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Introduction
TheideaofunitedEuropehasbeenreappearingrepeatedlyintheEuropean
philosophicalthinkingsincethe14
thcentury*.However,thegenuineeffort
madetoembodytheconceptof"Europewithnoborders”wasmadeattheturn
ofthe20
thand21stcenturies.The"Europeandream”oftheunitedEurope
asaprerequisiteforitsharmoniousdevelopmentandanincreaseinthewealth
ofitsinhabitantsisnowlikelytobecomereal.Inparticular,theenlargement
oftheEuropeanUnionbynewmembersfromCentralandEasternEurope,
whichtookplaceintheyearsof2004-2007,createsaframeworkforintegrating
theEuropeannationsandeconomiesthattheSecondWorldWarandtheyears
ofcommunismhadtornapartforsomefiftyyears.
TheprocessoftheEUenlargementbynewmemberstateshasstoppedfor
thetimebeing.However,theEUintegrationisanongoingprocessproviding
Europeanswithwealth,security,freedomandinternationalcompetitiveness.
Particularly,theemergenceanddevelopmentoftheSingleEuropeanMarket
providesastimulustotheeconomicdevelopmentoftheregion.Yet,asustaina-
bleeconomicdevelopmentandanincreaseintheinternationalcompetitiveness
ofthewholeEUcallsforovercomingtheprofounddiversificationofconditions
forbusinessactivityinthememberstates,alongwithtakinganadvantageofthe
existingdifferencesbetweentheWesternaswellasCentralandEasternEurope
(CEE)countries,boththemembersofEUandthecountriesaspiringforthe
membership.
Sincethewealthofdiversitymaybeadvantageousprovidingitisre-
cognised,researchingthedifferencesandsimilaritiesindeterminantsandme-
thodsofrunningbusinessintheCEEmarkets,aswellaspublicisingthere-
searchresultsseemtobeparticularlyessential.Intheresearchesundertaken,
boththeoutside-inperspective(i.e.theperspectiveofforeignfirmsoperating
intheregion)andtheinside-outperspective(representingthepointofview
oftheCEEfirms)shouldbeconsidered.Thismonographyisacollection
ofstudiesincludingtheresultsoftheoreticalandempiricalresearchescovering
theaboveissues.Itisbasedonthepapersoriginatingfromtheexchange
ofideasanddiscussionsheldbyresearchersfromtheWestern,Central
*InthefourteenthcenturyPierreDuboisproposedaEuropeanconfederationgovernedbyEuropeancouncil.
InthenineteenthcenturyVictorHugoadvocatedfortheUnitedStatesofEurope.