SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT - POVERTY IN EUROPE

The paper presents some aspects about poverty in Europe taking also into consideration the new pandemic context. Some indicators linked with the topic were chosen. The indicators refer to people at risk of poverty or social exclusion, severally materially deprived people, unemployment and employment, government debt. The information was analysed by means of statistical indicators. At the end of the paper, a few aspects regarding the impact of the COVID-19 crisis are presented.

THE IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON THE PROFITABILITY OF LARGE COMMERICAL BANKS IN THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of the current Covid-19 pandemic on profitability ratios of large commercial banks in the Republic of North Macedonia. By using data over the period 2004 – 2020, ten profitability indicators are examined. These indicators are investigated by comparing their values before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. Overall, the study reveals a preliminary evidence that large commercial banks are affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. So far, profitability of large banks has not changed significantly due to Covid-19 and they keep satisfactory profitability levels. However, this impact should be investigated furthermore in next studies because the current pandemic has long-term effects.

APPROACHES REGARDING QUALITY AND SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGIES ON THE ROMANIAN BAKERY MARKET

Lately, consumers have become more critical and alert to the quality of products and the factors that influence the sustainability of the society in which they live. The Romanian bakery market is in a continuous development, with a wide range of products. In order to attract and satisfy customers, manufacturers apply various quality strategies and sustainability measures. The study analyzes the quality strategies and sustainability measures adopted in this market. In order to achieve the objective of the paper, a quantitative marketing research was carried out.

IMPLEMENTATION OF A QUALITY STRATEGY BASED ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ANALYSIS. CASE STUDY: HOTEL MARKET

The quality of services in hotel management is crucial for the development of brand value and the growth of the customer base. Every hotel should strive not only to improve the quality of services, but also to exceed customer expectations. Such a mentality is very beneficial especially for the field of hospitality management, where competition is constantly increasing.In light of this, a research was carried out, in order to evaluate the quality of services provided within the Alpin hotel unit so that the company can acknowledge customer dissatisfaction and implement the appropriate quality strategy towards positive outcomes

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: AN ACCELERATOR OF DIGITALISATION IN TOURISM

The aim of this paper is to analyse the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on leveraging technology to generate new opportunities for travel companies. Tourism is one of the sectors most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, companies in this sector have never faced such a dramatic situation and their challenge has been to survive and find new ways to generate profit. In this context, the pandemic has become an accelerator of digitalisation and has made digital technologies vital. The study is based on secondary data analysis and the research objectives are to examine the impact of COVID - 19 on travel companies and to highlight the importance of developing digitalisation during the pandemic. To achieve these goals, the authors analysed the actions during the pandemic of the world's largest tour operator, Tui Group

ECONOMIC AND FISCAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: THE CASE STUDY OF NORTH MACEDONIA

This paper aims to analyse the impact of Covid-19 on economic and fiscal consequences in North Macedonia. In addition, the paper assesses the effects of economic and fiscal packages implemented by the Government of the country. The study uses secondary data in order to find out the real consequences caused by Covid-19 pandemic in the economy of North Macedonia. The findings reveal thatCovid-19 pandemic produced negative economic and fiscal consequences during 2020 in all sectors. Moreover at the end of 2020 the real sector of the economy recorded a 4.5% decline in GDP, the fiscal deficit achived a level of -8.1% of the GDP. The findings of the paper show that government assistance through various packages, partly affected the reduction of negative economic consequences of Covid-19.

ANALYSIS OF THE MANAGEMENT OF THE FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF A POLITICAL PARTY IN ROMANIA USING THE CONCEPT OF BALANCED SCORECARD

The research is a case study on the analysis of the financial performance of a political party in Romania, at the end of 2020, using the strategic model for measuring the performance of the Balanced Scorecard. A review of the existing international scientific literature and case studies was conducted to define a balanced plan of performance indicators for one of the four perspectives of the BSC theoretical model, namely the financial perspective, which is common to both an economic organization and a political organization. The paper evaluates the financial activity of a political party through a computer application - BSC Designer Light, whose architecture allows customizing the theoretical model of the Balanced Scorecard on the activity of a political organization. The purpose of the scientific approach is to evaluate the result of the financial activity, quantifying the scores obtained by the analysed party for each indicator and sub-indicator defined within the financial perspective. This study can be a consistent basis for expanding research to assess the performance of a political party from an electoral or parliamentary perspective and can be a viable alternative to current methods of quantitative evaluation used by political parties in analysing the activity results.

INNOVATION IN RETAIL

This paper proposes an investigation of the trend concerning both to innovation in the field of retail trade and involvement of technology in streamlining the purchasing process, starting from the example given by Amazon- that is, implementing artificial intelligence and sensor-based systems in cashless stores, Amazon Go. The purpose of this scientific approach is to understand the influence of technological developments within the retail field and to analyze the current state of innovation in this industry for a possible shaping of the future buying experience.

IMPACT OF TRANSFER PRICING ON FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN ROMANIA

The purpose of the study presented in this paper is to analyse the impact of transfer pricing on foreign direct investment (FDI) in Romania. For attaining this goal, we performed a simple linear regression by the least squares method to study the impact of adjustments of tax obligations in the field of transfer pricing on foreign direct investment in the period 2011-2019.We have proved, from a statistical point of view, that there is a relationship between foreign direct investment and adjustments to tax liabilities resulting from transfer pricing

PUBLIC SERVICE QUALITY AND CITIZEN-CLIENT’S SATISFACTION IN LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES. A CASE STUDY: MUNICIPALITY OF TETOVO

Assessing the effects of compensation for construction permits for residential and economic buildings in the urban part of Tetovo, the establishment of professional teams for the legalization of illegal buildings and the development of electronic services, on local economic development (LED) of the municipality of Tetovo. For analysing the data generated by the questionnaires, SPSS was used, as a method for testing the hypotheses of the study. The reduction ofthe compensation for construction, the creation of professional teams for the legalization of illegal buildings, the development of electronic services contribute to the increase in the satisfaction of the residents of the municipality of Tetovo, stimulate economic activity and increase fiscal revenues.