PurposeChanges in food retailing (globalization, concentration) have negative impacts on smaller, “traditional” food retail businesses. Their market share decreasing year by year. The purpose of this study is to examine and compare the financial performances of these businesses under the given circumstances and current economic environment in a Hungarian and a Romanian county.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on two complete databases, including all companies that behoove retail food activity (considering the NACE cod) in the counties of Hajdu-Bihar (Hungary) and Cluj (Romania). The database analyzed contains the financial statements for five consecutive years for 212 and 690 businesses. Databases were examined by the most typical financial indicators using the multivariate and univariate analysis of variance and the k-medoid cluster analysis methods.FindingsThe results of the analysis have shown that there are differences in the number of retail food companies in the case of two counties, both in number and in financial performance. Companies in Hajdú-Bihar county perform better in terms of financial ratios than those in Cluj county. The groups created by k-medoids cluster analysis are relatively well distinguished in the case of Hajdú-Bihar county, while the picture is much more mixed in the case of Kolozs county. However, it is also important to note that the companies analyzed should generally perform better to survive.Research limitations/implicationsAmong the limitations of the study, it is important to note that the findings are relevant only to the two counties examined. Another limiting factor is that quite several companies had to be excluded from the analysis due to missing data or outliers.Practical implicationsThe study presents for the corporate decision-makers the current performance of the companies of the sector examined in the two counties. The results of the study highlight the business areas of concern in management. The findings show that they need to change this performance to strengthen their market position. We believe that it is not enough to complain about the expansion of the supermarket chains, but they should take appropriate actions to improve their situation. Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that there is a need to improve the financial efficiency of retail food companies in both counties to survive in the long run. This improvement is essential because retailers can play an important role in smaller settlements and narrower residential environments.Originality/valueComparative analysis of retail food companies in similar counties in these two neighboring countries has not been conducted using complex financial analysis. The study revealed the common and/or individual characteristics of these companies.
Nowadays there is a large amount of information at our disposal, which is increasing day by day, and right now the question is not whether we have a method to process it, but which method is most effective, faster and best. When processing large databases, with different data, the formation of homogeneous groups is recommended. This paper presents the financial performance of Hungarian and Romanian food retail companies by using two well-known cluster analyzing methods (K-Mean and K-Medoid) based on ROS (Return on Sales), ROA (Return on Assets) and ROE (Return on Equity) financial ratios. The research is based on two complete databases, including the financial statements for five years of all retail food companies from one Hungarian and one Romanian county. The hypothesis of the research is: in the case of large databases with variable quantitative data, cluster analysis is necessary in order to obtain accurate results and the method chosen can bring different results. It is justified to think carefully about choosing a method depending on the available data and the research aim. The aim of this study is to highlight the differences between the results of these two grouping procedures. Using the two methods we reached different results, which means a different evaluation of financial performance. The results demonstrate that the method chosen for grouping may influence the assessment of the financial performance of companies: the K-Mean method produces a greater variety of groups and the range of results obtained after grouping is larger; whereas, the group distribution and the results obtained by the K-Medoid method are more balanced.
The paper summarizes the concept of business performance and the performance measurement. The concept of business performance has changed a lot over the past decades. The managers have understood that in order to achieve organizational goals, more emphasis should be placed outside the owners, on other market participants, on the stakeholders (eg: customers, clients, employees, suppliers and other partners, local communities, …). The ’90s are also called „The performance measurement revolution”, because a lot of new performance measurement methods, systems appeared. The performance measurements have the prominent role: to collect information about where we are going to achieve the goals, if needed for intervention. JEL code: B40
As a result of the COVID-19 health epidemic, online life has exploded into our daily lives, forcing most of us to move previously seemingly irreplaceable “face-to-face” activities into “non-face-to-face” meetings and activities in many sectors. One of the biggest challenges has been in the field of education: This sector, compared to other sectors, was less digitized. Under these circumstances, the entire education process was transferred to online space overnight, which was/is a major challenge for everyone. Thus, a questionnaire survey was conducted among students from two universities in Hungary and Romania, the results of which are included in the present article. The aim of the research was to measure students’ satisfaction and to examine the benefits of online education, for example, in terms of introducing hybrid education over the long term. Descriptive statistics as well as the Wilcoxon rank-sum test were used to analyze the database. The results showed that, from a practical point of view, there was no significant difference between the Hungarian and Romanian respondents who had a fundamentally positive view of digital education. In this respect, positive feedback can be seen as encouraging, especially for those individuals and social strata who may find online education much more attractive than traditional physical teaching. Online education could be an attractive, accessible, sustainable form of further education in the long run.
The commercial sector and especially the food trade in Romania have expanded more and more through the medium of hypermarkets-supermarkets, online commerce, etc. thus dominating the market. The turnover and profit they make are significantly increasing, while small and medium-sized businesses in stores and traditional stores lose customers, their market share is diminishing, profitability is low, and they are confronted with big financial problems. Modern trade tends represent almost 60% of Romania’s total market, which means that small shops are losing ground in detriment of others, despite their currently large number at national level. The study, extended over a period of more than 5 years, includes a comparative analysis of the small and medium-sized enterprises in the food commerce sector of Cluj County and the supermarkets-hypermarkets in Romania. Advantages of hypermarkets - supermarkets, online commerce, etc. in relation to small and medium-sized stores are ultimately reflected in the financial performance. Following the selection of 5 financial indicators, considered by the authors to be representative of the trade sector, and their comparative analysis, one can see the economic and financial situation these small and medium retail companies are facing, if they do not change their strategy. Their disappearance from the Romanian market would result in social and economic consequences and the discontent of a segment of the population.
In a world where economic challenges and changes are permanent, economic entities, and especially the management of these entities, need correct and useful information to be able to make effective economic decisions regarding the present and future activity of the entities. Financial performance analysis is an indispensable and permanent managerial task, without which plans regarding future investments or strategies cannot be drawn up. The aim of the paper is to analyze the financial performance of the company SC UNOTIP SRL, based on the data from the financial statements for 5 consecutive years, with the help of the indicators that can best characterize the financial performance. Following this analysis, the authors formulate conclusions and recommendations regarding the improvement of the analyzed company’s performance.
The evolution of the number of the population in many countries, even at European level, gives signs of concern, of which we should be aware: the significant decrease of the population, the negative changes in its structure can have negative and drastic economic and social effects if the governments do not intervene reasonable time. The implementation of measures must be well thought out, with the possibility of financial support and maintained for a long time, so that the expected effects appear. In Europe, some governments (especially in Eastern Europe) have already assumed this responsibility, implemented a series of measures to keep the youth in the country, to increase the number of children, with the purpose of increasing the population and balancing its structure. The paper presents a comparative analysis of the measures implemented by three European countries (Poland, Romania and Hungary) in order to increase the population in the following decades.
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