Nowadays, all sources in the reproduction process are easily substituted, thus the most important factors in reaching a competitive advantage are human resources. Talent management is the process oriented to enrich higher the ability of employers to increase their quality and productivity. Globalization has changed the structure of the companies in Slovakia, depending on the size of the company. This paper compares how the size of the company influences the main phases of the talent management process (strategy, identification, assessment, development, retaining). A scaled questionnaire was applied as a tool for data collection in 381 companies operating business in Slovakia. Questionnaire reliability was verified by Cronbach’s alpha. To verify the existence of statistically significant differences between individual groups of respondents, ANOVA was used. We found that the main differences between small and large companies were identified in the phases of talent identification and talent development. In bigger companies, management is more focused on HR plans that include talent identification and acquisition and have more possibilities to develop talented individuals. On the other side we could see that small companies were more successful in the process of retaining the talents. Talented people in small companies are more loyal to the employers and stay in the company for longer periods than talented individuals in large companies.

Even though formalization of ethical principles is a must in today’s business, research and evidence in the Slovak conditions remain scarce. Yet, creating an ethical business climate and especially the formalization of ethics through codes of ethics incorporated in corporate standards is a particularly interesting phenomenon in the conditions of transit economies due to the significant role of multinationals in this process. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine main factors influencing the extent of ethical codes in 225 subsidiaries of multinational companies operating in Slovakia. The conducted questionnaire study containing items focused on area and extent of ethical code, number of employees, economic performance, regional and industrial scope, ownership structure, and nationality of executive director was used as a tool for data collection. Factor analysis was processed to identify the interdependencies between observed variables and to find the latent variables. Further, the Kruskal–Wallis test was applied to identify the differences among the variables along with the Bonferroni correction test, which specified the items between which the significant difference occurred. The following findings emerged. First, companies with lower extent of ethical code use general phrases. When they want to specialize on any ethics problems, extent must be wider. Second, companies with a lower number of employees do not need extensive ethical code due to clear rules with which they are familiar in a direct way by owners. In multinational companies, the communication of ethical rules is realized via ethical codes with specific purposes because the direct way is impossible. Third, companies with foreign ownership used different managerial approaches, and therefore ethical codes differ in extent and content.

In spite of geographical and culture differences between examined countries, there can be found similarities in consumer behavior of men and woman and also the similar tendencies on the dairy product market. In the last decade different fields of science concerns with the topic of gender differences more frequently. The article is based on a research of consumers' overall attitude to dairy products in Slovakia and Russia. The important role of gender differences underlines the outcomes of the questionnaire survey. Kruskal-Wallis test and Bonferroni correction was applied to verify the hypothesis whether there is a dependency between gender of the respondents and their attitude while choosing the dairy products in both countries. Analysis showed that in both countries women tend to buy dairy products more often than men. Also consumers prefer more domestic products, but Russian not as significantly as Slovakian. In both countries consumers consider the price of dairy products as high, but they don’t outline the price as the most important factor when choosing dairy products. At the same time, both genders consider quality as the most important factor. These results indicate the existence of a niche at the Russian market, which could be used by Slovak dairy producers who can possibly penetrate Russian market. In addition, the similar marketing strategy for both, Slovak and Russian market can be used if the advertisement will be sensitively focused on the gender.

The aim of the article is to analyse the dependency of selected factors (age category, level of income and gender) on consumers' willingness to buy organic dairy products. The primary research based on the electronic interview survey carried out on the sample of 203 Slovak respondents of all ages, in different social situations and with different views on the issue. The questionnaire consisted of seven sorting questions and six questions addressed consumers' perception of organic dairy products and the reasons for their purchase or rejection. For evaluation the Chi square test of square contingency was used. Results were sorted into tree parts. The aim of the firts part of research was to find out whether there is a dependency between the age category of the respondents and whether they are buying organic dairy products. Results showed that the age category of the respondents and purchase of organic dairy products are independent. The second part of the research based on the examination of the dependency between the level of income of the respondents and their willingness to pay for organic products. In this case we confirmed the dependency between the customers' average income per month and their willingness to pay for organic dairy products. Last but not least, the dependency between the reasons that would discourage consumers from buying organic dairy products and their gender was examined. The results of analysis clearly showed that these two variables are independent. Despite generally persisted opinions that food of daily consumption in bio quality (organic) is mainly bought by women of specific age categories (joung independent woman after graduation, mothers on maternity leave) we can confirm just the significance of the impact of customers' average income per month on their willingness to pay for these high quality and therefore expensive products.

Social sustainability is slowly becoming a more important aspect of a company’s management, particularly in the case of multinational companies with an international network of subsidiaries placed in diverse cultural and social environments. The concept of social sustainability is strongly connected with a considerable number of stakeholders, compared to the environmental and economic aspects of sustainability. The nature of activities under the social pillar of corporate responsibility connects social sustainability with family business, which aims at the principles of social solidarity, equality and ethics. This article uniquely analyzes selected aspects of social sustainability on a sample of 201 Slovak subsidiaries of foreign multinationals and finds differences between family and nonfamily ones. Surprisingly, the conducted research proved that the examined family businesses cannot be considered as bearers of social sustainability in Slovakia, since, in many aspects, the nonfamily businesses implemented the monitored aspects in larger measures, and there were only two factors that turned out to be significant, according to the type of business ownership. Equal opportunities in the workplace were the only variable, due to which significant differences were seen, according to the factor of a family business and the factor of employees’ gender simultaneously, which makes it a crucial variable. The conducted study fills the gap in explanation of interconnections between social sustainability, family business and equal gender opportunities, which makes it unique not just in Slovak conditions.