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The aim of the paper is to propose a suitable structure of the newly designed Financial Health & Prediction (FH&P) rating model, and by putting it into practice in Slovak spa enterprises, to contribute to the development of financial management concepts for spa facilities operating in the field of tourism. The quantification of individual dimensions of the FH&P rating model was based on the calculation of selected ten key financial ratio indicators and prediction models. The values (in different units of measure) were converted to points using compiled transformation tables which formed the final score of the FH&P rating model and subsequently the proposed A-FX rating. Based on the results, Kúpele Bojnice, Inc. (SE03), Špecializovaný liečebný ústav Marína, s.e. (SE21) and Kúpele Nimnica, Inc. (SE07) received the best rating. This innovative model provides financial managers actual, simple and understandable overview of the financial health of a spa company and its future financial perspective. With a several adjustments, the FH&P rating model is easily applicable in any economic sector of Slovakia.

Measuring the performance and efficiency of the tourism enterprises is essential regarding the current pandemic situation. In such a context, improving their financial situation and competitive position also depend on the use of innovative multi-criteria evaluation models. The paper's main objective is to propose the newly designed Performance & Efficiency model (P&E model) for Slovak spa enterprises. Its structure consists of three dimensions – P&E_I, P&E_II, P&E_III. The application of Confirmatory Factor Analysis validates 34 key performance ratios reflecting the financial situation of enterprises within the P&E_I. In case of P&E_II, the development of value-added dynamics is measured by using the Economic Value Added Momentum. Using the Data Envelopment Analysis, the level of enterprise efficiency is quantified (P&E_III). The partial results of the dimensions are transformed using min-max normalization to the overall score ranging from 0 to 3. Based on the results, a rating scale of all enterprises is carried out, and both their partial and overall positions are assessed through benchmarking. During the research (2013 – 2018), the best results are achieved for SE03 (Spa Bojnice, Inc.), SE21 (Specialised Spa Institute Marína, s.e.), and SE18 (Spa Horný Smokovec, Ltd.). The worst-rated spa enterprises include SE14 (Natural Iodine Spa Číž, Inc.), SE09 (Spa Sliač, Inc.), and SE19 (Pieniny Resort, Ltd.). The proposed P&E model is easily applicable to other tourism enterprises. The research as carried out enables deepening of knowledge concerning the multi-criteria evaluation and management concepts and helps enterprises overcome current unfavorable situations.

Managing people is the basis of the existence of any company, which determines the achievement of economic, managerial and social goals. In this context, an irreplaceable place belongs to the company’s management and individual managers. The complexity of managerial work gives high demands on managers at all levels, which apply equally to men and women. The issue of gender stereotypes in today’s dynamic and constantly changing world is still the subject of many research studies. The presented study deals with the issue of gender stereotypes in managerial positions in large industrial companies. The research, which was carried out on a sample of 453 respondents, revealed the results applicable to theoretical research of the issue and business practice. This research is focused on examining the relationship between filling managerial positions in terms of gender. The achieved p-value (p = 0.0001) confirmed the relationship between filling managerial positions by men and women. Based on the results, it can be stated that men hold positions in top management to a greater extent than women. However, the relationship between gender and opinion on filling managerial positions was not confirmed according to the calculated p-value (p = 0.1039). The research was also focused on examining the relationship between the salary of men and women working in a position within the same level of management (gender pay gap). Based on the data results and calculated p-value (p = 0.0005), the salary differences between men and women were confirmed. Therefore, it can be argued that women are paid less than men in a position within the same management level. This research points out the gender stereotypes between men and women in managerial positions and the fact that women can also hold top managerial positions and run a successful company achieving the set goals.

Метою статті є оцінювання рівня ефективності санаторно-курортного бізнесу Словаччини. У рамках дослідження авторами проведено рейтингування санаторно-курортних закладів охорони здоров’я за рівнем їх ефективності бізнесдіяльності. Методологічною основою дослідження є симплексний метод лінійного програмування та компаративний аналіз середовища функціонування бізнес-моделей санаторно-курортних закладів охорони здоров’я. Об’єктом дослідження є санітарно-курортний бізнес Словаччини. Періодом дослідження обрано 2014-2018 роки. Для визначення прогресивних компаній було здійснено кількісне оцінювання ефективності діяльності санаторно-курортних закладів охорони здоров’я за допомогою оптимізаційниих моделей SMPL та BCC-DEA. У ході дослідження застосовано коефіцієнт рангової кореляції Спірмена для визначення потенційного ступеня кореляції бізнес-рейтингів. Практичну реалізацію усіх етапів дослідження здійснено з використанням інструментарію програмного забезпечення MS Excel, MS Excel Solver та Gretl. Авторами зазначено, що результати оцінювання ефективності бізнесу за допомогою методу лінійного програмування (SMPL) є схожими до результатів аналізу середовища функціонування (DEA). Таким чином, зазначені вище моделі можна вважати еквівалентними. Окрім цього, на основі отриманих результатів, досліджувані заклади було поділено на дві групи за ефективністю бізнес-діяльності 1) вище 10 DMU; 2) нижче загального середнього рівня – 11 DMU. Таким чином, найбільш ефективними закладами визначено DMU09 (Spa Lúcky, j.s.c.) та DMU03 (Spa Bojnice, j.s.c.). При цьому найнижчий показник ефективності визначено у DMU04 (Spa Brusno, j.s.c.). Результати дослідження мають практичне значення і можуть бути прийняті для підвищення ефективності бізнес-діяльності санітарно-курортних закладів охорони здоров’я у Словаччині та інших країнах. This paper evaluates the efficiency level of medical spa businesses operating in Slovakia. The research aims to compile an efficiency ranking of these specific healthcare facilities to apply both methods and analyze their alternative use within the efficiency level measurement. The object of research is the Slovak spa businesses over the years 2014-2018. The study involved the Simplex Method of Linear Programming and the selected Data Envelopment Analysis model. In the study frame, the authors quantified the efficiency of medical spa businesses as the optimization task of SMPL and BCC input-oriented DEA model to identify prosperous businesses from non-prosperous ones. The study applied the Spearman rank correlation to reveal a potential degree of association of business rankings. The calculations were provided by the MS Excel, MS Excel Solver package, and the statistical program Gretl. The findings indicated that the business efficiency measured by SMPL provided similar results to the DEA model. These methods could be considered equivalent. Therefore, their alternative use was confirmed. The obtained results showed that both methods almost equally divided the businesses into two groups: 1) with efficiency score above (10 DMUs) and 2) below the overall achieved average (11 DMUs). According to the average results of both applied methods, the most efficient DMUs were DMU09 (Spa Lúcky, j.s.c.) and DMU03 (Spa Bojnice, j.s.c.), vice versa, the lowest efficiency score was achieved by DMU04 (Spa Brusno, j.s.c.). This research could be considered an important opportunity to identify new gaps in the prior literature and present the need for further development in these specific healthcare facilities, not only in Slovakia. The presented research findings are also beneficial for practice as they may lead to the formulation of recommendations for improvement of the current state of Slovak spa tourism and the spa businesses themselves.

The main aim of the paper was to analyse the economic and social development of the European Union (EU) member states (28 countries) on the basis of selected five multicriteria indices (the Global Competitiveness Index, the Economic Freedom Index, the Global Innovation Index, the Corruption Perceptions Index, the Human Development Index). To perform settled aim, a multidimensional classification of EU countries for years 2011 and 2018 using cluster analysis was realized. The purpose of the analysis was to categorize the individual EU countries into clusters and to find out to what extent the position of EU member states has changed in terms of selected international indices over the analysed period. Based on the findings, it is arguable that a major part of the EU member states cluster into the same groups based on the selected indices assessment, regardless of the time period. However, six countries (Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, and United Kingdom) improved their position during the period under review and ranked into the cluster of more prosperous countries in 2018. The rate of change (improvement) was quantified at the level of 21.43%. Based on the results, Latvia and Lithuania were the most similar countries in terms of economic prosperity (Euclidean distance reached the level of 3.08), while the least similar countries were Greece and Sweden (Euclidean distance reached the level of 70.8). Declining Euclidean distances indicate that economic disparities of the individual EU countries have decreased in the period under review. This paper aims at developing the research to find out how, besides hierarchy, we can analyse the EU member states from the perspective of various multicriteria indices. The four proposed clusters could be used as a starting point for future policy reforms, pointing to the weaknesses of various countries.

Research background: Under the current conditions of increasing competitiveness and interdependence, national economies are more influenced by the global business environment and its development. Constantly changing economic, social, political aspects, and many other factors, cause the differences in the global competitiveness of economies, so the economies are forced to analyze their competitive level more complexly. Despite that, there is a lack of research studies analyzing the international competitiveness of EU-28 economies from the point of view various multi-criteria indices. Purpose of the article: The paper investigates the relations between the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) and other selected multi-criteria indices, namely the Global Innovation Index (GII), the Doing Business Index (DBI), the Economic Freedom Index (EFI) and the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) in the case of EU–28 economies. Methods: In order to investigate the relations between the global competitiveness and selected multi-criteria indices affecting the EU–28 economies, the multiple linear regression analyses were applied. The multiple regression model was quantified for every single year, as well as, the regression model using the average score of all analyzed indices. The secondary data concerning the scores of individual indices were collected based on annually published online reports over the period of 2014–2018. Findings & Value added: The research confirmed that there is a statistically significant dependence between the global competitiveness, corruption and the level of innovation potential within the EU–28 economies. Besides, we identified the worst results in the context of competitiveness evaluation especially in the area of corruption and innovation activities. In this regard, the issue of insufficient innovation development and inappropriate corruption perception is considered to be key determinants influencing the assessment of the global competitiveness of the EU–28 member states. In our opinion, to improve the competitiveness of these countries, targeted activities should be implemented in the frame of national competitive strategies, programs, and policies.

The biggest challenges for today’s businesses and facilities in ministries (health, education, defence, police, etc.) are to constantly increase their effectiveness. The quality and efficiency of each business are above all quality employees. They should be as satisfied and motivated as possible to their work performance. This requires careful and funded leadership by properly prepared and carefully considered managers. Providing excellent employee work performance is beneficial to the enterprise/organization and workers themselves. Nowadays, when employees are an integral part of a knowledge-based business/organization, there is a progress that cannot be achieved without development of the workforce. Although educated people work in the healthcare facility under investigation, it is not always possible to achieve a synergy effect based on excellent work performance and successful system management of the given healthcare facility. Managerial readiness and knowledge of factors affecting employee satisfaction and motivation enables them to prepare an appropriate incentive program that can influence the behaviour of individuals or workgroups towards to develop and effectively use the potential of employees, their responsible and quality work, considering their personal goals, and also the interest in the entire facility. Motivation/demotivation of healthcare personnel are frequently discussed issue in relation to healthcare policy making and overall health performance. The quality of health care and the performance of healthcare providers depend not only on the level of education, but also on the willingness and motivation of healthcare professionals. Even in a relatively stable environment, it is necessary to examine what contributes to the motivation of individual workers and what their behavioural patterns are. While motivation is generally paid great attention, in the healthcare system, research is mainly carried out on its performance and relatively few studies relate only to the field of motivation of healthcare professionals. The authors’ ambition is to present research on this topic and to introduce some measures that could contribute to improving the motivation system of healthcare personnel in Slovakia. In a sense, we have tried to briefly compare the similarity of the system of healthcare motivation in Slovakia to systems in selected, mainly developed countries.

This paper examines the relations between the R&D expenditure and the global competitiveness development in the case of Slovakia as well as in member states of the European Union from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE EU (11)). To assess the competitiveness of CEE EU (11) member states, we used the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) processed by the World Economic Forum (WEF). By using the correlation analysis, we focused on the detection of interrelations between the R&D expenditure height (per capita) (using five variables of GERD) and values of the overall GCI score as well as its three main subindexes in the case of CEE EU (11) countries over the period of 2007 – 2016. In doing so, we determined that an increase in R&D expenditures can significantly contribute to an increase in the CEE EU (11) countries’ competitiveness level. All performed analyses confirmed that it is important to focus on increasing R&D expenditures, especially in the higher education sector, as it has a significant influence on improving the global competitiveness development of the CEE EU (11) countries in the case of the 1st and 3rd GCI subindexes. In the end, it will be also reflected in the overall competitiveness assessment of this group of countries.

International audience; The issue of countries' competitiveness and sustainable economic growth is constantly at the centre of interest and represents the frequent object of research in economic theory as well as economic practice. The multi-criterial approach and the assessment methodologies relating to the global competitiveness have been dynamically adjusted over the recent years to reflect the current globalization trends in the world economy. The main objective of this study is to analyse the objectivity and resulting values' deviations of the Global competitiveness Index (GCI) and World Competitiveness Index (WCI) composite indexes that are currently considered to be the world's most respected and to identify the impact of key factors that affect the countries' competitive positions with a focus on Slovakia. The research study is realized within the group of EU (24) countries for the period 2006 – 2016. The partial objective is to summarize the main starting points of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and Institute for Management Development (IMD) composing these indices, to identify their common features and different approaches that create differences in the results achieved. Then we analyzed the differences between the resulting rankings and the resulting scores of the GCI and WCI rated countries. In the next part, we focused on analyzing the position of Slovakia using the correlation and multiple regression analysis and identifying the interrelationships between individual pillars and the GCI score in order to determine the impact of key factors that influence the competitive position and sustainable growth of Slovakia and improve or worsen its position. Our results highlighted the economic and statistical context of GCI Slovakia development and the impact of the following key pillars and key factors: pillar P1 (P1: Institutions – Public trust in politicians), pillar P3 (P3: Macroeconomic environment – Government debt) and pillar P11 (P11: Business sophistication – Nature of competitive advantage). All three pillars, identified as crucial to the development of the overall Slovakias' GCI scores, occupy unflattering positions in the comparison of pillar rankings. Therefore, we conclude that it is necessary to clarify the causes of their development and eliminate these identified factors as soon as possible. The results can be seen as beneficial to countries' economic policies in increasing global competitiveness.

Slovak spa services are not given sufficient attention directly following the support and sustainable development. The paper focuses on the evaluation of the overall development and current level of efficiency of the Slovak spas in 2013–2018, through the application of DEA models. Input variables (total number of beds, employees, medical staff) and output variables (use of bed capacity, number of treated clients) within the structure of DEA models analyzed (CCR-I, CCR-O, BCC-I, BCC-O) are determined by results of the correlation analysis. The data were obtained from the annual reports of the spa enterprises. By the results, the average efficiency score for all enterprises reached 0.7527, i.e., the average spa enterprise would need only 75.27% of currently used inputs for a given output production to move to the efficiency frontier. The development of the average efficiency score confirmed a positive growing trend until 2015, however, the efficiency decreased by 1.84% in a year-to-year comparison in 2016–2018. In each year of the analyzed period, the number of inefficient enterprises (66.67%) exceeded that of the efficient ones (33.33%). Through research carried out in spa facilities, the authors contributed to expanding the application of the DEA method in another tourism sector.

The aim of presented paper was to create and subsequently apply the Modified 3D Creditworthy Model (MCWM) of performance reflecting sectoral characteristics and financial specificities of the selected sample of Slovak tour operators over the years 2013 – 2017. The intention of this research study was to implement the key financial indicators and appropriate prediction models into both dimensions of the traditional 2D Creditworthy Model of performance and to supplement its third dimension applying the selected modern assessment methods – the Economic Value Added and the Return On Net Assets as we consider them to be one of the most important indicators of future success and company's financial growth. This modification will help to better identify the current financial position of tour operators and more accurately identify causes that hinder the development of financial performance of the selected sample of enterprises. However, after adjusting the upper and lower quartile averages of a particular industry, this methodology is applicable in the wider context of enterprises, not only those operating in the tourism sector.

The paper deals with the issue of increasing the efficiency of business management using modern management methods and tools in tourism enterprises. The basis of the paper form hypotheses focused on the use of the concept of Balanced Scorecard, controlling, benchmarking, and talent management within the tourism enterprises. Based on the p-value (0.576) in the case of first hypothesis, we can confirm that there is no statistically significant relationship between the openness of hotels to change, innovation, and the willingness to introduce controlling into management. The p-value (0.004) achieved in the case of the second hypothesis confirmed a statistically significant relationship between the hotel classification category and the use of the modern methods in plan design. In the third hypothesis, we examined whether hotels focusing on the sales maximization tend to use their capital for modernization. Based on the validity of the inequality p-value (0.080), we confirm that there is no statistically significant relationship between the pricing approach and the use of capital. Searching strategic tool in management of a business in tourism is still an actual issue. Businesses are especially managed by financial indicators, but modern methods show the growing significance of non-financial indicators.

In this paper, the following research problem was addressed: Is there a significant economic impact of multidimensional specified competitiveness within the EU (28) countries on the competitive business environment, human development, and sustainable growth? Based on the mentioned research problem, we formulated the aim of paper: To detect the significant interrelations among the assessment of global competitiveness, business environment as well as human development in the EU (28) countries for the period of 2006&ndash, 2017. To address these problems, the methodology of global multi-criteria indices, namely the global competitiveness index (GCI), doing business index (DBI), and human development index (HDI), as well as panel analysis and non-linear regression analyses with ANOVA, were applied. The panel analysis results suggest that there is a direct linear relationship between the GCI and HDI. Moreover, the impact of the DBI on the change in the GCI score was not confirmed. We identified the main areas of countries&rsquo, interest, and important economic and statistical significant relations of competitiveness by creating three models: The GD model (constructed by GCI and DBI scores), GH model (GCI and HDI scores), and GDH model (GCI, DBI and HDI scores). Based on the results, all interrelations were confirmed. However, the highest extent of variability for the explanation of the selected data was recorded in the case of the GDH model (87.12%). We detected the impact of the business environment and human resources as competitive advantages on global macroeconomic competitiveness. As the business sector in EU (28) countries is represented mainly by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), enterprise activities play a key role in the process of sustainable competitive economic development. Moreover, human resources are considered to be another important driver of the internationalization of European SMEs.

In the context of ensuring the long-term prosperity of each country, the more and more emphasis is placed on the mutual comparison of the nation´s competitiveness in the European or global area, so every country monitors and supports the development of its global acceptability. The aim of this paper was to analyze the development of Slovakia’s competitiveness through the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) during the period 2006-2016 and to reveal the interrelationships among the GCI indicator and its individual pillars. Of the total 12 pillar scores, a statistically significant correlation with the GCI of Slovakia was confirmed in the case of 7 pillars, whereas the strongest positive relationship was proved for 1st Pillar: Institutions. The level of Slovakia’s spending on R&D belongs to one of the lowest within the EU countries. Over the years 2006-2015, the average R&D intensity fluctuated around 0.68%, whereas in 2015 it reached the value of 1.18%. The top leader in R&D expenditure per capita within the V4 countries is the Czech Republic followed by Hungary, Poland and Slovakia which in 2015 significantly increased its R&D spending to the level of 171.7 € per capita and ranked 2nd in the V4 countries.