Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Rural Areas of the Czech Republic and Their Approach to Management Auditing

Abstract

Regarding small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their conditions in the present business environment, it is determinative for them to be prosperous and ambitious. In order to achieve their defined goals, such enterprises are advised to conduct periodical marketing environmental analyses and various audits. However, an audit process that examines overall enterprise management and measures its performance, i.e. management auditing, tends to be overlooked at times or mistaken for other activities. Related research involving Czech SMEs located in rural areas and operating in diverse industries discovered that management audit process capabilities, specifically in terms of organization and resources, are not fully utilized resulting in the enterprises’ lower competitiveness. In connection with broader assessment of enterprise management systems, the objective of this paper consists in introducing a particular sub-model titled “Comprehensive and Individual Resource Analysis”, which finalizes the previously developed and published “Two-Stage 7S Evaluation Model” [1]. Implementing the eventually completed model of management auditing on a regular basis would allow the SMEs to remove faults (and raise efficiencies) in their management processes, and enhance their enterprise value in the domestic and international markets.

Keywords

• management auditing
• small and medium-sized enterprises
• rural areas
• comprehensive and individual resource analysis
• management system evaluation