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The study investigated the factors that influence rubber farmers' cooperatives from the perspective of sustainability in Thailand. The research adopted a quantitative survey methodology with data purposively collected from 434 Thai rubber farmer groups. The variables included trust, sustainability, perceived value, satisfaction, loyalty, and brand image. The model was evaluated using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), while Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to assess the hypotheses. The results indicated that the sustainability of the rubber farmers' cooperatives as a corporate entity is influenced by brand image, loyalty, and satisfaction. Trust was also found to have a significant effect on the satisfaction and loyalty of the rubber farmers' cooperatives. The research recommended that to enhance the sustainability of the rubber farmers' cooperative's brand image, loyalty, and satisfaction should be improved. The research's drawback is that it only looked at the rubber farmer cooperatives of Thailand as a corporation, and therefore, these factors should be taken into account when applying these results outside of this scope.

The COVID-19 outbreak forced the government to impose lockdown and change working arrangements. As a result, government employees must work from home (WFH) - a task they were hardly prepared for. While WFH arrangement has been typical in many developed countries, it is not for some Asian countries, including Indonesia, where leadership and organizational culture emphasizing strict supervision and punishment are still preferable. This paper examines determinant factors influencing public servants' productivity in performing public service while working on home arrangements during the covid-19 pandemic. A survey of 551 public servants' from the big cities of Kalimantan, the island where the new Indonesian state capital will be located, was conducted as the data collection method. The completed questionnaires were analysed using Path Analysis. The result indicates that WFH is problematic for Indonesian public servants as from variables of digital orientation, management support, IT training, technology infrastructure, and collectivist culture, only digital orientation was found to significantly impact the individual's productivity. The findings suggest that the government uses digital orientation as a selection criterion for government employees who will be transferred to the new state capital.

The rapid development of the manufacturing sector has been causing industrial effluents pollution. The practice of environmental regulation in the emerging economy focused on the externalities impact of industrialization. In conjunction with the issue, this study examines the effect of formal and informal regulation on the industrial effluent act and the firm compliance behavior in Malaysia. This quantitative study uses a survey questionnaire (structured) and involved 42 factories of three industries, namely food and beverages, textiles, and paper in Penang, Kedah, and Perlis. The data were analyzed using non-parametric tests: The Chi-Square, Mann-Whitney, and Spearman’s Rho. This study uses the firm behavior theory as the framework, and our non-parametric analyses showed that the traditional enforcement and fined probability could significantly affect compliance levels. We also find the market, consumer, competitor, and investor pressure positively influence firm compliance. The empirical results suggest effective enforcement of environmental regulation and the role of non-regulation must be empowered as a support mechanism for pollution control.

Purpose This paper aims to specifically analyse the extent to which talent management practices in the post-COVID-19 era differ from those before the pandemic in the extreme work context of Egyptian hospitality sector. Design/methodology/approach The study uses an exploratory qualitative research approach where semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 full-time employees working at hotels in Sharm El-Sheikh (Egypt). Moreover, thematic analysis was undertaken on the interview transcripts. Findings The findings revealed that in the post-COVID-19 era, the case hotels exclusively use the inclusive talent management approach, in which all staff are recognised by the management as talents with the same workplace privileges. This approach helped to mitigate the negative influences caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the findings highlighted the criticality of competencies such as multitasking along with in hospitality sector employees in relation to extreme context necessitated by COVID-19. The findings further established that when facing extreme events, such as COVID-19, a shift in training activities towards activating positive mental health and effective shock management among employees is also needed. This study found that organisational support and continuous learning play a vital role in individual employees’ resilience development, which also helped in retaining them. Originality/value This paper is one of the pioneering empirical studies on the relationship between talent management practices in extreme contexts and the influences of global disruptions resulting from COVID-19. Moreover, it is one of the few studies to specifically undertake a comparative assessment of the differences in talent management practices pre- and post-COVID-19 time period in the hospitality sector. The study findings contribute to multiple literature streams including extreme context, hospitality, human resource management and transaction stress model.

Research background: Microfinance institutions (MFIs) play an important role in alleviating poverty. Thus, MFIs should be efficient in order to ensure that their objectives on social welfare and financial performance can be achieved by identifying the potential determinants, specifically on social globalisation. Purpose of the article: This paper examines the impacts of the social globalisation dimensions of interpersonal, informational, and cultural globalisations on the financial and social efficiency of MFIs. Methods: The data period covered the years 2011?2018; the data set consists of 176 MFIs from six Asian countries. The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach was employed to examine the MFIs? efficiency levels. Generalised Least Square (GLS) regressions were used to analyse the impacts of social globalisation and other determinants towards the efficiency of MFIs. Findings and value added: Interpersonal globalisation had a significantly negative correlation with social efficiency, suggesting that increasing the number of foreigners in management intrudes on local managers? decisions. Informational globalisation had a significantly positive correlation with financial and social efficiency, which signifies that more information produces monopolistic profits in this industry. Finally, cultural globalisation had a positive correlation with social efficiency, demonstrating that a global trading culture improves the abilities and technological skills for labour development and enhances MFIs? social efficiency. In general, the Cobb Douglas Production theory explained the understanding of the impacts social globalisation has on MFI efficiency. Furthermore, the findings from this study could provide important scientific, practical gap and contribute new insights and implications to various parties. Firstly, governments or policymakers can establish effective national policies and strategies. Secondly, this study could support investors in monitoring and understanding the performance of MFIs. Finally, the research could fill scholarly gaps and uncover more potential factors that influence the efficiency of MFIs.

Innovation is not only an economic mechanism, or a technical process. It is primarily a social phenomenon in which the motivation and participation of employees are determinants of success in the process. Hence, many authors emphasise the social dimension of innovation. The paper summarizes the conclusions of the studies conducted among employees from Polish companies on identification of “soft” determinants of innovation processes in the organization, such as human resources, innovative climate and culture conducive to innovation. KEY WORDS: innovation, innovation processes, human resources, organizational development. JEL CODES: M5, O31 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15181/rfds.v14i3.878

The concept of risk is well known in the energy sector. It is normally recognized when it comes to price and cost forecasting, annual production calculation, or evaluating project lifetime. Nevertheless, it should be pointed out that the quantitative evaluation of risk is usually difficult. The discount rate is the only parameter reflecting risk in the discounted cash flow analysis. Therefore, knowledge of the discount rate along with the major components affecting its level is of fundamental significance for making investment decisions, capital budgeting, and project management. By referring to the standard coal-fired power generation projects the authors of the paper tackle the analysis of the composition of discount rate for onshore wind farm technologies in the Polish conditions. The study was carried out on the basis of a typical (hypothetical) onshore wind farm project assessed at the feasibility stage. To enable comparisons and discussions, it was assumed that the best reference point for such purposes is the real risk-adjusted discount rate, RADR, after-tax, in all equity evaluations (the ‘bare bones’ assumption); that is because such a rate reflects the inherent characteristics of the project risk. The study methodology involves the a priori application of the discount rate level and subsequently—in an analytical way—calculation of its individual components. The starting point for the analysis of the RADR’s composition was the definition of risk, understood as the product of uncertainty and consequences. Then, the risk factors were adopted and level of uncertainty assessed. Subsequently, using the classical sensitivity analysis of IRR, the consequences (as slopes of sensitivity lines) were calculated. Consequently, risk portions in percentage forms were received. Eventually, relative risks and risk components within cost of equity were assessed. Apart from the characteristics of the discount rate at the feasibility stage, in the discussion section the study was supplemented with an analogous analysis of the project’s cost of equity at the operating stage.

The environmental issue has become a global problem that needs to be examined frequently, motivating researchers to investigate it. Thus, the present study has investigated the asymmetric impact of globalization, economic growth and natural resources on the ecological footprint in the presence of environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) in Thailand. The study has used annual time series data from 1970 to 2018. The study applied a novel method of nonlinear autoregressive distributive lag (ARDL). In particular, the current study has investigated the effect of positive and negative shocks on the independent variable on the dependent variable. The findings have confirmed that the effect of globalization and natural resources are significant and nonlinear. However, the effect of negative shocks of globalization and natural resources is more dominant on the ecological footprint in Thailand than the positive shocks of both variables. Moreover, the present study has also tested the presence of EKC in Thailand, and the findings confirm the presence of an inverted U-shape curve in the Thailand economy.

The decentralization of the large-scale energy sector, its replacement with pro-ecological, dispersed production sources and building a citizen dimension of the energy sector are the directional objectives of the energy transformation in the European Union. Building energy self-sufficiency at a local level is possible, based on the so-called Energy Communities, which include energy clusters and energy cooperatives. Several dozen pilot projects for energy clusters have been implemented in Poland, while energy cooperatives, despite being legally sanctioned and potentially a simpler formula of operation, have not functioned in practice. This article presents the coopetitive nature of Energy Communities. The authors analysed the principles and benefits of creating Energy Communities from a regulatory and practical side. An important element of the analysis is to indicate the managerial, coopetitive nature of the strategies implemented within the Energy Communities. Their members, while operating in a competitive environment, simultaneously cooperate to achieve common benefits. On the basis of the actual data of recipients and producers, the results of simulations of benefits in the economic dimension will be presented, proving the thesis of the legitimacy of creating coopetitive structures of Energy Communities.

PURPOSE: The main objective of this paper is to develop the I4 necessity index for quantification of process improvement exigency related to I4., DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Based on literature review and previous research, we decided to develop a new I4N index. This index is not intended to identify the current state of Industry 4.0 or the company's readiness for this concept, but to assess the need to implement I4. By implementing I4 we mean mostly the deployment of intelligent technologies, informatization and automation of business processes. Our philosophy is to develop a simple design for a minimum number of factors that may give rise to an internal or external need to implement I4. The secondary output of the I4N index is the quantification of the level of process improvement potential related to the selected production and logistic processes., FINDINGS: We emphasize, it as a demand or more specifically, an exigency, rather than a readiness for Industry 4.0. We developed an Industry 4.0 necessity index (I4N index). We assigned weights to individual factors in order to quantify the process improvement exigency related to I4 and we used the list of manufacturing and logistic processes from previous research. We did not apply the list of intelligent technologies, although most indexes of the I4 readiness also take these technologies into account., PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The basic approach of our research was to create a mathematical model that could easily quantify the potential for improving business processes related to Industry 4.0., The paper is funded under the program of the Minister of Science and Higher Education titled “Regional Initiative of Excellence” in 2019–2022, project number 018/RID/2018/19, the amount of funding PLN 10788423,16., peer-reviewed

Our knowledge of discount rates plays an important role both in the discounted cash flow decision-making process and in the later phases of a project’s lifetime. It is useful than both for management and cash-flow monitoring purposes at operating stages. Investors putting money into power generation projects expect an appropriate rate of return to compensate them for a minimum acceptable real return available in the market (risk-free rate of interest) and the project’s specific risk. Due to its essential nature in the financial and economic evaluation of projects (it is the only parameter that reflects the risk), it is reasonable to assume that investors would also be interested in constituent components of that indicator. The discount rate is one parameter in the discounted cash flow analysis that takes into account the risk of a venture. Further, the previous research in this area has focused mainly on the dimension of this variable, and the structure of this parameter has not been dealt with any other studies. The proposed idea of this study met the expectations of the industry—it aimed to present a typical project implemented in the energy industry, a relatively simple methodology that allowed estimating the components within the cost of equity capital of the enterprise. In the power generation sector, one can find various types of discount rates—assessed for multiple technologies, at different development stages, and expressed differently. Owing to the know-how and decades-long experience, coal-fired power projects’ remarks may be a good benchmark for alternative low carbon technologies. That is why, in this work, a discount rate for valuing investment in new coal-fired power projects was evaluated. This assessment was made on the “bare-bones” assumption, meaning evaluations at 100% equity, after-tax, in constant (real) currency units. The analysis of the discount rate structure was performed by applying the procedure of the classical sensitivity analysis having the accuracy of key input parameters. Finally, the risk factors within the risk-adjusted discount rate were calculated. The obtained results showed the importance of individual risk factors within the risk-adjusted discount rate used in coal energy projects, which would enable a more pragmatic approach to controlling this parameter by decision-makers and understanding the risk.

The enhancement of the financial sector significantly drives a nation’s economy and thereby increase energy intensity. Considering this situation, the current study aims to examine the link between globalization and financial advancements with the energy intensity of the top 5 ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) economies. The development structure of the ASEAN region is considered significant for having stable growth. The authors used the annual data from 1990 to 2018 for five of the largest ASEAN economies: Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines. The present study used novel methodology, the Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS), to examine the nonlinear behaviour among globalization, financial development, and energy intensity in the top 5 ASEAN countries. The study results using ANFIS confirm that globalization and financial development are positively correlated and have a significant impact on the energy intensity level in the top ASEAN countries. The results further suggest that globalization and financial development increase the level of energy intensity more in the countries that are developed relative to their peers in the top ASEAN countries. Moreover, the outcomes of ANFIS also suggest that those countries, which are more globalized and financially developed, have more potential to increase the level of energy intensity. Therefore, the government needs to focus more on projects that involve renewable energy and are environmentally friendly.

The author reflects on the risk of professional failure among students. He believes that in this case we have a vague definition of professional failure. He indicates both causes, those independent of humans and those related to their own actions or negligence. Then he refers to the category of occupation and its place in times of uncertainty. Pointing to the factors determining the perception of the risk of professional failure, he emphasizes the role of the University, which gives support to its students in the process of their professional risk assessment.

Wartości firmy rodzinnej determinują model zarządzania, który powinien zapewnić jej ciągłość i długoterminowe działanie. Celem artykułu jest identyfikacja wartości, jakie są najważniejsze w firmach rodzinnych, ich znaczenia w poszczególnych fazach cyklu życia przedsiębiorstwa, zakresu ich zmiany wraz z sukcesją. Przeprowadzono badania ilościowe techniką wywiadu bezpośredniego wśród właścicieli przedsiębiorstw rodzinnych (300 osób) oraz ich potencjalnych sukcesorów (300 osób), w przedsiębiorstwach znajdujących się w każdym z czterech etapów rozwoju firmy rodzinnej (narodziny, młodość, dojrzałość, schyłek). Wyniki wskazują, iż dla właścicieli i ich sukcesorów ważne są różne cele strategiczne: długofalowość funkcjonowania i maksymalizacja zysków. Wartości, na których oparty jest rozwój i długoterminowość działania firmy rodzinnej to doświadczenie i odpowiedzialność, dobra atmosfera, rzetelność, dobre relacje pomiędzy członkami rodziny, stabilizacja, dziedzictwo i trwałość, zysk. Dla sukcesorów wyróżniającą się wartością jest także zaufanie oraz wspólne cele. Przedsiębiorstwa rodzinne to organizacje nastawione na biznes i w przypadku konieczności wyboru pomiędzy rodziną czy firmą, stawia się na firmę.

The paper refers to relationships between the innovativeness of an organization and its selected determinants such as strategy, corporate culture, structure and operational processes. Research was conducted among 200 managers at the top, middle and operational levels of management (200 companies operating in Poland implementing innovations - innovative companies). Conditions leading to innovations are described as the combination of processes, which result from the internal and external dynamics of a given entity. The analysis assumed that the assessment of company innovativeness would be based on an assessment of whether the company is a leader in the industry in terms of new products (the higher the rating, the more innovative the company is considered to be). The relationship between the dimensions of the company's functioning and the degree of its innovativeness was rated on the basis of two measures: the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient and the chi-square coefficient. It was assumed that the most innovative companies have structures similar to organic ones, with a weak influence of the elements of mechanistic structures. This assumption was proven in relation to features of organizations considered important for innovativeness.

The transformation of universities from the classic model to the entrepreneurial university and later to the innovative university is the stimulator for the creation of a knowledge society providing the foundation for an economy based on knowledge. This process is the effect of internal disputes running between traditionalists and pragmatists at universities. Among the traditionalists there is a conviction that knowledge is of a theoretical dimension that comes down to the value of discovery, retention and conveyance of knowledge in its own right. The aim of the herein paper is to conduct an analysis of the process of innovative management of a university, while also to define the innovative features of a university and the principles of management of a university of the third generation. The effect of the pilot research conducted is the proposal of the model of the university of the third generation, whose development is generated by constant innovation, cooperation with the economy, while also social partners and civic society.

Purpose: This elaboration features an attempt of describing the research sample’s uniformity and estimating the average engagement of family members in the family business’ functioning (hereinafter referred to as family engagement). The study’s context was based on a set of organisational effectiveness factors (identified independent variables) and an evaluation of their significance. In this paper, the effectiveness is deemed as the engagement of family members in the functioning of family businesses. Methodology: The paper presents the results of surveys conducted among 200 Polish family businesses with registered seats in two voivodeships. Organisational effectiveness was measured in terms of 8 key analysis fields identified. Findings: The paper presents the results of own research on organisational effectiveness in family businesses. It especially confirmed the alternative hypothesis that the dependent variable, i.e. family engagement, in terms of evaluating 8 independent variables using statistical tests, does not have a normal distribution. Practical Implications: The obtained results provide the basis for selection and future use of advanced statistical tests enabling the verification of a substantial dependency between the dependent variable (e.g. family engagement) and the independent variables identified within organisational effectiveness fields. Originality/Value: The conducted study supplements the knowledge on strategic management by specifying a set of family member engagement factors in family businesses. When analysing the widespread phenomenon of organisational effectiveness in family businesses, the authors analysed family engagement in terms of the effectiveness’ studied variables., peer-reviewed

The purpose of the study is to assess the level of energy supply to the population of the Eastern Europe, Caucasus, and Central Asian (EECCA) countries, taking into account their financial risk and energy efficiency for households as potential socially vulnerable consumers. The research methodology is based on three approaches to determining the energy poverty of the population, as well as the integral index of energy supply to socially vulnerable segments of the population. Based on the results of the three approaches to assessing the level of energy supply to the population of EECCA countries, it has been revealed that its critical indicators are found in Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Ukraine. The multivariate analysis of variance has revealed that, in all EECCA countries, both financial risk and energy efficiency levels have a significant impact. In Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia, financial risk has the greatest impact on the level of energy supply to socially vulnerable segments of the population, while in other EECCA countries the energy efficiency factor has the strongest impact. In a number of EECCA countries, households have poor energy supply and require efficient and reliable operation, the introduction of energy-efficient technologies for home maintenance, and the improvement of related programs. The novelty of this study lies in the proposed methodological approach to assessing the supply of energy resources to socially unprotected segments of the population, which makes it possible to determine the impact of financial risk and energy efficiency in EECCA countries.

The aim of this paper is to examine the role and scope of the influence of leadership on the sustainable development of SMEs. Research methods included the theoretical analysis of scientific literature and a direct survey. The quantitative sample for analysis contained 138 managers, the representatives of companies (SMEs) located in Poland. The data was collected in November and December 2015. The obtained results show that leadership is one of the key aspects that enable sustainability. It is more important than employee approval, beliefs of employees from individual departments and teams, a long-term strategy for the sustainable development of the company, approval by external stakeholders, and substantial financial resources. There is a statistically significant relationship between taking action related to sustainable business in the company and manager’s conviction (awareness) regarding the concept of sustainable business development as well as the influence of the manager on employees and the stimulation of their behaviour, including their development, decent treatment, communication with the manager, and the system of rewards and promotions. Managers undertake some action aimed at developing their employees. They also establish relationships with external stakeholders. The paper presents theoretical reflections on the relationship between the sustainable business development of SMEs and leadership, also verified by the empirical study conducted among managers of private companies. The findings of the study contribute to the understanding of the connections between these constructs. The relationship between the creation of sustainable business development is analysed in depth with reference to SMEs. Entrepreneurs and managers of SMEs can benefit from the study in order to build an organisation capable of achieving effective and sustainable development.

Małe i średnie przedsiębiorstwa (MŚP) mają potencjał, aby promować zrównoważony rozwój biznesu - małe i średnie przedsiębiorstwa stanowią ponad 99% przedsiębiorstw w UE. Menedżerowie odgrywają szczególną rolę w tym procesie. Celem artykułu jest ocena roli i zakresu, w jakim przywództwo menedżerskie ma wpływ na zrównoważony rozwój małych i średnich przedsiębiorstw. Metody badawcze obejmowały analizę literatury naukowej i badania bezpośrednie (badania ankietowe). Baza danych zawierała 20 zmiennych charakteryzujących menedżerów/właścicieli 138 małych i średnich przedstawicieli przedsiębiorstw zlokalizowanych w woj. śląskim. Uzyskane wyniki wskazują, że przywództwo jest identyfikowane jako jeden z kluczowych czynników decydujących o wdrażaniu zrównoważonego rozwoju, ważniejszym niż akceptacja pracowników, przekonanie pracowników, posiadanie długoterminowej strategii w zakresie zrównoważonego biznesu, akceptacja interesariuszy zewnętrznych, a także posiadanie odpowiednich środków finansowych. Istnieje statystycznie istotna zależność między podejmowaniem działań związanych ze zrównoważonym biznesem i przekonaniem menedżera do koncepcji zrównoważonego biznesu oraz wpływu menedżera na pracowników.

Responsible leadership (RL) is a process of interaction with stakeholders integrating around a shared goal, taking place in the company and outside and based on values and principles of ethics. In Poland, the concept of responsible leadership began to appear only in times of political and economic transformation (after 1989), with the influx of foreign investment. In contrast to countries with about 100 years of experience in the implementation of the concept of responsible leadership, its Polish history is quite short. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how RL exists in a transitional country and region, and how RL contributes to Human Resource Management (HRM). A qualitative and quantitative methodology was used to summarize the research among entrepreneurs and businesses. Exploring the construct of social responsibility orientation among entrepreneurs, we show that executives in these businesses hold different beliefs about their responsibilities toward different stakeholders, with concomitant implications for their understanding and enactment of responsible leadership.

Companies with a strong entrepreneurial orientation usually possess distinctive competencies and innovative outlooks, and have a managerial vision and innovative organisational culture that aims to achieve the company's objectives through operations. Corporate culture plays the main role in motivating and shaping creative behaviour in organisations. Establishing and nurturing entrepreneurial behaviour and practices so that they become part of an organisation's culture and ethos can provide the opportunity to initiate renewal and create innovation. One of the major factors repeatedly suggested to affect innovation is also leadership. The leaders of organizations help define and shape work contexts that contribute to organizational innovation, can create and manage an organizational culture that promotes innovation. This study examines the relationships between organisational culture, leadership and innovation. Although the innovation literature base is extensive, the research in this area is rather restricted. The paper presents the findings of the research conducted in Polish private companies.

Cross-border partnerships are a distinctive example of inter-organizational cooperation, embedded, in terms of territory, in the neighboring borderland regions of two or more countries. The aim of this paper is to identify factors that contribute to the sustainable cross-border cooperation and affect motivation to increase cooperation between cross-border partners. The objective implementation is connected with the verification of a hypothesis referring to the possible impact of the European Union funds on the trans-boundary cooperation transformations. Results of desk research and quantitative research involving IDI, CATI, CAWI and CATI and PAPI data collection methods, implemented in the Polish–Czech borderland in 2016 were used in this paper. Research on the Polish–Lithuanian borderland was also used in the paper to conduct comparative analysis, useful to identify and evaluate factors motivating sustainable cross-border cooperation in the Czech–Polish borderland. The sustainable, cross-border and inter-organizational cooperation in the borderlands results from the simultaneous interaction of three groups of factors: (1) people and institutions (the quality of interpersonal relationships); (2) cross-border planning, procedures and support mechanisms (e.g., the possibility of jointly planning the cross-border cooperation and obtaining EU funds for the development of the borderlands as well as the availability of other funds helpful in this kind of cooperation); and (3) environment (historical affinity and geographical proximity of neighboring border regions, system support at the regional and local level in neighboring countries).

The issue of managerial competencies is important due to the fact that it is the management staff who are responsible for developing a corporate strategy, especially as far as SMEs are concerned. A process of competence development in SMEs is worth being investigated as it proceeds differently than in big organizations, the experience of which is used in the presented research. SMEs are the driving force of economy in well developed countries. Their competitiveness is largely determined by their managers’ competencies. They are inextricably linked with the process of education. Education systems and school curricula equip young people with knowledge and skills that are the basis for the later development of professional competencies and the ability to learn throughout one’s life. They are complemented by the process of lifelong learning, various forms of non-formal education and self-education. On the other hand, knowledge of competencies necessary for a given position (in this case managerial) is a source of knowledge for the development of an educational process fulfilling the needs of the labour market. The presented study covers the findings of a test survey, purpose of which was to identify the importance of key managerial competencies, competencies needed by managers in SMEs, and to define a set of competencies that managers wish to develop.