Innovative company: A story of Linet

The article deals with the analysis of the Czech company Linet in an effort to reveal a sustainable business model. It describes the company in the historical context (birth and gradual development), the organizational context (infrastructure) and the innovation context (sources of innovation). The main aim of the article is to find out answers to questions how the company's journey looked like from zero to the position of European leader in the hospital beds production and what prerequisites the company had to fulfil in order to create a creative culture and what are the imaginary seeds from which its innovations are growing. Fulfilling this goal required to search for literature sources dealing with innovation, innovation sources (opportunities windows), innovation process and innovation companies and also to create a case study that focused on the company's innovation practice in years 1990-2016. The Linet study is based on six structured interviews with both the founder of the company as well as its current CEO. Research has shown that the company achieved rocket growth thanks to two basic principles, namely constant improvement and respect to people and market focus (openness to the outside world). These principles were applied in practice through controversial thinking, staffinexperience, learning infrastructure, learning and learnership. Openness to the outside world has been identified as an important source of innovation. This openness was ensured by systematic monitoring of the internal and external environment which consisted of stafftesting, centres of excellence, patent scanning and the Academy of Productivity and Innovations. The results of the study have led to the conclusion that the company has achieved high innovative performance through ability of absorbing theoretical knowledge, applying it to its processes and principles and integrate it into a comprehensive system that responds to its needs (adapt). © 2018 General Jonas Zemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania

The growing importance of the practical application of corporate social responsibility in the management of companies in the Czech Republic

The paper is aimed at researching the issue of Corporate Social Responsibility (hereinafter “CSR”) in the Czech Republic (hereinafter “CR”). Social responsibility is now an integral part of integrated business management. It has a long tradition in the Czech Republic, because one of the most prominent businessmen of the 20th century – a Czech entrepreneur, Tomas Bata - began to apply CSR in his plants around the world in the first half of the last century. Currently, the issue of CSR becomes increasingly important. There is an integration of positive attitudes, practices or programs into company’s business strategy at the top management level. We follow a shift in management focus from the level of “profit only” to a wider view in the context of the three P’s - people - planet - profit. This involves the functioning of the organization with regard to the so called triple - bottom - line, when the company focuses not only on economic growth, but also on environmental and social aspects of its activities. The main objective of the paper is to analyze the current state of CSR in the Czech Republic on the basis of quantitative research (approx. 100 organizations were approached) and compare it with an analysis from 2004. The conclusion summarizes the approaches of managers to the issue of CSR in the CR, including some trends

Healthcare quality management in Great Britain and Czech Republic

Healthcare quality can be defined as the summary of the results achieved in prevention, diagnosis and treatment, based on findings of medical science and practice, or as the degree of excellence of the provided care in relation to a contemporary level of knowledge and technological development and in compliance with economic possibilities. Research and monitoring of the effectiveness of quality systems can be implemented in different ways: (1) measuring the quality system through the entire institution rating (self-assessment or accreditation), based on the assumption that appropriate care is the result of well-organized processes and systematic quality assurance and improvement; (2) measuring critical points in the process of care compliance of specialists with recommended practices or professional standards; (3) measuring outcomes in relation to the benefit of patients, such as clinical outcomes, client satisfaction and perceived quality of life in connection with the results of the provided care. The paper deals with monitoring the effectiveness of quality in health facilities based on customer satisfaction and compares patient satisfaction rating methodologies applied in the United Kingdom and in Czech Republic

Assessment of bankruptcy risks in Czech companies using regression analysis

Bankruptcy is an important topic in academic research and practice. It is a burning issue worldwide in the current COVID-19 situation. The aim of this study is to examine the financial risks of Czech companies. By employing the stepwise regression technique to estimate the financial risks, the p-values of all selected 15 financial ratios (explanatory variables) were calculated. If the p-value of the variable is more than the level of significance, the particular variable is removed from the model and another regression model is calculated. The findings from the stepwise regression revealed that return on capital, current ratio, net working capital turnover rate, and current assets turnover rate have a positive influence on company’s financial health. On the contrary, return on capital employed, asset turnover rate, inventory turnover rate, fixed assets turnover rate, and debt to equity ratio negatively impact the company’s financial health. The findings of this study will be fruitful for managers, policymakers, and investors of the companies to estimate and assess financial risks. © Muhammad Yousaf, Petr Bris, 2021.Univerzita Tomáše Bati ve Zlíně: IGA/FAME/2021/008, IGA/FAME/2021/01

Working capital management and firm's profitability: Evidence from Czech certified firms from the EFQM excellence model

Working capital management (WCM) is one of the most important decisions for all firms. The main components of WCM are days sales outstanding (DSO), days inventory outstanding (DIO), days payable outstanding (DPO), and cash conversion cycle (CCC). Using a sample of 332 Czech firms, including 20 certified firms from the EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) Model, the current study explored the effects of the main components of WCM on firms' profitability. We used two different regression models to test the hypothesis, i.e. pooled regression and maximum likelihood estimation (MLE). The findings of the research revealed all the components of WCM have a negative impact on firm profitability. On the other hand, the interaction terms of the EFQM certified firms with the components of WCM showed a positive impact on firms' profitability which means that there is a positive relationship between the components of WCM of the certified firms and profitability. However, it is examined that the quality certificate/award from EFQM Excellence Model decreases the firm's profitability. The outcomes of the current research will be beneficial to academics, managers, leaders, and directors of the firms to improve their firm's profitability.Internal Grant Agency (IGA) in Tomas Bata University in Zlin; Internal Grant Agency [IGA/FAME/2021/009, IGA/FAME/2021/014]Univerzita Tomáše Bati ve Zlíně: IGA/FAME/2021/009, IGA/FAME/2021/01

Quality cost flows in manufacturing companies

Companies have increasingly focused their attention on quality costs. Therefore, raising awareness of this group of expenses is essential. This paper aims to present a survey on the topic of costs of quality management in manufacturing companies in the Czech Republic. This paper opens with a literature review that focuses on the existing cost of quality models and then focuses on empirical research results. Manufacturing companies represent the framework of this research. The research with a total of 159 respondents provides information about the real market situation. The aim was to determine the significance of costs and cost-effectiveness. The study's findings revealed that 73% of organizations quantify their quality costs completely, 21% of companies quantify their costs only partly (external costs), and 6% of companies do not. 36% of surveyed companies (42 companies) that monitor quality costs use some of the recommended models, mainly the PAF model. The research was confirmed by hypothesis 1 that companies that use some type of evidence cost of quality have lower levels of these costs.Internal Grant Agency of FaME TBU; [IGA/FaME/2021/014

Materiálové aspekty při ochraně člověka před působením vibrací a rázů

Import 20/04/2006Prezenční výpůjčkaVŠB - Technická univerzita Ostrava. Fakulta metalurgie a materiálového inženýrstv

Customer audit as an important tool stimulating company growth

Customer audit is being used for screening the supplier if he is able continuously supply products or services according to our needs. Such audits shall be helpful in permanent improvement of supplier-customer relationship and to simplify new business deals. Customer audit added value shall be viewed in clarification of all specified demands and expectations leading to the continuous product improvements for both sides. But in reality it is not often the case, especially when customer audit is performed formally, without any conception or by outsourcing. This paper is analyzing the results of quantitative research in customer audits sector related to Czech corporations and steps are proposed which can lead to the valuable businesses management

The issue of innovations management in Czech companies

Creating innovations should be a controlled process, which leads to the generation, transmission and implementation of ideas into practical applications and produces qualitative changes under which the customer is willing to appreciate the added value and as well is ready to pay for the product. Innovations are built on company success and how it differs from the competition. At the same time, innovation is also the most difficult element of entrepreneurial activities in terms of business management and planning. The aim of this study is to compare theory with practice, to find out what is the reality. The paper deals with monitoring organizations in the Czech Republic related to quality and innovation management. The author is using findings of a research project implemented in 2011. This quantitative research project was carried out in more than 100 organizations of the Czech Republic

Effects of working capital management on firm performance: Evidence from the EFQM certified firms

The main aim of the current study is to explore the relationship between working capital (WC) and firm performance. We chose a sample of 326 Czech firms, including 20 certified firms from the EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) Excellence Model from the Albertina database. The sample of the Czech firms was taken from three sectors: manufacturing, automobile, and construction. We employed a two-step system generalized method of moment (GMM) technique to determine the results. The study results revealed a negative impact of WC on firm performance; moreover, the firms having a quality certificate from the EFQM Excellence Model perform better. The findings of previous research, which were held globally, and the current study results will encourage the directors, managers, and leaders of the Czech firms to participate in the quality award. © 2021 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.Internal Grant Agency (IGA) of Tomas Bata University in Zlin, the Czech Republic [IGA/FAME/2021/008, IGA/FAME/2021/014]Univerzita Tomáše Bati ve Zlíně: IGA/FAME/2021/008, IGA/FAME/2021/01