Academic literature on the topic 'Contemporary business environment'

In contemporary international payment transactions, there takes place frequent use of bank guarantees as collateral payment in commercial transactions. The bank guarantee is usually required when it comes to specific business agreements that require stronger commitment and assurance that all contractual obligations will be implemented exactly as indicated. Knowledge of the use of bank guarantees allows better negotiating position in making business, quicker response to the demands of public calls for tenders and the provision of their own claims. Because of its rapid and efficient implementation, the bank guarantee is one of the most commonly used collateral in international business. Keywords: bank guarantee, business environment in Serbia, legal framework of bank guarantees. JEL Classification: G21, M16, M21

Abstract The issue of improving the efficiency of business operations is of particular importance in the conditions of modern business environment. For managers, the big challenge is how to achieve and to maintain, not to mention how to improve efficiency in a highly heterogeneous, complex, uncertain and unpredictable business environment. Significant sources of enterprise efficiency in a modern business environment are enterprise restructuring, business activities, as well an integrated approach to cost management, which is becoming an increasingly important determinant of business success and a source of competitive advantage. The paper provides an overview of theoretical and empirical research of the effects of certain sources on the performance of the enterprise. The conclusion is that only the complementary exploitation of all sources contributes to improving the efficiency of the enterprise in the long run.

AbstractThe competitive, ethical and legal attitude is a powerful element in increasing business development rhythm, but if it is guided towards the level of sublegal and the hits applied to competitors, then it turns into an anti-business, anti-development, anti-cohabitation, anti –productive environment.The competitive, ethical and legal environment is beneficial for economic activity and social development.Regardless of the form in which it takes place, business competition is complex in nature, including the development environment, resources, methods, contestants and competitors, directions, market shares, factors and locations.Competitive complexity includes cultural factors, behaviors, promotional policies, regularities and morality, conjectures and recessions, personnel recruitment and picking up, distribution opportunities and facilities, complex and indispensable utilities, sharing human resources, energy, financial and material resources, policies of selection, cooperation, counteraction, annihilation or removal, procurement policies, dominance in areas or market shares, ingenuity, new products and services, investments and financial availability, capabilities of organization, of presentation, demonstration, of keeping the relations with the consumers.

The requirement to address risk in the prevailing business environment has been accentuated due to the constraints of the pandemic. It is proposed that the nature of risk context has been fundamentally altered by the global events of COVID. This paper provides a perspective that is based on an exploratory study of the identification and addressing of risk, in terms of business projects.A review of the literature has been undertaken and the key themes for the study topic identified. A senior manager, who is responsible for risk management at a company that runs international projects, was interviewed in an empirical study. A thematic analysis was performed, employing an inductive approach, in this research into a single case. The aim was to contribute to the prevailing literature and enhance understanding of the post pandemic business environment, in respect of risk management.The principal questions concerning risk and risk management are discerned. The objective is to consider risk in the post pandemic environment, in order to improve understanding of the issues relevant to business. The requirement to address these issues is also covered, with an attempt to determine the main themes from the research, in order to assist practitioners.The use of technology to support business continuity and achieve business objectives during the pandemic is discussed. An articulation of Lewin’s change model is proposed to summarise this work and assist in the comprehension of the contemporary situation.

A truth that's told with bad intent beats all the lies you can invent. William Blake (1757–1827)The ethical dimension of leadership has been widely acknowledged as being important in the contemporary business environment (Brown & Trevino, 2006a; Brown & Mitchell, 2010; Ciulla, 2005; Knights & O’Leary, 2005; Trevino, Hartman & Brown, 2000). Indeed, Ciulla (1998) proposed that ethics is at the ‘heart of leadership’. Many scholars have examined ethics and leadership from a normative or philosophical perspective, which suggests what leaders ought to do, rather than what they actually do (Brown, 2007).More recently, the study of ethics and leadership has been undertaken from a more socio-scientific perspective. This has led to the development and conceptualisation of the construct ethical leadership, which includes the exploration of the characteristics of ethical leadership and the identification of its antecedents and consequences (Brown & Trevino, 2006b; Brown, Trevino & Harrison, 2005; Trevino et al., 2000; Trevino, Brown & Hartman, 2003).This research poses the question: what is ethical leadership? It seeks to build on the existing body of empirical research relating to the characteristics and behaviours of ethical leaders. The inclusion of a question, which asks participants their recollections of unethical leadership, represents an important contribution to research in the area of ethics and leadership. Seventy-eight (78) senior executives, represented by diverse industry backgrounds from both the public and private sectors, participated in the research. They were drawn from two states in Australia, namely Western Australia and Victoria.This research adopted a constructivist methodology and two qualitative methods: the critical incident technique (CIT) (Flanagan, 1954) and a hypothetical vignette (Alexander & Becker, 1978; Aveyard & Woolliams, 2006; Fritzche, 2000; Trevino, 1992b). Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were undertaken for the purpose of data collection. The qualitative software package NVivo was used to assist in the management of the research data. NVivo's principal function is that of an electronic storage and retrieval system. Before its development this process was manually carried out by researchers.First, participants were asked to recall the characteristics and behaviours of two leaders with whom they had worked: one identified as being an ethical leader and the other a less than ethical leader. Second, participants described an ethical dilemma they had experienced and managed in their role as a senior executive. Third and finally, their responses to a hypothetical vignette that contained an ethical dilemma were sought. These responses were then aligned with their own ethical dilemmas to determine whether their espoused theories (what they said they would do) were congruent with their theories-in-use (what they actually did).The principal findings that emerged in this research are as follows. Participants' recollections of ethical leadership centred on three themes: value alignment, governance and relationship-centredness. Ethical leaders are perceived to be individuals who behave with integrity, courage and trustworthiness. They are relationship-centred, and fairness and altruism are the defining features of their relationships with others. In matters of governance, ethical leaders demonstrate adherence to accountability measures and discernment in their decision-making responsibilities. These findings were opposed to recollections relating to less than ethical leaders, who are defined by deception and self-centredness. In matters of governance, the decision-making of less than ethical leaders reflected culpability and expediency. Their self-centredness was evident in their abuse of power and their self-serving behaviour.When participants' responses to the hypothetical vignette were aligned with responses to their own ethical dilemmas, incongruence was evident. That is, the action many participants said they would take in response to the hypothetical vignette did not align with what they actually did in response to their own ethical dilemmas. This incongruence was most evident in two areas. In the management of their own dilemmas, participants were strongly focused on relationships with others and did not consider withdrawing from the situation. However, in response to the hypothetical vignette, participants demonstrated a greater willingness to withdraw from the situation and placed much less emphasis on their relationship with others.Finally, this study concludes that an ethical leader is perceived as an individual whose words and actions are closely aligned (value alignment). Conversely, less than ethical leaders are characterised by deception; that is, there is misalignment between what they say and what they do.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att kunna erbjuda små till medelstora företag förslag på lämpliga modeller och IT-stöd att använda till omvärldsanalys. Genom att föreslå modeller och IT-stöd samt hur de används kan företag upprätta ett omvärldsanalysarbete utan att hyra in extern hjälp. Större företag har ofta en större budget och även resurser som aktivt arbetar med att bevaka omvärlden. Den sortens resurser finns inte i mindre företag eftersom kostnaden att hyra in konsulter för hjälp med omvärldsanalysarbete är för hög. Det i kombination med att kunskap saknas om hur ett omvärldsanalysarbete kan genomföras resulterar i att det ofta inte blir av. Fyra omvärldsanalysmodeller valdes ut och testades vid workshoppar på två olika företag. Vid sidan av det har kompletterande intervjuer genomförts på tre företag samt att en studie av lämpliga IT-stöd för omvärldsbevakning upprättats. Undersökningen visade att en manual är den mest lämpliga presentationsformen för hur små till medelstora företag kan använda sig av utvalda modeller och IT-stöd vilket skulle bidra till att de inte behöver hyra in extern hjälp för att starta ett omvärldsanalysarbete. I manualen framgår också vilka omvärldsanalysmodeller och IT-stöd som funnits mest lämpliga för små till medelstora företag.
The purpose of this thesis is to offer models and IT-supportive tools for external business intelligence for smaller to medium sized businesses. Larger businesses often have more funds and resources that continuously work to monitor the surrounding environment. However, due to the fact that small businesses lack the time and knowledge to investigate external business intelligence sufficiently, and lack appropriate funds to hire a consultant, as they are too expensive, smaller businesses rarely ever have access to these resources. Four models for external business intelligence were chosen and tested in workshops with two different companies, three different companies were approached and participated in interviews, and a study on useful IT-supporting tools for external business intelligence was conducted. The study has shown that the most suitable way to display models and IT-supportive tools is with a manual that would assist smaller to medium sized businesses with external business intelligence without the need to hire external assistance.

Innan företag ska penetrera en marknad är det viktigt att de har tillräckligt med information om vilka möjligheter och hot marknaden står inför samt vilka behov företagen på marknaden har. Denna magisteruppsats syftar till att utreda framtids-utsikterna inom branscherna solenergi och vågkraft samt identifiera OEM-företagens behov inom dessa branscher. Det verktyg vi har använt för att utreda branschernas framtidsutsikter är delar av SWOT-modellen, där fokus har lagts på externa faktorer som påverkar en marknad. För att identifiera OEM-företagens behov har vi använt teorier kring OEM-marknaden och OEM-företags köpkriterier samt ABB:s egen erfarenhet och kunskap om denna marknad.

För att ge en informationsrik och heltäckande bild har vi genomfört intervjuer med Energimyndigheten och OEM-företag inom branscherna solenergi och vågkraft, då de besitter kunskap om vilka möjligheter och hot branscherna står inför. Vidare har intervjuer genomförts med OEM-företagen för att få information om vilka behov företag inom dessa branscher har.

Med anledning av ett ökat intresse och medvetenhet kring klimat-förändringarna har politiska målsättningar satts upp och åtgärder vidtagits för att hejda klimat-förändringarna och öka användningen av förnyelsebara energikällor. Det innebär att gynnsamma förutsättningar för förnyelsebara energikällor har skapats.

Studien visar att den avgörande faktorn för fortsatt tillväxt på solenergimarknaden är olika former av ekonomiska stödsystem. Eftersom investeringsstödet i Sverige kommer att förlängas och även utökas till att omfatta privatpersoner samt att flertalet länder har ekonomiska bidrag för att stödja marknaden ser framtidsutsikten för solenergi-branschen positiv ut. Ur ett långsiktigt perspektiv krävs det dock politiskt och juridiskt stöd både nationellt och internationellt under en längre period till dess att marknaden har utvecklats till att kunna stå på egna ben. Därtill behöver tekniken och tillverknings-processerna förbättras ytterligare för att företagen ska kunna erbjuda en prisvärd och konkurrenskraftig produkt. Studien visar att på grund av att marknaden befinner sig i ett tidigt skede har OEM-företagen de primära behoven kvalitet, pris och leverans-säkerhet. När marknaden mognat kommer sannolikt andra köpkriterier som leverantörens varumärke bli av större vikt.

Framtidsutsikten för branschen vågkraft är osäker eftersom vågkraftskoncept inte har etablerats kommersiellt ännu samt att det inte finns fullskaliga vågkraftskoncept som varit i drift över en längre tid. Det betyder att tekniken idag inte är tillräckligt beprövad och därmed inte kan ses som tillförlitlig. OEM-företagens främsta behov är kvalitets-komponenter, kringtjänster och hög leveranssäkerhet. Det bör även tas hänsyn till att denna marknad är i utvecklingsstadiet och därmed är i behov av leverantörer som tillhandahåller prisvärda och anpassade komponenter som OEM-företagen i dagsläget inte har tillgång till.

It is important, when penetrating a market, that companies have sufficient information about the opportunities and the threats on a market as well as the relevant needs for the purchasing companies in the market. The purpose of this master thesis is to investigate the prospects of solar and wave energy systems and identify the needs of the OEM companies within these businesses. To investigate the future market opportunities we have applied parts of the theoretical model SWOT, focusing on external elements that impact the market. The theoretical framework is based upon theories about the OEM market and used to identify the needs of the OEM companies. ABB has also contributed with their experience and knowledge of the OEM market. 

We have interviewed the Swedish Energy Agency and OEM companies in the solar and wave energy business, since they have knowledge about the opportunities and threats of the markets. The information aim to give a complete and comprehensive picture of market opportunities and threats. We have also interviewed the OEM companies to receive information about their specific needs.

Because the interest in and awareness of environmental change has increased, favorable political systems have been created for a continuing positive market development in renewable energy sources. 

For a continuing market growth of the solar energy market, the study demonstrates the importance of financial funding. The economical funding in Sweden will be extended and involve private persons which means that the future of the market is positive. Several countries also support the market with financial funding. Due to the fact that the technology and production processes needs continuing improvement before it can manage on its own, it is important that the market get extended national and international political and legal support. The study demonstrates that OEM companies due to the fact that the market is in an early state the market have the primary needs quality, price and on-time-delivery. When the market reaches a mature level other purchasing criterions, such as the brand of the supplier, will probably be of greater importance. 

Since the wave energy concepts not yet have been commercially established and that full scale wave energy concepts have been installed over sufficient time the prospects of wave energy is unsure. That means that the technology still not properly has been tested and can be seen as not yet reliable. The importance of the OEM companies is quality components, service and support and high on-time-delivery. It should be taken in consideration that the market is under development and therefore is in need of suppliers that provide customized components to the right price, which the OEM companies do not have access to today.

Innan företag ska penetrera en marknad är det viktigt att de har tillräckligt med information om vilka möjligheter och hot marknaden står inför samt vilka behov företagen på marknaden har. Denna magisteruppsats syftar till att utreda framtidsutsikterna inom branscherna solenergi och vågkraft samt identifiera OEM-företagens behov inom dessa branscher. Det verktyg vi har använt för att utreda branschernas framtidsutsikter är delar av SWOT-modellen, där fokus har lagts på externa faktorer som påverkar en marknad. För att identifiera OEM-företagens behov har vi använt teorier kring OEM-marknaden och OEM-företags köpkriterier samt ABB:s egen erfarenhet och kunskap om denna marknad.

För att ge en informationsrik och heltäckande bild har vi genomfört intervjuer med Energimyndigheten och OEM-företag inom branscherna solenergi och vågkraft, då de besitter kunskap om vilka möjligheter och hot branscherna står inför. Vidare har intervjuer genomförts med OEM-företagen för att få information om vilka behov företag inom dessa branscher har.

Med anledning av ett ökat intresse och medvetenhet kring klimat-förändringarna har politiska målsättningar satts upp och åtgärder vidtagits för att hejda klimatförändringarna och öka användningen av förnyelsebara energikällor. Det innebär att gynnsamma förutsättningar för förnyelsebara energikällor har skapats.

Studien visar att den avgörande faktorn för fortsatt tillväxt på solenergimarknaden är olika former av ekonomiska stödsystem. Eftersom investeringsstödet i Sverige kommer att förlängas och även utökas till att omfatta privatpersoner samt att flertalet länder har ekonomiska bidrag för att stödja marknaden ser framtidsutsikten för solenergibranschen positiv ut. Ur ett långsiktigt perspektiv krävs det dock politiskt och juridiskt stöd både nationellt och internationellt under en längre period till dess att marknaden har utvecklats till att kunna stå på egna ben. Därtill behöver tekniken och tillverkningsprocesserna förbättras ytterligare för att företagen ska kunna erbjuda en prisvärd och konkurrenskraftig produkt. Studien visar att på grund av att marknaden befinner sig i ett tidigt skede har OEM-företagen de primära behoven kvalitet, pris och leveranssäkerhet. När marknaden mognat kommer sannolikt andra köpkriterier som leverantörens varumärke bli av större vikt.

Framtidsutsikten för branschen vågkraft är osäker eftersom vågkraftskoncept inte har etablerats kommersiellt ännu samt att det inte finns fullskaliga vågkraftskoncept som varit i drift över en längre tid. Det betyder att tekniken idag inte är tillräckligt beprövad och därmed inte kan ses som tillförlitlig. OEM-företagens främsta behov är kvalitetskomponenter, kringtjänster och hög leveranssäkerhet. Det bör även tas hänsyn till att denna marknad är i utvecklingsstadiet och därmed är i behov av leverantörer som tillhandahåller prisvärda och anpassade komponenter som OEM-företagen i dagsläget inte har tillgång till.

It is important, when penetrating a market, that companies have sufficient information about the opportunities and the threats on a market as well as the relevant needs for the purchasing companies in the market. The purpose of this master thesis is to investigate the prospects of solar and wave energy systems and identify the needs of the OEM companies within these businesses. To investigate the future market opportunities we have applied parts of the theoretical model SWOT, focusing on external elements that impact the market. The theoretical framework is based upon theories about the OEM market and used to identify the needs of the OEM companies. ABB has also contributed with their experience and knowledge of the OEM market. 

We have interviewed the Swedish Energy Agency and OEM companies in the solar and wave energy business, since they have knowledge about the opportunities and threats of the markets. The information aim to give a complete and comprehensive picture of market opportunities and threats. We have also interviewed the OEM companies to receive information about their specific needs.

Because the interest in and awareness of environmental change has increased, favorable political systems have been created for a continuing positive market development in renewable energy sources. 

For a continuing market growth of the solar energy market, the study demonstrates the importance of financial funding. The economical funding in Sweden will be extended and involve private persons which means that the future of the market is positive. Several countries also support the market with financial funding. Due to the fact that the technology and production processes needs continuing improvement before it can manage on its own, it is important that the market get extended national and international political and legal support. The study demonstrates that OEM companies due to the fact that the market is in an early state the market have the primary needs quality, price and on-time-delivery. When the market reaches a mature level other purchasing criterions, such as the brand of the supplier, will probably be of greater importance. 

Since the wave energy concepts not yet have been commercially established and that full scale wave energy concepts have been installed over sufficient time the prospects of wave energy is unsure. That means that the technology still not properly has been tested and can be seen as not yet reliable. The importance of the OEM companies is quality components, service and support and high on-time-delivery. It should be taken in consideration that the market is under development and therefore is in need of suppliers that provide customized components to the right price, which the OEM companies do not have access to today.

As globalization continues to be a reality around the world, the rules and context of business activity have been affected. Globalization increases the complexity of businesses and drives managers to be globally oriented. With globalization, people from various cultural backgrounds get together virtually and interact. National boundaries of countries are becoming less relevant. More significantly, the impact of technology and particularly information and communication technology (ITC), is the other characteristic aspect of the 21st century. ITC is essential in today's business and modern globalization as business partners are constantly in communication around the globe. This chapter discusses the effect of globalization and the global business environment as it is shaped by various economic and politic-economic blocks around the world.

This chapter considers in detail the issue of multicultural urban business environments in the context of managing cross-cultural problems within globalization. When people try to accept and respect different cultures, they will gain new opportunities and experiences. One of the most effective tools is tolerant communication leading to understanding and acceptance of cultural diversity. In this research, we study the contemporary concept of urban business environments as a set of external and internal factors influencing business development in the framework of an urban infrastructure. The authors provide their own definition of the concept of globalization and also describe the key global trends, including globalization of human capital under the conditions of demographic and cultural diversity. The work is also aimed to detect how multiculture affects urban business environment in part of finding managerial solutions and countermeasures to overcome the major cross-cultural challenges.

The business plan is seen as a complex structured document, which provides logical and factual answers to individual questions about the business. These questions are key to a successful start-up and implementation of longterm business activities. However, there has been a growing opinion in recent years, that a business plan is an inapropriatte tool considering the turbulent environment of nowadays. The aim of our studies is to identify the extent of use of a business plan as an important planning document in SMEs. There are many business owners who do not have a business plan and pay little attention to their planning activities. To better understand how the Slovak entrepreneurs perceive planning, we conducted a questionnaire survey. This reveals very interesting findings about the attitudes of Slovak businessmen to planning and planning documents. Survey results and recommendations are key parts of our article.

Purpose – although many studies emphasise that institutional environment shapes business activity, yet it is not clear enough how legal environment, tax administration and stimulation policies are associated with entrepreneur’s perception in the future business climate. This paper seeks to explore these associations in the context of a post-communist transition country. Research methodology – the research takes an institutional perspective, and its analysis is conducted on a firm-level data collection through a face-to-face survey. Kruskal-Wallis test followed up by Jonckheere-Terpstra and Mann-Whitney tests, were employed in a dataset of 404 firms operating in Albania. Findings – the analysis offers important insights into the nature of entrepreneurship in a post-communist setting. It was found a significant association between future business climate and legal environment and tax administration. Between stimulation policies and business climate was reported an insignificant association. High levels in the legal environment and tax administration lead to the less favourable future business climate. Research limitations – though Albania has similarities with other transition countries in terms of regional, economic and political environments, the generalisation of these results to another context is limited. Originality/Value – this research provides insights for scholars studying entrepreneurship in institutional transformation contexts, and it contributes to the accumulation of knowledge on transition countries by focusing on the little-studied case of Albania.

International business environment is changing: globalization, trade sanctions, domestic regulations, international operations across different cultures, importance of communication, demand of sustainable supply chains and other factors force companies to diversify their markets continuously, adapt foreign market development strategies and meet market requirements at a large scale. A dilemma for SMEs is obvious as the future road in foreign market selection is uncertain: global or regional approach has to be followed. The objective of this paper is to unravel and assess market selection methods and market diversification situation as well as analyze their future strategic international trade trends in regional and global perspective. Implemented on-line survey of 450 Lithuanian vendors aimed to unlock and answer methods used in market selection, analyze market diversification situation and assess future approach towards regional and global development. The survey results reveal the perspective of Lithuanian vendors regarding their approach to use market selection methods, a demand of more formal and research based approach as well as development components versus promotion. By incorporating view on diversification, market selection methods and future market entries methods, the paper provides with a more complete view on international trade strategies development set for SMEs and their five-year vision of regional integration approach.

Purpose – to propose an assessment tool of the environment of FinTech sector. Research methodology – systematic analysis of scientific literature has been carried out to form a methodology for FinTech sector environment assessment, which consists of quantitative methods used for the empirical research of the study as follows: PEST analysis, expert evaluation, determination of indicators’ values, normalization of data, multi-criteria assessment (the Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) method). Findings – the practical application of the developed assessment tool is verified by completing an empirical study on the example of the leading FinTech countries as well as the Baltic States. Recommendations for further Lithuanian FinTech sector development are provided. Research limitations – research is based on an assessment of the significance of external environmental indicators of FinTech sector development on a country level. Due to the large number of indicators and countries, only a fraction of factors and countries were selected for research. Therefore, the object of the research requires a more detailed study in the future. Practical implications – the development of FinTech sector has been growing dramatically in the recent years on a global scale, with some countries leading the way due to a more favourable environment. The results show that the proposed assessment tool for the development of the FinTech sector can be used by policymakers in different countries to identify the external environmental factors to improve in order to create better conditions for the development of the FinTech sector. Originality/Value – a new methodology and tool for FinTech environment assessment is developed by the authors as a contribution to the formation of better environment for FinTech sector development. The developed tool provides an opportunity to study the strong and weak sides of the environment development of the FinTech sector, to compare the good practices of other countries and to get ideas for changes in order to create a more favourable environment for the FinTech development on a country level.

The number of reported alerts with registered environmental incidents raises concerns in government agencies about the safety of the environment. These concerns are the basis for seeking answers as to whether the existing environmental protection requirements are sufficiently comprehensive or adequate. The binding of the state policy on the environment in the sectoral policies is expressed by the observance of the legal obligations for the protection of the environment. Тhe purpose of the present study is to determine in the scope of environmental management systems the methodology for assessment of compliance with regulatory requirements in the management of aspects and subsequent impact on the environment. An expert method related to a logical approach was applied in the research. Regulatory requirements aimed at monitoring the state of the environment are mandatory as requirements for all business operators. They need to provide objective evidence of how aspects of their activities prevent and limit their impact on environmental pollution.

Many organizations feel currently threatened by globalization. Grows uncertainty and market behaviour and there are some problems with effective use of resources; it came to the real competition. The current trend in the development of logistics says that wins only the fastest, cheapest and most efficient in terms of logistics productivity. Management structure of logistics processes is important for planning and management elements of the supply chain, because it is a systematic follow-up on the strategy of the company and its involvement in the supply chain; the masses are also linked to the competitiveness of enterprises. Equally important is the principle of modern management, knowledge and innovation. Under improving of the organization of logistics processes we can understand the necessity to improve the strategy, flexibility parameter setting while maintaining economic benefits and improvement of management, lifelong learning and innovation. Business environment requires new structural form as the supply chain to the path towards the ideal of perfect quality, reducing complexity, increasing speed and building strong competencies enabling swift reaction to changes in the environment. It also calls for a new style of management, based on the application of ethical principles and morals. On top of this effort is the customer, current and also potential. Worldwide leading industrial companies use in management logistical principles that offer a suitable alternative.

Brand represents one of the most important assets of the company. Brand-managing activities are typically related to brand positioning and integration with marketing campaigns, and can involve complex decisions. The branding of an organization is indeed a dynamic system with many cause-effect relationships as well as intangible and heterogeneous variables. In order to assess the value of individual brands can be used various models developed worldwide, based on different input data and valuation methodologies. We assume that individual environment in which company operates and consumers’ perceptions in different countries influence the ability and usability of these models in other countries. Therefore, we applied chosen well-known brand value models on the set of Slovak companies and validated their assessment ability in specific condition of the Slovak Republic. This was provided by the critical comparison of calculated values with the official values of brands of these companies listed in the Slovak journal. Through this, we pointed out the importance of the development of unique brand value model, which will be constructed in the specific condition of individual countries and highlight the weak assessment ability of foreign models.

The globalization and the increasing competition especially during the latest years of crisis provide a new environment for SMEs. In the “knowledge-based economy”, firms’ competitiveness is strongly related to technical know-how and skills. The important keys for the survival, growth and development of SMEs are related to technological and scientific improvements, cooperation, innovation capacity and knowledge management. This is the first study which attempts to present the above characteristics of Greek manufacturing SMEs at the post-crisis era.