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The study’s main aim is to determine how the entrepreneurs in SMEs of the Visegrad Group (V4) perceive the strategic management process and how they manage strategic risks within it. The study also focuses on how a perception of examined determinants differs depending on business duration, management education and sex. The research was performed from 9/2019 to 4/2020 in the V4 countries by means of online questionnaire. The findings were interesting. SMEs’ business duration is a significant factor in evaluating the total structure of entrepreneurs’ attitudes to the following fact: firm’s strategic management is inevitable for corporate governance. Both SMEs’ business duration and educational attainment are significant factors in evaluating the total structure of entrepreneurs’ attitudes to the following fact: implementation of strategic management is required for day-to-day operations of a business. However, SMEs’ business duration, management education and sex do not influence managers’ attitudes to strategic management and strategic business risks. The results provide a valuable platform for the creators of national and regional strategic and development plans. Similarly, the results enable a creation of national and international benchmarking indicators in this area that would allow an improvement of the business environment and a creation of risk management systems, which are inevitable for SMEs.

The current pandemic, that has wider economic and social impacts, will put to the test all enterprises, which will be forced to search for new survival strategies and to create existential prognoses of business operations during great economic and social uncertainty and new crises whose impacts are hard to predict. This fact motivated the team of authors to realise the study that aims at researching and quantifying the impacts of the pandemic COVID-19 on selected areas of management in SMEs in the Czech Republic (CR) and the Slovak Republic (SR). The research sample consisted of 1502 SMEs, 822 SMEs before the pandemic, 680 SMEs during the pandemic, 814 from CR, and 688 from SR. Attitudes between SMEs according to nationality and period of research were verified with a chi-squared test and Kruskal-Wallis tests. The results of both countries confirmed that the pandemic has a negative impact on the financial performance of SMEs. The government economic measures may help the enterprises to recover, said 40.0% of Czech entrepreneurs, but only 30% of Slovak entrepreneurs. However, the entrepreneurs in SMEs equally perceive other aspects of corporate governance and business risk management during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Transformations in Business & Economics is the property of Vilnius University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Transformations in Business & Economics is the property of Vilnius University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Transformations in Business & Economics is the property of Vilnius University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article aims to define and analyze important factors of the introduction of a local currency. The research was carried out in the Cieszyn Silesia region. A questionnaire was prepared and distributed among the employees of both public and private companies in the region and filled in by 422 respondents. Advanced data analysis methods were used to evaluate the questionnaire: contingency tables, absolute and relative species abundance, the Pearson's chi-squared test, along with a standard score (Z-score). Respondents' attitudes towards introducing the local currency led to some interesting results. Most respondents know the term "local currency," but only one third of them are able to interpret this term correctly. 65% of the respondents are familiar with the term "digital currency," but only 11% of them have trust in the concept. According to the received answers, the credibility of digital currency can be increased by it being ensured by trustworthy subjects. Three out of four respondents predict that the introduction of digital currency would significantly support regional producers and service providers. These results are used as the information base for assessments regarding the types of employee benefits on offer by major employers in the region along with cooperating institutions of the public non-profit sector, as well as for an academic discussion on the suitability of the local currency in the Czech Republic and its impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective implementation of EO attributes represents an important factor of SMEs' success on the target market, and significantly determines its long-term existence. The aim of this paper was to define and quantify the significance of EO factors influencing SMEs business orientation. In connection to the defined target, separate research was conducted using a questionnaire in the Czech Republic attended by 1,141 enterprise owners within the SME segment. The method of regression analysis was used to quantify the significance of respective factors and to determine their statistical significance. The results of the research indicate that SMEs' entrepreneurial orientation is mostly affected by the following factors: Investing finances into development of new methods and technologies (EO13), Conducting risky projects for the purpose of increasing the enterprise's performance (EO23), Initiative on the target market (EO32), and Activities performed towards competition (EO43). Subsequently, it was determined that factors such as Enterprise's risk strategy (EO21), Creating an entrepreneurial environment within the scope of the enterprise (EO33), Aggressive activities towards competition (EO42), and Reputation for being an autonomous enterprise (EO51) do not affect the overall degree of entrepreneurial orientation. The results of this research may serve as an inspiration for further research in the field of SMEs entrepreneurial orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are an essential part of every country's economic system. The quality of the business environment plays an important role in this regard. The aim of the paper was to define and quantify important public sector factors influencing the quality of the business environment in the SME segment and to compare the intensity of the defined factors between the Czech Republic (CR) and the Slovak Republic (SR). In regards to the defined aim, a survey-based research was conducted with enterprises operating in the SME segment. 312 enterprises in CR and 329 enterprises in SR were approached during this research. The scientific hypotheses were verified using the methods of Pearson statistics. The evaluation of political factors is quite negative in both countries. Only 15% of Czech and 20% of Slovak entrepreneurs positively evaluated the level of legislation in business. Both Czech and Slovak entrepreneurs see state's support of export quite positively. Only 12% of Czech and 22% of Slovak entrepreneurs positively evaluated the administrative burden on enterprises. Entrepreneurs in both countries claim that the state is unable to provide qualified workforce for businesses. Most significant differences between the two countries were found in the evaluation of state bureaucracy which the Slovak entrepreneurs evaluated more positively than their Czech counterparts. The results of the research show the need to deal with urgent issues, or create a better system of public factors influencing the business environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is aimed at identification of the shadow economy's causal factors and indicators in 19 Eurozone member states over the period from 2005 to 2016. Application of the MIMIC model has allowed to identify the following causal factors of the shadow economy in the Eurozone: employment rate, gender wage gap and income inequalities (expressed as the GINI index). All of these causal factors of the shadow economy in the Eurozone are attributable to the group of labour market determinants, which proposes that a reasonably arranged labour market mechanism can substantially diminish the probability of the shadow economy emergence. On the other hand, it has been found that the level of the shadow economy determines a positive/negative degree of the public trust in the EU authorities. The novelty of the research lies in the disclosure of the main causal factors of the shadow economy in the geographical area that covers different countries with a single currency. The findings of this research may contribute to the development of the shadow economy reduction strategies in 19 Eurozone member states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines whether bank finance is a substitute or complementary to trade credit for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region of the Visegrad Group - the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, and the Slovak Republic. This paper uses the data set provided by the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey that was conducted by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank during the period from 2012 to 2014. Using a sample of 1,140 firms, it was discovered that firms having an overdraft facility from banks use more trade credit, and this supports the complementary theory of bank credit and trade credit. Moreover, the results suggest that companies that are younger, innovative, risky, with a concentrated ownership structure and operated by an experienced manager use more trade credit to purchase their material inputs and services. However, the results also show that service-oriented firms use less trade credit than manufacturing firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper was to define and quantify significant factors that shape the quality of the business environment in the SME segment and to create the business environment quality index. A part of this aim was a comparison of defined factors in the Czech Republic (CR) and the Slovak Republic (SR). In regards to the aim defined, a survey-based research was conducted with enterprises operating in the SME segment. 312 enterprises in CR and 329 enterprises in SR were approached during this research. To verify the defined scientific hypotheses, a custom Business Environment Quality Index was created that was quantified separately for CR and SR. The research results brought interesting findings. The aggregated Business Environment Quality Index in the Slovak Republic reached the value of 0.460, which was higher than that of the Czech Republic (0.418). Slovak entrepreneurs gave the economic factors a higher rating than Czech entrepreneurs. Similarly, Slovak entrepreneurs rated the importance of the Central Bank in establishing a stable business environment and the role of commercial banks in financing business needs more positively. The evaluation of political factors is relatively negative in both countries. Slovak entrepreneurs evaluated more positively the judicial system in the area of commercial law, the state's influence on the business environment, and the administrative burden on enterprises. Czech entrepreneurs had a minor issue with the state bureaucracy's impact on the business environment. The evaluation of technological factors is relatively negative in both countries, as the value of this index is slightly below 0.250. Slovak entrepreneurs better assessed the situation on the job market and the cooperation of the public sector with the business environment. On the contrary, Czech entrepreneurs gave the infrastructure level in the area of research and development a better rating. The evaluation of social factors is relatively positive in both countries. Entrepreneurs in the Slovak Republic perceive a more positive attitude of the society towards entrepreneurs and a more intense influence of the family on entrepreneurship, and positively evaluate media's activities in regards to the business environment. The evaluation of the competitive environment is more positive in Slovakia. When evaluating the narrower competitive environment, it was discovered that Slovak entrepreneurs think that customers, suppliers, and employees play a positive role in their business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Transformations in Business & Economics is the property of Vilnius University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)