BUSINESS ACTIVITY OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN POLAND IN LIGHT OF THE CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The idea of sustainable development arouse from the need to alleviate and prevent unfavourable external results of dynamic development of capitalist economy during the previous century. Developing of the theory and implementation of the concept in practice is an ongoing process. This continuous process requires constant balancing of its three dimensions, i.e. economic, ecological and social dimension. Weakening or strengthening any of these elements at the cost of the others may lead to crisis in all the three dimensions. Therefore, this kind of development will undergo the influence of unknown and impossible to predict changes of external and internal conditions.