Pub Date : 2022-09-01DOI: 10.15240/tul/001/2022-3-011
Olga Revutska, Klára Antlová
Dramatic changes caused by the rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic have emphasized the strategic importance of business agility. Companies around the globe are accelerating their agile transformation to succeed within the contemporary dynamic and complex business environment. This includes both instrumental and cultural changes. It is becoming increasingly clear that agile principles and approaches are no longer exclusively used by IT companies; it is spreading across other business functions and industries. Secondary data analysis confirms a strong ambition of companies towards becoming agile. This paper examines the extent, benefits, and concerns of using agile methodologies by selected automotive companies in the Liberec and Central Bohemian regions of the Czech Republic. The in-depth interviews provide a better understanding of the lower agile maturity of the surveyed companies compared to global statistics. None of the surveyed automotive manufacturers assessed their agile maturity at a high level, nor did they consider agile transformation an urgent strategic priority. Research and Development, Program and Project management stood out as the most agile business functions. At the same time, respondents are clearly aware of the need to increase flexibility and the ability to respond quickly to market changes. Some of the surveyed companies have already successfully incorporated Lean, Kanban and Scrum into their operating models, which are the basics of agile. The primary research findings, combined with secondary data analysis, enable recommendations for those pursuing agile transformation. The paper means to stimulate further in-depth research on the agile management approaches in the manufacturing environment.
{"title":"APPLICATION OF AGILE MANAGEMENT APPROACHES IN SELECTED AUTOMOTIVE COMPANIES IN LIBEREC AND CENTRAL BOHEMIAN REGIONS","authors":"Olga Revutska, Klára Antlová","doi":"10.15240/tul/001/2022-3-011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15240/tul/001/2022-3-011","url":null,"abstract":"Dramatic changes caused by the rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic have emphasized the strategic importance of business agility. Companies around the globe are accelerating their agile transformation to succeed within the contemporary dynamic and complex business environment. This includes both instrumental and cultural changes. It is becoming increasingly clear that agile principles and approaches are no longer exclusively used by IT companies; it is spreading across other business functions and industries. Secondary data analysis confirms a strong ambition of companies towards becoming agile. This paper examines the extent, benefits, and concerns of using agile methodologies by selected automotive companies in the Liberec and Central Bohemian regions of the Czech Republic. The in-depth interviews provide a better understanding of the lower agile maturity of the surveyed companies compared to global statistics. None of the surveyed automotive manufacturers assessed their agile maturity at a high level, nor did they consider agile transformation an urgent strategic priority. Research and Development, Program and Project management stood out as the most agile business functions. At the same time, respondents are clearly aware of the need to increase flexibility and the ability to respond quickly to market changes. Some of the surveyed companies have already successfully incorporated Lean, Kanban and Scrum into their operating models, which are the basics of agile. The primary research findings, combined with secondary data analysis, enable recommendations for those pursuing agile transformation. The paper means to stimulate further in-depth research on the agile management approaches in the manufacturing environment.","PeriodicalId":46351,"journal":{"name":"E & M Ekonomie a Management","volume":"86 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89368094","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-01DOI: 10.15240/tul/001/2022-3-007
Faisal D. Alfordy
Globalization has inevitably transmuted fraud into a transnational hazard and raised significant apprehensions. Fraud affects organizations worldwide irrespective of nature, size, profitability, or industry. The pervasive nature of fraud serves a premise to study the menace further. Hence, this research investigated the perceptions among accountants and auditors on the effectiveness of fraud detection and prevention by public and private Saudi organizations. This research presented an exploratory case study within the Saudi Arabian social, economic, and cultural environment. Data-gathering through inquiries and questionnaires were performed among accountants, internal and external auditors from public and private sectors. The results revealed that accountants and auditors in Saudi private and public firms were highly cognizant on fraud awareness, general guidelines, subsequent responsibilities, and reporting venues. In addition, both sectors were found to have invested extensively in fraud detection and prevention technologies. Also, employees were found not have been regularly trained on fraud prevention and detection. Furthermore, forensic accounting, being a relatively new genre in fraud detection and prevention, is found sparingly utilized among public and private sectors’ organizations. Forensic accounting is yet to be accorded adequate authority in the Saudi context, and was found superficially placed under the Saudi Organization of Certified Public Accountants (SOCPA). Despite qualification, experience, and age being recognized as key elements to Saudi accountants and auditors in fraud detection and prevention, lack of proper training leaves employees with limited dexterity and exposes them to legal repercussions. In general, the current legal infrastructure in Saudi Arabia needs to be revisited to improve effective detection and prevention of fraudulence. This study provided insights into the Saudi Arabian fraud detection & prevention, hardware, infrastructure, and human resources as the contributors of a fraud-free society.
{"title":"EFFECTIVE DETECTION AND PREVENTION OF FRAUD: PERCEPTIONS AMONG PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS ACCOUNTANTS AND AUDITORS IN SAUDI ARABIA","authors":"Faisal D. Alfordy","doi":"10.15240/tul/001/2022-3-007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15240/tul/001/2022-3-007","url":null,"abstract":"Globalization has inevitably transmuted fraud into a transnational hazard and raised significant apprehensions. Fraud affects organizations worldwide irrespective of nature, size, profitability, or industry. The pervasive nature of fraud serves a premise to study the menace further. Hence, this research investigated the perceptions among accountants and auditors on the effectiveness of fraud detection and prevention by public and private Saudi organizations. This research presented an exploratory case study within the Saudi Arabian social, economic, and cultural environment. Data-gathering through inquiries and questionnaires were performed among accountants, internal and external auditors from public and private sectors. The results revealed that accountants and auditors in Saudi private and public firms were highly cognizant on fraud awareness, general guidelines, subsequent responsibilities, and reporting venues. In addition, both sectors were found to have invested extensively in fraud detection and prevention technologies. Also, employees were found not have been regularly trained on fraud prevention and detection. Furthermore, forensic accounting, being a relatively new genre in fraud detection and prevention, is found sparingly utilized among public and private sectors’ organizations. Forensic accounting is yet to be accorded adequate authority in the Saudi context, and was found superficially placed under the Saudi Organization of Certified Public Accountants (SOCPA). Despite qualification, experience, and age being recognized as key elements to Saudi accountants and auditors in fraud detection and prevention, lack of proper training leaves employees with limited dexterity and exposes them to legal repercussions. In general, the current legal infrastructure in Saudi Arabia needs to be revisited to improve effective detection and prevention of fraudulence. This study provided insights into the Saudi Arabian fraud detection & prevention, hardware, infrastructure, and human resources as the contributors of a fraud-free society.","PeriodicalId":46351,"journal":{"name":"E & M Ekonomie a Management","volume":"113 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75379083","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-01DOI: 10.15240/tul/001/2022-3-003
Eva Fuchsová
Social responsibility is a common part of corporate practice and an established topic of scientific research. Foreign studies have repeatedly concluded that the consistent integration of social responsibility into corporate strategy and strategic management of all dimensions of CSR strengthen corporate growth, bring competitive advantages, and contribute to the sustainable development of society. The aim of the paper is to find out whether even in the Czech Republic business entities with a strategic concept of CSR achieve better economic results compared to those whose approach to social responsibility is rather intuitive and unsystematic. Also, it seeks to answer the question of whether, with different corporate strategies, it is desirable to focus on different CSR activities that would support corporate growth. A survey of the dimensions of strategic CSR and basic economic characteristics was carried out on a set of more than 400 Czech companies engaged in CSR. Data were processed by methods of cluster analysis, factor analysis and multinomial logistic regression. The results show that there is a link between a more advanced (i.e., strategic) concept of CSR and achieving economic prosperity. It was also found that companies with different corporate strategies should carefully consider the benefits of individual CSR activities. All three strategies have shown positive effects resulting from activities aimed at employees and the local community. The differentiation strategy has shown the benefits of cultivating a market environment and the highest quality strategy for human rights protection. On the other hand, with the lowest price strategy, additional CSR activity does not mean an economic advantage. The conclusions contribute to the clarification of the links between strategic CSR and corporate growth in the Czech business environment and contribute specific knowledge that can be implemented by companies if they want to strengthen the positive effects of their socially responsible activities.
{"title":"SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE STRATEGY OF BUSINESS ENTITIES","authors":"Eva Fuchsová","doi":"10.15240/tul/001/2022-3-003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15240/tul/001/2022-3-003","url":null,"abstract":"Social responsibility is a common part of corporate practice and an established topic of scientific research. Foreign studies have repeatedly concluded that the consistent integration of social responsibility into corporate strategy and strategic management of all dimensions of CSR strengthen corporate growth, bring competitive advantages, and contribute to the sustainable development of society. The aim of the paper is to find out whether even in the Czech Republic business entities with a strategic concept of CSR achieve better economic results compared to those whose approach to social responsibility is rather intuitive and unsystematic. Also, it seeks to answer the question of whether, with different corporate strategies, it is desirable to focus on different CSR activities that would support corporate growth. A survey of the dimensions of strategic CSR and basic economic characteristics was carried out on a set of more than 400 Czech companies engaged in CSR. Data were processed by methods of cluster analysis, factor analysis and multinomial logistic regression. The results show that there is a link between a more advanced (i.e., strategic) concept of CSR and achieving economic prosperity. It was also found that companies with different corporate strategies should carefully consider the benefits of individual CSR activities. All three strategies have shown positive effects resulting from activities aimed at employees and the local community. The differentiation strategy has shown the benefits of cultivating a market environment and the highest quality strategy for human rights protection. On the other hand, with the lowest price strategy, additional CSR activity does not mean an economic advantage. The conclusions contribute to the clarification of the links between strategic CSR and corporate growth in the Czech business environment and contribute specific knowledge that can be implemented by companies if they want to strengthen the positive effects of their socially responsible activities.","PeriodicalId":46351,"journal":{"name":"E & M Ekonomie a Management","volume":"24 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72724636","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-01DOI: 10.15240/tul/001/2022-3-009
Miroslava Trembošová, J. Kramoliš, A. Dubcová, Ľ. Nagyová, Pavel Forgáč
The Slovak population, like the population in other European countries, is aging. The population in the older age groups is growing by increasing the average age of life. Even in old age, people are still active, they like to actively participate in social and economic activities, and they carry out various hobby activities, which preserve but also increase the quality of their personal lives. Seniors over the age of 50+, referred to as the silver generation, are important consumers of a wide range of services, including the growing retail services. These are the reasons why an increased attention needs to be paid to them. The aim of the paper is to know the shopping behavior of the silver generation in relation to the specificity of the spatial structure of retail facilities. The research was carried out in the Slovak city of Nitra. This West Slovak city is known for its history, university education facilities and currently especially the automotive industry, which has significantly contributed to improving the economic conditions of its inhabitants. The shopping types of senior respondents were obtained by questionnaires and evaluated by a comparative analysis based on a description. The results of the research show that the behavior of the current silver generation is changing in comparison to the previous one. The closest relationship between the seniors’ traditional way of shopping and the traditional mixed retail facilities in the central part of the city has not been confirmed. The statistically closest relationship between the shopping types of seniors was confirmed in the residential districts where the retail facilities consist of large shopping centers, supermarkets and hypermarkets with a concentrated offer. Senior shopping is changing significantly and is in line with modern trends. New forms of retail supply change the usual patterns of senior shopping behavior.
{"title":"SHOPPING BEHAVIOR OF THE SILVER GENERATION IN SLOVAKIA: A CASE STUDY NITRA","authors":"Miroslava Trembošová, J. Kramoliš, A. Dubcová, Ľ. Nagyová, Pavel Forgáč","doi":"10.15240/tul/001/2022-3-009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15240/tul/001/2022-3-009","url":null,"abstract":"The Slovak population, like the population in other European countries, is aging. The population in the older age groups is growing by increasing the average age of life. Even in old age, people are still active, they like to actively participate in social and economic activities, and they carry out various hobby activities, which preserve but also increase the quality of their personal lives. Seniors over the age of 50+, referred to as the silver generation, are important consumers of a wide range of services, including the growing retail services. These are the reasons why an increased attention needs to be paid to them. The aim of the paper is to know the shopping behavior of the silver generation in relation to the specificity of the spatial structure of retail facilities. The research was carried out in the Slovak city of Nitra. This West Slovak city is known for its history, university education facilities and currently especially the automotive industry, which has significantly contributed to improving the economic conditions of its inhabitants. The shopping types of senior respondents were obtained by questionnaires and evaluated by a comparative analysis based on a description. The results of the research show that the behavior of the current silver generation is changing in comparison to the previous one. The closest relationship between the seniors’ traditional way of shopping and the traditional mixed retail facilities in the central part of the city has not been confirmed. The statistically closest relationship between the shopping types of seniors was confirmed in the residential districts where the retail facilities consist of large shopping centers, supermarkets and hypermarkets with a concentrated offer. Senior shopping is changing significantly and is in line with modern trends. New forms of retail supply change the usual patterns of senior shopping behavior.","PeriodicalId":46351,"journal":{"name":"E & M Ekonomie a Management","volume":"123 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78695579","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-01DOI: 10.15240/tul/001/2022-3-002
Irena Antošová, Naďa Hazuchová, J. Stávková
The paper deals with subjective perceptions of health by individuals. The research aimed at understanding socioeconomic and demographic factors influencing the fulfilment of healthcare needs and at finding out categories of factors that lead to the highest chances of meeting the need in consumer segments formed according to perceptions of their health status. The analyses were based on the EU-SILC database of primary data on the income situation and living conditions of households. In 2017, the database included extra questions on health. The method of cluster analysis was employed. As a result, three clusters of individuals representing EU countries formed depending on the perceived state of health – the authors named the clusters ‘optimistic’, ‘neutral’, and ‘pessimistic’. For each segment, the binary logistic regression was applied to determine categories of factors leading to the highest probability of meeting the healthcare need. The greatest influence over the fulfilment of the need for healthcare has been confirmed for the factor “Sector of economic activity”, followed by the type of economic activity. Some differences were revealed between segments. For example in the third segment, i.e., respondents who rated worst their health, a strong influence of education has been identified. The highest chances of meeting the need for health care are achieved in the first segment by executives, but in the second and the third segment by individuals active in education. On the other hand, craftsmen and workers have the lowest chances. In all segments, the influence of household composition was confirmed, with single households and single-parent households reporting lower chances of meeting their healthcare needs. Respondents who did not feel their healthcare need was met mostly said it was due to financial reasons, long waiting times, or fear of medical treatment.
{"title":"CONSUMERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF HEALTH AND FACTORS INFLUENCING FULFILMENT OF THE NEED FOR HEALTHCARE IN EU COUNTRIES","authors":"Irena Antošová, Naďa Hazuchová, J. Stávková","doi":"10.15240/tul/001/2022-3-002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15240/tul/001/2022-3-002","url":null,"abstract":"The paper deals with subjective perceptions of health by individuals. The research aimed at understanding socioeconomic and demographic factors influencing the fulfilment of healthcare needs and at finding out categories of factors that lead to the highest chances of meeting the need in consumer segments formed according to perceptions of their health status. The analyses were based on the EU-SILC database of primary data on the income situation and living conditions of households. In 2017, the database included extra questions on health. The method of cluster analysis was employed. As a result, three clusters of individuals representing EU countries formed depending on the perceived state of health – the authors named the clusters ‘optimistic’, ‘neutral’, and ‘pessimistic’. For each segment, the binary logistic regression was applied to determine categories of factors leading to the highest probability of meeting the healthcare need. The greatest influence over the fulfilment of the need for healthcare has been confirmed for the factor “Sector of economic activity”, followed by the type of economic activity. Some differences were revealed between segments. For example in the third segment, i.e., respondents who rated worst their health, a strong influence of education has been identified. The highest chances of meeting the need for health care are achieved in the first segment by executives, but in the second and the third segment by individuals active in education. On the other hand, craftsmen and workers have the lowest chances. In all segments, the influence of household composition was confirmed, with single households and single-parent households reporting lower chances of meeting their healthcare needs. Respondents who did not feel their healthcare need was met mostly said it was due to financial reasons, long waiting times, or fear of medical treatment.","PeriodicalId":46351,"journal":{"name":"E & M Ekonomie a Management","volume":"19 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83677978","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-01DOI: 10.15240/tul/001/2022-3-004
Thuy Thi Diep Vo, K. Tuliao, Chen Chung-wen
Tax income is one of the essential financial resources to maintain a nation’s development, as tax revenue promotes the advancement of social welfare and community affairs. However, tax evasion has been a persistent governmental and societal concern. In order to expand insights on tax evasion of managers, the authors used Emile Durkheim’s sociological theory of anomie to investigate the individual-level association between managers’ perceived family and religion importance and their attitude toward tax evasion. Additionally, the theory was employed to examine how country-level aspects moderate that individual-level relationship. The hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) method was utilized to analyze data of 3,475 managers from 47 countries obtained from the World Values Survey (WVS). Results indicated that the managers’ perceived family and religion importance were negatively related to their ethics of tax evasion. Moreover, the individual-level relationships were moderated by the country-level factors of poverty, good governance, political integration, and social integration. Most study findings supported Durkheim’s original propositions, whereas complementary arguments were offered to explain the results contradicting them. Since there are no existing studies on the influence of managers’ perceived family and religion importance on the ethics of tax evasion and how social perspectives moderate their impacts, the results of this study offer deeper insights into understanding the issue. Practical implications for organizations and society were discussed to reinforce managers’ ethics of tax evasion. The study findings will help organizations and governments establish social programs that will decrease managers’ likelihood to evade taxes, thereby contributing to the development of organizations and the nation.
{"title":"MANAGERS’ ETHICS OF TAX EVASION: THE ROLES OF FAMILY, RELIGION, AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS","authors":"Thuy Thi Diep Vo, K. Tuliao, Chen Chung-wen","doi":"10.15240/tul/001/2022-3-004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15240/tul/001/2022-3-004","url":null,"abstract":"Tax income is one of the essential financial resources to maintain a nation’s development, as tax revenue promotes the advancement of social welfare and community affairs. However, tax evasion has been a persistent governmental and societal concern. In order to expand insights on tax evasion of managers, the authors used Emile Durkheim’s sociological theory of anomie to investigate the individual-level association between managers’ perceived family and religion importance and their attitude toward tax evasion. Additionally, the theory was employed to examine how country-level aspects moderate that individual-level relationship. The hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) method was utilized to analyze data of 3,475 managers from 47 countries obtained from the World Values Survey (WVS). Results indicated that the managers’ perceived family and religion importance were negatively related to their ethics of tax evasion. Moreover, the individual-level relationships were moderated by the country-level factors of poverty, good governance, political integration, and social integration. Most study findings supported Durkheim’s original propositions, whereas complementary arguments were offered to explain the results contradicting them. Since there are no existing studies on the influence of managers’ perceived family and religion importance on the ethics of tax evasion and how social perspectives moderate their impacts, the results of this study offer deeper insights into understanding the issue. Practical implications for organizations and society were discussed to reinforce managers’ ethics of tax evasion. The study findings will help organizations and governments establish social programs that will decrease managers’ likelihood to evade taxes, thereby contributing to the development of organizations and the nation.","PeriodicalId":46351,"journal":{"name":"E & M Ekonomie a Management","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85671484","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-01DOI: 10.15240/tul/001/2022-3-010
Martin Zboril, V. Svatá
Adoption of cloud services has an increasing trend for many years already and no indication that it should change in close future has occurred. Moreover, cloud consumption has been further enhanced due to the COVID-19 situation since a great number of employees started to work from home and therefore, they need to access resources over the internet. This article describes the performed analysis of official data provided by the European Union on the consumption of cloud services in the member countries. The analysis particularly focused on comparing the cloud consumption in the Czech Republic, Visegrád Group and European Union in total. The consumption was compared based on multiple criteria – primarily on cloud service types, organization types, consumption trends. The analysis was conducted over sets of biannual data (2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020) that are available on the Eurostat site for all the European Union countries. The comparison showed that the level of cloud consumption differs across and that the average consumption for the European Union is higher than in the Czech Republic and in Visegrád Group. Besides, the comparison revealed that consumption in the Czech Republic is slightly higher than in Visegrád Group. Such pattern in the comparison between the three subjects was present in the majority of comparisons and therefore it might be stated that the Czech Republic and Visegrád Group are behind the average cloud consumption in European Union. This article is closely related to the Information Management as one of the aims of the E&M Economics and Management journal.
{"title":"COMPARISON OF CLOUD SERVICE CONSUMPTION IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC, VISEGRÁD GROUP AND EUROPEAN UNION","authors":"Martin Zboril, V. Svatá","doi":"10.15240/tul/001/2022-3-010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15240/tul/001/2022-3-010","url":null,"abstract":"Adoption of cloud services has an increasing trend for many years already and no indication that it should change in close future has occurred. Moreover, cloud consumption has been further enhanced due to the COVID-19 situation since a great number of employees started to work from home and therefore, they need to access resources over the internet. This article describes the performed analysis of official data provided by the European Union on the consumption of cloud services in the member countries. The analysis particularly focused on comparing the cloud consumption in the Czech Republic, Visegrád Group and European Union in total. The consumption was compared based on multiple criteria – primarily on cloud service types, organization types, consumption trends. The analysis was conducted over sets of biannual data (2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020) that are available on the Eurostat site for all the European Union countries. The comparison showed that the level of cloud consumption differs across and that the average consumption for the European Union is higher than in the Czech Republic and in Visegrád Group. Besides, the comparison revealed that consumption in the Czech Republic is slightly higher than in Visegrád Group. Such pattern in the comparison between the three subjects was present in the majority of comparisons and therefore it might be stated that the Czech Republic and Visegrád Group are behind the average cloud consumption in European Union. This article is closely related to the Information Management as one of the aims of the E&M Economics and Management journal.","PeriodicalId":46351,"journal":{"name":"E & M Ekonomie a Management","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85415429","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-01DOI: 10.15240/tul/001/2022-3-008
Lenka Hudáková Stašová
In this paper, food retail stores are evaluated. The aim of the survey is analysis of their financial health using appropriate statistical methods, to analyse the market position of businesses, to identify weaknesses in businesses that may contribute to a poor financial situation, to compare the results obtained and to submit proposals to improve the current financial health of businesses. The analysed sample is made up of a selection of 50 Slovak businesses. The companies operate in the same economic and political system, with similar monetary, customs, tax policy from the government. 4 ratio-based financial analysis indicators were selected as representative (return on assets, return on sales, debt ratio, equity ratio). Multicriterial evaluation methods were used to research the position of businesses on the market (the simple unweighted rank method, the fictional point method, the standardized variable method, the scoring method). We showed the correlations of the methods using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. We found the highest correlation in values between the scoring method and the distance from the fictional point method. However, in all cases, by statistical calculation, we found that there is a strong statistically proven relationship between all the methods used. The degree of indebtedness of a business significantly affects its financial health and the structure of the finances. The lowest value for the debt ratio in the monitored sample of businesses is 12.5%. In the group of the worst performing companies, the debt ratio climbed far above the recommended values of 50–70%. The extreme value was a debt ratio as high as 106.3%. We consider the proposals we present to be universal, applicable in other countries in the given sector.
{"title":"EVALUATION OF THE FINANCIAL HEALTH OF FOOD RETAIL OUTLETS IN A MARKET ENVIRONMENT. A CASE STUDY FROM THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC","authors":"Lenka Hudáková Stašová","doi":"10.15240/tul/001/2022-3-008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15240/tul/001/2022-3-008","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper, food retail stores are evaluated. The aim of the survey is analysis of their financial health using appropriate statistical methods, to analyse the market position of businesses, to identify weaknesses in businesses that may contribute to a poor financial situation, to compare the results obtained and to submit proposals to improve the current financial health of businesses. The analysed sample is made up of a selection of 50 Slovak businesses. The companies operate in the same economic and political system, with similar monetary, customs, tax policy from the government. 4 ratio-based financial analysis indicators were selected as representative (return on assets, return on sales, debt ratio, equity ratio). Multicriterial evaluation methods were used to research the position of businesses on the market (the simple unweighted rank method, the fictional point method, the standardized variable method, the scoring method). We showed the correlations of the methods using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. We found the highest correlation in values between the scoring method and the distance from the fictional point method. However, in all cases, by statistical calculation, we found that there is a strong statistically proven relationship between all the methods used. The degree of indebtedness of a business significantly affects its financial health and the structure of the finances. The lowest value for the debt ratio in the monitored sample of businesses is 12.5%. In the group of the worst performing companies, the debt ratio climbed far above the recommended values of 50–70%. The extreme value was a debt ratio as high as 106.3%. We consider the proposals we present to be universal, applicable in other countries in the given sector.","PeriodicalId":46351,"journal":{"name":"E & M Ekonomie a Management","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80912341","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-01DOI: 10.15240/tul/001/2022-3-001
Ľ. Lesáková, Miroslava Vinczeova, A. Kaščáková
The anti-pandemic measures taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus has slowed down the economic activities of many businesses. Particularly vulnerable are SMEs in industries hardest hit by the crisis. These are SMEs which, due to the nature of their activities, have seen their operations severely restricted or even had to shut down during the pandemic. Key to ensure their survival are government support measures. The aim of the paper is to find out whether there is a dependence between the industry in which SMEs operate and measures to support entrepreneurship in most vulnerable industries during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Slovakia and to assess whether the measures adopted by the government correspond to those proposed by SMEs in these industries. For the analysis, data from a survey conducted by the Slovak Business Agency in November 2020 on a sample of 1,109 Slovak SMEs were used. We identified the dependence of the above two characteristics, i.e., the industry and the support measures (distinguishing between measures implemented and measures proposed by SMEs) using the statistical analysis. To verify the correlation between the implemented measure and industry, the chi-squared test of independence was used. To determine whether the support measures adopted by the Slovak Government correspond to those proposed by SMEs, we used the correlation analysis, comparison and synthesis. The results confirmed no major differences between the type of industry and measures proposed by SMEs. Some minimal differences were identified in the most vulnerable industries (accommodation and catering). SMEs negatively assess that their views were not sufficiently taken into account when the measures were adopted by the Slovak Government and that they contain a number of exceptions and conditions under which the aid is provided. Irrespective of the type of industry, SMEs particularly call for the reduction or partial remission of levies, increase in the fixed cost allowance and in flat-rate aid calculated on the basis of the decrease in sales.
{"title":"MEASURES SUPPORTING ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN SLOVAK SMES IN THE MOST VULNERABLE INDUSTRIES IN TIMES OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC","authors":"Ľ. Lesáková, Miroslava Vinczeova, A. Kaščáková","doi":"10.15240/tul/001/2022-3-001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15240/tul/001/2022-3-001","url":null,"abstract":"The anti-pandemic measures taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus has slowed down the economic activities of many businesses. Particularly vulnerable are SMEs in industries hardest hit by the crisis. These are SMEs which, due to the nature of their activities, have seen their operations severely restricted or even had to shut down during the pandemic. Key to ensure their survival are government support measures. The aim of the paper is to find out whether there is a dependence between the industry in which SMEs operate and measures to support entrepreneurship in most vulnerable industries during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Slovakia and to assess whether the measures adopted by the government correspond to those proposed by SMEs in these industries. For the analysis, data from a survey conducted by the Slovak Business Agency in November 2020 on a sample of 1,109 Slovak SMEs were used. We identified the dependence of the above two characteristics, i.e., the industry and the support measures (distinguishing between measures implemented and measures proposed by SMEs) using the statistical analysis. To verify the correlation between the implemented measure and industry, the chi-squared test of independence was used. To determine whether the support measures adopted by the Slovak Government correspond to those proposed by SMEs, we used the correlation analysis, comparison and synthesis. The results confirmed no major differences between the type of industry and measures proposed by SMEs. Some minimal differences were identified in the most vulnerable industries (accommodation and catering). SMEs negatively assess that their views were not sufficiently taken into account when the measures were adopted by the Slovak Government and that they contain a number of exceptions and conditions under which the aid is provided. Irrespective of the type of industry, SMEs particularly call for the reduction or partial remission of levies, increase in the fixed cost allowance and in flat-rate aid calculated on the basis of the decrease in sales.","PeriodicalId":46351,"journal":{"name":"E & M Ekonomie a Management","volume":"34 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82682835","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-06-01DOI: 10.15240/tul/001/2022-2-004
Ivan-Damir Anić, Ivana Rašić, Zoran Aralica
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the composition of services and firms in a wood industrial cluster based on members’ interests and examine the differences among the groups. Since firms have very different interests when joining the cluster, this paper develops the taxonomy of cluster members based on their expectations regarding services and investigates the differences and similarities among groups in firms’ characteristics, their resources, innovative activities, the performance of firms, and perceived cluster performance. The data collected from members of the Croatian wood cluster were explored using factor and cluster analyses. The results revealed three categories of services that the cluster should provide: 1) lobbying; 2) facilitation of networking and cooperation; and 3) supporting joint logistics and joint access to the market. Four groups of members were identified, named as 1) cooperation and lobbying-oriented; 2) market-oriented; 3) purely lobbying-oriented; 4) purely networking and cooperation-oriented. Group 1 (44% of the sample) scores high on all categories of services. It contains more firms that innovate and more high-growth firms. Members in this group evaluate the effects of the cluster better than the other two groups. The study offers new evidence on the alignment of cluster services with the interests of cluster members, indicating different levels of performance among groups in a small cluster in traditional forest-based industries. The findings can help managers not only in the Croatian wood cluster but also in other similar small cluster organisations in Central Eastern and South-Eastern Europe to use their limited resources more efficiently and enhance the competitiveness and performance of the firms/sector.
{"title":"WHAT DO MEMBERS EXPECT FROM CLUSTER MEMBERSHIP? THE CASE OF THE CROATIAN WOOD CLUSTER","authors":"Ivan-Damir Anić, Ivana Rašić, Zoran Aralica","doi":"10.15240/tul/001/2022-2-004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15240/tul/001/2022-2-004","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this paper is to investigate the composition of services and firms in a wood industrial cluster based on members’ interests and examine the differences among the groups. Since firms have very different interests when joining the cluster, this paper develops the taxonomy of cluster members based on their expectations regarding services and investigates the differences and similarities among groups in firms’ characteristics, their resources, innovative activities, the performance of firms, and perceived cluster performance. The data collected from members of the Croatian wood cluster were explored using factor and cluster analyses. The results revealed three categories of services that the cluster should provide: 1) lobbying; 2) facilitation of networking and cooperation; and 3) supporting joint logistics and joint access to the market. Four groups of members were identified, named as 1) cooperation and lobbying-oriented; 2) market-oriented; 3) purely lobbying-oriented; 4) purely networking and cooperation-oriented. Group 1 (44% of the sample) scores high on all categories of services. It contains more firms that innovate and more high-growth firms. Members in this group evaluate the effects of the cluster better than the other two groups. The study offers new evidence on the alignment of cluster services with the interests of cluster members, indicating different levels of performance among groups in a small cluster in traditional forest-based industries. The findings can help managers not only in the Croatian wood cluster but also in other similar small cluster organisations in Central Eastern and South-Eastern Europe to use their limited resources more efficiently and enhance the competitiveness and performance of the firms/sector.","PeriodicalId":46351,"journal":{"name":"E & M Ekonomie a Management","volume":"135 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85056977","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}