Katarína Belanová - Acces to Finance of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Slovakia (Prístup k financiám v malých a stredne veľkých podnikoch na Slovensku)
Abstract: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of all economies, as well as a key source of economic growth, dynamism and flexibility. Small businesses are particularly important for bringing innovative products or techniques to the market. Despite these facts, they are commonly constrained by finance. How to solve their financial constraint is a worldwide problem. In Slovakia, SMEs are also suffering from financial gap and due to the fact that their financing relies mainly on bank sources (as detailed below), this paper focuses on the issues about SMEs’ borrowing ability from the bank. The paper reveals the results of the survey aimed at the SME finance in Slovakia. We present factors affecting SMEs’ ability to borrow from the bank in Slovakia, stating that the fact whether SMEs can provide a collateral or guarantee is a decisive factor; factors such as a firm size, amount of information requested by banks, administrative burden, and long loan granted procedures play an important role.
Kľúčové slová/Keywords: small and medium-sized enterprises, financial gap, bank loan, information asymmetry
JEL: G 21, G 30
str./pp. 277-290
Vieroslava Holková - Matej Valach - LIFE QUALITY VERSUS SOCIAL QUALITY IN SLOVAKIA (Kvalita života verzus sociálna kvalita na Slovensku)
Abstract: The current level of quality of life in Slovakia is the result of the process of changes in the socio-economic, social, political and other conditions of our society in the past two decades. According to selected indicators of quality of life Slovakia is comparable to V-4 countries, but lags behind the developed countries of the EU. In Slovakia, there is a certain group of the population that does not participate sufficiently in social and economic life of society, or more precisely, is excluded from this life due to lack of funds because of low income or his party. In 2011 13% of the population faced the risk of poverty for low income, while the most vulnerable groups are households with two adults and three or more dependent children.
Kľúčové slová/Keywords: quality of life, social quality, HDI, IHDI, GII, income inequality, rate of risk of poverty, material deprivation, long-term unemployment
JEL: I 30, I 31, I 32, J 01
str./pp. 291-305
Eleonóra Fendeková - Georg Brüderl - OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES OF EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES TO PARTICIPATE IN THE GLOBAL SEMICONDUCTOR AND ELECTRONIC MARKET (Príležitosti a výzvy pre krajiny Východnej Európy zapojiť sa do globálneho trhu na polovodiče a elektroniku)
Abstract: The foundation for the semiconductor industry was laid approximately sixty years ago and represents today a market of more than US$ 300 billion a year. During this period of time, some geographic regions gained a strong position in this market, such as the United States of America, South-East Asia, China, and Western Europe. With the political opening of Eastern Europe, high expectations were set by the industry and national economies to participate in this highly attractive business with research and design, manufacturing and marketing of products and electronic goods. Building on the research and relevant academic doctrine on globalisation, transnational cooperation, a comparative qualitative and quantitative analysis was done on Eastern European countries to evaluate the opportunities and challenges for national and business economies to participate in this market. As a result, this
paper summarizes the current situation to what extent Eastern European countries are important to this marketplace. It explores the key success factors and identifies areas for improvements that are needed in order to participate in this industry for enterprise business, national economies, the educational system, institutions and society and provides recommendations to extend the academic doctrine related to globalisation and transnational cooperation. It also provides suggestions and ideas for the educational system, institutions, social economies,and political decision makers.
Kľúčové slová/Keywords: Eastern Europe, globalisation, transnational cooperation, foreign
direct investment, innovation, corruption, semiconductor and electronics industry, technological upscale, global competitive index, European Union, structural indicator, national economies, Lisbon goal, convergence, SWOT, diversity, EU15, EU27.
JEL: F 13, F 16, M 11, M 15
str./pp. 306-325
Viera Čihovská - SOCIAL ORIENTATION OF MARKETING CONCEPT (Sociálna orientácia marketingovej koncepcie)
Abstract: Marketing, which has been viewed as an effective philosophy and conception of managing the area of profit, shifts and extends its limits beyond material products and services towards other activities. Modern marketing concepts respond to increasing social problems of individuals as well as society and offer solutions on how to carry out changes in attitudes to negative social phenomena and to the change in the target public behaviour in order to assert socially desirable attitudes and ideas. The mission of Social marketing is affecting voluntary behaviour of target groups in order to improve the quality of their lives and ensuring welfare for the entire society. The aim of the paper, in this context, is to give an insight into
the problems of social marketing, i.e. the topic that has not been adequately worked out in our country, explain its essence and characteristic features, and identify main areas of social problems the solutions to which are offered by the society-oriented concept of marketing.
Kľúčové slová/Keywords: marketing, social marketing, profit-oriented marketing, social responsibility, marketing techniques and approaches
JEL : M 31, M 39
str./pp. 326-335
Tomáš Klieštik - Metamorfózy nákladov kapitálu (Metamorphoses of Capital Costs)
Abstract: The present contribution deals with the quantification of capital costs. The contribution is written on theoretical base. The costs will be particularly quantified in financing only by equity and only by debt capital and particularly in so called mixed financing in which weighted average costs of capital will be quantified. The cost of capital can be seen from three different perspectives: in the assets side of a company, in the liability side of a company and in the side of potential investor. Each of these perspectives or points of view shows the cost of capital differently, but all of them deal with the same number. It is logical that the capital cost should be minimal as only in that case the company market value is maximal.
Kľúčové slová/Keywords: cost of capital, equity, debt, weighted average costs of capital, investor.
JEL: E 22, E 47, G 12, G 31, G 32
str./pp. 336-354
Ivaničová Zlatica - Surmanová Kvetoslava - ANALÝZA EFEKTÍVNOSTI REGIÓNOV SLOVENSKEJ REPUBLIKY POMOCOU METODOLÓGIE SUR MODELOV (Analysis of the Slovak Republic Regions' Effectiveness by means of SUR Models Methodology)
Abstract: The development of the economic potential of individual regions in the Slovak economy causes gradual opening up of the gap between the Bratislava region and other re-gions. This disparity causes a drop in demand in the regions, which is reflected in a deceleration in the economic performance of regions. In this paper we present the evolution of gross domestic product in various regions based on the development of capital and labour with help of the Cobb-Douglas production function using the methodology of the seemingly unrelated regressions.
Kľúčové slová/Keywords: Cobb-Douglas production function, SUR model, capital, regions
Slovak economy
JEL: C 39, E 23
str./pp. 355-370
Zuzana Joniaková - Jana Blštáková - VÝZNAM ORGANIZAČNEJ KULTÚRY PRE APLIKÁCIU SPOLOČENSKY ZODPOVEDNÉHO PODNIKANIA. DOBROVOĽNÍCTVO V ORGANIZÁCIÁCH NA SLOVENSKU – VÝSLEDKY VÝSKUMU (Importance of Corporate Culture for the Application of Socially Responsible Business. Volunteering in Organisations in Slovakia – Results of Research)
Abstract: Corporate social responsibility belongs among contemporary challenges for management of companies, which arise not only from development of demanding business environment, its claims to permanently sustainable competitiveness, but are aroused also by wider social kind changes, and it is supported by institutions active on behalf of European economic and business environment development. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) being part of the business, generates benefits not only for inner organisational environment, but it positively affects wider community of organisation’s activities, which nowadays organisations aim to comprise into their business strategies. Concrete forms of CSR application, identification of barriers and the choice of applicable concept remain up to the initiative of organizations’ managements. The paper delivers research results of one of the concrete forms of CSR activities, which is Employee volunteering, in Slovak organisations. The paper discusses the issue of practical application of employee volunteering, researches the legitimacy of CSR activities and defines barriers to and benefits of its application. The ways of
supporting CSR is being discussed in the framework of corporate culture development are also discussed in the paper. Based on the research results published in this article there arises the necessity to understand the need for accepting the corporate social responsibility and integrating it into essential pillars of corporate philosophy.
Kľúčové slová/Keywords: corporate culture, corporate social responsiblity, employee volunteering.
JEL: M 14
str./pp. 371-383
Lenka Kalusová - VYBRANÉ CENOVÉ STRATÉGIE FIRIEM A MOŽNOSTI ICH UPLATNENIA V PRAXI (Selected Pricing Strategies of Firms and Possibilities of their Application in Practice)
Abstract: The issue of pricing strategies is highly topical particularly nowadays.Enterprises are forced, as a result of the present economic condition, to cut down the prices of their products so that they could sell them. For that reason, the aim of this paper is to analyse potential uses of selected pricing strategies (skimming pricing strategy and penetration pricing strategy) in practice. We characterise the basic features of these strategies, advantages and disadvantages of their use, and the possibilities of their application in practice. In conclusion of this paper, we offer a few rules and tips that enterprises can use when selecting their optimum pricing strategies.
Kľúčové slová/Keywords: pricing decisions, pricing strategies,skimming price strategy,
penetration price strategy, advantages and disadvantages of pricing strategies, applicability of strategies.
JEL: M 30, M 39, G 3
str./pp. 384-396
Milan Hutera - Bodovacia metóda a jej modifikácia (Scoring Method and its Modification)
Abstract: The basic objective of business diagnostics is to create a comprehensivebase of knowledge on the implementation of business diagnoses using various verified methods and techniques. These are used to identify problems, weaknesses, opportunities, crises and threats in business. Methods of multi-criterial evaluation are important tools of business diagnostics. This paper focuses on practical application of the scoring method, describes its application on selected financial indicators and proposes a new modification of this method.
Keywords: business diagnostics, scoring method, modified scoring method.
JEL: M 21
str./pp. 397-404
RECENZIE/REVIEWS
Marián Vongrej
Lisý J. a kol.: Makroekonomická rovnováha a nerovnováha – teoretické a praktické problémy. Bratislava: Iura EDITION, 2013, s. 208, ISBN 978-80-8078-588-8.
JEL: Y 30
str./pp. 405-406
Kornélia Beličková
ZUZANA NEUPAUEROVÁ a kolektív: Financie a mena – Praktikum. Bratislava: Vydavateľstvo EKONÓM, 2013, s. 138, ISBN 978-80-225-3597-7.
JEL: Y 30
str./pp. 406