Corporate leaders often view innovation as a key contributor to superior profits, market sharing, and competitive positioning. However, confusion regarding the definition of innovation, how to create ...it, and how to implement it remains. In countries that are recent European Union members, little research has been done on innovation and how innovation is related to corporate management activities. In this study, the linkages were examined in the Croatian furniture industry. The first part of the study was to deconstruct innovation into three components: product innovation, production process innovation, and human resource innovation. The second part of the study evaluates the relationships between these innovation components and four company management activities/factors (research and development investments, company flexibility, export activity, and the Internet usage) were examined. Scale testing resulted in valid deconstruction measures of innovation. Hypothesized correlations between innovation components and company management factors were supported, although the results were not fully consistent with those of previous studies.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Furniture manufacturing has always been a very important segment of the Croatian economy. In order to achieve better results of Croatian furniture industry potentials and to make appropriate and ...adequate changes, it is necessary to determinate the initial/current state of the company. The aim of this study was to analyze the general, production, technological, marketing and market segments in Croatian furniture industry companies. The study was conducted in Croatia in companies where furniture manufacturing is the main business activity. The analysis involved 77 out of 409 potential respondents. The analysis showed that the situation in Croatian furniture manufacturing companies is at a satisfactory level, although it is always necessary to seek, as much as it is possible, better company activates.
Abundance of forests in the territory of the Republic of Croatia was the reason for the development of sawmill industry that has a century long tradition. Although lagging behind the European ...countries, the Croatian sawmilling industry, along with forestry, represents the first phase of wood processing development, which is based on high manufacturing technology, trained employees and skilled workers. Costs are the core of many business decisions. It is, however, not enough to analyze the costs of a specific or restricted business area, but the costs of the entire business process – from supplier to product/service buyer. The aim of this paper was to compare the selected production process factors so as to make comparison between the Croatian and foreign companies, in order to get an idea of competitiveness of the Croatian sawmilling industry. Factors that were compared were: output cost per unit, costs of raw material including transportation, energy costs, cost of capital (in this case amortization), and the cost of labor. In order to further increase and maintain competitiveness of sawmill industry, it is necessary to make higher investments into technology with the aim to reduce the unit production costs. It is also necessary to determine the optimal technology in terms of quality, quantity and wood species.
Nowadays, furniture retail sale is a very competitive area and besides large and well-known global brands, a high share of the overall market consists of independent retail shops. The owners and ...sellers of furniture are daily faced with the increasing requirements of the ever more demanding market, to which they must constantly and repeatedly adjust. The choice of furniture stores regarding to some of selling place attributes could affect customer’s final decision about furniture purchase; however, there is little information about the relationship between furniture selling places attributes. In this study, the basic information is given regarding the selected furniture selling place attributes (size of selling area, number of salespersons, storage area, and number of suppliers) in Slovenia, Slovakia, and Croatia.
In today’s modern business world, development of innovations and innovation activities is considered as a key driver of business success of an individual entity, specific industry sector, as well as ...the overall economy of a country. However, industries of low and/or medium-low technology, where wood industry belongs, are extremely important and they represent by far the largest part of the manufacturing sector in OECD countries. They show an excellent stability and employ a high share of the population. Wood industry, especially furniture industry, is a successful export-oriented European industry. Innovative companies and innovation as a result of innovativeness can be attached to a number of internal and external company factors. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to clarify the connection between concepts of innovation and innovativeness of certain internal and external company factors that have/could have an impact on company innovativeness and innovation development, and that have been established and researched in studies of a large number of scientists / authors.
The research goals were to determine how the wood sector companies were insured and which risks were covered by insurance. The following parameters were studied: the structure of insurance, company ...size, technological capabilities requiring insurance coverage, and the overall security of wood sector companies with respect to property and property interests. The results have shown that the wood sector companies use the services of insurance companies but not to a suffi cient extent. It has been shown that companies that had suffered great damage have greater security for the recovery of damage. It has also been shown that insurance models should be applied since the share of insurance premium costs in the total cost structure is almost negligible and that saving on these costs is not desirable taking into consideration that it brings the necessary security to the wood sector companies. By analyzing and comparing the obtained results, insurance models that would be the most effective have been presented and elaborated.
The significance of wood and paper products originating from certified sustainable sources has been increasing worldwide during the last two decades paralleling overall interest and concern for ...global sustainability issues. Forest certification is a voluntary verification tool that has been gaining importance not only as an independent verification tool in the wood processing industry but also as an influencer in private and public purchasing policies and as a component of emerging wood harvesting and trade legality schemes. There are two main types of certification, forest certification for forest management and chain-of-custody (CoC) certification which tracks certified wood through the manufacturing supply chain. This study focuses on the chain-of-custody component. A multinational survey of CoC certificate holders in Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia was conducted to identify the general understanding of certification concepts as environmental, economic and social tools, to determine incentives for CoC certification implementation by companies, and to identify difficulties in existing certified wood product supply chains. Results indicate that respondents demonstrated a high level of understanding of the chain of custody certification concept. Respondents also link forest certification mainly to the issues of legality, tracing the origin source of supply and prevention from illegal logging. The main expected benefits are linked to the improvement of external company image followed by business performance factors such as penetrating new markets, increase of sales volume, expanded market share and the increase of profit margin. The key problems connected to certified supply chains relate to the overpricing of certified material inputs, while respondents reported none or minimum price premiums for their certified products over non-certified alternatives.
The paper presents a case study in which a potential investor wanted to invest into a furniture store in the part of the Republic of Croatia named Dalmatia. In four Dalmatian counties (Split, Zadar, ...Šibenik and Dubrovnik counties), 220 randomly selected persons (180 answered) were asked by telephone what kind of furniture they would like to buy in the next two years and how much they were prepared to pay for the purchase. Based on the results of a consumer survey, fi ve possible alternatives (product lines) were selected and the priorities determined, i.e. which product line was the most profi table taking into account criteria of successful business operations using the multi-criteria model.
In this paper, we compare consumer perceptions and attitudes in the wood products sectors in Slovenia and Croatia presenting them on the basis of a random sample of Slovenian and Croatian citizens ...between the age of 25 and 65. Data were collected using the computer assisted telephone interviewing method (CATI). The results suggest that, generally, there is a positive perception regarding the use of wood in both countries. The study results can potentially be a good basis for creating awareness-raising campaigns on the advantages of using wood in both countries.
The paper presents the structure of revenue and employment in crafts and freelance businesses in timber and timber products processing (DD20) and furniture manufacture (DN36) of the Republic of ...Croatia. The data refer to the period from 2002 to 2006 and are presented separately for each county and for the state as a whole. The overall results are juxtaposed in relation to the revenue of the companies in these industrial branches. Trends in the number of registered companies, as well as crafts and freelance businesses are also presented. According to the research results, there was a significant decrease in the revenue of crafts and freelance businesses in the monitored industrial branches in the last year. There was also a falling trend in the total number of craftsmen engaged in wood products and furniture manufacture in the last year of investigation. Despite this, total revenue and employment values in timber processing and furniture manufacture show a rising trend during the monitored years.
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