| Abstract: |
In line with the main objective of the scientific monograph, which is to
provide, based on quantitative and qualitative research methods,
characterization of intergenerational entrepreneurship in Slovakia and, at the
same time, the state of digitalization and digital transformation from the
perspective of the generations, the summary contains key findings related to
the investigated areas. Characteristics of the state of youth and senior
entrepreneurship in Slovakia, Europe, and the Slovak regions The key
differences in the entrepreneurial characteristics, as well as the level of
entrepreneurial activity of the youth and senior generations in Slovakia and
in comparison with Europe, are as follows: Social attitudes towards
entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial talent: • The ability to identify
suitable entrepreneurial opportunities as well as the entrepreneurial career
(entrepreneurship as a good career choice and the status of an entrepreneur)
are spheres where Slovakia has been lagging behind Europe for a long time, for
both generations, but this difference, logically due to historical
development, is higher among seniors in our country than among the youth. The
youth and seniors perceive the most opportunities for entrepreneurship in the
Bratislava region and the least in the Banská Bystrica region. On the
contrary, entrepreneurship is perceived worst in terms of social attitudes in
the Bratislava region and best in the Trnava and Trenčín regions. • One of the
important factors that influence the ability to identify entrepreneurial
opportunities is entrepreneurial talent as an individual’s
intrinsic/individual ability to be entrepreneurial. Research on this factor
has shown that youth in Slovakia have a lower intrinsic ability to identify
entrepreneurial opportunities and are less responsive to profitable
opportunities than seniors. However, they are more confident in their high
level of innovation and are also more likely to make decisions that are part
of their long-term career plan. However, the comparison with Europe 18 again
confirms the fact that both generations in Slovakia lag behind Europe in this
kind of talent, i.e. in the intrinsic ability to identify opportunities, and
are also less flexible in responding to profitable opportunities. On the other
hand, they are better at making decisions that are part of their long-term
career plan. However, this contradicts the finding that both generations have
relatively high self-confidence in their own entrepreneurship-related
knowledge, skills, and abilities and thus exceed the European average. • Youth
in Slovakia have a significantly lower fear of failure than youth in Europe,
but also seniors. However, seniors in Slovakia have a significantly higher
fear of failure than European seniors. This complex of factors affects the
entrepreneurial activity of both generations in different ways and
intensities. • The entrepreneurial process is also influenced differently by
other factors of social attitudes towards entrepreneurship, namely networking,
which is better in Slovakia than in Europe, and youth exhibit a stronger
position at it, and equality in living standards (egalitarianism), with youth
in Slovakia preferring more equality than seniors. This trend in Slovakia is
opposite to that in Europe. Intention to start a business and entrepreneurial
activity • The intention to start a business in the next three years is twice
as high among the youth generation than among seniors in Slovakia and is
higher for both generations than in Europe. The highest intention to start a
business among both youth and seniors is in the Bratislava region and the
lowest in the Nitra and Banská Bystrica regions. This is further reflected in
the level of entrepreneurial activity. • The total early-stage entrepreneurial
activity (up to 42 months of business existence) is significantly higher in
Slovakia than in Europe for both generations, mainly due to the higher growth
rate of nascent entrepreneurs (up to 3 months). However, significantly more
nascent entrepreneurs in Slovakia than in Europe exit their business within 3
months and do not move on to the next stage of start-up. While in Slovakia a
higher percentage of seniors exit their business in this period than youth,
the trend is reversed in Europe. Youth show the highest early-stage
entrepreneurial activity in the Bratislava region and the lowest in the Banská
Bystrica region. Seniors are most involved in early-stage entrepreneurial
activity in the Prešov region and least involved in the Nitra region. • The
rate of established entrepreneurship (over 42 months of business existence) in
Slovakia is significantly higher among seniors than among the youth. Although
the 19 trend is similar in Europe, the difference between the percentage of
established youth entrepreneurs and established senior entrepreneurs is
significantly smaller. Similarly, the business discontinuation rate for both
cohorts is lower in Europe than in Slovakia. This suggests that the
sustainability of entrepreneurship is worse in Slovakia compared to Europe.
The highest rates of established entrepreneurship for both seniors and youth
are in the Bratislava region and the lowest in the Trnava region. • The
highest motive for starting a business for both generations, both in the early
stage and for established entrepreneurs in Slovakia, is the need to earn a
living because jobs are scarce. This motivation is particularly strong among
seniors in Slovakia. An interesting finding is that only for youth early-stage
entrepreneurs in Europe the main motivation is to build a large fortune or a
very high income, and the second strongest reason is to change the world for
the better, with earning a living only in the third place for this age cohort.
The other groups of entrepreneurs surveyed (established youth, established
seniors, starting seniors) in Europe express earning a living as the main
motive for starting a business. This suggests that the predominant group of
entrepreneurs in the surveyed cohorts in Slovakia and Europe will not be
explicitly innovative, but will see entrepreneurship as a substitute for
employment, which is clearly reflected in their contribution to innovation and
creative change. From the analysis of the GEM special questions focusing on
digital and intergenerational entrepreneurship from the perspective of
early-stage and established entrepreneurs, the most important findings are: •
The role of digitalisation in entrepreneurship does not differ significantly
between early-stage and established entrepreneurs. Nevertheless, early-stage
entrepreneurs attribute a more significant role to digital processes,
products, and business models in their business than established
entrepreneurs. • We also analysed the importance of digitalisation in
entrepreneurship through the share of revenue generated from the sale of
products and/or services online. The results showed that more than 4 out of 10
early-stage entrepreneurs do not use online sales, while for established
entrepreneurs this figure rises to almost 65%. Thus, early-stage entrepreneurs
rely more on online sales, with more than 22% declaring that online sales will
account for more than 75%. For established entrepreneurs, it’s only nearly 10%
of them. • Early-stage and established entrepreneurs perceive the greatest
contribution to digitalisation to be knowledge of the internet and media,
including social media. 20 • Almost the same, relatively high proportion of
early-stage and established entrepreneurs do not foresee the involvement of
the older generation in their business (about 74%). Early-stage entrepreneurs
make more use of people from the older generation who are investors
intervening in the business management, but also of those who do not intervene
in the business management. They also use senior persons to a greater extent
as mentors of their business. Conversely, established entrepreneurs have
persons from the older generation as their co-owners or employees. • The
contribution of a person from the older generation to the business is
perceived by early-stage entrepreneurs mainly in access to the necessary
resources, furthermore, it is due to the knowledge of the subject of the
business, the industry, and/or the market. Established entrepreneurs perceive
the contribution of the older generation mainly in access to a network of
contacts and then to the necessary resources. Based on the special questions
in the GUESSS project focusing on digital and intergenerational
entrepreneurship from the perspective of starting and active student
entrepreneurs, the most important findings are: • The role of digitalisation
in entrepreneurship does not differ significantly between starting and active
student entrepreneurs. Digital processes play an important or key role in the
business of about 4 out of 10 starting and active student entrepreneurs. It is
similar for digital products in entrepreneurship, but digital products are
slightly more prominent for active entrepreneurs. Finally, digital business
models are important to key for slightly more than 4 in 10 both starting and
active student entrepreneurs, while in contrast, they play no or a minor role
in slightly more than a third of student businesses at both stages surveyed. •
Almost a third of active student entrepreneurs do not use online sales, about
a quarter of them report online sales as a share of sales between 25% and 75%,
and for another quarter online sales account for more than 75% of sales.
Slightly more ambitious in their anticipated use of online sales are starting
student entrepreneurs. • Only about half of the student entrepreneurs, both
starting and active, reported that a person from the older generation is not
involved in their business. This means that up to half of student
entrepreneurs also involve a person from an older generation in their
business. Most often such a person acts as a mentor or advisor. • The
contribution of a person from the older generation to entrepreneurship is seen
by both starting and active student entrepreneurs mainly in their knowledge of
the 21 market or business. The next most strongly perceived contribution of
persons from the older generation is their possession of the personal
characteristics necessary for entrepreneurship. Conversely, the least frequent
starting and active student entrepreneurs see a benefit in the form of access
to the resources needed for entrepreneurship. Digital transformation in the
context of intergenerational entrepreneurship in Slovakia From the systematic
processing of the responses from the phenomenological qualitative survey,
three aggregated dimensions emerged, which are a) Digitalisation status,
impact, and barriers to digitalization; b) Generations and intergenerational
aspects; c) Processes and practices in the process of digitalization and
intergenerational collaboration. Digitalisation status, impact, and barriers
to digitalization Responses within the first aggregate dimension culminated
around the following themes: • Digitalisation status - respondents declared
that digitalisation and digital transformation are part of their business to
varying degrees. The results showed three different modes exhibited by the
entrepreneurs namely 1.) Basic use of digitalization; 2.) Digitalization for
commercial purposes; 3.) Digital transformation and development of advanced
processes. The interviews further revealed that SMEs do not necessarily belong
to only one mode but can operate independently in different modes. • Factors
of digitalisation – they serve as a catalyst for change within companies and
strongly influence the status of digitalisation. The SMEs surveyed identified
technology, firm-level triggers, external and regulatory framework, and the
digitalisation of supply chains and business models as the most important
drivers of digitalisation. • Benefits of digitalisation - are manifold, but
mainly relate to four key areas, which are efficiency, customers, flexibility,
and general improvements in business management. • Key barriers to
digitalisation - respondents identified key barriers to digitalisation that
arose from their views and experiences in the digitalisation process and were
22 based on the external environment of the organisation. These include the
national policy on digitalisation and digital transformation and industry
specifics. • Options to overcome key barriers to digitalisation - building on
the previous theme, the research focused on different options for overcoming
the identified key barriers to digitalisation. The main options that emerged
from the respondents’ views were support from the state, adjustments to
legislation in the area of a family business, outreach and awareness raising,
upbringing and education, and financing. Generations and intergenerational
aspects Roles of generations were explored as one of the main themes from
three perspectives. • The younger generation usually has good ICT competences
and the ability to learn new knowledge quickly. They are also more proactive,
often take a leadership role, and have a greater drive and motivation for
digitalisation. It is clear that technological progress is very fast and
therefore it is also very difficult for the younger generation to keep up with
this progress. Knowledge of foreign languages is crucial in this process. For
this reason, offspring in family businesses have an indispensable role in
bringing new stimuli and ideas for digitalisation. • The older generation has
its own role and contribution to make in the digitalisation process. They are
able to think in a broader context, taking into account their lifelong
professional and managerial experience. In the digitalisation of enterprises,
success requires the older generation to pass on their professional and
managerial experience and knowledge to the younger generation, but also to
delegate competences to them. However, it is not enough to delegate
competences and pass on knowledge and experience, but the older generation
must also show a certain degree of flexibility. Even if they are rarely the
leaders of digitalisation in their companies, they must at least try to
understand and embrace digitalisation as an inevitable trend for the current
and future success of the company. • In terms of intergenerational
cooperation, competence and experience are the most important aspects,
regardless of age and generation. Equally important is the intergenerational
transfer of knowledge and experience. In addition, respondents indicated that
different generations have complementary skills that are essential for
successful digitalisation within companies. 23 Processes and practices in the
process of digitalisation and intergenerational cooperation In general,
processes and practices can be divided into two groups. • Formal processes and
practices are defined by internal or external institutions. Within this
category, key areas have been identified that are essential for successful
digital transformation. These include project management, existing norms and
standards, training and coaching. • Informal processes and practices include
senior management support and awareness raising, which have been identified as
key in the process, forming structurally wellbalanced teams with prior
knowledge of digitalisation or at least good experience of collaboration and
cooperation. On the one hand, following best practices is a source of
inspiration, motivation, but also a guide on how to effectively lead the
digitalisation and digital transformation process and what to avoid in the
process. Respondents also consider external help to be important. Another
popular view was not to introduce robust binding and therefore inflexible
digital solutions so that companies proceed gradually and do not undergo major
changes in a short time. The systematic analysis of the respondents’ views
presented in the phenomenological study and the subsequent synthesis and
categorisation resulted in the design of a complex model of digitalisation and
digital transformation of SMEs with respect to intergenerational collaboration
(Chapter 6.4). An overview of policies aimed at promoting intergenerational
entrepreneurship and digital transformation in Europe and Slovakia is
systematically elaborated in chapters 7.1 and 7.2. Key stakeholders of
intergenerational entrepreneurship and digital transformation in
entrepreneurship • The draft conceptual framework of stakeholders in the
digitalisation and/or digital transformation of business organisations
includes the following actors: a) Policymakers and regulators; b) Technology
suppliers; c) Digital infrastructure providers; 24 d) Education and training
providers; e) Funding providers; f) Providers of professional and advisory
services; g) Support providers; h) The business sector and cross-sectoral
organisations. • The lower social, professional, and political interest in the
area of intergenerational entrepreneurship and cooperation is also confirmed
by the results of our mapping, which indicate a significantly lower number of
stakeholders in all elementary components of the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Examples of good practice in supporting intergenerational entrepreneurship
considering digital transformation • Examples from abroad show how changes can
be made at the level of individual policies, initiatives, and businesses
themselves. • A good example for Slovakia is the Federation of Finnish
Enterprises - FFP (SME United, 2019) or the establishment of the
Digitalisation Support Agency in Austria (Boog, 2019). • Supporting the
digital transformation of businesses is also facilitated by so-called online
diagnostic tools, which are cheap, accessible, and allow policy makers to
reach a wider group of entrepreneurs. • An example of combining digitalisation
and intergenerational cooperation at the level of individual companies can be
seen in Bosch. |