GENERATION DISPARITIES ON THE PERCEPTION OF SMEs BUSINESS RISKS

Abstract

This article aims to identify common features, disparities, and consequences in the perception of business risks between generation X, Y, and Z entrepreneurs in the segment of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The empirical part of this research included the dataset of 1585 questionnaires fulfilled by the entrepreneurs from the SME segment from four Central European countries across 2019-2020. The disparities of the perception of business risks were analyzed using Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests. The research results prove the existence of the significant disparities in the perception of the market, financial, personnel, legal, and operational risks sources by the entrepreneurs from X, Y, and Z generations. Generally, essential disparities are in the perception of business risks between generation X and Z. 61.7% of SMEs from generation X believe that the number of possible requests for the specific products/services has a downward trend. In comparison, only 49.0% of SMEs from generation Z and 45.3% of SMEs from generation Y present the same opinion. The presented research results have the following implications: i. top management of SMEs should improve interpersonal relationships in the workplace; ii. fine-tuning of supporting programs by organizations supporting the business environment in the region of the Visegrad Group; iii. preparation of strategic documents dealing with the quality of the business environment or the training of top SME managers in the case of national policymakers.