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This contribution addresses the sustainable clothing buying behaviour of Generations X and Y. The aim of the paper is to analyse the main features of sustainable clothing buying behaviour within Generations X and Y and to suggest some marketing activities for fashion companies. The theoretical background contains information from professional literature, scientific journals indexed in WOS and Scopus, and websites regarding the main trends in CSR, sustainable development, and sustainable buying behaviour, with a focus on the fashion industry. The analysis comprises multiple stages: the creation of a questionnaire through Google Forms, the selection of respondents from generations X and Y in the territory of the Slovak Republic, the analysis of respondents' answers through descriptive statistics, and the evaluation of research hypotheses via inductive statistics. Among the general research methods, historical-logical methods, analysis, synthesis, and comparison were used, whereas specialised research methods included methods of descriptive statistics and methods of inductive statistics implemented in the SPSS program. The questionnaire consisted of 11 questions based on previous research on the study topics and was completed by 139 respondents. The identification questions sought information from the participants about their identification as Generation X or Y, their gender, and their income. The next step was a comparison of shopping places, types of clothing, buying factors, and frequency and awareness of sustainable trends. The last 3 questions were framed according to previous research and were evaluated via descriptive statistics methods as well as inductive statistics. Research hypotheses are focused on relationships between the use of sustainable trends and belonging to a specific generation, the degree of influence of sustainable trends on buying behaviour and belonging to a specific generation, and the degree of rationality when purchasing clothes and belonging to a specific generation. On the basis of these tests, only the second hypothesis (influence of sustainable trends) was further analysed. Research results indicate that fashion brands can utilise slow fashion for different types of marketing communication to effectively target Generations X and Y, with a particular focus on influencer marketing on social networks. The limitations include various definitions of generations (birth years), possible cognitive distortions and the subjective answers of respondents. The fashion industry is an essential component of the creative industry and creative economy. Research could be extended by comparing sustainable clothing buying behaviour between inhabitants from the region with the above-average value of the regional NUTS3 creative index (Bratislava region) and inhabitants from other NUTS3 regions. Research could also be extended by comparing the effects of irrationality on generations in the context of behavioural economics. The end of the contribution expresses the benefits of this research for economics, the environment, and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the management and motivation of people and employees as part of the corporate culture in a selected company in a retail chain. The selected company has been operating in Slovakia since 2000, when it opened its first branch. Today, this chain of stores operates almost all over Slovakia and is still expanding. Primary and secondary data, methods of analysis, synthesis, deduction, comparison and statistical methods (Chi square test) are used to prepare the paper. The first part contains theoretical starting points and knowledge of the investigated issue from Slovak and foreign sources. The methodology contains a precise definition of the main goal, subgoals of the work, material and work procedure. The following is an analysis of the actual state of the selected entity. We use the questionnaire method to obtain information to evaluate leadership and motivation. The questionnaire is composed of 14 questions, 5 of which are identification questions, and the others are focused on the preferred style of leadership and satisfaction, on building a corporate culture, on current benefits and satisfaction with them, on potential benefits and on demotivation factories. The survey was completed by 57 respondents who were employees of one of the branches. Three hypotheses are formulated as part of this survey. Among the main analysis results, we can include satisfaction with the leadership style and the perception of corporate culture in the sense of "Everything for people" (for customers and employees) but also negative things such as insufficient current benefits and demotivation in the form of employee overload, bad working relations or insufficient environmental responsibility. All 3 hypotheses were rejected. Satisfaction with the leadership style does not depend on years of service, satisfaction with benefits received does not affect the age of the employees, and building a corporate culture does not depend on the leadership style of people. Subsequently, proposals and recommendations for practice are formulated based on the analysis. Among the most important proposals are support for the health of employees in the form of vitamin packages and wellness, sick days, financial rewards and team building. The conclusion of the paper also includes the limitations of the research and its possible extensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding social responsibility importance pushes businesses to assume not only the behaviour of law-abidingness but also to carry the voluntary participation in the implementation of corporate contribution to the development of the community and the territory and establishing social partnership relations with the state. However, it should be noted that no aspects of social responsibility have been analysed appropriately. In particular, some authors pointed out that it is necessary to increase the number of studies related to the social responsibility perception of small and medium enterprises because these companies often lack a clear understanding and conscious recognition of socially responsible importance. Such a situation has motivated the authors to do research in this area. The food service sector was chosen for an investigation in Ukraine, Portugal, and Slovakia. The purpose of the paper is to find out the most important factors that influence the socially responsible perception of small and medium-sized enterprises among food service enterprises in Ukraine, Portugal, and Slovakia from the viewpoint of the economic pillar. Primary data were collected by conducting a questionnaire survey of Ukraine, Portuguese, and Slovak small and medium-sized enterprises working in the food sector. The research was conducted in selected cities of each country (Portugal: Lisbon, Porto, Faro; Slovakia: Bratislava, Nitra, Košice, and Ukraine: Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa). The city selection could be explained by the fact that the before-mentioned cities are the most visited ones in the selected countries. The study received 107 answers from Ukraine, 102 from Portugal, and 101 from Slovakia. Statistical analysis was performed by using IBM SPSS software and MS Excel. It could be concluded that the research describes that the company's financial situation has the most significant influence on its performance. In addition, enterprises with a short-term existence display better social responsibility performance. The results have several practical implications for organisations' policymakers. Results showed that adopting the socially responsible concept greatly depends on the company's financial situation. However, several socially responsible activities are neutral concerning the costs. The companies could focus on collaboration with other small and medium-sized enterprises, getting involved in community service activities and collaboration with nonprofit organisations, charity camps organisation, team building activities, organisation of masterclasses for children, resources donation, and reuse activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decades, the word 'innovation' can be heard more and more on the entrepreneurial side. It has a crucial role in satisfying the customers, competition with other companies, and increasing the turnover of the enterprises. SMEs economic performance is directly affecting the national budget. Still, there is not a precise method of assessing and improving the innovation process at neither firm nor national level. The paper aims to analyse the current innovative performance of Moldovan SMEs. The analysis will explore factors affecting enterprise innovation. It will determine how the existing innovation ecosystem affects the one in an enterprise, and what methods should be applied to improve innovation as well as the ecosystem. To gain insight, the study conducted an email survey of 150 companies, which were the object for research in the Republic of Moldova. The primary purpose of the study is to emphasise the importance of innovation issues related to increasing SMEs competitiveness, in connection with presenting the theoretical aspects in the field, proving basic concepts and quantifying them in the study of innovation as well as various forms, types and factors influencing innovative organisations. The objective of these enterprise questionnaires is to accumulate substantial and reliable information that is significant to responding to the fundamental research questions. Methodological tools of the research methods were the tools for statistical analysis based on using primary data from the questionnaire research. The reference period for statistical research was 2013 and 2017. The author collected the data between August and September 2018 based on questionnaires filled in on paper or sent through the email by the enterprises included in the research. The results of the study provide the following insights: product innovation is the primary innovation type among Moldovan SMEs; the country lacks financial resources for innovation support. Also, Moldova's weak innovation ecosystem and lack of highly qualified workers slow down the development of enterprises. At the end of the thesis, the several recommendations for enterprise managers as well as high-level government organisations were provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – One of the key decisions in becoming international is the standardization versus adaptation of the products for foreign markets. Previous research has mostly seen these alternatives as polarized opposites, even if it seems that the practitioners must nearly always adopt a certain level of adaptation that is nevertheless clearly less than full adaptation. The aim of the paper is to connect the amount and types of changes required to the cultural distance. Design/methodology/approach – A survey was offered to 33 companies producing 107 Slovak food products being exported successfully; the amount of changes required for different markets were calculated and classified for each product. Supporting interviews to 15 companies were conducted. Findings – The results suggest that markets culturally more distant require a greater number of changes than the culturally more similar target countries. The increase is clear especially in amount of packaging size and style changes for the foreign market. Conversely, the markets culturally closer to the home market required relatively more frequent changes in the brand name. Research limitations/implications – The method chosen restricts the possibilities of statistical analysis to basic distribution data. The results are at this stage not conclusive; suggestions for further research are discussed at the end of the paper. Practical implications – The paper presents benchmarking possibilities for producers of similar products. Originality/value – The model states that the changes in products are due to two separate types of distance; logistics/handling-induced changes for geographical distance, information- status- and buying habit-induced changes for cultural distance. The paper discusses the actions of companies from observed practice rather than from theory; includes an original sample of 107 products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]