Tomáš Peráček

Flexibility of the employer’s ability to manage human resources during the several-month “lockdown” due to the COVD-19 pandemic has proven crucial to the survival of a Slovak company. However, this flexibility, unlike other contractual relationships, is strictly regulated by the Slovak Labor Code. Given the scope of the problem, the paper focuses only on issues related to the possibility of creating and changing employment in the Slovak Republic, which must be addressed by the management of all companies. The main purpose of the study is to assess flexibility in creating and changing employment. In processing this managerial issue, analysis, synthesis, deduction, and comparison are used. It was found that the Slovak Labor Code is flexible enough and fulfills its purpose. Despite its flexibility, it also provides an employee with the necessary protection in employment relations and allows him, in agreement with an employer, to grant more rights than he himself guarantees. However, in the current information age, it does not allow for electronic conclusions of legal acts and still prefers the paper form. Another disadvantage is the finding that it does not regulate the institute of a management contract, which objectively causes problems between the employer and the manager, especially in the issue of stability of a managerial position. 

Acknowledgment
This scientific paper was created within the project VEGA [1/0320/21] “The Role of Universities in Building the Knowledge Economy” and was supported by funds from Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Management.

The integration of the Slovak Republic into the European Union and the globalization process create conditions that significantly reduce barriers to entry into particular markets, but, on the other hand, enhance the intensity of competition. The relevance of the study lies in the extent of the European Union’s support for the effectiveness of innovation activities in Slovakia. This paper investigates the influence of endogenous and exogenous factors on the competitiveness of Slovak enterprises over the period 2006–2018. The study is aimed at determining the causal relationship of factors that determine the competitiveness of enterprises. To investigate the relationship between the endogenous and exogenous factors, the Granger causality method is used. Mathematical models are used to identify the relationship between innovation expenditures on the one hand and different types of innovation activity with market expansion on the other. The results of the study provide a statistically significant relationship between the performance measured by the percentage of revenues of enterprises that have introduced innovations with a two-year lag and the concentration measured by the total R&D expenditure of an enterprise. The results of this study should also be used to ensure that, in the case of the Slovak SME sector, R&D expenditure is a significant driver of innovation in enterprises, as innovation in enterprises is expected to improve the quality of products and services, increase profits and expansion in domestic and foreign markets.

Acknowledgment
This paper has been supported by funds of the project VEGA No. 1/0240/20 and VEGA No. 1/0813/19 Managing the development of innovative and start-up forms of businesses in international environment and verification of INMARK concept, which has received funding from the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic.