EFFECT OF THE PANDEMIC ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF ENTERPRISES

The COVID-19 pandemic that reached Poland at the beginning of 2020 has become one of the most difficult challenges Polish enterprises ever faced. Entrepreneurs, managers and employees take a broad range of actions that are to help them survive this time, but they can have no certainty about the outcomes they will bring in the future since there has been no similar phenomenon over the past several dozen years that they could refer to. Using experience of other countries is reasonable, but the effectiveness of functioning of specific solutions may vary depending on the country of implementation. In this context, it seems reasonable to capture the moment of transformation of enterprises in Poland and gain in-depth knowledge for the purpose of both assessment and development of recommendations on how to proceed in crisis situations the enterprises were not prepared for. The general objective of the survey was determination of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on stability and sustainable development of enterprises. The survey carried out on a sample of 177 small and medium enterprises confirms that the currently experienced financial effects of the pandemic have made the entrepreneurs decide to seek for savings including limitation of the current operating expenses as well as long-term investments or environmental investments. These decisions will have long-term economic, social and environmental consequences.