Habilitation Thesis Summary
Financial management in the segment of SMEs
Finanční management v segmentu malých a středních podniků
Author: Ing. Aleksandr Ključnikov, Ph.D.
Course: Management a ekonomika podniku
Zlín, October 2017
© Aleksandr Ključnikov
Published by Tomas Bata University in Zlín in Habilitation Thesis Summary edition in 2017.
Key words: Small and medium-sized enterprises, financial management, business risks, financial risks, financial risk management, credit risk, socio- economic factors influence on risk management
Klíčová slova: malé a střední podniky, finanční management, obchodní rizika, finanční rizika, management finančních rizik, úvěrové riziko, vliv
socioekonomických faktorů na řízení rizik
The full version of the Habilitation Thesis may be found at the Central Library of TBU in Zlín.
ISBN 978-80-7454-675-4
ABSTRACT
This study examines the important factors of financial and credit risks of SMEs, including such important areas as payment behavior of business partners (counterparty default risk), field of export financing and differences in approach to financial risk management by groups of the entrepreneurs defined by the selected factors (gender, level of education and age). The main objective of the study is to present new theoretical insights and define the relevant factors for the financial risk management in the SMEs segment.
The Habilitation Thesis brings new scientific knowledge based on a comprehensive analysis of the attitudes of entrepreneurs in defined areas and according to defined criteria. Quantification of the relationships of the various constructs in the researched areas of financial risk were also a part of the results.
This scientific study has defined significant attitudes of the entrepreneurs in the field of financial risk, quantified their impact on the business environment, and explored the interconnections between the defined structures. A significant finding is the fact that poor access to external finance for SMEs can be improved by the modification of several major barriers in the field of financial risk. Despite of the significance of the need of credit sources for SME enterprises the level of knowledge about the loan terms and conditions is relatively low. Another partial scientific knowledge may be the fact that the assessment of the attitudes of entrepreneurs in the segment of SMEs in terms of gender loses its significance in terms of the modern society. An important theoretical finding in the context of its quantification is a relatively low intensity of the export potential of these firms in the context of the low knowledge of the offered forms of minimizing of the financial risk on the part of the state. Another significant theoretical knowledge is a finding that, despite the significant degree of ignorance of the principles or rules for the activities of the relevant institutions, the measure of the optimism of entrepreneurs in relation to their knowledge and capabilities in the field of financial risk management is quite high.
The results of the presented research imply that it is needed to innovate and upgrade many of the activities, that state and/or the commercial banks are focusing on the entrepreneurs in the SMEs segment in order to optimize their implementation into economic and banking practice. The research results point to the need to standardize and organize a system for financial risk management in the activities of SMEs. Company owners or top executives in companies should hold the responsibility for the establishment of a functional system for financial risk management in the company (processes, methods and tools) and operational work of the system, which would be carried out by people with the necessary theoretical knowledge and practical experience.
ROZŠÍŘENÝ ABSTRAKT V ČESKÉM JAZYCE
Malé a střední podniky mají pro světovou ekonomiku nesmírný význam, protože podporují konkurenceschopnost hospodářských systémů a přímo i nepřímo ovlivňují také velké společnosti, a to zejména v oblasti zvyšování efektivity a inovací (Pavelková et al. 2009). Podniky v tomto segmentu významně určují stav a vývoj hlavních makroekonomických ukazatelů zemí s tržní ekonomikou. MSP, jejichž podíl na celkovém počtu podniků se ve většině zemí EU pohybuje mezi 97 až 99% (SBA, 2015), generují přibližně 80% nových pracovních míst (Evropská komise, 2011) a ve většině případů více než 50%
ekonomické přidané hodnoty.
Turbulentní změny, které zásadním způsobem ovlivňují celou ekonomiku světa, mají zásadní vliv na vývoj národních ekonomik. Vzhledem k neodmyslitelné roli segmentu malých a středních firem v tržně orientovaných ekonomikách je aktuální otázkou zmírnění vlivu těchto turbulencí na tuto z podstaty zranitelnější skupinu podnikajících subjektů. Rozvoj udržitelného mezinárodně integrovaného hospodářství zaměřeného na výrobu a export zboží a služeb s vyšší přidanou hodnotou vyžaduje existenci vhodných a účinných nástrojů podpory podnikatelů v oblasti řízení rizik a financování mezinárodních obchodních operací. Aktuální tendence ve vývoji světové ekonomiky v posledním desetiletí potvrzují, že komparativní výhody v podobě zvýšené atraktivity podnikatelského prostředí pro získávání zahraničních investic a know-how, sofistikovanější organizace vnitřních procesů v podnicích, lepší dostupnosti bankovních úvěrů pro MSP, dostupného přístupu domácích podniků k externím finančním zdrojům nebo jiným rozvojovým prostředkům, uplatnění výhod znalostí místního prostředí a rozšiřování obchodních partnerství začínají získávat dominantní postavení na mezinárodních trzích (Balaz, Hamara, Sopková, 2015).
Tato habilitační práce zkoumá důležité faktory finančního a úvěrového rizika malých a středních podniků, se zaměřením na riziko finančního selhání protistrany (oblast platební morálky obchodních partnerů), oblast exportního financování a významné rozdíly v přístupu k řízení finančních rizik u skupin podnikatelů, definovaných na základě vybraných sociodemografických faktorů (pohlaví, úroveň vzdělání a věk). Hlavním cílem práce bylo představit nové teoretické poznatky a definovat relevantní faktory pro řízení finančního rizika v segmentu malých a středních podniků.
Úvodní kapitola habilitační práce vymezuje zkoumaný segment malých a středních podniků a deskriptivním způsobem definuje ekonomický a sociální význam tohoto segmentu podnikatelských subjektů pro ekonomiku jednotlivých zemí. Malé a střední podniky mají řadu zvláštních charakteristik, které souvisejí s jejich velikostí. Mezi hlavní charakteristiky patří mimo jiné nižší stupeň diverzifikace, nízká kapitálová přiměřenost, vyšší úroveň rizika, ale také vyšší flexibilita a užší kontakt se zákazníky (Fetisovová et al., 2012). Jejich menší velikost jim umožňuje realizovat rychlejší rozvojové strategie, často založené na
agresivnější podnikatelské orientaci, což je dělá zodpovědnými za inovace a hospodářskou soutěž v mnoha hospodářských odvětvích (Anderson a Eshima, 2013). Většina autorů konstatuje, že mezi faktory, které významným způsobem omezují rozvoj MSP, patří primárně přístup k externím zdrojům financování a implementace systému řízení finančních rizik (Ardic a kol., 2012, Behr and Guttler, 2007, Cheng a Tang, 2012, Gambini and Zazzaro, 2013, Majková, 2008, Jakubec a kol., 2012, Mueller a Zimmermann, 2009, Shi, 2012, Steinerowska- Streb a Steiner, 2014 atd.). Omezení působení těchto limitujících faktorů na MSP může významným způsobem přispět k ekonomickému růstu tržně orientovaných ekonomik.
Další subkapitola je věnována problematice podnikatelských rizik. Pro účely předmětného výzkumu byla zvolena klasifikace podnikatelských rizik definována Fetisovovou a kol. (2012), která je komplementární s většinou existujících klasifikačních přístupů a zahrnuje strategická rizika, operační rizika, finanční rizika, sociální a politická rizika a reputační rizika. Významná pozornost je věnována oblasti finančních rizik, se zaměřením na riziko financování, úvěrové riziko, riziko likvidity, riziko změny úrokových sazeb, měnové riziko, riziko inflace a riziko selhání protistrany. Výsledky literární rešerše ukázaly, že riziko financování, úvěrová a likviditní rizika patří do skupiny nejběžnějších a nejčastěji se vyskytujících rizik, které ovlivňují každodenní provoz podniků. Z tohoto důvodu byl následný výzkum zaměřen na vliv definovaných socioekonomických faktorů na tyto tři komponenty finančního rizika.
Vztah mezi finančním a úvěrovým rizikem a definovanými socioekonomickými faktory je zkoumán velkým množstvím autorů (např. Belás a kol., 2016, Bougheas a kol, 2006, Bottazzi a kol., 2014, Dong a Men, 2014, Hernández-Cánovas a Martínez-Solano (2010), Lazányi (2014), Oliveira a Fortunato (2006), Pickernell a kol. (2011), Riding a kol., 2012, Vos a kol., 2007).
Habilitační práce obsahuje rozsáhlou literární rešerši, zaměřenou na vliv pohlaví, věku a úrovně dosaženého vzdělání na jednotlivé aspekty finančního rizika MSP.
Přestože větší počet autorů věnuje svou pozornost vlivu takových faktorů, jako je pohlaví, úroveň vzdělání a věk na podnikatelské chování, jejich výsledky nepřinášejí komplexní pohled na to, jak finanční riziko ovlivňuje rozhodnutí společností na Slovensku a které komponenty finančního rizika jsou v tomto regionu nejdůležitější.
Vědecké otázky, hlavní cíle, dílčí cíle a vědecké hypotézy habilitační práce jsou definovány ve druhé kapitole. Vědecké otázky jsou věnovány vlivu finančního rizika a rozsahu vlivu jeho jednotlivých komponentů na rozhodování podniků, zjišťování, zda je riziko financování nejdůležitějším komponentem finančního rizika a vyvozování vědeckých závěrů, které mohou byt přínosem pro rozvoj managementu finančních rizik. Habilitační práce obsahuje pět hlavních a 27 dílčích vědeckých hypotéz, které pokrývají oblast vlivu finančního rizika a jeho komponentů na řízení podniků i v kontextu ekonomické krize, vztah mezi finančním rizikem a jeho determinanty, oblast kreditního rizika a externího
financování MSP, rozsah využití bankovního financování, dodržování úvěrových podmínek a jejich náročnosti a transparentnosti, vztah mezi kreditním rizikem a jeho determinanty. Třetí hypotéza je věnována oblasti platební disciplíny, platební neschopnosti a insolvence, a zkoumání závislosti mezí platební neschopností firem a platební disciplínou jejich obchodních partnerů. Další zkoumanou oblastí je exportní potenciál slovenských podniků a státní podpora exportních aktivit, včetně povědomí podnikatelů o podporovaných nástrojích exportního financování. Poslední hypotéza je zaměřená na sebeevaluaci podnikatelů ve vztahu k jejich schopnostem řízení finančního rizika, se zaměřením na tvorbu finanční rezervy a aplikaci finančních nástrojů minimalizace finančního rizika.
Třetí kapitola popisuje aplikované metodologické postupy a empirické údaje, které byly použity k ověření souboru vědeckých hypotéz. Výzkum je založen na empirickém dotazníkovém šetření, které proběhlo na Slovensku v roce 2016. Na základě vyhodnocení počtu a struktury respondentů ve vztahu k základnímu souboru bylo potvrzeno, že datový vzorek, který obsahuje 438 záznamů, splňuje požadavky na stochastický výběr, že údaje jsou reprezentativní a mají spolehlivost 95%. Struktura vzorku se blíží základnímu souboru dat co se týče četnosti výskytu malých, středních a velkých firem na Slovensku, jejich regionální struktury a odvětvovému zaměření. Údaje získané na základě kvantitativního výzkumu byly následně vyhodnoceny pomocí nástrojů deskriptivní a analytické statistiky. V kontextu nástrojů deskriptivní statistiky byly použity procentní podíly, průměry a další relevantní ukazatele. Oblasti analytické statistiky představovaly nástroje Pearsonovy statistiky aplikované na 5% hladině významností za účelem ověření existence statisticky významných závislostí a rozdílů mezi vybranými faktory.
Statisticky významné rozdíly v individuálních reakcích byly dále zkoumány pomocí Z-skóre. Souvislost mezi závislou proměnnou, která byla definována na základě příčinné souvislosti, a nezávislými proměnnými byla analyzována pomocí regresních modelů.
Čtvrtá kapitola prezentuje výsledky výzkumu a nové vědecké poznatky založené na komplexní analýze postojů podnikatelů ve vymezených oblastech a to podle definovaných kritérií. Práce definuje významné postoje podnikatelů v oblasti finančního rizika, kvantifikuje jejich dopad na podnikatelské prostředí a zkoumá propojení mezi definovanými strukturami. Výsledky práce zahrnují kvantifikaci vzájemných vztahů různých konstruktů ve zkoumaných oblastech finančního rizika. Kapitola je členěna do pěti základních částí věnovaných verifikaci příslušných hlavních a dílčích hypotéz.
Finanční riziko intenzivně ovlivňuje podnikatelské prostředí malých a středních podniků na Slovensku. Tento názor projevilo 82% respondentů s tím, že vnímání úrovně intenzity finančního rizika ve všech definovaných skupinách podnikatelů bylo shodné. Výsledky výzkumu odhalily tři nejvýznamnější komponenty finančního rizika v podnikatelském prostředí MSP na Slovensku, ke kterým patří špatná platební disciplína nebo nedostatečná solventnost obchodních partnerů (42%), nedostatek finanční podpory ze strany vlády (22 %) a špatný
přístup k externímu financování (11%). Pozitivní zprávou pro slovenské prostředí MSP je, že se nepodařilo vědecky prokázat, že nejvýznamnějším komponentem finančního rizika je riziko vnějšího financování. Dokonce 36% podnikatelů souhlasilo s názorem, že na finančním trhu je dostatek peněz pro externí financování malých a středních podniků. Na druhé straně vnímá 53% zástupců malých a středních podniků existenci určitých překážek v přístupu k externímu financování intenzivně. V podnikatelském prostředí dále dle očekávání převládá názor, že intenzita finančního rizika se během krize zvýšila.
Bankovní úvěry představují významnou formu externího financování malých a středních podniků na Slovensku. 62% podnikatelů, kteří se zúčastnili prezentovaného výzkumu, potvrdilo využívání bankovních úvěrů k financování své podnikatelské činnosti. Podnikatelé v posledních letech vnímají významný růst úvěrového rizika a zároveň intenzivně pociťují existenci překážek v procesu získávání úvěrových prostředků. Přístup bank je z pohledu podnikatelů poměrně rigidní. Pouze 33% respondentů souhlasilo s názorem, že banky akceptují finanční potřeby malých a středních podniků a pomáhají jim v jejich podnikatelských aktivitách. Z pohledu 62% podnikatelů aplikují banky příliš přísná kritéria při poskytování podnikatelských úvěrů. Významná většina podnikatelů zároveň považuje úvěrovou politiku bank za netransparentní. Na základě regresní analýzy byla potvrzena existence významné statistické souvislosti mezi hodnocením intenzity úvěrového rizika a postojem podnikatelů k existenci překážek v procesu hodnocení žádosti o bankovní úvěr a vnímání náročnosti a transparentnosti úvěrových podmínek.
Platební disciplína obchodních partnerů představuje významný problém v segmentu malých a středních podniků, což potvrdilo 67% podnikatelů. Více než 83% podnikatelů v minulosti zaznamenalo výskyt pohledávek po splatnosti a 65%
z nich potvrdilo, že hospodářská krize způsobila zhoršení situace v oblasti platební disciplíny. 30% respondentů přiznává existenci problémů s vlastní platební disciplínou, kde jako primární důvod jejího vzniku uvádí sekundární platební neschopnost.
Podnikatelé ze segmentu malých a středních podniků na Slovensku se primárně zaměřují na domácí trh jako na cílový region pro prodej zboží a služeb. Existenci exportního potenciálu produktů a služeb slovenských malých a středních podniků vnímá pouze 48% podnikatelů. Podnikatelé obecně negativně hodnotí státní podporu exportních aktivit, kdy pozitivní pohled na tuto problematiku demonstrovalo pouze 13% z nich. Poměrně alarmujícím zjištěním je, že slovenští podnikatelé v segmentu malých a středních podniků vesměs nevyužívají nástroje pro snížení finančního rizika. Pouze 26% podnikatelů se domnívá, že exportní financování prostřednictvím evropských bank s finanční podporou ze strany státu představuje významnou konkurenční výhodu při vývozu produktů do méně rozvinutých zemí. Výsledky regresní analýzy ukazují, že exportní potenciál malých a středních podniků závisí na přiměřené podpoře ze strany státu,
intenzivním využívání nástrojů ke snížení finančního rizika a financování vývozu ze strany zahraničních bank.
Významným vědeckým poznatkem je zjištění, že existuje možnost rozšíření aktuálně omezeného přístupu malých a středních podniků k externím zdrojům financování pomocí modifikace některých významných překážek v oblasti finančního rizika. Navzdory významu potřeby úvěrových zdrojů pro malé a střední podniky je úroveň znalostí o podmínkách pro jejich poskytování poměrně nízká. Dílčím vědeckým poznatkem je skutečnost, že vliv pohlaví na hodnocení postojů podnikatelů v segmentu malých a středních podniků ztrácí z hlediska moderní společnosti svůj význam. Důležitým teoretickým nálezem v kontextu jeho kvantifikace je poměrně nízká intenzita exportního potenciálu MSP v kontextu nízké znalosti nabízených forem minimalizace finančního rizika ze strany státu. Dalším významným teoretickým poznatkem je zjištění, že navzdory významnému stupni ignorování principů či pravidel činnosti příslušných institucí v oblasti řízení finančních rizik, nedostatečné tvorbě finančních rezerv ke krytí rizik a nízké míry aplikace finančních nástrojů k minimalizaci finančních rizik na dostatečné úrovni, je míra optimismu podnikatelů ohledně svých znalostí a schopností v oblasti řízení rizik poměrně vysoká.
V habilitační práci se podařilo potvrdit všech pět hlavních hypotéz. Platnost 10 dílčích hypotéz byla verifikována u všech definovaných skupin podnikatelů. V patnácti případech byla platnost dílčích hypotéz potvrzena pouze pro vybrané skupiny podnikatelů. Výzkum potvrdil existenci rozdílů v postojích podnikatelů podle pohlaví, vzdělání a věku, a že tyto postoje mají objektivní základ vzhledem k povaze příslušného dílčího kritéria.
Výsledky práce jsou konfrontovány s výzkumy jiných autorů v další kapitole, která se člení na sedm základních subkapitol, věnovaných intenzitě působení finančního rizika na Slovensku, oblasti bankovních a nebankovních úvěrů, platební neschopnosti, exportní orientaci podniků, schopnostem v oblasti řízení finančních rizik, vlivu vybraných faktorů na vybrané komponenty finančního rizika, a vzájemným vztahům mezi jednotlivými komponenty finančního rizika.
Výsledky předloženého výzkumu naznačují, že je zapotřebí inovovat a modernizovat mnohé z aktivit, které stát a/nebo obchodní banky zaměřují na podnikatele v segmentu MSP s cílem optimalizovat jejich implementaci do ekonomické a bankovní praxe. Výsledky výzkumu poukazují na potřebu standardizovat a organizovat systém řízení finančních rizik na úrovní MSP.
Majitelé nebo vrcholoví manažeři podniků by měli být odpovědní za vytvoření funkčního systému pro řízení finančního rizika ve společnosti (procesy, metody a nástroje), provozovaného odborníky s potřebnými teoretickými znalostmi a praktickými zkušenostmi.
CONTENT
ABSTRACT ... 3
ROZŠÍŘENÝ ABSTRAKT V ČESKÉM JAZYCE ... 4
1. INTRODUCTION ... 11
2. ACTUAL STATE OF THE ART IN A FIELD OF STUDY ... 13
2.1 Small and medium-sized enterprises ... 13
2.2 Business Risks of SMEs ... 16
2.2.1 General definition of business risks ... 16
2.2.2 Literature research on partial business risks ... 18
2.3 Influence of the selected factors on financial risks ... 18
2.3.1 Influence on the entrepreneurship ... 18
2.3.2 Influence on the financial risk ... 19
2.4 Summary of the current state of research in the field ... 19
3. OBJECTIVES, SCIENTIFIC QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES ... 21
4. APPLIED METHODOLOGY, DATA AND PROCEDURES ... 25
5. THE MAIL RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ... 32
5.1.1 Evaluation of the scientific hypotheses ... 32
5.1.2 Intensity of financial risk in the SME segment in Slovakia ... 36
5.1.3 Bank loans and credits ... 37
5.1.4 Insolvency in Slovakia ... 39
5.1.5 Export orientation of the companies ... 41
5.1.6 Ability to manage the financial risks ... 42
5.1.7 Influence of the selected factors on the selected fields of financial risks 42 5.1.8 Interconnection between the selected aspects of the financial risk . 45 6. CONCLUSION ... 47
6.1.1 The main theoretical and practical contribution ... 47
6.1.2 The main contribution to teaching and academic experience ... 48
REFERENCES ... 49
AUTHORS PUBLICATIONS ... 61 AUTOR’S CV ... 68
1. INTRODUCTION
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are of a great importance for the world economy because they promote competitive dynamics of the economic systems, and directly and indirectly influence large companies, especially in the field of increasing of efficiency and innovations (Pavelková et al., 2009).
Enterprises in this segment significantly determine the status and evolution of major macroeconomic indicators (especially GDP and employment).1
Turbulent changes that substantially influence the entire economy of the world have a major impact on the development of national economies. It is being confirmed that an increase of their own competitiveness and the promotion of their "international acceptability and viability" becomes an inevitable part of a progress of each national economy and of its ability to go forward in a period of turbulence. The country that declares the growth of its own competitiveness as its main objective must unconditionally involve in the process of international labor division in order to effectively use its own comparative advantages through their application on the international markets on one side, and by the absorption of the missing or insufficient comparative advantages of the other countries inevitably needed for the securing of its economic growth through the import on the other (Balaz, Hamar Sopková, 2015).
Development of the sustainable internationally integrated economy, producing and exporting the goods with the higher value added, requires the existence of the suitable and effective instruments of the support of entrepreneurs in the field of risk management and financing of the international trade operations. Actual tendencies in the development of the world economy in the last decade confirm that such newly acquired comparative advantages as an effective attraction and implementation of foreign investment and know-how, more sophisticated organization of the internal processes in the enterprises, better availability of loans for small and medium-sized enterprises, an access of domestic enterprises to external financial sources or other development resources, applications of advantages of knowledge of the local environment and an expansion of business partnerships are beginning to gain the dominance on the international markets (Balaz, Hamar Sopková, 2015).
Strong and prosperous market economy is significantly correlated with an existence of extensive middle class in a society, the decisive leaders of which are
1According to the data of the European Commission (2011) SMEs have created approximately 80% of new jobs in the medium term. Slovak Business Agency (SBA, 2015) reported that the share of SMEs in the total number of enterprises is 99.9%, while the absolute number of SMEs is 565,241 in Slovakia. The majority them are micro- enterprises with the total number of 548,330 (96.9%) business units. 14,158 (2.5%) belong to the category of small entreprises, and 2,753 (0.5%) are medium-sized enterprises. The share of large enterprises is 0.1%. In comparison with the previous year in 2014 the number of the legal entities in the group of SMEs increased by 8% and the share of individual entrepreneurs decreased by 3.3%. In 2014 Statistical Office of Slovakia reported a slight annual increase of active SMEs by 0.3%. Small and medium-sized entreprises are providing jobs for 72.7% of the active workforce and are intensively involved in creation of 53.3% of added value in the economy.
individual, small and medium-sized entrepreneurs. It is a segment of a corporate sector, which generates a significant proportion of added value and ensures a high share of total employment. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to all aspects of the economy and management of small and medium-sized enterprises (Fetisovová et al., 2012). The development of small and medium entrepreneurship is one of the preconditions of healthy and sustainable economic development of the country (Majková, 2012).
This work examines the important factors of financial and credit risks of SMEs, including such important areas as payment behavior of business partners (counterparty default risk), field of export financing and differences in approach to financial risk management by groups of the entrepreneurs defined by the selected factors (gender, level of education and age).
This monograph has a following structure. The introductory chapter summarizes the actual state of the art and the expert opinions in the field of small and medium-sized enterprises, related with the area of business risks in general, and financial risks in particular. Special attention is paid to the selected parts of financial risk, including funding, credit, liquidity risks, risk of a change of interest rates, currency risk and a risk of inflation, counterparty default risk, and risks in the field of export financing, their impact on the enterprises, business practices, and an economy in general. This chapter also covers a problematics of an influence of the selected factors (gender, level of education, age or length of doing business) on the entrepreneurship and on selected fields of financial risk.
Main and the partial objectives of the monograph and scientific hypotheses are defined in a second chapter. The third chapter presents applied methodological procedures and empirical data that were used to verify the set of scientific hypotheses. The results of the research, discussion on these issues and conclusions of the research problems are presented in the last three chapters.
Presented scientific monograph has an ambition to bring new scientific knowledge and implications in the field of financial risk management, that can be applicable not only in a business environment, but also in educational and academic spheres.
2. ACTUAL STATE OF THE ART IN A FIELD OF STUDY
2.1 Small and medium-sized enterprises
Definitions of a category of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are usually based on a number of employees, and varies in the different regions. For example, the definition of SMEs in South Africa limits the number of employees at the level of 200 (Du Toit et al., 2011). United States Small Business Administration standards are more complex, and define SMEs in accordance to the specific criteria in relation to the industry, ownership structure, revenue and number of employees, which is typically limited to 500, but in some cases reaches the level of 1500. EU definition of SMEs is described in the EU recommendation
# 2003/361, where the main factors determining whether an enterprise belongs to the SME category are staff headcount (up to 250 employees), and either turnover or a total value of balance sheet. Micro companies are defined as the companies with up to 9 employees, small companies employ between 10 and 49 employees, middle-sized companies employ 50 to 249 employees, and finally large enterprises employ more than 250 persons. Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises form a special interconnected group of companies due to the substantial similarities of their characteristic features.
SMEs are considered to be one of the most important and valuable part of the world economy (Badulescu, 2010; Karpak and Topcu, 2010), and as the most important engine of an economic growth (Henderson and Weiler, 2010). 99 % of all companies in the USA and the European Union belong to a category of SMEs (Bhaird, 2010). While according to the data from Slovak business agency the share of SMEs in Slovakia reaches the value of 99.9 % of the total number of enterprises, their share of state’s value added is about 53 %. SMEs employ more than 72% of labor force in this country. The situation in the Czech Republic is similar, while the share of small and medium-sized enterprises on the total number of active business entities in the Czech Republic in 2013 was 99.83%, the share in value added was 55 %, and a share of SMEs’ employees on total employment in business sector in the Czech Republic in 2013 reached the value of 60 % (Ministry of Industry and Trade, 2014).
The role that Small and medium-sized enterprises play in each economy worldwide is extremely important. SMEs outstandingly outnumber large companies in the most countries, and concurrently employ a significantly larger amount of people. It is argued that a vibrate SME sector is a foundation of economic growth of the country, which will ultimately lead to the overall development of the standard of living by lowering unemployment (Jahur and Quadir, 2012). Most of the experts agree that SMEs not only significantly contribute to the growth of employment and growth of Gross Domestic Product, but also carry out other social and economic duties (Shuying and Mei, 2014;
Karpak and Topcu, 2010, Henderson and Weiler, 2010). According to Mathur
(2011) this group of enterprises plays an essential role in financing of a welfare of local communities, in sport and cultural life in the regions, while the absence of SMEs in the region has a substantial effect on existing social structures. An importance of SMEs in providing employment across countries cannot be underestimated, especially taking into consideration the fact that in addition to employing the largest number of people in aggregate, SMEs generate the largest number of new jobs.
International Finance Corporation (2013b) declares the areas of job creation and economic growth through the development of the private sector to be the primary focus areas for policy makers worldwide in order to overcome the consequences of the global financial and economic crisis.
Small and medium sized enterprises have a number of specific characteristics that are related to their size. Main characteristics include lower degree of diversification, low capital strength, limited markets and higher risk level, but also a higher level of flexibility and closer contact with customers (Fetisovová et al., 2012). Larson and Shaw (2001) highlight a concise nature of these enterprises by defining the following characteristics: 1. mostly family-owned with family members working in the business, 2. driven by one person, 3. located primarily in rural areas, 4. involved in trading and manufacturing, 5. characterized by multiple start-up and failure rates, 6. founded primarily by women, and 7. operated on a small basis with low income earnings.
Smaller size of SMEs allows them to realize more rapid development strategies, often based of more aggressive entrepreneurial orientation, which also makes them responsible for driving innovation and competition in many economic sectors (Anderson and Eshima, 2013). SMEs are more flexible and when they find any new opportunities they hire new employees to penetrate the market (Blackburn et al., 2013).
According to Cheng and Tang (2012), Shi (2012) and Majková (2008) a weak capital power and a degree of credit worthiness belong to the group of most important problems in the field of SME’s financing.
Lack of formal finance and credit constraint has become one of the main problems for SMEs. Mueller and Zimmermann (2009) stated that a lack of an access to formal financial sources is a great constraint especially for smaller companies. Insufficient financing is one of the most important barriers for young entrepreneurs in Slovakia (Jakubec et al., 2012), while the lack of finance is considered to be a main problem for the growth of SMEs (Steinerowska-Streb and Steiner, 2014). A team of researchers from the World Bank performed a cross- country analysis of SMEs access to finance and stated that it is strongly correlated with their growth (Ardic et al. 2012). The research by Gambini and Zazzaro (2013) identified a positive effect of bank lending, a dominant form of external financing used by SMEs in Germany (Behr and Guttler, 2007), on the growth of SMEs. Availability of credit information and bank concentration ratio have a significant impact on SME financing.
While banks are representing the main source of financing for SMEs in most countries of the world, general characteristics of SMEs tend to discourage banks from investing in small companies, and thus, they prefer to focus their lending activities on a segment of larger enterprises instead, resulting in a worsening of the conditions under which SMEs have to obtain their much needed financing (Chiou et al., 2012). Commercial banks usually assume that their owners and management of SMEs are not eager to provide complete and truthful information about their companies willingly enough, and therefore, an information gap created by this assumption on one side, and a real unwillingness on the other side creates a consistent problem for providing loans to those firms (Ramlee and Berma, 2013). These authors declare that a lack of management skills, lack of market power, high information gap and very limited knowledge about business management is mainly responsible for a lack of access to finance for the owners of SMEs.
Berger and Udell (2002, 2005) state that SMEs are more informationally opaque, and it is quite difficult to evaluate the prospects of their growth in comparison to larger companies. This finding leads to a need of considering of alternative lending techniques in case of this segment financing, and to the assumption of an increased level of financial and credit risks for them. High information asymmetry which is typical for SMEs and which is associated with small business loans makes it difficult to lend money to a small business (Rahman et al., 2016). Kozubikova et al. (2015a) stated that small firms are credit rationed most of the time and suffer from a lesser access to finance from all available financial institutions, but especially from the banks.
The issue of small and medium-sized enterprises financing is being discussed on the different levels, and became one of the key themes for the European Union.
The aftermath of a financial crisis and subsequent economic recession still persist in some member states, while European institutions are still looking for ways to facilitate an access of SMEs to finance and to offer them new ways of funding that would be an alternative to traditional bank loans (Ministry of Industry and Trade, 2014).
Significant disadvantage of SMEs in a form of restricted access to external financing (bank loans and other forms of external financing) is mostly caused by high risk level of these firms, because they are generally characterized by a high degree of indebtedness and limited capability to provide the guarantee for their commitments; due to this fact the obtaining of commercial loans is problematic for them (Ključnikov et al, 2016). This may also be the reason why SMEs acquire loans under less favorable conditions, even in case that they present viable and profitable business plans (Májková, 2012). This opinion was also presented by many other authors, including Ozturk and Mrkaic (2014), Kundin and Erecgovac (2011) etc.
Besides the factors, caused by the small and medium-sized enterprises themselves, their economic situation is highly dependent on the events, that they
cannot influence or cause. For instance, several authors devote their studies to the research of an impact of financial crisis on the concerned segment of entreprises.
During the period of financial or economic crisis, the credit spread between large and small companies usually intensifies due to a higher risk perception of the most of SMEs, as it was presented above, and that perception usually leads to a trend of denial for credit for this segment. The increased borrowing costs for SMEs increase the probability of their default and hence, make them more vulnerable in a period of financial distress (Ardic et al., 2012, Casey and O. Toole, 2014, Kundin and Erecgovac, 2011, Ozturk and Mrkaic, 2014). Increasing bank funding costs are associated with higher interest rates for SMEs but not for large firms (Ozturk and Mrkaic, 2014).
The situation of SMEs may differ from country to country. For instance, the evaluation of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic generally state that Czech SMEs do not have substantial problems with an access to bank financing (Ministry of Industry and trade, 2014). On the other hand, Czech entrepreneurs indicate that they perceive a restricted access to external financial resources and intensive influence of market risk, that allows to characterize their business conditions as challenging (Ključnikov et al, 2016).
2.2 Business Risks of SMEs
2.2.1 General definition of business risks
Generally, risk can be defined as any situation, where results are not known with certainty (Chavas, 2004, Shadbolt et al., 2010). According to Smejkal and Rais (2003) the uncertainty of the outcome, which is a characteristic feature of a risk, means the existence of at least two variants of the results or outcomes of the specific action or situation, while at least one of the possible outcomes is undesirable. OECD (2008) defines the risk as the uncertainty occurring in various forms, including a potential loss of money, events with the potential harmful effects on health and other types of events negatively affecting a human being.
Fetisovová et al. (2012) define the risk as a quantified uncertainty.
The term business risk was addressed by many authors, who presented several complementary approaches. For example, Veber (2004) perceived business risk as a risk of failure, which is, however, associated with the hope to achieve good economic results. Fotr and Hnilica (2009) defined business risk as the possibility that the actual business results will deviate from the expected results, while these deviations may be desirable (towards higher profits) or undesirable (towards loss), or the results will be different in size (deviations from small to large scale variations). Bartošová and Chodasová (2012) and Belanova (2012) further defined two essential components of business related risks - business risk and financial risk – where business risks were integrated into financial risk. Bekefi and Epstein (2016) described business risk as any event or action that will adversely affect an organization’s ability to achieve its business objectives and
successfully execute its strategies, and stated that this risk relates to the probability that exposure to a hazard will have negative consequences.
Jolly (2003) used a wider classification, and defined 5 main types of business risks: strategic risk, associated with the operations of that particular industry, arising from the business environment (interaction of buyers and sellers, changes in supply and demand, competitive structures and introduction of new technologies, transaction (assets relocations, mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs, alliances and joint ventures) and investor relations; financial risk, associated with the financial structure and transactions of the particular industry; operational risk, associated with the operational and administrative procedures of the particular industry; compliance or legal risk, associated with the need to comply with the rules and regulations of the government and other risk of the different nature.
Fotr and Hnilica (2009) and Lusková et al. (2013) classify business risks into the following categories: production risk, economic risk, market risk, financial risk, credit risk, legislative risk, political risk, environmental risk, personnel risk, information risk and force majeure.
Classification of Fetisovová et al. (2012) is complementary with Jolly (2003), but differs in some aspects, while it defines the categories of the business risks as follows: strategic risks, operational risks, financial risks, social-political risks and reputation risks.
While business risks comprise almost every aspect of doing business, the companies should actively implement and use the techniques and instruments of risk management in order to reduce or eliminate them. Definition of risk management by Urciuoli and Crenca (1989) describes it as a process intended to safeguard the assets of a company against losses that may hit it in the exercise of its activities, through the use of instruments of various kinds (prevention, retention, insurance, etc.) and in the best cost conditions. Head (2009) defines it as a process of planning, organizing, directing, and controlling resources to achieve given objectives when unexpected good or bad events are possible.
Verbano and Venturini (2013) insist that all enterprises need to adopt risk management strategy and methodology to identify, assess and treat risks, in order to survive on the market. While large enterprises do usually have a well-developed risk management, and are applying risk limiting instruments (futures, forwards, factoring, credit insurance, receivables insurance etc.), SMEs do not often know that these instruments exist (Belás et al., 2014). Adásková (2009) confirmed this statement by the results of her research in the field of risk management, that showed that 76% of the polled companies usually address the risk via an intuitive approach, only 36.5% of them used set risk management systems, 33% used emergency plans and only 24% had a designated person responsible for risk management. In the situation when SMEs suffer from resource limitations, they need to respond promptly to both internal and external hazards which have the potential to cause enormous losses and even insolvency of the organization (Raghavan, 2005). In order to compete on the global market, to be competitive
and successful, to protect the innovativeness of delivering projects SMEs need to continuously make the decisions with a high level of risk (Vargas-Hernández, 2011). Moreover, due to the prevalence of deregulations and market liberalization, SMEs encounter more uncertainties and challenges which make the SMEs’
owners and managers to consider risk management as an integral part of the business management in order to keep the firms viable and productive (Yeo and Lai, 2004).
Business risk is very complex, and includes several partially interconnected and interacting with each other types of risk. Due to the fact that classification of business risks by Fetisovová et al. (2012) is belongs to the most complex ones, and is complementary with most of the presented approaches, it was selected as the basic, and therefore the next subchapters present a closer description of its integral parts, including strategic risks, operational risks, financial risks, social- political risks and reputation risks.
2.2.2 Literature research on partial business risks
The full version of the habilitation thesis includes a detailed literature research focused on such partial business risks as the strategic risk, operational risk, financial risk (including the detailed research on the funding risk, credit risk, liquidity risk, risk of a change of interest rates, currency risk, risk of inflation, counterparty default risk), social and political risks, reputational risks, and risks in the field of export financing,
2.3 Influence of the selected factors on financial risks 2.3.1 Influence on the entrepreneurship
An influence of the selected factors on specific aspect of entrepreneurship in general is a subject of a large number of scientific studies. For example, Minniti and Nardone (2007) examined different socioeconomic variables, including education and age, in relation to entrepreneurial startups, and found that, such social and economic variables as a level of education, age or unemployment do play an important role in determining the entrepreneurial behavior for males and females.
Relationship between the financial and credit risk and the defined factors was a subject of several research studies (e.g. Belás et al. (2016), Bougheas et al.
(2006), Bottazzi et al. (2014), Dong and Men (2014), Hernández-Cánovas and Martínez-Solano (2010), Lazányi (2014), Oliveira and Fortunato (2006), Pickernell et al. (2011), Riding et al. (2012), Vos et al. (2007)). Sector of small and medium-sized enterprises is generally riskier for the providers of an external capital due to a shorter history, higher volatility of profitability and lower level of transparency of SMEs. This statement was confirmed by McCarthy et al. (2015) who declared that SMEs are usually less transparent, present the lack of financial data in the loan process, which makes them riskier for the banks. On the other side
SMEs have a problem with the transparency of bank loan conditions. Belas et al.
(2016) found that most of the entrepreneurs evaluate bank conditions in relation to loans as not transparent, while the presentation of this opinion does not differ in relation to such factors as age, level of education of the entrepreneurs and their firms’ age, while only approximately 25% of the entrepreneurs agreed with the statement that banks provide loans to SMEs under transparent conditions. On top of that, the authors did not find significant influence of the age, gender and level of education of the entrepreneurs on the opinion that better knowledge of loan conditions gives a better access to credit and better price options.
2.3.2 Influence on the financial risk
The full version of the habilitation thesis includes a detailed literature research focused on the influence of gender, level of education and age on the different aspects of the financial risk.
2.4 Summary of the current state of research in the field
Literature research, presented in the previous chapters, reliably confirmed that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are of a great importance for the world economy, due to the fact that they promote competitive dynamics of economic systems, and directly and indirectly influence large companies, especially in the field of increasing of efficiency and innovations (Pavelková et al., 2009), are considered to be one of the most important and valuable part of the world economy (Badulescu, 2010; Karpak and Topcu, 2010), and as the most important engine of economic growth (Henderson and Weiler, 2010). SMEs outstandingly outnumber large companies in the most countries, and concurrently employ a significantly larger amount of people.
SMEs are also highly dependent on the events, that they cannot cause, and thus are highly affected by the different components of business risk, which is defined e.g. as any event or action that will adversely affect an organization’s ability to achieve its business objectives and successfully execute its strategies, and stated that this risk relates to the probability that exposure to a hazard will have negative consequences (Bekefi and Epstein, 2016), is very complex, and includes several partial interconnected and interacting with each other types of risk. This monograph relies on the classification of business risks by Fetisovová et al.
(2012), which is complementary with most of the presented approaches, and includes such components as the strategic risks, operational risks, financial risks, social-political risks and reputation risks.
Special attention was paid to the literature research of the most important parts of the financial risk, including funding risk, credit risk, liquidity risk, risk of a change of the interest rates, currency risk, risk of inflation, counterparty default risk, social, political and reputational risks and the risks in the field of export financing.
Many authors focus their attention on the research of the influence of the selected socioeconomic variables including gender, level of education, age and others on the entrepreneurship in general, and financial and business risks in particular, and found that some of them do play an important role in determining the entrepreneurial behavior.
Literature research confirmed that among all of the components of business risk funding risk, credit risk and liquidity risk belong to the group of most common and most frequent ones, with the most significant impact on the day to day operation of any company in the world. Although a larger number of authors devote their attention to the impact of such factors as gender, level of education and age their results do not bring a comprehensive look on how the financial risk influences the decisions of the companies in the current time period in Slovakia, and which components of financial risk are the most important in this region. This monograph evaluates the perception of financial risk components by the individual groups of entrepreneurs in terms of gender, level of education and age, and focuses on the enhancement of the financial risk management.
3. OBJECTIVES, SCIENTIFIC QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES
Critical analysis of relevant literature sources in the researched area brought the formulation of fundamental scientific questions:
SQ1: How does financial risk influence the decisions of the companies in the current period, and which components of the financial risk are the most important?
SQ2: Is the funding risk the most important component of the financial risk?
How are the other parts of financial risk perceived by individual groups of entrepreneurs in terms of gender, level of education and age?
SQ3: Is it possible to define adequate scientific conclusions, that can contribute to the enhancement of financial risk management?
Based on the defined scientific questions the main objective of this scientific study was identified as follows:
The main objective of the study is to present new theoretical insights and define the relevant factors in the area of financial risk management in SMEs.
Partial objectives of the study are:
to define the important factors of financial risk of SMEs and to quantify its intensity and strength in the current business environment of SMEs;
to analyze and quantify the significant factors of credit risk of companies;
to examine the payment discipline of firms;
to analyze and quantify the significant factors of export-financing of the companies;
to quantify the significant differences in the approach to the management of financial risk according to defined groups of entrepreneurs;
to examine the links between defined factors of financial risk.
During the preparation of this scientific work these scientific hypotheses were defined by using the estimation techniques:
H1: Entrepreneurs in the SME segment intensively perceive the influence of financial risk, which manifests itself in various forms. The intensity of financial risk increased during the crisis.
H1a: Financial risk intensively acts in a business environment. This opinion is shared by at least 70% of entrepreneurs. There are no statistically significant differences in the perception of the intensity of financial risk by gender, level of education and age of the entrepreneur.
H1b: The risk of external financing of companies is the most significant component of financial risk. This attitude is presented by at least 60% of entrepreneurs. There are no statistically significant differences in the perception of the intensity of risk of external financing by gender, level of education and age of the entrepreneur.
H1c: The importance of financial risk has increased during the crisis. This attitude is presented by at least 60% of entrepreneurs. There are no statistically significant differences in the perception of an increased importance of the
financial risk during the crisis by gender, level of education and age of the entrepreneur.
H1d: There is a relationship between the intensity of financial risk (FR, dependent variable) and its determinants: sufficient amount of money available for the financing of SMEs (DP), barriers of external financing (EF) and an impact of the crisis on financial risk of the company (VK).
H2: Bank loans represent an important form of external financing for SME.
Entrepreneurs experience barriers and difficult access to external funding. The importance of credit risk in the banking sector has increased as a result of the crisis and the banks are applying strict lending conditions. Entrepreneurs do not consider credit policies of banks as transparent.
H2a: At least 60% of entrepreneurs in SMEs segment uses bank loans. There are no statistically significant differences in the use of bank loans by businesses in relation to gender, level of education and age of entrepreneur.
H2b: The importance of credit risk has increased as a result of the crisis. This position is presented by a minimum of 60% of entrepreneurs. There are no statistically significant differences in assessment of the significance of credit risk between the entrepreneurs by gender, level of education and age.
H2c: Entrepreneurs are of the opinion that they have many difficulties with the fulfilment of loan conditions. This opinion is shared by at least 60% of entrepreneurs. There are no statistically significant differences between the entrepreneurs by gender, level of education and age.
H2d: Not more than 40% of entrepreneurs holds the opinion that banks accept their financial needs and help them in doing business. There are no statistically significant differences between the entrepreneurs by gender, level of education and age.
H2e: According to entrepreneurs’ opinion banks apply too tuff criteria in the process of lending. This opinion is shared by at least 60% of entrepreneurs. There are no statistically significant differences between the assessment of the entrepreneurs by gender, level of education and age.
H2f: According to entrepreneurs’ opinion banks do not use transparent criteria in the process of granting a loan. The view that the lending criteria are transparent is shared by a maximum of 40% of entrepreneurs. There are no statistically significant differences between the entrepreneurs by gender, level of education and age.
H2g: Evaluation of the intensity of credit risk (FR) depends on the attitudes of entrepreneurs to the existence of obstacles in a process of evaluation of a loan application (PUR), the perception of the severity (UC) and transparency (UP) of credit terms and conditions from the point of view of entrepreneurs.
H3: Insolvency is a major problem in the segment of SMEs. A significant portion of companies in the segment of SMEs are having problems with the payment of their obligations.
H3a: A minimum of 60% of entrepreneurs have experienced problems with the payment discipline of their customers. There are no statistically significant differences between the entrepreneurs by gender, level of education and age.
H3b: More than 60% of entrepreneurs have financial claims after the due date.
The crisis has had an impact on the amount and value of the overdue claims. This opinion is shared by at least 60% of entrepreneurs. There are no statistically significant differences between the entrepreneurs by gender, level of education and age.
H3c: More than 30% of businesses have issues with their own payment discipline. The main reason is the secondary insolvency. There are no statistically significant differences in the pattern of answers by gender, level of education and age of the entrepreneurs.
H3d: Problems with payments of the entrepreneurs are significantly conditional on poor paying discipline of their customers.
H4: The segment of SMEs in Slovakia is characterized by the production of products mainly for the domestic market. Entrepreneurs do export their products to a lesser extent, perceive their export potential as low, assess the government support for export as an unreasonable and do not use the tools of export financing.
H4a: Less than 50% of SMEs in Slovakia export their products abroad. More than 60% of their export is directed towards the countries of the European Union.
There are no statistically significant differences in the pattern of responses by gender, level of education and age of the entrepreneurs.
H4b: Less than 50% of Slovak SMEs plan to export their products abroad in a short future. There are no statistically significant differences in the pattern of responses by gender, level of education and age of the entrepreneurs.
H4c: Export potential of SMEs in Slovakia is lower than 50%. There are no statistically significant differences in the pattern of responses by gender, level of education and age of the entrepreneurs.
H4d: Less than 30% of SMEs assesses the government support to export as appropriate. There are no statistically significant differences in the pattern of responses by gender, level of education and age of the entrepreneurs.
H4e: Less than 30% of SMEs intensively use the tools of reduction of financial risk. There are no statistically significant differences in the pattern of responses by gender, level of education and age of the entrepreneurs.
H4f: Less than 30% of SMEs present the opinion that export financing through European banks with the financial support from the government represents a significant competitive advantage in relation to export of the products to less developed countries. There are no statistically significant differences in the pattern of responses by gender, level of education and age of the entrepreneurs.
H4g: Less than 30% of SMEs in Slovakia have used the services of Eximbanka in the past. There are no statistically significant differences in the pattern of responses by gender, level of education and age of the entrepreneurs.
H4h: There is a relationship between potential of SMEs and adequate support from the government, application of the tools of reduction of financial risk and export financing options from European banks by the entrepreneurs.
H5: Entrepreneurs positively assess their own ability to manage financial risk in their private companies despite the fact that they do not form financial reserves to cover their reserves and insufficiently use financial instruments to minimize financial risk.
H5a: Entrepreneurs think that they can properly manage finance in their companies. This view has been presented by at least 60% of them. There are no statistically significant differences in the pattern of responses by gender, level of education and age of the entrepreneurs.
H5b: Entrepreneurs reduce the financial risks by creation of financial reserves.
This position is confirmed by a maximum of 40% of them. There are no statistically significant differences in the pattern of responses by gender, level of education and age of the entrepreneurs.
H5c: Entrepreneurs use financial instruments to minimize financial risk. This position is confirmed by a maximum of 20% of them. There are no statistically significant differences in the pattern of responses by gender, level of education and age of the entrepreneurs.
H5c: The assessment of the ability to properly manage financial risk depends on the creation of financial reserves and the use of instruments in order to minimize the credit and currency risk.
Confirmation or rejection of the above mentioned hypotheses through the chosen scientific methods is a part of this scientific monograph. The defined hypotheses are closely related to the main and intermediate (partial) objectives of the monograph, while their confirmation or rejection is important for the formulation of the conclusion of this scientific study.
4. APPLIED METHODOLOGY, DATA AND PROCEDURES
Literature research, which included the procession of more than 170 current international and domestic literary sources, the vast majority of which was published in the respectable sources, including the ISI Web of Science and Scopus, was the first step in handling of the scientific objectives of the presented research.
In the context of preparation of the monograph the methods and techniques of qualitative and quantitative research were utilized.
The issues of financial risks of SMEs were investigated through qualitative and quantitative research methods. Implementation of qualitative research methods allows to define the basic (essential) determinants of systems, processes and approaches to risk management of financial risk of SMEs, existing relationships and key success factors. Quantitative research methods allow to measure and accurately compare the processes and their results with the similar processes and results in the works of the other authors.
Along with the methods and techniques of qualitative and quantitative research the empirical and logical methods were applied as well.
Empirical methods are based on an examination of objectively existing reality in the real world, which is characterized by a rich range of colors, causes, contexts and consequences. These methods allow to determine the specific and unique features of the system and compare them with other specific and unique properties of another system. The presented monograph includes the results of the own research in the area of business risks in Slovakia.
A method of observation was mainly used in the context of empirical methods.
This means that the behavior of individual systems, which are the main object of examination, was tracked on purpose, and the results of these observations were confronted with defined objectives and hypotheses of the monograph.
The logical methods based on the use of principles of logic and logical thinking were also applied in the monograph.
The committed research study uses paired-logical methods of abstraction – concretization, analysis-synthesis and induction – deduction.
Abstraction represents the thought process, in which the author explores the essential general characters of the object, which allows to set aside the characteristics, features and background and abstract characters from the system, process, information, and so on and so for. This method has been used in defining the scientific issues, objectives and hypotheses of the monograph. The own field of research have been defined on the basis of the current state of research in the critical areas and components of financial risk of SMEs, and the field of export financing.
Concretization presents the opposite logical procedure, under which the well- known characteristics and features of the similar objects are assigned to the
examined object. This method was used in the process of evaluation of the methods and procedures in relation to financial risks management in the environment of SMEs.
Analysis is the process of mental division of the researched phenomenon, subject or process into separated individual parts. It represents the procedure of movement from a whole to its individual parts that allows to get to know the characteristic and essential features of the processes, phenomena and information.
Analytical methods were applied in the process of evaluation of the accuracy and quality of the presented approaches in the field of financial risks management.
Synthesis represents a logical method of the researcher, where the procedure begins from the evaluation of the individual parts, which means that the total picture is growing gradually from the individual parts, and reveals the new context. This method was used in the process of a design of a model of theoretical- methodological approach to the financial risk management of SMEs.
Induction is a methodological approach, in which a general conclusion is defined on the basis of partial knowledge, that means the transition from the individual conclusions to a general conclusion.
Deduction represents the opposite logical procedure of the researcher, when the conclusions are formulated from the general plane to individual partial conclusions. The research is based on known, verified and generally applicable conclusions and these are applied to newly examined cases.
All defined research methods were gradually applied in the framework of the monograph in interconnected combinations, while maintaining a balanced approach to their usage, without the unilateral preferences to particular methods, since such an approach could mean a significant distortion of the results.
The data obtained through the quantitative research were evaluated using descriptive and analytic statistics tools. In the context of instruments of descriptive statistics percentages, averages, and other relevant indicators were applied. The area of analytical statistics was represented by the instruments of Pearson´s statistics for the evaluation of the perception of various attributes of financial risk management in the SMEs environment in Slovakia.
In the framework of the research Pearson´s Chi-square test was used in order to determine whether there are statistically significant deviations between the compared data files and theoretical frequencies.
Chi-square test (a good match test) is defined as follows. In the context of scientific research, the hypothesis H0: πi= πi, 0, where i = 1, 2, …, K (K is a number of categories) and ∑πi,0 = 1, is tested towards the alternative hypothesis H1: H0 is not valid. If the constants πi, 0 are equal then the null hypothesis can be expressed as H0: π1 = π2 = … = πk. For nπi, 0 ≥ 5 we apply the Chi-square statistics given by the relation:
χ2 = (1)
