Journal of Business Management and Economics

In recent years, people are more and more exhorted to “go back to tradition”. This   tendency testifies every thinking person’s reflection on how tradition affects the cultural identity of the place where he lives.

The subject of this study is the rural tradition of the four Ionian Islands, Kefalonia, Corfu, Zante and Lefkada, as well as its contribution to the shaping of their common cultural identity. At a time when there is high economic, political and social instability, it is important to recognize the cultural identity of a specific area of Greece, the Ionian Islands, located in the Ionian and the Adriatic Sea, a region of great geopolitical significance.

Since the Ionians’ economy was based on agriculture (olive cultivation, viticulture), livestock farming (cheese making), fishing and bee-keeping, these activities formed an integral part of the culture and the history of each place and its residents.

The eating habits of the traditional farming societies are benchmarks of their cultural level. The products of the Ionian Islands are closely linked to several social events as well. In that way, they show the connection that exists between a place’s cuisine and culture. Many rural customs and eating habits of the Ionian Islands originate from their centuries-old traditions. They are linked to the farmers’ concern on the land’s fruitage. Nowadays, due to the technological evolution, some Ionian traditions are extinct. They may still exist in remote mountain areas, but in that case they fulfill the purpose they traditionally had.

In corporate financial management, short-term financial performance involving collection and conversion of assets (assets and rights) into cash in order to meet short-term financial obligations, termed as liquidity, is of key importance for the balance and short-term financial health, as well as for attaining long-term financial performance (profitability and return). The purpose of this article is to analyze the existing correlation between liquidity, stemming from the Current Liquidity Ratio - CLR and Net Profit Margin – NPM (profitability) and Return on Assets - ROA (return). Indicators from seven fiscal years were analyzed during the economic crisis period (2011 to 2017) of twelve Brazilian publicly-traded companies, of three different sectors, with shares negotiated on the BM & FBovespa. Analyzes were performed in two phases, the first being a graphical analysis of the CLR, NPM and ROA indicators and the trends throughout the period under analysis. During the second phase a correlation analysis was performed – Spearman correlation coefficient – with the use of the SPSS software. The results obtained indicate a correlation between the liquidity, profitability and return indicators.