Abstract:

The globalization and internationalization phenomenon stimulates not only the interlinking of economies but also interlinking and creation of intense relations among companies. A business of network nature contributes to the competitiveness on the global market. One of the form of network cooperation that is currently beginning supported more extensively in the Slovak economy is the cluster cooperation. Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) by entering into these alliances have become a stronger partner and obtain position and influence against the large, and multinational companies that operate in the market. This form of doing business is influenced by a variety of risk factors that may threaten their activities and results in several areas. One of them is the area of human resources. In this context, the main aim of the paper is focused on the evaluation of risks that could have impact on SMEs’ decisions for the entering in this form of cooperation from the point of human resources view. To achieve this aim, the results of questionnaire surveys realized among 988 Slovak SMEs were used. The empirical survey was set up for SMEs in the areas in which Slovak clusters operate. The results of this study is the evaluation of the perception of risks that arising from cluster cooperation and connected with human resources. This research contributes to the extension of cluster cooperation platform in Slovakia and gives some proposal for small and medium entrepreneurs to join the cluster cooperation.