Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, 2014 (vol. 62), issue 4

Certification of Corporate Social Responsibility. The Case Study of India

Eva Abramuszkinová Pavlíková, Marcela Basovníková

Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2014, 62(4), 605-611 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201462040605  

Corporate social responsibility is in the focus of many companies in recent years. It becomes a way of sustainability for many companies on the market. It expresses a voluntary commitment of companies to behave responsibly to their surroundings within three pillars: economic, social and environmental one. The issue of social responsibility is developing in many European countries and European Commission is aiming at supporting national CSR strategies. CSR activities can be focused on philanthropy, the care of the employees, the environment and transparency of economic activities. This paper describes the certification process for CSR, namely SA8000...

Carbon Dioxide Emissions as an Indicator of Reduction of Negative Externalities Related to Road Motor Vehicle Operation

Břetislav Andrlík

Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2014, 62(4), 613-621 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201462040613  

This contribution deals with issues of carbon dioxide emissions generated by road motor vehicles in the Czech Republic and the European Union. We discuss the current need for the introduction of environmental features to the system of taxation of motor vehicles, aiming at the mitigation of harmful substances emitted into the atmosphere. The most harmful substance produced during the combustion of hydrocarbon fuels by motor vehicles is CO₂, whose emissions are subsequently used as an instrument for green tax reforms in the European Union member states.In this article we define the main EU legal standards regulating harmful substances...

Loss in Public Budget from Sportsmen's Employment in the Czech Republic

Břetislav Andrlík, Jana Vrtalová

Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2014, 62(4), 623-632 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201462040623  

The article deals with issues of taxation of sportsmen in the Czech Republic. Categories of sportsmen are defined in the theoretical introduction, divided into amateurs, semi-professionals and professionals. These categories are then linked to specific sections of Act on Income Taxes, which are applicable to the taxation of sports activity. The theoretical part is followed with quantification of income tax, social security and health insurance, using a model example with various levels of taxable incomes. All the calculations apply both to the situation where the sportsman assumes the position of an employee, i.e. he has an employment contract, and...

Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Performance in the Airline Industry in Central and Eastern Europe

Roman Asatryan, Olga Březinová

Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2014, 62(4), 633-639 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201462040633  

This paper contributes to the knowledge on corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of by businesses and its ability to influence their financial performance. Consequently, the main objective is to examine the relationship between CSR and financial performance in the airline industry in Central and Eastern Europe. The paper does not attempt to establish causality between CŚR and financial performance. The paper attempts to contribute to the existing knowledge in the field by examining the extent to which CSR relates to financial performance of airline firms. A sample of 20 audited financial statements of airline firms were selected randomly....

Factors That Influence the Selling of Milk Through Milk Vending Machines

Hana Doležalová, Kamil Pícha, Josef Navrátil, Aneta Bezemková

Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2014, 62(4), 641-650 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201462040641  

The aim of this paper is to assess the current situation in the sale of milk through vending machines in the context of the previous period of the decline in milk consumption, the transition of the Czech Republic towards the market economy, the transformation of agriculture, the entry into the EU and the concentration in the milk market and to define the basic motivational factors and barriers of the development of this distribution path. Technical problems with sales, intent to diversify milk selling and aiming the high profitability of the sale are the reasons for operating vending machines that are correlated with the share of this selling channel...

Assessing the Status of Purchase in the Value Chain

Ekaterina Khitilova, Marie Jurová

Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2014, 62(4), 651-658 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201462040651  

The present paper is concerned with the following questions: what are the advantages and disadvantages of the method of complex evaluation (MCE) scoring model as compared with that designed by Tomek. Both scoring models are compared (MCE and Tomek) presenting the results using a simple illustrative case study. The criteria for evaluating the scoring model variants include: the amount of information necessary, level of difficulty, details of the results, the object comparison. A single illustrative case study is used. This paper is concerned with presenting the scoring model for evaluating the existing suppliers in the first instance for production...

Characteristics of an Insert Product Placement as a Part of Marketing Communication

Jan Kramoliš, Martina Kopečková

Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2014, 62(4), 659-666 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201462040659  

The paper defined saturation of an insert product placement as a part of marketing communication. Product placement is known as a modern tool of marketing communication and so that product placement and its types and forms are not so casual used in the Czech Republic as in other parts of the world. The mentioned issues are explained from the perspectives of three groups: TV studios experts, directors and producers and other experts (media agencies and advertisers). Types and forms of this marketing communication tool as well as options of its utilization are also mentioned in the paper.The Czech Republic market where product placement occurs is...

Limits of I-models Principles Application on Czech SMEs' Internationalization Process

Lea Kubíčková

Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2014, 62(4), 667-676 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201462040667  

Internationalization process of small and medium sized enterprises is examined often in an effort to get detailed description of particular stages of this process. There are many authors who deal with the internationalization process theories. The most popular theory is so-called Uppsala Model (Johanson, Vahlne, 1977). Very popular is also a group of models based on theory of innovations, called I-models (Bilkey, Tesar, 1977). These models are based on the idea that the process of internationalization is gradual, sequential process built on innovative decisions relating to new company's needs, possibilities or new resources. The aim of this paper is...

Impact of Working Capital Management on Sales of Enterprises Focusing on the Manufacture of Machinery and Equipment in the Czech Republic

Zdeněk Motlíček, Dana Martinovičová

Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2014, 62(4), 677-684 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201462040677  

A method of managing working capital significantly affects the performance of enterprises. It is be possible to assume that this influence might vary with the sector and economic cycle. The paper presents an empirical research which aims to identify individual links between working capital and company's sales. The results indicate a relatively strong positive correlation of these variables or their individual components. Findings complement the gap in the literature written by both Czech and abroad authors since the issue is not widely discussed. The research presented in this paper was carried out on medium-sized enterprises located in the Czech Republic...

Pro-active Behaviour in Context of Team Climate

Ladislav Pilař, Jitka Pokorná, Tereza Balcarová

Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2014, 62(4), 685-695 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201462040685  

Employees are considered to be the main source of creativity, innovation, change and development of the enterprise, which can be considered as key success factors. However, if the company climate does not encourage employee activity, development may slow or stagnate. This article focuses on the possibility of prediction of personal initiative and employee silence based on quantification of the team climate. Relationships between constructs (1) "Team climate" and (2) "Pro-active Behaviour" are evaluated on the basis of Exploratory and Confirmatory factor analysis. All factors of the construct "Team climate": (T1) Future olrientation, (T2) Peer support...

Efficiency Evaluation of Hospitals in the Environment of the Slovak Republic

Stanislav Sendek

Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2014, 62(4), 697-706 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201462040697  

The paper applies the Data Envelopment Analysis as a deterministic non-parametric method based on the linear programming, to measure the efficiency of Slovak hospitals based on input and output performance. Managing physician or hospital practice patterns is an important tool to reduce health care costs. State-run hospitals, as decision-making units working in an operating healthcare system of the country, might have some excess resources in the process of providing care. It is also e-health tools which might contribute to the cost containment in them, enhancing finally the quality of patient care in the overall assessment.

Risk - Cash-flow Evaluation of the E-Health Implementation Project in the Slovak Republic

Stanislav Sendek

Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2014, 62(4), 707-718 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201462040707  

The aim of this paper is to present a risk-cash flow evaluation of the E-Health/Health-IT implementation project in the Slovak Republic. The paper is focused on the economic modelling in the E-Health environment. The costs of E-Health implementation in Slovakia, as demonstrated by foreign examples and studies, are expected to be overrun by cumulated benefits in medium to long term.The processes in the investment activities are characterized by different alternative cost and/or benefit entries in terms of financial inputs and outputs. Four computer simulations based on the Latin Hypercube sampling method are applied to evaluate potential financial...

The Conceptual Scheme for Managing University Stakeholders' Satisfaction

David Schüller, Vít Chlebovský, Karel Doubravský, Vladimír Chalupský

Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2014, 62(4), 719-727 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201462040719  

Universities have to face many changes in the sector of higher education caused by the current dynamic development in this sector. With the decline in state support, increased competition and unfavourable demographic progress, universities are forced to establish and improve their relationships with new and existing stakeholders. Research on relationships among universities and stakeholders has historically focused on the different factors and their influence on improving stakeholder satisfaction with the quality of university services and on strengthening cooperation. Some studies are focused on stakeholders' classification according to their importance...

GDP Structure and Economic Performance in Sub-Saharan Countries

Luboš Smutka, Karel Tomšík

Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2014, 62(4), 729-747 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201462040729  

Africa belongs to important regions of the world economy with specific problems distinguishing this part of the world from other regions. The region is suffering because of limited economy structure and high level of poverty. Low economic performance ranks most of African countries among the worldwide poorest ones (both from the point of view of total economy performance and also individuals living standards); the development is hindered by political instability and also by other accompanied problems as high level of corruption, deficit of democracy, low level of education, limited investments, criminality, local conflicts, civil wars etc. On the other...

Formalized Planning and Its Connection With the Development of Reverse Logistics: the Case of Services

Radoslav Škapa

Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2014, 62(4), 749-755 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201462040749  

The best-in-class companies are able to retrieve 64 per cent of the original value of reverse flows, whereas it is only 12.5 per cent in average companies. Thus, reverse logistics is a challenge that may bring additional benefits. The article analyzes the planning range of reverse logistics in the Czech service companies, and it further notes the relations between planning and other characteristics of a company. Our results indicate that the ability to recognize different connections of reverse flows in business (opportunities, threats as well as strengths and weaknesses) is one of the important factors that affect the advancement of reverse logistics...

Using Neural Networks for Determining Velocity Vectors of Air Flow Visualized by Helium Bubbles

Jiří Šťastný, Jan Richter, Petr Šťastný

Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2014, 62(4), 757-768 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201462040757  

One of the important characteristics of air flow is the velocity of flow. To determine the speed, in addition to other methods, we also use the helium bubbles seeding visualization method, when bubbles are injected into the air stream so that the air flow is obvious to the eye. If a video of such flow is taken, it is possible to determine velocity vectors in a pair of consecutive frames of this video footage, derived from the change in position of individual bubbles.This article describes a method of monitoring the bubbles in consecutive video frames. During this process, helium bubbles are detected in the first image of the pair, either by a firmly...

Neural Network for Determining Risk Rate of Post-Heart Stroke Patients

Oldřich Trenz, Milan Sepši, Vladimír Konečný

Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2014, 62(4), 769-776 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201462040769  

The ischemic heart disease presents an important health problem that affects a great part of the population and is the cause of one third of all deaths in the Czech Republic. The availability of data describing the patients' prognosis enables their further analysis, with the aim of lowering the patients' risk, by proposing optimum treatment. The main reason for creating the neural network model is not only to automate the process of establishing the risk rate of patients suffering from ischemic heart disease, but also to adapt it for practical use in clinical conditions. Our aim is to identify especially the specific group of risk-rate patients whose...

Economic Performance of SME Agricultural Producers in the Context of Risk Management: Focus on Visegrad 4 Member Countries

Jan Vavřina, Dana Martinovičová

Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2014, 62(4), 777-782 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201462040777  

The long term regulation of the EU agrarian sector via the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and its respective instruments focuses on the sustainable development both of the agriculture and rural area as a whole. It is needed above all to stress out the equalization instruments of CAP within the context of negative impacts' diminish of outer sectorial environment in relation with the economic status of agricultural businesses, specifically the small and medium ones. The EU programming period of years 2014-2020 is focused from the view point of the agrarian sector on more efficient CAP to encourage the competitiveness of European farmers. The aforementioned...

Comparison of Consumer Behavior of Slovaks and Czechs in the Market of Organic Products by Using Correspondence Analysis

Martina Zámková, Martin Prokop

Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2014, 62(4), 783-795 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201462040783  

This article aims to collect information related to organic farming. It also deals with the assessment and comparison of shopping behaviour in the organic food market in the Czech and Slovak Republics. Respondents from the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic were addressed within the marketing research - survey and potential factors that could affect young people when buying organic products were formulated. There were also established recommendations to retailers of organic products on how to promote the sales of this item to the young generation of Czechs and Slovaks.For statistical data processing we used correspondence analysis and contingency...

Possibilities of Evaluation of the Recreational Potential of Close to Nature Watercourses

Ivana Lampartová, Jiří Schneider

Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2014, 62(4), 799-809 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201462040799  

Creation of close-to-nature river beds is one of the results of watercourses revitalization. Watercourses are segments in the country increasing its recreational potential.The recreational potential of watercourses contributes to rich diversity of animal and plant species. They are well-preserved natural environment with a different atmosphere and an interesting psychological effect. The current goal of revitalization measures in the landscape primarily consists of the optimization of landscape water regime, incl. flood control measures and the promotion of biodiversity, but the current philosophy speaks of multifunctional land usage. However, the...

Analysis of Tourism and Agrotourism Management in the Czech Republic and Austria

Eva Šimková

Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2014, 62(4), 811-824 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201462040811  

The paper discusses the importance of rural tourism and sustainable rural areas development. It highlights the role of tourism in dealing with problems of rural areas and agriculture sector in the Czech Republic. After theoretical description of a system approach to rural tourism development, the author continues by a practical part where she compares tourism and agrotourism management in the Czech Republic and Austria. Austria has been chosen as a representative of a state with developed tourism system and tourism management. Selected aspects of management systems are then compared and proposed for improvement in tourism/agrotourism. Critical key...