The environment in which managers currently operate is dynamic and turbulent. This fact affects the great complexity and dynamism of changes. Thus, decision-making becomes more complex in the context of sustainability. Decisive decision-making is becoming rare, and the challenge of globalization is increasing. Under its influence, decision-making is no longer deterministic. Decision-making processes prevail in conditions of uncertainty. In this context, there is a very intense need to be acquainted with progressive tools to support decision-making and management and to apply the acquired knowledge in practice. This paper focuses on three related areas. We are talking about knowledge management in connection with the most important contributing element—decision-making with quality management. We deal with the characteristics of the individual areas, defining their mutual relationship on a systemic basis. The paper also points to the necessary connection between theory and practice. More specifically, it points to the practical applications of management to decision-making as a managerial function and, at the same time, related to decision-making in quality management. Subsequently, we define the links to knowledge management with an emphasis on the use of procedures, methods, and knowledge in the decision-making process, which we use in theory and practice in quality management.

Businesses are influenced by the cyclical nature of economic development and distinct stages in the corporate life cycle. Accurate early-warning mechanisms are crucial to mitigating bankruptcy risk, enabling timely rescue measures. This article analyses the reliability of various bankruptcy prediction models, including those by Kliestik et al., Poznanski, the modified Zmijewski, Jakubik–Teply, and Virag–Hajdu, across corporate life cycle stages. Reliability was assessed using five metrics: accuracy, balanced accuracy, F1 and F2 scores, and the Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC). The sample included over 5000 SMEs from Central Europe, with financial data from 2022. The findings reveal a U-shaped trend in financial distress risk, with start-ups and declining enterprises facing the highest risks. The results indicate that the Kliestik et al. model shows consistent reliability across all life cycle stages, while the Poznanski model shows more variability. Conversely, the Virag–Hajdu model exhibits significant variability in reliability, with its best performance observed during the Decline stage. The modified Zmijewski and Jakubik–Teply models show lower MCC values overall, with the modified Zmijewski model performing better at predicting the financial distress of mature shake-out firms compared to other stages.

Customer awareness and customer satisfaction are generally important attributes for the success and competitiveness of any business. In some sectors, they are studied very intensively; in others, they are neglected. In the field of transport services, it is important that the attitudes of customers are sufficiently monitored because public passenger transport has a lot of individual competition. Only satisfied customers can prefer public transportation over their own. In this context, this contribution analyses customer requirements and their satisfaction with bus public transport in the Slovak Republic. The opinions of customers are supplemented in this article with those of strategic managers. We ascertained customer requirements through questionnaire surveys. Using theoretical knowledge, we established hypotheses, which were subsequently verified using the selected statistical methods. Based on the findings, we proposed the concept of the target perspective of the BSC system for bus transport companies in the Slovak Republic in an effort to increase their competitiveness. Our procedure was also based on knowledge that is the output of various research studies in this area. Their results show that marketing strategies are considered the most important part of strategic management. Today, it is common in many industries that all business entities offer the same product at the same price under approximately the same technological conditions and with the assistance of equally well-equipped personnel. Therefore, a correctly set marketing strategy can also be the key to business success in transport services. The methods used in this paper were analysis, synthesis, questionnaire surveys, and the selected managerial and statistical methods. Our goal was to propose a concept of the customer perspective of the BSC system based on the analysis of customer requirements. We are convinced that the results of our survey can contribute to increasing the competitiveness of not only bus carriers in Slovakia, but also in other EU countries.

Constant change is typical not only for social space, but also for economic structure and business as well. For agents and reasons of these changes in our country it is necessary to look for not only in transformation of our economic conditions - this process has been running for several years and market mechanism has become reality – but the importance and influence of a new phenomenon is growing. This phenomenon is called new economics, or globalization which is typical with national borders destroying and harmonisation of management tools.

Financial literacy is a key competence for responsible decision-making and entrepreneurial readiness. This study looks at how Generation Z’s entrepreneurial participation is impacted by objective, subjective, and calibrated FL. The alignment of perceived and actual knowledge or calibration is highlighted as an understudied factor that influences entrepreneurial behaviour. A mixed-methods approach was applied, combining a survey of 403 Slovak students with structured interviews with secondary school and university teachers. Quantitative analysis used Chi-square tests, Cramer’s V, sign schemes, and MLR. Qualitative interviews provided contextual insights into educational gaps and perceived barriers to entrepreneurship. The findings confirm that a higher financial literacy is positively related to entrepreneurial interest. Objective literacy has a slightly greater predictive value than self-assessed literacy, while calibration emerged as the strongest predictor: realistically, financially literate individuals displayed the highest entrepreneurial engagement, whereas both over- and underestimation of financial knowledge reduced it. Interviews highlighted insufficient financial education, limited practical experience, and fear of risk as major obstacles. By combining three aspects of financial literacy with business goals and offering fresh data from Slovakia, this study makes a contribution to the literature. In similar situations, it makes suggestions for enhancing financial education to support Generation Z’s entrepreneurial potential.

Business management is a set of specific activities that a daily manager performs. Many facts and their course are influenced by their intuitive or cognitive decision-making. It has the ability to manage traditionally, dogmatically, or innovatively, which also depends largely on its personality profile. However, all executives jointly influence the environment in which they can apply their skills. It is an environment that is changing globalization. Managers need to recognize and interact with their impacts if they want to manage competitive businesses. They are looking for ways to reveal and use the dynamics and complexity of the predominantly variable business environment. In doing so, they use a variety of progressive management support tools that evolve as a reflection of environmental variability and turbulence. One of the options offered for more effective management is knowledge management. This form of management is an effective and efficient acquisition, creation and sharing of knowledge in all their manifestations and forms within and around the enterprise. Knowledge management is based on the principles of a holistic, systematic approach to data management and processing for the purpose of sustainable business development. In order to fulfill this ambition, however, the decisive factor is, above all, the level of knowledge participation based on the creation of new values as well as wealth itself. The paper highlights the importance, mission and functionality of knowledge management in human resource management, with a great deal of knowledge, given the importance of corporate assets at the forefront, presents and evaluates the results of the knowledge management survey in the selected company in the Slovak Republic.