TRENDS >
Written by: Anita Lišková

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BUSINESS: Comparing managers by region
The company Roland Berger has published a comparative study on corporate management in central and eastern Europe and the EU. It indicates that Czech managers rate their own skills more highly than do their EU counterparts. "This is probably because the systems in western Europe are already well established. Conversely, Czech managers struggle daily, which may lead to their greater self confidence," says Martina Mannová, Roland Berger's director. The results also show that 75% of Czech managers feel that their firms provide them with sufficient motivation, compared to only 50% in EU countries. According to Czech managers, increasing sales on the domestic market is the most important factor for competitiveness, while managers in the EU place greater emphasis on educating managers.

E-COMMERCE: Pay fees and fines electronically
Some state offices have decided to follow the trend towards increasingly popular bank card transactions. A project allowing cash-free payments of collected fees has already been launched in selected Prague municipal offices, where cards can be used to pay fees connected with the issuing of business licenses. The Prague Municipal Police are also planning on launching a new system for electronically collecting fines next year. Mobile terminals for cash-free transactions should become available to traffic police, and the government is negotiating the possibility of collecting fines directly on the highways. České dráhy (Czech Railways) also offers travellers cash-free fare payments - cards can already be used at 28 train stations around the Czech Republic, and by the end of November three more will be added: Masarykovo nádraží in Prague, Prague-Smíchov, and Otrokovice.

INTERNET: Stopping spam
How to deal with unrequested e-mails? It is estimated that around the world spam accounts for over half of all e-mails, and its growth can also be observed in the Czech Republic. Spam currently accounts for nearly 30% of all e-mail traffic in this country. Czech On Line, which operates the Volný and Post.cz e-mail services, estimates that this figure is between 40% and 50%. Most portals are able to filter out over 20% of all unrequested e-mails, and if a customer orders a special program, the percentage rises markedly. "For customers who have ordered our multi-layered intelligent anti-spam service, over 80% of all spam messages are removed," says Stanislava Beyerová, Czech On Line's spokesperson. Measures prepared by the Ministry of Informatics are also braking the spread of spam. The law, which will completely ban the sending of unrequested e-mails, should take effect when the Czech Republic joins the European Union.