Green Entrepreneurship: Knowledge and Perception of Students and Professionals from Poland and Slovakia

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to review the understanding of the term “green entrepreneurship” in contemporary management sciences and its interpretation by people who are or soon will be professionally active. Investigating the phenomenon from a historical perspective will allow an evolutionary approach to the category to indicate contemporary challenges. Apart from a review of the literature on the subject, the interpretations of the term by the target group are recognized in the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) context. The research methods used in the article include a critical analysis of the literature on the subject and field research presented in the empirical part. Primary research was carried out in two countries: Poland and Slovakia, among students and professionals working, as well as those professionally active in the private and public sectors. The study aimed to generally identify the knowledge of the concept of “green entrepreneurship”. Based on the results, the responses were delimited and those indicated by less than 5% of the respondents were considered irrelevant. Based on the remaining answers, a new survey questionnaire was created, which was used to conduct the second stage of the research. To simplify the research tool, it was assumed that the questions would be binary (“yes” or “no” answers), and the resulting survey would consist of 22 phrases (marked with alphanumeric symbols) and a form. The respondents’ answers from the second stage of the study allowed us to identify characteristic groups of variables with which the respondents associated the term “green entrepreneurship” and the groups of respondents who indicated an understanding of green entrepreneurship in a specific aspect. It also allowed for the identification the determinants of these indications, as well as similarities and differences between Poles and Slovaks in this respect. For this purpose, the classification and regression tree method (C&RT) was used. For the purposes of this study, JASP 0.18.1 software was used to create the tree. The results show that perceptions and knowledge of green entrepreneurship differ in both surveyed countries.

Sustainable Business: Practices, Trends, Benefits, Challenges, and Innovative Strategies

“…The concept of sustainability was notably advanced by the World Commission on Environment and Development of the United Nations in 1987 (Niemczyk et al, 2023). The Commission's report (also known as the Brundtland Report) advocated for sustainable development that satisfies present needs without compromising future generations' ability to meet their own.…”

“…These practices include reducing demand for main resources through design and process optimization (e.g., improved building footprints, reduced waste), expanding closed-loop circularity for construction materials (e.g., reduced recycling-yield losses and increased usage of scrap material) (Sadler 2021); altering concrete and steel processing methods (Reiter et al, 2020); shifting to more energy-efficient materials and equipment (e.g. substitution by higher-performing materials, low-carbon materials, and electrification of heavy machinery) (Blanco et al, 2021); lowering emissions during construction material production (e.g., technology advancements, increased efficiencies, and electrification equipment) (Sakshi, Cerchione, & Bansal, 2020); using recyclable and renewable materials in building projects to lower toxic waste energy consumption (Niemczyk et al, 2023); viewing ESG as their main framework that guides their practices and performance on various sustainability and ethical issues (Leiva-Brondo et al, 2022). Additionally, practices like limiting the materials utilized to lower waste, constructing green buildings, monitoring waste management (e.g., separating & recycling waste), using lighter, renewable, and robust building materials are pushing traditional practices towards greater environmental friendliness.…”