Every large or small enterprise needs to have financial liquidity and to be able to generate profits to develop. It is not important in which sector it operates, whether it is a private or public one, but profits and safety are two elements every enterprise is not able to function without. The low performance of these two measures can cause a number of difficulties for managers. To avoid this, leading companies, especially the smallest ones, should optimize the trade credit management policy. Most often, SMEs’ (small and medium-sized enterprises) owners try to work together as part of a group purchasing organization, which positively affects trade credit management. The aim of the paper is to present the trade credit management strategy in Polish group purchasing organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study uses data on the construction sector because it is one of the most important segments of the Polish economy, which is financed to a large extent with trade credit. The paper indicates the mechanisms whose applications allowed SMEs operating in purchasing groups to change trade credit management strategies in such a way that these units could operate calmly and safely in the market. These changes could be observed in purchasing goods with a large reserve, strictly controlling all receivables, switching to cash sales or limiting sales on long-term trade credit. The analysis showed that enterprises changed trade credit management strategies from moderately conservative to highly conservative.

Research background: The risk management process is a key element in running a business. Moreover, it is basically one of the basic and most important internal processes in any company, regardless of its size. However, due to the extremely important role played by small and medium-sized enterprises in the economy, the problem of proper management of endogenous and exogenous risks becomes particularly important. Purpose of the article: The article aims to show the importance of risk management in the operations of modern enterprises in the SMEs sector and the attitudes of entrepreneurs towards key business risks. Methods: The research was based on data on 332 enterprises from the SMEs sector operating in Poland. The data was collected using the CSAQ method in the period from 12 of November 2019 to 9 of March 2020. The distribution of risk assessment in the studies was analysed using Tau Kendall statistics, while the risk management index was created by examining the attitudes of entrepreneurs towards individual risk factors. Findings & Value added: The results of the survey showed that three-quarters of enterprises did not manage risk in a formalized way and that decision-makers in enterprises often paid too little attention to the issues related to managing different types of risk. The article should, therefore, draw the attention of managers to the need to build appropriate procedures to enable effective risk management that creates opportunities for the safe operation of the enterprise. The added value of the work is a detailed analysis of the management of individual types of endogenous and exogenous risks, as well as an indication of what features of enterprises affect the effectiveness of actions taken in the field of controlling these risks. Research is valuable because of the small amount of studies that links managers' approaches to risk management with actual risk management effectiveness.

The desire and ability to apply the concept of social responsibility is directly proportional to a culture that is formed due to the relevant knowledge, skills and qualifications. It is believed that university education is able to interest future owners, experts and clients of insurance companies in running socially responsible activities.The purpose of the study is to determine the role of universities in disseminating the social responsibility practices in the insurance sector.The main method of research is the survey conducted among 536 full-time students-financiers at domestic universities in September and October 2018. This method allowed to identify peculiarities of students’ perception of the social responsibility concept in the insurance sector of Ukraine. The case study method was also applied to reflect the social responsibility practices used by domestic insurance companies.As a result of the combination of the methods proposed, the low level of students’ knowledge of social responsibility in the insurance sector and the low interest of insurance companies as compared to foreign insurance companies have been shown. That is why, in the process of training, it is important for universities to focus on the proper world-view positions and value orientations, dialog and ethical cooperation that will enhance the professional training of students and develop modern professional competence among them that will meet international practices and requirements.

The concept of state financial security is a key one, due to the fact that it reflects the state of the country, its public finances, as well as the state of the financial sector operating within it. An adequate level of state financial security can create optimal conditions for the development of the financial system, financial stability, as well as for the country's economic development and investment attractiveness. One of the main factors that determine a high level of state financial security is the stability of the financial sector. Given that the assets of the banking sector account for a significant, if not an overwhelming share of the total assets of the financial sector, this sector plays a key role in the economy as a whole. Therefore, a stable and secure banking sector is an important element affecting the level of financial security of a country. The paper attempts to define the concept of state financial security and to present its relevance. In addition, the paper also aimed to identify the main factors that most influence the level of state financial security. Eight indicators, generally accepted as those describing the level of state financial security, were applied in the paper and used as the basis for an econometric model expressing the relationship between them and the stable development of the banking sector. The study showed that the stability of the Polish banking sector determined the financial security of the state.

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly caused many perturbations, at the same time hindering the functioning and operation of enterprises from various industries, which, due to the often inability to conduct business, found themselves in a very difficult financial situation, with a difficult ability to settle their liabilities. Too high share of receivables that are not settled in a timely manner can result in various problems for enterprises, including, in particular, financial problems that can lead to large-scale bankruptcy. Considering a huge number of connections between individual entities, the bankruptcy of one may pose a risk of a wave of bankruptcy of others. The paper aims to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the payment situation of Polish enterprises. The research was conducted on the basis of an analysis of data on the payment situation of Polish enterprises from selected industries. Basic descriptive statistics was used in the study to characterize the material. The non-parametric Wilcoxon pair order test, which is the equivalent of the Student’s t-test for related variables, was used for the research. The research proved that at enterprises from almost every industry, the value of debts at the end of the second quarter of 2020 was higher than in the first quarter. It can therefore be concluded that the outbreak of the pandemic contributed to an increase in arrears, which, in turn, resulted in an increased risk of doing business. The greater the share of arrears with contractors, the greater the risk of financial problems at the enterprise, and hence the increased risk of bankruptcy.