Department of Tourism and Services

The purpose of this study is to identify interventions of tourists on the environment in Slovakia, especially in the area of national parks, which are due to high attendance rate exposed to pressure from the tourists. Negative aspects of the tourists were determined by environmental components. The most serious impacts resulting from the realization of tourism are excessive consumption of water, soil erosion, transporting of tourists and fragmentation of habitats.

The aim of this paper is to identify the motives, barriers and benefits in implementing environmental management system in Slovak businesses certified according to ISO 14001 standard. The paper also deals with the costs of implementing and maintaining the environmental management system in Slovak companies and with identifying financial savings from the implementation of environmental management system. The environmental management system is an effective tool for the progressive reduction of negative impacts on the environment. It helps to minimize the environmental obligations resulting from environmental pollution, maximum use of resources, reducing consumption, demonstrate good corporate identity, building environmental awareness among employees, better understanding of the impact of business activities on the environment and increase profits through the implementation of more efficient processes.

Despite the laws and regulations that should ensure equal gender treatment, women are still disadvantaged in all businesses and public sector. This discrimination is manifested particularly in the approach to jobs, financial evaluation, political nominations and opportunities of developing their abilities regardless of gender. The gender differences in work and public life remain even today the most visible evidence of inequality between men and women in our society. The gender equality is one of the fundamental principles of EU law and all its member countries committed to be in the compliance with it. This article reviews the current state of gender equality in EU.

Gazelles create greater share of new jobs in comparison with other businesses operating on the market. These are young businesses of various sizes, but mainly small businesses. They generate a high rate of growth of production within a short time, which is based on the use of innovation, they are also the bearers of innovation. They are characterized by effective use of creativity and human resource capacities. They may be found in all sectors of economy, but to the greatest extent in the services sector and within that sector mainly in business services characterized by high knowledge intensity, high dynamics and continuous growth in employment. Gazelles of business services in the Slovak Republic intensively use all types of innovation. Management ability to optimize innovative processes according to needs of the enterprise seems to be of importance. Human resources and performance is considered to be the most important area of innovation influence. With its innovative activity they act as the accelerator of economy and changes in the thinking and culture of both enterprises, as well as the whole company toward sustainable growth.

Family business is the largest global source of jobs in the private sector, whose multigenerational nature strengthens the stability of individual economies. A competitive small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector into which family businesses are classified is an essential prerequisite for the full-fledged integration of any economy into the global economic space. For the Czech economy, the importance of foreign trade is increasing, and is dependent on the capabilities of companies to expand to foreign markets. The goal of this article is to identify involvement of the generation of successors to export activities of family business, focusing on diversifying export territories in relation to structure of the industry A secondary goal is to discuss the demand mechanisms for SMEs/family business oriented toward export. The scientific hypotheses defined are focused on demonstrating a dependency between the diversification of export territories, the involvement of the generation of...

Young dynamic service enterprises – gazelles – represent the modern economy phenomenon, which stimulates the growth by its operation, in particular of local economy. This article identifies the position of gazelles in services and defines their characteristic features with regard to knowledge intensity of their production. Research results document the dominant representation of gazelles in services within the framework of their sectoral distribution and their growing economic effects in the Slovak Republic. Knowledge intensity of production is determinant of gazelle innovativeness in services, and the result is supported by knowledge of higher intensity perception of innovation effects in a knowledge-intensive production of services.

This article researches existence of young, high growth enterprises, “gazelles”, in the context of high growth enterprises in Czech Republic. For this purpose the authors have analyzed dynamics of growth of enterprise subjects referred to as “gazelles” in a population of high growth enterprises and all enterprise subjects in a given economy. Two following criteria were taken into consideration: turnover and employment growth. Research of relevant data respects the sector criterion and monitors a 6-year growth period. It is stated that young, high growth enterprises – “gazelles” – in Czech Republic and in other compared countries are represented by enterprises which, even during the crisis period, by their development generate increase in new working positions as well as increase in annual turnover. They make up an important part of enterprises of all compared countries, and they contribute significantly to competitiveness of given economies. During the observed period the prevalence...

The presented article focuses on examining two important areas within the framework of tourism development in the region, namely development management and cooperation of the interest groups in the tourism industry in the region. The main goal of the presented article is threefold: (1) identifying and measuring the perceived rate of problems in development management in the tourism industry, (2) identifying and measuring the perceived rate of problems of cooperation between the interest groups in the tourism industry, (3) examining connections between problem rates of development management and cooperation between interest groups in tourism. Based on professional literature, key factors (problems) in these areas were identified. Subsequently, tools to measure the rate of development, the reliability of which was verified based on McDonald's omega, were created. The article is supported by a primary survey in which 95 experts on the topic of regional tourism from Europe participated. The results indicate an average to above-average perceived rate of problems within the examined areas. An examination of the relationships between the problems of development management and the cooperation of interest groups in the development of regional tourism can be considered significant, where significant positive connections were confirmed. The results add to the knowledge base of the issue in question. At the same time, it is possible to identify practical benefits within the framework of identification, quantification and comparison of individual problems within the framework of tourism development.

The presented article deals with Brand trust issues in the context of the difference between domestic and foreign franchising brands. The aim of the presented article is to (1) measure the trustworthiness of a selected domestic (Pizza Mizza) and foreign franchising brand (McDonald's) and (2) identify differences in the context of the country of origin. The article is supported by a primary survey, the basis of which was 506 respondents from Slovakia. Brand trust was measured using a simple scale model. The measuring tool achieves a high degree of reliability. The results show an average to below-average level of brand trust in the investigated brands. Differences can be observed within the individual dimensions of brand trust. In general, it can be concluded that there is no significant difference between domestic and foreign franchising brands in terms of brand trust. The results can be applied in marketing, strategic marketing as well as in brand management.

This study explores the relationship between internal corporate governance mechanism and accruals and real earnings management (EM), following Pakistan’s 2012 amended Code of Corporate Governance. It also examines the moderating role of family firms on the relationship among corporate governance mechanisms and accruals and real earnings management. For this purpose, we used a sample of 172 firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) for 2012–2019. The dependent variables were estimated by utilizing the generalized method of moments (GMM), fixed random effects and moderation analysis were estimated through Stata. Hausman specification test was used to choose among random and fixed effects. Results report that board size showed a significant positive impact on abnormal discretionary expenses and overall real earnings management. Board independence led to a substantial and negative impact with accruals EM. Managers of familyowned firms are also opportunistically altering the repo...