Evaluating market opportunities and threats pre- and post-COVID-19: Evidence from Slovak republic

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to compare how Slovak companies responded to market opportunities and threats in the pre- and post-COVID-19 survey years and to analyze the role of the internal environment in shaping these responses.

Design/methodology/approach: The research is based on two surveys of Slovak enterprises (489 in 2016 and 573 in 2021), applying correlation and regression analyses to evaluate responses to external opportunities and threats and their relationship to internal organizational factors.

Findings: The study shows that firms’ responsiveness to opportunities and threats is mechanism-dependent rather than uniform, varying across firm size, maturity, and sector. Opportunity responsiveness is strongly associated with internal capabilities—particularly strategic alignment and trend analysis—and drives innovation in processes, automation, and informatization. In contrast, under recessionary conditions, threat responsiveness also stimulates innovation, but through a necessity-driven mechanism that operates largely independently of internal capability levels.

Research limitations/implications: The study is limited to Slovak enterprises and is based on two independent cross-sectional samples with differing sectoral representation in 2016 and 2021, which restricts causal interpretation of the results. In addition, the analysis relies on self-reported managerial perceptions. Future research could extend the comparison to other EU countries and longer timeframes to assess long-term effects.

Originality/value: This paper contributes to strategic management and innovation literature by providing empirical evidence from an emerging innovator economy. It shows that both opportunity recognition and threat responsiveness drive innovation, especially in turbulent contexts such as COVID-19.