"Scientific research" Almanac

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  STATUS OF THE INTERNAL CONTROL IN MUNICIPALITIES IN THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA

  The financial management and control systems (FMCS) of public sector organizations are a key element of their management in compliance with the provisions of the EU acquis communautaire and the legislation in force in our country. Their status is to a large extent indicative of the extent to which public resources and activities are managed in a ... The financial management and control systems (FMCS) of public sector organizations are a key element of their management in compliance with the provisions of the EU acquis communautaire and the legislation in force in our country. Their status is to a large extent indicative of the extent to which public resources and activities are managed in a lawful, transparent, efficient, effective and economical way. The aim of this study was to review the status of the existing FMCS by analyzing the empirical data from an independent external evaluation of these systems conducted by the National Audit Office of the Republic of Bulgaria. The authors argue that an assessment of the status of FMCS is indicative for the degree of their implementation and efficiency in public sector organizations and characteristic of the way first-tier budget disbursing entities control the spending of public resources. The results of the study show that the existing FMCS are not yet fully efficient and have not achieved the desired effect of their operation and certain components of these systems have to be upgraded.

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  STUDY OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN THE DISTRICTS OF PLEVEN AND VELIKO TARNOVO IN 2007–2013

  The object of the study is the regional development of the districts of Pleven and Veliko Tarnovo, and its subject is the practice of the economic agents located within the target area to develop and manage projects in order to attract additional external funding, which would allow them to realize their goals, plans, programmes and strategies. The ... The object of the study is the regional development of the districts of Pleven and Veliko Tarnovo, and its subject is the practice of the economic agents located within the target area to develop and manage projects in order to attract additional external funding, which would allow them to realize their goals, plans, programmes and strategies. The purpose of this study is to describe and evaluate the practice of economic agents from the districts of Pleven and Veliko Tarnovo to develop and manage projects, and to identify the main problems that beneficiaries faced during the first planning period of Bulgaria’s membership in the EU. The main thesis statement is that the economic agents from both districts have information and experience in project development and management, but not all of them are active enough. Considering the subject, object, purpose, and thesis statement, the study is structured in two main parts. The first part presents some of the main options for accession of the EU funds and reviews the achievements of the economic agents. The second part focuses on the significant problems revealed regarding the organization and publicity for handling funds, and offers suggestions for the improvement of various aspects of project management.

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  ASSESSING MARKETING EFFECTIVENESS – PROBLEMS AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

  The issues related to marketing effectiveness and linking marketing to a firm’s financial results have been very popular in the economic literature in the past two decades. In this study we try to systemize the accumulated knowledge in this area. We define some methodological problems concerning marketing effectiveness assessment. Based on the ... The issues related to marketing effectiveness and linking marketing to a firm’s financial results have been very popular in the economic literature in the past two decades. In this study we try to systemize the accumulated knowledge in this area. We define some methodological problems concerning marketing effectiveness assessment. Based on the data accumulated we define the category of marketing effectiveness and outline its manifestations. We argue that marketing effectiveness assessment has to be done in different ways according to the assessment object – a separate marketing campaign or a marketing activity as a whole. We propose to use ‘Return on Marketing Investments’ (MROI) for assessing a single marketing campaign, and the change in the marketing assets – for assessing the marketing effectiveness as a whole (marketing strategy). General models for the two types of assessment are proposed.