The article aims to compare important management factors between SMEs in the service sector and SMEs in other entrepreneurship sectors. The study was realized in the Czech Republic and the Slovak republic over SMEs in the service sector and other sectors in 2019-2020. The data were collected from the owners or top-level managers; the total sample used in the study was 822 SMEs. The questionnaire was constructed in an online version and was fulfilled by 240 SMEs in the service sector and 582 other companies in the Czech or Slovak republic. The research hypotheses were evaluated by basic statistics tools: contingency tables, Z-score, and Chi-square test. The results showed that there are significant differences in the agreed attitudes to the statement: "I manage the company for more than 8 hours a day" between the Czech (62%) and Slovak (71%) respondents in the service business sector. Neither nationality nor the business sector is essential determinants in the perception of human capital as the most critical element in the company (8 out of 10 respondents) and the fact that the owner (manager) of the company should regularly evaluate the performance of its subordinates and motivate them to innovate in work processes. The results are interesting for the entrepreneurs themselves and for entities and organizations that help SMEs' business activities in selected countries, respectively, for economic policymakers.

The market, economic and financial risks are the most important risks, which determine the quality and performance of small and medium sizes enterprises. The main objective of the article is to evaluate the most important sources of market, economic and financial risk between Slovak and Czech SMEs according gender and size of enterprise. The questionnaires of 895 entrepreneurs were collected and prepare on evaluating in the year 2018. The statistical hypotheses were accepted through the mathematical method as is Z-score. The gender of entrepreneur and size of enterprises between Slovak and Czech entrepreneurs is a significant factor of evaluating the sources of economic risk, as is development of the tax and insurance burden; weak availability of the financial resources (loans, foundations); development of the interest rates; growing prices of all types of energy. According to the evaluation of entrepreneurs, the intensity of sources of economic risk in Slovak business environment is higher than in Czech business environment.

The focus of the present paper is to identify and defines the important factors of strategic management in SMEs with a specific focus on the service sector and to compare its current situation in the Czech Republic and Slovak republic firms. To shape the study, survey-based research planned and conducted in the Czech Republic and Slovak republic over SMEs in the service sector. The data were collected from the owners or top-level managers, the total sample used in the study was 822, 454 respondents from the Czech firms and 368 firms from the Slovak republic. The study employs basic statistics tools, percentages and mean values, used Z-score to compare the respondents in the Czech Republic and Slovak republic. The major findings of the study reveal that majority of the firms in both the countries use strategic management as an integral part of corporate governance and believe that strategic management usage improves the competitiveness of the firms and its stability in domestic and foreign markets. Another interesting finding reveals that the business sector is not a statistically significant factor in evaluating the sources of strategic risk, found from the firms of both countries. The paper adds to the existing literature of SMEs, investigated the use of strategic management tools for their sustainability and competitiveness. As the key aspects of strategic management are much used in large size organization but less explored in the smaller segment. The outcome of the study can help to understand the SMEs’ attitude towards strategic management usage. It is very useful for long term survival, stability, and expansion, as both countries’ economy is heavily depending on the SMEs.

Research background: Promotion of the entrepreneurship has an important role in the society, and the direct relationship between entrepreneurship and economic growth of the country is proven. Universities education should be one of the pillars to build the business environment and the entrepreneurial propensity of the students in the entrepreneurship. Purpose of the article: The paper aimed to define and quantify significant factors that shape the entrepreneurial propensity of university students and create the entrepreneurial propensity index. A part of this aim was a comparison of defined factors in the Czech Republic (CR), Slovakia (SR) and Poland (PL). Methods: The survey-based research was conducted with students in the last year of their economic studies on the universities. 1,352 students from 25 universities in selected countries were approached during research. A custom Entrepreneurial Propensity Index was created that was implemented separately for CR, SR and PL. Findings & Value added: The research brought interesting findings. The aggregated Entrepreneurial Propensity Index in the Czech Republic reached the value of 0.470, which was higher than that of Slovakia (0.424) and Poland (0.412). The evaluation of the quality of university education is similarly positive in all countries (CR: 0.659, PL: 0.589, SR: 0.592). Czech students gave access to the financial resources and the role of macroeconomic environment got a higher rating than Slovak and Polish students. On the contrary, Poland students gave the social environment and business advantages a higher rating than Czech and Slovak students. The evaluation of the personality traits is more positive in Slovakia. The most positive indicator for all students is that doing business enables to make use of own abilities and own solutions.

The aim of the paper is to assess the impact of the length of entrepreneurship on the perception of the most important business risks in Slovakia and the Visegrad Group of Countries (V4 countries). The empirical research was conducted in 2019-2020. It was focused on assessing the state of enterprise risk management (ERM) application. The research file contained 422 online questionnaires completed by owners and managers of enterprises (OMEs). The results of this case study were compared with the results of similar studies performed in the V4 countries in 2017-2018. In total, 1,781 OMEs participated in the surveys mentioned. The following statistical methods were used to assess the data: ANOVA, Bartlett’s test, Agostini test, good fit test, and Grubbs test. The overall results of the empirical research highlight the significance and importance of the assessment of business risks in the V4 countries. The results in Slovakia in 2019-2020 and the research results in the V4 countries in 2017-2018 show that OMEs still consider market and economic risks to be most important in their business. Market and economic risks are related to sources that exert the most negative influence on enterprise success. The results are valuable for entrepreneurs, enterprise managers and institutions that provide comprehensive entrepreneurship support in the V4 countries. The overall results are significant at the regional, national, and international levels of the V4 countries and have the ability to strengthen the competitiveness of entrepreneurs within the EU common market.