It can be said that Integrated Information Systems (IIS) are a fundamental operating tool in modern business systems and form the basis of successful company management. The goal of our research was to determine the IT level of business operations in Croatian wood processing industry and to assess how significant it has been in enhancing its business performance. A survey method was used to collect data, which resulted in gathering predominantly small and medium-sized companies. Our results indicate an average use of IIS modalities among surveyed companies. Using cluster analysis, three types of companies were identified with respect to the degree of system implementation. Analysis of financial benefits of the IIS implementation did not find any statistically significant relationship. However, subjective impressions on non-financial indicators show that companies in all three clusters see the greatest benefit of IIS in the improved inventory efficiency and sales efficiency.

Na tržištu se pojavljuje velik broj proizvoda (uglavnom podnih obloga) od toplinski modificiranog drva. Poznato je da se drvu mijenjaju fizička i mehanička svojstva djelovanjem temperatura viših od 160 °C u okolišu siromašnome kisikom. U prikazanom radu istraživana je promjena tvrdoće po Brinell-u toplinski modificirane bukovine i grabovine u odnosu na recentno drvo, i to na tri glavna presjeka drva: poprečnom, radijalnom i tangentnom. Bukovina i grabovina odabrane su zbog utjecaja klimatskih promjena, kao i predviđanja na rasprostranjenost bukve i graba u Jugoistočnoj Europi. Drvo je modificirano u okolišu siromašnom kisikom 48 sati pri 200 ºC. Također je prikazana i ovisnost tvrdoće drva po Brinell-u o gustoći drva. Sva su mjerenja provedena pri ravnotežnom sadržaju vode drva od 12 %. Prosječne vrijednosti tvrdoće po Brinell-u toplinski modificirane bukovine i grabovine statistički se značajno razlikuju i manje su od prosječnih vrijednosti tvrdoće recentne bukovine i grabovine. Toplinskom modifikacijom bukovine i grabovine očekivano je došlo do smanjenja mase, a time i do smanjenja gustoće ispitanih uzoraka. U ovom istraživanju utvrđeno je da se primijenjenom toplinskom modifikacijom bukovini smanjila prosječna vrijednost tvrdoće po Brinell-u za 3% na poprečnom presjeku, za 15% na radijalnom presjeku i za 25% na tangentnom presjeku. Grabovini se istovrsnom toplinskom modifikacijom smanjila tvrdoća po Brinell-u za 6% na poprečnom presjeku, za 18% na radijalnom presjeku i za 13% na tangentnom presjeku. Primijenjenom toplinskom modifikacijom drva smanjena je tvrdoća po Brinell-u na sva tri presjeka istraživane bukovine i grabovine. Međutim, zabilježeno smanjenje tvrdoće još uvijek ne priječi uporabu tako modificirane bukovine i grabovine u nenosivim drvenim konstrukcijama i drvenim podnim oblogama.

In the last decade, the Slovenian furniture industry market has experienced a number of changes, especially with the arrival of new retailers on the market. The situation is such that furniture manufacturers and retailers are still trying to determine the best ways to adjust to new customer demands. A well known thing is that customer satisfaction is the key component for the success of the business. In order for companies to be more successful, it is important to get better insight into customers’ needs and wants. In line with this, the purpose of this study, which compare the surveys conducted in 2010 and 2019, was to observe and analyse changes in the preferences of customers for furniture: materials, attributes, and styles when deciding on new furniture in Slovenia. The results of this research showed that customers’ preferences for furniture materials have changed in the last decade. Similarly, the factors that influence their purchase decisions when buying interior and exterior furniture have changed as well. It was found that wood was widely preferred as a furniture material among the respondents in both years studied.

The wood industry, as a traditional sector, represents a very important part of the economy in terms of ensuring a sustainable development of society and transition to a low-carbon society in both countries studied, Slovenia and Croatia. For its further development, it is crucial to know the current position of the industry. The best way to achieve this is an analysis of financial data and international comparative evaluation of its operational efficiency. The aim of the research is to compare the relative efficiency of the wood industry using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and the Malmquist Productivity Index (MI), focusing on the Slovenian and Croatian wood industry sectors (C16 and C31) for a recent five-year period (from 2013-2017). With this purpose, the combined measure DEA/MI was applied. The analysis includes only the highest rated companies with more than fi ve employees, divided into 12 clusters regarding the company size. As a result, it was established that clusters CRO-C31- micro, CRO-C16-micro and SI-C16-larger have the highest operational efficiency, due to the effects of different financial indicators, especially activity and liquidity ratios. In general, within the grouped clusters regarding country and subsector, groups SI-C16 and CRO-C31 achieve the highest values for the average of weighted score of efficiency, while CRO-C16 achieves the lowest values.

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