The concept of Industry 4.0 means a new paradigm of modern manufacturing. This phenomenon requires continuous innovation processes and technological development from each enterprise. Traditional concepts of quality must absorb changes and prepare themselves for new challenges. The studies linked to successful adaptation to Industry 4.0 focus mostly on technical dimensions and forget the impact of organisational culture. One should, however, remember that quality culture plays a crucial role in the organisational culture of manufacturing enterprises with elements of quality management implemented. Developed quality cultures support the innovation environment, which is why it is necessary for the enterprises to identify the current level of their quality culture and detect significant factors that differentiate individual quality cultures and focus on them. Given this fact, the aim of the paper is to analyse the typical cultures and quality concepts and to detect the factors that differentiate individual quality cultures in Slovakia. We use data from our own survey; dependences were indicated by means of correspondence analysis and the test of proportion. The improvement and assurance of quality, the use of information and the overall effectiveness are significant factors detected by the discriminant analysis. The conclusions of the survey may be used by scientific researchers but especially by manufacturing enterprises interested in quality which are coming to terms with the era of Industry 4.0.

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Innovative activity is an important source of competitiveness, economic growth, as well as the image of each country. There are several ways to measure and evaluate the innovation performance of a country. Our research was focused on the summary innovation index (SII), a tool used for analysing the innovative ability of European countries. The Innovation Union is an EU initiative which monitors progress achieved in research, development, and innovation, all indicators which are included in the SII. The aim of this paper is to analyse the impact of all SII 27 indicators, which are divided into 10 main areas: human resources, research systems, innovation-friendly environment, finance and support, firm investments, innovators, linkages, intellectual assets, employment impacts, sales impacts. All these indicators are considered in creating the total value of the SII. A statistically significant relationship was determined among all the SII indicators and the total value of the SII using samples from the V4 countries of Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland during the period 2010-2016. The aim of the research was to identify possible strengths and weaknesses of the national innovation systems of these countries and, thus to identify the impact of these strengths and weaknesses on the innovative position of these countries.

Research background: Project portfolio optimization isa  demanding process in the case of considering a large number of project intentions and has so far been the subject of research by many authors, especially foreign authors. However, the issue of project portfolio optimization is an area that is not sufficiently addressed by Slovak authors. This was the main impulse to create a specific mathematical model of integer programming with bivalent variables to optimize the company's project portfolio with the intention to reflect the specific requirements of Slovak companies. Purpose of the article: The aim of the article is to propose a mathematical model of integer programming with bivalent variables to optimize the project portfolio with a focus on Slovak companies. Methods: In accordance with the aim of the article, a questionnaire survey was carried out with the intention of identifying the criteria that are perceived by the managers of Slovak companies as important in the optimization of the project portfolio. These criteria were subsequently reflected in the mathematical model design using the mathematical programming method. Findings & Value added: Based on a literature review aimed at the project portfolio optimization, we have found a gap in considering the compliance of project intentions and strategic objectives of the company within the optimization of the project portfolio. Based on the results of the questionnaire survey, the significance of the mutual compliance of project intentions with the strategic objectives of the company was confirmed from the point of view of Slovak companies. Given the fact that our aim was to create an innovative integer programming model with bivalent variables orientated to the conditions of Slovak companies, we included in the resulting model the criteria that were not considered within the scope of existing research in this area, and which are perceived as important by the Slovak companies.

During the last decade, Central Europe became a cynosure for the world for its unparalleled public support for renewable energy. For instance, the production of electricity from purpose-grown biomass received approximately twice the amount in subsidies as that produced from biowaste. Moreover, the guaranteed purchase price of electricity from solar panels was set approximately five times higher than that from conventional sources. This controversial environmental donation policy led to the devastation of large areas of arable land, a worsening of food availability, unprecedented market distortions, and serious threats to national budgets, among other things. Now, the first proposals to donate the purchase price of electric vehicles (and related infrastructure) from national budgets have appeared for public debate. Advocates of these ideas argue that they can solve the issue of electricity overproduction, and that electric vehicles will reduce emissions in cities. However, our analysis reveals that, as a result of previous scandals, environmental issues have become less significant to local citizens. Given that electric cars are not yet affordable for most people, in terms of local purchasing power, this action would further undermine national budgets. Furthermore, while today's electromobiles produce zero pollution when operated, their sum of emissions (i.e. global warming potential) remains much higher than that of conventional combustion engines. Therefore, we conclude that the mass usage of electromobiles could result in the unethical improvement of a city environment at the expense of marginal regions.

Production of food-grade emulsions is continuously rising globally, especially in developing countries. The steepest demand growth is in the segment of inexpensive meat products where edible emulsions serve as lubricants to mitigate economic loses linked with mechanical damage during automated processing of artificial casings. Provided that production goal is to minimize emulsion transfer into the product, its vast majority becomes voluminous greasy and sticky waste. Public sewage treatment plants cannot process such waste, its cleaning processes tends to collapse under loads of emulsions. To make matters worse, composition of emulsions often changes (according to actual pricing of main components) and emulsion manufacturers carefully guard their recipes. Therefore, running of in-house sewage plants would require continuous experimentation linked with need for skilled personnel, frequent changes in technology setup and high operating costs in general. Consequently, it was repeatedly and independently reported that emulsion waste is poured onto wildlife, resulting in environmental damage and an intense rotting odor. Three new methods of emulsion breakdown are proposed and techno-economically assessed. High versatility of methods was confirmed and multiple austerity measures were incorporated. Emulsions are also assessed in terms of an energy source for aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms. It is reported that the addition of edible emulsion to compost does not result in increased product quality or cost reduction. It is firstly revealed that edible emulsions can instantly create an anaerobic environment and accelerate biogas production through the formation of surface films on feedstock surface. Adding waste food-grade emulsions to the biogas plant makes it possible to 100% reduce process water consumption in biogas stations as the process speed can be shortened by approximately 12%.

Financial ratios can be considered a crucial determinant of reliability for the bankruptcy prediction models. Therefore, it is necessary to be vigilant during the preparation of bankruptcy prediction models so that to include those ratios, which ensure the highest degree of predictive power. The aim of this paper is to define the so-called etalon unsuccessful business that can serve as a standard comparative basis for other unsuccessful companies operating in Slovak Republic. Own quantification of the selected ratios was created on the database of the published financial statements of several thousand businesses operating in Slovak Republic between 2014 and 2015. This database has undergone extensive filtration of extreme data for maximal objectification of the results. Universal criterion for inclusion of a enterprise into the category of

A successful brand is one of the most valuable resources a company has. Should the brand become powerful, it is supposed to reflect rational and emotional expectations of consumers, which, however, might change over time. The ability to recognize the consumers changing attitudes towards the brand is thus the prerequisite for effective brand management. The aim of the paper is to identify the correlation between selected socio-demographic characteristics and preferences for branded products by Slovak consumers, using a mathematical and statistical modelling. For this purpose, a comprehensive marketing survey has been carried out involving Slovak consumers of the minimum age of 16. The findings of the survey show a direct correlation, but varying in character and intensity, between the selected socio-demographic characteristics of respondents (gender, age, education, income) and their preferences for branded products; and based on the survey findings, the paper then provides further recommendations for non-adopting current trends in attitudes and preferences towards brands on Slovak consumer markets, that are recognized as significant sales and marketing tools, into the branding processes. However, considering different cultural, social and economic situations of different markets, it is not possible to generalize about the results of the paper as also being relevant for other markets. A successful brand in the domestic market is not a prerequisite of success in global markets.