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SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES BASED ON NON-WOOD FOREST PRODUCTS: CHARACTERISTICS AND TYPES IN SERBIA

2014; University of Belgrade, Faculty of Organisational Sciences; Volume: 19; Issue: 72 Linguagem: Inglês

10.7595/management.fon.2014.0024

2406-0658

Dragan Nonić, Jelena Nedeljković, Nenad Ranković,

Forest Management and Policy

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have an important role in every economic sector, primarily due to "...contribution to social stability and significant fiscal revenues generation" (Premović, Boljević, & Arsić, 2011).In order to increase the contribution of the forestry sector to the economic and social development, it is necessary to support the establishment and development of forest-based SMEs (Ranković, Nonić, Nedeljković, Marinković, & Glavonjić, 2012).To properly plan the development of the private forestry sector and ensure the development of SMEs in forestry, it is necessary, in addition to wood products, to pay special attention to non-wood forest products 1 (NWFPs).Previous research shows that entrepreneurs in the forestry sector, when exploring new development strategies, should take NWFPs into account as these products provide significant opportunities for additional revenues (Niskanen et al., 2007).In this paper, the NWFPs are taken to be mushrooms, medicinal and aromatic plants (MAP), wild berries and other forest fruits (WBFF).Research on SMEs for procurement, processing and selling of NWFPs (NWFP-SMEs) in Serbia argues that the structure of these enterprises is very heterogeneous, and production capacities are underutilized and often inadequate.One of the reasons for this may be the lack of adequate support, as it was determined that most of these enterprises do not have sufficient financial resources, nor do they have access to favourable bank loans (Nonić, Nedeljković, & Jovanović, 2012; Nonić, Ranković, & Nedeljković, 2013a). Management 2014/72In order to increase the contribution of the forestry sector to economic and social development, it is necessary to support the establishment and development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) whose business is based on wood and non-wood forest products (NWFPs).To properly plan the development of the private forestry sector, it is also necessary to establish the basic structure and forms of SMEs for procurement, processing and sale of NWFPs (NWFP-SMEs) as well as their business.In this context, the aim of the research was to determine the characteristics and types of NWFP-SMEs.The study included 91 representatives of NWFP-SMEs in Central Serbia.The analysis of the results showed that, based on the characteristics and activities they perform, there are three types of NWFP-SMEs.Based on the characteristics and attitudes towards additional training, four types of NWFP-SMEs representatives can be distinguished.The results can serve as a basis for further study on types of SMEs and improving the entrepreneurship in NWFP sector.