Sectoral Differences in the Perception of Dominant Production Resources in Relation to Efficiency

The company's management's view of the importance of the main sources of growth may not correspond to how effectively these sources are actually used in reality. Current scientific literature lacks this perspective, which links management's subjective view of the main sources of company growth with objective quantitative analysis. The paper focuses on differences in the perception of sources of business growth by company management and the assessment of the effectiveness of the main sources of business growth. Empirical analysis of 153 companies in the Czech Republic in four sectors (IT services, trade and services, heavy manufacturing, light manufacturing). Primary data was obtained through a questionnaire survey and from financial statements from the Orbis database. The analysis focused not only on the perception of the main source in the context of the effectiveness of its use, but also in terms of profitability. The analysis revealed sectoral differences. In the service sector, compared to industry, the link between labor productivity and the dominant source of business growth, which according to management is human resources, was confirmed. A detailed analysis of manufacturing showed that the average values of productivity indicators vary depending on the perception of the dominant production factor. In industry, it was found that if companies have a higher production capacity of fixed assets, resource productivity also improves. On the contrary, all indicators of production factor efficiency (labor productivity, capital productivity, resource productivity) show a very weak and rather negative correlation with profitability indicators. The analysis found that the view of company management on the sources of company growth does not always correspond to how effectively these sources are used in companies, especially in fixed assets, technology, or materials. The article reveals a discrepancy between management's perception of the main sources of growth and their actual effectiveness.