The impact of the public sector on the quality of the business environment in the SME segment

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are an essential part of every country’s economic system. The quality of the business environment plays an important role in this regard. The aim of the paper was to define and quantify important public sector factors influencing the quality of the business environment in the SME segment and to compare the intensity of the defined factors between the Czech Republic (CR) and the Slovak Republic (SR). In regards to the defined aim, a survey-based research was conducted with enterprises operating in the SME segment. 312 enterprises in CR and 329 enterprises in SR were approached during this research. The scientific hypotheses were verified using the methods of Pearson statistics. The evaluation of political factors is quite negative in both countries. Only 15% of Czech and 20% of Slovak entrepreneurs positively evaluated the level of legislation in business. Both Czech and Slovak entrepreneurs see state’s support of export quite positively. Only 12% of Czech and 22% of Slovak entrepreneurs positively evaluated the administrative burden on enterprises. Entrepreneurs in both countries claim that the state is unable to provide qualified workforce for businesses. Most significant differences between the two countries were found in the evaluation of state bureaucracy which the Slovak entrepreneurs evaluated more positively than their Czech counterparts. The results of the research show the need to deal with urgent issues, or create a better system of public factors influencing the business environment. © 2019, Bucharest University of Economic Studies Publishing House. All rights reserved

The leadership style and the productiveness of employees in the banking sector in Slovakia

The main goal of the article was to prove a relationship between applied leadership style of branch managers and productiveness of bank sales clerks and room for their productiveness improvement applicable in the banking sector in Slovakia. One part of the objective was to examine the continuity between applied leadership style of branch managers and their time in control functions held. Dependencies between the individual productiveness of bank sales clerks and the level of their loyalty and satisfaction were investigated. Opinions of branch managers about the applicable leadership style and room for sales clerks’ productiveness improvement were examined through two questionnaire surveys (conducted in 2008 and 2012). The research results confirmed that the directive style of leadership is the mandatory style in the banking sector in Slovakia whereas the intensity of its implementation during the analysis period was increased. The research has also shown that there is a direct connection between the dominant style of leadership and room for improvement of sales clerks’ productiveness, because the growth of the intensity of directive style in this case led to lower productiveness of the average bank sales clerks. Our assumption that the applied leadership style of bank employees depends on time working in managerial positions has not been confirmed. In comparison to long-term managers, branch managers who were working for rather short period in any managerial positions did not show any differences in their management priorities. The assumption that the employee satisfaction and loyalty significantly encourage individual employee productiveness was not confirmed in the research.[IGA/FaME/2012/012

Assessment of Credit Risk Approaches in Relation with Competitiveness Increase of the Banking Sector

The article is focused on a presentation and analysis of selected methods of credit risk management in relation with competitiveness increase of the banking sector. The article is defined credit risk approaches under the Basel III gradually. Aim of this contribution constitutes various methods of credit risk management and effects of their usage on regulatory capital amount in respect of corporate exposures. Optimal equity amount in relation to the risk portfolio presents an essential prerequisite of performance and competitiveness growth of commercial banks. Gradually capital requirements using Standardized Approach and Internal Based Approach in a case of used and unused techniques of credit risk reduce has been quantified. We presume that sophisticated approach means significant saving for bank’s equity which increases competitiveness of banking sector also. Within the article, quantification of capital savings in case of Standardized (with and without assigned external ratings) and Foundation Internal Based Approach at the selected credit portfolio has been effected

Internal Model of Commercial Bank as an Instrument for Measuring Credit Risk of the Borrower in Relation to Financial Performance (Credit Scoring and Bankruptcy Models)

Commercial banks generally use different methods and procedures for managing credit risk. The internal rating method in which the client has an important position in the process of granting credit provides a comprehensive assessment of client creditworthiness. The aim of this article is to analyze selected theoretical, methodological and practical aspects of internal rating models of commercial banks within the context of models that measures financial performance and to make a comparison of results of real - rating models which are used in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The results of the chosen credit scoring and bankruptcy methods on selected companies from segments of small and medium-sized companies are presented

Bank customers satisfaction: Case studies from czech republic

Bank customers satisfaction is currently at the center of attention of both researchers and bankers. The aim of this article is to quantify and compare the overall level of satisfaction of Czech banking customers, the most important factors of satisfaction and dissatisfaction of these customers and the number of used banking products and banks in 2014 compared to 2012. Our research confirmed that Czech Republic remains on a relatively low position with satisfying its bank customers with provided services. The main reason for satisfaction was the ability to use electronic banking and most important reason for dissatisfaction were high priced products and services. The number of banking products used by Czech clients did not change significantly. Our research has shown that it is important to pay attention to personal communication with clients, to take care about their comfort while implementing bank services and to protect customers' financial interests. © Jaroslav Belas, Valer Demjan, 2014

Approaches of Czech entrepreneurs to debt financing and management of credit risk

The aim of this article was to define, quantify and compare significant factors of the debt financing in the segment of SMEs. The research focused on the significant differences between groups of entrepreneurs, defined in relation to gender, education, size and age of the company, was carried out in the Czech Republic in 2015 on a sample of 1,141 respondents. We found that while the importance of the credit risk increased during the crisis, the level of knowledge of conditions under which commercial banks provide loans is relatively low between entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs presume that the credit conditions in commercial banks are not transparent, but agree that the better knowledge of credit criteria allows for easier access to funding. Substantial differences in the assessment of the factors of credit risk by defined groups of entrepreneurs were identified

Impact of selected characteristics of SMEs on the capital structure

The optimal capital structure is a key precondition for business, even though defining the optimal capital structure is difficult. The available studies present many different and mutually contradictory factors that need to be taken into account in the strategic financial decisions of managers. Their importance and intensity are different for individual business entities. Given the specificities of companies in the SME segment, achieving an optimal capital structure is a challenging task as there is no model of an optimal capital structure that can be universally applied in corporate practice. For this reason, we decided to realize our research. The main aim of the paper is to identify determinants of the SME's capital structure. We studied the impact of four determinants: region, business area, number of employees and business duration, on the manager's decisions about capital structure in the enterprise. Our research is based on the database 'Albertina', which consist of all SME in the Czech Republic. We applied ordinal logistic regression and estimated five models. These models were used to predict attitude of SME to the capital structure. Analysis was done in R Software. The main finding is that the size of the company measured by the number of employees effects its attitude to volume of foreign and own capital used to finance its activities. Analysis also showed that entrepreneurs with longer duration of taking their business prefer more foreign capital than their own capital. Business area and region where enterprise is located do not significantly affect capital structure

Utilization of Reverse E-Auctions in Public Works Contracts

Predmetom bakalárskej práce „Využití reverzních elektronických aukcí u veřejných zakázek na stavební práce “ je analýza problematiky zadávania verejných stavebných zákaziek použitím elektronických nákupných aukcií. Súčasťou práce je stručná charakteristika verejných stavebných zákaziek , elektronických aukcií, ich klady, zápory, ale hlavne prečo je výhodné ich prijať. Súčasťou práce je taktiež vyhodnotenie dotazníka zameraného na využívanie elektronických nákupných aukcií u stavebných zákaziek vo verejnom sektore, ktorý bol rozposlaný do českých obcí/ miest a následne vyhodnotený v texte práce , tabuľkouvou formou a grafickou podobou.The subject matter thesis “Utilization of reverse e-auctions in public works contracts“ is analysis of procurement of public works contracts using electronic shopping auctions. Part of the thesis is a brief description of public construction contracts, electronic auctions, their pros, cons and why it is advantageous to use them. Part of the thesis is also evaluation of the questionnaire focused on the use of the electronic shopping auctions for constructioncontracts in the public sector. Questionnaire was sent to Czech towns and results were summarized in text, tables and charts.

Microenterprises’ entrepreneurs’ attitudes to managing financial risks

The aim of this paper is to define and quantify significant financial risk factors for microenterprises in the current dynamic economic environment and to compare the position of these enterprises by gender and education of entrepreneurs and age of a company. We found that more than three quarters of Czech microenterprises perceive the intense impact of financial risks. The importance of financial risk during the crisis increased, as confirmed by more than 60% of microenterprises. We also found that creation of financial reserves does not have significant influence. Significant differences in the attitudes by gender and education were not identified at all. However, we found out that today older microenterprises feel more intense financial risks when compared with younger companies. © Sergej Vojtovic, Jaroslav Belas, Jozef Habanik, 2016