GREEN GROWTH AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE WOOD-PROCESSING INDUSTRY: EVIDENCE FROM SLOVAKIA

The transformation of wood-processing enterprises into sustainable development is a challenging process. The sustainability of enterprises contributes to the fact that management should not primarily adopt short-term decisions, but think in years and decades, and also enterprises should consider more factors than just profit or loss. The goal of the article was to identify internal and external determinants hindering the development of green growth and sustainable development in the wood-processing industry in Slovakia. The mapping of this issue was carried out by an interrogative method in the form of a questionnaire. The evaluation of the questionnaire survey was done by single-proportion hypothesis test and interval proportion estimate. Pearson's Chi-square test was used to verify the representativeness of the population under study. Based on the achieved results, it can be concluded that implementation of green growth indicators contributes positively to the sustainable growth of enterprises in the wood processing industry. Enterprises indicated the production process orientation towards a waste-free economy is a key internal determinant which contributes positively their sustainable growth. However, the insufficient state support is a key external determinant which affects them negatively. The paper assumes a benefit at the theoretical and practical levels. The main contribution is the identification of the determinants that hinder the implementation of green growth because similar research in wood-processing enterprises in Slovakia is absent. The paper also creates space for the improvement of management efficiency in the context of sustainability.