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  THE EUROPEAN COUNTRIES CLASSIFICATION BASED ON THE LEVEL OF THEIR BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS E-COMMERCE DEVELOPMENT

  This paper discusses different author’s views, summarizes them and formulates a definition of “business-to-business” electronic commerce (Â2Â e-commerce). As a result, three theoretical criteria are adopted that reflect the level of e-commerce development in the different European countries. These criteria are: the implementation of Â2Â ... This paper discusses different author’s views, summarizes them and formulates a definition of “business-to-business” electronic commerce (Â2Â e-commerce). As a result, three theoretical criteria are adopted that reflect the level of e-commerce development in the different European countries. These criteria are: the implementation of Â2Â e-commerce, the depth of technology penetration and the impact of e-commerce on the performance of enterprises. The criteria cover eight variables two of which dropped out in the initial stage of the study. The analysis includes twenty-two European countries – twenty-one from the European Union and Norway. The variables, involved in the above criteria are used to carry out a cluster analysis in order to classify the European countries for two years – 2010 and 2014. The results of the cluster analysis for 2010 show that B2B e-commerce in the different countries is at different levels. The formed seven statistically significant clusters show a large fragmentation among the different countries in terms of B2B e-commerce implementation. The conclusions of the analysis indicate that the level of e-commerce development on a geographic basis keeps being different – namely, some of the countries of Northern Europe and the Scandinavian countries are leading in the sphere of B2B e-commerce and the new EU Member States are lagging behind in this aspect. The classification carried out for 2014 shows that there is a convergence in the level of B2B e-commerce development among the European countries. This conclusion is supported by the integration of clusters and the reduction of their number to three.

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  ESTIMATION OF THE FACTOR IMPACT OF INDEBTEDNESS AND SOLVENCY ON ENTERPRISES EFFICIENCY

  The main objective of this study is to research and estimate the impact of indebtedness and solvency on the efficiency of enterprises, first within a theoretical and methodological context, and second, by applying a profound empirical analysis on leading Bulgarian enterprises. The motivation for this scientific research is associated with the ... The main objective of this study is to research and estimate the impact of indebtedness and solvency on the efficiency of enterprises, first within a theoretical and methodological context, and second, by applying a profound empirical analysis on leading Bulgarian enterprises. The motivation for this scientific research is associated with the fact that the efficiency (return, profitability) is a complex economic category, and its value depends on a number of economic factors. The research thesis is that indebtedness and solvency are important factors, impacting the efficiency of Bulgarian enterprises in a time of financial and economic crisis. The applied author’s methodology is based on a profound empirical research, comprising two key components: first, an analysis of the separate individual indicators – efficiency, indebtedness and solvency of companies, without studying their interconnectedness, e.g. as relatively separate categories, and second, an analysis of the resulting bilateral trade-offs between the efficiency, indebtedness and solvency of enterprises, e.g. examining the following three relationships: „efficiency – indebtedness”, „efficiency – solvency” and „in¬debtedness – solvency”. In order to achieve greater economic reliability in the current research, 50 leading enterprises in Bulgaria from different economic sectors are included in the study. The reviewed period is three years (2007-2009) during the global financial and economic crisis. As far as the structure of the study is concerned, first, the essence of risk and financial risk in particular is revealed, as well as their quantitative estimations and influence on the financial state-ment of enterprises. Second, the study analyzes extensively the peculiarities of the assessment of financial indebtedness and solvency of enterprises, which serves as a basis for the further parallel estimations of the bilateral trade-offs: „efficiency – indebtedness”, „efficiency – solvency” and „indebt-edness – solvency”. Finally, a detailed study is made on the developments in efficiency under the influence of indebtedness and solvency of the examined Bulgarian enterprises. The study concludes with summarizing the results ob-tained from the profound empirical research. The main conclusions from the empirical study are the following: 1) During the period 2007-2009 there is a small number of Bulgarian enterprises, which are distinguished by a high efficiency on the invested capital ratio. Many companies have a normal efficiency ratio, but those with a low efficiency ratio make up almost ¾. 2) According to the degree of indebtedness, the Bulgarian practice shows that there is a seriously deteriorated financial statement of those enterprises that have structural importance for the national economy. ¾ of those companies have an unfavourable „debt – equity” ratio level. 3) The solvency ratio of the investigated Bulgarian enterprises tends to shift from high and satisfactory solvency levels towards a low solvency level. However, there is certain ambition in some companies to be mindful of their solvency issues during the financial and economic crisis, so as to prevent themselves from declaring bankruptcy. This is proved by the fact that almost ½ of the reviewed enterprises are characterized by a high solvency ratio. 4) During the period 2007-2009 the observed highest impact of the heavy in¬debtedness ratio (60%) is determinant of the low efficiency on the invested capital of the reviewed 50 enterprises in Bulgaria. The impact of the low (26%) indebtedness ratio is lower and it shows in what directions the efforts should be concentrated with a view to increase the overall corporate efficiency.

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  EMPIRICAL STUDY OF THE SYNERGISTIC EFFECT BETWEEN THE ELEMENTS OF INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

  The coupled use of the elements of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) allows them to be combined so that they can complement one another. The aim is to achieve a consistent and logical exposure of the communication messages in their harmony. Thus the overall impact on the target audience increases, which is especially useful when the ... The coupled use of the elements of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) allows them to be combined so that they can complement one another. The aim is to achieve a consistent and logical exposure of the communication messages in their harmony. Thus the overall impact on the target audience increases, which is especially useful when the company conducts low-budget campaigns. The aim of this paper is, based on the conclusions and findings of the empirical study of consumers’ attitudes towards the elements of Integrated Marketing Communications, to offer a tool for decision-making, which will increase the efficiency in the implementation of the IMC concepts of companies. In connection with the purpose stated above, the following tasks are set:  to explore the essence of Integrated Marketing Communications and the reasons for their occurrence;  to outline the stages of developing a program for Integrated Marketing Communications;  to analyze the synergistic effect between the elements of Integrated Marketing Communications. The paper proves the thesis that the synergistic effect between the elements of Integrated Marketing Communications is needed in the modern management of companies and as a result of its application the companies achieve better results than by using the IMC elements separately. The conclusions and findings from the Confirmatory Factor Analysis that was conducted between the elements of Integrated Marketing Communications can be used as a reference in managing the communication policy of companies, and for refining and optimizing the budget allocation between the elements within the IMC concept.