Management consulting, as we know it today, has existed for over 100 years. We review the basic concepts of consulting, outline the major steps in the development of business-related consulting, and highlight that consulting plays an important role in shaping the globalization of multinational firms. Next, we depict the specific evolutionary steps of consulting in Czechoslovakia and independent Slovakia in the light of global and regional trends. The development of Slovakia is described within the framework of the first (1919-1939) and the second (1945-1992) Czechoslovak Republics, and we discuss the development of Marketing, HRM, and other consulting in Slovakia.  We also discuss clients' opinions of consultants in the light of an empirical research project carried out in 2018.

The consulting industry has been affected in many ways by the global pandemic. According to a leading international literature source (consultancy.org), the decline is most noticeable in Europe. In our article, we present the general recent trends of the global management consulting industry, and then outline the results of our survey conducted among Hungarian consultants. Our team surveyed the extent and direction in which consulting companies have been affected by the pandemic. Although some of the respondents reported rather negative effects, the survey finds that a significant proportion of respondents consider the emerging crisis as an opportunity and not only as a threat.

In the introductory part of this article, the authors refer to the fact that consulting, this knowledge-based activity, can look back nearly 100 years ago. First, they review the basic concepts of consulting, and then they will outline the major steps in the development of businesslike consulting. Then the authors point out the specific evolutionary steps of consulting in Czechoslovakia and in the independent Slovakia in light of global and regional trends. Here, of course, the development of Slovakia is described within the framework of the first (1919-1939) and the second (1945-1992) Czechoslovak Republic. In the rest of this article the authors will discuss the development of consulting in Slovakia in general, marketing, HR and other fields. In this article, they also discuss what customers think about consultants in light of an empirical research in 2018.

PurposeThe article analyzes the challenges Slovak businesses and organizations are facing in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting human resource management solutions they apply.Design/methodology/approachThe authors present a part of their research conducted in six Central Eastern European (CEE) countries. Based on timely data, the article presents socioeconomic characteristics of Slovakia and the results of the research “HRM Challenges in Times of the Covid-19 Crisis” conducted among employers in Slovakia. The survey method encompassed 247 Slovakian organizations.FindingsThe year 2020 was an extraordinary one for businesses, governments, and individuals alike. According to the results of this research, Slovak organizations were not prepared for the Covid-19 crisis. Respondents who had a pandemic action plan at the time of the breakout were hardly found. Measures taken to preserve human health directly impacted the way how work is done and organized. This poses significant challenges for both employers and employees. In general, small organizations used cost and staff reduction tools. On the other hand, some of the respondents, mainly large organizations have been using future-oriented solutions, e.g. organizational development.Originality/valueIn this research the authors analyzed the experiences of a Central European country, namely Slovakia. However, the experiences gained and collected here can be useful in the international arena as well.

Based on the responses of the surveyed companies and institutions, we analyzed what government measures help to solve the problems and tensions in the labor market. By our empirical research we aimed to look for the main triggers and the typical means of labor shortage and labor retention. We also examined what efficiency improvement plans and robotization programs are either planned or have already been implemented by the responding organizations. The study reflects the empirical results conducted in 2019 in seven countries in the region. One of the key issues in these countries during the period considered is the dramatic increase in labor shortages, which has been influenced by a variety of factors, namely outbound labor migration after the change of regime, unfavorable demographic factors, national and regional economic downturns as well as persistent wage differences within the EU. Wages and work-life balance are the two important factors that have a significant impact on labor mobility and fluctuation for both skilled and less skilled labor. Responses indicated a variety of reasons for labor shortages, different reasons in different countries. The research also provided an indication that robotization alone is not a solution to address labor shortages.