Implementation of diversification strategy on farms in the Czech Republic

Nowadays, it is not easy to achieve prosperity and flourishing progress of an agriculture company. The owners and managers engaged in agricultural sector are thus forced to face increased challenge as for the search of new and more stable sources of income. Employing the strategy of diversification represents one of the possible ways aiming to improve the current situation. Moreover, this strategy also provides important tool for enhancing the quality of rural infrastructure and creation of job opportunities in non-traditional sectors and thus makes for the decrease in jobs in the agricultural sector. The study of secondary sources and in-depth interviews with successful diversification project managers allowed the analysis of prospective usage of the diversification strategy in agricultural companies

Gap analysis of the quality of sales service

The article aims to measure the size of customer gaps as for their perception of sales service standard quality. Gap analysis employed for customer gap measurement is elaborated on the basis of the results obtained from questionnaire enquiry directed on customers and employers of the company sales places that were under examination. Questionnaire enquiry revealed substantial disparity between the perception of standard by employers and customers, especially in terms of sales personnel contact with customer. The research has quantified the size of customer gaps within sales service quality standard categories. In addition, it identifies problem areas detected by means of the carried out analysis as well as it provides suggestions for their solution

Marketing Management: Monitoring the International Environment Factors Using Global Maps

The article discusses the issue of the global marketing environment in line with the factors determining its external conditions. The aim is to specify the marketing-environment indicators in the international context and interpret the use of geographical maps illustratively documenting the differences of particular parameters in various parts of the global market. The research-results help update the theoretical framework of global environment factors. These data are also important for practice. Many enterprises consider the question of optimising their sources and directing their goals towards the opportunities available thanks to global markets. The global environment mapping is thereby an important basis for the marketing activities whose implementation across national boundaries is going to be mainly influenced by peculiarities of the environment involving foreign markets and their changes

Influence of Printed Leaflets on Consumer Purchase Behavior

This article deals with the way customers perceive individual non-direct response printed leaflets and it is simultaneously focused on the question whether this material has any importance in general for customers during their purchase realization. The research is further concerned with the issue of the differences between customers living in family built-up areas and those who are living in residential housing. The research explores the differences related to preferences of various target groups. It identifies whether customers wish to receive printed advertising material into their letter boxes, what sort of media they read and what kinds of assortment are most frequently requested to appear in this form of promotion by customers. Preferences are aggregated by means of data classification based on different criteria and they provide a clue for better orientation in customer thinking

The Role of Circulating MicroRNAs in Patients with Early-Stage Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is increasing in incidence and is still associated with a high rate of mortality. Only a minority of patients are diagnosed in the early stage. Radical surgery is the only potential curative procedure. However, radicality is reached in 20% of patients operated on. Despite the multidisciplinary approach in resectable tumors, early tumor recurrences are common. Options on how to select optimal candidates for resection remain limited. Nevertheless, accumulating evidence shows an important role of circulating non-coding plasma and serum microRNAs (miRNAs), which physiologically regulate the function of a target protein. miRNAs also play a crucial role in carcinogenesis. In PDAC patients, the expression levels of certain miRNAs vary and may modulate the function of oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes. As they can be detected in a patient’s blood, they have the potential to become promising non-invasive diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. Moreover, they may also serve as markers of chemoresistance. Thus, miRNAs could be useful for early and accurate diagnosis, prognostic stratification, and individual treatment planning. In this review, we summarize the latest findings on miRNAs in PDAC patients, focusing on their potential use in the early stage of the disease

Structural changes in agriculture since EU accession in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary

The collaboration that has led to the publication of this book can be traced back to April 2013, when the Research Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics (VÚEPP) in Bratislava, Slovak Republic, approached the Research Institute of Agricultural Economics (AKI) in Budapest, Hungary, with a view to establishing a programme of bilateral cooperation. The approach was very positively received by AKI, and the idea rapidly developed into a plan for a series of trilateral cooperation activities that also included the Institute of Agricultural Economics and Information (IAEI) in Praha, Czech Republic. Representatives of the three institutes met in Budapest at the end of May, 2013 and agreed to work together to enhance mutual research collaboration in the field of agricultural economics, share information and discuss issues related to agricultural economics in the three countries, and establish a coordination group composed by members of the three research institutes. The cooperation was formalised through the signing, in December 2013, of a trilateral Agreement covering the period 2014-2016 covering the following topics: (a) publication of individual or common papers in the institutes’ journals or other journals, and exchange of journals between institutes; (b) exchange of experience via trilateral meetings of specialists; (c) cooperation with other scientific entities and support for affiliation to international networks or construction of a specific network in the institutes’ common field of research interest; (d) applications and participation in common international projects; and (e) participation at international meetings with common research/papers and cooperation in organisation of different international meetings. The three institutes agreed that this would be an excellent way to better disseminate, nationally and internationally, the results of their research work and to open new perspectives to future mutual cooperation. The centrepiece of the programme of cooperation was a trilateral research project entitled “The CAP Impact on the Effectiveness of Use of Agricultural Production Factors and the Economic Efficiency of Agricultural Production and Product Sectors in the Slovak Republic, the Czech Republic and Hungary”. The general objective of this project has been: research on rural areas and the agrifood sector by sectoral analysis, country comparisons, identification of positive and negative influences on the rural and agricultural economy, dissemination of research results, and proposals for future policies in the field. Initially intended to cover four topics (implementation of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), agricultural land ownership and related issues, competitiveness and profitability of crop and animal production, and the efficiency of food industry production), further discussion led to eight topics of joint research being agreed