Fostering Entrepreneurship through the Assessment of Business Risks for SMEs in V4 countries

Mária Hudáková; Matej  Masár; Katarína  Buganová; Lenka Môcová

doi:10.5755/j01.ee.34.4.29412

Authors

Mária Hudáková University of Žilina, Slovakia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0756-0962
Matej Masár University of Žilina, Slovakia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4189-2984
Katarína Buganová University of Žilina, Slovakia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0596-5229
Lenka Môcová University of Žilina, Slovakia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2692-5082

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.34.4.29412

Keywords:

Risk, Risk source, Risk assessment, Small and medium enterprises (SMEs), Enterprise risk management

Abstract

SME owners and managers are intuitively aware of risks but do not make sufficient efforts to assess them realistically and implement strategies to reduce them. The relationship between SME risk perception and the consistency of this perception during the length of their business has not been investigated yet. The main aim of this article is to identify the most significant risks in the SMEs, to analyze the dependence among the degree of intensity of the observed financial, market and economic risks and the SME timeframe by selected statistical methods and tools. Building upon the empirical research implemented in 2017- 2018 and 2019-2020, it is possible to consider the market, financial and economic risks as the crucial risks negatively affecting the current business environment of the SMEs. The secondary aim of the article is to evaluate and compare the results of our research with the results of identical investigations in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland. Drawing from these findings, market risks affect the SME business environment highly negatively and are considered the most significant risks in all the examined countries. SME entrepreneurs in the V4 countries should thus increasingly support the process of applying risk management to ensure higher stability, performance and resilience of their businesses. The results are valuable for SMEs and institutions providing business support to strengthen the competitiveness of entrepreneurs in the V4 countries. Concerning their impact, they are significant at the national and international level of the V4 countries and can assist SMEs in gradually moving towards the global trends in this field.

Author Biographies

Mária Hudáková, University of Žilina, Slovakia

Mária Hudáková, Ing, PhD., is an associate professor at the University of Žilina. Her scientific research activities have been oriented to enterprise risk management, integrated risk management, and risks in quality management in her research activity for 20 years. She worked as a co-director of 32 domestic and foreign scientific grant projects, including projects of bilateral international cooperation with the Czech Republic. The results of the projects are published in a number of domestic and foreign publications of indexed databases (ORCID ID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0756-0962). She is the author of several monographs, university textbooks, and scripts.

Matej Masár, University of Žilina, Slovakia

Matej Masár, Ing., PhD., graduated from the Faculty of Security Engineering, University of Žilina. He currently works at Bel Power Solutions, s. r. o. in the position of Lean Specialist Jr. In 2017, he received the National Award of the Slovak Republic for quality in the category of the best diploma thesis. The scientific-professional activity focuses on solving problems in the field of project management, risk management, lean management and the application of management methods and techniques. He is an active member of the Project Management Institute Slovakia Chapter and the Academy of International Business. (ORCID ID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4189-2984).

Katarína Buganová , University of Žilina, Slovakia

Katarína Buganová, PhD, is an associate professor and the Head of the Crisis Management Department of the Faculty of Security Engineering at the University of Žilina at present. In her professional and research work, she deals with the issues of risk management, crisis management, project management, changes management and early warning systems in the business. She is a co-ordinator and a member of several research teams of domestic and European projects. She is the author of several university textbooks, scripts, and domestic and foreign publications focused on risk management in an enterprise (ORCID ID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0596-5229).

Lenka Môcová, University of Žilina, Slovakia

Lenka Môcová, PaedDr., PhD., has been working at the Institute of Lifelong Learning, University of Žilina, since 2004 as an English teacher, focusing on English for Specific Purposes, academic writing and technical translations. She is an active member of the Technical Board of the Crisis Management Journal at the Faculty of Security Engineering. In 2020, she received her PhD in Media and Communication Studies at the Department of Journalism, Catholic University in Ružomberok. Her interdisciplinary research explores the image of Slovakia in the British press (ORCID ID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2692-5082).