Abstract
Family businesses began to emerge in Slovakia after the change of social establishment in 1989, and since then they represent a significant group of business entities with a significant contribution to the economy, and have significant growth potential. Innovations have become a driving force for the future opportunities of these companies. Based on empirical research, this paper aims to identify the innovation activities of small and medium-sized family businesses in Slovakia and to determine their impact on the company’s economic results. We can state that out of small and medium-sized family businesses included in the survey, 76.5% have implemented innovations in the last five years. We use statistical tests to verify the research hypotheses. We can state that there is a statistically significant relationship between the size of the company and the number of types of introduced innovations, as well as between the generation running the company and the number of types of introduced innovations. Second-generation family businesses can, therefore, be considered more innovative than first-generation family businesses. We investigate the impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic on innovation activities in these companies. It is interesting that in 30.6% of family businesses the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic positively affected their innovation activities.
Highlights
In economically developed countries, family businesses are a significant part of business entities, which make a considerable contribution to the creation of the country’s gross domestic product and creation of job opportunities
We describe and interpret the results of the questionnaire survey aimed at identifying innovation activities of small and medium-sized family businesses in Slovakia
Three–four family members most often work in the surveyed family businesses, and 53.1% of family businesses are still run by the first-generation, 46.9% of family businesses are run by the second-generation
Summary
Family businesses are a significant part of business entities, which make a considerable contribution to the creation of the country’s gross domestic product and creation of job opportunities. In the Slovak Republic, family businesses represent a new developing form of business, which was reintroduced in the country after 1989 (Strazovska et al 2019; Rafajova and Pafco 2017) and is associated with the onset of a market economy. Their creation was conditioned by the gradual disintegration of state-owned enterprises, which resulted in problems with ensuring work and income for former employees. Businesses should help the stability and economic independence of families
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