Adaptation of European Enterprises to COVID-19 Pandemic: Cluster Analysis Findings

The Covid 19 pandemic had a significant impact on every aspect of business and personal life. The use of digital technologies was an important lever in overcoming barriers that resulted from the need for physical distance. Businesses made greater use of various digital technologies such as electronic communications, remote use of computers in businesses, and online meetings. In addition, e-commerce has become the primary venue for selling products and services. However, differences between countries became apparent in the response to the Covid 19 pandemic. This paper aims to explore the digital divide between European countries based on their adaptation to the Covid 19 pandemic using a cluster analysis. The Eurostat database is used as a source for the variables measuring the response of firms to the Covid 19 pandemic in terms of communication tools and e-commerce usage. K-Means cluster analysis is used to analyze the homogeneity of countries based on the observed variables. Combined with the LSD post-hoc test, the Anova analysis compares clusters by GDP per capita. The results show that business agility is strongly associated with the country’s economic development.