The purpose of this paper is to investigate the possibilities, challenges and benefits of implementing Lean & agile project management in manufacturing SMEs. Lean & agile project management methods were originally developed for the software development industry, where they have revolutionized the way projects are managed. In the last decade, practitioners outside software development industry have started to realize the potential and benefits of implementing the agile approach. However, there are still only a few researches devoted to agile hardware development, and even fewer on the possibilities of its implementation in SMEs. By conducting a case study in the only manufacturing SMEs that has successfully implemented Scrum, analysing internal company’s documents and interviewing several employees and top managers from different sectors, who participated in the projects where Scrum was implemented, the lessons this organization has learned and that could be beneficial for both researchers and practitioners, are reported. The findings from this research show that although some adaptions of the Scrum framework were required, the applicability of the Scrum in this manufacturing SME was possible and beneficial.

Coping with demanding situations is a part of managerial work at different levels and in different contexts. In the presented paper, based on the theoretical and methodological analysis of knowledge in the field of coping and special coping with demanding situations in project manager work, we present the results and knowledge related to the possibility of researching and identifying procedures for coping with demanding situations in project management. Attention is focused on the identification of ways of coping with demanding situations in project manager work through the BSMW Questionnaire - Behaviour Strategies in Managerial Work as a tool for identifying these procedures. We present findings related to the analysis of the assessment of strategies for managing demanding situations in project manager work in Slovak automotive industry in the context of selected personality, socio-demographic characteristics of managers and situational conditions. The acquired results verified the meaningfulness of the empirical-inductive principle of detecting the ways of coping with the examined demanding situations and determining the taxonomy of these principles with the specification of five factors – emotional factor of coping, cognitive factor of coping I, cognitive factor of coping II, behavioural factor of coping I and behavioural factor of coping II. From the methodological viewpoint our results contribute to the discussion about the interactional approach in research in social sciences and about the question of dispositional or situational conception of methods of researching in this area of knowledge. Doi: 10.28991/esj-2020-01241 Full Text: PDF

The major purpose of this paper is to determine the opportunities and challenges relating to successful innovation management in SMEs in German and Slovakia. The objective and the subjective stances to research comprise three interlinking philosophies: epistemology, ontology and axiology. For this study the major design elements are the explanatory and the exploratory approaches and a case study is the selected research strategy. In order to answer the research problem, numerical and textual data is gathered. The empirical research studies revealed significant cultural influence on innovation management and related organisational change associated with it. It also highlighted substantial differences between success and failure factors in SMEs and large companies and there were implications that formal innovation management was less important from SMEs than for large companies. This research identified key innovation management success factors for SMEs and made three new findings, which add to the current knowledge: innovation circles were an effective innovation management approach to generating and developing ideas and getting innovation to market quickly; government agencies that encourage firms to collaborate effectively enhance the level and success of innovation; SMEs and large companies have distinctly different rankings of barriers to innovation and small and micro firms are more effective in original product innovation and speed to market than medium sized companies.

According to the results from OECD countries, the position of the tourism sector in Slovakia has been unfavourable for a long time. Tourism in Slovakia is managed in a decentralized way, which is legally and financially supported in certain forms. Support is largely conditional on cooperation. Such an example is the support of the creation and activities of regional tourism organizations. In this paper, we will examine the economic significance and justification of cooperation among entities that are members of regional tourism organizations, by determining the relationship between the number of these organizations and the amount of revenue divided into four categories at the regional level. In this work we used multiple regression and correlation analysis. Based on their results, we identified the performance of companies according to the categories of achieved revenues. The results suggest that the most productive companies are companies with revenues ranging from 100000-500000 Euros per year. The paper also offers a framework of questions for further research related to sector governance, as well as an awareness of the importance and significance of cooperation.

Uniform wages offered by the public administration are not always competitive compared to private sector wages in every district. This is reflected in high levels of turnover, vacancies or an unbalanced age structure of employees and leads to a lower quality of public services provided. One way to address this would be to introduce a system to compensate for regional pay gaps. The aim of our paper is to propose a mechanism for determining the regional compensatory allowance for employees of district offices. We used two approaches to determine it. The first consists in expressing the share of individual salary classes in the national average wage and their subsequent reflection on individual regions and districts. The second is based on calculation of the gaps between individual salary classes and their subsequent projection into individual regions and districts. Together, we offer 4 scenarios (2 theoretical approaches with 2 variants) for determining the regional compensatory allowance. The result is regional pay scales and tables with the amount of the regional compensation surcharge, as well as a quantification of each scenario. From our point of view, the most suitable for implementation is a scenario based on the projection of the share of wages in the average regional wage at the district level.

The main goal of the presented paper is to compare the subjective quality of life on both sides of the Slovak-Ukrainian border of Schengen. The theoretical basis of the problem is focused on the quality of life as such on both sides of the Slovak-Ukrainian border of Schengen. The research sample consisted of 400 respondents, of which 200 were Slovak and 200 Ukrainian. Subsequently, with the help of the mathematical-statistical program SPSS 25, we observed statistically significant differences in the subjective opinions of the respondents. We monitored the quality of life in four areas that we had previously created (health care, unemployment, satisfaction with cultural and sports activities, transport). The results pointed to statistically significant differences in subjective opinions in the areas of health care and satisfaction with transport. Differences in areas indicate improvements in hospitals in terms of staffing and technology. In transport, road infrastructure and urban transport vehicles need to be significantly modernized.

The presented article focuses on the characteristics, origin and development of the establishment of regions in the Czech Republic. The basis discussions concerning decentralization, self-government and regional self-government establishment in the Czech Republic and the basis characteristics of territorial self-government units will be described. The article also introduces selected political concepts from the course of the 1990s, which focused on the formation of higher territorial units. Legislative documents and issues that are in the competence of individual regional self-governments will also be discussed. An important agenda of individual regional councils is also regional policy, which will be presented and described in more detail. The aim of the article is to present the process of the establishment of regions in the Czech Republic and the competences of regions in the field of regional policy. It is a case study, which was carried out on the basis of relevant literature and data from the Czech Statistical Office. The main finding of the article is the analysis of individual processes that led to the emergence of regions in the Czech Republic on the basis of the ideas of individual political parties on the issue of regional establishment and on the establishment of regional policy.

The article presents selected results of the analysis of a sample of voluntary associations of municipalities, which was carried out in connection with the elaboration of the methodology of well-functioning associations by the Czech Ministry of the Interior. Multipurpose voluntary associations operating in a functional micro-region identical or similar to the ORP territory (territory of municipalities with extended power) were examined. The formal aspects of their functioning, managerial models, methods of communication, value aspects, etc. were examined. This article focuses on the first examined area, ie. the formal aspects of the functioning of associations. It is based on a formal analysis of the founding documents and articles of association, their comparison and assessment. The information was subsequently verified in the form of controlled interviews with representatives of the unions. The survey shows that the variability in the setting of organs and relationships within the bundles is not significant, it concerns only some roles and names (designations) of organs. I.e. all the associations examined showed the same similar features in terms of the division of tasks between the supreme and executive bodies. Partial differences were identified in the relationship between the highest and the executive body (within the scope of the tasks that were delegated), in the way of recruiting new members, and the sanction of the member community in case of non-fulfillment of obligations. The chairman always represents the association externally. He himself, or in cooperation with the secretary or his deputy (occasionally) participates in organizing the operation of the association. Associations seldom create bodies of working, initiating or control nature. Their position does not have to be regulated by the statutes. Subsequently, recommendations for the effective operation of the bundles are formulated. In the event that the chairman cannot devote himself to the activities of the association on a full-time basis, it is necessary for the successful operation of the union to appoint the position of manager or secretary.