Business processes and activities of small and medium-sized enterprises for procurement, processing and selling of non-wood forest products in the Toplicko and Moravsko forest region

Abstract

The entire operation of an enterprise is carried out through business processes. They represent a set of business activities, which transform available resources into results (outputs), such as a product or service. When it comes to non-wood forest products (NWFP), the business of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is based on procurement (col?lection and buying), processing and/or selling of these products. A very important aspect of SME business is cooperation with other enterprises. Cooperation can be achieved in procure?ment, production, placement, research, training, etc. This research aims to study business processes and activities, with a focus on the cooperation of NWFPs-based in the Toplicko and Moravsko forest regions. The methods of analysis and synthesis and the statistical method were used. Data collection was conducted using face to face survey with representatives of 28 NWFPs-based enterprises in March 2022. Research results indicate that the majority of SMEs perform business processes related to the procurement, processing and selling of NWFPs. The most common form of purchase is at own purchase stations (96.4%) and with collectors coming to companies (92.9%). Most enterprises do not perform secondary processing of products, but neither do they export. The most common form of placement is to ?other processors?. All analysed SMEs cooperate with other companies, but their representatives are also interested in improving that cooperation. There is a need for the improvement of business processes and the development of cooperation between NWFPs-based SMEs in selected forest regions, to increase their competitiveness.