In today’s turbulent world influenced by globalization, knowledge is becoming a key factor in the market. Every economy, if it wants to be successful and competitive, must pay more attention to knowledge and its creation, transfer, and preservation. In this respect, it is a key element in ensuring a country’s sustainable position in a competitive environment. Based on this, we set out the main idea of the article as follows: increased emphasis on the factors of a knowledge-based economy affects the growth of the country’s competitiveness, which contributes to its better sustainability. To verify the idea, we used a multi-criteria evaluation of countries by the TOPSIS method and a subsequent regression model. We examined developments in the EU countries over a period of 11 years in selected indicators typical for the knowledge economies, in the area of competitiveness. Finally, we examined the sustainability of EU countries. Based on the findings of these methods, we identified the leading country—Sweden—in the field of knowledge economy, competitiveness, and sustainability.
Abstract. The aim of the article is to identify whether the risk management is implemented in the practice of small and mediumsized companies (SMEs) in Slovakia, and whether financial factors are the most important sources of the risk occurrence. We analysed risk management at small and medium-sized companies in the Slovak Republic in February-March, 2015 on a sample of 80 firms. The risk management is very important for these companies as its knowledge can help companies to perform their business successfully. Our important finding from the survey was that 40% of small businesses have a system of risk management. Hypothesis 1 foreseeing that at least 40% of risks at small and medium-sized enterprises are caused by difficult access to financial resources can be rejected. Нypothesis 2 assuming that the risk assessment as a way of risk management dominates in more than 50% of small enterprises in Slovakia can be rejected, too. It is concluded that introduction of wider usage of risk management at SMEs will dicrease business failure and support better management practices. Елена ШираPhD (екон.), старший викладач, факультет менеджменту, Прешовський університет, Словаччина Івана Кравчакова Возарова аспірантка, факультет менеджменту, Прешовський університет, Словаччина Катаріна Радванска викладач, Міжнародна школа менеджменту ISM Словаччина Управління ризиками на малих і середніх підприємствах Словаччини Анотація. Метою статті є визначити, якою мірою застосовується управління ризиками в практиці малих і середніх підприємств (МСП) у Словаччині, а також чи є фінансові чинники найбільш важливими джерелами виникнення ризику. Ми проаналізували управління ризиками на малих і середніх підприємствах у Словацькій Республіці в лютому-березні 2015 року на вибірці з 80 фірм. В результаті нами було виявлено, що 40% досліджених малих підприємств мають систему управління ризиками. Гіпотеза 1 передбачала, що щонайменше 40% ризиків для малих і середніх підприємств обумовлені ускладненим доступом до фінансових ресурсів. Гіпотеза 2 передбачала, що оцінка ризику як спосіб управління ризиками домінує на більш ніж 50% малих підприємств у Словаччині. Обидві гіпотези було спростовано. Зроблено висновок про те, що більш широке використання управління ризиками на малих і середніх підприємствах буде підтримувати кращі практики управління. Ключові слова: ризик; управління ризиками; малі та середні підприємства. Елена Шира PhD (экон.), старший преподаватель, факультет менеджмента, Прешовский университет, Словакия Ивана Кравчакова Возарова аспирантка, факультет менеджмента, Прешовский университет, Словакия Катарина Радванска преподаватель, Международная школа менеджмента ISM Словакия Управление рисками на малых и средних предприятиях Словакии Аннотация. Целью статьи является определить, насколько применяется управление рисками в практике малых и средних предприятий (МСП) в Словакии, а также являются ли финансовые факторы наиболее важными источниками возникновения риска. Мы проанализировали управление рисками на малых и средних предприятиях в Слов...
RISK MANAGEMENT AND FINANCING AMONG START-UPSThis article is a part of a multi-layered scientific discussion dedicated to risk management methods and their efficiency as well as the use of risk financing instruments available on the market by start-ups. The authors have to emphasize that due to their specific business activity, these entities do not fit into traditional statistics, so it is very hard to analyse this environment without targeted research. What is more, due to a relatively short history of start-ups in the realm of global economy, we lack a broader spectrum of publications that would present results of studies and analyses devoted to the activity of such innovative enterprises. This study attempts at filling this gap and takes on the theme that has not been investigated so far, despite its topicality resulting from the growing significance of start-ups in the economy, not only on the national but also on the international scale. The main objective of the study is to learn about the use of risk management tools and methods of risk financing in this group of entities. Research tools used in the analysis included questionnaires and expert opinions gathered in the course of conducting in-depth interviews. The expert synthesis was carried out by means of a multi-criterion Analytic Hierarchy Process, used at analysing complex decision-making problems. The study focused on 25 start-ups incubated at the Podkarpacki Science and Technology Park, which is located in the south-eastern region of Poland. The research group was gathered on the basis of targeted selection, so as to take account of the specificity of such enterprises. A group of 10 experts took part in the research. They represented start-ups, financial and scientific sectors and were knowledgeable in the field of start-up activity. The article presents results of an empirical analysis, which demonstrated that start-ups did not use risk management tools in their business activity, accepting risk mainly as self-insured retentions and treating it as an indispensable element of their activity without making any minimizing attempts. The study also showed that insurance was the best risk financing instrument for this group of entities. The obtained results can contribute to further multilayered studies in the scope of start-up activity subject to volatile business risk and can be used in practice by such entities in the process of limiting their business risk.
The Europe 2020 Strategy was proposed with a long-term vision to ensure prosperity, development, and competitiveness for the member countries. This strategy is divided into three main areas named “growth.” One of these is sustainable growth. This is an area of sustainability, where the partial targets are referred to as the “20-20-20 approach,” and includes a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, an increase in energy efficiency, and the sharing of renewable energy sources. However, questions arise, including: How do member states meet these targets? Which countries are leaders in this area? According to these stated questions, the aim of this article is to assess how EU countries are meeting the set targets for sustainable growth resulting from the Europe 2020 strategy and to identify the countries with the best results in this area. We looked for answers to these questions in the analysis of sustainable indicators, which were transformed into a synthetic measure for comparability of the resulting values. Finally, we identified the Baltic states, Nordic countries (European Union members), Romania, and Croatia as the best countries in fulfilling the sustainable growth aims. As sustainable development and resource efficiency are crucial areas for the future, it is important to consider these issues.
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