Academic and research activity 2008-2010

1. Academic and research activity, conferences and workshops

In 2008, 2009 and in the first half of 2010, the faculty and academic staff published a host of scholarly and specialist contributions, both nationally and internationally. They took part in academic and specialist events; gatherings and discussions; and they have also compiled scholarly collections and conference proceedings. Many of these materials were published either in current journals or as academic monographs. The School of Management (VŠM) faculty presented the outcomes of their scholarly and research activities at academic events not only in the Slovak Republic, but also in the USA, Finland, Austria, the UK, Germany, Swtizerland, Portugal, Spain, Malta, Greece, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and other countries.

The School of Management`s (VŠM) professors and assoc. professors served on specialist commissions for doctoral dissertations across various higher education establishment and universities in the Slovak Republic and Czech Republic. They also served as members of editorial boards of academic and specialist journals; in addition to their work in national and international organizations, commissions and advisory bodies.

On April 28, 2009, the School of Management (VŠM) hosted – with the support of Mr. Ivan Šramko, the Slovak National Bank`s Governor – the first scholarly international annual conference, “Management Challenges in 21st Century“. The events, besides Slovak participants coming from various Slovakia`s universities, distinguished guests from Wirtschaftsuniversitat Wien took part. Colleges and universities in the U.S., India and the Czech Republic also sent representatives. The business and decision-making communities were represented by top executives and functionaries coming from IBM ISC, Samsung Slovakia, and the Government Office of the Slovak Republic. Conference contributions were reveiwed and published in the format of CD-ROM conference proceedings.

On April 27, 2010, the School of Management (VŠM) hosted its second scholarly international annual conference, entitled - “Management Challenges in 21st Century“. The conference featured the contributions of the faculty and the research staffs of higher education establishments in the Slovak Republic, Wirtschaftsuniversitat Wien, a number of universities in the U.S., the Czech Republic as well as contributors such companies as Anasoft, Dell Slovakia, Azet and the American Chamber of Commerce. Again, conference contributions were reviewed and released as CD-ROM conference proceedings.

Also, in 2008, 2009 and 2010, the School of Management (VŠM) held its third, fourth and fifth year of the Summer School as well as workshops on Knowledge Management. Very much like in the case of the conference proceedings, noted above, the workshop resulted in the publication of contributions outcomes by the School of Management`s (VŠM) faculty staff and conference visitors.

In 2009 (April, May and November), and 2010 (April and May) the School of Management (VŠM) co-sponsored workshops for the student body and the staff of WHU Koblenz, Carnegie Mellon Pittsburg, Ross School of Business University of Michigan, Wirtschatsuniversitaet Wien, and Smith School of Business, University of Maryland. These academic events focused on the study of entrepreneurial environment in Central and Eastern Europe as well as matters of common interest in the area of academia, scholarship, and research. In addition to the presentation of the achievements of scholarly and research activities at the School of Management (VŠM), the visitors could meets experts and top executives of the Slovak Republic Goverment Office and discuss topical issues with them. Moreover, they also got access to relevant people from the Slovak Parliament and such companies as IBM ISC Slovakia, Dell Slovakia, Samsung Slovakia, Dirickx and ČSOB.

Besides the indicated activities School of Management (VŠM) teaching staff acted as consultants and experts in developing materials for the needs of academic research and decision-making institutions of the Slovak republic.

2.International and inter-institutional co-operation

In 2009, our faculty and research staff collaborated in the area of academia and research with the following SR institutions: the Economic Instite of Slovak Academy of Science and Letters, Economic University in Bratislava, Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Operation and Economics of Transport and Communications in Žilina. As for international universities, of major importance was the cooperation with the following higher education establishments in the Czech Republic: University of Finance and Administration in Prague; Slezská University in Opava; Charles` University in Prague.

In 2009, the School of Management (VŠM) established cooperation with Wirtschatfuniversitaet Wien, in particular, with two of its departments: Competence Center for Central and Easten Europe (prof. Arnold Schuh) and Department of Management (prof. Juergen Muehlbacher, prof. Helmut Kasper, prof. Wolfgang Mayrhofer). In November 2009, our university held a day of academic research for the workers of Department of Management WU Wien, where IBM ISC Bratislava presented to them and they had an opportunity to visit the company. It is reasonable to presume that the cooperation will carry on in the upcoming years, mostly via the School of Management`s (VŠM) involvement in a long-run international project C5 led by prof. Mayrhofer.

In addition, the School of Management (VŠM) (in 2008 – 2010) ran for its staff and students a cycle of lectures delivered by outstanding scholars of reputed institutions from abroad (Prof. Dan Denison, IMD Lausanne) for example, was kind enough to share with us the results of his research in the area of change management; Prof. Gretchen Speitzer, Vice-Dean of Ross School of Business, the University of Michigan informed us about the outcomes of the research at the Michigan School POS – Positive Organizational Scholarship. Prof. Aneel Karnani,of the same institution, gave a talk on the changes to the strategies of multinational corporations over the last decade.