted before performing correlation and regression analyses. We can conclude that in the case of the Czech Republic, there is an inverse relationship between the degree of concentration and the size of the profits of the banking sector, which is not the standard output of previous studies. The results can be beneficial both to further scientific research and findings, as well as for practical pricing policy of banks, and of course for regulating activity of central banks in context to the licensing of banks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper responds to the current situation of building a university counselling service center for students with special needs. It reflects the perspective of an interdisciplinary advisory team APUPA and Department of services to handicapped students at the University of Pardubice. The paper is based on the analysis of data collected by APUPA and Department of services to handicapped at the University of Pardubice. The aim of this paper is: 1) To analyse the system of advice, support and assistance to students with special needs, which is implemented at the University of Pardubice? 2) Suggest a diagram of internal support system for students with special needs including individual advice and special support. 3) To justify the real psychosocial, educational, economic or technical needs of students. An important factor is the individuality of the students with special needs. The results suggest that psychosocial, educational, economic or technical needs of student with special needs are evident. This article also shows that the number of records of the use of specific services provided at the university is significantly increasing. Inclusion the students with special needs to Master's Studies lead to equalization of educational opportunities. The number of students (and applicants) with special needs is, inter alia, an indicator of the quality of high school. These trends are implemented also at the University of Pardubice. The need to participate in the removal of technical, social, information and human barriers in an academic environment is the common goal of interdisciplinary advisory team UPa workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper at the theoretical level deals with approaches to standardization of social services in the Czech Republic in terms of quality and quantity. This paper, based on the theoretical starting points of standardization of social services, aims to provide an empirical view of the standardization of selected social care services in the Czech Republic. The empirical part of the paper is more dedicated to the application of standards in quantitative terms at the selected social care services in regions of the Czech Republic. Between the years 2007 and 2012 there was made analysis on the examples of social care services of the availability of residential, outpatient and terrain character in regions of the Czech Republic. Based on analysis the availability of social care services in regions of the Czech Republic was compared with recommended standards. By means of method of multidimensional scaling between the years 2007 and 2012 was carried out comparison of similarities or differences in regions of the Czech Republic according to the structure of availability by selected social care services. The results of the comparison of the Czech Republic regions showed that, the largest regions (Central Bohemian Region, Moravian - Silesian Region, South Moravian Region) and the smallest regions (Liberec Region and Karlovy Vary Region) are the least similar to their representation by selected social care services (residential, outpatient and terrain character). And the least similar regions according to the structure of the availability by selected social care services are Usti Region and the City of Prague. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to present concept of British authors T. Jeffs and M. Smith that highlights the importance of citizenship education in youth clubs. The paper describes the theoretical basis of this concept, furthermore its specific conception of youth work, which is focused on citizenship education, which aims to strengthen social capital of civic communities. The scientific aim of this paper is to bring the findings of Smith and Jeffs on positive impact of informal methods and methods of social work with communities in the field of youth work. The paper describes some characteristics of Jeffs's and Smith's methods of community work and informal education methods, which are commonly used in the field of citizenship education in youth clubs. The strength of the social capital of the Czech society is weakening. In this situation Jeffs's and Smith's concept of citizenship education can be inspiring for Czech youth work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals about a comparison of the banking systems of the countries of the former Yugoslavia with the banking system of the Czech Republic. The aim of this paper is to analyze the specifics individual banking sectors of all former members of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Serbia, The Republic of Kosovo and Montenegro).The aim of this paper is the comparison of individual banking sectors of all former members of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Czech Republic on the basis of selected indicators and characteristics (the comparison of central banks, monetary policy, interest rates, etc.). In comparison the Czech Republic and Slovenia - Slovenia suffered the greatest losses coming after the financial crisis in 2008 and had to take difficult measures in order to help meet capital requirements set (but both in the 90th years did not affect any crisis). Countries like Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, The Republic of Kosovo and Montenegro are highly dependent on economic developments in the European Union. European Union is for these countries a very important trade and investment partner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Support for Research, Development and Innovation is a priority for economic growth in advanced economic systems. The aim of this paper is to confirm the conjecture regarding the feasibility of R&D tax incentives in the legislative environment. In the Czech Republic, the economic environment is motivated to economic development and growth by membership in the European Union. Open the possibility of European integration and the need to meet the objectives of the Strategy Europe 2020 has brought new opportunities to exploit the potential of Czech human resources in Research, Development and Innovation. The Czech Republic has third best conditions for enterprises involving in its operations its own R&D, according to European Tax Analyzer. Nevertheless the statistical indicators show that enterprises use more direct R&D support, financed from state budget, this paper evaluates the example of manufacturing company utilizing public support to R&D and R&D tax incentives within the industry. The selected barriers for non-use of R&D tax incentives are described. Despite the existence of barriers, the author managed to demonstrate a positive effect on increasing the company's competitiveness in the use of R&D tax incentives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of public service is to satisfy the public needs of society and to maximize the benefits to the individual users of those services. Perception of the importance of public services lies in the difficulty of determining the benefits of these services for society and the economy as a whole. Valuation of the benefits of public services and the effectiveness of the provision takes place ex post, i.e. based on a subjective assessment of consumers of these services. This paper focuses on determination of benefit lending services on case of the Municipality Library Kutná Hora. The paper analyses efficiency of lending services. The analysis is based from relations benefits and costs. Benefit of lending services is based on the ability of consumers to express their willingness to pay for the lending service of their disposable income, or from another source e.g. tax assignation. The result of the paper will be determining the value of lending services the Municipality Library Kutná Hora. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper at the theoretical level deals with starting points and approaches to standardization of public services in the Czech Republic and in more detail focuses on the standardization of social services in the Czech Republic in terms of quality and quantity. This paper, on the basis of theoretical starting points of standardization of public and social services aims to provide an empirical view of the standardization of selected social services in the Czech Republic. In the practical part of the paper is paid a closer attention to the application of standards in quantitative terms at the selected social care services in regions of the Czech Republic. Between the years 2007 and 2011 on the examples of social care services of residential character and outpatient services and the services of terrain character in regions of the Czech Republic was analysed their availability. Based on analysis the availability of social care services in regions of the Czech Republic was compared with recommended standards. By means of method of multidimensional scaling between the years 2007 and 2011 was carried out comparison of similarities or differences in regions of the Czech Republic according to the availability of selected social care services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Substitute Family Care is an institute for children when their parents, for whatever reason, are unable to care for the children themselves. This paper is concerned with substitute family care in the Czech Republic. The paper is specifically aimed at the process of mediating of the substitute family care. A social worker, in the process of mediating of the substitute family care, has a key role, nevertheless, the social worker co-operatives with other people involved, such as psychologists and medical examiners. People involved are abided by the law, different methodologies and recommendations, but even so they are highly benevolent when assessing claimant for substitute family care. The research problem is described in the introduction. The term of substitute family care is explained and the process of mediating of the substitute family care is described there. The issues of who else is interested in this process and what requirements are imposed on a claimant for substitute family care, are also described and explained in this chapter. Research methodology is described subsequently. The aim of the research is to describe how people involved in the process of mediating of the alternative family care perceive and interpret the requests asked of the claimant. The main and sub research questions are based on the aim of the research. Qualitative research strategy is applied and field research, as a type of research, is selected by Miovský. In the last part of the paper the interesting findings from the carried out research are interpreted and discussed. The very process of mediating of the substitute family care in the Moravian-Silesian Region is described. The attitude of the people involved towards the requirements imposed on substitute parents is also described. Sub-questions are answered in the end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of foreign direct investment is becoming an increasingly discussed topic in terms of possibilities of influencing their volume and their benefits for the national economy as well. Foreign direct investment can have a numerous impact on the host economy. It can influence the labor market, increase competitiveness, bring new management practices, know-how, innovation or interconnection of national economies. Investments can also have negative impacts on the national economy such as crowding out domestic businesses or inequality of investment inflows into different industries. The aim of the paper is based on empirical studies define the possible factors influencing the inflow of foreign direct investment into the country and identify the specific factors influencing the inflow of foreign direct investment into the Czech Republic. Using multiple regression analysis, the Expenditure on science and research, Gross domestic product, Corporation tax, and the Corruption perception index were identified as significant factors influencing foreign direct investment in the Czech Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge the dependence between risk factors is very importance in risk management. The failure of traditional approaches to market risk measure motivates to investigate the relationship between financial markets. The aim of this paper is to examine the dependence between stock index returns and foreign exchange rate returns for six selected economies. In this context, it is detected evidence of dynamic and asymmetric dependence. It is empirically demonstrated that application of asymmetric dynamic copula improves the Value at Riks as well as Expected Shortfall estimates. Overall, the results show that the dependence structure of international financial markets is more complicated than the structure predicted by the traditional approaches to market risk measure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism industry belongs to the relatively young and dynamically expanding sector of economy in post-communist countries. According to the Tourism Satellite Account data, tourism industry created on average 3 percent of gross domestic product in last ten years in the Czech Republic. The study is focused on travel agents whose main task is to mediate tourism services. The paper aims to assess the financial health of tour operators in the Czech Republic using different methods which are suitable for financial health evaluation and compare the results of these methods. The multiple criteria decision making methods (TOPSIS and WSA) based on selected financial ratios and bankruptcy models, specifically Altman Z´-Score, Z´´-Score models and index IN05 were applied. The data were taken from database Albertina CZ Gold Edition. The final sample covered data about 232 tour operators (group 79.12 according to the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community Rev.2) for the years 2014. The findings of all applied methods show that not all companies are in good financial health and it is expected that the market of tour operators will evolve towards a reduction of the number of market players. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with knowledge management in organizations that distribute products on the basis of direct selling. The essential link is the distributor who sells products and services through personal sales. At the same time, these distributors have profit based on the sales of those who involved in its distribution network. This principle is called multilevel marketing (MLM). The paper identifies the elements of knowledge management that are generally found in such organizations. It is also dealing with resources and sharing of knowledge in a specific MLM organization and determines whether knowledge management is applied strategically in the corporate distribution network of the organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the methods of estimating the level of tax evasion and summarises the existing quantitative appraisals of this phenomena. In the first part of the text, the term "tax evasion" is defined. In the second part of the paper, direct and indirect methods of estimating the tax gap are explained with the references to studies and reports where these methods are used. These methods include in particular tax audits and the so called "top-down" methods using the discrepancy between the data from two sources. Furthermore, the article reviews the existing papers and studies quantifying the tax gap in various countries and years. The data on VA T gap in 24 European countries in the years 1993 to 2006 are summarised in a table. The estimates of VAT gap produced in two studies are compared and the differences between them analysed. Finally there are recommendations regarding the suitable methods of estimating the tax gaps for the VAT, income tax and excise duty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article deals with the development of the value added per employee in a public transport. The value added is adjusted by the reimbursement for demonstrable loss from state, region or municipality that guarantee transport services on the particular areas. The economy of transport companies combines the basic business target - a profit - and the possibility of the financial support from state, region or municipality in a form of a reimbursement for demonstrable loss. The article analyzes the data about the biggest transport companies in the Czech Republic. The companies were viewed as a whole at first and then they were divided to three groups. The value added per employee allows comparing the companies, comparing the groups of companies and evaluation of the progress of value added in one company through the years. Desirable development is the growing trend in the value added per employee. The paper also analyzes the extent to which the reimbursement for demonstrable loss participates in the results. That is why the paper deals with the comparing of increase of the value added and of increase of the reimbursement for demonstrable loss. The article also includes general suggestions .[or management of transport companies to ensuring the increase of value added. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid development of modern information and communications technology is one of fundamental features of contemporary society. These changes must also reflect changes and needs of modern knowledge society. One of contemporary trends is to run information systems based on the same principles as running a business. Information system develops in time, undergoes changes and is a significant part of a company's budget. The main prerequisite for efficient management is an accurate overview of costs and assets. The aim of this paper is to create a dynamical model for monitoring the value of information system's services in e-commerce. The model shall simulate the dynamics of a information system and to express the value of important parameters. Structuring the model involved the use of analytic and synthetic methods, dynamical modelling and solution to a set of differential equations with delay. The necessary theory is explained briefly but sufficiently enough for expressing relations of the economic quantities examined. A concrete example and its solution carried out by means of Maple are shown at the end of the paper. A huge advantage of the model lies in its simplicity; it only deals with some specifically selected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is focused on description and comparison of attitude on the edge between nature protection and tourism development in the area of former "iron curtain" between Austria and Hungary -- at the Nesider Lake. The paper assesses nature protection system in the UNESCO and NATURE 2000 area as well as condition for tourism development on the both part of the border and compare them. Important source for paper preparation are direct observation in the Nesider Lake territory of authors and students of Regional Development studies realized during terrain excursion in the term from 15th till 20th April 2012. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measurement and evaluation of regional differences (disparities) is associated with the lack of integrated approach and methodology at national or regional level. The paper aims to introduce two selected multivariate statistical methods (factor analysis, cluster analysis) as a possible and convenient tool for regional differences analysis and evaluation. The main goal of the paper is to evaluate and compare regional differences at NUTS 2 level in the Visegrad Four countries on the basis of selected regional indicators in the case of the year 2010 using factor analysis and cluster analysis. Theoretical part of the paper defines, at first, the concept of regional disparities in the context of European Union's approach and deals with quantitative methods used for regional disparities evaluation. Subsequently, in the empirical part, the paper uses the factor analysis for identification of main factors of regional differences. The final evaluation and comparison of different socio-economic position between Visegrad Four NUTS 2 regions in the year 2010, results from cluster analysis that classifies the regions to homogeneous units (clusters) according to the factor similarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with an application of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to Visegrad Four (V4) countries and their NUTS 2 regions. The aim of the paper is to analyze a competitive potential of V4 countries and their regions by quantitative efficiency analysis. DEA method becomes a suitable tool for setting a competitive/uncompetitive position of each V4 country and NUTS 2 region within the Visegrad Group. The DEA method used for this evaluation is directly applied to the group of V4 countries and NUTS 2 regions based on a particular set of input and output indicators. The inputs and outputs form the key elements of the system evaluated for every country and region in the sense of their effective/ineffective economic position. In the first step, the economic efficiency of the countries and regions will be considered, in the second one, comparison of the competitive potentials of the countries and regions will be provided. National and regional efficiency is thus the mirror of competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional innovation systems (RIS) are become very important instrument of regional policy. This instrument is based on linkages among the institutions in region which are from public and private sector. These linkages are very important because they provide the environment for innovation process which is the main point of RIS. There are defined the main characteristic of the RIS and its specification for Czech Republic in this paper. The core of paper is in the analysis of successfully working RIS existence. This analysis is based on definition of the components of RIS in the Czech Republic. Then is explored the existence of these components in the conditions of Czech Republic and the existence of the linkages among them. At the end of the paper there are summarized the conclusions and recommendations based on the results of analysis [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The key task of company management is to assign the correct amount of costs to one product. Currently exists the many ways how can be allocate the company costs. Some of them are relatively ease and some of them are more sophisticated. The main goal of this paper is to discuss the usage of the "classical" costing methods and compare it with the concept ABC and its sorts. From this paper flows that "classical" methods cannot be marked as "bad" and the ABC can not be classified as the best method in every case. There is described the condition when classical methods are suitable and when the ABC methods are use more suitable, respectively the classical methods are unsuitable. Generally is possible to say that with growing number of products, customers, contracts or distribution channels and if we satisfy them through the same sorts of activities then the ABC is much better method of costing which provides the relevant and interesting data for company management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The key task of company management is to assign the correct amount of costs to one product. Currently exists the many ways how can be allocate the company costs. Some of them are relatively ease and some of them are more sophisticated. The main goal of this paper is to discuss the usage of the "classical" costing methods and compare it with the concept ABC and its sorts. From this paper flows that "classical" methods cannot be marked as "bad" and the ABC can not be classified as the best method in every case. There is described the condition when classical methods are suitable and when the ABC methods are use more suitable, respectively the classical methods are unsuitable. Generally is possible to say that with growing number of products, customers, contracts or distribution channels and if we satisfy them through the same sorts of activities then the ABC is much better method of costing which provides the relevant and interesting data for company management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with an application of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to Visegrad Four (V4) countries and their NUTS 2 regions. The aim of the paper is to analyze a competitive potential of V4 countries and their regions by quantitative efficiency analysis. DEA method becomes a suitable tool for setting a competitive/uncompetitive position of each V4 country and NUTS 2 region within the Visegrad Group. The DEA method used for this evaluation is directly applied to the group of V4 countries and NUTS 2 regions based on a particular set of input and output indicators. The inputs and outputs form the key elements of the system evaluated for every country and region in the sense of their effective/ineffective economic position. In the first step, the economic efficiency of the countries and regions will be considered, in the second one, comparison of the competitive potentials of the countries and regions will be provided. National and regional efficiency is thus the mirror of competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional innovation systems (RIS) are become very important instrument of regional policy. This instrument is based on linkages among the institutions in region which are from public and private sector. These linkages are very important because they provide the environment for innovation process which is the main point of RIS. There are defined the main characteristic of the RIS and its specification for Czech Republic in this paper. The core of paper is in the analysis of successfully working RIS existence. This analysis is based on definition of the components of RIS in the Czech Republic. Then is explored the existence of these components in the conditions of Czech Republic and the existence of the linkages among them. At the end of the paper there are summarized the conclusions and recommendations based on the results of analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents personnel controlling as an integral part of a controlling system to be used to improve human resource management. It deals with the definition of personnel controlling, its tasks and levels. The focus of the paper is on determining the tools of HR controlling, including the use of new management approaches in personnel controlling, from two points of view: their strategic or operative orientation and the preference of the use of qualitative or quantitative data. The specific instruments, which can be used in practice, are presented within all categories of HR controlling tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on the usage of data-mining techniques as a support tool for decision making. This paper describes the mining of hidden and potentially useful information from databases using data mining methods. These methods, sometimes called as techniques for knowledge discovering, help users, mostly managers, to make qualified decisions in the organization. The aim of the process of knowledge management is not only to collect information, but to transform it into knowledge and use it in a decision-making process. The purpose of this paper was to find and evaluate the different methodological approaches appropriate for customer segmentation. Various data mining techniques were used for demonstration of customer segmentation according to their purchasing behavior within a selected hypermarket. The following techniques were used for clustering: K-means clustering method, Two Step clustering method and Self Organizing Maps. The quality of final models was evaluated by Silhouette measure. It combines the principles of clusters separation and cohesion. Data mining model was constructed from approximately 60 thousand transaction records. Only the food records were selected for the analysis. The paper also examined the effect of the number of dimensions to the clustering. The original variables were reduced into a smaller number of uncorrelated principal components. These components were used for construction of a scatter plot to check the homogeneity of clusters. The results of this analysis confirmed that the reduction of dimensionality is an useful device for the evaluation of generated clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on the contribution of human errors to the crisis or problem, looking for causal relationships in the process of human error, factors that affect human error, and graphically illustrates their relationship. It looks at the quality of decision making associated with the types of errors in decision-making as a rejection of good practice, accepting a bad solution, incorrect solution to the problem, the correct solution to the problem correctly, but too late. Presentation of relationships between different people contributing to a crisis or incident shows the need for a feedback, since information wrong assessment makes for unsystematic problems anticipating. Paper presents that the mental processing of information is influenced by human activities, so the whole system of organizations. To monitor the links leading to the failure the method GFT (Generail Failure Types) is proposed. Paper characterizes the factors related to human failure. The characteristics used in the proposed schemes. There are founded connections by asking questions: what went wrong, how it went wrong and why it went wrong. For the structure of error prediction creation three basic situation types were selected (deviation from routine, a deviation from normal operation, a unique change). Presented schemes help to search for causal relationships in specific answers to those questions that can be applied to the conditions of the particular organization, and thereby help prevent errors detected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, resource allocation and task scheduling are extremely hard problems to solve in project management area. Both problems are of primary interest, because they are crucial in successful current project management. One of the most common application is press for minimisation of cost or time duration satisfying condition on available resources, managing project portfolio, multiple inter-project dependencies and considering other emerging constraints. This paper presents known approaches for resource allocation and task scheduling with utilization of genetic algorithms and is organized as follows. As first, a formulation of an example project management instance problem is specified. Subsequently, the paper presents our new approaches to project management and accompanied techniques that need to be considered in correct application. Finally, the most important characteristics appearing in real world project management problems are confronted to our work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With respect to demographic changes and population ageing, all OECD countries will be tackling issues of long-term care (LTC) associated with the need for professional services, collaboration between the formal and informal long-term care systems, and the adjustment of the mix of public and private resources playing part in long-term care financing. The paper aims to evaluate the potential of long-term care in selected OECD countries in connection with population ageing. The majority of the selected countries have seen a rise in the number of long-term care recipients along with total expenditures on long-term care. Nevertheless, these countries differ fundamentally in total expenditures allocated on long-term care per recipient. Results of evaluation using selected indicators of long-term care, by use of two-step cluster analysis, in years 2008 and 2013 also showed a variety of approaches in the provision of long-term care among the analysed countries (mainly in terms of LTC recipients aged 65+ as percentage of total LTC recipients) and in financing of long-term care (mainly in terms of LTC expenditures on institutions as percentage of total LTC expenditures). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In evaluating the material side of life, housing finds first among the three indicators - housing, income, and job. In the Czech Republic, housing is seen as the primary responsibility of the individual, but the state (region, municipality) is responsible for creating conditions, which enable individuals to fulfill their right to housing. The aim of this paper is to assess the differentiation factors of housing and their changes in the Czech regions in the ten year period, between 2001 and 2011. The differentiation factors are divided into two groups based on size and technical equipment. Their correlation with regional gross domestic product per capita, regional variability and change in relative positions of the sum of the standardized indicator values of the Czech regions are evaluated. It was found that regional differentiation factors of housing do not correlate with the formation of wealth significantly; variability of indicators of housing in the Czech regions decreases over time; while the relative position in most regions in this direction is changing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planning the development of cycling infrastructure underlines the importance of suitable and sustainable transportation inside cities. In spite that decision making process implements many statistical tools, proposing new cycle paths is based on both quantitative evaluating and qualitative respecting strategic intent of the city. The main goal of the paper is to extend currently accepted approaches in modelling of cycling infrastructure towards geostatistical analysis. The research documents a comparative study of different interpolation techniques producing raster surfaces for further processing using multicriterial evaluation. To choose an appropriate interpolation method several methods were tested, especially Inverse Distance Weighted, Radial Base Function, Simple Kriging, Ordinary Kriging and Empirical Bayesian Kriging. Besides interpolated data taken from field counting, points of cyclists' interest have been implemented into the assessment. Considering two strategies (safety and preparedness for cycling infrastructure development) determining weights, two sets of proposals have been also presented. The results were equally reclassified into five classes for possible comparison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]