Review of the Monograph, Symbiosis of Economic Diplomacy and Entrepreneurial Practice by Štefan Kassay

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The creative scientist and writer Štefan Kassay presents a further publication. Its title awakens the process of creation, the development of new entities and qualities. This happens in the framework of the diplomacy in the area of economy and the practice of entrepreneurship.

 

The introduction to the publication brings information about a young institution, the centre of education INTERCEDU. It is managed by its founder Štefan Kassay. It is an educational centre and, at the same time, it is a scientific institution. It deals with various problems at a multidisciplinary level. Besides the author, the foreword was also written by Štefan Luby and other personalities – the lawyer Lajčák, expert of protocol Trubač , and a specialist in the production processes Professor Košturiak.

 

Part of the monograph draws attention to the company I.D.C. Holding, a.s. The book starts with the history of the production of biscuits in Sereď. Kassay describes three decades of successful operations of the company. In the conditions of a mixed economy with a dominant share of a directive character in socialist Czechoslovakia, it was a successful enterprise. It worked at a time of slight economic reforms after 1963 and became independent during the turbulent year of 1968. The enterprise also gave space for innovators and innovations. It collaborated on a scientific basis with the Faculty of Chemistry of the Slovak Technical University. The monograph also describes the first eighty years of the operation at Figaro Trnava. In Trnava the production of sweets began before WWI. The economic crisis and the war meant difficult times for the company. Later, following nationalisation, the situation of the enterprise improved.     

 

After the historical excursus the author shows the links of the entrepreneurial practice and the economic diplomacy of the company. He draws attention to the interconnections between the political, company and economic diplomacy. I.D.C. Holding, a.s. also achieved good results in the area of export. It succeeded in spreading the good reputation of the corporation. The increased activity of diplomacy at various levels helped improve the economic results – e.g. the production of sponge biscuits that are also famous on other continents. In a further part the author writes about improving the economic results by implementing scientific knowledge. The map of procedures and the main processes are substantial and here they are bound-up with the strategic and supporting ones. The book also depicts the relations to the productivity of work. The improvement of the processes is linked with reducing the financial (salaries) and energy consumption. The author offers analyses of several products from the point of view of their position on the market. Part of this topic is also the comparison and assessment of the information systems. An outline of the production model is also part of the first sub-chapters. One of the indicators of the company´s effectiveness is the planning of production in compliance with the supplying chain. The model is a simulation on which the management can train and educate; it is not a copy of the real state. The information system can also identify the weaknesses. The new technologies and the process of optimising the packaging and baking procedures increased the productivity by more than ten times, and also the productivity of the packaging process were significantly improved. The system of improvement called ZUZKA was an important factor for implementing the innovations – it has been working now for more than twenty-five years.

 

Investments into innovations sometimes can have a returnability of up to five years – this is of a short-time character from the point of view of the social consequences. The company also achieved an innovation through overhauling the mixing machines. The author describes a longer process of I.D.C. informatisation. The goal is to optimise the processes and simplify the human work. The book brings a spatial description of the plants with a time framework of the improvements. The text also involves descriptions of the operations, plants and daughter companies, as well the assortment of products. It offers a broad analysis of the automation of the manufacturing processes and gives a brief history of the enterprise in context with the new building activities and reconstructions. He also presents the collaboration of the company with secondary schools and universities on the basis of practice. The book also informs readers about the education of the employees, and in brings the data about the information systems in production. The author also writes about the company outlet – an integral part of the enterprise.

 

A topic of the monograph is also the gradual process of writing and presenting the pentalogy, the biggest and most prodigious work of the author. The book describes the process of creating individual volumes and launching them on to the market. It offers the process of the final presentation of the pentalogy for many foremost guests and the conference New Europe. The author extensively presents the preparations for this excellent scientific event and the whole conference. It is a rare achievement indeed to be concentrating so many significant scientists in one place. This assembling of academicians, doctors of science, professors and even one Nobel Prize winner was the result of long-term and perfect planning for the scientific conference.

 

The mission of the academician Kassay in Iceland is a separate chapter of the book. The monograph pleasantly introduces the reader to the history and present day of the capital and the whole country. Kassay brings interesting information from his economic mission and summarises the results of his trip. He describes noteworthy meetings with personalities, e.g. the Rector of the most significant university of the island, with a bishop, with the former Prime Minister, the Ambassadors of Russia, China and Poland, and with the representatives of large enterprises, etc. He also visited important institutions, e.g. the Parliament, the University of Iceland in the capital, etc. The report from the mission was also presented by the then State Secretary, Chovanec.       

 

The next chapter describes a similar mission to Finland and Estonia. The author presents twenty-six days of diplomatic activities in these Northern countries. Besides the goal of the trip, the author explains the relation of economic diplomacy and the products of I.D.C. Holding, a.s. – Horalky and the pentalogy as excellent products in both the material and intellectual sense. Kassay draws attention to the great difference in the quality of education. He gives the company I.D.C. Holding, a.s. as an example of unifying the interests of the state, educational institutions and manufacturing enterprises. The author considers the tool of communication to be more primary than the actual marketing itself. The objectives of the trip were to appreciate the Finnish and Estonian educational system, to bring a message from the journey, to offer the information system and to continue the current collaboration. Kassay describes the Finnish educational system implementing inclusion and justice, unifying the general and technical directions at the level of the secondary school education and defining relatively strict standards for the teachers. The author brings his impressions from the visit to the Aalto University. It belongs to those that develop the principles of sustainable development. He also visited the Hanken University which is oriented on economy and entrepreneurship. Various research centres and working labs are part of the university. The next university was the University Laurea with several campuses aimed at innovations in the area of services. He also visited the wide-spectrally oriented TAMK University in Tampere with its unusual study programmes – many of them are oriented on sustainability. Then he visited the Technical University in Tallinn, the largest innovative university in Estonia, e.g. it developed an autonomous vehicle. The author also visited a prestigious scientific institution – the Finnish Academy of Sciences. Its objectives are, besides the science, to promote and support the scientific workers. There is also the Young Academy Finland that supports the young scientific workers and makes them visible. The author got acquainted with the Federation of Finnish Companies Yrittäjät. The objective of the federation is to support Finnish entrepreneurial subjects. In Tampere Professor Kassay visited a trade fair and the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He also went to the Slovak Embassy in Finland. During his mission academician Kassay awarded prizes – the Gold Medal and Commemorative Medal of Štefan Kassay. The chapter also apprises readers about particular personalities with whom the author discussed the possibility of collaboration. He goes on to speak about the results of these discussions – he agreed to the introduction of the pentalogy to the programme of the conference ENOLL. The author sadly concluded that while he had a great success in Finland and Estonia, he failed to start the wished-fore collaboration with the Slovak Academy of Sciences which is a pity from the reviewer´s point of view.

 

The author also brought information about the collaboration of I.D.C. Holding, a.s. and the European Investment Bank. Kassay personally started the collaboration with this institution and presented this bank with its various fields of activities. In this chapter he also discusses the quality of life. The author really did a lot for European economic diplomacy – this can be proven by the visit of EU ministers of labour to I.D.C. Holding, a.s. Later Professor Kassay describes various types of incubators as an interconnection with the European Investment Bank and the Institute of European Investment Bank. Kassay speaks about various types of incubators, e.g. the multipurpose and specialised incubators or various types of incubators according to the lessees. He also presents the entrepreneurial incubators in the Slovak conditions. Kassay then mentions the priorities of Slovak development aid and does not forget to speak about the experience of I.D.C. Holding. a.s. when it received gifted young entrepreneurs from Georgia for a stay. In the framework of this activity, the author describes the latest chapter in the history of economic relations between Georgia and Slovakia. This part also presents feedback on the visit of the participants – the Georgian entrepreneurs.

 

Then the monograph continues by presenting the educational project in cooperation with the EU countries, including Slovakia and China. Here the author cites the famous names – Dušan Podhorský, Peter Burian, Tibor Králik, Ján Košturiak, etc. It is an apolitical project – Kassay participated in a conference in China based on an invitation from the Xidian University taking place in the city of Si-an. The participants came from several continents. The author describes the event and cites parts of selected papers.  Kassay emphasised that the Chinese educational reforms underline the implementation of innovations. China orientates on the development of the regions. Apart from the presentation, Professors Kassay and Košturiak negotiated with their Chinese partners and also agreed on a Chinese version of the pentalogy.

 

The author also portrays the presentations of various intellectual products abroad, e.g. the translation of the pentalogy into Polish. In this connection he also presents the responses of the interested Polish personalities in this creative activity, including the Slovak Embassy in Poland. There are also the opinions of the Slovak experts from practice. The author here also presents the activities in the Russian Federation – besides the pentalogy there is also the editorial series Management, in a Russian version. He had discussions with the interested individuals – the representatives of Russian science, diplomacy and publishing houses. The famous ensemble the Alexander singing choir enriched this meeting. The author also visited the Slovak Embassy in Moscow and spoke about the business activities of his company in Russia. The visit to Uzbekistan was Kassay´s next mission where he met the Ambassador of Slovakia to this country. At the University of World Economy and Diplomacy in Tashkent he presented the results of his work. There he also went on to Samarkand. 

 

A significant event was the visit of 27 EU ministers of labour to Sereď. The author describes in detail the preparations and the whole event that has hardly any parallel in Slovakia. There was an interview with the Slovak Minister of Labour and Social Affairs and Family, Mr Richter. The ministers could see a successful company, and become acquainted with the innovation processes. They also spoke about the policy of the Council for Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs and certain common features and the experience of the employers. The author also presented the programme InvestEU. In the next part Kassay introduces briefly the basic topics of economic diplomacy. He compares his opinions with the stances of the Slovak diplomats in Bulgaria, Egypt, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, Finland, Brazil, Latvia, Kenya, Slovenia, Japan, USA, China, Croatia, Sweden, Israel, India and Denmark.

 

The discussions of Štefan Kassay with Dušan Podhorský also brought information that there is interest shown in the pentalogy from universities in Kazakhstan and Kirgizstan. The author presented the third volume of the pentalogy at the Embassy of Slovakia in Budapest in the presence of important guests. The same happened at the Corvinus University of Budapest. Professor Kassay also met the Ambassador of Hungary in Slovakia. The monograph in this chapter informs the reader that the author gained the Gold Medal of the Slovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry and also brings information about the ceremonial meeting of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, as well as about the seminar of the Entrepreneurial University in Sereď. This part also informs about the next steps of the author – the visit of the State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy in I.D.C. Holding, a.s., about the preparation for the conference New Europe with the Bulgarian Ambassador and Hungarian personalities.  This part also includes a discussion with five professors about the issues of the industry – the professors Kassay, Zelený, Košturiak, Marek and Gregor. The chapter also brings information about the author´s paper at the Entrepreneurial Conference in Žilina. It informs about the issue of the fifth volume of the pentalogy in Hungarian and the third volume in Russian, about the meeting with the Chairman of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, with the Minister of Labour Richter, with the Ambassador of Russia in Slovakia, the presentations in Budapest, the meeting with the Vice-President of the European Investment Bank, about the presentation of the monograph and mission of the author in Iceland, about the meeting with the Bulgarian poet Canev, and the presentation of the pentalogy at the Russian Centre in Bratislava. Then the chapter describes the meeting with Dušan Belly, with the Polish Ambassador in Slovakia, with the State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy, with the Ambassador of China in Slovakia, the Ambassador of Serbia in Slovakia, the Ambassador of the Czech Republic in Slovakia, the Ambassador of Japan in Slovakia, the Ambassador of Russia in Slovakia, the Ambassador of Georgia in Slovakia, the former President of the Czech Republic Professor Klaus and various Hungarian personalities.

 

This part also furnishes information about the meetings with other foremost representatives – the former President of Slovakia, Rudolf Schuster or Ambassador Peter Weiss. He writes about issuing the Hungarian version of the series Management. Kassay handed over the Prize of Excellence to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Miroslav Lajčák. There is also information about publishing the next volume of the pentalogy in Polish, about the meeting with the State Secretary of the Ministry of Education. He meets the Bulgarian Ambassador Chobanova and issues the anthology at the conference New Europe. Kassay meets other personalities – the Governor of the national Bank, the former Vice-Governor of the National Bank, in the premises of I.D.C. Holding, a.s. he receives the Minister of Economy Žiga. He describes his presentation at the conference Entrepreneurship and Innovations – Entrepreneurial Activities at VŠMP ISM Slovakia in Prešov and his participation at the conference at the J. Selye University in Komárno. The author met the Ambassador of Slovakia in Vietnam. He reflects upon the activities at the Slovak Academy of Sciences and tells us about the National Forum of Productivity in Žilina. Kassay brings information about the Economic and Management Forum in Poprad where he presented his paper. He also mentions the beginning of issuing the magazine Reflexie, established by the academics Štefan Kassay and Anton Lisnik. The author informs about his meeting with the chargé d´affaires of Hungary, he speaks about his next monograph, The Dictate of Time Is Unstoppable – about its presentation, he receives the State Secretary Oľga Nachtmannová in Pečivárne Sereď. He describes the long-term collaboration with the Ambassador of Bulgaria and the preparation of the Bulgarian version of the editorial series Management. The author speaks about his meeting with the Rector of J. Selye University and also about his impressions from the Independent Economic Forum.

 

The publication includes further press releases, reports and features. It brings information about the Hungarian version of the editorial series, Management, about the negotiations with the Ambassador of Slovakia in China, about the Russian version of the fourth volume of the pentalogy and about the meeting with the Governor of the National Bank. He meets the Polish and Finnish Ambassadors. In Helsinki the whole delegation of I.D.C. Holding, a.s. negotiates with the representatives of the dominant retail chain s-Group Chain – SOK. During his visit to Finland the author meets the most important individuals of the project Urban Mill. In the Finish capital he also presents his pentalogy. He meets E. Kukan again and negotiates concerning the collaboration with the Chairman of the Slovak Academy of Sciences Šajgalík. He visits the vernissage of the Bulgarian painter Tenev, meets with the philosopher Dr. Dušan Gálik and speaks with him about common institutional projects. He informs about the progress of the editorial series Management and about the continuation of the magazine Reflexie. He describes his discussions with the diplomat R. Supek, recalls his presentations of the pentalogy volumes in Croatia, he successfully arranges the collaboration of the Foundation of Professor Kassay for Science and Education with the J. Selye University.

 

The further pages bring information about the really extensive activities of the author. He participates in the further year of the aforementioned conference in Poprad. He participates in the activities of the Independent Economic Forum and actively negotiates with the J.Selye University in Komárno. He also takes part in the event, the Day of Russia in Bratislava. He presents his paper at the conference Tourism – Research, Development and Education in Sofia. Through the Ambassador he again presents the pentalogy to a intellectual Chinese audience. In Geneva he actively participated in the event, European Network of Living Labs, and actively presents his opinions as an expert from practice and theoretician. Kassay during this event presented I.D.C. Holding, a.s. as a living lab. He declares – a really successful entrepreneur cannot be successful without science. The author describes this conference in a professional journalistic way. Further, Kassay´s publications penetrate the Hungarian Market. He again negotiates with the Ambassador for Central Asia, Peter Burian. They discuss about Central Asia, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan and conclude that the potential of these countries lies in their young people.

 

Kassay discusses the problems of the EU in the Economic Club. The Foundation of Professor Štefan Kassay for the Support of Science and Education is presented in Budapest at the Common European Production Platform. The chapter also brings messages from the presentation of Slovakia at the diplomatic bazaar in Beirut, and the charity bazaar in Sofia. The author also speaks about his portal kassay.eu. The author gives the pentalogy to the Russian Ambassador, Fedotov. He also participates in the round table negotiation regarding the Activities of Slovakia with Finland and Estonia. He negotiated in the Club of Regional Slovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry; he also discusses with the Rector of Charles University about collaboration. Climbers take the iconic product of I.D.C. Holding, a.s. to the Elbrus Mountain. He has a working meeting with the Ministry of Education, academic Lubyová. He presents his monograph The Die Is Cast.

 

The Foundation of Štefan Kassay organised in collaboration with the Slovak Academy of Sciences the Symposium about Science and Education. Many of the foremost scientific personalities take part in this event. The academic Ivan Plander receives the Prize of Excellence from the author during this event. Kassay also met the Director of the Václav Klaus Institute and took part in the Economic Congress at the Humanitas University in Sosnowiec/Poland. Kassay summarises the opinions of the state secretaries from the ministries of economy and education that were presented at the symposium organised by the author. He actively participated in the second year of the conference Economic and Management Forum in Poprad and thoroughly describes this event.

 

The meetings with other personalities continue – he meets with the Director of GLOBSEC and the Ambassador Káčer, The Foundation of Štefan Kassay awards several prizes – the Gold Medal for Oľga Nachtmannová and Rastislac Chovanec. The author presents another new book – Closer to Life – it contains a lot of autobiographical features. He discusses with the global Professor Milan Zelený. He meets the Vice-Prime Minister Sulík. During the pandemic Kassay participates in The Informal Economic Forum and presents a paper together with other personalities. On 1st July 2020 the author takes part in the ceremonial Te Deum in Ružomberok. During this event he is awarded with the title dr. h. c. for his outstanding scientific accomplishments. The ceremonial laudation is presented by the academic Luby. After receiving this title, the author is not idle and he documents it on the last dozen  pages of the monograph. He actively participates in the Festival of Innovations in Vráble. He meets the EU MP Štefanec, with the State Secretary Paulis and diplomat Koterec. He actively works in the framework of the conference Electronic Kazan on the Danube. He actively presents his new educational project here. He describes every day of this large international conference. He issues the next monograph The Dictate of Time Is Unstoppable II. He organises several symposiums of the International Centre of Education INTERCEDU. He meets the diplomats working at the embassies in Soul and Nairobi. Kassay is also involved in organising the 1st conference of the European Academy for Research of Molecular Hydrogen in collaboration with the Slovak Academy of Sciences. His next publication The Dictate of Time Is Unstoppable III is issued. He is the key person at a meeting of the European Academy of sciences and Arts and INTERCEDU. He also participates in the General Assembly of the Association of Industrial, research and Development Organisations ZPVVO. He also reflects on the successful negotiations of the Slovak government with China.

 

The end of the monograph deals with the perspectives of the Institute of Štefan Kassay for the Development of Socio-Economic Studies. The author had this institute built and supervised its construction. The establishing of this new scientific institution is an accomplishment that cannot be appreciated by mere words. On the occasion of its start the author awarded the Gold Medal to several persons. INTERCEDU and the European Academy of sciences and Arts concluded a memorandum about collaboration. The expected collaboration should be realised in the area of socio-economic studies. The conclusion of the book is a contemplation on the speech of the current US President (2025).

 

I consider this monograph to be a precious testimony regarding materialising the message of economic diplomacy into material and immaterial products. It is the implementation of the scientific discoveries into practice with an extensive usage of economic diplomacy. I recommend issuing this work in full.

 

Doc. PhDr. Marián Ambrozy, PhD., MBA

Prešov, 2nd April 2025