Development of a tool for optimizing the management processes in the field of innovation in the Bulgarian furniture enterprises

Innovation is primarily associated with a high level of uncertainty, risk, and a lot of investments. These negatively affect the Bulgarian forest enterprises, which in general are “low-tech” and are investing less in innovation. The main goal of the paper is, by the use of the Markov Chains methodology, to propose an adapted methodology for risk assessment at the beginning of the innovation process in Furniture production in Bulgaria. Additionally, the study presents possible situations and describes them throughout the theoretical approaches in a probabilistic way. The research results can be used to avoid some decision-making mistakes before the start of the innovation process through an easy-to-use methodolog

Development of a model for monitoring the needs for innovation in furniture enterprises in Bulgaria

There is a variety of methods for assessing and modelling the innovation factors that are presented in the specialized literature. However, out of the scope of those analyses is the use of the “First Alert” or the “signal line” approach. Through it the enterprises can analyze their need for innovation activities and the extent to which those innovations are needed. The main goal of the present study is to develop and analyze to use of a to make a decision whenever Bulgarian furniture enterprises have to implement innovation. The applied research methods are based on the logical, deductive, and comparative methods, as well as the “signal line” approach. This study proposes for the first time the use of a pan-European revenue regression curve and the number of innovative enterprises. The results show that the innovation activities must be, first of all, focused on the staff and then on the assets that the entity possesses and use. The results of the study support the development of the literature by presenting a more in-depth analysis of the possible ways to use the national statistical institute data for planning the innovation activities by furniture enterprise

The relationships between forestry sector standardization, market evolution and sustainability approaches in the communist and post-communist economies: the case of Romania

This paper analyses how forestry standardization process interrelates with the national and sectoral economic characteristics and the evolution of sustainable forest management implementation in communist and post-communist Romania. The study used the database of Romanian Standardization Association for selecting forestry specific standards, which have been issued since 1949. The selected standards were grouped according to their scope, issuing period and international recognition, and the obtained distributions were analysed in the context of sectoral economic evolution. In the communist period, the long-term sectoral strategy, which was centred on sustainable forest management, added value products and export was accompanied by a sustained effort in standardizing the design and quality of forest products, as well as the needed processes. Based on standardization, the efficient and integrated forest industry acted in the framework of a prescriptively regulated sustainable forest management. Mandatory national standards from the communist period have been mostly replaced by post-communist consensual international standards. The opportunities of a market economy and EU trade supported a private forest industry that is increasingly efficient, productive and innovative. However, considering the high forestry sector environmental and social sustainability requirements, the state authorities must carefully address their mission of balancing different interests, for which standardization may provide very useful tools

SOME CORRELATIONS BETWEEN YIELD ELEMENTS IN INTRODUCED DURUM WHEAT ACCESSIONS

The correlations between the yield and the elements which determine it in 10 accesions of durum wheat have been studied. A positive correlation has been established between plant height and the last internode length (r=0.72). It was established that the length of the top /1 st / internode take about 40% of the total stem length. A positive correlation was found between the weight of seeds per plant and the productive tillering (r=0.81). The correlation between number of seeds per spike and weight of seeds per spike, number of spikelets per spike and weight of seeds per spike and the weight of seeds per spike and per plant is - 0.86, 0.83 and 0.76.Moderately the correlations exists between the weight of seeds from the main spike and from the rest stems and correlation between spike length and weight of seeds per spike (r=0.45 and r=0.36). A negative correlation between the weight of seeds per plant and mass of 1000 seeds was established (r=-0.51)

Sustainable Development and Forest-Based Industries: Main Considerations and Policy Measures. The Bulgarian Example

Industrial policy determines the industry's orientation for growth, in line with the economic development stage. The main objective of this article is to establish the sustainability of the relationship between the development of forest resources, on the one hand, and their use in wood and furniture products in the Republic of Bulgaria, on the other hand. The main tasks are to find out the sustainability in the production of timber and products from it, to assess the tendency of development and needs of policy measures. The methods used include statistical methods for trend analysis, descriptive methods and others. Forestry is a clear example of the transformation of natural resources into consumer products, where sustainability in the development of society can easily be disturbed. Forestry policies should support the use of tree resources in products with the highest possible added value

Sustainable development and forest-based industries: Main considerations and policy measures : the Bulgarian example

Industrial policy determines the industry's orientation for growth, in line with the economic development stage. The main objective of this article is to establish the sustainability of the relationship between the development of forest resources, on the one hand, and their use in wood and furniture products in the Republic of Bulgaria, on the other hand. The main tasks are to find out the sustainability in the production of timber and products from it, to assess the tendency of development and needs of policy measures. The methods used include statistical methods for trend analysis, descriptive methods and others. Forestry is a clear example of the transformation of natural resources into consumer products, where sustainability in the development of society can easily be disturbed. Forestry policies should support the use of tree resources in products with the highest possible added value

Challenges for FSC Forest Certification: Audits in the Context of Pandemic COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic caused economic difficulties for companies in forestry as well as significant issues for entities dealing with Chain of Custody (CoC) certification. Global certification schemes, like FSC and PEFC, based on some preventive provisions in their procedural frame, developed new approaches and derogations to maintain quality evaluation and the power of standards. Arising from COVID-19 restrictions, postponed audits (and the extension of the validity of existing certifications) or remote auditing became increasingly common. Based on a survey applied to companies that had CoC FSC audits in 2020, this study aimed at evaluating the perceptions of companies regarding the audits performed under COVID pandemic procedural derogations, along with other research objectives like the continuous investigation of certification drivers or advantages. Companies indicated that the certification bodies explained the characteristics of pandemic-adapted audits and conducted risk assessments before choosing the adapted approach. Almost half of the companies perceived significant differences between the on-site previous audits and the audits performed during the pandemic due to the imposed restrictions and adapted approaches. Additionally, companies found that hybrid or remote audits are not so efficient, and for the future on-site audits are preferred. The study concluded that making the auditing procedures less interactional is not yet a sufficiently mature approach; there is a clear need for better procedures, building online tools usage capacity, to better communicate the specificity of such procedures better, and to better balance the online evaluations with on-site assessments

Efficiency of Wood-Processing Enterprises—Evaluation Based on DEA and MPI: A Comparison between Slovakia and Bulgaria for the Period 2014–2018

The ongoing transition to a low-carbon, sustainable forest-based economy, and the adoption of circular bioeconomy principles in the wood-processing industry is associated with the optimization of natural resources, application of environmentally sustainable production technologies, adoption of technological and organizational innovations, and increased economic efficiency and competitiveness. The implementation of all these measures can help to reach the biggest challenge of our time in the fight against climate change in a cost-effective and competitive way. The aim of this study was to estimate the technical efficiency of wood-processing companies in the Slovak Republic and the Republic of Bulgaria by applying data envelopment analysis (DEA) and the Malmquist productivity index (MPI), and to reveal some factors for efficiency improvements. The economic efficiency evaluation based on official data was performed using selected indices of four wood-processing companies in each country in the period 2014–2018. The study implemented an output-oriented DEA model with constant returns to scale as a nonparametric linear approach for measuring the efficiency of production decision-making units (DMUs). The results obtained revealed that the studied Slovak companies were more efficient with better management in terms of machinery planning and overhead utilization. Markedly, the Bulgarian companies achieved better materials management and current planning quality. Increased economic efficiency of wood-processing enterprises in both countries can be realized through investments in innovative technological improvements, and enhanced research and development activities

Capital Structure Determinants of Forest Enterprises: Empirical Study Based on Panel Data Analysis from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Bulgaria

At present, forest enterprises face many challenges in adopting innovative bio-based approaches considering global changes. Due to the specifics of forestry, the choice of financing sources is a complex issue. The aim of this study is to estimate the capital structure determinants of forest enterprises in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Bulgaria in the context of the relationship between leverage and the factors of its appearance. The evaluation of capital structure determinants was carried out using selected indicators for 18 forest enterprises, with 6 enterprises per country. Data were processed for the period of 2015–2019. The study methodology was based on a Panel Data Analysis with Fixed Effects and Random Effect models and Ordinary Least Squares estimation. The following specific variables were included: liquidity, leverage, return on assets, size of the enterprises, and gross domestic product. The results revealed that the forest enterprises in these three countries can be differentiated by size and form individual functional relationships with the positive influence of enterprise size on liability share. The next significant determinant was found to be liquidity, which has a negative relationship with enterprise leverage. These results will be useful for managers of forest enterprises in decision-making processes to determine the amount of debt and planning investment programme strategies