Model of sustainability of SMEs in V4 countries

This is an Open Access a icle dis ibu ed unde he e ms o he C ea i e Commons A ibu ion License (h p://c ea i ecommons.o g/ licenses/by/4.0/), which pe mi s un es ic ed use, dis ibu ion, and ep oduc ion in any medium, p o ided he o iginal au ho and sou ce a e c edi ed. Copy igh © 2024 The Au ho (s). Published by Vilnius Gediminas Technical Uni e si y ISSN 1611-1699 / eISSN 2029-4433 2024 Volume 25 Issue 2 Pages 226–245 h ps://doi.o g/10.3846/jbem.2024.20729 MODEL OF SUSTAINABILITY OF SMEs IN V4 COUNTRIES Ka a ina ZVARIKOVA 1, Jan DVORSKY 1, Ja osla J . BELAS 2, Zdenko METZKER 3 1Depa men o Economics, Uni e si y o Zilina, Zilina, Slo akia 2Facul y o Social and Economic Rela ions, Alexande Dubcek Uni e si y in T encin, T encin, Slo akia 3Facul y o Managemen and Economic, Tomas Ba a Uni e si y in Zlin, Zlin, Czech Republic A icle His o y: Abs ac . The esea ch’s objec i e was o de elop a ho ough model o he iabili y o SMEs in he V4 coun ies based on p ede e mined a iables. The ollowing ac o s we e de ined: human esou ces managemen , business e hics, co po a e social esponsibili y, company dig- i alisa ion, en i onmen al conside a ions, inancial managemen , and sus ainabili y o SMEs. The model was de eloped on he solid empi ical esea ch ca ied ou in he Viseg ad Fou coun ies in June 2022 by he enowned ex e nal agency MNFORCE using a sample o 1,398 esponden s and he “Compu e Assis ed Web In e iewing” echnique. Acco ding o he e- sea ch, he de eloped complex model o SMEs’ sus ainabili y depending on he lis ed c i e ia is s a is ically signi ican . Each in es iga ed ac o has a a ou able impac on SMEs’ sus aina- bili y. The s udy’s indings suppo ed he no ion ha he en i onmen al aspec s o he busi- ness ha e he s onges posi i e impac on he long- e m sus ainabili y o SMEs. The s udy’s indings indica e ha he managemen o human esou ces, inances, and he deg ee o dig- i alisa ion o SMEs signi ican ly in luence he iabili y o businesses. The indings p o ide an impo an pla o m o manage s esponsible o he sus ainabili y o he SME segmen a he wo ldwide le el (In e na ional council o small business), na ional le el (pa icula ly o V4 na ions), as well as ins i u ions suppo ing SMEs and SME owne s. ■ ecei ed 26 Ap il 2023 ■ accep ed 18 Decembe 2023 Keywo ds: small and medium en e p ises, SME sus ainabili y model, human esou ces managemen , e hics in business, CSR, digi isa ion o companies, en i onmen al aspec s, inancial managemen . JEL Classi ica ion: L26. Co esponding au ho . E-mail: [email p o ec ed] JOURNAL o BUSINESS ECONOMICS & MANAGEMENT 1. In oduc ion I companies wan o inc ease he e iciency o hei ope a ion and be compe i i e, hey mus change hei ocus om p o i -only o sus ainabili y (El-Kassa & Singh, 2019; Abdul-Rashid e al., 2017; Ok ęglicka & Pichugina, 2021; Khan e al., 2023), which also helps o shape he quali y o he business en i onmen (Cepel, 2019). Due o he signi ican con ibu ion ha small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) make o he global economic sys em (Me zke & Z a iko a, 2021), his opic is now he subjec o heo e ical s udy and p ac ical solu ions. Sus ainabili y ep esen s a complex and mul i-dimensional concep (Kiba-Janiak e al., 2022). Economic, social, and en i on- men al conside a ions a e all in eg a ed in o one concep (Elking on, 1994) and hese a iables should be in a dynamic equilib ium wi h a mul iplie impac . Howe e , many s udies look a he p oblem o sus ainabili y h ough he lens o sepa a e esponsibili ies o a e no add essed in de ail (Abdul-Rashid e al., 2017; Wije hilake & Lama, 2019). De- Jou nal o Business Economics and Managemen , 2024, 25(2), 226–245 227 spi e he g owing in e es o manage s in implemen ing sus ainabili y in p ac ice, many companies canno de ine sus ainabili y in he con ex o hei business (Lu e al., 2022; Sil es e e al., 2022). P oblems wi h p ope implemen a ion in SMEs a e mos o en ela ed o he ac ha hey y o apply p ocedu es cha ac e is ic o la ge companies wi hou conside ing hei capi al, esou ce o pe sonnel limi s (Belas J . e al., 2021), and ha e insu icien con ic ion and knowledge abou sus ainabili y (Jansson e al., 2017). E en hough SMEs ace a lo o challenges nowadays, he e a e s ill ewe s udies on SMEs’ sus ainabili y han he e a e on la ge co po a ions (Yumei e al., 2021; Suo o, 2022). Due o his, he uniqueness o his s udy esides in he ac ha i is concen a ed on building a ho ough model o SMEs’ sus ainabili y based on business iewpoin s. The esea ch iden i ies and quan i ies he aspec s ha a ec a company’s sus ainabili y based on p e ious li e a u e esea ch and own au ho ’s expe ise (e. g. Z a iko a e al., 2023; Rozsa e al., 2022; Belas e al., 2021; e c.). The o iginali y o he s udy lies in he subjec i e a i udes o en ep eneu s om he coun ies o Cen al Eu ope (The Viseg ad g oup) ega ding he signi icance o he selec ed ac o s on he SMEs’ sus ainabili y. The model is based on a ques ion- nai e su ey, which p o ides subjec i e opinions o en ep eneu s abou he in luence o indi idual ac o s on he sus ainabili y o hei business. Acco ding o he au ho s’ bes knowledge, mos s udies a e o ien ed on he pe cep ion o sus ainabili y om he cus ome s, employees, o o he s akeholde s’ poin o iew, no en ep eneu s and i he en ep eneu s’ a i udes a e inco po a ed in he s udy, hey ep esen only one ac o o sus ainabili y (e.g. Mag izos e al. (2021), who made quali a i e esea ch on CSR o 10 SMEs). Howe e , in he case o SMEs, en ep eneu s a e he bea e s o manage ial and decision-making unc ions (Alonso-Almeida e al., 2018; Amoah e al., 2021). They se he business di ec ion and a e o en he ole models o hei employees (Z a iko a e al., 2023; Cheng e al., 2022). Based on his knowledge, we conside hei app oach o sus ainabili y as c ucial. Finally, we mus no o ge ha al hough SMEs a e ela i ely he e ogeneous (e.g., na ional con ex , sec o o company size), in many espec s, hey a e s ill homogeneous (e.g., he in luence o he en ep eneu ’s pe sonal cha ac e is ics on business managemen , in o mal ela ionships, e c.) (Vi ie , 2013). The li e a u e esea ch o p e ious s udies e eals ha sus ainabili y issues do no p o ide a ho ough e alua ion, which cons i u es a signi ican heo e ical issue. Thus, he c ea ion o a heo e ical model and i s subsequen alida ion may con ibu e no jus o he la ge discou se on he p oblem o SME sus ainabili y. I can also ha e subs an ial e ec s on economic policymake s inside he Viseg ad G oup. The s uc u e o he a icle is as ollows: The impo an disco e ies ha cha ac e ise he scien i ic gap a e desc ibed in he heo e ical pa , which analyses and summa ises exis ing case s udies in he esea ch using a c i ical lens. The esea ch me hodology and objec i e a e explained in he nex sec ion. I includes he echnique o cons uc ing a ques ionnai e (Table 1), he me hodology o collec ing da a, as well as he c ea ion o s a is ical hypo heses and me hods o e i ying hem. The s udy’s indings a e p esen ed in he hi d chap e . The sec ions ha ollow con ain he discussion o he esea ch, which includes a summa y o majo indings and a compa ison wi h o he signi ican s udies aimed a sol ing he p oblem. Key empi ical indings, heo e ical and p ac ical conse- quences, and u u e esea ch goals a e included in he conclusion. 228 K. Z a iko a e al. Model o sus ainabili y o SMEs in V4 coun ies 2. Li e a u e e iew Sus ainabili y should no be conside ed an impedimen o he SMEs´ compe i i eness, mo e- o e , he indings o Lopez-To ez (2022) p o e ha he sus ainabili y o SMEs has a consid- e able bene icial in luence on hei compe i i eness in many ways. Based on his knowledge, we mus be awa e o he ac o s which a e ele an o his opic and hei signi icance. En i onmen al and social ini ia i es ha e his o ically been seen as ma ginal in sus aina- bili y. Howe e , oday hey a e implemen ed in co po a e s a egies wi h a di ec impac on he le el o p o i (G ewal e al., 2021), cus ome sa is ac ion and loyal y (Sou o, 2022; Dabija e al., 2022), business pa ne s (Klies ik e al., 2023; Sha iq e al., 2017), isk o bank up cy (Michalko a e al., 2022), o employees hemsel es (Mi chell & Walinga, 2017; Van Bu en III, 2022). Fu he mo e, in pa icula , social pe o mance is la gely neglec ed in he p o essional li e a u e (Buyukozkan & Ka abulu , 2018; Yasin e al., 2022), al hough acco ding o Yasin e al. (2022), whe he Alonso-Almeida e al. (2018), i is conside ed he co ne s one o e e y business. On he con a y, en i onmen al esponsibili y has he mos conno a ions in he p o essional li e a u e ela ed o i s mo e ob ious impac on sus ainabili y (Cheng e al., 2022). Wi hin he amewo k o social esponsibili y in he con ex o SMEs, publica ions mainly ocus on employees (Alonso-Almeida e al., 2018), as he mos impo an capi al o any com- pany. Nowadays, companies ha e di icul y inding an adequa e wo k o ce wi h he necessa y compe encies and expe iences (Sou o, 2022; Belas & Rahman, 2023), especially wi h he g owing mig a ion o he wo k o ce (P i a o a e al., 2022). F om he abo e, we can conclude ha e aining expe ienced employees is a key managemen ask (Van Bu en III, 2022; El-Kas- sa & Singh, 2019). Companies implemen ing social esponsibili y p ac ices a e cha ac e ised by sa is ied and loyal employees, low u no e (Sch ode e al., 2022), and a highe le el o inno a ion (Flamme , 2015; León-Gómez e al., 2022) as he key d i e s o sus ainable en e- p eneu ship. Acco ding o his knowledge hypo hesis 1 was s a ed as ollows: H1: Human esou ce managemen has a posi i e e ec on he sus ainabili y o SMEs. As men ioned abo e, expe s a e mos o en conce ned wi h sus ainabili y in en i onmen- al p o ec ion, and i is SMEs ha a e mainly o ien ed owa ds en i onmen al esponsibili y (Jaya a hna e al., 2022). Howe e , El-Kasa and Singh (2019) a gue ha imp o ing en i on- men al pe o mance is usually achie ed a he expense o economic g ow h, a leas in he sho e m. This is also suppo ed by Abdul-Rashid e al. (2017), which claim ha p oduc s p oduced sus ainably ha e a posi i e e ec on en i onmen al pe o mance bu a nega i e e ec on economic and social pe o mance. Ne e heless, many s udies con i m ha he en i onmen al esponsible ac i i ies o companies ha e a posi i e impac on business sus ain- abili y (Cheng e al., 2022; Ahmed e al., 2021; Moisecu e al., 2020). H2: En i onmen al aspec s o he business ha e a posi i e e ec on he sus ainabili y o SMEs. Many s udies p o e a posi i e ela ionship be ween inancial pe o mance and sus ain- abili y esul ing di ec ly om cos sa ings (Alonso-Almeida e al., 2018; Valls Ma ínez e al., 2022) bu also om non-economic indica o s such as employee sa is ac ion (Van Bu en III, 2022; So ibes e al., 2021), main aining o imp o ing ma ke posi ion (Yasin e al., 2022), image suppo (Ahmed e al., 2021) and cus ome sa is ac ion (Moisescu & Gica, 2020), sus- ainable consume s (Alhou i e al., 2021), imp o emen o e hics (Sil es e e al., 2018), o highe c edibili y (Gaio e al., 2022). Also, in es o s a e o ien a ed owa ds companies ha Jou nal o Business Economics and Managemen , 2024, 25(2), 226–245 229 ca y ou hei ac i i ies in a sus ainable manne (Flamme , 2015), which is e idenced by hei g owing in e es in non- inancial s a emen s (Ca ajal & Nadeem, 2022) o inco po a e his in o ma ion in o he e alua ion o hei in es men s (Du e al., 2017) o iden i y u u e business pe o mance, business oppo uni ies as well as isks (Didenko e al., 2022). Bu as Cha zis amoulou and Tyllianakis (2022) emphasise, inancial ba ie s ep esen he key ob- s acle o SMEs o implemen sus ainabili y. Companies’ social and en i onmen al policies canno be sepa a ed om p o i ocus. Acco ding o P zychodzen e al. (2016), success ul SMEs’ ansi ion o sus ainabili y depends on leade ship and clea p o i o ien a ion and managemen . H3: Financial managemen o he company posi i ely a ec s he sus ainabili y o SMEs. Sil es e e al. (2018) claim ha companies a e socially and en i onmen ally esponsible wi h he aim o inc ease hei inancial pe o mance and only hei commi men o business e hics di e en ia es hem. E hics ep esen a code o alues and p inciples ha guide he ac ions o a pe son o g oup o people ega ding wha is igh and wha is w ong (Z a iko a e al., 2023; P ochazko a & Micak, 2023). In a business en i onmen , being e hical means applying he p inciples o hones y and jus ice in ela ionships wi h s akeholde s (Pizzi e al., 2020) wi h a di ec impac on SMEs’ sus ainabili y (Huang e al., 2022). Hocke s and Sea cy (2023) published a icle wi h he aim o be e unde s anding o ela ionships be ween co po a e sus ainabili y and business e hics o e esea che s. Au ho s p esen ed keys aspec s o ou pu s om empi ical esea ch – o spu inno a i e hinking and cons uc i e discussion o he ela ionships be ween business e hics and co po a e sus ain- abili y. Kha ak e al. (2023) showed esea ch esul s om business en i onmen o SME segmen o Pakis an ( esea ch sample is 611 SMEs). The manage age and i m age do no mode a e he nexus be ween inancial esou ces and sus ainabili y pe o mance. In his con ex , au ho s also ound, ha connec ion be ween inancial esou ces and sus ainabili y pe o mance is signi ican . Au ho s ecommends SMEs o ocus on expe ienced and educa ed manage s as compa ed o olde ones o u ilize hei inancial esou ces e icien ly in sus ainable ac i i ies. H4: Applying e hics in business has a posi i e e ec on he sus ainabili y o SMEs. In hei empi ical esea ch om he business en i onmen o V4 na ions, Belas e al. (2021) disco e ed ha awa eness o he CSR concep and i s applica ion in business play a c ucial ole in he business sus ainabili y o SMEs. Skypalo a e al. (2016) examined ha engagemen o o ganiza ions in he CSR ac i i ies g ow hs wi h he size o he o ganiza ion. Au ho s also ound ha only 30% o mic o and small en e p ises in he Czech Republic know and make use o he CSR concep comp ehensi ely and a e ac i e in all h ee pilla s o CSR. Bu as Mag izos e al. (2021) poin ed ou , he e is s ill li le e idence abou he impac o CSR on SMEs. A his poin , we conside impo an o emphasise ha CSR and sus ainabili y a e no synonymous. Acco ding o O iz-Ma inez e al. (2023), we migh de ine CSR as he mic oeconomic pa o he la ge mac oeconomic idea o sus ainabili y, so CSR is pe cei ed as a ool o sus ainabili y. Be ako a e al. (2023) ound ha demog aphics cha ac e is ics as ia age, le el o educa ion o business sec o s play kay ole in CSR implemen a ion. Skypalo a e al. (2023) ealised empi ical esea ch on he 360 Slo ak and Czech en e - p ises. Thei indings indica e ha exis di e ences among he wo coun ies in he imple- men a ion o CSR. Au ho s also ound ha CSR implemen a ion had s onge e ec on he sus ainabili y o SMEs in Czech en e p ises han Slo ak en e p ises. 230 K. Z a iko a e al. Model o sus ainabili y o SMEs in V4 coun ies D o ský e al. (2023a) on he base o case s udy o 1,090 SMEs om he business en i- onmen Viseg ad g oup coun ies showed ha did no con i m he nega i e e ec s o c isis e en s in business on he inancial managemen , bu le el o implemen a ion CSR is signi i- can in he con ex o co po a e sus ainabili y. H5: Co po a e social esponsibili y has a posi i e e ec on he sus ainabili y o SMEs. The p esen ime is cha ac e ized by a la ge amoun o da a ha p o ides in o ma ion suppo ing decision-making p ocesses (El-Kassa & Singh, 2019) wi h adequa e digi al com- pe encies (O ensalo e al., 2022). The Fede al Minis y o Economic A ai s and Ene gy (2018) de ines digi alisa ion as “ he ans o ma ion o business models due o undamen al changes in basic in e nal p ocesses, in e aces wi h cus ome s, p oduc s and se ices, as well as he use o in o ma ion and communica ion echnologies.” On he o he hand, some esea che s, e.g., an de Velden (2018), poin ou he con adic ion wi h he posi i e e ec s o digi alis- ing businesses on en i onmen al sus ainabili y. The ad e se e ec s o widesp ead usage o digi al echnology necessi a e a sus ainable digi alisa ion p ocess since hey include, e.g., g eenhouse gas emissions, high low o elec onic was e, e c. A ela e al. (2024) ealised s udy wi h he da a om he Flash Eu oba ome e 486 ga h- e ed h ough in e iews wi h 16.365 SMEs in he EU27 and 12 non-EU coun ies. The indings show ha mos en ep eneu s do no exp ess in e es in a p o-g ow h agenda, which limi s he each o p o-en ep eneu ship and p o-inno a ion discou se. Fu he mo e, i ms’ you h a ec sus ainabili y, no inno a ion and digi aliza ion dynamics. B occa do e al. (2023) ealised ques ionnai e su ey om I alian business en i onmen wi h esea ch sample o 353 I alian i ms. Thei indings e eal a signi ican ela ionship be- ween digi aliza ion, sus ainabili y, and p o i abili y pe o mance and ha when posi i e esul s a e achie ed unde he en i onmen al and social lens, economic pe o mance also imp o es. H6: Digi iza ion o companies has a posi i e e ec on he sus ainabili y o SMEs. 3. Me hodology The esea ch aimed o c ea e a comp ehensi e model o he sus ainabili y o SMEs in he V4 coun ies based on de ined ac o s. 3.1. Resea ch design The comp ehensi e SME sus ainabili y model was buil based on obus empi ical esea ch conduc ed in he Viseg ad Fou coun ies (Czech Republic (CR), Slo ak Republic (SR), Poland (PL), and Hunga y (HU)) in June 2022. The da a collec ion was ca ied ou by he enowned ex e nal company MNFORCE using “Compu e Assis ed Web In e iewing” (CAWI Resea ch Me hod). Ma ke esea ch agency MNFORCE is specialis o empi ical da a collec ion om V4 coun ies. They pay g ea a - en ion o he quali y con ol o da a and ou pu s, while complying wi h ESOMAR quali y s anda ds. The da a collec ion c i e ia gi en o he ex e nal company be o e he ac ual da a collec ion we e as ollows: i. he numbe o mic o-en e p ises in he sample se was wice he ange o small and medium-sized en e p ises; ii. acco ding o selec ed demog aphic c i e ia, selec ed Jou nal o Business Economics and Managemen , 2024, 25(2), 226–245 231 g oups o esponden s we e ep esen ed p opo ionally o he p opo ional ep esen a ion in he p ima y se o esponden s in he selec ed coun y. Only he owne o op manage o an SME pa icipa ed in he esea ch. The inal sample se o SMEs (n = 1398 esponden s) did no show signi ican de ia ions om he da a collec ion c i e ia de ined by he a icle’s au ho s. The ques ionnai e con ained 52 ques ions. The ques ionnai e consis ed o he ollowing pa s: demog aphic ques ions, selec ed ac o s and s a emen s o mula ed abou hem. The esponden could answe he s a emen s wi h only one o he ollowing answe s: I comple ely ag ee wi h he s a emen ( alue = 1), ..., I comple ely disag ee wi h he s a emen ( alue = 5). All s a emen s examined we e iden ically scaled. The analysis o he size o he sample se con i med ha he ange o SMEs in he numbe o 1398 esponden s mo e han doubled he minimum numbe o SMEs (n = 684), which is imposed on he size o he sample se in V4 and he applica ion o he SEM me hod. 3.2. Ques ionnai e – ac o s and i ems de ini ion The ollowing ac o s (la en a iables) we e de ined in he esea ch: human esou ce man- agemen (HRM), business e hics (BE), co po a e social esponsibili y (CSR), digi alisa ion o companies (DG), en i onmen al aspec s (EA), inancial managemen (FM), sus ainabili y o SMEs (S). Table 1 con ains de ined s a emen s (mani es a iables) o selec ed ac o s. Table 1. Claims o de ined ac o s and o he sus ainabili y o SMEs HRM Human Resou ces Managemen HRM1 People a e he mos impo an o ganiza ion asse s. HRM2 Human esou ces managemen is he mos impo an a ea o co po a e managemen . HRM3 I egula ly e alua e he pe o mance o my subo dina es and mo i a e hem o inno a e hei wo k p ocedu es. HRM4 I apply a pa icipa i e managemen s yle (I encou age employee pa icipa ion in decision- making). HRM5 I de o e a lo o ime o pe sonnel managemen in my managemen wo k. HRM6 I hea ily in es in imp o ing he quali ica ions o ou employees. HRM7 I ha e de eloped a sys em o ma e ial in ol emen o employees. BE Business e hics BE1 I conside business e hics o be necessa y. BE2 In managing a company, I conside he e hical implica ions o my decisions. BE3 E hical beha iou has a posi i e e ec on he company’s pe o mance. BE4 I eel good when I beha e e hically in business. BE5 Ou company en o ces he ules o e hical beha iou in business. CSR Co po a e Social Responsibili y CSR1 I know he concep o co po a e social esponsibili y (CSR). CSR2 When managing a company, I conside he concep o CSR. CSR3 Implemen a ion o he CSR concep enables ou company o gain compe i i e ad an ages (be e company image, highe cus ome loyal y, new business oppo uni ies, e c.). CSR4 The implemen a ion o he CSR concep has a posi i e e ec on he long- e m ela ionship wi h business pa ne s. CSR5 CSR helps us o gain new cus ome s. 232 K. Z a iko a e al. Model o sus ainabili y o SMEs in V4 coun ies CSR6 CSR helps us o gain g ea employees. CSR7 CSR helps us o gain loyal and mo i a ed employees. CSR8 CSR has a posi i e e ec on a company’s pe o mance. EA En i onmen aspec EA1 En i onmen al esponsibili y is an impo an pa o co po a e go e nance. EA2 When managing a company, I conside esponsibili y o he en i onmen . EA3 En i onmen al esponsibili y b ings highe cos s o he company. EA4 Ou company is ac i ely in ol ed in en i onmen al p o ec ion. FM Financial managemen FM1 I unde s and he mos c i ical aspec o a company’s inancial managemen . FM2 I conside he inancial isk o be a pa o he daily li e o a company. FM3 I can adequa ely manage inancial isks in ou company. FM4 I e alua e he inancial pe o mance o ou company posi i ely. FM5 Ou company will su i e on he ma ke in he nex i e yea s. DG Digi aliza ion DG1 I posi i ely e alua e ou company’s digi iza ion le el (use o digi al echnologies). DG2 Digi aliza ion imp o es cus ome pe cep ion o ou company. DG3 Digi iza ion allows us o inno a e ou business models. DG4 Digi iza ion allows us o gain knowledge om new sou ces and hus mi iga e he isks. S Sus ainabili y S1 I unde s and he concep o sus ainable business g ow h. S2 Sus ainable g ow h should pu sue no only he economic in e es s o he companies bu also he posi i e impac on he social sys em and en i onmen al aspec s. S3 I is essen ial o pe cei e also he social impac o en ep eneu ship. S4 I is essen ial o pe cei e also he en i onmen al impac s o en ep eneu ship. S5 I e alua e ou company as sus ainable. 3.3. S a is ical hypo heses and es ima ion echniques To ul il he main goal o he a icle, s a is ical hypo heses (H1, ..., H6) we e e i ied using s a- is ical me hods h ough ac o analysis (FA) and s uc u al equa ion modelling (SEM). FA is a mul i a ia e me hod ha is no p ima ily in ended o ind ela ionships be ween a iables bu o classi y claims o a ac o (Zhang & B owne, 2012). FA aims o de e mine whe he a iables a e simila in he selec ed mani es a iables. The simila i y in he sample da a se means he simila i y o he choice o a i udes o en ep eneu s o he selec ed s a emen s. I he answe s o he selec ed s a emen s a e simila , hen we can combine hem and y o name he gi en g oup o a iables (call hem a ac o ). Applying he FA explo a o y echnique can be logically o ganised in o h ee s eps. The i s s ep: e i ying he sui abili y o he da a – o see i he a iables a e su icien ly co ela ed so ha i makes sense o look o mo e gene al ac o s behind hei s uc u e (Kaise -Meye -Olkin es , Ba le ’s es ). I he alue o KMO is lowe han 0.5, i makes no sense o pe o m ac o analysis (Hai e al., 2012). Second s ep: ac o ex ac ion – P incipal componen analysis, ma ix o componen s; BIC – Schwa z’s Bayesian in o ma ion c i e ion; Sc ee plo ) (Rose e al., 1991). Thi d s ep: o a ion o ac o s – choice o me hod, in e p e a ion o ac o loadings (Va imax – o hogonal o a ion) (Ne els, 1986). End o Table 1 Jou nal o Business Economics and Managemen , 2024, 25(2), 226–245 233 The SEM me hod is sui able o cons uc ing, iden i ying and quan i ying ela ionships be ween la en a iables and hei g aphical ep esen a ion using a s uc u al ( inal) model. The inal model is a combina ion o eg ession and ac o analysis, he esul o which is he eg ession o la en a iables (e.g., Jann, 2014). The SEM me hod is a me hod o mul i a ia e s a is ics sui able o e alua ing esea ch aimed a examining esponden s’ a i udes in he economic and psychological sphe es (Sa s ed e al., 2022; Bo iso & Vinog ado , 2022). The sui abili y o he inal model can be e i ied by selec ed measu es (p ocessed acco ding o Hai e al., 2012): Goodness o Fi (GFI); CMIN/DF – The minimum disc epancy; Compa a i e Fi Index (CFI); Roo Mean Squa e E o o App oxima ion (RMSEA); No med i index (NFI). The esul s we e ou pu ed om he IBM SPSS S a is ics so wa e. G aphical isualisa ion o ela ionships was c ea ed in IBM SPSS Amos. 3.4. S uc u e o esponden s S uc u e o SMEs (n = 1398) acco ding o: coun y o ope a ion o he company: 347 (24.8%) SMEs om Czech epublic (CR); 322 (23.0%) SMEs om Slo ak epublic; 381 (28.1%) SMEs om Poland (PL) and 348 (24.9%) SMEs om Hunga y (H); size o he en e p ise (numbe o employees): 678 (48.5%) – mic oen e p ise (0–9 employees), 347 (28.4%) – small en e - p ise (10–49 employees), 323 (23.1%) – medium-sized en e p ise (mo e han 49 employees); business sec o : 368 (26.3%) – se ices, 264 (18.9%) – ade, 226 (16.2%) – p oduc ion, 112 (8.0%) – cons uc ion, 46 (3.3%) – ag icul u e, 54 (3.9%) – anspo , 226 (16.2%) – ou ism, 102 (7.3%) – o he ield o business; ime o ope a ion o he en e p ise in business: 370 (26.5%) – en e p ise up o 3 yea s, 550 (39.3%) – en e p ises mo e han 3 and up o 10 yea s, 478 (34.2%) en e p ises mo e han 10 yea s; loca ion o business: 410 (29.3%) – capi al o he coun y, 988 (70.9%) – o he egion o business. 4. Resul s Basic desc ip i e cha ac e is ics (M – Mean; SD – S anda d De ia ion; Skw. – Skewness; K – Ku osis) o he in es iga ed independen ac o s (HRM, CSR, BE, FM, EA, DG) and he de- penden ac o (S) oge he wi h he esul s o he links be ween he s a emen and o he ac o (CI-TC – Co ec ed I em –To al Co ela ion) a e he subjec o Table 2. Resul s (see Table 2) show ha he esponden s’ mos signi ican deg ee o ag eemen is wi h he impo ance and implemen a ion o business e hics (BE (M: BE1+…+BE5)/5; M = 1.643). On he con a y, he smalles deg ee o ag eemen o he esponden s in he assess- men o applica ion and unde s anding o social esponsibili y (M: CSR (CSR1+...+CSR8)/8; M = 2.114). Also, he mos signi ican in e nal consis ency o he esponden s’ e alua ions o he indica o s is o he BE ac o (SD = 0.957), and he smalles in e nal consis ency o he esponden s’ e alua ions o he indica o s is o he CSR ac o (SD = 0.720). Co ela ions be ween indica o s and de ined ac o s showed good links (CI-TC ≥ 0.5; Hai e al., 2012). The alues o skewness and ku osis (Skw., K ≤ 2.0; excep o BE5: S = 2.099) indica e mul iple no mal dis ibu ions, which con i ms he assump ion o applying SEM modelling. The esul s o he KMO es and Ba le ’s sphe ici y es a e he subjec s o Table 3. The KMO es (see Table 3) con i med ha he de ined ac o s explain he sha e o he o al a iance dis ibu ion o indi idual a iables in he backg ound (KMO es = 0.965; a alue close o 1.000). Ba le ’s es con i med ha he ac o s a e o hogonal o each o he (i.e., hey a e no co ela ed). 234 K. Z a iko a e al. Model o sus ainabili y o SMEs in V4 coun ies Table 2. Resul s o desc ip i e s a is ics (DSs) and CI-TCs DS Human Resou ces Managemen (HRM) HRM1 HRM2 HRM3 HRM4 HRM5 HRM6 HRM7 CI-TC 0.567 0.682 0.752 0.708 0.790 0.734 0.752 M 1.562 1.835 1.877 1.923 2.054 2.129 2.187 SD 0.790 0.804 0.903 0.892 0.957 1.024 1.017 Skw. 3.792 1.802 1.248 1.262 0.540 0.214 0.210 K 1.732 1.068 1.086 1.030 0.845 0.788 0.739 DS Co po a e Social Responsibili y (CSR) CSR1 CSR2 CSR3 CSR4 CSR5 CSR6 CSR7 CSR8 CI-TC 0.768 0.838 0.854 0.834 0.820 0.821 0.837 0.823 M 2.062 2.131 2.170 2.131 2.057 2.139 2.111 2.112 SD 1.005 0.955 0.983 0.988 0.931 0.923 0.926 0.945 Skw. 0.545 0.403 0.227 0.360 0.160 0.116 0.176 0.258 K 0.915 0.735 0.680 0.755 0.669 0.574 0.602 0.669 DS Business e hics (BE) En i onmen aspec (EA) BE1 BE2 BE3 BE4 BE5 EA1 EA2 EA3 EA4 CI-TC 0.697 0.765 0.753 0.791 0.760 0.743 0.764 0.525 0.745 M 1.526 1.685 1.713 1.647 1.737 1.761 1.832 1.925 2.021 SD 0.676 0.688 0.767 0.748 0.814 0.823 0.843 0.909 0.916 Skw. 1.819 1.315 1.234 1.968 2.099 1.416 1.147 0.427 0.538 K 1.249 0.873 1.025 1.212 1.241 1.115 1.014 0.865 0.821 DS Financial managemen (FM) Digi aliza ion (DG) FM1 FM2 FM3 FM4 FM5 DG1 DG2 DG3 DG4 CI-TC 0.632 0.628 0.746 0.706 0.659 0.680 0.752 0.801 0.749 M 1.697 1.807 1.876 1.928 1.866 1.801 1.845 1.858 1.855 SD 0.749 0.768 0.779 0.838 0.863 0.819 0.828 0.844 0.850 Skw. 1.240 1.142 0.923 0.859 0.801 1.328 0.898 0.802 1.089 K 1.009 0.904 0.801 0.881 0.930 1.023 0.917 0.897 0.988 DS Sus ainabili y (S) S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 CI-TC 0.656 0.744 0.771 0.781 0.689 M 1.726 1.781 1.842 1.855 1.916 SD 0.754 0.754 0.811 0.810 0.833 Skw. 1.361 1.518 1.349 0.999 0.891 K 0.991 0.946 0.974 0.893 0.857 Jou nal o Business Economics and Managemen , 2024, 25(2), 226–245 241 Belas, J., Çe a, G., D o sky, J., & Cepel, M. 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