Small and mediums-sized enterprieses in crisis time (2007) in Poland

Abstract

The economic transformation taking place in Poland in recent years has been accompanied by changes in companies' structure. The role of small and medium-sized companies has been constantly growing. These companies, particularly in the first half of the 1990s, helped to reduce the unemployment rate in Poland. Many employees who had previously been working in state-owned companies, set up their own businesses thus creating new jobs. The dynamic development of these companies at that time was extensive and was largely stimulated by the privatization processes of state-owned companies, undergoing a greater economic freedom. Since 1990 until now, this group of enterprises has been growing and become one of the most important contributors in Polish economic growth.

Although SMEs play an important role in economic growth, there is still a lot of obstacles and barriers from both internal and external factors that avoid them to develop as well as to access global market.

This study also focuses on researching the impact of current global crisis into Polish SMEs. Besides, there will be a small discussion on how Poland could get through this crisis time as this is the only country in Europe that has come through this difficult time without recession. The Polish government also tried to reform regulations, establish the organization of enterprises in order to support SMEs to come over this crisis time.