Analysis of the Investment in Wood Processing and Furniture Manufacturing Entities by Key Factors of Competitiveness

Processing of wood and manufacture of wood and cork products, excluding furniture, manufacture of straw and plaiting goods (C16) and manufacture of furniture (C31) were the most competitive activities of the Republic of Croatia in the European market in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Those activities began losing their market share at the end of 1994, and no significant positive change in market competitiveness has been recorded since then. The question is how to achieve and maintain competitiveness, which is the condition of survival in an increasingly demanding environment. Preliminary and previous research on investments points to the assumption that the problem of competitiveness in the observed economic branch essentially boils down to a problem in the quality and efficiency of the investments of associated business entities. This paper tries to give answers to the following questions: What is the investment policy, is there an internal factor for lagging behind in competitiveness, what the other reasons are and how competitiveness can be achieved. By analyzing the investment in key factors of competitiveness in the period 2007 to 2010, consistently established by this paper, the existing data on investment of wood processing and furniture manufacturing entities will be identified, and an AHP investment model will be proposed that takes into account the simultaneous influence of all of the key factors of competitiveness and is the best indicator of the direction to be taken, with the final aim of achieving competitiveness.